1876c] 
Notices of Books . 
269 
Gregory's British Metric Arithmetic , for the High School, the 
Board School, the Desk, and the Counter . By Isaac 
Gregory, F.R.G.S. London, Paris, and New York : 
Cassell, Petter, and Galpin. Manchester: John Heywood. 
The author of this work undertakes to show the superiority of 
“ British metric arithmetic (of sub-units and whole numbers) 
over French metric arithmetic of prime units and large deci- 
mals.” He remarks, very justly, that sooner or later — and better 
sooner than later — the British people must adopt the standard of 
the metre, which has been accepted by the majority of foreign 
nations, and adopted by the outer commercial world, as the 
common basis of an international system of weights and mea- 
sures. He has undertaken to solve the question how this great 
reform is to be effected, and proposes a modification of the 
French system, which seems singularly exempt from objection- 
able features. Thus, for professional use he would adopt the 
French weights, intercalating merely in the table 25 grms. = 1 oz. 
and 500 grms. = 1 lb. His table of commercial weights 
would be— 
25 grms. = 
= I oz. 
20 ozs. 
i lb. 
2 lbs. 
1 kilo. 
10 lbs. 
1 stone. 
10 stones 
1 cwt. 
20 cwts. 
1 ton. 
The kilo, of England being fixed the same as that of France, it 
is obvious that the new pound would be about 1^- ozs. heavier 
than the present standard, whilst the ounce would be a little 
lighter. The French system, as in acftual use, is inconvenient 
in all those small transactions which make up the sum of retail 
traffic. There is no unit available for mental calculation between 
1 grm. and 500 grms. (livre or demi-kilogrm.), or, again, be- 
tween 1 grm. and 1000 grms. (kilogrm.). In the same manner, 
in French money there is no available unit between 1 centime 
and 100 centimes (1 franc), though English residents get over 
the difficulty by calling the 10 centime piece a penny. In proof 
that “ giving change rapidly, say at a crowded railway-station, 
is a difficult matter with French money,” he asks — “ Where do 
you find in any country, except France or other centesimal 
moneyed countries, a humble though useful officer standing at a 
railway-ticket office, who is looked upon as an almost preter- 
natural ready-reckoner, whose public function is to tell the intel- 
ligent clerk inside the window, and the passenger outside, how 
much change to give and receive out of a 5-franc piece for two 
tickets of 1 franc 85 centimes each. Twice 185 is beyond the 
reach of the multiplication table.” Decimals, the author de- 
clares, are charmingly easy on paper, but not well adapted for 
