SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL SOCIETY. 13 
changing the whole system of weights and measures throughout this country. 
He believed these difficulties were vastly greater than they were assumed to be 
by those who had spoken. It was not a question in which all the merits were 
on one side and all the demerits on the other. Like most contested questions, 
there were merits and demerits on both sides. He had always approved in the 
abstract of the French system. He considered it to be a good and excellent 
system—to be easily learnt and easily applied—to be, on the whole, the best 
system existing, or that the wit of man had ever invented for the purpose for 
which it was intended. But he was not prepared, nevertheless, to say that it 
was perfect; there were many imperfections in it, some of which arose from its 
very systematic character. Then, on the other hand, whilst he felt that our 
system of weights and measures, like other systems in this country, was defec¬ 
tive, he was not prepared to admit that it was devoid of all merit; on the con¬ 
trary, he considered that it possessed some advantages over the French system. 
It was necessary, therefore, to balance the relative advantages and disadvantages 
of the two systems ; to consider what the balance of advantage was in favour 
of the proposed new system, and what were the conditions and circumstances 
under which these advantages could be secured to us. He was prepared to admit 
that the metrical system was, on the whole, the best, and that its establishment 
in this country, if it could be completely effected, would be a benefit; but we 
were bound to consider how far it was practicable to abolish all existing systems 
and to substitute the new one, and, also, what would be the amount of confusion 
and inconvenience attending the change. He would have been better satisfied if 
the petition that was before the meeting had been shorter, and had been expressed 
in more general and more qualified terms. He could have gone with the peti¬ 
tion if it had been simply an expression of approval of the metrical system, but 
he must hesitate before he could ask the Legislature to attempt to introduce that 
system by the summary means proposed in the Bill. However good the metrical 
system might be, supposing even that it were a perfect system, it did not follow 
that it would be wise to attempt at once to introduce it to the exclusion of all 
the systems at present in use here, because such an attempt would inevitably 
fail, and would be attended with much confusion and inconvenience. He had 
been struck with the remarks made by Mr. Yates in referring to the different 
measures used in Cheshire under the name of acre. It appeared that there are 
no less than five acres used there at the present time, yet all but one of these 
were illegal; and the existence of so many different measures under the same 
name in the same locality was one of those anomalies the Legislature had failed 
to remove, although we had been legislating upon the subject for the last thirty 
or forty years. And would further legislation improve this state of affairs ? or 
were they not rather by the Bill before Parliament going to add an additional 
element of uncertainty and confusion, which would be sure to last for the next 
fifty years or more, in spite of any laws that might be passed? He did not 
consider it possible to bring about such a change as was proposed in three- 
years, nor yet in thirty years, although in making the attempt it would be quite 
possible, and, as he believed, inevitable, that during the time the change was 
being forced upon the country, the confusion and uncertainty at present existing 
in certain localities in the use of weights and measures would be greatly in¬ 
creased. He did not, however, say that the change was not to be made, but 
that it ought not to be forced upon them hastily, or until they had been prepared 
for it after a lapse of years. For what, after all, were the benefits they were 
likely to derive from the new system ? Were they not rather theoretical than 
practical? The system was certainly based upon a good principle ; it was con¬ 
sistent throughout, and very complete. And then it was certainly very desirable 
to have one uniform system of weights and measures throughout the world. 
This, by promoting and facilitating international communication and the inter- 
