AnMay,ri7h7ann'}  Weights  and  Measures.  227 
The  metric  system  that  is  engrossing  the  mind  of  the  pharmaceu- 
tical world  here,  was  first  adopted  in  France,  and  is  now  slowly  super- 
seding the  systems  in  use  in  other  countries.  It  was  authorized  to  be 
used  in  the  United  States,  and  its  use  introduced  into  some  depart- 
ments of  public  service,  in  1866,  by  act  of  Congress.  The  two  most 
important  points  of  this  system  are  :  1st,  that  it  is  a  decimal  system, 
and,  2d,  that  the  units  of  length,  superfices,  solidity  and  weight  are 
all  correlated,  two  data  only  being  used,  the  meter  and  the  weight 
of  a  cube  of  water,  the  side  of  which  is  the  hundredth  part  of  a  meter. 
The  system  was  suggested  as  long  ago  as  1528,  by  Jean  Fernal,  a 
physician  of  Henry  II  of  France  ;  took  a  practical  turn  in  1790,  and 
in  1803  a  work  on  Pharmacy  was  published  in  the  French  language  by 
Lagrange,  giving  formulas  with  the  two  systems,  for  example  : 
Wine  of  Opium. 
R.    Aqueous  extract  opium,     .  .     32    grams      (1  ounce 
Saffron,        .  .  .  16        «         (  £  " 
Cinnamon,  .  .  8        "  (gii 
Cloves,         .  .  .  4       "  (gi 
White  wine,       .  .  |  kilogram  (1  pound 
Mix. 
A  committee  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences  had  been  appointed,  and 
the  result  of  their  labors  was  a  close  approximation  to  the  true  length, 
and  in  the  highest  degree  creditable  to  the  scientific  men  engaged  in  it. 
By  means  of  the  arc  of  the  meridian  measured  by  Bougier  and  La 
Condamine,  in  Peru,  1736,  the  length  of  the  quarter  of  the  meridian, 
or  the  distance  from  the  pole  to  the  equator,  was  calculated.  This 
length  was  partitioned  into  ten  millions  of  equal  parts,  and  one  of  these 
parts  was  taken  for  the  unit  of  length,  and  called  a  meter,  from  the 
Greek  word  signifying  measure. 
Two  important  principles  form  the  basis  of  the  metric  system  :  1st, 
that  the  unit  of  linear  measure  applied  to  matter  in  its  three  forms  of 
extension,  viz.,  length,  breadth  and  thickness,  should  be  the  standard 
of  all  measures  of  length,  surface  and  solidity  ;  2d,  that  the  cubic  con- 
tents of  the  linear  measure  in  distilled  water,  at  a  temperature  of  great 
contraction,  should  furnish  at  once  the  standard  weight  and  measure  of 
capacity.  Thus,  1st,  the  unit  of  length  was  the  meter,  as  we  have 
seen — the  10, OOO, oooth  part  of  a  qaudrant  of  the  earth's  surface. 
From  this  we  derive,  2d,  the  unit  superfices,  the  arc — a  square  deci- 
meter ;  3d,  the  unit  of  capacity,  the  liter — a  cubic  decimeter  ;  4th, 
