sent back to their country, after they are cured, or sooner if possible, on condition, nevertheless, of not again bearing arms during the continuance of the war.

Art. VI. The boats which, at their own risk and peril, during and after an engagement pick up the shipwrecked or wounded, or which having picked them up, convey them on board a neutral or hospital ship, shall enjoy, until the accomplishment of their mission, the character of neutrality, as far as the circumstances of the engagement and the position of the ships engaged will permit.

The appreciation of these circumstances is entrusted to the humanity of all the combatants. The wrecked and wounded thus picked up and saved must not serve again during the continuance of the war.

Art. VII. The religious, medical and hospital staff of any captured vessel are declared neutral, and, on leaving the ship, may remove the articles and surgical instruments which are their private property.

Art. VIII. The staff designated in the preceding article must continue to fulfill their functions in the captured ship, assisting in the removal of the wounded made by the victorious party; they will then be at liberty to return to their country, in conformity with the second paragraph of the first additional article.

The stipulations of the second additional article are applicable to the pay and allowance of the staff.

Art. IX. The military hospital ships remain under martial law in all that concerns their stores; they become the property of the captor, but the latter must not divert them from their special appropriation during the continuance of the war.

The vessels not equipped for fighting, which, during peace, the government shall have officially declared to be intended to serve as floating hospital ships, shall, however, enjoy during the war complete neutrality, both as regards stores, and also as regards their staff, provided their equipment is exclusively appropriated to the special service on which they are employed.

Art. X. Any merchantman, to whatever nation she may belong, charged exclusively with removal of sick and wounded, is protected by neutrality, but the mere fact, noted on the ship's books, of the vessel having been visited by an enemy's cruiser, renders the sick and wounded incapable of serving during the continuance of the war. The cruiser shall even have the right of putting on board an officer in order to accompany the convoy, and thus verify the good faith of the operation.

If the merchant ship also carries a cargo, her neutrality will still protect it, provided that such cargo is not of a nature to be confiscated by the belligerents.

The belligerents retain the right to interdict neutralized vessels from all communication, and from any course which they may deem prejudical

to the secrecy of their operations. In urgent cases special conventions may be entered into between commanders-in-chief, in order to neutralize temporarily and in a special manner the vessels intended for the removal of the sick and wounded.

Art. XI. Wounded or sick sailors and soldiers, when embarked, to whatever nation they may belong, shall be protected and taken care of by their captors.

Their return to their own country is subject to the provisions of Article VI of the Convention, and of the additional Article V.

Art. XII. The distinctive flag to be used with the national flag, in order to indicate any vessel or boat which may claim the benefits of neutrality, in virtue of the principles of this Convention is a white flag with a red cross. The belligerents may exercise in this respect any mode of verification which they may deem necessary.

Military hospital ships shall be distinguished by being painted white outside with green strake.

· Art. XIII. The hospital ships which are equipped at the expense of the aid societies, recognized by the governments signing this Convention, and which are furnished with a commission emanating from the sovereign, who shall have given express authority for their being fitted out, and with a certificate from the proper naval authority that they have been placed under his control during their fitting out and on their final departure, and that they were then appropriated solely for the purpose of their mission, shall be considered neutral, as well as the whole of their staff. They shall be recognized and protected by the belligerents. They shall make themselves known by hoisting, together with their national flag, the white flag with a red cross. The distinctive mark of their staff, while performing their duties, shall be an armlet of the same colors. The outer painting of these hospital ships shall be white, with red strake.

These ships shall bear aid and assistance to the wounded and wrecked belligerents, without distinction of nationality.

They must take care not to interfere in any way with the movements of the combatants. During and after the battle they must do their duty at their own risk and peril.

The belligerents shall have the right of controlling and visiting them; they will be at liberty to refuse their assistance, to order them to depart, and to detain them if the exigencies of the case require such a step.

The wounded and wrecked picked up by these ships cannot be reclaimed by either of the combatants, and they will be required not to serve during the continuance of the war.

Art. XIV. In naval wars any strong presumption that either belligerent takes advantage of the benefits of neutrality, with any other view than the interest of the sick and wounded, gives the other belligerent, until

proof to the contrary, the right of suspending the Convention, as regards such belligerent.

Should this presumption become a certainty, notice may be given to such belligerent that the Convention is suspended with regard to him during the whole continuance of the war.

Art. XV. The present act shall be drawn up in a single original copy, which shall be deposited in the Archives of the Swiss Confederation.

An authentic copy of this Act shall be delivered, with an invitation to adhere to it, to each of the signatory Powers of the Convention of the 22d of August, 1864, as well as to those that have successively acceded to it.2

The metric system of weights and measures was first proposed in the French National Assembly in March, 1791, and was definitely adopted in 1799, but it was not given its final form until 1840. It is a decimal system based on a meter as the fundamental unit of measurement. This unit of length is one ten-millionth part of the earth's meridian quadrant through Paris. All other measurements of distance are expressed in decimal multiples or fractions of the meter. The unit measure of capacity is the liter which is a cube of one-tenth of a meter. The unit of weight is the gramme which is one-thousandth of a liter of water at the temperature of 4° C. In this manner the whole system of weights and measures is based on the meter, which is established from the quadrant of the earth. The standards actually in use are very close approximations to those above indicated. All quantities and measurements being expressed in a decimal system of notation, the metric system has very naturally become the one used in all scientific computations. It is also the system in general use in trade in continental Europe and in South America. While the size of the earth affords a permanent standard of measurement, it is one that can only be used by men having sufficient scientific knowledge and adequate facilities for ascertaining what it is. For the use of the multitude definite, comprehensible and accessible standards are necessary. In order that such standards should be accepted in all countries an international agreement was necessary and a conference of plenipotentiaries of the leading countries to agree on a convention on the subject was 2 Senate Documents, 2d Session, 61 Congress, 48-1907.

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held at Paris in 1875. The following is the text of the convention and attached regulations:

INTERNATIONAL BUREAU OF WEIGHTS AND Measures

Article 1. The high contracting parties engage to establish and maintain, at their common expense, a scientific and permanent international bureau of weights and measures, the location of which shall be at Paris. Art. 2. The French Government shall take all the necessary measures to facilitate the purchase, or, if expedient, the construction, of a building which shall be especially devoted to this purpose, subject to the conditions stated in the regulations which are subjoined to this convention.

Art. 3. The operation of the international bureau shall be under the exclusive direction and supervision of an international committee of weights and measures, which latter shall be under the control of a general conference for weights and measures, to be composed of delegates of all the contracting governments.

Art. 4. The general conference for weights and measures shall be presided over by the president for the time being of the Paris Academy of Science.

Art. 5. The organization of the bureau, as well as the formation and the powers of the international committee, and of the general conference for weights and measures, are established by the regulations subjoined to this convention.

Art. 6. The international bureau of weights and measures shall be charged with the following duties:

Ist. All comparisons and verifications of the new prototypes of the meter and kilogram.

2d. The custody of the international prototypes.

3rd. The periodical comparison of the national standards with the international prototypes and with their test copies, as well as comparison of the standard thermometers.

4th. The comparison of the prototypes with the fundamental standards of the non-metrical weights and measures used in different countries for scientific purposes.

5th. The sealing and comparison of geodesic measuring-bars.

6th. The comparison of standards and scales of precision, the verification of which may be requested by governments or by scientific societies, or even by constructors or men of science.

Art. 7. The persons composing the bureau shall be a director, two assistants, and the necessary number of employés. When the comparisons of the new prototypes shall have been finished, and when these prototypes shall have been distributed among the different states, the number of persons composing the bureau shall be reduced so far as may be deemed expedient.

The governments of the high contracting parties will be informed by the international committee of the appointment of the persons composing this bureau.

Art. 8. The international prototypes of the meter and of the kilogram, together with the test copies of the same, shall be deposited in the bureau, and access to them shall be allowed to the international committee only.

Art. 9. The entire expense of the construction and outfit of the international bureau of weights and measures, together with the annual cost of its maintenance and the expenses of the committee, shall be defrayed by contributions from the contracting states, the amount of which shall be computed in proportion to the actual population of each.

Art. 10. The amounts representing the contributions of each of the contracting states shall be paid at the beginning of each year, through the ministry of foreign affairs of France, into the Caisse de depöts et consignations at Paris, whence they may be drawn as occasion may require, upon the order of the director of the bureau.

Art. II. Those governments which may take advantage of the privilege, open to every state, of acceding to this convention, shall be required to pay a contribution, the amount of which shall be fixed by the committee on the basis established in article 9, and which shall be devoted to the improvement of the scientific apparatus of the bureau.

Art. 12. The high contracting parties reserve to themselves the power of introducing into the present convention, by common consent, any modifications the propriety of which may have been shown by experience.

Art. 13. At the expiration of twelve years this convention may be abrogated by any one of the high contracting parties, so far as it is concerned.

Any government which may avail itself of the right of terminating this convention, so far as it is concerned, shall be required to give notice of its intentions one year in advance, and by so doing shall renounce all rights of joint ownership in the international prototypes and in the bureau. Art. 14. This convention shall be ratified according to the constitutional laws of each state, and the ratifications shall be exchanged in Paris within six months, or sooner, if possible.

It shall take effect on the first day of January, 1876.

In testimony whereof the respective plenipotentiaries have attached their signatures and have hereunto affixed their seals of arms. Done at Paris, May 20, 1875.3

REGULATIONS

Article 1. The international bureau of weights and measures shall be established in a special building, possessing all the necessary safeguards of stillness and stability.

3 Senate Documents, 2d Session 61st Congress, 48, 1924 to 1935.