SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XX. No. 512 



mathematics. That a student succeeds well in Euclid does not 

 argue that he will be a mathematician or even a lover of mathe- 

 matics. Every teacher of experience knows how often Ms hopes, 

 built on success in Euclid, have been dashed to the ground when 

 the pupil began analysis. Euclid gives no hint of the mathe- 

 matics which is to follow, and hence does not seem to fit in as an 

 integral part of the science. Many of the proofs are long and 

 tedious, with no hint whatever as to the method by which they 

 were originated. The traditional limitations surrounding Euclid 

 narrow the field of work by excluding almost all other mathe- 

 matics, and thus must necessarily reach results that are special. 

 The student who wishes to go on in mathematics finds himself 

 almost totally unprepared for the next step. 



Modern synthetic geometry meets all these criticisms. It is 

 thoroughly mathematical, and the student who succeeds in it is 

 assured of success in any branch of the science that he may under- 

 take. Its steps are all logical, but logic is not emphasized as the 

 end to be" attained. It is constantly whetting the student's desire 

 for mathematical study by giving him hints of that which is to 

 follow. It also prepares thoroughly for trigonometry and analyti- 

 cal geometry. It is surrounded by no traditions, and so is free to 

 use everything that serves its purpose. Its proofs are simple and 

 direct, its results broad and general. Its symbolism and nomen- 

 clature are in harmony with mathematical science, and are at 

 least two thousand years in advance of Euclid. It has a great 

 fascination for the student, and classes are invariably enthusiastic 

 over it. This year, as an experiment, one division of the fresh- 

 man class in Indiana University studies the modern synthetic 

 geometry, while the other divisions take Euclid. The modern 

 synthetic class is by tar the most enthusiastic, and gives strong 

 evidence of the more rapid mental development. 



The student who reads modern mathematical works must know 

 the modern synthetic geometry. Modern writers appreciate its 

 power, and use it freely. It is to be hoped that our American 

 schools will give more attention to it. From a mathematical 

 standpoint it is certainly desirable that it may soon entirely re- 

 place Euclid. The admirable elementary text-books of Dupuisof 

 Toronto, Smith of Missouri, and Halsted of Texas, which have 

 recently appeared, prove that the subject is growing in interest, 

 and also make its general introduction more easy. 



WEIGHTS AND MEASURES IN ENGLAND VERSUS THE 

 DECIMAL AND METRIC SYSTEMS. 



BY J. JAMES COUSINS, ALLEKTON PAKK, CHAPEL ALLERTON, NEAK 

 LEEDS, ENGLAND. 



It is impossible for a comparatively new country like America 

 to conceive the mode by which the English conduct their internal 

 commerce, and the difficulties which exist in trading not only 

 with foreigners but between the different portions of the United 

 Kingdom, owing to the versatility of the weights and measures 

 used in conducting her business, the different values of the varied 

 denominations within the United Kingdom, and the many quan- 

 tities represented by the same denominations when applied to 

 articles of daily commerce. 



If the ingenuity of man had been strained to the utmost to in- 

 troduce a system of weights and measures calculated to throw 

 difficulties in the way of commercial progress, to perfect a system 

 that no one man has thoroughly mastered, and to place irritating 

 obstacles in the path of education of both pupil and teacher, that 

 end has been thoroughly attained, and, strange to say, it is the 

 system pursued in the educational establishments throughout the 

 kingdom at the close of this nineteenth century, although most 

 of the colonies have set the Mother Country a better example. 



Can anything be more absurd than the following ? We sell 

 *' pickled cod" by "the barrel," "trawled cod" so much 

 " each," whilst " large hooked cod" are sold by "the score," and 

 " crimped cod "' 'per pound," shrimps by " the stone," soles by 

 "the pair," Dutch smelts by "the basket," and English smelts by 

 *' the hundred." 



This is the Billingsgate system, but at Grimsby (another im- 



portant fish market) quite a different style of weights and meas- 

 ures is made use of, and the sale of fish is very much by "the 

 box " and '■ the last." 



A customer once asked a Grimsby fish salesman to let him have 

 a stone of oysters, the reply was " We don't sell oysters by weight, 

 we sell them by measure." "Then let me have a yard," said 

 the buyer. Butter in Ireland is sold by " the cask " and "the 

 firkin ;" in England by "the pound " of 16 ounces, by " the roll" 

 of 24 ounces, "the stone," and the "hundred-weight," which is 

 not 100 pounds but 112 pounds. 



Analyzing the quantities of the various denominations only 

 makes confusion doubly confounded. 



What is a " load?" A load of straw is 1296 pounds, a load of 

 old hay is 3016 pounds, and a load of new hay 2160 pounds; but 

 my tables do not tell me at what age hay becomes old. 



What is a " firkin ? " A firkin of butter is 56 pounds, a firkin 

 of soap 64 pounds, and a firkin of raisins 112 pounds. A " hogs- 

 head " of beer is 54 gallons, but a " hogshead " of wine is 63 gal- 

 lons, a pipe of Marsala wine is 93 gallons, of Madeira 92 gallons, 

 of Bucellas 117 gallons, a pipe of port 103 gallons, and a pipe of 

 Teneriffe 100 gallons. Again, what is a stone? A "stone" 

 weight of a living man is 14 pounds, but a " stone" weight of a 

 dead ox is 8 pounds, a stone of cheese is 16 pounds, of glass 5 

 pounds, of hemp 32 pounds, a stone of fiax at Belfast is 16|- 

 pounds, but at Downpatrick 24 pounds, while a hundred-weight 

 of pork is 8 pounds heavier at Belfast than it is at Cork — another 

 injustice to Ireland. 



England is slow to adopt new principles, but as more than 400 

 millions of people are using the metric system, surely it is time 

 she took a step in that direction, a hint that probably may not be 

 thrown away upon the grand American Republic. 



In cataloguing the above absurdities of English measurement, I 

 must not omit to inform you what quantities a barrel represents. 

 A " barrel" of beef is 200 pounds; butter, 224 pounds; floui-, 196 

 pounds; gunpowder, 100 jjounds; soft soap, 256 pounds; beer, 36 

 gallons; tar, 26i gallons; whilst a barrel of herrings is 500 her- 

 rings. 



One example of the comparative merits of the existing system 

 with the decimal system will suffice. 



Reduce 987,654,321 inches into leagues. To arrive at this we 

 must divide these figures by 12 to get them into feet, then divide 

 the product by 3 to make yards of them, next by 5| to find the 

 number of poles, another division of the product by 40 exhibits 

 the furlongs, then if the brain will stand it, for we have decimals 

 in the quotient, we must divide by 8, which gives us the miles, 

 and lastly by 3 to furnish the leagues, quid erat demonstrandum; 

 a.ad, if we have made no mistake, we have arrived at a satisfac- 

 tory result. 



To attain the same end by the decimal system, allowing the 

 same number of denominations but each a decimal, no calculation 

 is necessary, no sums to work out, but as there are six denomi- 

 nations, place the pointer on the left-hand side of the 6, the fig- 

 ures on the left of the pointer, viz., 987, show the number of 

 leagues, whilst the figures on the right of the pointer furnish the 

 fractions of a league, viz., 6 miles, 5 furlongs, 4 poles, 3 yards, 3 

 feet, and 1 inch. 



Yet, can it be believed? the old system is taught in every school 

 in England, and the cruelty inflicted upon the brains and the 

 temper of the young, to say nothing of the loss of time and the 

 cost, cannot fail to lodge a grave responsibility upon the legislatiu-e 

 which permits such a condition of things to exist. 



Nov. 4. 



A CHEAP FORM OF BOX FOR MICROSCOPE SLIDES. 



BY GEORGE P. MERRILL. 



Presumably no one ever started out with making a collection 

 of slides for the microscope but has wrestled long with the problem 

 as to how they may best be taken care of. In the administrative 

 work of this department the problem early became a serious one. 

 For its satisfactory solution I am indebted to my brother, L. H. 

 Merrill, then assisting me. 



