126        Herbert  Spencer  and  the  Metric  System.    { AmMJaS  im!m' 
the  question  remains  whether  a  better  system  than  the  metric 
system  could  have  been  devised,  and  whether  we  are  justified  in 
abandoning  our  entire  system  of  weights  and  measures  in  favor  of  a 
decimal  system.  The  time  has  probably  gone  by  for  the  introduc- 
tion of  a  better  system,  in  view  of  the  general  use  of  the  metric 
system  for  scientific  purposes  (if  such  were  possible),  but  inasmuch 
as  our  old  system  of  weights  and  measures  is  still  adhered  to  by  the 
vast  majority  of  trades  people,  a  full  and  free  discussion  of  the 
subject  is  desirable. 
In  view  of  the  efforts  being  made  in  England  to  obtain  govern- 
mental sanction  of  the  use  of  the  metric  system,  and  being  strongly 
opposed  to  its  adoption,  Herbert  Spencer,  in  1 896,  communicated 
four  letters  to  The  Times  (London)  setting  forth  his  objections  to  the 
system,  These  letters  were  immediately  afterward  embodied  in  a 
pamphlet  and  distributed  to  all  of  the  members  of  the  House  of 
Commons,  a  few  of  the  members  of  the  House  of  Lords,  and  also  to 
the  members  of  our  own  Congress.  They  have  since  been  made 
more  accessible  as  well  as  more  permanent  by  being  incorporated  in 
Spencer's  book,  entitled  "  Various  Fragments." 
After  taking  up  the  derivation  of  the  metric  system,  Spencer  then 
goes  on  "  to  show  that  its  fundamental  principle  is  essentially  im- 
perfect and  that  its  faults  are  great  and  incurable." 
One  of  the  first  of  the  arguments  used  against  the  decimal  system 
by  Spencer  is  the  fact  that  although  its  adoption  in  France  "  has 
been  in  the  main  compulsory,"  there  is  evidence  to  show  "  that  the 
old  customs  have  survived  where  survival  was  possible."  Not  only 
so,  but  in  the  United  States,  one  of  the  countries  of  its  partial 
adoption,  and  on  the  English  Stock  Exchange  as  well,  the  decimal 
divisions  of  the  dollar  are  ignored,  "  and  the  division  into  parts  by 
halving,  re-halving,  and  again  halving  is  adopted." 
Arguments  are  then  taken  up  to  show  how  the  order  of  nature 
has  established  certain  measures  and  divisions  for  us ;  such  as,  for 
instance,  the  division  of  the  circle  into  360  degrees,  this  being  "  the 
outcome  of  the  Chaldean  division  of  the  heavens  to  fit  their  calen- 
dar ;"  of  the  year  into  twelve  months,  and  also  into  four  seasons  or 
quarters,  for  astronomical  reasons ;  of  the  compass  into  thirty-two 
points,  depending  upon  the  "  natural  relations  of  the  cardinal  points." 
The  practical  need  for  divisions  of  quarters  and  thirds  in  every.day 
life  is  also  discussed  and  their  inconsistency  with  a  decimal  system 
pointed  out. 
