Existing comment:
Size Matters:
For a complete scientific description, you will need accurate measurements of the specimen you are describing. In the past, people used a wide variety of measuring techniques, including different parts of their body to denote lengths:
English System: Developed from an ancient Roman system based on units of 12, this system was formalized in England and eventually brought to the United States with a few changes along the way.
Metric System: Developed by the French Academy of Science in the late 1700s based on units of 10, and defined as one-millionth of the distance along the meridian running from the North Pole to the equator. Currently, a meter is described as the distance that light in a vacuum will travel in 1/299,792458th of a second.
Cubit: The distance from your elbow to the tip of your finger.
Hand: Width of a hand.
Span: The distance between your outstretched thumb and pinky finger (half a cubit).
Foot: Length of a foot. |