Measure is defined in the dictionary as the "act or process of ascertaining the extent, dimensions, quantity, degree, capacity, or the like, of a thing." Ever since remotest antiquity men have recognized the necessity of measurements in order to facilitate commerce, to exchange ideas, or even to think correctly. By the use of an accepted standard of measure, the quantity of grain in a granary can be easily determined without the laborious process of handling every bushel of it. So measure of length enables us to grasp distance easily and to discern between different distances which would otherwise be mere guesswork. Physical science is based largely on standards of measure, and it is at once apparent that the value and permanency of any science, all its deductions and inductions, depend on the accuracy and degree of immutability of its standards; because if the standards are faulty, all conclusions based on them are, to a greater or less degree, erroneous.
Tribes and nations in a low state of development employed units of measure that were varied, Crude, and imperfect; but as civilization advanced and men became more intelligent, the errors and resultant losses from the use of imperfect standards became apparent, with the result that every advance of humanity has been marked by new efforts to attain better standards of measurement. Great difficulties have, however, been experienced in attempting to attain perfect units of measure, because of the lack of immutable standards with which to compare them. The physical universe is not immutable, and unless these standards are based on immutable law they afford no safe basis of reasoning. French engineers in the eighteenth century recognized this and attempted to perfect a system of measure based on the meter, which was intended to be one ten millionth part of the distance from the equator to the pole, measured on a meridian of the earth, but which was later discovered to be not an exact measurement. But let us suppose that their measurements had been accurate. It is evident that their standard is based on the assumed immutability of the present inclination of the earth's axis. Should that vary, change in latitude and longitude would at once occur, destroying the basic value of the meter as an exact standard.
While standards of measure— whether of energy, space, time, heat, electricity—have greatly improved, especially in the past hundred years, it is evident that none of them is infallible. "This age," said Mrs. Eddy in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 232), "is reaching out towards the perfect Principle of things; is pushing towards perfection in art, invention, and manufacture." Now any standard of measure to be unerring must be absolutely exact, universal, immutable, untouched by any variation of matter and mortality. It must stand,
