199 
of Edinhurgli, Session 1863-64. 
earth ; and to the identification of the very convenient divisor 
typical to the Pyramid, even in the temperature secured for its 
standards. 
There then followed a comparison of the ancient Pyramid- 
measures, in length, surface, capacity, and weight, with the Eng- 
lish hereditary measures still in existence among us ; and it 
showed, first, the extreme closeness of the two systems, especially 
in the smaller units employed chiefly by the working and poorer 
classes of our country ; and then, the remarkable convenience for 
scientific purposes and questions of the present day, of the larger 
Pyramid-units ; of which, not the least striking example is, that 
the large Ordnance map of Great Britain recently commenced, and 
now being rapidly pushed on by the Government, on a scale of 
^^\-^th of nature, the largest, best, and most expensive map of our 
country which has ever yet been attempted, — but which does not 
fit into the present British measures at all, requiring long and 
annoying fractions both for the mile and the acre, to the plague 
of every British-born working-man who uses it, — fits in 'precisely 
to the ancient Pyramid measures of 4300 years ago, and represents 
their mile and their acre true, in inches, without the smallest 
fraction of an inch left over or under, 
3. The Decimal Problem Solved. By J ames Alexander, Esq. 
Communicated by E. Sang, Esq. 
The author having had experience of the simple duodecimal 
monetary system of Portugal, which is accumulated by multiplica- 
tion from a decimal minimum unit, proposes to apply the same 
principle to the British coinage. Having also discovered, while in 
Canada, that the difference betwixt the British coinage and a 
decimal position or character, is 20 per cent, over all, he proposes 
to overcome this by altering the value of the present farthing, by 
this rate, making it the fifth, instead of the fourth of the penny — 
the penny of 5 farthings would then become the duodecimal mul- 
tiplier of all the coins, making the shilling 60 farthings instead of 
48, and the pound 1200 instead of 960, and each intermediate coin 
would be represented by one of the digits and one or two ciphers, 
while the pound, being represented by 12, the highest single 
2 D 
VOL. V. 
