laws of war, persons attached to such hospitals cannot, in withdrawing, carry away any articles but such as are their private property.

Under the same circumstances an ambulance shall, on the contrary, retain its equipment.

Art. V. Inhabitants of the country who may bring help to the wounded shall be respected, and shall remain free. The generals of the belligerent Powers shall make it their care to inform the inhabitants of the appeal addressed to their humanity, and of the neutrality which will be the consequence of it.

Any wounded man entertained and taken care of in a house shall be considered as a protection thereto. Any inhabitant who shall have entertained wounded men in his house shall be exempt from the quartering of troops, as well as from a part of the contributions of war which may be imposed.

Art. VI. Wounded or sick soldiers shall be entertained and taken care of, to whatever nation they may belong.

Commanders-in-chief shall have the power to deliver immediately to the outposts of the enemy soldiers who have been wounded in an engagement when circumstances permit this to be done, and with the consent of both parties.

Those who are recognized, after their wounds are healed, as incapable of serving, shall be sent back to their country.

The others may also be sent back, on condition of not again bearing arms during the continuance of the war.

Evacuations, together with the persons under whose directions they take place, shall be protected by an absolute neutrality.

Art. VII. A distinctive and uniform flag shall be adopted for hospitals, ambulances and evacuations. It must, on every occasion, be accompanied by the national flag. An arm-badge (brassard) shall also be allowed for individuals neutralized, but the delivery thereof shall be left to military authority.

The flag and the arm-badge shall bear a red cross on a white ground. Art. VIII. The details of execution of the present convention shall be regulated by the commanders in chief of belligerent armies, according to the instructions of their respective governments, and in conformity with the general principles laid down in this convention.

Art. IX. The high contracting Powers have agreed to communicate the present convention to those Governments which have not found it convenient to send plenipotentiaries to the International Conference at Geneva, with an invitation to accede thereto; the protocol is for that purpose left open.

Art. X. The present convention shall be ratified, and the ratifications shall be exchanged at Berne in four months, or sooner, if possible.1

1 Senate Documents, 2d Session, 61 Congress, 48-1903.

Though not represented at the convention which formulated it, the United States adopted the convention and it was duly proclaimed July 26, 1882. The adhesion to it by other powers was duly communicated as follows: Sweden and Norway, Greece, Great Britain, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Turkey, Wurttemburg, Hesse, Bavaria, Austria, Portugal, Saxony, Russia, Persia, Roumania, Salvador, Montenegro, Servia, Bolivia, Chile, Argentine Republic, Peru, Bulgaria, Japan, Kongo Free State, Venezuela, Uruguay, Korea, Guatemala, China, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Paraguay, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Hayti, Panama and Ecuador.

On October 22, 1868, another convention was signed at Geneva, by representatives of fifteen European Powers, including North Germany, which was also adhered to and promulgated by the United States at the same time as the first one. It recites the purpose of the Powers "to extent to armies on the sea the advantages of the Convention concluded at Geneva the 22 of August, 1864," and provides:

Article I. The persons designated in Article II of the Convention shall, after the occupation by the enemy, continue to fulfill their duties, according to their wants, to the sick and wounded in the ambulance or the hospital which they serve. When they request to withdraw, the commander of the occupying troops shall fix the time of departure, which he shall only be allowed to delay for a short time in case of military necessity.

Art. II. Arrangements will have to be made by the belligerent powers to ensure to the neutralized persons, fallen into the hands of the army of the enemy, the entire enjoyment of his salary.

Art. III. Under the conditions provided for in Articles I and IV of the Convention, the name "ambulance" applies to field hospitals and other temporary establishments, which follow the troops on the field of battle to receive the sick and wounded.

Art. IV. In conformity with the spirit of Article V of the Convention, and to the reservations contained in the protocol of 1864, it is explained that for the appointment of the charges relative to the quartering of troops, and of the contributions of war, account only shall be taken in an equitable manner of the charitable zeal displayed by the inhaibtants. Art. V. In addition to Article VI of the Convention, it is stipulated that, with the reservation of officers whose detention might be important to the fate of arms and within the limits fixed by the second paragraph of that article, the wounded fallen into the hands of the enemy shall be

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.