The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1875-08-05
lFrom the Boston Transcript
Weights and Measures.

An important and vigorous movement has
lately been made throughout the United States
TO bring into more general use the European
(metric or decimaD system of weights and
measures. The system was legalzed by our
Congress nine years ago, and has now been
adopted in our principal scientific works. The
American public is already familiar with the
principles OF this system without being clearly
concious of the fact, inasmuch as it appears
IN the simplest and most familiar of our tables.
namely, that of the Federal currency-our
mills, cents and dimes corresponding, both in
nomenclature and in their decimal relation To
Fe.:i.--s---,.a-~-.sill.ior ll.ioram cent;or,m Jen
which constitute the metrfc system 1n aec-
aoaencleaSrs a0a @saSrses' !. This perfectly simple
tbns: ms.sr sa ;S the English language
dect in mill. cent aud diiiser; milli, cent
hooto in becatomb. kilo in chliad,nip decade;
Rad, liter in litrameter, gram in gram NY
Webster's die }, are in area stere in stereoscope.
Although the system has long been taught in
our schools, especially since its legalization by
Congress in 1866, no schooling is really necessa-
ry to teach principles and a nomenclature with
which we are already familiar. As for the
value of the several units, they may be learned
in few hours by glaucing at full sized models
OF them exhibited, as was done in Germany at
the time of its introduction in that country in
1862 In all the shop windows. No one could
walk twenty feet in the business part of the
city without seeing before him at every turn
weights and measures. With these constantly
in view, the most ignorant classed found no
difficulty in understanding the decimal system;
whereas the so called English system" now in
use here is mystery even to such as may have
enjoyed dozen years of schooling therein.
Speaking of metric tables, Charles Sumner
said: In this brief space you behold the whole
metric system of weights and measures. What
a contrast 20 the anterior confusion! A boy at
school can master the metric system in an
aftnrnnnn q Months
to stow away the perplexities, incongruities,
and Inconsistencies of the existing weights and
measures, and then the memory must often
fail in reproducing them. The mystery of
compound arithmetic is essential in the calcu-
lation which they require. All this is done
away by the decimal progression, SO that the
first few rules of arithmetic are ample for the
pupils"
A circular containing an agreement binding
the sgners to use the metric system after July
A. 1875, has been sent to all the cities and towns
in the United States containing upwards of
so 900 Inhabitants. Every city or town so far
canvassed has returned overwhelming majori-
ties. Majorties had previously been secured
from New York, Chicago, Brooklyn, Boston.
st. LOUIS, Baltimore Portland, Newport, &C.,
and from over thirty other cities and towns CO.
op sration has been promised The number of
signatures of architects from Boston alone
amounts to 104, nearly totality of the pio-
fession.
The following simple tables give all there is
in the metric or decimal system of weights and
measures:
MONEY.
10 mills make a cent,
10 cents make dime,
10 dimes make dollar.
10 dollars make an cage.
LENGTH.
10 mili-meters make centimeter,
10 cenii-meters make a decimeter,
10 deci-meters make meter,
10 meters make a dekameter,
10 deka-meters make hectometer,
10 hecto-meters make a kilometer,
10 kilo-meters make myriameter.
WEIGHTS.
10 milli-grams make centigram,
10 cent? grams make a decigram,
10 deci- grams make gram,
10 grams make a dekagram,
10 deka- grams make a hectogram,
10 hecto-grams make kiogram,
10 kilo- grams make a myriagram.
CAPACITY.
10 milli-liters make q centiliter,
10 cent? liters make deciliter.
10 deci-liters make liter,
10 liters make dekaliter,
10 deka -liters make hectoliter.
The square and cubic measures are nothing
more than the squares and cubes of the meas.
ures Of length. (Thus square and a cubic
milimeter are the square and cube of which
one side is millimeter in length. The are
and Steye are other names for The square deka-
meter aud the cubic meter.