Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 66.djvu/330

326 In the latter half of the nineteenth century the reform spread over continental Europe. Spain officially adopted the system in 1819, Italy in about 1850, Portugal in 1852, Switzerland virtually in 1851, through the medium of a transition system, and, finally, in 1877, when the complete system was officially adopted. Germany and Austria-Hungary officially adopted the system in 1871. Russia, semi-officially, in 1900. Denmark alone in continental Europe has declined to make the change: but even there, it is said that the system is much used, owing to the influence of neighboring countries, in spite of the government attitude.

The pressure upon the continental European nations to adopt a uniform international system has doubtless been considerable, owing to their relatively close geographical association. Beyond the advantages inherent to the system and its international use, there does not seem to have been any pressure which would have brought about the change. Few persons now living in Spain or in Italy would be able to remember the conditions at the time of inaugurating the metric system. In Germany, however, the official change was made by law only about thirty years ago, and the events connected with the change are remembered by a large section of the people. The testimony seems to be that the change was virtually made in the cities during the course of a few weeks, and in the country districts during the course of a few months; so that in a year the metric system was practically universal. The manufacturers continued to use their tools, standards and machines just as in the past; except that they gradually measured their products in the new units; and as time went on, and machines became renewed, the machines were changed in such a manner as to produce even metric sizes.

So far as can be ascertained from the history of transition to the metric system abroad, the transition in this country should not require any machine, tool or piece of apparatus to be discarded or abandoned. The difficulty of transition would not be in expensive new machinery. It would lie in translating the old familiar sizes made by existing machinery into the new units. The trouble would be intellectual rather than material. New price-lists would have to be prepared in terms of the new units. In stores where sales had been previously made by the yard, they would be made, in the new regime, by the meter, which is a measure about ten per cent, longer. In stores where sales had been made by the pound, the new sales would be by the kilogram, which is somewhat more than two pounds (about 2.2). This would involve a change of foot-rules, yard-measures, and sets of scale-weights, together with a change of price-lists. If the change occurred suddenly, there would be great confusion; but if it took place gradually, the trouble would probably not be serious. To