“ send you a third edition of that sheet, to be substituted in place of the former. I do this in order to save time, wishing to have your corrections of my corrections. I am in hopes this will not be the last trouble which this business is to give you, and that you will feel some interest in seeing that we set out right . . . ”

Meanwhile, on June 25, Rittenhouse had again written a long letter, illustrated with geometrical drawings, caused by the fact that “Since my last letter (and not before) I have read M ^r. Whitehursts Book on the Subject of Measures.”

To this Jefferson replied on the 30th: “ Your favor of the 25 ^th. came to hand last night, for which I give you many thanks. the conversion of 36.71428 pouces into 39.1923 inches was an error in division, and consequently the mean taken between that & Graham’s computation is wrong. it has rendered it necessary for me to suppress the note on that subject, & to put it into the form now inclosed. in this I state the reason for adopting 11 ^po-- 3. ^li as the equivalent of the English foot. it is so stated by D’Alembert in the Encyclopedie, and retained in the new Encyclopedie. to have changed it for 11-- 3.11, Maskelyne’s measure, would have obliged me to reform all my calculations anew, which would have exposed me to new errors of calculation, & added to the trouble & delay it would have occasioned, did not seem worth while for so small a fraction as 11/100 of a line or the 1227 ^th. of a foot. I suppose too that the operation concerting between the French & English will soon furnish us with a new & more perfect equation of their feet. I still like the rod rather than the pendulum because I do not know a single objection to it which does not lie against the pendulum, because it is clear of some objections to which that is liable, but most of all because 1/5 of the second rod is much nearer the present foot than 1/3 of the second pendulum. after all, should the French & English adopt the pendulum, we shall be free to do so also. I state on the inclosed paper the very loose answer to the 5 ^th. objection, which is the only one I am enabled to give. can you suggest something more precise? as there is an idea that Congress will rise about the middle of July, I shall only await the answer you will be so good as to make to this, and then give in the report. this day, I fancy, will determine whether we are to be removed to Philadelphia or not. for tho’ it will still be to be put to the question several times before it’s ultimate passage, yet I think, if this day’s vote of the Senate is favorable, it will pass safely thro’ all the subsequent stages. it would have been a great comfort to me to have been near you during the preparation of this business of weights & measures. it is much easier to avoid errors by having good information at first, than to unravel & correct them after they are committed. I recommend to Congress the deferring to proceed on the report till the next session, & reserve to myself an opening to add any new matter which may occur in the mean time . . . ”

Before receiving Jefferson’s reply Rittenhouse had written, on July 2nd, further criticisms and comments. This letter has a postscript: “Since writing the above I have received your favour of the 30 ^th. but see no Occasion to add any thing, except that I am sincerely glad at the proofs of having you here the next Session of Congress.”

On August 1, Jefferson sent to Rittenhouse a copy of the printed Report: “ I do myself the honour of inclosing you a printed copy of the report on measures &c. you asked in your letter whether the papers I had sent you were to be kept or retained. they are now useless and therefore may be done what you please with. they were only copies of what I had retained . . . ”

Copies of the Report were distributed by Jefferson to a number of people. The first request for a copy came from Carey, Stewart & Co. of Philadelphia on August 10: “We request to be favoured with a correct copy of your valuable report on coins, weights, & measures, for insertion in the American Museum . . .”

On August 22 General Philip Schuyler wrote to Jefferson from Albany a long letter, 12 pages folio, dealing with Jefferson’s report and containing much information on the subject of weights, measures and coins, with a table at the end to compare standard with English long, square and cubic measure. The letter begins: “Being on the point of embarking for this place, when I was honored with your note, of the 14 ^th: ins ^t:, and much engaged, I neglected to send you ”