, 1870-04-10
A GOOD HOTTEST P0UHD.
From EA@tsrf Journal

| yer money, and paper Inouny- But 1t u reAu.
I puzzle TO al OF Us TO know exactly what u
pound ,cei9At in spits Of al the tAhes tia
| and tleir way into our arithmetic books. Troy
weieLt aud Aroirdupois weight, and Apokha-
ca1ies' weight, arc III very well In tneir way
! but what Is = pourds
Few pcrsone l.sre any idc@ Of the prodi8ioua
stuouuI Of scientific raseazIa involved IN -
apswtt to this question Il alra. Mullins, tha
E1&en~g1 oce1 sells poand nf potatoea s!'o1s
weight, tho Inspector tas night 70 look
how does IL know that tho weight L. short 2
Il he is guided By standard, then WHO male
NJ darI and what u it made Of, and xlere
ia Il and how was it determined, and why, and
/. how could VIC maIa another il that were de-
stroyeds 1tappears tL.s there arc seco9dozy
standard pounds deposited LII varloua places,
cLoiae standard pound kept undos cars-
I'll cua1dis1ahip Until about ten years
aSo there WAS no such thing in Eng
land al public displAy Of 1tandardA Of
weight and length, open 70 al Her Maiesty's
subjects to look at and examine; At that hme,
ircLes] were p1accd outside tho wall Of Gzeen~
wicl Obser7atory; and We doubt not that
many holiday rau4hlc1s up tho fAmous bill
Lave oLsez7ed them. These standards azn un-
detstood to be correct in their graduation to
EenetLitg Ike one-R.ousana1t Of an iaeh :!
4HeIe are uo snl-0 PuoAeIf 04sP11Sed nsAo4AAa 10
Of weight md capacity. Tue Astronomer
Royal contends that there ought 10 be-that
We ought, one aud ali Of u, to have the.
meals Of eoeing uhkt il rally pound, and
whst is really gallon
.Htat prodigious ti1a it takes to construct
and verify these standards! In 1872 q CON-
ndttee Of scientific men WA appointed to do
this they did not mako their report till 1855.
Such OF them Il h1l not died IN tho interim
were rcarpointed to lew committee in 1864 j;
aud when ve mention the uAmes Of the :As-
truncmer-Royal, Sir J. F. " Hersche1, the
Master Of the MINT, Sir John Lubbock, tho
rfsdent ;a Of !ha koy1 sosiety, and @ Professor
no lack Of brains in tho matter. This COM
mittee were told thst there was an appearance
Of injury in the Parliamentary standard O.. ..oue
pound weight! They therefore put their wise
Ec1dE toGethet to examine the contGtion OF tho
patient md to devise :. remedy. Tho grand
original Was tho Parliamentary pound; the
ncit in rank were COPIES Of this poand, placed
IN the safe-keeping Of the Ast1onomci-1so loyal,
The AaAtsT OF tho Mint, and tho rresi1ent Of
standa1ds were brought together on partieu-
1zr day, and were examined with cycry nire.r
which microscopes could insure. Tho three
copies passedmuster well !; but the raSliamanta-
~ pound I'VE may - well 6ise initial capitals,
part covered with brown matter, atising putty
from the decomposition Tn damp situaton)
Of tLs leather aud glue Of It's case.' The doc
tors set to work. The Master Of tho Mint
cleaned the pound with some caustic ammonia /;
and then Professor Miller weighing the pound
with balance Of exquisite delicacy mada By
Oe1tfine, snd comparing It with the copy III
the hands Of the Astronomer-royal, found that
the precious standard had not been eaten Away
by rats, the brown matter having been some-
thing extIaneoue, easy to remove. Tho reader
may laugh At III this nice treatment Of q
pound weight but 1t IL no 1aughing matter IN
tie eyes Of the Exchegucr ana mint folks.
toned. 1his Is bured IN wall-like some
victim OF cruel dsspot. At the time when
tho committee was At work, this pound was
buried in vail OF ths lower waiting groom Of
Tho Palace Of Westminster; and, on e1amina-
ton, was found to agree well With the all.im-
stIong-room il the basement Of tho E1choqucr
Office. THIS burying vas, and is, % curioas
an affair, that We muit describe it ! little more
fully. On . particular day, the menlbers OF
the committee being present, the clerk Of the
works and his men removed particular stone
1t the Houses Of Parliament. 4 cell Or recess
WIS then opened, in which Was an oak to1
the lid Of this boz being unscre~od, au inner
leadtn case waa revealed, which contained a
standard pound aad a standard yard After
processes OF wonderfully minuta examinations
Hlu lEEkEtEf LII p4A1Au " 10 C&lEAuAN Al42EA ul
the Master Of tho Mint in Swedish tiltar paI,ar,
then inserted In 4 Light Elyer-glt case, theu
III solid bronze boz, then IN the lealcn case
already mentioned, and then in the oak boz.
Tie EcuEd waa thus eort Of Jack-in-tho Box
the leadeu case being within the oas boz, the
| glt ra8e within the bEonze Log, aud Jack
lHrspped IN his mtet-psper gaznlentj withir
Tho silve1-SIt case \ mahogany box contain
ins the standard yard was also put into tls
leaten Gaze. Then, with great foln,alisy, tltt
| multiorm Lox Was reinserted in the cavity i,
eenry Of tho ill Of tho recess in the east sid
| Of the lower waiting-halL It was CAREFUL!
| lodged on pieces OF wood. go that no part oi
| the co1 should tonch the stone the raGbet ol
| relate Of tie cavity was covered with luity
tho front stcne was inserted a1,l driver
covered, and liquid plaster Of raria wal
70 poured in as to FL all the joints
Thus ended this grand funcral-the burial o.
| Que Pound and Ono Yard
The Parliamentary standard copy Of The
| pound is thus buried III wall the o:heI
tho hands Of the three learned pe1nonascs al
read, nsusd. The Original, the mperia
staneard-he pound, par. c1ccne..cc-wa,
wrapped IN dAeF-parcr, put into sllycr-s1'
case, this into 3 Eronxe box, and this into 4
large iron sheet in the st,ons-roem Of the F.
l
therefore, any Inishap occur TO any one o.
these five etsndard pounds (ono ,oHsin,a
aud fort ooriss), there will be tht
others at hand 10 refer to. The iron chest JUS
mentioned ii formidable affair. It WAS mad,
By Messrs. Chuhb, and weighs no less thar
four hundred pounds even vhen empty. /
| contains not only ths standan1 pound, bu
other standaraE OF weight, length, md capAei
y. When the chest is opened, ths standard
can 10 seen ,,1 through sg coverings q slass L it
while the duplicate keys OF the duplicate lock
aze placed in safe hands.
I In 1EcG, pursuant to recomm endation mad
by the committee, = Warden Of the Standard
was appointed, and Standard Office estat
lshed, next door to the E1chequer Of1ca i
meut arc considered rop to belong to the Boar
OF Trade. instead Of to the E1cheque
Tie Warden Las supervision over al tn
governmental and primary. standards, an
also over the local standards Of weight IN
mes.ure throughout the kingdom. The E.
chcqncr has had the charge Of theee matter
from vtry remote times down to 1856; 6nt no
I {As Just eaidl the Board OF Trade takes cor
troll. The weights. the measures, the bAlance1
the apparatus. tLo books-they form lag
Troy weights, measures Of otlcngth. measures {
caYaAi:y, bullicn w4gh.s, gas meters. au AZ
here. III 1ocal standards ara to be verified .
last oncv in Eve years, anl lis TeriL alton
to lie lene by tLs Warden, by means of u
R.ia S5 a;ioI,l a,n;n, st s,a1aatd; ,aa Is. n n
number q twenty thousand anl u
w.5ts srl A!r. Chisholm. tbs War len, 81
p.cls that nany OF them will t.s fouLa fauii
wl.sn t1.es como III for .eri1ration.
Our !tiend, tic imperial polnd, and IL
o.tez inle-ial stands q weight, E3se bee
citciy hardly couecivahle " everyday fol
Only imagine the AH,ulsd G.dats0,uu. part If
Sre,n lc;pg talked About. TIE iuaperlalponE
a,oi1tlurois il precisely T,0o0 grains. We
} the cEcicest standard IN tie possession OF L
Mssa Len MICH Il i a,'s ashss lsa;ss a5 ia5s gr' ~.
) AN amo4nt Of difference which We "
leave our ecLool-boy readers to dsternlin
Again. Ike imperial pound Troy is 5, i60 grain
J the oticisl standard in posse ssion Of tue ward
is 5,'G0.1s171 gzainr-atout oue-elghtl Of
s;ais ns'1 TIT 15s ssa nT9.S,Dae' aao5 si.na1s
euneo: 8, /, :, l.. ind = a1achna- fhers .
Troy atanda1da df pound; 6, 3, 2, ant
S cutcc; 10. 5, g., 2, snd lut-.; u, 6, 3, 2
:. graia- Therc are bullion standards ot no Il
e ttaa t~ecty-six different denomination
!; down to = minimum Of l-iooo of
ounce. There He standards OF t
n yard, foot, inch. l-l0 inch. cubic 70
. h1shcl, H-hrshel, peck, gallon, Lalf- -ealle
It qu,st, pint, hslf:pint, 81 h.n-gM OF M
J; "tho errors OF the ocicial standards are
sman Is to be inappreciahle e1capt with
tacet and most delicate bal1nces-"
The Warden h1s quite \ magazine OF ETH
ards under Lis charge. The choice ,rupel
pound And the imperial 5ard are in chuh
strong -chcst IN the stzoas-soorni the OH
Troy, bullion, length, capacity, and gas
Offices for everyday business; vhile vari
other important standards, MOI foC every
, use, are deposited in the large room Of The
Norman Jewel Tower, dreproof receipts
standards Office, recently assigned for
use Of the department. 3n1oscopicI app.
tus for comparing neasures cf length, 30 d
cate ss TO Insure AocuHc within The hundl