This bureau is empowered to construct and preserve the international standards, to distribute copies of the same to the several countries, and also to discuss and initiate measures necessary for the determination of the metric system. The commission adopted a form for the standard as shown in Fig. 1. The lines representing the length of the meter are drawn on the plane _A_, which is the neutral plane, and will not change in length should the bar deflect. The bar is made of 90 per cent platinum and 10 per cent iridium, about 250 kilograms having been melted when preparations were made for the first standard, so that all of the copies made from this cast represent the same coefficient of expansion and are subject to the same changes as the original. The French government presented to the bureau the pavilion Breteuil, opposite the Park of St. Cloud, which was accepted and put into order and is now the repository of the originals of the meter and the kilogram. The expense attending the first establishment of the bureau was about $10,000 to the United States, and since then its share of the annual expense has been about $900. The standards in the possession of the United States were received through the international bureau. The Commercial Value of a Standard Having at the disposal of the nation a standard of length, the question arises, "What can be made of it commercially, and how do we know when we have a copy of the standard?" [Illustration: Fig. 1. Form of Bar Adopted for International Standards of Length]