Encyclopaedia Americana: a popular dictionary of arts, sciences, literature, history, politics and biography, brought down to the present time : including a copious collection of original articles in American biography : on the basis of the seventh edition of the German Conversations-Lexicon (Volume 5).

Date:
1830-33
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Encyclopaedia Americana: a popular dictionary of arts, sciences, literature, history, politics and biography, brought down to the present time : including a copious collection of original articles in American biography : on the basis of the seventh edition of the German Conversations-Lexicon (Volume 5). Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    intrusted to the protection of the national guard and the patriotism of the nation. x52 deputies voted on the subject of these changes, 219 for, 33 against them. The charter, with the changes and modifica- tions expressed in the declaration of the chamber of deputies, was presented to Louis Philip, who, on the 9th of August, 1830, took the constitutional oath; and thus the constitution octroyee (see Constitution) was changed into a real contract between the ruler and the people. The orders, under the Bourbons, were those, 1. of St. Michael, founded in 1469, and renewed in 1665; 2. of the Holy Ghost, founded in 1574; 3. of St. Louis, founded in 1693, since 1759 connected with an order of merit for Protestants; 4. of Sl Lazarus, connected, since 1683, with the order of Our Lady of mount Car- mol; 5. the religious order of the holy sepulclire of Jerusalem, founded in 1254 ; 6. the legion of honor, established by Na- poleon, divided, since 1816, into five classes. French Decimal System. The decimal system of weights, measures and time, was introduced into France during the revolution. All measures and weights are reduced to one basis—the linear meas- ure. This basis, called a metre, is the ten millionth part of one quarter of a merid- ian—3 feet, 0 inches, 11 t^*-tt hnes Paris measure, or 3 feet, 3 inches, yVoV English. This unit, increased or diminished in the decimal ratio, gives the other measures, which are designated by the name of the basis, with the Greek or Latin numerals prefixed. The Latin numerals express division; the Greek, multiplication. The former are—decern, 10; centum, 100; mille, 1000 : the latter—deca, 10 ; hecaton, 100 ; Chilian, 1000; myiia, 10,000. The follow- ing forms, therefore, are used (the word mHre being always understood): 1. For the division : deci, -^^; centi, y^u > inilli, ■jxj^yjy. 2. For the multiplication : deca, 10 times; hecto, 100 times; kilo, 1000 times; myria, 10,000 times. (The reader will oi)serve, that all the names which ex- press division end in i; those which ex- press multipUcation, in a or o.) Thus, m^- tre, 3.28 feet; decimetre, .328 feet; deca- mHre, 32.8 feet, &c. Tli* same process is applied to all other measures; and it is only necessaiyto know the relation of any given unit of measure to the basis meas- ure, in order to be able to make the ne- cessary reductions. These units of meas- tire aie—1. Of square measure, the are=:. 100 square metres ; 2. of solid measure, tiie stere=l cubic metre ; 3. of measures VOL. V. 18 of capacity, the litre=.l cubic decimetre; 4. of weights, the grammerzrthe weight of 1 cubic centimetre of distilled water The following table will render the reduc- tion of these weights and measures into the English, easy : The Metre is 3.28 feet, or 39,371 in. •^re is 1076.441 square feet. Litre is 61.028 cubic inches. Stire is 35.317 cubic feet. Gramme 15.4441 grains troy, or 5.6481 drams avoirdupois. The old weights and measures of France were as follows :—Long measure. The toise or fathom of France is equal to six feet French, the foot to 12 inches French, and the inch to 12 lines, each subdivided into 12 points. 76 French feet are nearly equal to 81 English feet; or, more accu- rately, 40,000 French feet, inches or lines, equal 42,638 English feet, inches or lines. Thus one French foot equals 1.06597 English, or 12.78934 English inches ; and hence one English foot equals 11.26 French inches. The Paris aune was 46^ English inches. In the old French road measure, the lieue, or league, is two French miles, each mile 1000 toises; hence the French league equals two Eng- lish miles, three furlongs and 15 poles. The French league, however, in difterent parts of France, has been apphed to dif- ferent distances. The marine league (20 to a degree) equals 2853 toises, or 6081 English yards ; and the astronomical league (25 to a degree) equals 2282f French toises, or 1865 English yards. The arpent, or acre of land, contained, in gene- ral, 100 squaie perches; but the perch varied in different provinces. The old French weight for gold and silver, caUed poids de marc, makes the pound or livre contain two mm-cs, 16 dices, 128 gros, 384 deniers, or 9216 grains. The French marc =r:3780 grains troy weight. For com- mercial weight, the poids de marc was hkewise used, and the quintal of 100 livres:=:108 lbs. avoirdupois, very near- ]y. Weights and measures, however, va- ried considerably in the different pronn- ces. Corn measure was the muid of 12 setters, 24 mines, 48 minots, or 144 bushels. Wine measure was the muid of 36 setters, 144 quartes, or 288 pints. This system extends also to coins. Some of the meas- ures, however, have particular denomina- tions. Among the measures of length, for instance, the millimetre is also called trait (line); the ccntimHre, doigt (finger) ; the decimetre, palme (palm); the decarrd- tre, perche (rood). Among the square measui-es, the hectare is called arpent