Besides, the fact that the founders abstained from indicating any specified spot in the definition of the kilogramme, when they were perfectly acquainted with the considerable variations in the intensity of gravity, leaves no doubt as to their real desire.
The same objections have been made to the definition of the kilogramme, at first considered as the mass of a cubic decimetre of water at 4 deg.

C., as to the first definition of the metre.

We must admire the incredible precision attained at the outset by the physicists who made the initial determinations, but we know at the present day that the kilogramme they constructed is slightly too heavy (by about 1/25,000).

Very remarkable researches have been carried out with regard to this determination by the International Bureau, and by MM.

Mace de Lepinay and Buisson.