HISTORY OF THE STANDARDS OF WEIGHT. 
759 
According to the observations of Captain v. Nehus, — 
No. of Comps. 
i. 
t. 
300 
Sp £!:U-0-00857 
29*722 
65-62 
140 
RS £!:U-0-00205 
29-806 
65-73 
60 
Sb £!:U-0-01034 
29-965 
64-50 
92 
K =G:U-t- 0-03389 
29-646 
65-09 
16 
RM£i:U-f 0-00887 
29-679 
65-91 
10-log ASp=8-67392, 10-log ARS=8-67392, 10-log ASb=9*08471, 10-log AK=9-09724 *. 
In the burning of the Houses of Parliament in 1834, all the standards of measure 
and weight were either totally destroyed, or injured to such an extent as to render 
them quite useless as standards. The Imperial standard troy pound was never 
recovered from the ruins. 
In the year 1838, the Astronomer Royal, Mr. F. Daily, Mr. J. E. D. Bethune, 
Mr. Davies Gilbert, Sir J. F. W. Herschel, Mr. J. S. Lefevre, Mr. J. W. Lubbock, 
the Rev. George Peacock, and the Rev. R. Sheepshanks, were appointed Commis- 
sioners to consider the steps to be taken for the restoration of the standards of weight 
and measure, to replace those which were destroyed by the burning of the Houses of 
Parliament. They found provisions for the restoration of the lost standards pre- 
scribed to them by Sections 3 and 5 of the Act .'3th George IV., whereby it is directed 
that, in case of the loss of the standards, the yard shall be restored by taking the 
length which shall bear a certain proportion to the length of the pendulum, vibrating 
seconds of mean time in the latitude of London, in a vacuum, at the level of the sea ; 
and that the pound shall be restored by taking the weight which bears a certain pro- 
portion to the weight of a cubic inch of water weighed in a certain manner. The 
Commissioners, however, in their Report, dated December 21, 1841, decline to recom- 
mend the adoption of these provisions for the following reasons: ‘Since the passing 
of the said Act, it has been ascertained that several elements of reduction of the 
pendulum experiments therein referred to are doubtful or erroneous. ... It is evident, 
therefore, that the course prescribed by the Act would not necessarily reproduce the 
length of the original yard. It appears also that the determination of the weight of a 
cubic inch of water is yet doubtful (the greatest difference between the best English, 
French, Austrian, Swedish and Russian determinations being about T-ioo of the whole 
weight, whereas the mere operation of weighing may be performed to the accuracy 
of 1 , 000,000 of the whole weight). Several measures, however, exist, which were 
most carefully compared with the former standard yard ; and several metallic weights 
exist, which were most accurately compared with the former standard pound ; and by 
the use of these, the values of the original standards can be respectively restored with- 
out sensible error. And we are fully persuaded that, with reasonable precautions, it 
will always be possible to provide for the accurate restoration of standards by means 
* ScHUMACHEK, Philosophical Transactions for 1836, p. 437. 
