The use of the word "pfund" in Germany and "livre" in France are 19th century hangovers.
Initially the metric system was not universally accepted in France, but there were many different "livvre" including the "livre du roi" (the king's pound) which was the largest of all. The result was that many consumers were being ripped off. Napoleon then introduced the livre metrique which was 500g and was the only livre that was permitted for trade. This ploy succeeded in removing all the other livre and in 1840 the French Government re-introduced the metric system proper. Prior to 1870, Germany consisted of many small states most of whom were in the German Custonms Union (Zollverein), but each with their own system of measure. In 1853, the Zollverein introduced the zollpfund (customs pound) for inter-state commerce. In 1871, when the [second] German Empire was created, they adopted the metricd system as their official system of measure. BTW, the first German Empire was the Holy Roman Empire (800 - 1806), the second was "Bismarck's empire (1871 - 1918) and the third was Hitler's empire or "reich" (1933 - 1945). _____ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jeremiah MacGregor Sent: 24 January 2009 18:17 To: U.S. Metric Association Cc: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:42452] Re: A thin veneer of dishonesty Brian, Wouldn't a metric inch be 25 mm, a metric foot be 300 mm, and a metric mile 1600 m? Isn't a metric pound already used as 500 g in some countries? So why do we have to have these crazy numbers? Jerry _____ From: Brian J White <[email protected]> To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> Cc: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2009 7:36:22 PM Subject: [USMA:42411] Re: A thin veneer of dishonesty Not sure I truly understand what you're meaning with this statement Pat....expand? At 14:01 2009-01-22, Pat Naughtin wrote: > 8 Last, but not least, almost all length measuring is done using the metric inch (of exactly 25.4 millimetres), the metric foot (of exactly 304.8 millimetres) and the metric mile (of exactly 1609.344 metres). Meanwhile, almost all mass measurements are carried out using the metric pound (of exactly 453.5924 grams).
