EDITORIAL. 
91 
is  a  consequence  of  making  the  pound  the  unit,  most  unfortunate  for  the 
pharmaceutical  application  of  Mr.  Felton's  system,  as  the  grain  is  by  far 
the  most  important  individual  of  the  systems  used  by  Apothecaries — that 
by  which  we  convert  one  system  into  the  other. 
At  page  34  it  will  be  observed  that  Mr.  Stearns,  in  a  criticism  on  this 
report,  shows  the  grave  importance  of  this  defect ;  and,  whilst  he  approves 
of  the  general  features  of  the  plan,  he  suggests  a  new  unit — the  troy  grain 
— which  adds  3  tenths  to  the  value  of  every  member  of  the  scale  of  weights 
and  measures,  and  makes  the  pound  =  10,000  grains,  and  the  gallon  = 
100,000  grains.  In  viewing  the  relative  eligibility  of  the  pound  unit  and 
grain  unit  scales,  the  decision  will  be  given  according  as  their  application 
in  practice  will  involve  principally  the  lesser  or  greater  divisions  of  those 
scales ; — For,  whilst  to  the  wholesale  merchant  and  grocer  the  pound  unit 
and  its  increments  are  of  prime  importance,  and  the  divisions  of  the  pound 
comparatively  insignificant ;  so  to  the  apothecary,  and  goldsmith,  the  grain 
unit  and  its  increments  up  to  a  pound  are  chiefly  important,  and  the  higher 
divisi  ms  but  of  secondary  use.  In  either  case  the  innovations  are  so 
marked,  and  the  change  of  value  of  the  same  terms  so  great  and  abrupt, 
that  we  question  the  propriety  of  adhering  to  the  old  nomenclature,  except 
in  the  units.  In  our  system  of  coinage,  this  was  done  by  retaining  the 
dollar  as  a  unit  and  inventing  names  for  the  remainder.  The  objections  to 
the  French  decimal  system  are  chiefly  its  inconvertibility  into  troy  grain 
values  without  seriously  complex  fractions,  and  its  nomenclature,  which  is 
hardly  simple  enough  for  general  adoption.  Whatever  system  may  be 
finally  adopted,  it  should  be  readily  convertible  into  the  present  standards, 
and  should  be  adopted  in  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  simulta- 
neously, by  legal  enactment.  Before  this  can  be  done  effectively,  in  this 
country  at  least,  years  of  close  examination  and  discussion  of  the  subject 
in  all  its  bearings,  and  by  all  classes  who  are  to  be  influenced  by  it,  should 
be  had,  so  as  to  create  a  public  sentiment  in  its  favor  sufficiently  forcible 
to  sustain  the  measure  during  the  infancy  of  its  practical  application. 
Whatever  arguments  may  be  adduced  in  favor  of  the  decimal  system, 
there  are  some  practical  objections  to  it  which  should  be  clearly  considered 
before  too  hastily  changing  our  present  standards,  difficulties  which  all  the 
power  of  the  Great  Napoleon  could  not  master,  but  to  which  he  had  to 
succumb,  by  legalizing  divisions  of  the  kilogramme,  approximating  to  those 
of  the  old  systems  in  value.  Our  meaning  can  be  better  conveyed  in  the 
language  of  Dr.  Ellis,  (see  vol.  ii.,  p.  202,  of  this  Journal)  :  u  Every  one  is 
struck  at  the  first  glance  of  this  system,  with  the  beautiful  simplicity 
which  it  derives  from  decimal  arithmetic.  It  appears,  however,  to  have 
been  overlooked,  that  although  decimal  arithmetic  is  admirably  designed 
to  facilitate  the  calculation  of  mere  numbers,  it  is  not  equally  well  suited 
to  the  divisions  of  material  substances.  A  line,  weight,  or  measure,  may 
be  divided  with  the  greatest  ease,  almost  by  the  eye,  into  halves,  quarters 
and  eighths ;  but  the  division  into  fifth  and  tenth  parts,  is  attended  with 
