132 
The  Metric  System  and 
/Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
February,  19 18. 
of  length  derived  from  them;  there  are  the  kilogram  and  the  various 
pound  standards;  there  is  the  standard  of  illumination,  the  candle- 
power;  there  is  the  standard  bushel  of  grain  or  vegetables;  there  is 
the  standard  bale  of  cotton  or  barrel  or  sack  of  flour;  the  standard 
specifications  for  cement;  standards  for  petroleum  products;  stand- 
ards for  railway  materials ;  and  in  short  standards  for  numberless 
articles  and  materials  that  figure  in  science  and  industry.  In  these 
standards,  selected  at  random,  and  in  the  case  of  numberless  others 
that  could  be  mentioned,  there  are  two  important  points  to  be  ap- 
preciated. First,  that  an  essential  element  of  the  definition  or  speci- 
fication is  one  or  more  units  of  weight  or  measure;  and  second,  that 
the  standards  familiar  to  us  are  but  rarely  arranged  on  a  basis  of 
harmony  and  logical  interrelation  either  with  each  other  or  with  any 
special  system.  For  this  reason  in  considering  standards  in  their 
almost  infinite  variety,  comparatively  few  will  be  found  that  have 
international  application,  or  that  have  been  established  on  some 
scientific  basis,  or  deduced  along  logical  or  universal  methods.  Yet 
such  standards  are  unquestionably  demanded  and  must  be  provided 
for  international  use,  and  in  proof  of  this  statement  one  has  only  to 
consider  the  industries  where  efficient  and  international  standards 
are  observed  and  compare  them  with  those  where  such  a  condition 
does  not  exist.  Accordingly,  to  formulate  and  establish  standards 
that  will  secure  universal  availability  and  application,  is  today  an 
industrial  duty  of  prime  importance.  Indeed  it  is  largely  with  this 
object  that  each  large  industrial  nation  maintains  a  national  bureau 
of  standards  or  some  similar  institution  for  technological  research  in 
which  problems  of  standardization  are  an  important  function. 
The  prime  qualifications  of  standards  must  be  that  they  are 
fundamental,  invariable,  logically  developed,  readily  understood,  and 
universally  accepted.  Where  there  is  a  meeting  of  the  minds  of 
those  concerned  as  to  the  general  and  determined  nature  of  the 
product,  standards  can  be  established  irrespective  of  the  fundamental 
units  used  in  their  determination.  Such  standards,  however,  cannot 
be  the  best  and  universal  standards,  unless  they  are  based  on  prin- 
ciples universally  understood  and  logically  developed.  Accordingly 
therefore,  it  is  necessary  at  the  outset  to  consider  all  policies  of 
standardization  with  regard  to  the  fundamental  units,  and  the  funda- 
mental systems  of  units  which  underlie  their  determination. 
It  is  in  this  respect  that  the  metric  system  finds  special  applica- 
tion and,  what  is  more,  it  must  be  considered  as  a  prime  essential 
