446        FRENCH  AND  ENGLISH  WEIGHTS  AND  MEASURES. 
of  your  readers  to  know  the  exact  value  in  grammes  of  the  Eng- 
lish standard  pound  avoirdupois,  and  how  many  troy  grains  it 
contains.  Most  authors  say  7000  grains ;  however,  I  have  seen 
7004  grains  printed  somewhere. 
The  use  of  the  metric  system  is  extending  more  and  more ; 
but  the  abbreviations  in  writing  are  not  always  short  and  corres- 
ponding to  the  simplicity  of  the  system,  therefore  I  have  added 
to  the  tables  a  series  of  symbols  for  abbreviations,  which  will  be 
understood  by  looking  at  them.  The  system  is  based  on  the 
same  principles  followed  in  chemical  symbols  Each  unit  and 
its  prefixes  are  indicated  by  their  first  letter,  with  this  difference, 
that  a  capital  letter  is  used  when  the  prefixes  are  those  increas- 
ing the  unit. 
We  use  already :  kgm.  =  kilogrammetre  ;  we  might  have  as 
well,  kg°.  ==  kilogramme  degrees,  g  =  gramme,  instead  of  gm. 
or  grm. 
Philadelphia,  March  23,  1868. 
TABLES 
Showing  the  relative  values  of  French  and  English  Weights  and 
Measures,  8?c. 
Measures  of 
Millimetre  = 
Centimetre  " 
Decimetre  " 
Metre 
Decametre  " 
Hectometre" 
Kilometre  li 
Myriametre" 
Inch  (gig-  yard) 
Foot  (£  yard) 
Yard 
Fathom  (2  yards)  . 
Pole,  or  Perch  (5|-yards) 
Furlong  (220  yards) 
Mile  (1760  yards) 
Nautical  mile 
0 
0 
3 
39 
3 
1 
32 
328' 
3280 
1093 
10936' 
6- 
Length. 
03937  inch 
•393708  " 
937079  inches 
•37079  " 
•2808992  feet 
•093633  yard 
•808992  feet 
08992  " 
8992 
•633 
33 
2138 
yards 
miles 
2-  539954 
3-  0479449 
0-  91438348 
1-  82876696 
5  02911 
201-16437 
1609-3149 
1852 
centinietfes 
decimetres 
metre 
