Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1878-12-12
For the Herald.
The Metric System.
PAPER II.

now offer No. ..
The more [ consider this great system
the more see that it is subject magnif-
cent in all its parts, and it most surely
ranks its advocates among the reformers
of men and things.
This subject already has an immense
history. 1t is not the ,hallueination of
| few brainless beings, but born of neces-
sity and cradled in the cold lap of oppo-
sition, it has grown a strength, formida-
BILE to all croakers and weak adversaries.
Some may say that the system is tainted
with objections, because it comes from
the world-renowed France. What of that?
| Do not all know that France and Ger
many lead the whole civilized world in
education, and especially, in great scien-
tific discovery, investigation and re-
search?
Again, others say that such men as
Charles Davies, L. L. D., have raised OBJ
| iections to the metric system. True, So
did the pulpit of the whole Christian
world raise hue and cry against the
doctrine of the Nebular Hypothesis, but
to-day all are enthusiastic in presenting
it as the best possible explanation for the
past and present of matter.
Some argue with, of course, no show of
much thought or investigation, that it is
an unnecessary thing, therefore, not wor-
thy of consideration. While l was con-
ming this saw Hon. Mills Gardner board
a train, bound for Washington, D. C.
thought if he would be consistent with
the silly notion of unnecessary" that he
should demand stage-coach, or an OK
cart, or a slow-going pony, in order to
gain the halls of our National Capitol.
Again, it is said that the French Gov
ernment is more arbitrary than ours,
therefore, it may compel its subjects to an
acceptation of the metric system; but we
note that which they demand, in this
case, is accepted by the most enlightened
nations of the globe; therefore, the case
is not one of severity, but one of univer-
sal want. We would remind objectors
that revolutions take time-time for their
beginning and cOnsumation-and still a
longer time for the righting of all minor
details. 1t took a long time to Danish
slavery, and still the evils of it exist; and
fair land.
1t is argued that, if we adopt this sys-
tenn, it would cause a change in books OF
mathematics, etc. Suppose it does; that
is no unsurmountable object; already
many books on science and mathematics
are written with the recognition of the
metric system. Might as well argue thai
the reaper and self-binder are impracti
cable, because you find in every shed and
barn of the farm the relic of sickle anC
cradle.
Some gentlemen, eminent in science
: have critized the metric system on the
ground that its base is not well chosen
If the system was once open to this crit
icism, scientific men having, in some
cases, objected to it on account of inaccu
= raey in the determination of it's base, th'
objection has evidently now ceased to b.
valid. Since the method proposed in 1872
for rendering tie unit of length no Longer
dependent upon accurate measurement o
D., the earth's meridian, has been adopted
the meter, though an artificial standard
has nevertheless become invariable.
Whether or not it would have been bet
ter in the beginning to have chosen tn
+ ten-millionth part of something else, sa.
n the diameter of the earth, or that of TIN
d sun, rather than the quadrant of tn
s. earth's meridian, is no longer a matter o
the least practical Importance, since one
chosen and reproduced, it can hereafte
never again be altered.
[ understand that Prof. Davies, in hi
lecture against the metric system, dis
coursed mainly on the disastrous conse
quenses of giving up our short, shar
Saxon words for their equivalents ex
pressed in foreign language. [ fear thi
;. little sacrifice must be made. The short
sharp Saxon yard must be given up for tn
clumsy meter, and the familiar dram mus
=, yield to the grdn1-mysteriOus words de
, rived from an unknown tongue! Thoug
here, indeed, the difference will not b
so keen1y felt, as but one letter is altered
!. and we shall find some consolation frol
the loss of our dram in rejecting it is n
less of Greek origin than gram. Ho'
- exceedingly glorious to reflect that ou
short and simple EilderkinS, bGrEeycorn
pennyloeightS and hundred aUeights, mul
make way for the unpronounceable an
incomprehensible liter, centimeter, cent
gram and kilogrdan. Nay, even our dea
ly beloved and graceful 'shogsheads'' ar
''puncheons, to say nothing of our de
= icate Epipes" and ''butts," must all
swept away to make room for the cl4lmse
- foreigner. The new names are no mo
foreign than such words as dime, cen
on6 u1id,POC0OOo nj
hundred others which, like ''decigram
etc., are derived from the Greek and Ls
in. Yet, we should be sorry to give
a great many valuable articles, simp
q because their names are of foreign Origi
} Moreover, it must be remembered tn
the metric nomenclature is composed
but twelve very short words. If, no
ever, anyone finds these twelve words t
much for him after having struggled
lifetime in the vain attempt to master t
endless old ones, he may still use t
IT ssshort and sharp Saxon names in
IL private affairs, even after the rest of 1
world has accommodated itself to the n
system; just as many people, among
still use the old words, ''shillings'' a
Hpence,'' though the majority have
customed themselves to the use of tn
inconvenient Latin words, 'dime,' 'ce
m1 and mill
~ E"Ehe decimal division has failed,
applied to the circle" 1t has heen ur
as a fact very injurious to the pretensi
of the metric system, that it has ne
been permanently applied to the circl
Those who use this argument ougll
@ remember that the Arabic numerals,
~ symbols of algebra, and the division
the circle, are three things which v
0A1 | thn same for all civilizel mankind W.