1884.] 
Our Measures and Our Standards . 
743 
remain practically unaltered, the scientific man and the cal- 
culator will be able to set them on one side in most of his 
work, without the degradation of adopting French fashions. 
Next as to the multiples and submultiples of our com- 
mercial units. They will probably fall eventually into a 
mixed decimal and binary scale, formed on the to be improved 
five basic units, at some time when the masses and the 
tradesmen require this change ; but it is not the duty of 
scientific men to press it on them against their will. Why 
should any interference with them be necessary ? The 
objeCt of this article has been to prove that it is not. The 
connection between the foot-weight and the ounce avoirdu- 
pois being millesimal, or very nearly so, this advantage will 
probably be utilised and enlarged upon in future develop- 
ment, not only by the scientific man, but also for commercial 
purposes. 
Having thus run through a practical proposal, we can see 
the difficulties of anything like a complete revivalism of our 
very ancient measures at the present time. We are forced 
into legislating for ourselves and for our own time, whenever 
we can legislate at all. 
