STANDARD. 



Table of the Ellipticities of the Earth, found by different 

 Modes of Meafui-ement and Calculation. 



Authors. 



Huygens 

 Newton 



Maupertuis, Sec. 



Swanberg 

 Clairaut 

 Treifneckei- - 



Laplace 



Ellipticities. 



Delambre 



Cifcar 



m 



S TTT.T 



I ITT 



JT3 

 TST 



Mples. 



7S5. 





Theory of gravity. 



Meufuration of arcs. 



Rotatory motion.' 



Vibration of pendulum. 



Occultation of llar^. 



Preceffion and nutation. 



Theory of the moon 

 f Pendulum from fifteen ex- 

 I periments. 

 f From the fame, by a 

 \ different calculation. 

 rComparifon of meridians 

 ) mcafured in different 

 (_ places. 



Pendulum in N. lat. 



Pendulunr. in S. lat. 



We have purfued this article to confider.^ble length, 

 as well on account of its general importaiic?, as its pe- 

 culiar intereft at the prcfent time, when plans are fet on 

 foot for eUablifhing new itandards, and improving the 

 Britith fyftem of weights and meafures. 



From the foregoing view of the fubjeft it appears, that, 

 however profound and accurate the labours of the learned 

 have been in fearch of invariable ftandards from nature, 

 weights and mealures have hitherto derived but little practi- 

 cal advantage from their refearches, except indeed what 

 has been effefted in France ; and the utility of the alterations 

 there is queftionable, when balanced againll the great in- 

 convenience that has been experienced, and which u hkcly 

 long to continue. 



The chief ufe of ftandard=: from nature is to rcilore efta- 

 btifhed meafures, fhould they be ever loft ; a fuppofition 

 highly improbable, and of which there are few examples. 

 In fliort, ftandards from nature can be o:ily known by 

 comparifon with a fcale of eftabliflied arbitrary meafures. 

 Tlie refearches of the learned, however, fhould be encou- 

 raged, as thev may likewife lead to other ufeful and im- 

 portant difcov-.ries in arts and fciences. 



The plan of aftimilating the ftandards of different nations 

 has been at all times a favourite fubje£l with philofophers 

 and Itatefmen. Such was the benevolent but Utopian wi(h 

 of Budeus, an eminent author of the twelfth century, who 

 thus expreil'es himfclf in his work, entitled " De Re Num- 

 maria." 



" Una fides, pondus, menfura, moneta fit una, 

 Et ftatus illaslus totius orbis eiit." 



" One faith, one weight, one meafure, nnd one coin, 

 Would foon the jarring world in friendfliip join." 



<' Experience, indeed, (hews (fays a late writer on Metro- 

 logy), that plans for aflimiiating the ftandards of different 

 countries, are as imprafticable and vifionary as propofals for 

 eftabliftiing an univerfal language. Hiitory likewife ftiews, 

 that while governments change with great facility their 

 money fyftems, their conftitution, and even their religion., 



weights and meafures feem immoveable. They are indeed 

 fo mixed, and, as it were, matted with every concern of pro- 

 pe'ty, that they cannot be eflentially altered without vio- 

 lence and confufion ; nor are thofc evils of a temporary na- 

 ture. The habits, cuftoms, and prejudices of the multitude 

 are not to be fpeedily changed. It was computed in 

 France, that in three generations their metrical fyftem would 

 be fully eftabliftied ; but now it feems to require more. In 

 England, the conftant vigilance of the legiflature for 500 

 years has been employed in correfting abufes rather than in 

 improving the fyftem. In fhort it appears, that nothing has 

 a greater tendency to grow worfe, or more obftinately re- 

 fifts improvement, than weights and meafures." 



Standard of Bul/ion and Coins. — The ftandard for bullion 

 is a certain proportion fixed by law between the weight of 

 pure gold or filver in any quantity, and the weight of alloy, 

 which proportion is called the Jincncfs. Thus, the ftandard 

 finenefs of gold coins in England is 22 carats, or A^ = .f ! ; 

 and the ftandard finenefs ot filver coins is 1 1 oz. 2 dwt., or 

 |J. See our articles Ass.w, Bullion, and Coin. 



Wrought gold, however, has two legal ftandards ; the one 

 22 carats, as above, and the other 18 carats ; the latter be- 

 gan in 1798, and is chiefly ufed for watch-cafes and rings. 



Wrought filver has likewife two legal ftandards ; the one 

 II oz. 2 dwt., as above, and the other 8 dwt. better; that 

 is, 1 1 oz. 10 dwt. The latter, which is called new fterling, 

 is of ancient itanding, but feldom ufed. 



Standard of Coins. — Befides the legal finenefs for coins, 

 there is alfo a ftandard weight fixed by law. Thus in Eng- 

 land, a pound troy of ftandard gold is coined into 445 gui- 

 neas, and of ftandard filver into62J. A law, however, has 

 been recently enafted (June 1816), by which the ftandard 

 weight of filver is altered, but the finenefs both of this metal 

 and of gold remains unchanged. 



The new fiandard Weight of Englifti filver coin is, that 

 one pound troy of ftandard finenefs ftiall be coined into 66/. 

 Thus the weight of the new (hilling is to be 3 dwt. iSTig""' 

 and the other new filver coins in proportion. 



No alteration is to take place tn the gold coins ; but 

 gold pounds are to be coined in proportion to the guinea. 

 Each will therefore be W of a guinea, and mult weigh 

 5 dwt. 3!^4 g*"* ^^ ftandard gold, and 113 gr. of pure 

 gold, without any allowance for remedy. But according to 

 the regulation which allows a guinea of 5 dwt. 8 gr. to be 

 a legal tender, the gold pound weighing 5 dwt. i j^ g""- "''^^ 

 be alfo legal. 



By the new law of 1816, gold is declared to be the 

 ftandard of value, or the meafure of property, by whicli the 

 par of exchange, and the value of filver and all other com- 

 modities, fhould be eftimated. 



It has been long a queftion of doubt, whether gold or 

 filver fiiould be the ftandard of value. Locke and other au- 

 thorities ftate it to be filver ; but lord Liverpool, in his 

 " Letter to the King on the Coins of the Realm," obferves, 

 that " coins, which are the principal meafures of property, 

 fhould be ccmpoled of one metal only, and that this fhould 

 be gold." 



By a law of 1799, the queftion was fettled with re- 

 fpeft to large payments, as it was then declared that filver 

 fhould not be a legal tender for any fum above 25/. ; but by 

 the law of 181 6, gold is the only legal tender that can be 

 made for any fum exceeding 42 (hilhngs. 



Standarding Bullion and Coins. — The precious metals in 

 England, whether in bullion or foreign coins, are generally 

 bought and fold at fo much per ounce ftandard, which is 

 calculated from the affay-mafter's report of weight and 

 finenefs. 



The 



