blish uniform weights and measures throughout the kingdom. They found that this subject had engaged the attention of Parliament at a very early period. The Statute Book from the time of Henry the Third abounds with Acts of Parliament enacting and declaring that there should be one uniform weight and measure throughout the realm; and every act complains that the preceding statutes had been ineffectual, and that the laws were disobeyed.

The Select Committee of the House of Commons, which was appointed in the year 1758, to inquire into the original standards of weights and measures in this kingdom, and to consider the laws relating thereto, made a very elaborate report on this subject, in which is contained all the information that is necessary with regard to the inquiry into what were the original standards of weights and measures: such parts of that report as have appeared to your Committee to be most important, are inserted in the appendix to this report.

The Committee of 1758 first give an abridged state of the several statutes which have been enacted relating to weights and measures, 1st. so far as they establish any weights or measures, or standards for the same; and 2d. so far as any means, checks, or sanctions are provided to compel the use of the established weights and measures, or to punish disobedience. The Committee then point out what appeared to them to be the principal causes which had prevented the attainment of that uniformity, so much and so wisely desired by Parliament. These are

were

stated to be the want of skill in the artificers, who from time to time made copies of the standards kept in the Exchequer; and as these imperfect measures again copied from, every error was multiplied, till the variety of standards rendered it difficult to know what was the real standard, or to apply any adequate remedy.

In the second place, the multiplicity of statutes made on this subject, many of which are at variance with one another, and in many of which there are partial exceptions of particular counties, and particular articles, from the operation of the acts, appeared to the Committee to be the principal cause of the various errors which were every where found to prevail.

Upon an accurate comparison of the various measures preserved in the Exchequer, and which are directed to be used for sizing and adjusting all other measures, they were found to differ materially from each other, and yet (the Committee observe) as the law now stands, all these measures must be understood to contain the like quantities, are equally legal, and may be indiscriminately used.

Óf these various measures, the Committee recommend the adoption of the ale gallon of 282 cubical inches, and to abolish the use of all the others. They also recommend that the troy pound should be the only standard of weight. Though your Committee agree entirely with the Report of the Committee of 1758, that there should be only one gallon for measuring all articles whatsoever, and only one denomination of weight, yet they cannot concur,

for

for reasons which will be hereafter stated, in the selection made by that Committee in appointing these standards.

:

This Report was agreed to by the House and in the year 1765, two bills were brought in by Lord Carysfort, who was Chairman of the Committee of 1758, for the purpose of carrying into effect the resolutions of that Committee. These bills were severally read a first and second time, and committed; and the bills, as amended by the Committee, were ordered to be printed on the 8th day of May. Parliament, was, however, prorogued in that year on the 25th day of May; and these Bills, which (as far as can be collected from the Journals,) were approved of by the House, were thus unfortunately lost.

Since that period, little has been done to accomplish this important object. A Committee was indeed appointed in the year 1790, but they do not appear to have made any progress, as your Committee have been unable to find any minutes of their proceedings.

Two acts were passed in the years 1795 and 1797, the 35 Geo. III. cap. 102, and 37 Geo. III. cap. 143, which empower Justices of the Peace to search for and destroy false weights, and to punish the persons in whose possession they are found; but no mention is made in these acts of deficient measures.

Your Committee now proceed to state what appear to them to be the principal causes which have prevented the establishment of uniform weights and measures; and to state the reasons which have induced them to differ from

the Committee of 1758, in some of their resolutions.

It appears to your Committee, that the great causes of the inaccuracies which have prevailed, are the want of a fixed standard in nature, with which the standards of measure might at all times be easily compared, the want of a simple mode of connecting the measures of length with those of capacity and weight, and also the want of proper tables of equalization, by means of which the old measures might have readily been converted into the new standards. Some rude attempts seem to have been made to establish a mode of connecting the measures of capacity with weight. In an act of the 51st of Henry Third, intituled, “Assisa Papis et Cervisiæ," it is declared, "that an English penny, called the sterling, round without clipping, should weigh 32 grains of wheat, well dried and gathered out of the middle of the ear; and 20 pence to make an ounce, 12 ounces a pound, 8 pounds a gallon of wine, and 8 gallons of wine a bushel of London."

Nothing, however, can be more uncertain and inaccurate than this method of determining the size of a gallon measure by the weight of a certain number of grains of wheat, which must vary according to the season and the nature of the soil and climate where they are produced.

In order to obtain some information as to what were the best means of comparing the standards of length, with some invariable natural standard, your Committee proceeded to examine Dr. W. Hyde Wollaston, secretary to the

Royal

Royal Society, and Professor Playfair of Edinburgh.

From the evidence of these gentlemen, it appears that the length of a pendulum making a certain number of vibrations in a given portion of time, will always be the same in the same latitude; and that the standard English yard has been accurately compared with the length of the pendulum which vibrates 60 times in a minute in the latitude of London.

The length of this pendulum is 39.13047 inches, of which the yard contains 36. Any expert watch-maker can easily adjust a pendulum, which shall vibrate exactly 60 times in a minute.

The French government have adopted as the standard of their measures, a portion of an are of the meridian, which was accurately measured. The standard metre, which is the 10,000,000th part of the quadrant of the meridian, which is engraved on the Platina scale preserved in the National Institute, has been compared with the English standard yard, by Professor Pictet of Geneva, and was found to exceed it, at the temperature of 32 degrees, by 3.3702 inches; and at the temperature of 55 degrees, by 3.3828 inches.

The standard yard may therefore be at any time ascertained, by a comparison either with an arc of the meridian, or the length of the pendulum, both of which may be considered as invariable.

The standard of linear measure being thus established and ascer rained, the measures of capacity are easily deduced from it, by determining the number of cubical inches which they should contain.

The standard of weight must be derived from the measures of capacity, by ascertaining the weight of a given bulk of some substance of which the specific gravity is invariable. Fortunately that substance which is most generally diffused over the world answers this condition. The specific gravity of pure water has been found to be invariable at the same temperature: and by a very remarkable coincidence, a cubic foot of pure water (or 1,728 cubical inches) at the temperature of 561° by Fahrenheit's thermometer, has been ascertained to weigh exactly 1000 ounces avoirdupois, and therefore the weight of 27,648 inches is equal to one pound avoirdupois.

This circumstance forms the groundwork of all the succeeding observations of your Committee.

Although in theory the standard of weight is derived from the measures of capacity, yet in practice it will be found more convenient to reverse this order.

The weight of water contained by any vessel, affords the best measure of its capacity, and is more easily ascertained than the number of cubical inches by gauging.

Your Committee therefore recommend that the measures of capacity should be ascertained by the weight of pure or distilled water contained by them, rather than by the number of cubical inches, as recommended in the 4th resolution of the Committee of 1758.

Your Committee are also of opinion, that the standard gallon, from which all the other measures of capacity should be derived,

shoud

should be made of such a size as to contain such a weight of pure water of the temperature of 5610, as should be expressed in a whole number of pounds avoidupois, and such also as would admit of the quart and pint containing integer numbers of ounces, without any fractional parts.

If the gallon is made to contain 10 pounds of water, the quart will contain 40 ounces, and the pint 20.

This gallon recommended by your Committee, will contain 276.48 cubical inches, being nearly 3 per cent. larger than the gallon or 8th part of the Winchester bushel as fixed by the Act of the 13th and 14th of William and Mary, cap. 5, which contains 268.803 cubical inches, and the bushel will contain 2211.84 cubical inches, instead of 2150.42,

Your Committee are of opinion, that this departure from the corn measure which is employed in the collection of the malt tax, and is supposed to be the most generally used throughout the kingdom, is justified by the advantages which they anticipate from the change.

General uniformity cannot be expected, unless some simple and accurate method of checking the standard measures is adopted; and as the weight of water appears to be the best and most simple method of checking measures of capacity, it is desirable that all minute fractions of weight should be avoided. There will be much less chance of error in weighing the water contained in any measure, if only one or two weights are to be employed, than if a greater number were necessary, which

would be the case if fractional parts were required.

The difficulty of remembering long fractions is also an important consideration, and would very materially impede the attainment of that general uniformity which is so much desired.

If this gallon is adopted, the bushel will contain 8olb. of water, or 2211.84 cubical inches; the quart 69.12 cubical inches, or 40 ounces of water; the pint 34.56 cubical inches, or 20 cunces of water: the half-pint will contain 17.28 cubical inches (which is exactly 1-100th part of a cubical foot), and 10 ounces of water. Any smaller measures might with great propriety be described, according to the number of ounces of water they contained,

Your Committee are of opinion, that the simple connection which will in this manner be established between the standard of weight and measures of capacity, will greatly tend to preserve the uniformity of those measures which are found to be most liable to error. They have, besides, been induced to select this size of measure as a standard, both because it very nearly coincides with one of the standard corn measures preserved in the Exchequer, namely, the standard pint marked 1602, which contains 34.8 cubical inches; and also because it possesses the advantage of bearing very simple relations to the gallon measures, which are employed in measuring ale and wine. The calculations therefore which would be necessary for ascertaining the corresponding duties, which must be charged upon exciseable liquors, would be easily made.

The