THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[January 20,1S72. 
5S3 
THE CHEMISTS’ BALL. 
We have the pleasure to record, that on Wednesday 
evening another of these successful social gatherings 
took place at Willis’s Rooms, at which about three hun¬ 
dred persons were present, amongst whom were many of 
the best known men in the pharmaceutical world. It is 
almost unnecessary to say that the evening was a most 
agreeable one, and that everything went off well,—the 
capital arrangements made by the stewards having been 
carried out perfectly. 
After the supper the Chairman, Mr. A. F. Haseldex, 
said,—■ 
Ladies and Gentlemen,—I rise to propose, in accord¬ 
ance with the usual custom, the toast, the one toast of 
the evening; and if by permission I diverge a little, 1 
am desirous that it should be clearly understood that 
there is but one toast. I shall not detain you long by 
many words, for whilst the last strains of the music 
are sounding in your ears, and you are anxious to renew 
your terpsichorean enjoyment, it would be cruel on my 
part to do so ; and, moreover, I am noted for brevity 
rather than otherwise ; but I cannot pass directly to the 
toast without a word or two by way of preface. This is, 
I believe, the first time that a President of the Pharma¬ 
ceutical Society has had the honour of occupying this chair, 
so ably filled upon former occasions by Professor Attfield, 
and upon the last so gracefully by Sir Thomas Dakin, 
then Lord Mayor of London (much applause); and if by 
so doing I should, in however small a degree, be the 
means of uniting in one bond of union the whole commu¬ 
nity of chemists and druggists, I feel that I shall have 
done something to be remembei-ed in after years with 
pleasure, in connection with the Chemists’ Ball. (Re¬ 
newed applause.) Of all the amusements of this season 
of the year, there is none more enjoyable, more innocent 
and more healthful than a reunion like the present, and 
permit me to say, that all honour is due to those gentle¬ 
men who first proposed and successfully established the 
Chemists’ Ball (cheers); also to the Stewards generally, 
the Acting Committee especially, the indefatigable Se¬ 
cretary and the courteous and affable Treasurer (much 
applause). The addition I wish to make to the toast is, 
the health of the ladies, for what should we do without 
them ? In our ordinary enjoyments, in our daily house¬ 
hold arrangements, what should we do without them ? 
and, upon a festive occasion like this, how could we do 
without them— 
“ When we trip it as we go 
On the light fantastic toe” ? 
(Applause.) Now for the toast; I need not ask you 
to support it enthusiastically, because I know you will, 
but let your glasses be full and let them be drained to 
the last drop. “ Success to the Chemists’ Ball, coupled 
therewith the health of the ladies, and God bless them— 
Hip, hip, hurrah !” etc. (The toast was received with 
loud and continued applause.) 
THE METRIC AND DECIMAL SYSTEMS. 
On Wednesday afternoon, January 17, a public meet¬ 
ing was held at the Mansion House for the promotion of 
the metric system of weights and measures and the deci¬ 
mal division generally. In the unavoidable absence of 
the Lord Mayor, the chair was occupied by Mr. Sheriff 
Bennett. 
Mr. Samuel Brown moved the first resolution, to the 
effect that in the opinion of the meeting the introduction 
into the United Kingdom of the metric decimal system 
of weights and measures, which was already in use in 
many countries, would greatly facilitate commercial in¬ 
tercourse, and introduce economy of time and labour 
into practical business. There was no country in the 
world, he said, to which a uniformity of weights and 
measures would be of greater consequence than to this, 
tending as it would to facilitate the operations of trade 
and commerce, and that uniformity depended a great 
deal on their decimal character. The Central Board of 
Agriculture had given its adhesion to the metric system. 
ISir John Lubbock, M.P., in seconding the motion, said 
he was strongly in favour of one system of weights and 
measures, not only in this country, but for the whole 
civilized world, feeling that the future prosperity of this 
country, to a very considerable extent, depended upon it, 
having regard to the great competition in business. He 
thought it was even more necessary to have a uniform 
system of weights and measures than a uniform coinage. 
With a common system of weights and measures, there 
would be no temptation to a Government or a people to 
degrade or alter it. He did not undervalue the advan¬ 
tage of a common system of coinage, but he thought 
there were greater facilities and advantages in the one 
case than in the other. Many said the system was en¬ 
tirely doctrinaire. He thought that was a great mistake, 
and that, on the contrary, it was one of the most impor¬ 
tant questions of the day. We had, he said, a great 
many systems of weights and measures in this country, 
and, if we only considered our internal trade, it was dis¬ 
graceful ,to us as a nation that we should continue the 
complicated system which had come down to us from 
our ancestors. If we could not induce other countries 
to adopt our system, it was better for us to adopt theirs 
rather than be shut out from trading with them owing 
to the complication of our system. Again, there was no 
doubt its adoption would effect a great deal of saving in 
our school system, especially in the very point in which 
saving was more particularly desirable. Education was 
made distasteful to children by loading their memories 
with statistics and facts of no value to them at their time 
of life. Under all the attendant circumstances, although 
he was not prepared to express an opinion that the me¬ 
tric system was best, he felt strongly that any one sys¬ 
tem was better than a variety of systems, and that one 
bad system was preferable to half-a-dozen good ones. 
He believed the introduction of some one system would 
be of immense importance to this country, and he saw 
no reasonable prospect of adopting any other system but 
that which was promoted by the association which had 
convened the meeting. 
General Strachey gave a circumstantial account as to 
what had been done in India towards a common system 
of weights and measures. 
The resolution was carried. 
It was moved by Mr. Frederick Hendriks, and se¬ 
conded by Mr. Crossley, that the metric system is of 
peculiar value in the mechanical arts, manufactures and 
industry, from its perfect decimal division, and from the 
direct relation which it offers between the measures of 
length, capacity and weight. 
The Rev. William Jowitt, Head Master of the Middle 
Class School, Finsbury, supported the motion; and, 
after discussion, it was put and carried. 
Dr. Farr, President of the Statistical Society, moved 
a third resolution, to the effect that the system of deci¬ 
mal coinage would be a necessary corollary to the intro¬ 
duction of the new system of weights and measures, and 
the meeting urged the same on the earnest attention of 
her Majesty’s Government. 
The motion was seconded by Mr. S. Goyer, a member 
of the Common Council, and carried unanimously. 
The discussion was continued by the Hon. B. G. 
Northrop, Superintendent of Public Instruction in the 
United States; the Hon. Mr. Ryan, a member of the 
Canadian Senate ; Mr. Chisholm, the Warden of the 
Standards ; and the Rev. Mr. Hodgson. 
On the motion of Mr. Leone Levi, seconded by Mr. 
William Botley, a resolution was unanimously adopted, 
authorizing a petition to the President of the Board of 
Trade, that he would in the forthcoming session of Par¬ 
liament introduce a measure for amending the general 
law in relation to weights and measures, and for the 
compulsory adoption of the metric system. 
