the length of its multiples. The most important divisions of length in mechanism are those of parts of an inch, and if the length of the inch were altered it would cause much confusion. Small accurate standards of length, of the decimal parts of an inch, would be of much service to some trades. There is now no standard of appeal; and the different wire and other gauges differ so considerably, that the manufacturer, in the case of small wire and sheets of metal, has to send a sample of what he wants, there being no means of correctly expressing its size.
Although I have said so much to you with reference to the desirableness of further improvement and greater perfection in the mechanical arts, I congratulate you on the success which in our time they have attained, and the high consideration in which they are held. Inventors are not now persecuted, as formerly, by those who fancy that their inventions and discoveries are prejudicial to the general interests, and calculated to deprive labour of its fair reward. Some of us are old enough to remember the hostility manifested to the working of the power-loom, the self-acting mule, the machinery for shearing woollen cloth, the thrashing machine, and many others. Now, the introduction of the reaping and mowing machine, and other improved agri-
