The Metric system of weights and measures is a decimal system and possesses as many or more advantages over the common standards as does our money system over that of Great Britain. A great advance will have been made when it is established as the only system for this country as it now is for many others.

The idea of the Metric system seems to have originated with the statesman Talleyrand of France, about the year 1790. A committee of scientists appointed to select a definite unit decided upon 1/40000000 of the earth's circumference around the poles or, as it is often referred to, 1/10000000 of a quadrant of the earth's meridian, which is the distance from the equator to the pole. This unit was called a Meter and measures about 39.37 inches.

Bars of metal measuring a Meter so constructed as to be the least affected by temperature were made and sent to other civilized nations.

It is now claimed that the scientists in calculating this distance made a slight error, but their standard has remained unchanged.

Metric weights and measures were made legal in France in 1801 and were made compulsory in 1840. They were made legal, but not compulsory, in England in 1864, and in the United States in 1866.

In the present state of things it is not recommended that any but the exceptional use be made of the Metric quantities in writing prescriptions. All drug-stores are equipped with Apothecaries' weights and measures, while many do not have the Metric; and where the pharmacist has to transpose the quantities and fill the Metric prescription by the Apothecaries' table, there is too great a possibility for error. The druggist with few exceptions has learned dosage in the old quantities and is more apt to let an error slip through in checking up a Metric prescription. The compounder may from a lack of familiarity be more apt to make an error in selecting a weight. If he should through error select a drachm instead of a scruple weight for-say calomel-having the scruple weight and the corresponding quantity of calomel in mind, instinct would tell him the quantity weighed was too much. This would only obtain in the use of standards with which he was intensely familiar. Some of these reasons may seem far-fetched, but almost any pharmacist of general experience will be reminded of many incidents in his past. The Metric system should be made compulsory by the federal government, but until that time, and paving the way for that event, it should be thoroughly taught in not only the professional but all schools. It might be practicable for the medical and pharmaceutical societies to arrange for the exclusive adoption (after a reasonable interval) of the system by both professions.

The unit of the Metric system is the Meter-39.37 inches, or about three feet three inches and three-eights of an inch.

The unit of the measure of bulk is the Liter. A vessel that is one-tenth of a Meter (a decimeter) in each of its dimensions will hold a Liter.

The unit of weight is the Gramme, which is the weight of one cubic centimeter (the cube of one-hundredth of a Meter) of water at 4° Centigrade (39.2° F.).

Greater or less quantities are designated by adding prefixes to the particular unit. These prefixes are either Latin or Greek words for 10, 100, 1000, and 10,000. The Latin prefixes are: deci (ten), centi (hundred), and milli (thousand). The Greek prefixes are: Deka (ten), Hecto (hundred), Kilo (thousand), and Myria (ten thousand).

The Latin prefix to a unit means that the unit is divided by that amount, as decimeter means 1/10 of a Meter, centigramme means 1/100 of a Gramme. The Greek prefix to a unit means that the unit is multiplied by that amount, as Dekameter for ten Meters or a Hectogramme for a hundred Grammes.

To aid the student in remembering which prefix increases and which decreases, the word "gild"has been suggested as follows:

As a precaution against mistakes the Latin prefixes are written with a small letter and the Greek with a capital, as deci and Deka.

Changes in the spelling of the original languages have been made where it was thought advisable, as changing the original Greek Deca to Deka to prevent its being mistaken for the Latin deci.

The correct pronunciation of these words should be remembered. Meter is pronounced Me-ter, the me having the same sound as the personal pronoun me. Liter is pronounced Le-ter, the le having the same accent.as the me in meter. Gramme is pronounced Gram, having the same accent as dram, sham, etc. Centi is pronounced Sen-ti.

In this country the simplest English pronunciation is employed. The most frequent errors are made in using the words Meter, Liter, Gramme, and Centi.

Only a few of the many Metric terms are commonly used. In measures of distance the Kilometer (about 2/3 of a mile), the Meter (a little more than a yard), the centimeter (about % of an inch) and the millimeter (about 1/25 inch).

In weights the Kilogramme is used in commerce and is usually simply referred to as a Kilo. The Gramme and fractions of a Gramme and the milligramme are employed.

In measures of quantity the Liter and the milliliter and the fractions of them are used.

Previous to the ninth revision of the U. S. P., the cubic centimeter was used instead of the present mil (milliliter). This change was made on account of greater accuracy and convenience, and to secure uniformity between the two pharmacopoeias in the English language.

In reading in our money system an item like $25.75 we would not say two eagles, five dollars, seven dimes and five cents, but twenty-five and three-fourths dollars or twenty-five dollars and seventy-five cents. So in the Metric system in reading-say, 25.75 Grammes-we would say twenty-five and three-fourths Grammes, or twenty-five and seventy-five hundredths Grammes, or twenty-five Grammes and seventy-five centigrammes.