120  B.  s.  proctor's  report  on  weights  and  measures. 
The  pound,  the  ounce,  and  the  drachm,  are  each  divisible  into 
halves  and  quarters,  and  the  pound  and  drachm,  into  thirds  and 
sixths. 
"  The  objections  are  almost  all  external  to  the  system  itself;  they  arise 
out  of  its  relation  to  other  systems,  from  which  in  practice,  it  cannot  be 
abstracted  ;  and  this  fact  let  us  keep  in  view  as  a  caution  against  systems 
which  appear  promising  when  seen  only  upon  paper.  However  good  they 
may  be  in  the  abstract,  availeth  net,  for  they  must  be  judged  by  their 
readiness  to  fit  into  other  systems,  to  fill  their  own  place  well,  and  work 
harmoniously  with  all  collateral  institutions.  It  is  in  these  points  that 
the  shortcomings  of  our  present  system  are  found.  While  we  buy  and 
sell  by  one  weight,  and  dispense  by  another,  both  of  which  have  units 
bearing  the  same  names,  but  of  different  values ;  while  we  have 
ounces  of  water,  which,  though  used  for  dispensing  purposes,  correspond 
to  the  commercial  weights,  and  drachms  of  water  which  do  not  agree  with 
either  the  apothecaries'  or  avoirdupois  drachm  ;  while  a  pound  of  water 
may  be  prescribed,  but  who  can  tell  what  it  means  ;  for  it  is  frequently 
dispensed  as  f£  xvi.,  sometimes  as  fj  xii.,  and  neither  of  these  is  an 
apothecaries'  pound  ;  while  we  have  grains  in  England  which  are  heavier 
than  grains  in  Ireland  or  Germany,  and  lighter  than  grains  in  Austria,  and 
while  we  require  to  make  a  separate  calculation  for  every  quantity  men- 
tioned in  a  French  formula,  before  we  can  prepare  it,  or  even  compare  it 
with  a  formula  expressed  in  English  weights, — there  certainly  are  incon- 
veniences in  the  present  arrangement  which  it  is  desirable  to  remove. 
But  even  the  very  statement  of  these  inconveniences  shows  that  no 
change  in  our  system  can  remove  them.  If  we  move  toward  the  Irish, 
we  will  be  further  from  the  Austrian  and  no  nearer  the  French.  If  we 
adopt  the  metrical  weights,  unless  they  be  used  for  all  purposes,  we  will 
find  a  greater  disparity  between  our  dispensing  and  our  dealing  than 
exists  at  present.  No  wonder  that  all  the  changes  which  have  been 
proposed  have  been  rejected ;  they  were  all  partial  evils,  not  universal 
good." 
Various  projects  of  reform  are  then  referred  to — As  that  of 
Mr.  Jacob  Bell,  to  engraft  the  troy  divisions  on  the  avoirdupois 
pound  of  16  ounces,  either  employing  the  present  grain  as  the 
standard,  (increasing  thereby  the  larger  weights,)  or  taking  the 
present  avoirdupois  ounce  as  the  standard  ;  (reducing  the  weight 
of  the  grain :— that  of  Mr.  Griffin,  who  proposed  to  employ  a 
unit  of  7  grains,  multiplying  it  in  a  decimal  scale,  (thereby  pre- 
serving the  avoirdupois  pound : — that  of  Dr.  C.  Wilson,  taking 
the  avoirdupois  ounce  as  the  standard,  and  giving  it  the  divisions 
of  the  present  troy  ounce,  (thus  reducing  the  drachms,  scruples 
