.Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Feb.,  1881. 
j        French  Metric  System,  Orihograj^hy.  57 
THE  OETHOGRAPHY  OF  THE  UOTTS  OF  THE  FRENCH 
'  METRIC  SYSTEM. 
By  Oscar  Oldberg,  Phar.I).,  Med.  Purveyor,  M.H.S. 
Professor  Remington's  very  interesting  jiaper  on  the  above  subject 
in  the  January  number  of  the  "  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy " 
presents  strongly  the  views  of  those  who  prefer  to  write  gramme, 
litre,  etc. 
There  are  many  things  to  be  said  on  both  sides  of  the  question.  The 
spelling  center,  meter,  liter,  etc.,  is  not  so  far  removed  from  the  deriva- 
tions of  these  words  as  to  leave  any  doubt  about  their  source  or  mean- 
ing. Orthography  lies  between  derivation  and  pronunciation,  and 
many  think  that  it  should  come  as  near  to  pronunciation  as  may  be 
possible  without  ignoring  derivation  entirely.  Again,  if  we  must  insist 
upon  great  nicety  in  preserving  the  original  spelling,  we  should  write 
thermometre,  and  that  a  thermometer  is  a  heat  measurer  and  not  a  heat 
measure  Professor  Remington  will,  of  course,  admit.  It  is  not  prob- 
,able  that  meter  will  be  used  to  designate  measurer  exclusively,  nor  that 
metre  will  be  used  to  designate  measure  exclusively.  Finally,  the 
words  incorporated  into  the  English,  as  well  as  in  other  languages, 
from  the  French,  although  they  may  at  first  retain  the  French  spelling, 
always  change  as  to  their  orthography  after  a  time,  unless  already  in 
harmony  with  the  characteristics  of  the  language  into  which  they  are 
adopted.  'No  one  will  doubt  that  a  century  hence  we  would  write 
gram,  even  if  we  should  now  write  gramme.  To  improve  the  spelling 
"  a  little''  to  suit  our  ideas  does  not  rob  the  French  nation  of  the  least 
particle  of  the  credit  due  them  for  originating  this  most  perfect  of 
all  known  systems  of  weights  and  measures ;  it  only  discourages  the 
introduction  of  French  spelling  into  the  English  language.  We  should 
look  at  the  question  from  a  practical  rather  than  a  sentimental  stand- 
point. No  one  will  say  that  the  word  thermometer  is  not  English,  and 
it  will  be  hardly  claimed  that  meter,  even  if  spelt  metre,  is  not  an  Eng- 
lish word  if  we  make  it  so.  Even  gramme  would  be  English  should 
we  choose  to  adopt  that  orthography,  but  gram  is  more  English  than 
gramme. 
With  reference  to  the  similarity  between  grains  and  grams,  and 
between  gr.  and  Gr.,  I  have  rarely,  if  ever,  seen  the  words  written  out 
in  full  in  prescriptions,  and  when  written  in  full  they  might  be  written 
grains  and  Grams  ;  and  Gr.  is  not  the  adopted  abbreviation  of  gram. 
