The Sun.
London, England, 1825-11-15 00:00:00

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

As the new weights and measures come into
use on the Ist of January, it is of importance to make the pub-
lic familiar with the nature of the changes which will then be
necessary. These changes, generally speaking, ate not great.
Indeed, we think it would have been wise to carry them a
little farther, and to concede less to existing practices anti
customs than the Commissioners who framed the Act have done.
One radical error, we think, has been committed—the retain-
ing two standard pounds—the pound troy and the pound avoir-
dupois. The former is used solely by goldsmiths, apothecaries,
and philosophers, classes of men whose education and habits
would have rendered the adoption of a different standard ex-
tremely easy. It is true the pound avoirdupois will he the one
in general use, but the very circumstance that another pound
exists which is used in some cases, creates no, small degree of
that confusion and uncertainty which it was the express object
of the Act to remedy.
1. The standard inch, foot, yard, acre, and mile, remain the
same as at present. _

2. The pound, ounce, and pennyweight troy, and the pound,
ounce, and dramavoirdupois, remain also the same as at pre-
sent. The pound troy is declared to be the unit from which
all others are to be derived. It contains 5,70 grains ; and the
ounce troy contains 480 grains. The pound avoirdupois con-
tains 7000 troy grains, and the ounce avoirdupois 437 k. Thus
we have still two different pound, and two different ounce
weights ! As a means of restoring the weights if they should
be lost, the cubic inch of distilled water is declared to be equal
in weight to 252,458 grains—the barometer being at 30 inches,
and the thermometer at 62°.

3. The sole difference between the new system and the old
lies in the gallon and the measures deduced from it. The new
or imperial gallon is declared to contain ten pound avoirdupois
of distilled water—the temperature and pressure being as
above. Hence we find that it contains 277 k, or, more cor-
rectly, 277,27 cubic inches. Now the present wine gallon con-
tains 231, and the present ale gallon 282 cubic inches.
It follows that the new imperial gallon is to the old wine
gallon as 6 to 5, and to the old ale gallon as 47 to 48, neglect-
ing very minute fractions.
Therefore, to convert wine gallons into imperial gallons, de-
duct one-sixth ; to convert imperial gallons into wine gallons,
add one-fifth.

To convert ale gallons into imperial gallons, add 1-47th
pan ; to convert imperial gallons into ale gallons, deduct 1-48th
part.

- The new pint and quart being declared to be respectively
the Bth and 4th part of the new gallon, bear the same propor-
tion to the old pint and quart as the new gallon does to the old
gallon.
Two gallons are declared to be a peck, and eight gallons a
bushel, as at present. But the proportions here are not the
same as in the case of the pint and quart, because the old gal-
lon for dry measure is neither the wine nor the ale gallon, hut
a gallon of 268.8 cubic inches. The imperial peck and bushel
are therefore to the old Winchester peck and bushel as 268.8
to 277.27. Hence to convert 'Winchester bushels into imperial
bushels, deduct one 33d part; and to convert imperial into
Winchester add one 32d part. This is sufficiently near for
practical purposes : the sum to be added is correctly 1-31.73.
The old Winchester bushel contains 2150.42 cubic inches ; the
new contains 2218.18. The new or imperial quarter has the
same ratio to the old quarter, as the new bushel has to the old
bushel.

" The standard measure of capacity for coals, culm, lime,
fish, potatoes, or fruit, and all other goods 'and things com-
monly sold by heap measure, shall be the aforesaid bushel,
containing 80 pounds avoirdupois of water, the same being.
made round, with a plain and even botton, and being 19 inches
and a half from outside to outside, the goods in such measure
to be heaped up to the form of a cone, such cone to be of the
height of at least six inches, and the outside of the bushel to
be the extremity of the base of such cone, and that 3 bushels
shall be a sack, and 12 such sack shall be a chaldron." It is
farther provided by the Act of the 6th Geo. IV. cap. 12, " That
all such measures shall be made cylindrical, and the diameter
of such measure shall be, at the least, double the depth there-
of, and the height the cone or heap shall be equal to three-
fourths of the depth of the measure, the outside of the measure
being the extremity or base of such cone."
It is not obligatory on persons to buy and sell by those mea-
sures ; they may use the old measures, but when this is done,
the ratio which the measures used to bear to the new standard
measure mist he specified, otherwise the contract of agreement
is null and void. This will render it necessary to refer to the
new measures in all written bargains. All bargains made with-
out a special reference to some other measure are held to be
made according to the new measure.
The existing weights and measures may be used if marked,
so as to show the proportion they have to the standard mea-
sures and weights, but not otherwise. All weights and mea-
sures made after the Ist of January, 1826, are to be conformable
to the new standard.

I`iING'S BENCH PRlsoN.—Perhaps a greater
number of prisoners were never known to have
entered the walls of this prison in any one day
tha►► on the first day of Term, there being no less
than gl renders in discharge of their hail, &c.—
The prison is now extremely full, and in many of
the rooms four and five are crowded together.—
It is thought, in consequence of the Rules being
taken away, that the number this Term will ex-
ceed one thousand.

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