A companion to the United States pharmacopia; . withinthe reach of every pharmacist, and it renders the use of shot or sand orany other extemporaneous contrivance superfluous, as a special counter-poise beam is attached to the scales. The Metric System. The arithmetic of the whole civilized world is decimal. We countfrom one to ten, and then begin a new series of another ten units, andso on. For this reason it is that we can compute money in dollars andcents, which are in harmony with our arithmetic, much more naturallyand rapidly than we can compute pounds, shillings, and pence, whichare not
A companion to the United States pharmacopia; . withinthe reach of every pharmacist, and it renders the use of shot or sand orany other extemporaneous contrivance superfluous, as a special counter-poise beam is attached to the scales. The Metric System. The arithmetic of the whole civilized world is decimal. We countfrom one to ten, and then begin a new series of another ten units, andso on. For this reason it is that we can compute money in dollars andcents, which are in harmony with our arithmetic, much more naturallyand rapidly than we can compute pounds, shillings, and pence, whichare not in harmony with our arithmetic. For precisely the same reason the metric system of weights andmeasures is easier and more natural to us than poundsj ounces, drachms,and grains, and pints, fluidounces, fluidrachms, and minims, or any otherweights and measures, which are not decimal. When stated in a deci-mal system of weights and measures, the quantities can be added up aseasily as if they were columns of dollars and cents ; prices can be com-. 1128 A COMPANION TO THE puted with the least possible amount of labor, and the relative propor-tions of the several ingredients in a formula can be seen more clearlythan when any other system is used. But great as these practical advantages are, there are other andgreater advantages gained by the use of the metric system. To knowthe specific gravity of any liquid is at once to know the weight of aliter of it without any computation whatsoever. If the specific gravityof glycerin be , then one liter of glycerin weighs 1,250 grams. Percontra, to ascertain the specific gravity of any liquid, it is only neces-sary to find the weight in grams of one, ten, or one hundred cubic cen-timeters of it. These things cannot be done in any other system ofweights and measures. Finally, the metric system is known and under-stood all over the world, and is the only system of weights and meas-ures legalized in every civilized country on the globe, and u
Size: 1834px × 1362px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookpublishernewyo, bookyear1884
