XIII. On a voltaic standard of electromotive force

Abstract

In the year 1861 a Committee was appointed by the British Association for the Advancement of Science to report on standards of electrical resistance, and subsequently on other standards of electrical measurements. Reports were presented in 1862, 1863, 1864, 1865, and 1867. They recommended the adoption of a system of electromagnetic units based on the metre and gramme, the relations of the units being such that the unit of electromotive force acting through the unit resistance should give the unit current, and that the unit current flowing for the unit time should give the unit quantity.