ed by the
well-known term "horsepower." Horsepower, unfortunately, does not form
itself directly into the C.G.S. system. The term horsepower is a
meaningless quantity; it is not a horsepower at all. It was established by
the great Watt, who determined that the average power exerted by a horse
was equal to about 22,000 foot pounds raised per minute; but this was
thought by him to be too little, so he increased it by 50 per cent., and
so arrived at what is the present horsepower, 33,000 foot pounds raised
per minute. Foot pounds bear no relation to our C.G.S. system of units,
and it is most desirable that we should have some unit of power, somewhere
about the horsepower, to enable us to convert at once watts into
horsepower. For that purpose I proposed that 1,000 watts, or the kilowatt,
should replace what is now called the horsepower, and suggested it for the
consideration of engineers. It has been received with a great deal of
consideration by those who understand the subject, and a considerable
amount of ridicule by those who do not. It is rather a remarkable thing
that, as a rule, one will always find ridicule and ignorance running side
by side; and it is an almost invariable fact that when a new proposition
is brought forward, it is laughed at. I am always very glad to see that,
because it always succeeds in drawing attention to the matter. I remember
a friend of mine, who had written a book, being in great glee because it
was severely criticised by the _Athenaeum_, a fact which drew public
attention to the book, and caused it to make a great stir. So when I
proposed that the horsepower should be increased by 33 per cent., and made
equivalent to 1,000 watts, I was not at all sorry to find that I had
incurred the displeasure of the leader writers in nearly all our
scientific papers, and I was quite sure that the attention of those who
would not perhaps have thought of it would thereby be drawn to the matter.
Some people object to the use of a name, this name "watt." When you have
fresh ideas, you must have fresh words to express those ideas. The watt
was a new unit, it must be called by some name, otherwise it could
scarcely be conveyed to our minds. The foot, the gallon, the yard, were
all new names once; and how do we know that they were not derived from
some "John Foot," "William Gallon," or "Jack Yard," or some man whose name
was connected with the measure when introduced? The poet says:

"Some mute, inglorious Mil