New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1876-10-07
METRIC MEASURES.

METRIC MEASURES.
The advocates of the metric system of weights
and measures are making new and more urgent
efforts for its introduction in this country.
Quite recently an association has been lncor-
porated for this purpose in Boston, called the
American Metric Bureau. The membership is
said to be largely composed of teachers; and
there is further evidence of this fact in some
of the arguments put forth by the Bureau, IN
which the ease of learning the metric tables at
school is strongly cOntrasted with the dill
Guilty of mastering the tables of ordinary weights
and measures. 1t might be added that few
of the children who are taught with much
trouble and WEAKNESS to recite long measure,
short measure cubic and square measure, troy,
apothecalies and ayOirdupois weight, carry
full remembrance of the figures in after life.
Still fewer gain a correct notion OF the re-
lations of the tables TO each other. 1t would
puzzle most hOOl-bOys to be asked whether
pound or an ounce meant the same weight In
anv two or three of the tables. For most OF
grown-up men the statement that ga pint is
49, pound" would be a full showing of their
knowledge of the relation of weight and meas
ure. Even those who are obliged by their
occupations to know something OF these mat
ters, rarely keep them as they do the multi
plication table, IN their heads. Step, Tor in
stance, into the nearest drug store, and ask
the man who is dispensing prescriptions how
many huid-ounces there are in gallon. The
chances are that he will consult Il book, or
make n calculation with pencil and paper,
before giving an answer.
Ii goes without saying that if the decimal
system OF weights and measures were in gem
eral use great ease in all computations which
include them would ensue. Nothing could be
simpler than the relations of gram, meter and
liter. their parts and their multiples. Grant
that "if," and all the rest is clear But to
bring the system into general use. something
more than its usefulness must be shown. The
public will never tread the steps which shall
lead ont of the old method into the new, till
those steps are plainly placed in sight After
having read much of the literature and heard
many of the arguments on this subject, we
must admit that the way to make the change.
however desirable it may be, is not yet APP
parent. As yet the advocates of the
metric system have only attempted practical
changes here and there in comparatively I'M
important transactions. There is some hope
that it may be largely adopted by architects /;
vet even in this promising field, an almost in
superable difficulty is presented, since the
measurements of the architect must bear direct
relation to those of the land-SuryeyOr Even
the stanchest friends of meters and cent?
meters are scarcely prepared to substitute
them for feet and inches in tltle-deeds, or to
insist that oil the landed property in the United
States shall be rcsurycyed. One phase of the
difficulty of making the general change is that
no one of our present weights or measures
hears any simple fractional relation to any
of the new ones. Men form their concep-
tions of size and weight by the stand
ards to which they are accustomed.
A farm of so many acres, a wall of so
many feet high, n mine producing so many
tons of ore per week, an oil well from which
so many barrels of oil can he pumped i'll twenty
four hours-thcse are simple notions. But put
the same facts in the metric expressions, and
they convey to most Americans no idea what
ever. The public cannot think III the new
method till its conceptions have been trans
lated or interpreted to them. As matters now
stand, our people cannot use metric weights
and measures till they are familiar with them;
they cannot become familiar with them till
they Use them. Compulsory methods such as
were employed in France cannot be attempted
for introducing the system here. So it waits
If the gentlemen who are so enthusiastic
about the new weights and measures would
nav more attention to this branch of the sub
iect-the relation of those we now use to those
that are pIoposed-their schemes of introduce
ton might make more progress. They count
many accomplished mathematicians among
their numbers let them try their skill at pop
ularizing the conception of the new quantities
by presenting them III the terms of the Old
TO state to an ordinary man that meter is
80 inches plus long decimal fraction, is sim
ply to confuse or rcpel him. to say to him
that 200 feet are nearly equal TO 81 meters,
may serve to convey an idea. General notions
of the new quantities being conveyed, there
would certainly be less difficulty in applying
them to special purposes. But at best the
change will be a slow one so far as the mass
of the people are concerned, and even though
the metric system be taught in al our schools,
it will scarcely be adopted by the present boys
and girls for the ordinary transactions of their
lives.