Farming is still an important industry in England, although neglected and depressed by comparison with Manufacture and Navigation ; so it is useful still to teach the old agricultural units, mile, furlong, chain, perch, acre, rood, . . inherited from earliest civilisation through the Roman and Greek, and based on physical unchangeable qualities, nob likely to be displaced by an artificial Metric System.

Consult the lecture to the Society of Arts, December 1915, by Sir Charles M. Watson, on The Origin of the English Measures of Length, and Herodotus Ii 149 on Greek Measures.

But it is surprising no mention is made in the Report of the geographical units employed universally by the sailor of all countries, based on the measurement of the Earth, and the 24 hours of the day.

In these units there is never mention of the diameter or radius of the Earth, or of the military land-mile. The day being divided into 24 hours, and the equator also, longitude is reckoned in hours, each of 15 degrees or 60 minutes of time on the chronometer, and the degree is divided into 60 minutes of angle or 15 seconds of time. The length along the equator or a meridian of one minute of angle is then made the geographical sea-mile, le mille marin.