I know that; it was only a kind of shorthand. That law heralded the end of an era anyway. The old and Napoleonic Customary units were considered invalid from that point onwards, only a last period of delay was granted until 1840-01-01
----- Original Message ----- From: "Joseph B. Reid" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, 2002-10-06 15:50 Subject: [USMA:22471] Metrication of France > Han Maenen wrote in USMA 22469: > > > >Traders have vested interests in blocking change, so they sabotage it as much as possible. Marketers have kept the stupid horsepower alive and kicking. In France, in the nineteenth century, traders almost killed metric and after decades of misery, the only way was to impose metric on trade by law in 1837. Private persons have never been prosecuted for using illegal units of measurement. The law making metric compulsory in France was passed in 1837, but took effect from January 1, 1840.
