WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

By weight, or, as some call it, the measure of weight, is meant the apparent force or tendency which any body or commodity has to descend; and which, owing to the centrifugal force of the earth’s rotation, and the buoyancy of the air or other medium in which the operation of weighing is performed, is somewhat less than its real force, the latter being always proportional to the intensity of gravity multiplied by the mass weighed. Accurate weighing is of great importance, since in general it affords one of the best practical means of ascertaining the quantity of matter in bodies, and thence the values of the greater part of the necessaries of life. But although, in most cases, the buoyancy of the medium may have some effect, however small, it is evident that any difference in the intensities of gravity, or of centrifugal force in different latitudes, or even on different planets, can, coeteris paribus, make no difference on the weights of bodies as obtained by counterpoising; but the weight, when indicated by the force or resistance of a spring, will, coeteris paribus, be proportional to the intensity of gravity. The term measure in the present article more properly applies to the three following kinds of magnitudes, sometimes called geometrical: 1st, linear extent, such as the length or other linear dimensions of bodies; 2d, area, surface, or superficial extent; 3d, the bulk of bodies, or the solid space occupied by them, and which, when spoken of the vessels which measure or contain them, is called their contents or capacity. This article then is meant to treat of the usual standards of weights and measures, by comparison with which the amount of any article or commodity is ascertained, whether in the ordinary affairs of life, the more extensive transactions of commerce, or where greater nicety is required in the arts and sciences. Anciently standard weights or counterpoises were generally of Stone, though sometimes of metal. At present mostly all the smaller standard weights are made of some metal possessing such a composition and hardness as may be less liable to be worn or corroded, counterfeited or altered; and one of the best is a mixture consisting principally of copper and tin. The larger weights are generally of iron, though sometimes of stone. The more accurate standards of length are likewise of metal, but the larger sort is very generally of wood: chains, cords, and tapes are also used. The nicer measures of capacity are formed of metal or glass, but the larger and more common sort is mostly all of wood. After what immediately follows on the equalization of the standards in the British empire, by the late Dr Thomas Young, and his very compendious general table, we have added a more particular though brief account of the principal weights and measures at present used in different parts of the world.

The preparation of the bill for ascertaining and establishing Uniformity of Weights and Measures, which passed the Imperial House of Commons in the session of 1823 (though without having been then carried through the House of Lords), had given occasion for a laborious and somewhat painful examination of the historical progress of the measures which have been taken respecting it, and especially of the laws of England respecting uniformity of practice in different parts of the country; for such a uniformity, though generally esteemed by all governments a thing to be encouraged and enforced, had often seemed to be no more subject to the control of legislative enactment than the introduction of a uniformity of language and a grammatical accuracy of speech would be found in every part of an extensive empire.

Augustus is said to have endeavoured in vain to force a new Latin word into the language of ancient Rome: the [7:21:841]French, on the other hand, after all their labours to recommend a uniform system of measures, have ended in such a complication, that, for the most simple purposes of practical mechanics and civil life, it is become usual to carry in the pocket a little ruler, in the form of a triangular prism, one of the sides containing the old established lines and inches of the royal foot, a second the millimetres, centimetres, and decimetres of the revolutionary school, and the third the new ultra-royal combination of the Jacobin measure with the royal division, the inches consisting of the 36th part of a metre, or the four millionth of a degree of the meridian of the earth. If such occurrences as these be calmly considered, they will make us more disposed to diminish than to increase the number of penal statutes intended to compel the inhabitants of the different parts of a country to study their own convenience conjointly with that of their neighbours, and to spare themselves the necessity of a few arithmetical operations in the course of every market-day; and we shall feel that it is more incumbent on a wise government to endeavour to facilitate both the attainment of correct and uniform standards of legal existing measures of all kinds, and the ready understanding of all the provincial and local terms applied to measures, either regular or irregular, by the multiplication of glossaries and tables for the correct definition and comparison of such terms.

Measures have apparently always been derived, in the first instance, from some part of the human person. A foot, a pace, a fathom, the orgyia or stretch of the arms, a cuhit, a palm, and a finger; these have probably all been used in the earlier states of society by each individual from the magnitude of his own person; and afterwards a standard measure has been established by authority from the real or supposed magnitude of the person of some king or hero, in order for the attainment of more perfect uniformity in practice; though it is said, that in some parts of the east the Arabs still measure the cubits of their cloth by the fore arm, with the addition of the breadth of the other hand, which serves to mark the end of the measure, as the thumb which was formerly added at the end of the yard by the English clothiers. It ought not however to be forgotten, that any one of these terms possesses an advantage for popular use, and for the convenience of future ages and of remote countries, which would be lost by the introduction of any more arbitrary measurement. Thus a hand’s breadth, or a foot, is always sufficiently understood, without any definition, to enable us to form to ourselves a tolerably accurate picture of the magnitude intended to be described; and there is scarcely an instance of the caprice of denomination having ever extended so far as to make the measure called a foot in any country so small as half a natural foot, or so great as two feet of an ordinary person, and certainly not of its amounting to three ordinary feet; while a metre, even to those who know that the word implies a measure, might as well have meant a mile, or an inch, or a quart, as a length somewhat greater than a yard.

The idea of accurately verifying the standard of a country by any other means than that of a comparison with some actually existing original, can scarcely have occurred, except in a very advanced period in the progress of civilization. It was indeed enacted in the time of our Henry the Third, that an ounce should be the weight of 640 dry grains of wheat taken from the middle of the ear, that a pound should be twelve ounces, a gallon of wine eight pounds, and eight gallons of wine a bushel of London; but this seems rather a direction for making a single standard than a mode intended for the continual verification of the standard in case of any minute uncertainty. Again, in a statute of Henry the Seventh, a gallon of corn was mentioned as containing eight pounds of wheat: and this may perhaps serve to explain the origin of the two different gallons. But the substitution of an original standard derived from an object of definite magnitude, exterior to the human person, seems to have been reserved for the days of the French revolution, though it has since been adopted in an improved form by the introduction of a foot equal to 12 / 33 of the pendulum vibrating seconds, as a representative the customary foot of the kingdom of Denmark. (Quarterly Journal of Science for 1821, Astr. coll. No. V.)

The Royal Society, under the presidency of Mr Folkes, made some very accurate comparisons of the English, and French, and old Roman standards, which are recorded in the Philosophical Transactions for 1736, 1742, and 1743; and George Graham, the eminent watchmaker, determined at the same time the length of the pendulum vibrating seconds to be 39∙130 inches; but the standard with which he compared it requiring some reduction, it was afterwards ascertained that the length, as derived from these experiments, ought to have been more nearly 39∙14 inches.

A committee of the House of Commons was appointed in 1758, of which Lord Carysfort was chairman. Their Report contains some important information respecting the standards then in use. They found that the customary ale and beer gallon of the Excise was estimated at 282 cubical inches, while the legal wine gallon of the Exchequer was computed at only 231, though the only existing standard of the wine gallon in 1688, which was kept at Guildhall, contained no more than 224 cubical inches. They suggested the adoption of this smaller gallon for the legal standard, perhaps as being more favourable to the revenue, though the gallon of 231 inches had been previously legalized by the act of the fifth of Queen Anne; and they employed the well-known Mr Bird to prepare two standards, which were to be exact copies of that which was made by Graham for the Royal Society in 1742, from a very careful comparison of the various yards and ells of Henry the Seventh and Elizabeth, which were kept in the Exchequer. One of the copies was marked “Standard Yard, 1758,” and was presented by the committee to the House with the intention that it should be adopted as the legal standard; the other was made “with cheeks” for common use, and proposed to be kept in the Exchequer.

A subsequent Report of a committee appointed in 1759, consists principally of proposals for some legislative regulations, tending to facilitate the equalization of weights and measures by the establishment of proper methods of checking and authorizing the standards to be employed. In 1765, two bills were brought into the House of Commons by Lord Carysfort, in conformity with the Reports of the committees; but, from some accidental circumstances, they were not passed into laws.

Another committee was appointed in 1790; but no minutes of their proceedings have been recorded. In 1814 however a very important Report was presented to the House by a new committee, who had called upon Dr W. Hyde Wollaston and Professor Playfair for their opinions on the subject; and it was principally in consequence of these examinations that the committee stated that the length of the pendulum vibrating seconds had been ascertained to be 39·13047 inches, and that the metre of platina measured, at the temperature of 55°, 39∙3828 English inches, representing at 32° the ten millionth part of the quadrant of the meridian. They remarked with great truth, that although in theory the original standard of weight is best derived from the measure of capacity, yet in common practice it will generally be found more convenient to reverse this order; and they recommended, upon the suggestion of Dr Wollaston, that a gallon containing ten pounds of pure water should be adopted as a substitute for the ale and corn gallons, which had become different rather from accident than from any direct legislative authority, the one containing a little more than ten pounds, the other [7:21:842]a little less, though the standards of the latter were extremely discordant among themselves. It seems to have been intended to abolish the wine gallon, which is also that of the apothecaries; though it was recommended to retain the use of the Troy weight of the goldsmiths, employed also by the apothecaries. It had before been observed, that twelve wine gallons of distilled water weighed exactly 100 pounds avoirdupois; but Dr Wollaston’s proposal to make an ale gallon exactly of ten pounds, afforded a greater facility in the operation of adjusting the measure, since it is not very easy to divide 100 pounds into twelve equal parts, with the weights in common use.

Some very important experiments on weights and measures had been made a little before the date of this committee, by Sir George Shuckburgh Evelyn, who had published an elaborate paper on the subject in the Philosophical Transactions for 1798; and by the ingenious Mr Whitehurst, who obtained the length of the pendulum by measuring the difference of two lengths affording vibrations of different frequency. There were still some minute discordances between the various measurements which appeared to be of the highest authority; and some particulars in the Report of the committee of 1814 are manifestly erroneous. Thus the weight of a cubic foot of water is stated, from a mistake in computation, to be 1000 ounces at 56½° of Fahrenheit, while, in fact, it is less than this even at 39°, the maximum of density; and again, the customary length of the English foot, which has always been adjusted at the ordinary temperature of the atmosphere, and rather at that of the summer than that of the winter, as, for example, in the great trigonometrical operations of General Roy and his successors, at 62° of Fahrenheit, was, in the experiments, copied by the committee from Pictet, compared with the French standard, which was intended to be employed at the freezing point of water, without any correction for this diversity; though Dr Young had long before pointed out the omission both in the Journals of the Royal Institution and elsewhere, and had computed the true length of the metre according to these operations of Professor Pictet, confirmed by some earlier ones of Bird, Maskelyne, andLalande, to be 39∙3710 English inches, instead of 39∙3828.

In order, therefore, to remove any doubt which might still be reasonably entertained on the subject, Mr Davies Gilbert moved the House of Commons, in the year 1816, to present an humble address to the prince regent, praying that he would give direction that proper measures should be taken for ascertaining the length of the pendulum vibrating seconds, and for comparing the French and English standards with each other. In consequence of this address, the astronomer royal was in the first instance directed to perform the necessary operations; and, upon his asking for some further assistance, the president and council of the Royal Society were requested to appoint a committee to co-operate with him. This committee consisted, besides the president and secretaries, of the late Sir Charles Blagden, Mr Gilbert, Dr Wollaston, Dr Young, Captain Kater, General Mudge, Mr Brown, Mr Rennie, and Mr Troughton. They began by discussing the several modes of making the requisite experiments which occurred to the different members; and it was resolved, that as many of these methods as were preferred by each of them, should be separately carried into execution, in order to obtain collateral determinations of the required length. Mr Pond pursued the method of the French astronomers, and obtained some very satisfactory results, with an apparatus such as they had employed; Dr Young proposed a method derived from that of Whitehurst, and very perfect in theory, but somewhat complicated, and which has never yet been practically executed; Captain Kater invented, with great ingenuity, and employed, with great mechanical skill, an apparatus which does as much credit to his talents in the arrangement as to his perseverance in the experiments which he performed with it, and the accuracy of his determinations has been fully appreciated by mathematicians and practical astronomers throughout the world; and his operations have been repeated by many observers in different countries. Captain Kater’s apparatus has been described in the article Pendulum. It owes no inconsiderable part of its advantage to the property supposed to have been subsequently demonstrated by Laplace, that, even if the opposite knife edges were considerably blunted and rounded off, supposing both to be equally affected, the distance between them would still afford the true measure of the length of the pendulum without any further correction for the change of the axis of motion. [But that this celebrated property, after all, is only true within certain limits, has been shewn in the article PeNDuluM, vol. xvii. p. 210.] It has also been demonstrated in this country by means of the experiments of Chladni on the elasticity of metals, that the temporary change of form depending on the compression of the steel edge, would be too inconsiderable to produce any sensible alteration of the length in question.

The object of Dr Young’s apparatus was to obtain two or more fine lines, traced at different parts of a scale, which should exhibit between them a certain determinate portion of the length of a pendulum vibrating seconds. He apprehended that the accurate determination of the form and direction of the knife edges, and the measurement of the distance between any such edges, which was necessary in the method proposed by Prony, as well as in that which was subsequently invented by Captain Kater, would require more skill and delicacy in the execution and the observation than could be expected from any common workman or experimenter; and though Captain Kater, by his extreme care in combating every source of error, has, in point of fact, apparently obviated all these difficulties, yet it cannot be expected that so rare a combination of qualifications should again be found, in case of a repetition of the experiments, and Dr Young’s apparatus may still, at some future time, be employed with advantage, at least for a collateral check upon the results.

The obstacle which prevented the completion of the observations which were made for some time with this apparatus at Greenwich, was the difficulty of obtaining a scapement so delicate as to count the number of vibrations, without sensibly interfering with their frequency. A very ingenious clockmaker was employed to furnish a scapement, of which the intention was to strike the pendulum slightly and instantaneously at the lowest point of its vibration, and then to recoil from it, so that even a considerable impulse might have little or no effect in altering the rate of the pendulum; but it was in fact observed, upon comparison with the clocks of the observatory, that the vibrations in larger arcs were more frequent than those which were performed in smaller; so that the scapement must have exerted a very considerable influence on the time of every vibration. It was therefore found necessary to abandon this method of making the experiment; but there would be no difficulty in conducting it very satisfactorily by means of a journeyman clock, with a wooden or brass pendulum, capable of having its length altered so as to become comparable with the vibrations of Dr Young’s pendulum in its different states; and it might even be found sufficient to observe the pendulum, with the same scapement, so altered as not to give any impulse whatever, but merely to reckon the vibrations by means of the detent during the spontaneous vibrations of the pendulum, which, on account of its great weight, would be continued for a considerable time in consequence of the first impulse, taking care that the detent should be struck exactly at the middle of the vibration, [7:21:843] and that it should rebound in some measure from the pendulum at the moment of contact.

Before any attempt was made to introduce any legislative regulations upon the foundation of the various scientific experiments which had been so accurately and satisfactorily conducted, it was thought advisable by his majesty’s ministers that the subject at large should be submitted to the deliberate consideration of some competent persons, who might discuss it more minutely than could be done with convenience before a committee of either house of parliament; and that a commission should be appointed for this purpose, by a writ of the privy seal. The commissioners thus nominated in 1818 were, Sir Joseph Banks, Sir George Clerk, Mr Davies Gilbert, Dr W. Hyde Wollaston, Dr Thomas Young, and Captain Henry Kater Some further operations for the comparison of the existing standards of length were undertaken by Captain Kater. [Since this article was first published, Captain Kater has, in the Philosophical Transactions for 1826, given a detailed account of these operations; and in the Philosophical Transactions for 1830 and 1831 he has pointed out a variety of nice adjustments and corrections to be made on them, which fortunately are too minute to affect any ordinary weights or measures. But Mr Sang has lately communicated to the Edinburgh Society of Arts a notice of some defects in these last corrections of Captain Kater.] Dr Wollaston examined some of the authorized measures of capacity, and Dr Young offered his services as secretary to the committee, with the assistance of a clerk who had studied the law, while Sir George Clerk and Mr Gilbert were employed in preparations for carrying into effect, in their legislative capacity, such regulations as the commissioners at large might agree to propose. The first occupation of the clerk was to make copious extracts from the statutes at large, by means of which Dr Young drew up an abstract of the present state of the laws relating to weights and measures; and the next to select from the agricultural reports of the different counties such materials as afforded a glossary of all the terms employed in any part of Great Britain for denominating the irregular weights or measures which have acquired a local currency in the agricultural or other commercial transactions.

After this sketch of the previous history of the subject, we may now proceed to extract from the Reports of the Commissioners, and from the bills founded on them, such statements as may either serve in the place of canons for the regulation of weights and measures in general, or as documents respecting the actual value of the various standards possessing the highest degree of authenticity; and this article cannot be more properly concluded than by subjoining some further comparative tables of the standards of measures and weights adopted by different countries and at different periods.

First Report.— “I. Upon a deliberate consideration of the whole of the system at present existing, we are impressed with a sense of the great difficulty of effecting any radical changes, to so considerable an extent as might in some respects be desirable; and we therefore wish to proceed with great caution in the suggestions which we shall venture to propose.

“II. With respect to the actual magnitude of the standards of length, it does not appear to us that there can be any sufficient reason for altering those which are at present generally employed. There is no practical advantage in having a quantity commensurable to any original quantity existing or which may be imagined to exist in nature, except as affording some little encouragement to its common adoption by neighbouring nations. But it is scarcely possible that the departure from a standard, once universally established in a great country, should not produce much more labour and inconvenience in its internal relations than it could ever be expected to save in the operations of foreign commerce and correspondence, which always are and always must be conducted by persons to whom the difficulty of calculation is comparatively inconsiderable, and who are also remunerated for their trouble, either by the profits of their commercial concerns, or by the credit of their scientific acquirements.

“III. The subdivisions of weights and measures at present employed in this country appear to be far more convenient for practical purposes than the decimal scale, which might perhaps be preferred by some persons for making calculations with quantities already determined. But the power of expressing a third, a fourth, and a sixth of a foot in inches without a fraction, is a peculiar advantage in the duodecimal scale; and, for the operation of weighing and measuring capacities, the continual division by two renders it practicable to make up any given quantity with the smallest possible number of standard weights or measures, and is far preferable in this respect to any decimal scale. We would therefore recommend that all the multiples and subdivisions of the standard to be adopted should retain the same relative proportions to each other as are at present in general use.

“IV. The most authentic standards of length which are now in existence being found, upon a minute examination, to vary in a very slight degree from each other, although either of them might be preferred, without any difference that would become sensible in common cases; we beg leave to recommend for the legal determination of the standard yard that which was employed by General Roy in the measurement of a base on Hounslow Heath, as a foundation for the trigonometrical operations that have been carried on by the Ordnance throughout the country, and a duplicate of which will probably be laid down on a standard scale by the committee of the Royal Society appointed for assisting the astronomer royal in the determination of the length of the pendulum; the temperature being supposed to be 62 degrees of Fahrenheit when the scale is employed.

“V. We propose also, upon the authority of the experiments made by the committee of the Royal Society, that it should be declared, for the purpose of identifying or recovering the length of this standard, in case that it should ever be lost or impaired, that the length of a pendulum vibrating seconds of mean solar time in London, on the level of the sea, and in a vacuum, is 394372 inches of this scale; and that the length of the metre employed in France, as the 10,000,000th part of the quadrantal arc of the meridian, has been found equal to 39∙3694 inches.

“VI. The definitions of measures of capacity are obviously capable of being immediately deduced from their relations to measures of length; but since the readiest practical method of ascertaining the magnitude of any measure of capacity is to weigh the quantity of water which it is capable of containing, it would, in our opinion, be advisable in this instance to invert the more natural order of proceeding, and to define the measures of capacity rather from the weight of the water they are capable of containing, than from their solid content in space. It will therefore be convenient to begin with the definition of the standard of weight, by declaring that 'nineteen cubic inches of distilled water, at the temperature of 50°,’ must weigh exactly ten ounces troy, or 4800 grains, and that 7000 such grains make a pound avoirdupois; supposing, however, the cubic inches to relate to the measure of a portion of brass, adjusted by a standard scale of brass. This definition is deduced from some very accurate experiments of the late Sir George Shuckburgh on the weights and measures of Great Britain; but we propose at a future period to repeat such of them as appear to be the most important.

“VII. The definitions thus established are not calculated to introduce any variation from the existing standards
[7:21:844]
[table]

of length and of weight, which may be considered as already sufficiently well ascertained. But with respect to the measure of capacity, it appears from the Report contained in the Appendix (A), that the legal standards of the highest authority are considerably at variance with each other;; the standard gallon, quart, and pint of Queen Elizabeth, which are kept in the Exchequer, having been also apparently employed, almost indiscriminately, for adjusting the measures both of corn and of beer; between which however a difference has gradually, and, as it may be supposed, unintentionally, crept into the practice of the excise; the ale gallon being understood to contain about four and a half per cent. more than the corn gallon, though we do not find any particular act of parliament in which this excess is expressly recognised. We think it right to propose that these measures should again be reduced to their original equality; and at the same time, on account of the great convenience which would be derived from the facility of determining a gallon and its parts, by the operation of weighing a certain quantity of water, amounting to an entire number of pounds and ounces without fractions, we venture strongly to recommend that the standard ale and corn gallon should contain exactly ten pounds avoirdupois of distilled water at 62° Fahrenheit, being nearly equal to 277∙2 cubic inches, and agreeing with the standard pint in the Exchequer, which is found to contain exactly twenty ounces of water.

“VIII. We presume that very little inconvenience would be felt by the public from the introduction of this gallon in the place of the customary ale gallon of 282 cubic inches, and of the Winchester corn gallon, directed by a statute of King William to contain 269, and by some later statutes estimated at 272¼ cubic inches; especially when it is considered that the standards by which the quart and pint beer measures used in London are habitually adjusted, do not at present differ in a sensible degree from the standard proposed to be rendered general. We apprehend also that the slight excess of the new bushel above the common corn measure would be of the less importance, as the customary measures employed in different parts of Great Britain are almost universally larger than the legal Winchester bushel.

“Appendix (A). The standards kept at the Exchequer, for the adjustment both of corN and beer measures, are a bushel, a gallon, and a quart, dated 1601, and a pint, dated 1602, all marked with an E and a crown. They were examined by Sir George Clerk and Dr Wollaston, and the weight of Thames water which they held, at the temperature of 52°, was found as in the subjoined table. Now, since, according to Sir George Shuckburgh’s experiments, a cubic inch of distilled water at 60° weighs 252½ grains, the specific gravity of the water being to that of distilled water as 1·00060 to 1, and the apparent specific gravity of distilled water, in a vessel of brass at 52°, being to that of water at 62° as 1∙00046 to 1, it follows that the apparent specific gravity of the water employed was 1∙00106, and that an ounce avoirdupois corresponded to l∙731 cubic inches. Hence we obtain the contents of the measures in cubic inches, which are compared in the table with the more direct measurement of Mr Bird and Mr Harris, reported to the House of Commons in 1758.

“The Exchequer standard wine gallon is dated 1707, and was found to contain 133∙4 ounces, answering to 230∙9 cubic inches. An experiment of Dr Wollaston and Mr Carr, in 1814, gave 230∙8, the mean being 230·85; while the measurement of 1758 made it 231·2. A duplicate of this measure, and of the same date, is kept at Guildhall.

“Dr Wollaston and Mr Carr examined also the three other wine gallons at Guildhall. The oldest of these seems to be the same that was measured by Halley and Flamsteed in 1688, and was said to contain 224 cubic inches: its actual capacity is 224·4. The wine gallon of 1773, which is in daily use for adjusting other measures, was probably in the first instance a correct copy of the Exchequer gallon, but has been reduced by a bruise and by the wear of the brim to 230·0 cubic inches, having lost 4 / 5 of a cubic inch, or 1 / 300 of its whole capacity. The wine gallon of 1798 contains 230·8 cubic inches.

“The Excise WINE gallon was found by a similar experiment to contain 230∙1 cubic inches, having partaken of the progressive deficiency of the Guildhall gallon, from which it was derived.”

Second Report —“We have examined, since our last Report, the relation of the best authenticated standards of length at present in existence, to the instruments employed for measuring the base on Hounslow Heath, and in the late trigonometrical operations; but we have very unexpectedly discovered that an error has been committed in the construction of some of those instruments. We are therefore obliged to recur to the originals which they were intended to represent, and we have found reason to prefer the parliamentary standard executed by Bird in 1760, which we had not before received, both as being laid down in the most accurate manner, and as the best agreeing with the most extensive comparisons which have been hitherto executed by various observers, and circulated throughout Europe; and, in particular, with the scale employed by the late Sir George Shuckburgh.

“We have therefore now to propose that this standard be considered as the foundation of all legal weights and measures, and that it be declared that the length of a pendulum vibrating seconds in a vacuum on the level of the sea, in London, is 39Ί3929 inches, and that of the French metre 39·37079 inches, the English standard being employed at 62° of Fahrenheit.”

Third Report.— “The measurements which we have lately performed, upon the apparatus employed by the late Sir George Shuckburgh Evelyn, have enabled us to determine with sufficient precision the weight of a given bulk of water, with a view to the fixing the magnitude of the standard of weight, that of length being already determined by the experiments related in our former Reports; and we have found by the computations, which will be detailed in the Appendix, that the weight of a cubic inch of distilled water at 62° of Fahrenheit is 252·724 grains of the parliamentary standard pound of 1758, supposing it to be weighed in a vacuum.”

Appendix.— The commissioners having been furnished, by the kindness of the Honourable C. C. C. Jenkinson, with the apparatus employed by the late Sir George Shuckburgh Evelyn in the determination of the magnitude of the standard weights, and there being some doubt of the perfect accuracy of his method of measuring the capacity of the bodies employed, it was judged necessary to repeat that measurement with greater precautions; and the results of Captain Kater’s experiments have afforded some slight corrections of the capacities in question.

“The sides of Sir George Shuckburgh’s cube were found by Captain Kater equal to 4∙98911, 4·98934, and 4∙98935 inches, the diameter of the cylinder 3∙99713, and its length 5∙99600 inches; and the diameter of the sphere 6∙00759 inches. Hence the content of the cube appears to be 124∙1969 inches; that of the cylinder 75·2398; and that of the sphere 113·5264 inches of Bird’s parliamentary standard of 1760, recommended in the last Report of the commissioners, or of the standard made by Troughton for Sir George Shuckburgh.

“The difference of the weight of the cube in the air at 62°, [7:21:845]with the barometer at 29∙0, and in water at 60∙2°, was 31381∙79 grains; and adding to this the weight of an equal bulk of the air at 62°, which is 1 / 834 · 29 / 30 of that of the water, or 36·26 grains, and subtracting from it — of this, or 4∙26 grains, the buoyancy of the brass weights, we obtain 31413·79 grains for the weight of the cube of water in a vacuum at 60∙2°. Now this cube is less than the supposed measure, at the standard temperature of 62°, in the ratio of 1 to 1·0000567, on account of the contraction of the brass, and the water is denser than at the standard temperature, according to Mr Gilpin’s experiments, in the ratio of ∙99998 to ·99981, or of 1·00017 to 1; the whole correction for the difference of 1∙8° being ·0001133, or 3·55 grains, making 31410·24 for the weight of the cube of water in a vacuum at 62°; which, divided by 124·1969, gives 252,907 for the weight of a cubic inch, in Sir George Shuckburgh’s grains.

“In the same manner, we obtain for the cylinder, which was weighed in air under the same circumstances, and in water at 60·5°, the difference being 19006·83 grains, the correction 1 / 834 · 29 / 30 · 7·5 / 8·5 for the effect of buoyancy, amounting to 19·43 grains; and for the difference of temperature of the water and brass conjointly, the densities being ·999955 and 999810, the correction 0·00145 — 0·00047 = ∙000095, or 1·80 grains, leaving + 17·63 grains for the whole correction of the weight, as reduced to a vacuum at 62°, and making it 19024·46, which, divided by 75·2398, the content of the cylinder, affords us 252·851 for the cubic inch in a vacuum at 62°.

“The sphere was weighed in air at 67³, the barometer standing at 29∙74; the correction for the buoyancy is here 7·5 / 8·5 · 29·74 / 30 · 1 / 843 , or 28673·51 grains, 29·72; while the temperature of 66° requires, for the difference between the expansion of brass and water, the addition of ·00042 — ·000126, or ·000294 of the whole, that is, + 8·43 grains, making the whole correction 38·15, and the weight in a vacuum 28711·66; which, divided by 113·5264, gives us 252·907 for the cubic inch in a vacuum.

“The mean of these three measures is 252·888, giving for the three errors + ∙019, —·037, and +·019; and this mean, reduced to the parliamentary standard, makes 252·722 grains for the cubic inch of distilled water at 62°, weighed in a vacuum, or 252·456 in air, under the common circumstances of the atmosphere, when weights of brass are employed. In a vacuum, at the maximum of density, that is, at 39°, the weight of a true cubic inch will be 253 grains, and of a cubic decimetre 15,440.^[1. It appears, however, from an official Report obligingly communicated to us by Dr Kelly, that the actual standard chiliogramme has been found to contain only 15,433 English grains. ] κ The proposed imperial gallon of ten pounds, or 70,000 grains of water, will contain very nearly 277·3 cubic inches, under common circumstances.”

In conformity with these Reports, a bill was brought into the House of Commons in 1822 by Sir George Clerk, and again, with a few alterations, in 1823, which appears to have been drawn up with great care and judgment, and which comprehends a statement of the true ground of the proposed measures, and of the determinations which are intended for their bases.^[2. [This act, of which only partial quotations of the principal provisions are given here, is nearly the same with the 5th Geo. IV. cap. 74, which was passed 17th June 1824, to come into operation 1st May 1825, but postponed by 6 Geo. IV. cap. 12, to 1st January 1826. Most of its provisions are still in force, and indeed were only rendered compulsory by 5 and 6 Will. IV. cap 63, from 1st January 1836; the principal parta repealed by the latter statute being the use of heaped measure, and of local and customary weights and measures.] ]

“Whereas notwithstanding it is provided by the Great Charter, that there shall be but one measure and one weight throughout the realm, and by the Treaty of Union between England and Scotland, that the same weights and measures should be used throughout Great Britain as were then established in England, yet different weights and measures, some larger and some less, are still in use in various places throughout the united kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the true measure of the present standards is not verily known, which is the cause of great confusion and of manifest frauds: Be it therefore enacted, That the straight line or distance between the centre of the two points in the gold studs in the straight brass rod now in the custody of the clerk of the House of Commons, whereon the words and figures ‘ Standard Yard, 1760,’ are engraved, shall be, and the same is hereby declared to be, the original and genuine standard of that measure of length or linear extension called a yard; and that the same straight line or distance between the centres of the said two points in the said gold studs in the said brass rod, the brass being at the temperature of sixty-two degrees by Fahrenheit’s thermometer, shall be and is hereby denominated the ‘ Imperial Standard Yard,’ and shall be, and is hereby declared to be, the unit or only standard measure of extension wherefrom or whereby all other measures of extension whatsoever, whether the same be linear, superficial, or solid, shall be derived, computed, and ascertained; and that all measures of length shall be taken in parts or multiples, or certain proportions of the said standard yard; and that one third part of the said standard yard shall be a foot, and the twelfth part of such foot shall be an inch; and that the pole or perch shall contain five such yards and a half, the furlong 220 such yards, and the mile 1760 such yards....

“And whereas it is expedient that the said standard yard, if lost, destroyed, defaced, or otherwise injured, should be restored of the same length by reference to some invariable natural standard; and whereas it has been ascertained, by the commissioners appointed by his majesty to inquire into the subject of weights and measures, that the said yard hereby declared to be the imperial standard yard, when compared with a pendulum vibrating seconds of mean time in the latitude of London, in a vacuum at the level of the sea,...is in the proportion of thirty-six inches to 39·1393; Be it therefore enacted and declared, That if at any time hereafter the said imperial standard yard shall be lost, or shall be in any manner destroyed, defaced, or otherwise injured, it shall and may be restored by making, under the direction of the Lord High Treasurer...for the time being, a new standard yard, bearing the same proportion to such pendulum as aforesaid, as the said imperial standard yard bears to such pendulum.

“And whereas the commissioners appointed by his majesty to inquire into the subject of weights and measures have recommended that the standard brass weight of two pounds troy weight, made in the year 1758, and now in the custody of the clerk of the House of Commons, shall be considered as authentic; Be it enacted, That a brass weight equal to one half of the said brass weight of two pounds, gravitating in air (the barometer being at thirty inches, and the thermometer being at 62° by Fahrenheit’s scale), 1822 [1823, be it further enacted, That the standard brass weight of one pound troy weight, made in the year 1758, now in the custody of the clerk of the House of Commons], shall be, and the same is hereby declared to be, the original and genuine standard measure of weight; and that such brass weight...shall be and is hereby denominated the Imperial Standard Troy Pound, and shall be, and the same is hereby declared to be, the unit or only standard [7:21:846]measure of weight, from which all other weights shall be derived, computed, and ascertained; and that 1 / 12 th of the said troy pound shall be an ounce, and that 1 / 20 th of such ounce shall be a pennyweight, and that 1 / 24 th of such penny-weight shall be a grain, so that 5760 such grains shall be a troy pound; and that 7000 such grains shall be, and are hereby declared to be, a pound avoirdupois; and that 1 / 16 th of the said pound avoirdupois shall be an ounce avoirdupois; and that 1 / 16 th of such ounce shall be a dram.

“And whereas it is expedient that the said standard troy pound, if lost, destroyed, defaced, or otherwise injured, should be restored of the same weight, by reference to some invariable natural standard; and whereas it has been ascertained by the commissioners appointed by his majesty to inquire into the subject of weights and measures, that a cubic inch of distilled water in a vacuum, weighed by brass weights, also in a vacuum, at the temperature of 62° of Fahrenheit’s thermometer, is equal to 252∙72, 1822 [1823, 252∙724] grains, of which, as aforesaid, the imperial standard troy pound contains 5760; Be it therefore enacted, That if at any time hereafter the said imperial standard troy pound shall be lost...it shall and may be restored.... by making, under the directions of the Lord High Treasurer, ...a new standard,”...determined according to this proportion.

“And be it further enacted, That the standard measure of capacity, as well for liquids as for dry goods, shall be the gallon, containing ten pounds avoirdupois weight of distilled water, weighed in air, at the temperature of 62° of Fahrenheit’s thermometer, the barometer being at thirty inches; and that a measure shall be forthwith made of brass, of such contents as aforesaid,...and such brass measure shall be, and is hereby declared to be, the imperial standard gallon, and shall be, and is hereby declared to be, the unit and only standard measure of capacity, from which all other measures of capacity to be used, as well for wine, beer, ale, spirits, and all sorts of liquids, as for dry goods, shall be derived, computed, and ascertained; and that all measures shall be taken in parts or multiples, or certain proportions, of the said imperial standard gallon; and that the quart shall be the fourth part of such standard gallon, and the pint shall be one eighth of such standard gallon; and that two such gallons shall be a peck, and eight such gallons shall be a bushel, and eight such bushels a quarter of corn or other dry goods.

“And be it further enacted, That the standard measure of capacity for coals, culm, lime, fish, potatoes, or fruit, and all other goods and things commonly sold by heaped measure, shall be the aforesaid bushel, containing eighty pounds avoirdupois of water as aforesaid, the same being made round, with a plain and even bottom, and being 19½ inches from outside to outside of such standard measure as aforesaid.^[3. [Although the act 5 and 6 Will. IV., cap. 63, has abolished the use of heaped measure, it enacts that this form and size of bushel shall still be used for such goods sold by measure as are neither liquid nor admit of being stricken. But it is obvious, that when there is to be no heap, it is not the outside diameter, but the inside one, that ought to have been fixed for such goods; whereas the statutes have left this so indeterminate, that it may vary an inch or mote according to the thickness of the materials.] ]

“Provided always, and be it enacted, That in all cases of dispute respecting the correctness of any measure of capacity, arising in a place where recourse cannot conveniently be had to any of the aforesaid verified copies or models of the standard measures of capacity, it shall and may be lawful to and for any justice of the peace, or magistrate, having jurisdiction in such place, to ascertain the content of such measure of capacity by direct reference to the weight of pure or rain water which such measure is capable of containing; ten pounds avoirdupois weight of such water, at the temperature of 62° by Fahrenheit’s thermometer, being the standard gallon ascertained by this act, the same being in bulk equal to 277∙276, 1822 [1823, 277∙274] cubic inches, and so in proportion for all parts or multiples of a gallon.”

The slight discordance between the numbers of the two successive years depends merely on the adoption of a standard troy pound, better authenticated than the two-pound weight particularly employed by Sir George Shuckburgh, which was finally preferred, both as representing a unit, and as being more simple in its form than the two-pound weight.

TABLES OF VARIOUS MEASURES, IN ENGLISH FEET AND DECIMALS.

From Folkes, Raper, Shuckburgh, Vega, Hutton’s Ozanum, Cavallo, and others. Young’s Nat. Phil. ii. 152, 150.
[table]
[7:21:847]
[table]
[7:21:848]
[table]
[7:21:849]
[table]

The preceding part of this article was furnished by the late Dr Thomas Young, for the Supplement to the former editions, in such a form as not to supersede any thing previously given on the same subject in the body of the work; so that, both for this reason, and on account of the changes which have taken place since Dr Young wrote, some additions are required. Indeed, excepting the comparative table, his supplementary article was almost entirely confined to the then only proposed equalization of the very different weights and measures employed in different parts of the British empire, but on which four successive legislative enactments have since taken place. These are, 5 Geo. IV. c. 74, 6 Geo. IV. c. 12, 4 and 5 Will. IV. c. 49, and 5 and 6 Will. IV. c. 63. The first two of these statutes were exceedingly inert, being little better than mere recommendations or abstract speculations, from the circumstance that every one was still allowed to use whatever weight or measure his fancy, habits, or interest led him to prefer. The third has been repealed or superseded by the fourth; and the latter, which was passed in 1835, besides abolishing heaped measures, declares all bargains or transactions to be illegal, or null and void, which are made by any other weights or measures than the imperial. But although this law, which came into operation 1st January 1836, has certainly placed the matter on a very different footing from what it was before, the equalization is so far from being yet complete, that two, and in some respects three, different sorts of weights are very needlessly allowed; which tends to create confusion, and affords opportunity for fraudulent transactions. This, it seems, was done principally in compliance with the wish of the College of Physicians, who had long been in the habit of using the troy weight in their prescriptions. It seems quite clear, that if any class of the community was to be so indulged, it should have been such as were ready to plead being so far behind the rest that they could not reduce the troy to avoirdupois. There is however no good reason why physicians’ prescriptions should in this respect always continue antiquated, and lagging behind every thing else, any more than there is that physicians should always continue to use unclassical Latin instead of their mother tongue.

The parliamentary commissioners on weights and measures think there is reason to believe that the word Troy has no reference to any town in France, but rather to the monkish name of Troy Novant given to London, as founded on the legend of Brute. Troy weight would thus mean London weight. But some would derive Troy or Troyes, from trois (three), alleging it has reference to the three principal divisions of penny, shilling, and pound, or penny, ounce, and pound, used in money weight. The commissioners, with great probability, suppose the avoirdupois weight, by which heavy and bulky goods have very generally been weighed for a long time past throughout this country, to be derived from avoirs (averia), the ancient name for goods and chattels, and poids, weight.

The act 5 and 6 Will. IV. cap. 63, contains several important provisions, the substance of which we shall now endeavour to state briefly. Weights and measures verified and stamped at the exchequer as copies of the imperial standards shall be taken to be legal weights and measures, to be used for comparison, although not similar in shape to those required under the provisions of former acts, except, as will be afterwards explained, those measures used for such articles as were formerly heaped, and now are neither weighed nor stricken; and the comptroller-general, or other duly authorized officer of the exchequer, may compare and verify, and stamp as correct standards, any weights and measures which respectively correspond in weight, length, and capacity, with the standards, or parts, or multiples thereof, deposited in the exchequer, under the 5th Geo. IV. cap. 74, although, with the exception above noticed, such weights and measures may not be models or copies in shape or form of the standards so deposited.

All copies of the imperial standard weights and measures which have become defective, or have been mended, in consequence of wear or accident, shall forthwith be sent to the exchequer, for the purpose of being again compared and verified, and shall be stamped as re-verified copies of such standards, provided the officer appointed for such verification deem them fit for the purposes of standards, and every new comparison and verification shall be indorsed upon the original indenture of verification; and such weights and measures shall be stamped upon fees of verification only, unless they have been found incorrect; for in that case an extra charge is to be made for adjusting them.

The Winchester bushel, the Scotish ell, and all local or customary measures, are now abolished; and every person who shall sell by any other than one of the imperial measures, or some multiple or aliquot part thereof, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding 40s. for every such sale; but nothing herein shall prevent the sale of any articles in any vessel, where such vessel is not represented as containing any amount of imperial measure, or of any fixed local or customary measure formerly in use.

The use of heaped measure is now abolished, and all bargains, sales, and contracts by heaped measure are null and void, under a penalty not exceeding 40s. for every such sale.

Some articles formerly sold by heaped measure do not admit of being stricken, and cannot conveniently be sold by weight. It is enacted that all such articles may in future be sold by the imperial bushel, but as having its form defined by the act 5 Geo. IV. cap. 74, for the sale of heaped measure, the diameter being nineteen and a half inches outside, or any multiple or aliquot part thereof, also defined by the same act, such being filled in all its parts as nearly even with the brim as the size and shape of the articles will admit (see foot-note, p. 846); but nothing herein shall prevent the sale by weight of any article formerly sold by heaped measure. All coals, slack, culm, and cannel of every description, shall be sold by weight and not by measure, under a penalty of 40s. for every sale.

All articles sold by weight shall be sold by avoirdupois weight, except gold, silver, platina, diamonds, or other precious stones, which may be sold by troy weight; and drugs, which, when sold by retail, may be sold by apothecaries’ weight. The weight denominated a stone shall in all cases consist of fourteen standard pounds avoirdupois; the hundredweight of eight such stones, or 112 lbs.; and the ton of twenty such hundredweights; but nothing herein shall prevent any bargain, sale, or contract being made by any multiple or aliquot part of the pound weight.

All weights of one pound avoirdupois, or more, shall have the number of pounds contained in them stamped or cast [7:21:850]on the top or side, in legible figures or letters; and all measures of capacity shall have their contents stamped or marked on the outside in legible figures and letters.

The stamping of weights entirely composed of lead or pewter, or of any mixture thereof, is prohibited; but nothing herein shall prevent the use of lead or pewter, or any mixture thereof, in the manufacture of weights, if these are wholly and substantially cased with brass, copper, or iron, and legibly stamped or marked “cased or shall prevent the insertion of such a plug of lead or pewter into the weights as shall be bona fide necessary for adjusting them, and receiving the impression of the stamp. Nothing herein shall require any single weight above fifty-six lbs. to be inspected or stamped, nor any wooden or wicker measure used in the sale of lime, or other articles of the like nature; or any glass or earthenware jug or drinking cup, though represented as containing the amount of any imperial measure, or of any multiple thereof; but any person buying by any vessel represented as containing the amount of any imperial measure, or of any multiple thereof, is authorized to require the contents of such vessel to be ascertained by comparison with a stamped measure, to be provided by the person using such wooden or wicker measure, glass jug, or drinking cup, and if such comparison be refused, or the measure be found deficient, the person using the same shall be liable to the penalties imposed on those using unjust weights or measures.

The following is a tabular view of the weights and measures, according to the present state of the law, throughout the British empire. In some of the colonies, however, and particularly in India, a variety of other weights and measures besides is still in use, as will be noticed in the sequel. It is only necessary to observe, that all the quantities in the same horizontal line of the same table are equal to each other.

Troy Weight.
[table]

Apothecaries' Weight.
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In these two weights the grain, ounce, and pound are the same. The troy is used for the precious metals and for jewels, as also in trying the strength of spirituous liquors, and for comparing different weights with each other. Four grains troy make a carat. But this terra when applied to gold denotes its degree of fineness. Thus, the weight of any quantity or compound of that metal being supposed to be divided into 24 equal parts, if the mass be pure gold, it is said to be 24 carats fine. If it consist of 23 parts of pure gold and 1 of alloy, it is said to be 23 carats fiue, and so on. Diamonds and pearls are also weighed by carats of 4 grains, but 5 diamond grains are only equal to 4 troy grains. This sort of weight is not very different all over the globe. There are 150 diamond carats in the troy ounce. Apothecaries' weight is chiefly used for medical prescriptions; but drugs are mostly bought and sold, especially in wholesale, by avoirdupois weight.

Avoirdupois or Commercial Weight.
[table]

The above lb. of 7000 troy grains was formerly subdivided into 7680 avoirdupois grains, 10 of which made a scruple, 30 a dram, and 480 an ounce. The troy pound is less than the avoirdupois in the proportion of 144 to 175, or of 14 to 17 nearly; but the troy ounce is greater than the avoirdupois in the proportion of 192 to 175, or of 79 to 72 nearly.

Measures of Length.
[table]

Three inches make a palm, 4 inches a hand, 5 feet a pace, and 6 feet a fathom. In cloth measure, 2¼ inches = 1 nail 4 nails = 1 quarter, and 4 quarters = 1 yard.

Measures of Surface.
[table]

In the superficial measurement of stone, brick, or slate work, 36 square yards are termed a rood, and 100 square feet of flooring a square. There are 1728 cubic inches in the cubic foot, and 27 cubic feet in the cubic yard; 40 cubic feet of rough, or 50 of hewn timber, make a load or ton. A cubic yard of earth is called a load.

Imperial Liquid and Dry Measure, deduced from the Standard Gallon containing 10 lbs. avoirdupois of distilled water al the temperature of 62° Fahrenheit, and barometer 30 inches.
[table]

This measure came first into operation 1st January 1826, but has only been compulsory as the sole legal measure of capacity since 1st January 1836. The peck, bushel, coomb, and quarter are dry measures only.

In beer measure, the barrel consists of 36 gallons = 4 firkins, and the hogshead contains 1½ barrel or 54 gallons. The anker, tierce, hogshead, puncheon, pipe, butt, and tun, used for wine and spirits, are so vague and variable in their contents, that they are to be considered rather as the names of the casks than as expressing any fixed or definite measures. However, such vessels are usually gauged, and have their contents, whatever they may be, marked on them. But for a great variety of local and customary weights, measures, and packages of a less general nature, we beg to refer to the Second Report of the Parliamentary Commissioners on Weights and Measures, to Buchanan’s Treatise on the same subject, and to Waterston’s Manual of Commerce.

In the old English wine measure, 32 gills = 8 pints = 4 quarts = 1 gallon = 83311 imperial gallon; so that 6 old wine gallons were very nearly equal to 5 imperial.

In the old English ale measure, 8 pints = 4 quarts = 1 gallon = 1·01704 imperial gallon.

All the denominations of the old English or Winchester dry measure were the same as those of the imperial, but each of the former was less than the latter in the proportion of 32 to 33 nearly, or, more accurately, of ∙969447 to 1. Wherefore, each of the Winchester measures will be reduced to imperial by multiplying it by ·969447.
[7:21:851]

In Scotish troyes, or Dutch weight (which, under the name of French troys, was, by the acts of the Scotish parliament of 1617 and 1618, declared to be the only legal weight for Scotland, and the standard of which was committed to the keeping of the borough of Lanark), 4696 drops = 256 ounces = 16 lbs. = 1 stone = 17·391885 lbs. avoird., according to the verdict of the Edinburgh jury (4th February 1826), from weighing the original Lanark stone, then in the custody of the Dean of Guild of Edinburgh. But in practice the Dutch stone was more generally reckoned, and probably was adjusted to, 17·5 lbs. avoirdupois; or 4 Dutch stones were = 5 imperial stones of 14 lbs. each. In this way although 8 Dutch stones were said to form the standard Scotish meal boll, it was commonly reckoned to be just ten imperial stones, or 140 lbs. avoirdupois.

The tron weight, although condemned to be utterly abolished by the statutes above cited, continued in use, and varied throughout Scotland from 21 to 28 ounces avoirdupois to the pound, which in Edinburgh contained 22 of these ounces. It was generally used for butter, cheese, and in many places for butcher∙meat, hay, &c. Its multiples and subdivisions were similar to those of the Dutch. A stone of 16 lbs. avoirdupois, called customary weight, was also to be met with in many places both in England and Scotland. Nay, in some places this went by the name of Dutch weight, while the Dutch, again, was called Edinburgh weight.

The Scotish ell was = 37·0598 imperial inches; and 1920 ells = 320 falls = 8 furlongs = 1 mile = 1·123024 imperial mile. The Scotish chain for land measure, like the imperial, consisted of 100 links, and though often reckoned to have been just 74 imperial feet, was more correctly = 24 ells = 74·1196 feet; and 5760 square ells = 160 falls = 10 square chains = 4 roods = 1 acre = 1∙261183 imperial acre. Scotish acres will therefore be reduced to imperial, by multiplying them by 1·261183. Twenty-three Scotish acres made about 29 imperial, or, more nearly, 134 Scotish = 169 imperial.

In the old Scotish liquid measure, 128 gills = 32 mutchkins = 16 chopins = 8 pints = 1 gallon = 3·00651 imperial gallons.

Although several of the old Scotish dry measures were very different in different districts, most of them were similarly subdivided, having 64 lippies or forpets = 16 pecks = 4 firlots = 1 boll. In some of them, however, the bolls, especially where they were large, had very different sorts of subdivisions. But for an account of these, we must, for brevity’s sake, refer to Mr Buchanan’s very complete treatise on the subject. The proportion of an entire boll of each to the imperial measures, as determined by the verdicts of the juries in the different counties, in terms of the act 5 Geo. IV., cap. 74, will be seen from the following table, which may often be of use in interpreting contracts or leases based on the old measures.

Table shewing how many Imperial Bushels, Pecks, Gallons, and Decimals, are contained in one Boll of each of the Old Scotish Local Measures for Barley, Oats, Wheat, &c.
[table]

The old Linlithgow corn measures (which by acts of the Scotish parliament of 1617 and 1618 were declared to be the only legal measures for Scotland, the wheat firlot heaped having till then been used for barley and oats, when an equivalent separate firlot for these was first introduced) were also, previously to the imperial measures, used in the counties of Dumfries, Edinburgh, Haddington, Lanark, Peebles, Perth, and Wigton. They differed little from the one of the two bolls used in several other counties, especially that for wheat, as will be seen from the table. The term boll is still retained, six imperial bushels being generally reckoned to the boll of barley or oats, and four such bushels to the boll of wheat, &c.

In the old Irish measures, 11 miles were equal to 14 imperial miles, and 121 acres made 196 imperial acres. Twenty imperial stones were reckoned a barrel of wheat, peas, beans, or rye; 16 a barrel of barley, bere, or rapeseed; 14 a barrel of oats; and 12 a barrel of malt. To the Winchester quarter were reckoned 41 stones of wheat or rye, 24 of barley, 22 of oats, and 20 of malt. Of the old Irish gallons, 200 made 157 imperial gallons.

The troy grain is equal to ∙064792 French gramme, the troy lb. = ∙373202 kilogramme; the avoirdupois lb. = ∙453544 kilogramme. The British yard = ∙914379 metre; the mile = 1∙609305 kilometre; the acre = ∙404667 hectare; the gallon = 4∙543389 litres; the bushel = ∙363471 hectolitre; and the quarter = 2∙907769 hectolitres. The reduction of French to British is subsequently given.

In the following general comparison of the principal foreign weights and measures with the British, instead of the term imperial, which alone must be nearly unintelligible to foreigners, and indeed has become next to superfluous after every other standard has ceased to be legal in this country, we shall use the term British to denote such of the standards as are uniform, and troy and avoirdupois to express the two different kinds of weights respectively.

Algiers.— Since the French conquest, the metrical system and système usuel of France are generally used by European merchants. The metalli of oil = 37∙375 lbs. avoirdupois; and 100 rotoli = 119 lbs. avoirdupois. The metical = 73 troy grains. The Turkish pic used for cloth = 24∙5 British inches; but the Moorish pic is only three fourths as long; and 16 tarries = 1 caffise = 8∙75 British bushels.

Argentine Republic.— Same as in Spain.

Arabia— The weights and measures of Egypt are much used where the sway of Mehemet Ali has extended. Besides these, 200 rattles = 100 maunds = 10 frazils = 1 bahar = 222∙5 lbs. avoird.

Austria— Of the weights, 32 loths = 16 oz. = 4 quarters = 1 commercial lb.; and 100 lbs. = 1 centner = 123∙56 lbs. avoird. Also 20 lbs. = 1 stone. The Vienna mark of 4333 grains troy is used for gold and silver. Five such marks make nearly 6 marks of Cologne. Of Vienna measures, 6 feet make one klafter or fathom = 6∙23 Brit, feet; 1 ell = 30∙6 Brit, inches; 4000 klaftern = 1 posting mile = 4∙71 Brit, miles; and the joch = 6889 Brit. sq. yds. Also 70 kopfen = 40 maasses = 4 viertele = 112∙46 Brit. gall. Of wine, 32 cimers = 1 fuder; and 30 cimers = 1 dreyling. Eight achtele of corn = 4 viertele = 1 metzen = l∙69 Brit, bushel, and 30 metzen make 1 muth. At Trieste, the woollen ell = 26∙6 Brit. inches; the silk ell = 25 22 Brit, inches; the cimer or orna of wine = 12∙45 Brit. gallons; the barile = 144∙5 Brit. gall. The orna of oil = 1417 Brit, gall.; and the stajo of corn = 2∙272 Brit, bushels. But sometimes the weights and measures of Venice, about to be described, are used here.

In public and official matters, the decimal system of France was in effect adopted, though under a different nomenclature, in the Austrian states of Italy in 1804. Thus 10,000 grani = 1000 denari = 100 grossi = 10 oncie = 1 libra nouva = 1 kilogramme = 2∙2086 lbs. avoird.; 1000 atomi = 100 diti = 10 palmi = 1 metre = 39∙3708 Brit. inches; and 1000 copi = 100 liti = 10 mine = 1 soma = 1 hectolitre = 2∙7512 Brit. bushels. The decimal [7:21:852]system is principally used in public affairs, the old weights and measures being in more general use for ordinary trade. In Milan, the mark = 3627 grains troy; the lb. peso grosso = 2∙3343 lbs. sottile = 1∙6818 lb. avoird.; and the oil rubio = 47∙5 same lbs. The wine brenta = 15∙72 Brit. gall.; the corn stajo = 2∙008 Brit. pecks. In Venice, the lb. peso grosso = 1∙0519 lb. avoird.; the lb. sottile = ∙6643 lb. avoird.; and the mark = 3681∙5 grs. troy. The woollen braccio = 26∙6 Brit. inches; the silk braccio = 24 8 same inches; the wine seccho = 2∙376 Brit. gall.; the oil miro ∙ 3∙354 Brit. gall.; and the corn stajo = 2∙20 Brit. bushels.

Australia— Same as in Britain.

Baden— One hundred lbs. = 10 stones = 1 centner = 50 kilo, grammes = 110∙2429 lbs. avoird. There are 2 feet in the new aune = 6 decimetres = 23∙62 Brit. inches. The morgen of land = 36 French arcs = ∙8896 Brit. acre. Also 150 litres = 1 ohm = 33·015 Brit. gallons; and 20 matters of corn = 1 last = 30 hectolitres = 10'32 Brit. quarters.

Bavaria— The centner or quintal = 100 lbs. = 5 stones = 56 kilogrammes = 123∙5 lbs. avoird. Gold and silver are weighed by the Cologne mark of 3608 troy grains. The ell = 32∙8 British inches; the cimer of wine = 60 maas = 842 Brit. gallons; and 12 viertele = 6 metzen = 1 scheffel = 9·98 Brit. bushels. In the old system of Augsburg, 100 lbs. heavy weight = 108'3 lbs. avoird.; and 100 lbs. light weight — 104∙23 lbs. avoird. The mark = 3643 troy grains, and is divided into 16 loths = 64 quintius.

Belgium.— In 1820, this country and Holland being under one government, the French metrical system was introduced into both, but with the old Dutch nomenclature, as follows. Ten korrels = 1 wigtje =. 1 gramme = 15∙434 troy grains; and 1000 wigtjes ≡ 100 loods — 10 ons = 1 pond = 1 kilogramme = 2∙20486 lbs. avoird. The apothecaries' new pound is divided into 12 oz. = 96 drams = 288 scruples = 5760 grains = 5787 grains troy. Ten palms = 1 elle = 1 metre = 39∙3708 Brit. inches; also 1 mijle = 1 kilometre = 1093∙633 Brit. yds.; and 100 square elles = 10 βq. roedes = 1 sq. bunder = 1 are = 119·6033 Brit. sq. yds. The cubic elle = 1 stère = 1·30802 Brit. cubic yd.; and 100 vinger∙ hoeds = 10 maatjes = 1 kan = 1 litre; and 100 kans = 1 vat liquid measure — 1 hectolitre = 22·009 Brit. gallons. Also 100 kops = 10 schepels = 1 mudde or zak dry measure = 1 hectolitre = ·3439 British quarter.

Of the old systems still partially in use in many places, the Brabant lb. = 1∙0335 lb. avoird.; the ell = 27·58 Brit. inches; and the league = 6076 Brit. yds. The aam of 50 stoops = 32∙4 Brit. gallons; the velte = 4∙1 Brit. gall.; and 37·5 viertele = 1 last = 82 Brit. bushels. The Antwerp silk ell = 27·32 Brit. inches, and the woollen ell = 26∙97 of same inches.

Brazil— In general the same as in Portugal. But in trade the following are also in use. The lb., of which 99 = 100 lbs. avoird. Five varas = 6 British yds.; and 4 covados = 3 Brit. yds. The medida of Rio Janeiro, of which 100 = 61∙1 Brit. galls.; and 12 alqueires = 12 86 Brit. bushels. The canada of Bahia = 1∙667 Brit. gall.; and 7 alqueires = 5∙817 Brit. bushels. The alqueire of Maranham =1∙11 Brit. bushel.

Bremen.— The lb. consists of 16 ounces, and the lispond of 14 such lbs., of which 116 = 1 centner = 127'44 lbs. avoird. Hence 10 lbs. of Bremen make nearly 11 avoird. The Cologne mark is used for gold and silver. The ell of 2 feet = 22∙76 Brit. inches, end 180 quarts = 45 stubchens = 20 Viertels = 1 ahm = 31∙5 Brit. gallons. Six ahms = 1 fuder of Rhenish wine, and 44 stubchens = 1 ahm of French wine. In corn measure, 640 spinets = 160 viertels = 40 scheffels = 4 quarts = 1 last = 9·77 British quarters.

Brιιnswick— The centner consists of 114 lbs., and 100 lbs. = 103 lbs. avoird. Two feet = 1 ell = 22∙46 Brit. inches. Forty stubgens = 1 wine ahm = 32∙28 Brit. gall. Forty himtens of corn = 4 scheffels = 1 wispel = 34∙2 Brit. bushels.

Bueno, Ayret.— The same as in Spain.

Burman Empire.— Most commodities are bought and sold by weight. Of rice, 64 sales = 16 vis = 4 saits = 1 ten or basket = 57·36 lbs. avoird., but generally reckoned at half a cwt. Other grain, pulse, fruit, sait, and also lime, are measured. One hundred kaits = 1 vis or paiklha = 3∙59 lbs. avoird.; and 150 vis = 1 candy = 500 lbs. avoird.

Canada— The same as in Britain, except that the old English measures of capacity are still partially used, as also the old French ιuinot = 10556 Brit. bushel; or 45 minots = 49 Winchester bushels, though commonly reckoned at 50.

Canary Isles— The same as in Spain; but in the corn trade, 4∙5 fanegas of wheat or barley, and 3∙167 of maize or Indian corn, are reckoned to the Winchester quarter.

Candia— The oke = 2∙75 lbs. avoird., and the quintal = 126 of same lbs. The ell or pik = 25∙11 Brit. inches; the dennum measure of surface = 40 sq. yds. The mistach is a variable measure of wine from 3 to 5 Brit. gall.; that of oil is more nearly 3 gall. Corn is measured by the carga = 4∙19 Brit. bushels.

Cape of Good Hope— The Dutch standards, which were formerly used here, have now in a great measure been superseded by the British. One hundred Dutch lbs. = 108 923 lbs. avoird. The muid of wheat weighs about 110 lbs. Dutch, or fully 119·6 avoird.; and 100 Dutch ells = 75·47 Brit. yds.; also 100 morgen = 201 Brit. acres. In corn measure, 4 schepels = 1 mudde or muid = 3∙06 Brit. bushels; and 4 ahms = 1 leaguer = 126∙63 British gallons.

Ceylon— For foreign commodities, the British weights are generally employed. The candy or bahar = 500 lbs. avoird., and the garce = 82 cwts. 2 qrs. 16∙5 lbs. The bale of cinnamon = 92½ lbs. avoird. Of the native measures, 192 seers = 8 parrahs = I amomam = 5∙57 Brit. bushels; the last of corn = 6∙54 Brit. quarters; and 300 canadas = 75 welts = 1 leaguer in the retail of arrack = 125 Brit. gall.; but in wholesale, the leaguer of arrack = 80 welts. Besides the British standards of length and surface, 40 coomies in the land measure of Kandi = 4 peylas = 1 amomam = 2∙7344 Brit. acres.

Chili— In general the same as in Spain. But 24 lbs. of Chili = 25 of Spain = 25∙36 lbs. avoird., and 27 varas = 25 British yards.

China— Liquids and grain are bought and sold by weight, of which 1000 cash — 100 candereens = 10 mace = 1 tael — 583∙33 grains troy; and 1600 taels = 100 catties = 1 pecιιl = 133∙33 lbs. avoird.; so that 3 peculs = 400 lbs., 84 catties = 1 cwt., and 12 taels ≈ 1 lb. But in money weight, the tael is about 3'5 grains less. Of the measures, 10 punts = 1 covid = 14∙625 Brit. inches; or 32 covids = 13 Brit. yds. The li — 180 fathoms = 632 Brit. yds., and 200 lis = 1 degree of the meridian.

Corsica. — In general the same as in France. At Bastia, the stajo of corn = 4∙125 Brit. bushels, and the barile of wine = 30∙8 Brit. gallons.

Cuba.— Generally the same as in Spain. The following are also used in trade: 100 lbs. = 4 arrobas = 1 quintal = 101∙75 lbs. avoird. The vara = 33∙333 Brit. inches; the fanega = 2∙9 Brit. bushels; the arroba for wine or spirits = 3∙42 Brit. gallons.

Denmark.— Of the weights, 320 lbs. = 20 lisponds = 1 shippond = 3∙143 British cwts.; and 100 lbs. = 1 centner = 110∙25 lbs. avoird. Gold and silver are weighed by the Copenhagen mark of 8 ounces = 3633 grains troy. Two Rhinland feet = 1 ell = 24∙75 Brit. inches; and 2400 ruthes = 1 mile = 4∙684 Brit. miles. Eight pots = 4 kans = 1 viertel = 1∙7 Brit. gall·; 30 viertels = 1 hogshead = 51 Brit. gall.; 4 ankere = 1 ahm — 33∙25 Brit. gall.; and 144 pots = 8 skieps = 1 barrel or taende = 3∙83 Brit. bushels. Also 12 barrels = 1 last of corn = 5∙739 Brit. quarters.

Egypt.— Of the weights, 144 dirhems = 12 oockeeyehs — 1 lb. or ruth = 15∙75 oz. avoird.; and 400 dirhems = 1 oke or oock∙ ckah = 2 , 78 ruths = 2∙75 lbs. avoird. Also 100 ruths = 1 cantar or ckuntar, from 98 to 99 lbs. avoird. The common cubit = 22∙667 Brit. inches; the cubit used for Indian goods 25 Brit. inches; the cubit of Constantinople used for European cloth = 26 ∙5 Brit. inches. Of com measure, 24 roobas = 6 weybehs = 1 ardeb = 4∙847 Brit. bushels. But various other weights and measures are to be found in some parts of Egypt.

France.— The metrical system, whose multiples and subdivisions all proceed decimally, was instituted in 1795, and is founded upon the dimensions of the earth: the ten millionth part of the meridian arc between the pole and equator, being denominated a mètre, forms the unit of length. The other units, all derived from it, are, 1st, that of surface, the are; 2d, of solidity, the stère; 3d, of capacity, the litre; and, 4th, of weight, the gramme. The Latin derivatives deci to denote the tenth part, centi the hundredth, and milli the thousandth part, being prefixed to any of these units, serve to denominate its decimal subdivisions; while the sort of Greek derivatives deca to denote ten times, hecto an hundred, kilo a thousand, and myria ten thousand times, being prefixed, express its decimal multiples. Thus, a decimetre means the tenth of a metre, and a decametre is 10 metres. So tar as it goes, a tolerably correct summary of this system is given in the preceding part of this article. But being exceedingly brief, and involving several terms very different from those actually used by the French, we have here endeavoured to state the matter so as to be more intelligible to the general reader.

The metre is then equal to 10 decimetres = 100 centimetres = 1000 millimetres = 1∙093633 Brit. yard, or 39∙37079 Brit. inches; and 32 metres = 35 Brit. yards nearly. Also 1000 metres = 100 decametres = 10 hectometres = 1 kilometre or metrical mile = 3280∙899 Brit. feet = 1093∙633 yards, or nearly 5 furlongs.

The are or metrical perch, consisting of 100 square metres, = 10 deciares = 100 centiares = 119∙6033 Brit. sq. yards. Also 100 arcs = 10 decares = 1 hectare = 2∙471143 Brit. acres; and 17 hectares are nearly equal to 42 Brit. acres.

The stere or cubic metre = 10 decisteres = 1∙308022 Brit. cubic yard; and 10 steres = 1 decastere [7:21:853]The litre or cubic decimetre = 10 decilitres = 100 centilitres = 61·027052 Brit. cubic inches; and 50 litres are nearly 11 Brit. gallons. Also 100 litres = 10 decalitres = 1 hectolitre = 2·751207 Brit. bushels; and 32 hectolitres are nearly equal to 11 Brit. quarters, and 100 hectolitres = 10 kilolitres or cubic metres = 1 myrialitre = 34·390086 Brit. quarters.

The gramme is a weight equal that of 1 cubic centimetre of water at its maximum density. It contains 10 decigrammes = 100 centigrammes = 15·434 troy grains; and 1000 grammes = 100 decagrammes = 10 hectogrammes = 1 kilogramme = 2·679514 lbs. troy =2·204857 lbs. avoird. Also 100 kilogrammes = 10 myria-grammes = 1 metrical quintal = 220·486 lbs. avoird.; and 10 quintals = weight of a cubic metre of water = 1 millier or marine ton = 19 Brit. cwt. 2 qrs. 20 lbs. 13·75 oz.

The Système Usuel, or Binary System, of the French, was introduced in 1812, for the accommodation of retail trade, to make a sort of compromise with the common people, who shewed an irreconcileable aversion to the innovations of the metrical or decimal system. It has the metrical standards for its basis; but their divisions, &c. instead of being decimal, are chiefly binary, that is, they proceed principally by continually halving or doubling some of these standards, though partly according to other divisions of the old system; and instead of the metrical vocabulary, the names of ancient weights and measures are employed, annexing the term usuel to each. Thus, the toise usuelle = 2 metres = 78·74158 Brit. inches. The pied usuel is one sixth of the toise, and is subdivided into twelfths or inches, &c. The aune usuelle = 12 decimetres = 1·2 metre = 47·2449 Brit. inches. The litron usuel = 1 litre = 1·7608 Brit. pint. The Boisseau usuel is one eighth of the hectolitre, and = 2·7512 Brit. gallons. The livre usuelle is half the kilogramme, and = 1·10243 lb. avoird. The halves, quarters, eighths, &c. of the most of the above are also in use. A summary of the ancient French system will be found in the preceding part of this article.

Frankfort on the Maine.— Of the weights, 128 drachmes = 32

loths = 2 marks = 1 heavy lb. = 1·1143 lb. avoird. The light lb. is similarly divided, but only = 1·0318 lb. avoird., so that 108 of the light lbs. make only 100 of the heavy or centner weight. The Cologne mark, here reckoned = 3611 grains troy, is used for gold and silver. The Frankfort foot contains 11·42 Brit. inches, and the ell 21·54. The Brabant ell is generally used for Dutch goods, and the Paris aune for French. Eighty old or 90 new mass (each of 4 schoppen) are equal to 20 viertels = 1 ohm = 31·57 Brit. gall.; and 16 sechters — 8 metzen — 4 simmers = 1 maker or achtel = 3·16 Brit. bushels.

Genoa— There are two sorts of pounds, the peso sottile lb., and the peso grosso lb. The latter is a tenth part heavier than the former, so that the cantaroof 100 lbs. peso sottile = 69·89 lbs. avoird., and the cantaro of 100 lbs. peso grosso = 76·88. The latter is used for bulky commodities, and the former for gold, silver, and all articles of small bulk. The palmo = 9·725 Brit. inches, and 2·333 palmi = 1 braccio. The canna is of three sorts: the canna piccola used by tradesmen = 9 palmi, the cannagrossa of the merchants = 12 palmi, and the custom·house canna = 10 palmi. Of corn measure, 96 gombette= 8 quarti = 1 mina = 3·31 Brit. bushels. Also 100 pints = 2 barili = 1 mezzarola of wine = 32·67 Brit. gall.; and 64 quateroni = 4 quarti = 1 oil barile = 14·23 Brit. gall.

Germany— Considerable diversity of weights and measures is to be found in the various states into which this extensive country is divided, and the most important of them will be found noticed separately. But not a few of their standards, though differing in amount, are similar in their multiples and subdivisions. Of the weights, 1024 hellers =312 pfennings = 128 quentins = 32 loths = 16 ounces = 2 marks = 1 commercial lb.; and 5760 grains = 288 scruples = 96 drams = 12 oz. = 1 apothecaries' lb.; also 4352 eschen = 512 hellers = 256 pfennings = 64 quentins = 16 loths = 8 oz. = 1 Cologne mark = 3608 grains troy. By this gold and silver are weighed; and the fineness of gold is expressed by 24th parts or carats as in Britain, but the fineness of silver by 16th parts. For jewellery there is a carat of 3·171 grs. troy. Of the measures, 144 inches = 12 feet = 6 ells = 2 clatters = 4 ruthe. The Rhinland foot used by surveyors = 12·36 Brit. inches; the long mile = 10,126 Brit. yds., the short mile = 6859, and the geographical mile = 8101 Brit. yds. The Rhinland morgen of land = 10,185 Brit. sq. yds.

Gibraltar— Besides the British standards, the following Spanish are also used: The arroba = 26 lbs. avoird.; the quintal = 100 lbs. = 101·75 lbs. avoird.; the corn fanega = 1∙55 Brit. bushel; the pipe of 117 gallons = 105 Brit. gall.; the liquid arroba = 277 Brit. gall; and the wine gallon = 1·094 Brit. gall.

Goa— The same as in Portugal, except that the candy of 20 maunds = 495 lbs. avoird. This, in the measurement of grain, is reckoned to be nearly 14 Winchester bushels.

Greece The same as in France.

Guiana (British) In general the same as in Britain; but the following, originally introduced by the Dutch, are also used: the lb. = 1·09 lbs. avoird.; and the ell of 26 inches= 27 British inches.

Guiana (Dutch).—In general the same as in Holland, but chiefly upon the old system.

Hamburg.— Of the weights, 128 drachmes = 32 loths = 16 oz. = 2 marks = 1 lb. = 1 ·0682 lb. avoird.; 112 lbs. = 8 lisponds = 1 centner = 119·64 lbs. avoird.; and 5 centners = 2 shipfunds. Ten lbs. = 1 stone of wool or feathers = half a stone of flax. Of butter, 280 lbs. form the great, and 224 the small tonne. A pipe of oil is reckoned at 820 lbs. Gold and silver are weighed by the Cologne mark, and their fineness valued as explained under the head Germany. Of measures, 6 palms = 2 feet = 1 ell = 22·578 Brit. inches. The Rhinland foot of engineers and surveyors = 12·36 Brit. inches. The Brabant ell, commonly used for piece goods, = 27·585 Brit. inches. Also 160 quarters = 40 stubgens = 20 Viertels = 5 cimers = 4 ankers = 1 ahm = 31·87 Brit. gall.; and 24 ankers or 6 ahms = 1 fuder. Of wine, 6 tierces = 4 ox· hofls or hogsheads = 1 faas; but these are of various sizes. Of corn, 160 spints = 40 himtens = 20 faas = 10 scheffels = 1 wisp or wispel = 29 Brit. bushels; two wisps = 1 last of barley or oats = 7·25 Brit. quarters; and 3 wisps = 1 last of wheat or rye = 1 stock of barley or oats = 10·87 Brit. quarters.

Hanover— ·The lb. = 1·073 lb. avoird.; 112 lbs. = 1 centner; and 20 lbs. = 1 stone of flax or 2 stones of wool. Also 600 lbs. = 51 stubgens = 2 tonnes of honey; and 3360 lbs. = 240 lisponds = 12 shipfunds = 1 last. The Cologne mark is used for gold, silver, and silk. Two leet = 1 ell = 22·91 Brit. inches; the mile = 6·5676 Brit. miles. The morgen land measure = 2∙5625 Brit. roods. Also 80 kannen = 40 stubgens = 4 ankers = 2·5 cimers = 1 ahm = 34·24 Brit. gallons; and 6 ahms = 4 oxhofts = 1 fuder of wine. Of corn, 96 himtens = 16 malters = 2 wisps or wispels = 1 last — 82 Brit. bushels.

Hayti Port·au·Prince— Principally the old system of France, together with the old English wine gallon.

Hesse·Cassel The lb. = 17·08 oz. avoird. The ell = 22·59

Brit. inches; the acre = ∙5894 Brit. acre; the liquid ohm = 34·94 Brit. gall.; and 16 corn metzen = 4 himtens = 1 viertel = 4∙42 Brit. bushels.

Hesse Darmstadt Two lbs. = 1 French kilogramme = 2·20486

lbs. avoird. Ten feet = 1 klafter = 2·5 metres = 8·2023 Brit. feet; five ells = 3 metres = 3·2809 Brit. yds.; four morgens = 1 hectare = 2·47114 Brit. acres. The liquid ohm = 160 litres = 35·22 Brit. gallons; the corn malter = 1·28 hectolitre = 3·522 Brit. bushels.

Holland Tn 1820, the decimal system of France was introdu ced, but with the old Dutch nomenclature, as explained under the head Belgium. Of the old weights still used in many places, 10,240 aas = 320 engels = 16 oz. = 2 marks = 1 Dutch lb. troy = 1·0851 lb. avoird. There are also 16 oz. in the commercial lb. = l∙0893 lb. avoird., and 100 commercial lbs. = 1 centner. The old Amsterdam foot = 11·15, and the ell = 27·08 Brit. inches; the Rhinland foot = 12·36, and the Flemish or Brabant ell = 27·58 Brit. inches. Nineteen Dutch leagues make one degree of the meridian.

Japan— The weights are almost the same as in China. The inc = 6·25 Brit. feet; but the measures of capacity have not been compared.

Java In this and the other Dutch colonies in India, the weights of China are ordinarily employed; but the pecul, instead of being exactly 133·33 lbs. avoird. is = 135·625 lbs. Of rice, the coyang = 3581 lbs. avoird. and the timbang = 10 sacks = 5 peculs = 678·125 lbs. The Dutch troy mark of 9 reals, = 3798 Brit. trov grains, is used for gold and silver. The foot = 12·36, and the ell = 27·75 Brit. inches. The kanne, liquid measure, = ∙3282 Brit. gall., and 396 · rands = l leaguer of arrack = 133·33 Brit. gall.; but 360 rands = 1 leaguer of wine.

India.— Grain is generally sold by weight, as also liquids, except wines and spirits, which at all the three presidencies are sold byBritish measures. Of the Bengal weights, 940 chittacks = 40 seers = 1 factory maund = 74·67 lbs. avoird. or two thirds of a British cwt. The bazaar maund is one tenth greater than the factory, and similarly divided. Gold and silver are weighed by the new tola or sicca of 180 grains troy. Two cubits = 1 guz = 1 Brit. yd. The coss or mile of Bengal = 2000 yards, and 1600 sq. yds. = 20 cottahs = 1 biggah. At Bombay 40 seers = 1 maund = one quarter of a British cwt·, and 20 maunds = 1 candy = 5 cwts., which in corn is counted at 24·5 Brit. bushels. At Madras, 320 pollams = 8 vis = 1 maund = 25 lbs. avoird., and 20 maunds = 1 candy. The covid = 18·6 inches, but the British yard is used for cloth; and in land measure, 24 maunies = 1 cawney = 6400 Brit. sq. yds. Also 320 measures = 400 maroals = 80 parahs = 1 garse [7:21:854]or gursay. The marcal = 730 Brit. cubic inches. When grain is sold by weight, 9256·5 lbs. avoird. are reckoned to the garse.

Commercial Weights, &c . of India, and of several adjacent States, with their equivalents in British, Bengal Factory, Madras, and Bombay Weights.
[table]

Ionian Isles— The present British system was introduced in 1828, when the libbra sottile was made equal to 1 lb. troy, the libbra grossa to 1 lb. avoird., the talanto to 100 lbs. avoird., the stadio of 40 carnaco to 1 Brit. furlong, the barrel to 16 Brit. gallons, and the kilo of corn to 1 Brit. bushel. Of the old weights, 44 okes = 1 quintal = 1234 5 lbs. avoird., or 40 okes = 1 cwt. nearly. Of the old measures, the Zante braccio for cloth =27·18 Brit. inches, the silk braccio = 25∙37 Brit. inches; the Zante barile = 14 68, and the Corfu barile = 15 Brit. gallons. Also 8 misure = 1 corn moggio of Zante = 4·63 Brit. bushels. In land measure, 24 zappade = 8 misure = 1 moggio = 2∙4 Brit. acres.

Lubeck— The Cologne mark of 3608 troy grains is used for gold and silver, and 112 lbs. = 8 lisponds = 119·67 lbs. avoird. Two feet = 1 ell = 22·7 Brit. inches; and 80 kannes = 40 stubgen = 20 viertele = 1 ahm =31·87 Brit. gall. Also 96 scheffels = 24 barrels = 8 dromts= 1 last of wheat or rye = 11∙04 Brit. quarters. The last of oats = 12∙95 quarters, and is similarly subdivided.

Lucca The common lb. = 0·7418 lb. avoird., but the lb. peso grosso = 8·234 lbs. avoird. or 11 Leghorn lbs. The braccio for woollens = 23∙8 Brit. inches, but that for silk is an inch less. There are 4 braccio in the canna. The coppo for oil =21·97 Brit. gall. Wine is sold by the Leghorn barile of 20 fiasci, and corn by the staja= two thirds of a Brit. bushel.

Madeira.— In general the same as in Portugal; but in corn measure 23 alquieres are = 24 of Lisbon, and in wine measure 12 almudos are = 13 of Lisbon.

Majorca— One hundred rottolos or lbs. = 1 cantaro Berberesco = 88·2 lbs. avoird.; 104 rottolos = 4 arrobas= 1 quintal = 91·73 lbs. avoird.; and 312 rottolos = 3 quintals = 1 carga∙ Also 108 rottolos = 12 quartins or cortans = 1 odor of oil. The canna = 67∙5 Brit. inches. Of wine, 6·5 corters = 1 quartin = 5∙97 Brit. gall.; and 6 barcetlas of corn = 1 quarters = 1·94 Brit. bushel.

Malacca— One hundred catties = 1 pecul = 135 lbs. avoird.; 3 peculs make I bahar: and 500 gantons = 50 measures = 1 last = 29 Brit. cwts. nearly. Also 40 peculs = 1 coyau of salt or rice. A kip of tin = 41 lbs. avoird. The buncal, = 832 grains troy, is used for gold and silver. The covid = 18·125 Brit. inches.

Malta— One hundred rottoli or lbs. =1 cantar= 174·5 lbs. avoird. Gold and silver are weighed by the lb. of 12 oz. = 4886 grains troy. Eight palmi = 1 canna = 82 Brit.inches; and 16 square tumoli = 1 salma land measure = 4 44 Brit. acres. The wine barile contains 9∙17, and the oil caffiso 4·375 Brit. gall. Two caffisos make a barile· The salma corn measure = 7·875 Brit. bushels.

Morocco.— The rottolo or commercial lb. = 1·19 lb. avoird., and 100 such lbs = 1 quintal. The market lb. is one half heavier, or = 1·785 lb. avoird. By it iron, bees’ wax, and provisions are sold. The canna for cloth = 21 Brit. inches, but the measures of capacity are very variable.

Mauritius.— In government affairs the British system is used, but in ordinary business something near the old system of France, reckoning the quintal of 100 lbs. poids de marc = 108 lbs. avoird.; 20 quintals = 1 French ton; 100 lbs. French to the bag of coffee, 150 to the bag of rice, and 250 to the bale of cotton. Also 15 French feet are reckoned = 16 Brit. feet, 7 aunes = 9 Brit. yds., 1 arpent = 1∙04375 acre, one velt = 2 old English wine gallons, and 30 volts = 1 cask.

Mecklenburg— The weights are chiefly those of Lubeck and Hamburg, but 100 Rostock lbs. = 1 Brit. cwt. There are 2 feet in the Rostock ell = 22·67 Brit. inches, and 1 scheffel of corn = 1∙07 Brit. bushel. The liquid measures are those of Lubeck.

Mexico .—In general the same as in Spain; but the British yd. and French aune are also in use for European goods.

Minorca— The weights and dry measures are the same as in Majorca; and, except the gerra or jar of two quarters, = 2∙65 Brit. gall., the other measures are the same as in Spain.

Mocha— Of the weights, 150 maunds = 15 frazils = 1 bahar = 450 lbs. avoird.; 48 carats = 3 coffola = 2 miscals = 146·74 grains troys 10 coffolas = 1 vakia, and 87 vakias = the weight of 100 Spanish dollars. The covid = 19, the guz = 25 Brit. inches; 8 noosfias = 1 gudda = 1∙8 Brit. gallon; and 40 kellas dry measure = 1 tomand, which, of rice, is reckoned to weigh 168 lbs. avoird.

Modena.— The Modena libbra or lb. = 0·7045 lb.; the Reggio lb. = 0·7274 lb. avoird., and 100 lbs. = I quintal. The Modena braccio = 24·31; and the braccio of Reggio = 20·85 Brit. inches. In land measure, 72 tavole = 1 biolca = 2·8036 Brit. roods. Corn is sold by the stajo, = 1·94 Brit. bushel.

Moldavia.— In general the same as in Turkey; but in common trade 25 okes of Galatz are reckoned = 2 Russian poods; 2400 okes = 7 centners = 700 lbs. of Vienna.

Montevideo.— Same as in Spain.

Mozambique.— One frazil = 12 lbs. avoird., and 20 frazils = 1 bahar.

Muscat.— Twenty·four cuchas = 1 maund = 8¾ lbs. avoird.

Naples One hundred rottoli or lbs. = 1 cantaro grosso =

196·45 lbs. avoird.; 1800 oz. = 150 lbs. = 1 cantaro piccola = 106·07 lbs. avoird.; and 7200 acini = 360 trapesi = 12 oz. = the lb. of 4050 grains troy, by which gold and silver are weighed. Of the measures, 96 inches = 8 palmi = 1 canna or ell = 83·05 Brit. inches; 15 palmi make 2 passi, and 7000 palmi = 1 mile = 2018 Brit. yds. There are 900 sq. passi in the moggia of land = ∙83l5 Brit. acre. Sixty caralfi = 1 baril of wine or brandy = 9∙6 imp. gall.; 24 barili = 2 botte =1 carro; 14 barili = 1 pipe; and 256 quarti = 16 staja = 1 salma of oil = 34·91 Brit. gall., and is reckoned to weigh 324 lbs. avoird. Four quarti of corn =2 mezzetti = 1 tomolo = 1·519 Brit. bushels. At Gallipoli, 320 pignatti = 10 staja = 1 salina of oil = 34·11 Brit. gall. The salma at Bari = 36·42 such gallons.

Nassau.— The standards are founded on the metrical system of France. Ten inches =1 foot = half a metre = 19∙685 Brit. inches; 10 feet =1 perch, and 100 square perches= 1 morgen =25 arcs = ·6178 Brit. acre.

New Brunswick Same as in Britain.

Newfoundland.— Same as in Britain.

New Granada Same as in Spain.

Norway— The same as in Denmark. Nova Scotia.— The same as in Britain.

Oldenburg— The weights are those of Hamburg. Twelve inches

= 1 foot = 11·65 Brit. inches; and the ell contains 22·76 of same inches. Also 104 kannes=4 ankers=l ohm; 3 ohms · 2 oxhofts; and 144 scheffels = 18 tonnes = 12 matters = 1 last =80·69 Brit. bushels.

Parma Of the weights, 300 ounces = 25 lbs. = 1 rubbio =

18·08 lbs. avoird. The braccio for measuring cloth = 25∙35 Brit. inches, which exceeds that used for silk by 1·95 inch. There are 12 inches in the braccio di ligno used by surveyors, = 21·34 Brit. inches; and 6 bracci = 1 perch. Also 288 sq. perches = 72 tavole = 6 tari = 1 biolca = nearly ∙75 Brit. acre; and 16 quarterole = 1 slajo of corn = 1∙413 Brit. bushel.

Persia— The weight chiefly used in commerce is the batman, which not only is of different amount in different districts, but depends also on the kind of article to be weighed. At Tabriz, 600 miscals = 300 derhams = 6 rattles = 1 batman = 6·34 lbs. avoird., which is only half the batman of Cherray. There is a derham of nearly 150 grains troy, by which gold and silver are weighed, and [7:21:855]which exceeds the derham of Bushire by nearly 7 grains. Pearls are weighed by the abas of 2·25 troy grs. The measures are not . less variable than the weights. The guz or common cubit = 25 Brit. inches, and the royal guz is one half longer. The archin of Tabriz = 44 Brit. inches. There are 20 leagues or parasangs in a degree of the equator; but it is by the fursoch or augage, that is, the space of about four or five Brit. miles walked over by a horse in an hour, that moderate distances are usually reckoned. Greater distances are estimated by the day’s march of a caravan, which may be about 30 miles. ïn corn measure, 200 sextarios = 50 chenicas = 25 capichas = 1 artaba = 1·939 Brit, bushels.

Peru.— The same as in Spain.

Philippine Isles.— The same as in Spain, except that the Chinese pecul is sometimes used.

Poland.— Of the weights, 128 drachms = 32 loths = 16 oz. = 1 lb. =0·89414 lb. avoird.; 32 lbs. of Poland = 1 stone, and 160 such lbs. = 1 centner. The Cologne mark is used for coined gold and silver, but the Warsaw mark = 3113 grains troy for the uncoined. Two feet = 1 ell or Iokci = 22·68 Brit/ inches. The mile is the twentieth part of a degree of the meridian. There are 300 perches in the acre or morgen, = 1·384 Brit, acre: and 30 morgens make 1 wloka. Also 16 liquid kwaterkas = 4 kwartas = 1 garniec = 4 French litres = 0·88039 Brit. gall.; and 25 gamiecs = 1 becsksa. Of corn, 128 kwartas = 32 gamiecs = 4 cwieres = 1 korsec = 3·5214 Brit. bushels.

Popedom or Papal State.—Of the commercial weights, 6912 grani = 288 denari = 12 once = l Roman lb. = ·7477 lb. avoird. The same lb. is also used by apothecaries and for gold and silver; and 100 such lbs. = 10 decine = 1 quintal. The foot = 11·72 Brit. inches; 8 palmi = 1 mercantile canna = 6·52917 Brit. feet. The Roman mile = 1628 Brit. yds. Also 128 fogliette = 32 boccali = 1 barile of wine= 12·84 Brit. gall.; 80 boccali = 1 soma of oil = 36·14 Brit, gall; and 88 quartucci = 22 scorzi = 4 quarte = 1 corn rubbio = 8·1 Brit, bushel. In Ancona, 100 lbs. = 73·70 lbs. avoird.; the braccio = 25·33 Brit. inches; and 24 boccali = 2 barili = 1 wine soma = 18·9 Brit. gall. Also 8 coppe = 1 corn rubbio = 7·87 Brit. bushels. In Bologna, the lb. = ·798 lb. avoird., and the foot = 15 Brit. inches.

Portugal.— Of the commercial weights, 32 marks = 16 oz. = 1 arratel or lb. = 1·0119 lb. avoird.; and 32 arratels = 1 arroba. There are 4 arrobas in the quintal, and 54 in the tonelada. The apothecaries’ lb. is only three fourths of the commercial. There are 8 inches in the palmo craveiro, = 8-622 Brit. inches; the pe or foot = 1·5 palmo; 5 palmos = 1 varo; and though three palmos are usually said to form the varo, it is more nearly 26∙67 Brit. inches. Ten palmos = 1 braco; the mile = 2253 Brit. yds.; and 3 miles = 1 league. Of land, 4840 square varos = 1 geira; and 7 geiras make nearly 10 Brit, acres. Of liquids, 48 quartilhos = 12 canadas = 2 pots = 1 almude of Lisbon = 3·64 Brit. gall.; there are 18 almudes in the baril, 26 in the pipe, and 52 in the tonelada. In dry measure, 240 quartos = 60 alquieres of Lisbon = 15 fane-gas =1 moyo = 22·39 Brit. bushels. The almude of Oporto = 5·61 Brit. gall., and the alquiere of Oporto = ·465 Brit. bushel.

Prussia—Of the commercial weights, 128 quintins = 32 loths = 2 Cologne marks = 1 lb. = 1·0311 lb. avoird.; and 110 lbs. = 1 centner or quintal = 113·42 lbs. avoird. There are 4000 lbs. in the ship last; and the apothecaries’ lb. is only two thirds of the commercial. The Cologne mark is used for gold and silver. The Rhinlaιιd foot = 12·356 Brit. inches; the ell = 26·26 of such inches; and 2000 perches = 1 mile = 8237 Brit. yds. There are 180 sq. perches in the morgen or acre, = 3054 Brit. sq. yds.; and 30 morgen = 1 hufe. Also 120 quarts = 4 ankers = 2 cimers = 1 liquid ohm = 30·23 Brit. gall.; 3 cimers = 1 oxhoft; 100 quarts = 1 tun of beer; and 48 quarts = 16 metzen = 1 corn scheffel = 1·512 Brit. bushel. Various old measures are still partially in use.

Prusso-German commercial league or Zoll-Verein is composed of Anhalt Bernbourg, Anhalt Cothen, Anhalt Dessau, Baden, Ba. varia, Birkenfeld (part of Oldenburg), Frankfort, Hesse Cassel, Hesse Darmstadt, Hesse Homburg, Hohenzollern Hichengeu, Hohenzollern Sigmaringen, Nassau, Prussia, principalities of Reuss, Saxony, Saxe-Altenburg, Saxe-Coburg Gotha, Saxe-Meiningen, Saxe-Weimar, Schwarzburg Rudolstadt, Schwarzburg Sondershausen, Waldeck (exclusive of Pyrmont), Wurtemberg. The basis of their tariff is the centner of Baden = 50 French kilogrammes, and divided into 100 pounds or livres usuelles of France. Hence the zoll centner of 100 lbs. = 110·2429 lbs. avoird. The following relative values are given in the tariff ;—

935·422 zoll lbs. = 1000 Prussian lbs. 1120· = 1000 Bavarian lbs.

2000- = 1000 kilogrammes.

935·456 = 1000 Würtemberg lbs.

933 673 = 1000 Saxon (Dresden) lbs.

Or 14 zoll lbs. = 15 Prussian lbs nearly.

28 = 25 Bavarian lbs.

2 = 1 kilogramme.

14 =15 Würtemberg nearly.

14 = 15 Saxon (Dresden) lbs. nearly.

Russia.— Of the weights, 96 zolotnicks = 32 loths = 1 lb = •90264 lb. avoird. With this lb., which is used for most purposes, gold and silver are also weighed, it being divided into 6528 grains. The Nuremberg lb. of 5527 grains troy is used by the apothecaries. The British and Dutch feet and inches are employed. The Russian foot = 13 75 Brit, inches; 16 verchoks= 1 archine for cloth = 28 Brit. inches; and 1500 archines = 500 sagenes = 1 verste or mile = 1167 Brit. yds. Also 2400 sq. sagenes = 1 de-ciatine=2∙7 Brit, acres; and 100 tcharkeys = 2-705 Brit. gall. Of corn, 64 garnietz = 32 tchetverkas = 8 tchetveriks = 4 payaks = 2 osmines = 1 chetwerk = 5·77 Brit. bushels. Various old standards are partially in use in different parts of the empire Sardinia— In Turin, 12 oz = 15 mark = 1 lb. = ·8133 lb. avoird.; 25 lbs. = 1 rubbio; and the mark of 3795 grs. troy is used for gold and silver. The raso or ell = 23∙6 Brit. inches; the mile = 2697 Brit. yds.; the giornate = ·938 Brit. acre; the wine rubbio = 2·07 Brit. gall.; and the corn sacco = 317 Brit, bushels. In Nice, 150 lbs. = 1 quintal = 103·14 lbs. avoird.; the ell = 3·8975 Brit. feet; 12 rubbi= 1 charge = 20·75 Brit. gall.; but the charge of corn = 4∙4 Brit. bush. In Cagliari, 12 oz. = 1 lb. = ∙875 lb. avoird.; the raso = 21·63 Brit, inches, and the restiere = 4 04 Brit. bushels.

Saxony.— In Dresden, the lb. = 1·0293 lb. avoird.; 110 lbs. =≈ 1 centner; the mark =3602 grs. troy; two feet= 1 ell = 22 3 Brit inches; 3200 feet= 1 mile = 9914 Brit. yds.; the morgen or acre= 1-261 Brit. acre; the liquid cimer= 14·84 Brit. gall.; the scheffel = 2-859 Brit, bushels. In Leipzig, 32 loths = 1 lb. = 1·0301 lb. avoird.; the centner= 110 lbs. = 113·32 lbs. avoird. Two feet = 1 ell = 22·24 Brit. inches; 60 ells = 1 schock; the liquid cimer = 16·69 Brit. gall.; the old scheffel for corn = 3·812 Brit. bushels. The Dresden scheffel, which is one third greater, is now the general standard.

Siam —The common weight is the catty = 2·67 lbs. avoird., which is double the Chinese catty; but the pecul, containing only 50 catties, is just equal the Chinese pecul. Also 8 spans = 4 cubits = 1 fathom = 6·5 Brit, feet; 20 fathoms = 1 sen; but a square area of 20 fathoms to the side is likewise named a sen.

Sicily —Thecantarro grosso = 192-53 lbs. avoird.; the cantarro sottile = 175·03 lbs. avoird. The lb. = ·70∙4 lb. avoird. Gold and silver are weighed and valued as at Naples; 94 cubic French feet of the old standard = 5 salmes = 1 ship ton. Oil is sold in Messina by the caffiso, = 2·58 Brit. gall. The canna = 81·35 Brit. inches; the wine tonna = 31·24 Brit. gall.; the corn salma = 7·61 Brit. bush., and the salma grossa of Leghorn = 9·47 Brit. bushels.

Sincapore— The Chinese pecul of 133·33 lbs. avoird. is the usual weight. The covid for cloth = 18 Brit. inches; the gantang, by which corn, fruit, and liquids are occasionally sold, = 1·04 Brit. gall. European commodities are often sold by British weights and measures.

Spain Two marks =1 lb. = 1·01443 lb. avoird.; the arroba consists of 25, and the quintal of 4 lbs. The mark used for gold and silver is = 3550 grains troy. Twelve pulgados = 1 Burgos foot = 11·128 Brit. inches; 4 palmos = 1 vara or ell = 33·38 Brit. inches. The estadale = ]2 feet; 8000 varas=l league = 7418 Brit. yds. A degree is divided into twenty marine leagues; 5378 sq. varas = 1 aracada of vine land; and 6000 sq. varas = 1 fanc-gada of corn land. The greater or wine arroba = 3 54 Brit. gall., the less or oil arroba = 2·77; the pipe = 27 of the greater arrobas, or 34·5 of the less: the corn fanega = 1·55 Brit. bushels; and 12 fanegas = 1 cahiz. But a variety of local standards is also in use.

Sweden The lb., victual weight, = 6563 grains troy; the lispund contains 20, the sten 32, the centner 120, the waag 165, and the skeppund 400 such lbs. Two feet = 1 ell = 23·38 Brit. inches; 8 ells = 1 ruthe; 2250 ruthes = 1 mile = 11,689 Brit. yds.; the tunnaland = 1·22 Brit. acre. The liquid kann = ·5756 Brit. gall.; the fuder contains 300, the pipe 180, the oxhufvud 90, and the ahm 60 kanns. The corn tunna = 4·029 Brit. bushels. But various other measures and local standards are in use.

Switzerland In 1837 the 12 cantons, Berne, Zürich, Lucerne,

Friburg, Zug, Soleure, Basel, Aargau, Thurgau, Schaff hausen, Gla. rus, and St Galen, adopted the following standards, founded on the decimal system of France; 32 loths = 1 lb. = half a kilogramme =

1·1024 lb. avoird.; 2 feet = 1 ell = 6 decimetres; and 1 stund = 4800 metres = 5249 Brit. yds. The liquid mass =1·5 litre =

2·64 Brit. pints; ten mass of corn = 1 viertel = 15 litres = 1·05 Brit. peck. In Geneva, besides the French system, 100 lbs gros poids = 121·43 lbs. avoird.; 100 lbs. petit poids = 101 19 lbs.
[7:21:856]

avoird. The winechar = 120·71 Brit. gall.; the coup of corn = 243 Brit. bushels.

Tripoli.— One hundred rottoli = 1 cantar = 109·71 lbs. avoird.; the caraffa of oil weighs 3∙125 rottoli. The great pik = 26·42, and the small = 19·03 Brit inches; the wine barile = 14 25 Brit. gall.; and 4 temen = 1 corn bueba = 2∙95 Brit. bushels.

Tunis.— One hundred rottoli = 1 cantaro = 111·75 lbs. avoird.; for cotton the pik or ell = 19·23, for silk and linen =25, and for woollen = 26∙5 Brit. inches. The wine millerole = 14Ί5, and the oil mettar = 4·27 Brit. gall. The corn caffiz = 1·918 Brit. quarter.

Turkey.— The oke = 2·8286 lbs. avoird.; 1 oil almude should weigh 8 okes; 100 rottoll = 44 okes=l quintal = 124·46 lbs. avoird. The great pik = 27·9, the small = 27·06 Brit. inches; the berri or mile = 1826 Brit. yds.; the liquid almude = 1443 Brit. gall.; the corn fortin = 3·84 Brit bushels.

Tuscany The quintal or cantaro= 100 lbs. = 74 86 lbs. avoird.;

20 soldi = 1 braccio = 22·979 Brit. inches; the mile = 1808 Brit. yds.; the sacato of land = 5928 Brit. sq. yds.; the baril for wine = 10·03, and for oil = 7·36 Brit. gall. The corn stajo = 2·676 Brit. pecks; and 24 staja = 1 moggio.

United Stales of America Chiefly the same as in England prior to the imperial system. But instead of the cwt. they generally use simply 100 lbs. which are sometimes called a quintal. The barrel of flour weighs 196 lbs.; the hhd. of Indian meal 800 lbs.; and the barrel of salt meat 200 lbs.

Wallachia — The weights are those of Moldavia. The killow of Brailow, of about 400 ocche = 1·5 killow of Galats = 18 killows of Constantinople = 9 sacchi of Leghorn. In other respects the same as in Turkev.

West Indies (British).—In general the same as in Britain; but Spanish measures are partly used in Trinidad, and the old system of France in St Lucia.

West Indies (French).—Same as in France.

West Indies (Dutch).—Chiefly the old system of Amsterdam. In Curaçoa the Spanish varo is also employed.

West Indies (Danish).—Same as in Denmark. The British yard and French aune are sometimes employed.

Indies (Swedish).—Chiefly the same as in Sweden.

Wurtemberg.— The lb. = 1·0314 lb. avoird.; the foot = 11·25 Brit. inches. The toise = 6 feet; the ell = 24·18 Brit. inches. The mile is the fifteenth of a degree. The morgen or acre = 31·518 French arcs; and 1·5 morgen = 1 juchart. The fuder of wine = 388·16 Brit. gall. The scheffel of corn = 4·88 Brit. bushels.

For further particulars, we beg to refer to Kelly’s Metrology, and his Universal Cambist; the Parliamentary Reports, particularly those relating to the Board of Trade; Buchanan on Weights and Measures; M’Culloch’s Commercial Dictionary; and Waterston’s Manual of Commerce, which contains much valuable matter within a very small compass. (e. e. e. )