Spanish customary units
There are a number of Spanish units of measurement of length or area that are virtually obsolete due to metrication. They include the vara, the cordel, the league and the labour. The units of area used to express the area of land are still encountered in some transactions in land today. Section::::(unit of length). A (meaning "rod" or "pole", abbreviation: var) is an old Spanish unit of length. Varas are a surveying unit that appear in many deeds in the southern United States, and varas were also used in many parts of Latin America. It varied in  size at various times and places; the Spanish unit was set at about in 1801. In Argentina, the vara measured about , and typical urban lots are wide (10 Argentine varas). At some time a value of was adopted in California. In Texas, a was defined as , or 1 yard = 1.08 . The and the corresponding unit of area, the square , were introduced in the 19th century to measure Spanish land grants. Stephen F. Austin's early surveying contracts required that he use the as a standard unit. The can be seen in many deeds as late as the mid to  late 1900s. is equivalent to 5,645.376 Texan square . A league is equivalent to 5,000 squared or . Standardisation of measurement in Texas came with the introduction of , cordeles, and leagues. A measure of 100 by 100 (Spanish) is almost 7000 square meters, and is known traditionally throughout Latin America as a (i.e., a "city block"). As well, lumber is still measured in Costa Rica using a system based on 4 , or 11 feet, for both round and square wood. With square wood, using inches, the width is multiplied by the depth to get a measurement called , or inches. The lumber is  charged 'per inch', which is a measurement of . Section::::(unit of area). The ( in West Texas) is a unit of area, used to express an area of land, that is equal to 1 million square . A is equivalent to about . It was used in the archaic system of old Spanish land grants affecting Texas and parts of adjoining states. The is often used as an approximate equivalent to a "quarter-section" (that is, one quarter of a square mile of land). It is still encountered in modern real estate transactions. League (unit of area). A league can also be a unit  of area, used to express the area of land, that is equal to 25 million square . A (square) league is equivalent to about . It was used in the archaic system of old Spanish land grants affecting Texas and parts of adjoining states and this use of league is used throughout the Texas Constitution. A common Texas land grant size, discussed in James A. Michener's "Texas", was a " and a league": a of good riparian land and a (square) league of land away from the river. The (square) league is still encountered in modern real estate transactions. Palmo and coto  (unit of length). The "palmo" ("palm") measured the distance between the tip of the thumb and the tip of the little finger with all fingers splayed. Its standardized value is (9 "pulgadas"). Half of a palmo in Castile was called the "coto", described as six fingers and defined as . The ancient Romans had a similar, smaller unit called the "palmus", which was . Local units. Although some standardisation was achieved with the law of 1801, particularly in defining the league as long, varying measures continued to be used in various cities and regions.