Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1901-11-01
STANDARDS OF MEASURE.
Various Lengths OF tho cubit. Foot
and Inch.

Various Lengths OF tho Cubft Foot
and Inch.
50 far as we know at prcsc~t. TIE
stSadard measuring instrument for
linear measure I'm Egypt Pers.a, Pa.
bylonla, Greece and, in fact, all the
eastern countries, was the cubit, which
was divided in various ways, that Of
The Talmud being divided into digits.
or finger breadths, palms and spans.
four digits being equal to one palm or
hand breadth, three palms to one span
and two spans TO one cubit
A great deal of valuable research has
been made by eminent metrologists to
ascertain the length OF the cubit as
used by the various nations who made
IL their standard. We would naturally
imagine that all cubits were of one
length, but when we consider that our
own foot measure has varied so much
Cntne and one>quarter inches) from its
present recognized value we should
not be surprised to find that the cubit
varied from 1923 TO PSI inches In
Egypt. The cubit OF the fourth dynasty
varied from 20.62 to 20.51 inches-only
about one-tenth of an inch. The divid-
ed plotting scales lying on the drawing
board Of the statue of Gudea equaled
POSE inches. The Babylonian cubit
was almost exactly Of the same length
as the Egyptian cubit OF the fourth
dynasty, viz, 20.6 and 20.5 inches. The
Persian cubit seems to have been rath-
er short, measuring 1872 inches; but,
according to recent writer, there is
,A -
uring about 1926 inches.
The cubit OF the Hebrew nation, ac-
cording TO a number of investigators,
seems to have been 21.6 inches, al
though Lieutenant Totten insists, and
seems TO have proved, that the value
of the Jewish as well as the Egyptian
sacred cubit was exactly % inches.
There is considerable difficulty In
connecting the links between ancient
and medieval neurology, for TO sharp
lines can be drawn, and there is q pc
Rod of more than a thousand years
over which the connection of units Of
measure is very uncertain. The Belgic
foot was probably carried over to Great
Britain in the tenth century. It's value,
rs the foot now measures, was 13. %
COuI1CI
with the legal foot, which was enforc-
ed by the law as early as the year $50.
Had the Belgic foot of 1922 inches
been adopted instead of the legal foot
OF II inches only n very small change
would have to be made to make IL one
third OF Il meter, the meter being about
1887 inches, and three times the value
of the Belgic foot would be only 30
of an inch longer than the meter. But
the edict of King Henry /. had placed
t..c value of the foot at II inches, or
one-tA;rd OF the legal yard, which, In
turn, was supposed to be one-half the
distance between the tips of the fingers
of the Outstretched arms OF King Hen
ry. In the year 1924 A. D., in the reign
OF Edward H.. statute was enacted
that made the standard inch equal to
three barleycOrns round and dry
a.d twelve such inches made one foot
Who Of us that have lived out our half
century do not remember the old long
neaSare table which begins with
Three barleycorns make one inch p
] lc!.sve the long measure tables nc
more ontain this familiar sentence.
There were several values of the
yard in the interval between King
HeaTy's time and .that-of the final
yaEc which was established Just five
Eudrcl years after what may he call
81 the "barleycorn" statute. There
was til. yard and handful or 40 inch
ell which was abolished I'm 1889; the
yard 9i,d inch, or 81 inch ell. which was
abolished In 1858; the cloth ell of IL
farka.. N.hicb Uns ucad t,ntu 1cOO
and tn yAsd of Henry VII, which had
vaiCc q 39.963 inches. within thirty
SEVENTH, andths of the value Of the
yard a.! aadful.
Rnt tir ,-echanic arts cried out for
better @aIdard, one that was not SO
varinh.e as the barleycorn, or the
length OF ataan's arm, and so early as
the beginning of the seventeenth CEN
fury NEST accurate standards OF the yard
foot and inch had been graduated upon
metal bars by Abraham Sharp, Rowley,
Sissons, Smeaton, Graham and 9TH
ers, all OF whom contributed by their
various methods TO a very high de-
velopment of the adopted standard.
Just five hundred years after the
statue of Edward II. which made the
barleycorn the basis of the inch, it was,
by an act of George ". in 1924 that a
legal definition Of the yard was made.
This declared that the yard bar, made
by Bird in I7G0. should be the standard
beyond question of doubt-Cassier's
Magazine.
The Mushroom.
It>iS commonly believed that the