The committee likewise decided always to adopt a large capital to designate the physical magnitude; a small capital to designate the C.G.S. unit, when it has a special name; a "lower case" letter for the abbreviation of each practical unit; and prefixes, always the same, for the decimal multiples and sub-multiples of the practical units.

This quality makes it possible to put the governmental stamp upon the money material, and to produce pieces, some of which are exact duplicates and some exact multiples, of others.

As a matter of fact, the body, in its earliest state, is a mere multiple of such units; and in its perfect condition, it is a multiple of such units, variously modified.