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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e7ac0e8 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #56290 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/56290) diff --git a/old/56290-0.txt b/old/56290-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index ff03270..0000000 --- a/old/56290-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,10874 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Men and Measures, by Edward Nicholson - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Men and Measures - -Author: Edward Nicholson - -Release Date: January 2, 2018 [EBook #56290] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEN AND MEASURES *** - - - - -Produced by deaurider and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - MEN AND MEASURES - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - MEN AND MEASURES - - A HISTORY OF - WEIGHTS AND MEASURES - ANCIENT AND MODERN - - - BY - EDWARD NICHOLSON, F.I.C., F.C.S. - - SURGEON LIEUT.-COLONEL ARMY MEDICAL DEPARTMENT - AUTHOR OF ‘A MANUAL OF INDIAN OPHIOLOGY’ - ‘THE STORY OF OUR WEIGHTS AND MEASURES’ ‘FLOURETO DE PROUVÈNÇO’ ETC. - - - LONDON - SMITH, ELDER & CO., 15 WATERLOO PLACE - 1912 - - [All rights reserved] - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - ERRATA. - - - _Page_ 36 _Line_ 21 _For_ “×1000” _Read_ “×7000.” - „ 136 „ 21 „ “grams” „ “grains.” - „ 148 „ 27 „ “7925” „ “7625.” - „ 154 _Lines_ 21, 22, 23 _delete_ “to.” - „ 155 _Line_ 4 _For_ “feet” _Read_ “ells.” - „ 195 „ 15 „ “17” „ “25.” - „ 198 „ 19 „ “double” „ “halve.” - „ 263 „ 13 „ “perches” „ “toises.” - „ 295 „ 16 „ “apposes” „ “opposes.” - „ 306 _Last line_ „ “our” „ “yours.” - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - PREFACE - - -This history is the development of a short story of the Imperial System -of Weights and Measures published eleven years ago, but withdrawn when -this fuller work took shape. To have made it at all complete would have -required a long lifetime of research; to give and discuss every -authority, to trace, even to acknowledge, every source of information -would have unduly swollen the volume and slackened the interest of the -narrative. I offer it with all its shortcomings as an attempt to show -the metric instincts of man everywhere and in all time, to trace the -origins and evolution of the main national systems, to explain the -apparently arbitrary changes which have affected them, to show how the -ancient system used by the English-speaking peoples of the world has -been able, not only to survive dangerous perturbations in the past, but -also to resist the modern revolutionary system which has destroyed so -many others less homogeneous, less capable of adaptation to -circumstances. - - E. N. - - _Feb. 1912._ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - TABLE OF CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER I - PAGE - GENERAL VIEW OF THE EVOLUTION OF MEASURES 1 - - CHAPTER II - - THE STORY OF THE CUBITS - - 1. The Egyptian common or Olympic cubit 14 - The meridian mile 15 - Greek itinerary measures 16 - The Roman mile 17 - 2. The Egyptian royal cubit 18 - 3. The great Assyrian or Persian cubit 23 - 4. The Beládi cubit 26 - The Bereh or equatorial land-mile 27 - 5. The Black cubit 28 - Comparative lengths of the five ancient cubits 30 - - CHAPTER III - - THE STORY OF THE TALENTS - - 1. The Alexandrian talent 33 - The Medimnos 34 - 2. The lesser Alexandrian or Ptolemaïc talent 35 - 3. The Greek-Asiatic talent 36 - The Metretes 37 - 4. Roman weights and measures of capacity 38 - The new Roman pound 40 - 5. The Olympic talent 42 - 6. Greek coin-weights 43 - 7. The Arabic talent 44 - Measures of capacity derived from Arabic linear measures 47 - - CHAPTER IV - - THE INVOLUTION OF LINEAR MEASURES FROM WEIGHTS - THE ORIGIN OF THE ENGLISH AND OF THE RHINELAND FOOT - - 1. The English foot 49 - 2. The Rhineland foot 52 - 3. The pán of Marseilles 53 - 4. The filiation of the English foot, of the Rhineland - foot, and of the pán of Marseilles 55 - - CHAPTER V - - ENGLISH LINEAR MEASURES - - 1. The yard, the foot, the inch 58 - 2. Standards of the linear measures 59 - 3. The hand 61 - 4. The ell 62 - 5. The rod, furlong, mile, and league 62 - - CHAPTER VI - - LAND-MEASURES - - 1. Introduction 65 - 2. Evolution of geometric land-measures 66 - 3. The story of English land-measures 71 - 4. Feudal land-measures 75 - 5. Terms used in old land-measures 77 - 6. The yard and the verge 82 - 7. How the rod came to be 5-1/2 yards 84 - 8. How the acre came to be 160 square rods 87 - 9. Customs of Lancaster 88 - 10. Seed-measures of land 90 - - CHAPTER VII - - ENGLISH COMMERCIAL WEIGHTS - - 1. The story of Averdepois 93 - 2. The Imperial pound 102 - 3. Scientific and medicinal divisions of the pound 104 - 4. The long hundredweight 105 - 5. Wool and lead weight 109 - 6. Trade-units of weight 112 - - CHAPTER VIII - - ENGLISH MEASURES OF CAPACITY - - 1. The old wine-measures 114 - 2. The ale-gallon 117 - 3. Corn-measure 118 - 4. The quarter and the chaldron 120 - 5. Coal-measure 122 - 6. The Imperial gallon 123 - 7. Medicinal fluid-measures 126 - - CHAPTER IX - - THE MINT-POUNDS - - 1. The Saxon or Tower pound 127 - 2. The Troy pound 129 - How the averdepois pound was of 7000 grains 133 - 3. The pride and fall of Troy 136 - The assize of bread 138 - The disappearance of the Troy pound 139 - - CHAPTER X - - THE CUBIC FOOT AND THE TON REGISTER - - Concordance of capacity, weight, and measurement 145 - Volume and weight of water at different temperatures 146 - - CHAPTER XI - - SCOTS, IRISH, AND WELSH MEASURES AND WEIGHTS - - 1. Scotland 147 - 2. Ireland 155 - 3. Wales 156 - - CHAPTER XII - - MEASURES AND WEIGHTS OF SOME BRITISH DOMINIONS - - 1. The Channel islands 157 - 2. South Africa (Cape Colony) 166 - 3. India 167 - 4. Burma and the Straits 172 - 5. Canada and Mauritius 173 - - CHAPTER XIII - - MEASURES OF VALUE - - 1. English money 174 - 2. Guernsey currency 183 - 3. Indian money 184 - 4. Decimal currency 188 - - CHAPTER XIV - - MEASURES OF TIME - - The lunar year 194 - The compass-card 195 - - CHAPTER XV - - MEASURES OF HEAT AND OF DENSITY 197 - - Compound industrial units 201 - - CHAPTER XVI - - THE ELLS 202 - - CHAPTER XVII - - FOREIGN LINEAR MEASURES - - 1. Teutonic countries 206 - 2. Latin countries 208 - 3. Russia and the East 212 - 4. The Hashimi cubit 214 - 5. The Halebi pík or arshīn 215 - - CHAPTER XVIII - - FOREIGN WEIGHTS - - 1. Teutonic systems 218 - 2. East-European systems 219 - 3. Mediterranean systems 220 - Summary 224 - Original weights of the dirhems 226 - - CHAPTER XIX - - FOREIGN MEASURES OF CAPACITY - - 1. The Teutonic system 227 - 2. The Mediterranean system 232 - 3. Hebrew weights and measures of capacity 237 - - CHAPTER XX - - THE DEVELOPMENT OF MEANING IN THE NAMES OF - WEIGHTS AND MEASURES - - 1. General remarks 240 - 2. The nail and the clove; the inch and the ounce 242 - 3. The carat and the grain 245 - 4. The tun and the fother 252 - - CHAPTER XXI - - THE OLD MEASURES AND WEIGHTS OF FRANCE - - 1. The Southern system 253 - 2. The Northern system 259 - - CHAPTER XXII - - THE METRIC SYSTEM 271 - - CHAPTER XXIII - - HOW THE METRIC SYSTEM WORKS IN FRANCE 284 - - CHAPTER XXIV - - THE CONFLICT OF THE IMPERIAL AND METRIC SYSTEMS - - 1. General view of the Imperial system 295 - 2. The propaganda of the Metric system 300 - 3. The reform of the Metric system 306 - - CONVERSION-TABLES OF METRIC AND IMPERIAL MEASURES 310 - - INDEX 311 - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - MEN AND MEASURES - - - - - CHAPTER I - - GENERAL VIEW - - -The earliest measures were those of length, and they were derived from -the rough-and-ready standard afforded by the limbs of man. - -The readiest of these measures were those offered by the length of the -forearm, and by parts of the hand; these formed a natural series of -far-reaching importance. - -These arm-measures were— - -1. The Cubit, the length of the bent forearm from elbow-point to -finger-tip, about 18 to 19 inches. - -2. The Span, the length that can be spanned between the thumb-tip and -little finger-tip of the outstretched hand. It is nearly half of the -cubit, about 9 inches. - -3. The Palm, the breadth of the four fingers, one-third of the span, -one-sixth of the cubit, about 3 inches. - -4. The Digit or finger-breadth at about the middle of the middle finger, -one-twelfth of the span, one-twenty-fourth of the cubit = 3/4 inch. - -From this division of the cubit into 6 palms and 24 digits, and of its -half, the span, into 12 digits, came the division of the day into -watches and hours, of the year into months; came also the consecration -of the number 12 in legend, history, and social institutions—came in -short duodecimalism wherever we find it. - -Add to the above measures the outstretch of the arms, the fathom, we -have the five primitive limb-lengths. - -A time came when civilisation required the fixing of a standard cubit. -It was perhaps at first an arbitrary standard, but it became fixed by -law in the most ancient Eastern Kingdoms and, about the fortieth century -before the Christian era, perhaps much earlier, certainly by the time of -the Egyptian fourth dynasty, it had been fixed at a length known for -certain to be equal to 18·24 English inches. - -This was no arbitrary standard, any more than that of the English yard -or the French metre. I may say that, apart from parochial varieties and -convenient trade-units, always referable to some recognised standard, -there are no arbitrary standards in any country; all have a directly -scientific basis or a lineage reaching, perhaps far back, to a -scientific basis. They may have deviated, by carelessness, or even by -petty fraud, from some accepted standard, but wholesale trade has always -been a conservator of standards. - -There is not the slightest doubt that the common cubit of ancient Egypt, -brought probably from Chaldæa, was deduced from the measurement of the -earth, from the quarter-meridian distance between the pole and the -equator. There are no written records of this measurement; but an -imperishable monument remained to record it, and other ancient monuments -still remain to corroborate this testimony. The base of the Great -Pyramid was, from ancient times, always known to be 500 cubits long on -each side, and it is found to be exactly half a meridian mile, or 500 -Egyptian fathoms, in perimeter. - -There is no doubt that the wise men of the ancient Eastern Kingdoms had -great astronomical knowledge and were capable of making the necessary -meridian measurement. - -Bailly (author of ‘Histoire de l’Astronomie,’ 1775-1787) wrote: - - The measurement of the earth was undertaken a vast number of - ages ago in the times of primitive astronomy.... We pass - contemptuously by the results of ancient astronomical - observations; we substitute others and, as we perfect these, we - find the same results that we had despised. - -It will be seen that these ancient observations were of great accuracy, -and that modern science cannot improve much on the measurements of the -meridian that were made on the plains of Chaldæa, or along the Nile, at -least sixty centuries ago. - -The unit of distance used at the present day by seamen of all nations, -the meridian mile, one-sixtieth of a degree, is exactly 1000 Egyptian -fathoms, or 4000 Egyptian meridian cubits, and the Great Pyramid was -built with a base measuring exactly 500 of these cubits along each side -and 500 of these fathoms in perimeter. - -It had probably been found convenient before that time to take a shorter -unit than the cubit for use in many everyday measurements. It was -two-thirds of the cubit, one-sixth of the fathom, and was called a Foot -from its being roughly about the length of a long human foot. Apparently -one of the primitive limb-measures, it is really an outcome of the -cubit, ‘foot’ being merely a convenient name for it. The foot of the -meridian cubit was of 4 palms or 16 digits and was = 12·16 English -inches. - -The Egyptian standards of linear measure, thus adjusted to the meridian -mile, passed to Greece, and under the name of ‘Olympic’ became the Greek -standards of length. - -The use of the cubit and foot series of measures is seen in Hesiod -(ninth century B.C.): - - Hew a mortar three feet (_tripodīn_) in diameter, and a - pestle three cubits (_tripichtēn_), and an axletree seven - feet (_heptapodīn_) ... and hew a wheel of three spans - (_trispithamon_) for the plough-carriage of ten palms - (_dekadōro_) length. - -Besides the original division of the foot into 16 finger-breadths or -digits, there arose an alternative division into 12 thumb-breadths or -inches. So for the Roman foot, of shorter standard than the Egyptian or -Olympic foot from which it was derived— - - Pes habet palmos iv, uncias xij, digitos xvi, - Palmus habet digitos iv, uncias iij. - -It may be said that with the foot originated the sexdecimal system, as -with the span the duodecimal system. But the foot had as many inches, -twelve, as the span had of digits; and this division was the same in -other feet or spans not differing much from the Olympic standard. - -The popularity of the foot, its general adoption for the common purposes -of life, are due to its being divided into either 12 inches or 16 -digits, the familiar thumb-breadths and finger-breadths. Every popular -system meeting the convenience and the ways of thought of men and women, -must have its measures of length approximately coinciding with the -familiar units of limb-lengths, and it must be divided sexdecimally or -duodecimally to enable people, men, women and children, to calculate -mentally in the everyday business of life. - -The octonary or semi-sexdecimal mode of division seen in our -Pint-Gallon-Bushel series is also very convenient, especially for -measures of capacity and for land-measures, admitting extensive halving -and quartering with subordinate units at each division. Duodecimal -division having the convenience of thirding is convenient for the -coinage series. A combination of the score and dozen series, as in our -money-pound of 20 × 12 pence, combines the advantages of extensive -halving and thirding. - -But never has man taken to a decimal series of weights and measures; he -may use them on compulsion, and then will evade them whenever he can. He -has ten fingers, whence decimal numeration from the earliest times; but -he has always rejected decimal measures.[1] - -Footnote 1: - - Even in numeration he often prefers to count by the score. The - Welshman says _dega-dugain_ (10 and 2-score), the Breton _quarante et - dix_, other Frenchmen _quatre-vingt-dix_ (4 score and 10) - -If to the inconvenience of not being able to halve a unit more than once -(and that only as a concession to unscientific weakness of mind), so -that there is an interval of ten units between each named unit of the -series, be added that the familiar units of common life, the -thumb-breadth, the span, the foot, the pound, the pint, have no -representatives in a decimal system, then no cajolery of science or -patriotism will persuade men and women to use the system, except under -police compulsion, and every trick will be used to evade it. Such are -the ways of the human mind. Systems that are suited to popular -convenience, both in wholesale and retail trade; systems that admit of -modification and improvement—these will live. Systems imposed by -police-force in which the people must fit themselves to the system—these -are bound to fail. - -The convenient foot being taken as subsidiary to the cubit, it afforded, -for long measurements, larger units which harmonised with the cubit, and -with its half, the span. The most usual long unit has been the Fathom -and its double— - - The Fathom 4 cubits or 6 feet or 8 spans - The Reed or Rod 8 „ „ 12 „ „ 16 „ - -This Rod, varying according to the local standard of the foot or the -span, is that nearly always used in countries round the Mediterranean. -In northern countries where the foot has superseded the span for -measures of any length, 16 feet instead of 16 spans is a usual length -for the rod-measure. - -It is a curious fact in the history of human nature that neither ancient -Egypt nor the other Eastern monarchies kept to the meridian cubit and -the measures based on it. While it survived in Greece, it was abandoned, -officially at least, in Egypt, Assyria, and Persia. Influences in which -science was mixed with astrolatry caused a second cubit to arise, even -at the time of the building of the Great Pyramid, and this cubit -superseded the meridian cubit as the official standard of the Eastern -Kingdoms. Centuries passed and other cubits, not many, five or six at -the most, arose through analogous influences. From these Eastern cubits, -and from the Roman linear measures based on a mile eight-tenths of the -meridian mile, all the various systems of the civilised world have been -evolved. - -From linear measures, the fathom and the rod, came measures of surface -which, quickly in some countries, slowly in others, superseded more -primitive estimates of cultivated area. A very usual unit of land-length -and of road-distance was the customary length of the furrow. In all -times and countries the peasant has found that a certain length of -furrow, often about 100 fathoms or 50 rods, was convenient for himself -and his plough-cattle. A strip of land of this length, and of one or -more rods in breadth, would become a unit of field-measurement, and in -time this superficial extent, in some shape or other, would become a -geometrical standard. - -Commerce, even of the most primitive kind, led to two other forms of -measure—to Weight and Capacity. The capacity of the two hands, that of a -customary basket or pot, that of the bottomed cylinder obtained from a -segment of well-grown bamboo, would be superseded by that of a vessel -containing a certain weight of corn, oil or wine, as soon as the -goldsmith had devised the balance. Seeds of generally constant weight -such as those of the locust-tree, used for weighing the precious metals, -would soon be supplemented by a larger standard for heavier weighing; -and the weight of a cubic span or a cubic foot of water would afford a -suitable unit. A vessel containing a cubic foot of water thus afforded a -standard, the Eastern Talent, both for weight and for capacity. The -cubic foot would become a standard for the measure of oil or wine, while -this measure increased, usually by 22 or 25 per cent., so as to contain -a talent-weight of corn, generally of wheat, would become the Bushel or -otherwise-named standard of capacity, for the peasant and for -corn-dealers. - -The peasant would use his bushel not only to measure his corn, but also -to estimate his land according to the measure of seed-corn it required. -He would also take a day’s ploughing on a customary length of furrow, as -a rough measure of surface, and the landlord would estimate the extent -of his property by the number of yoke of plough-cattle required to work -it. These seed-units and plough-units would in time be fixed, and thus -become the basis of agrarian measures. - -In the meantime coinage would have arisen. A subdivision of the talent -would become the pound or common unit of weight in the retail market, -and a subdivision of the pound would be fixed as the weight of silver -which, impressed with signs guaranteeing its fineness, if not its actual -weight, would be the currency of the merchants. - -Then arose, by involution, another system of weights in which the pound -was usually of 12 or 16 ounces, and the ounce was the weight of so many -standard coins. Every modern pound was based on this system. But again, -the pound of silver would yield a certain number of coins, giving rise -to a new monetary system under which the coin-origin of the pound would -in time be forgotten. - -The necessary state-privilege of coining money sometimes led to -differences between mint-weight and commercial weight. Just as there -arose in the ancient East a royal or sacred cubit different from that in -vulgar use, so there arose in many countries a royal pound used in the -mint and different from the vulgar commercial weight. In many countries, -ancient and modern, the mint has kept up systems of weight consecrated -by tradition but obsolete for all other uses, and out of harmony with -commercial weight. - -The scientific measurement of time had early been established by the -astronomers who had measured the meridian. - -The skilled artisans who constructed astronomical instruments and the -standard measures of capacity and weight must have observed that the -water contained in the standard measure of capacity weighed more when it -was as cold as possible than when at the temperature of an Eastern -summer; they could not fail to develop the idea of thermometry thus made -evident to them. Nor could anyone fail to see that oil was lighter than -water, strong wine than unfermented, and spring-water than brine or -sweet juices. Some means of aræometry, by an immersed rod or bead, would -be devised to avoid the trouble of finding their density by the balance. - -It may thus be said that the scientists and skilled artisans of very -ancient Eastern lands were fully as capable of constructing a scientific -system of weights and measures as Western Europeans in our eighteenth -century. - -Good systems were carried by commerce to less advanced countries; if -convenient they took root, partially or entirely, and, with such -modifications as circumstances caused or required, they spread and were -in due time given legal sanction. - -Such is the usual course of evolution in the formation of a system of -weights and measures from a linear measure. - -A modification of the original linear standard may lead to the evolution -of a new system. Thus, when the Romans took as their foot 1/5000 of a -short mile of 8 Olympic stadia instead of 1/6000 of the meridian mile of -10 stadia, this new foot was the starting point of a new system. - -Another process of evolution, or rather of involution, may occur from an -imported standard of capacity. Supposing that trade has carried a -certain measure to a country which it supplies with corn, and that this -measure has been adopted, with divisions convenient to the people: from -this corn-measure another measure, about 4/5 of it, may be constructed, -containing the same weight of wine or water that the former contains of -corn; here will be a standard fluid measure, and perhaps some fraction -of it filled with water may be taken as a standard of weight. Let now -some cubical vessel be constructed to hold exactly the standard measure -of water; the length or breadth of each side will give a linear unit -which, if it approximate sufficiently with a foot or span to which the -people are accustomed, will offer a fixed linear standard in harmony -with the other standards. Thus, from a convenient foreign unit of -capacity or of weight, a new and complete system of national measures -may be constructed by involution. - -It will be seen that several cases of such involution have happened. -There is indeed no documentary evidence for them, and often very little -for the more usual processes of evolution. But the evidence for the -origin of most weights and measures is entirely circumstantial; it is by -the study of metrology, founded on research into the systems of -different countries, that the student is able to weigh circumstantial -evidence, to use it prudently, to guard himself against mere -coincidence, to clear away legend, to examine documentary evidence -carefully, to read between the lines of records, often very deceptive if -he come to them unprepared. - -The various systems which have developed by these processes, generally -of evolution, but sometimes of involution, lose the appearance of -Babel-confusion they had before their development could be explained -otherwise than by fanciful legend or despotic caprice. But once the -right point of view is found, unity is seen in the hitherto bewildering -variety, and the trend of the human mind is seen to be regular in the -systems that it evolves, in its way of meeting difficulties, in its -acceptance of changes which are real improvements, in its aversion to -arbitrary changes, in its devices for evading despotic interference with -what it has found convenient. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER II - - THE STORY OF THE CUBITS - - -The story of the cubits and of the talents, the great units of weight -evolved from the cubits, is part of the history of the ancient and -medieval Eastern Kingdoms, so intimately is it connected with their -mutual relations, with their astrolatric ideas, and with the influence -of those ideas on their science and art. This story, extending over more -than fifty centuries, from long before the building of the Great Pyramid -to near the tenth century of our era, explains the evolution of all -weights and measures, ancient and modern. - -The standard of the cubits has come down to us in great monuments, the -measurements of which show undoubted unity of standard, and ancient -histories and records often state the dimensions in the original cubits -or in other cubits. Sometimes the actual wooden measures used by -architects or masons are still extant; sometimes weights known to have -been derived from these cubits either survive or can be ascertained. -Thus in various ways the original length of the ancient cubits is known -more accurately than that of many modern standards of length. - - - 1. THE EGYPTIAN COMMON, OR OLYMPIC CUBIT - -A certain record of this cubit remains in the Great Pyramid. It is known -to have measured 500 cubits along each side of the base, 2000 cubits or -500 fathoms being the perimeter of the base. The measurement made by our -Ordnance Surveyors gave 760 feet for the side. The latest measurement, -by Mr. Flinders Petrie, is not quite 6 inches longer. Taking the -Ordnance Survey figure we have (760 × 12)/500 = 18·24 inches as the -length of the common cubit, and two-thirds of this gives 12·16 inches -for the common foot, or the Olympic foot as it is called from the -adoption of this standard by the Greeks. - -This length, supported by measurements of other ancient monuments, may -be regarded as certain. Four cubits or six Olympic feet were contained -in the Egypto-Greek orgyia or fathom, and this measure = 72·96 inches or -6·08 feet, is exactly one-thousandth of the 6080 feet length of the -Meridian or Nautical Mile. - -This cubit, common to the three great ancient kingdoms, Babylonia, -Egypt, and afterwards Assyria, originated probably in Chaldæa, passing -to Egypt with the earliest civilisation of that country, and thence to -Greece. The name of Olympic thence attached to this standard must not -make us forget its origin. The saying of Sir Henry Maine, ‘Except the -blind forces of nature, nothing moves in the world which was not Greek -in its origin,’ is not exact unless we include as Greek the great -kingdoms conquered by Alexander, and which, under the Roman empire and -afterwards under the Saracen caliphates, continued to have great -influence over the civilisation of the West. - - - _The Meridian Mile_ - -At least sixty centuries ago the Chaldæan astronomers had divided the -circumference of the earth, and of circles generally, into 360 degrees -(that is 6 × 60) each of 60 parts. There is good reason to believe that -they, before the Egyptians, who had the same scientific ideas, had -already measured the terrestrial meridian and determined the length of -the mean degree and of its sixtieth part, the meridian mile. - -Owing to the flattening of the globe towards its poles, meridian degrees -are not of equal lengths; they increase in length from the equator, so -that their sixtieth parts are— - - At degrees 1 to 3 = 68·704 statute miles; 1/60 = 6046 ft. - „ 88 to 90 = 69·409 „ „ ; 1/60 = 6108 ft. - -The mean length is at about 49° N. where the degree and mile are— - - 69·091 statute miles; 1/60 = 6080 feet. - -The perimeter of the base of the Great Pyramid is exactly half of that -length, i.e. 3040 feet. - -The length of the meridian mile, 1000 Olympic fathoms = 4000 Olympic -feet, was divided by the Greek geometers (and probably by the Egyptians -and Chaldæans long before them) into 10 stadia, each of 100 fathoms = -600 Olympic feet = 608 feet, which is about our present cable length. -And the meridian or nautical mile, used by seamen of all nations, is -this same Egypto-Greek mile of 6080 feet = 2026-2/3 yards = 1013-1/3 -fathoms = 1·1515 statute miles. It is sometimes put at 6082-2/3 feet. -French geometers estimate it at 1852·227 metres = 6076-3/4 feet, one -ten-millionth of the quarter-meridian being = 1·0002 metre. The nautical -mile is sometimes called a knot, in the sense of a ship going so many -nautical miles in an hour, as ascertained by the number of knots of the -log-line, each 1/120 of a nautical mile or 50-2/3 feet, run out in half -a minute, 1/120 of an hour. - -The meridian mile must not be confounded with the geographical or -equatorial mile, 1/60 degree along the equatorial circumference = -6087-1/3 feet. - - - _Greek Itinerary Measures_ - -Though a length of 10 stadia is a meridian mile, neither the Egyptians -nor the Greeks appear to have used this mile as an itinerary measure. -Herodotus says: - - All men who are short of land measure it by Fathoms; but those - who are less short of it, by Stadia; and those who have much, by - Parasangs; and such as have a very great extent, by Schoinoi. - Now a Parasang is equal to 30 stadia, and each Schoinos, which - is an Egyptian measure, is equal to 60 stadia. - -The Parasang of 30 stadia was then 3 meridian miles, the modern marine -league, 1/20 of a degree. - -The Schoinos was probably common to Egypt and to Chaldæa. The Chaldæans -venerated the numbers 6, 60, 600, &c., and their sexagesimal scale, -making the year 6 × 60 + 5 days and the circle 6 × 60 degrees each of 60 -minutes, has prevailed. The Olympic or Egyptian-Greek measures of -distance were on this scale, though land-measures were, officially at -least, on a decimal scale. - - 6 Olympic feet = 1 fathom (orgyia) - 60 „ „ = 1 rod (kalamos) - 60 rods or 600 feet = 1 stadion - 60 stadia (6 meridian miles) = 1 schoinos - 60 schoinoi = 6 meridian degrees - 60 × 6 degrees = circumference of the globe. - -Between the Stadion and the Schoinos there is a long gap, but the -Greeks, for whose small country the Stadion was a convenient unit, used, -when abroad, the Persian Parasang of 3 meridian miles, = 1/7200 of the -meridian circumference. - -The rise of other cubits obscured the Olympic series of measures. The -Schoinos became absorbed in the Parasang, and under the Roman domination -it became a measure of 32 stadia or 4 Roman miles. The Stadion also came -to vary; it was nearly always of 100 fathoms, but these might be fathoms -of systems varying from the Olympic. The slightly different term -Schoinion, meaning a rope or chain, was applied to a measure of 10 -fathoms. - - - _The Roman Mile_ - -The Romans took for their itinerary unit a length of 8 Olympic stadia -and, dividing it into 1000 paces or double steps, called it a mille -(mille passus) or mile. The Roman mile and pace are therefore -respectively four-fifths of the meridian mile and the Olympic fathom— - - 8/10 of 6080 ft. = 4864 ft. = 1621-1/3 yards. - -The pace was divided into 5 feet. - - 1/5 of 4·864 ft. (or 58·368 inches) = 11·673 inches. - -There was in course of time some slight variation in the length of the -Roman foot. It has been calculated at between 11·65 and 11·67 inches. -The best value appears to be that of Greaves at 11·664 inches, but 11·67 -seems to me sufficiently accurate, and corresponding better to other -Roman measures. - -The pace was also divided into quarters (palmipes) of a foot and a palm. - -The foot was divided into 16 digits or into 12 inches (pollices). Roman -dominion over Greece and Egypt led to some modifications, probably -local, in measures of distance. There was a Roman schœnus of 4 miles, -and the mile was divided, sometimes into 10 Olympic stadia, sometimes -into 8 Pythic stadia of 500 feet or 100 paces. - -It will be seen that the English mile was originally 5000 Roman feet, -and then 5000 English feet, before being fixed at its present length of -5280 feet or 1760 yards. - - - 2. THE EGYPTIAN ROYAL CUBIT (_c._ 4000 B.C.) - -The possession of a geodesic cubit, 1/4 of the fathom which was 1/1000 -of the meridian mile, did not satisfy the astrolatric priesthood of -Egypt. Under their influence another cubit, of 7 palms = 20·64 inches, -became the official measure of Egypt, and it was used in the planning of -the monuments, always excepting the outside plan of the Great Pyramid. - -What could have been the reason for this change, from the scientifically -excellent and fairly convenient common cubit to this less convenient -length, and for bringing the inconvenient number seven into the -divisions and making both palms and digits different in length from -those of the common cubit? - -No valid reason can be found other than the desire to institute, by the -side of the common cubit in which the 6 palms and 24 digits corresponded -to the watches and hours of the day, a sacred cubit in which the 7 palms -would correspond to the seven planets or to the week of seven days, and -the 28 digits to the vulgar lunar month of four weeks of seven days.[2] -Among us, at the present day, astrology is far from being dead; the days -still bear the names of the seven planets ruling successively the first -hour of the days named respectively after them; we call, however -unconsciously, men’s temperaments or characters according to the -mercurial, jovial, saturnine and other influences of the planets which -rule the hour of birth. It is not for us then to criticise severely the -pious desire of a learned priesthood or of a theocratic king to -institute a sacred standard of linear measure with divisions -corresponding in number to the seven planets which ruled the destinies -of man, whose influence ruled them through the Christian middle ages, -which at the present day still rule the world in the minds of the great -majority of mankind. The royal or sacred cubit became the official cubit -of the Eastern great kingdoms, the common or meridian cubit being also -used, not only for ordinary purposes, but sometimes along with it. Thus, -the external dimensions of the Great Pyramid are in common cubits, while -the unit of its internal dimensions is the royal cubit, perhaps recently -established at the time of the building.[3] And centuries after the -institution of the royal cubit, the meridian cubit became the standard -of the Greeks. - -Footnote 2: - - Plutarch speaks of the mystic connexion assumed by the Egyptians - between the 28 cubits maximum rise of the Nile and the same number of - days in the lunar month. - -Footnote 3: - - The royal cubit is sometimes called the Philiterian cubit; this name - (apparently meaning ‘royal’) is used by the later Hero of Alexandria, - who wrote about 430. But Herodotus says, ‘They call the pyramids after - a herdsman Philition who at that time grazed his herds about that - place’; so it is probable that the name came from some legend. - -The question naturally arises—Why was the royal cubit not formed by -simply adding a seventh palm to the common cubit, a palm of the same -length, = 3·04 inches, as the six others? This would have given a new -cubit of 18·24 × 7/6 = 21·28 inches, instead of 20·64 inches in 7 palms -of 2·95 inches. And it will be seen that this was actually done, fifty -centuries later, by the caliph Al-Mamūn. - -The answer I venture to give is, that the royal cubit was intended to -be, not only by its division a homage to the seven planets, but also, by -its increase of length, a symbol of the proportion of latitude to -longitude at some Egyptian observatory. - -Possibly it was a practical commemoration of the art of determining -longitude. On this hypothesis the new cubit was made as much longer than -the old cubit as the mean degree of latitude is longer than the degree -of longitude in 29° N., at an observatory about 50 meridian miles south -of the Pyramids. In that parallel, the proportion of the degree of -longitude to the degree of latitude is 1 : 1·13, or as 18·24 to 20·64. - -Measurements of monuments, both in Egypt and in the Babylonian and -Assyrian Kingdoms, show that 20·64 inches was the length of the royal -cubit, and actual cubit measures now extant do not vary from it more -than one-or two-hundredths of an inch. There are at least ten of these -cubits in museums and in other collections. One, a double cubit, is in -the British Museum; another, very perfect, is in the Louvre; another, of -rough graduation, but accurate length, is in the Liverpool Museum. There -may be others, generally unknown. I found one, apparently unrecorded, in -the museum of Avignon. - -As the Pyramids are very nearly in the same parallel of latitude as the -southern limits of Babylonia, near Ur of the Chaldees, it is possible -that the length of the royal or sacred cubit may have been as acceptable -to the priesthood of Babylonia as that of Egypt. This would account for -the prevalence of the seven-palm cubit throughout the Eastern great -monarchies. Perhaps the new cubit may have been instituted -internationally between the Bureau des Longitudes of Egypt and that of -Babylonia. - -As in the case of the common cubit, two-thirds of the royal cubit were -taken for the royal foot = 13·76 inches, a measure which when cubed will -be seen to be the source of our Imperial system of weights and measures. - -The inconvenience of a cubit of 7 palms is increased when two-thirds of -it are taken for the foot; this foot, being 4-2/3 palms or 18-2/3 -digits, was possibly divided for popular use into 16 digits, if it were -ever in popular use. For scientific and probably for popular use it -appears to have been divided into 2 feet = 10·32 inches. This may be -inferred from the division of the degrees, attributed to Eratosthenes -(third century B.C.), into 700 stadia, each 600 of these feet. Probably -700 is a round number, for, on the basis of this foot, the degree would -be 706·8 stadia. - -Three centuries later Pliny gave the base of the Great Pyramid a length -of 883 feet. The modern measurement being 760 feet = 9120 inches, we -have 9120/883 = 10·328 as the length of the foot in Pliny’s account, a -length differing by less than 1/100 inch from that of the half-cubit. - -The investigations of Fréret, Jomard, Letronne and other mathematicians -led them to the conclusion that the ancient Egyptians had surveyed their -land so exactly as to know its dimensions to a cubit near, and that -certainly at some unknown time they had measured an arc of the meridian -and established their measures on the basis of the meridian degree with -no less exactness than has been done in modern times. - -I have put aside all attempts, often connected with theology, to show -that the base of the Great Pyramid was 220 double cubits (of 2 × 20·61 -inches), the same number as the yards in an Elizabethan furlong, or that -its other dimensions were intended to hand down the English inch, or the -gallon, or the squaring of the circle, or the laws of harmonic -progression. - - - 3. THE GREAT ASSYRIAN OR PERSIAN CUBIT - (_c._ 700 B.C.) - -The Egyptian idea of increasing the cubit appears to have also seized -the Assyrian monarchy many centuries later. It was increased to 8 palms, -as different from those of the Egyptian royal cubit as these were from -those of the meridian cubit. - - 18·24 Egyptian common cubit 6 palms of 3·08 in. 24 digits - 20·64 „ royal „ 7 „ of 2·95 in. 28 „ - 25·26 Assyrian „ 8 „ of 3·16 in. 32 „ - -This new measure is the cubit of Ezekiel, the ‘great cubit,’ the ‘cubit -and a handbreadth,’ = 25·26 inches. - -The same question as that presented by the increased cubit of Egypt -arises in the case of the Assyrian cubit. What reason can be suggested -for an increase such as to again disturb the palm and the digit? The -advantage of having a standard of 8 palms divisible into 2 feet of 4 -palms, could have been obtained far more simply and conveniently by -adding an eighth palm equal to the others, making it 23·6 inches, with a -half giving a foot = 11·8 inches. Or two palms might have been added to -the common cubit, making a new cubit = 24·32 inches, with the Olympic -foot as its half. - -I again venture a similar explanation. The increase from the length of -the Egyptian royal cubit corresponds to the ratio of the degree of -longitude to the degree of latitude in 35·5° N., i.e. 1 : 1·224— - - 1 : 1·224 :: 20·64 : 25·26. - -This position was only 30 meridian miles from the parallel of 36° N., a -line which, passing through Rhodes and Malta to the Straits of -Gibraltar, was considered by the ancient geographers as the first -parallel and was the base-line of their maps. It was called by the Greek -geographers the ‘diaphragm of the world.’[4] - -Footnote 4: - - Διάφραγμα τῆς ὀικουμένης. Instituted by Dicæarchus 310 B.C., corrected - by Eratosthenes 276-196. - -This line passing also a few miles south of Nineveh, it is possible that -some observatory near that capital city, a few miles south of 36°, may -have been the point at which the difference in the lengths of the -degrees of longitude and of latitude was determined for the standard -length of the new cubit. - -There is an alternate hypothesis. The Egyptian royal cubit was increased -by 1·224 to make the Great Assyrian cubit. Now this is about the -proportion in which a measure containing a certain weight of water must -be increased in height to contain the same weight of wheat. This -proportion, the water-wheat ratio, is something between 1·22 and 1·25, -the former being the usual ratio with the heavier wheat of Southern -countries. Supposing a cubical vessel measuring a royal cubit of 20·64 -inches in each side, therefore containing 8792 cubic inches = 317 lb. of -water (which was the Great Artaba) to be increased in height so as to -hold the same weight of wheat, its height would now be 1·224 × 20·64 = -25·26 inches. This might have been taken for a new cubit. - -This would not prevent the new cubit, the Great Assyrian cubit, being -itself in course of time cubed to form the Den measure, as its half, the -foot, was cubed for its weight of water to make the Greek-Asiatic -talent. - -However this be, the great Assyrian cubit, which continued to be used in -the Persian empire, had the advantage of being divided into 8 palms and -of making a good two-foot rule, though its half, the foot, was rather -too long for popular use. This cubit exists to this day in Egypt, being -the basis of the Reed or Qasáb. This is the ‘full reed of six great -cubits’ (Ezek. xli.), the ‘measuring rod of six cubits by the cubit and -a handbreadth,’ that is the old seven-palm cubit with a palm added. The -Qasáb = 151·16 inches is = 12 Assyrian feet. - -Yet, for the common purposes of life, a foot = 12·63 inches was too long -to be popular; everywhere the people like a short foot, especially in -the South and the East. Moreover the cubit was a departure from the -simple geodesic standard of the meridian cubit. Accordingly there was -devised in Persia a cubit satisfactory both to the scientific class and -to the people, with a simple geodesic standard for scientific purposes -and a convenient short foot for the common purposes of life. This was -the Beládi cubit. It is perhaps the best of the cubits. - - - 4. THE BELÁDI CUBIT (_c._ 300 B.C.) - -The new Persian cubit, known as the Beládi (from _belád_, country), had -the advantage, first, of a simple relation to the Parasang or meridian -league of 30 stadia = 1/20 degree; secondly, of it being divisible into -two feet of convenient length. - -The meridian mile being = 6080 feet or 72,960 inches the parasang is -therefore 3 × 72,960 = 218,880 inches; and the Beládi cubit, 1/10000 of -the parasang, was therefore = 21·880 inches. This is the length that -John Greaves gave in 1645 as his measurement of what he called the Cairo -cubit, one of the different standards that have accumulated in Egypt -during sixty centuries. - -The Beládi cubit is still to be found in the East. A half Beládi cubit = -10·944 inches, a convenient foot for Eastern use, passed to Spain with -the Moors and became the Burgos foot, the standard of which was allowed -to go astray after the fall of the Moorish dominion. But the Spanish -shore-cubit (_Covado di ribera_) still exists at the standard of 21·9157 -inches. - -The Beládi cubit is that used by Posidonius (131-53 B.C.). He gave the -circumference of the globe as 240,000 stadia, which = 666·66 to the -degree, or 11·111 to the meridian mile of 6080 feet or 72,960 inches, -72,960/11.111 = 6566 inches or 10 fathoms of 65·66465 inches, exactly 3 -Beládi cubits or 6 half-cubits. - -It is interesting to find this Greek philosopher, settled in Rome, -reckoning the circumference of the globe accurately on the basis of the -Beládi cubit of Persia. Coupling this with the use by the Hebrews of the -Bereh equatorial cubit brought back from the Captivity, the date of the -Beládi meridional cubit is evidently at some centuries before the -Christian era. - - - _The Bereh or Equatorial Land-mile._ - -The Jews brought back from the Captivity a measure known as the Cubit of -the Talmud. It was 1/3000 of a mile, called the Bereh, which was said to -be 1/24000 the circumference of the earth. Now this latter fraction -corresponds to one-thousandth of an hour of longitude, or of 15 degrees -on the equator, and thus points to the Bereh being an equatorial, not a -meridian mile. It is still extant in the Turkish dominions in Asia. -While the modern, as the ancient, Persian Parasang is 1/7200 of the -meridian, the Turkish Farsang of 3 Bereh should be 3/24000 = 1/8000 of -the equatorial circumference— - - 1/8000 of 2029·11 yards × 60 × 360 = 5478·6 yards. - -This corresponds very closely to the length of the farsang, which is -5483·9 yards. The Bereh, by calculation, is 1826 yards and the Talmudic -cubit, 1/3000 of it, = 21·914 inches. - -Each then was one 72-millionth of the terrestrial circumference, but the -Talmudic cubit was measured on the equator, the Beládi cubit on the -meridian. - - Talmudic cubit 1/10000 of a league 1/7200 of the equator. - Beládi „ 1/9000 „ „ 1/8000 „ meridian. - - - 5. THE BLACK CUBIT (NINTH CENTURY) - -Many centuries after the institution of the Assyrian great cubit and of -the Persian Beládi cubit, another important cubit became a standard of -measure in the Moslem caliphate which reigned over the lands of the -Eastern great kingdoms. - -Under Al-Mamūn, son of Harūn al-Rashid, science was flourishing in the -East, while the West was in the dark ages, at least in all the countries -unenlightened by the civilisation of the Moors of Spain. Of Christian -Europe, Provence and the other Occitanian countries alone had that -light, a light that shone over other countries until extinguished by the -Albigensian crusade. - -‘Mahmd Ibn Mesoud says that in the time of Almamon (the learned Calife -of Babylon) by the elevation of the pole of the equator, they measured -the quantity of the degree upon the globe of the earth, and found it to -be 56-2/3 miles, every mile containing 4000 cubits, and each cubit 24 -digits, and every digit 6 barleycorns, and every barleycorn 6 hairs of a -camel’ (‘A Discourse of the Romane Foot and Denarius,’ by John Greaves, -Professor of Astronomy in the University of Oxford, 1647). - -From this determination of 56-2/3 meridian miles to the degree of -longitude it would appear, (1) that the measurement was made at about -20·1°; south of Mecca, (2) that the meridian mile was still of 4000 -Egyptian common cubits or 1000 Egyptian fathoms. - -It was then probably after this measurement that Al-Mamūn instituted his -new Cubit, sometimes known as the Black cubit, so named from the black -banner and dress adopted by the Abbaside caliphs. - -This new cubit was not, directly at least, of geodesic basis. The caliph -was probably inspired by the idea of making in a reasonable manner the -alteration which the ancient Egyptians had done badly in making their -seven-palm cubit out of simple proportion to the common cubit. So the -new cubit had palms and digits of the same length as the common cubit. -But it had all the inconveniences of the factor seven. Perhaps Al-Mamūn -may have thought that the addition of a seventh palm was not only a -homage to the seven planets but that it was satisfactory to lengthen the -common cubit in the ratio of the degree of latitude to that of longitude -in a part of his dominions where the ratio was exactly 7 to 6. This is -the ratio at Alexandria, in 31° N. - - The Common cubit being = 18·24 inches = 6 × 3·04 in. - The Black cubit was = 21·28 „ = 7 × 3·04 in. - - Two-thirds of this cubit were taken for - - The Black foot = 14·186 inches, divided into 16 digits of - the 24 digits or qiráts of the cubit. - -This cubit and foot are still in use. The old nilometer on the island of -Al-Rauzah (Rode) near Cairo has its scale in cubits of this standard, -and measurement of the worn scale gives 21·29 inches for the cubit. - -The cubit and foot of Al-Mamūn are the basis of measures and of weights -which spread from Egypt to every country in Europe. - -The story of the five cubits, ancient and medieval, has shown that they -were all derived, directly or indirectly, from the meridian measurement -of the earth, some of them being probably instituted with the desire to -make them representative of the relation of latitude and longitude. - -I venture to say that every measure and weight used throughout the world -has been developed from one of these cubits and thus, more or less -directly, from the Egyptian meridian cubit. The Republican system of -France is but a decimal imitation of the system based on the common -Egyptian meridian cubit; its basis being the kilometre, 1/10000 of the -quarter-meridian, instead of the Egyptian meridian mile, 1/(90 × 60) of -the quarter-meridian. - -There were some other cubits of minor importance; one of them is the -Hashími cubit described in Chapter XVII. - - - COMPARATIVE LENGTHS OF THE FIVE ANCIENT CUBITS - - Egyptian common cubit = 18·24 in.; its foot 2/3 = 12·16 in. - „ royal „ = 20·64 „ „ 2/3 = 13·76 „ - Great Assyrian „ = 25·26 „ „ 1/2 = 12·63 „ - Beládi „ = 21·888 „ „ 1/2 = 10·944 „ - Black „ = 20·28 „ „ 2/3 = 14·186 „ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER III - - THE STORY OF THE TALENTS - - -It has been seen that throughout the ancient Eastern Kingdoms, from soon -after 5000 B.C. to some centuries after our era, there was general unity -in the system of linear measures. It will now be seen that there was -similar unity in the system of weights and measures, all derived from -some well-known linear standard cubed. In modern times this unity is -much less apparent, but yet it can be traced, and it survives with -little change in the great part of the world where the English system of -weights and measures remains as an inheritance from the most ancient -epochs of civilisation. - -The 400 shekels of silver, currency of the merchants, that Abraham -weighed to Ephron about 1900 years B.C. were probably of about the same -weight as 400 half-crowns of the present day. - -When Moses levied 100 talents and 1775 shekels, at the rate of half a -shekel on each of the 603,550 men who were numbered (Exod. xxxviii.), -the weight of the silver shekels can be precisely ascertained. - -603550/2 = 301,775 shekels = 100 talents and 1775 shekels. - -The Talent was the weight of an Egyptian royal cubic foot of water and -was divided into 3000 shekels. - -The royal foot, 2/3 of the cubit, = 13·76 inches. - -The foot cubed = 2605 cubic inches; 2605/27·73 = 93·9 lb. as the -calculated weight of the standard afterwards known as the Alexandrian -talent.[5] - -Footnote 5: - - The Imperial pound = 27·727 cubic inches of water, 7000 grains: the - gallon 10 lb. or 277·274 c.i. - -The actual weight was 93·65 lb. = 655·550 grains; 655550/3000 = 218·5 -grains was the weight of the shekel, nearly our half-ounce—exactly the -half-ounce of Plantagenet times, and very near to the weight of our -half-crown, which weighs 218·18 grains. - -The difference between calculated weight and the actual weight -determined from coin or other standards, from trustworthy historical -statements and other sources of information or of evidence, is generally -due to the great difficulty in constructing accurately the cubical -vessel used to ascertain the weight of a cubed measure of water. A -difference of 2/100 of an inch in the sides of the vessel made to hold a -royal cubic foot of water would make a difference of about 3 parts in -1000, of 4-1/2 of the 1500 ounces or double-shekels of water it -contained. And we do not know the temperature of the water used. - -From the ancient and medieval cubits were derived all the weights and -measures of medieval and modern civilisation, largely through the medium -of the talents derived from these standards. - - From the Egyptian common foot came the Olympic Talent - „ „ „ royal „ „ „ Alexandrian „ - „ „ Great Assyrian „ „ „ Greek-Asiatic „ - „ „ Arabic „ „ „ Arabic „ - - - 1. THE ALEXANDRIAN TALENT - -The standard of this talent has been already given as 93·65 lb., which × -7000 = 655,550 grains. - -It was divided on different systems: - - 1. By the Chaldæans and Egyptians into 60 minás, divided— - - (_a_) On the Chaldæan system into 60 shekels of 182 - grains, with a quarter-shekel = 45-1/2 grains. - - (_b_) On the Phœnician, and Hebrew, system into 50 - shekels of 218-1/2 grains, with a quarter-shekel = - 54·6 grains. - - 2. By the Greek-Egyptians into 120 minás (or the half or lesser - talent into 60 minás) of 100 drachmæ = 54·6 grains. - - 3. By the Romans into 125 libræ of 12 unciæ (1500 ounces) - further divided by the Greeks into 8 drachmæ = 54·6 grains. - -Three of these modes of division give a drachma of 54·6 grains. So a -Phœnician or Hebrew shekel, a Ptolemaïc tetradrachm and a Roman -half-ounce, are of the same weight, differing by only 1/4 grain from our -half-ounce, and by only 1/2 grain from our half-crown. - -The Alexandrian talent was the Hebrew Kikkar or talent of the sanctuary. -In the Chaldæan kingdom the standard measure was the Egyptian royal -cubit, and the standard weight was the talent derived from its foot; but -the miná appears to have been divided into 60 instead 50 shekels. - -The words which Belshazzar saw written on the wall referred to the miná -and shekel, or tekel, of this talent. Their meaning may be thus -rendered: - - Mene, a miná—the great King Nabupalasur, founder of the new - Chaldæan Kingdom. - - Mene, a miná—the great King Nabukudurusur, son of the preceding. - - Tekel, a shekel (of 4 quarters)—Nabunahid (Belshazzar) and his - three predecessors, all of small account. - - Upharsin, a division, perhaps 2 half-shekels, the Medes and - Persians. Or it may simply be the Parsīs or Persians, the - enemies at the gate. - -This talent is still extant at Bássora (in Chaldæa) as the _mánd sofi_ = -93·22 lb. - - - _The Medimnos._ - -This was the measure made to hold an Alexandrian talent of wheat. The -cubed Egyptian royal foot (probably used as a fluid measure) was -increased in the Southern water-wheat ratio of 1 : 1·22. Thus 2605 c.i. -× 1·22 = 3176 c.i. and 3176/277·4 = 11·45 gallons as the contents of the -Medimnos. - -This measure was adopted by the Romans, as well as by the Greeks, as the -basis of their corn-measures, doubtless in consequence of the corn-trade -from Egypt. A sixth part of it was the Roman Modius. - -The Medimnos was divided by the Greeks into 48 Choinix, or into 96 -Xestes (L. _sextarius_) = 0·95 Imperial pint or 19 fluid ounces. - - - 2. THE LESSER ALEXANDRIAN OR PTOLEMAÏC TALENT - -This was half of the ordinary or greater talent. - -Half the calculated weight of the greater talent gives 46·956 lb. for -the lesser. But the actual weight was somewhat less, 46·82 lb. - -It was divided into 60 Ptolemaïc miná = 5462 grains, and the miná into -100 drachms. The drachm = 54·62 grains and the tetradrachm = 218·5 -grains coincide as coin-weights with the quarter-shekel and shekel of -the greater talent. - -The miná was divided also on the Roman uncial system: - - 1/12 = an ounce = 455·28 grs.; of this - 1/12 = a double-scruple = 37·94 grs.; of this - 1/12 = a carat of 3·1616 grs. - -The carat 1/144 ounce, is exactly, to 1/100 grain, the jeweller’s carat -of to-day in European countries. - -What could be the reason for this talent? - -Its miná was half an Alexandrian miná; its drachm was a quarter-shekel. - -Don V. V. Queipo[6] considered that the half Beládi cubit had been -produced from it by involution, taking the side of a cubical vessel -containing half an Alexandrian talent of water and then doubling this -new foot to make a new cubit. Its water-volume = 1302·5 c.i. gives as -cube root 10·9207 inches, almost exactly half the Beládi cubit = 21·888 -inches. But the Beládi cubit being 1/7200 of a Parasang is sufficient -evidence of its origin. I consider that the close coincidence of the -half-cubit with the side of a cubic vessel containing an Alexandrian -half-talent of water led the Ptolemies to institute this smaller talent, -as if it had been evolved from the Beládi foot in the same way that the -Greek-Asiatic talent had been evolved from the Persian foot or -half-cubit. - -Footnote 6: - - _Essai sur les Systèmes Métriques_ (1859). - - - 3. THE GREEK-ASIATIC TALENT - -After the institution of the great Assyrian or Persian cubit a new -talent was necessarily evolved from it. - -The Persian foot, half of the cubit, was cubed, and the weight of this -cubic foot of water was the Persian or Greek-Asiatic talent— - - 25·26/2 = 12·63 inches; 12·63^3 = 2014 c.i. = 72·61 lb. - -The actual weight of this talent (as in the case of the Alexandrian -talent) was somewhat less. It corresponded to a cubic foot of 2000 c.i., -giving 72·13 lb. = 504,910 grains. This was divided into 60 minás— - - (72·13 lb. × 1000)/60 = 8415 grams = 1·2 lb. - -The miná was divided by the Persians into 100 darics = 84·15 grains. The -actual weight of silver darics found, 83·73 grains, corresponds almost -exactly to this weight. - -This is the talent Herodotus used when estimating the revenue of the -Persian empire. Its miná has survived as the Attári or Assyrian rotl = -8426 grains, extant in Algeria. Another Attári pound = 8320 grains is -still used at Bássora, near the Persian gulf. The ounce of this rotl, -8426/16 = 526·6 grains, is exactly the Russian ounce. - -The Persian coins weighing 129-130 grains usually called darics are -staters or Greek didrachms. - - - _The Metretes_ - -The second Greek standard of capacity was the Metretes. - -While the Medimnos contained an Alexandrian talent of wheat, the -Metretes contained a Greek-Asiatic talent of it. - -The capacity of the Persian cubic foot was 2000 c.i. = 72·13 lb. = 7·213 -gallons. - -This cubic foot, increased in water-wheat ratio, gives 7·213 × 1·22 = -8·8 gallons or 70·4 pints, as the capacity of the Amphoreus metretes.[7] - -Footnote 7: - - The Metretes was one-tenth more than our firkin. In the story of the - Marriage at Cana (John ii.) the Greek has ‘two or three metretes.’ - This term is kept in Wycliff’s version (1388) and in the modern Dutch - version. - -Some archæologists have given it as = 8·68 gallons, a very slight -difference. - -The Metretes was divided into 36 Choinix or 72 Xestes, which contained -O·977 pint as against the O·955 pint of the Xestes, which was 1/96 -Medimnos. A mean figure, 0·96 pint, is usually taken as the common -capacity of the two Xestes. - -The Greeks had thus two standards of capacity, the Metretes and the -Medimnos, both cubic feet increased in water-wheat ratio to make them -corn-measures. It is very likely that, having these two measures from -different sources, the one of 72 Xestes, the other of 96, they would use -the smaller as a fluid measure. In modern measures there are several -instances of corn-measures having become wine-measures. Our Imperial -gallon used for fluids is a slightly altered corn-gallon; at present the -multiples above the gallon are used for corn, the gallon and its -divisions for fluids. - - - 4. ROMAN WEIGHTS AND MEASURES OF CAPACITY - -Used by the Greek colonies in Asia, the Greek-Asiatic talent passed to -the Greek or Trojan colonies in South Italy, and became the source of -the old Roman pound, the _As libralis_ = 5049 grains, 1/100 of the -talent; (72·13 × 7000)/100 = 5049 grains.[8] - -Footnote 8: - - 5050 grs.—Smith’s _Dict. of Antiquities_. 5047 grs.—Daremberg and - Scaglio’s _Dict. of Antiquities_. - -The Aes or As, the bronze or copper pound of the Roman republic in its -earlier times, was divided into 12 ounces, each = 420·75 grains. - -It remained the mint-pound of both Republic and Empire. - -The Aurei of Julius Caesar, 1/40 As, weigh 127 grains, those of Augustus -125 grains. The mean weight appears to be about 126 grains, which gives -5040 grains for the As. - -The Aurei of the later Empire were struck at 1/72 As, and weigh 70 -grains, giving the same weight, 5040 grains, for the As. At 70·1 grains -they would give 5049 grains, the calculated weight of the As. - -The evolution of the As from the Greek-Asiatic talent leads to -consideration of the measures connected with it, and with the -Alexandrian talent. - -It has been seen that the Roman foot, 1/5000 of the Roman mile, 8 -Olympic stadia, was 11·67 inches. This foot being cubed, the weight of -the cubic foot of water was made the basis of the Roman measures of -capacity— - - 11·67^3 inches = 1589 c.i. = 57·32 lb. water - = 401,240 grains. - -This calculated measure, 57·32 lb. = 5·732 gallons = 45·8 pints, was the -Amphora Quadrantal, supposed to weigh, of wine, 80 As or primitive -pounds. _Quadrantal vinei octoginta pondo sit._ The correspondence was -only approximate. The Quadrantal should have been = 57·7 lb. for its -1/80 part (= 5049 grains) to correspond with the As. Its capacity was -probably adjusted so as to make it half a Medimnos and = 3 Modii. - -There are specimens extant of the Quadrantal, of cubical shape, showing -that it was named from its being a cubic foot in measure. - -The Quadrantal, being equal to 45·8 pints, was almost exactly half the -Greek Medimnos, equal to 91·5 pints; so that, divided into 8 congii, -each of 6 sextarii, the Sextarius, 1/48 Quadrantal, was practically the -same as the Xestes, 1/96 of the Medimnos. - -And the Quadrantal being also very nearly two-thirds of the Greek -Metretes, equal to 70·4 pints, the Sextarius was also nearly the same as -the other Xestes, 1/72 of the Metretes. - -So the Sextarius was 1/48 Quadrantal, 1/72 Metretes, and 1/96 Medimnos. - -The relation of the Roman Modius to the Alexandrian-Greek medimnos -appears to be only a coincidence, as the former is one-third of a Roman -cubic foot, and the latter an Alexandrian cubic foot increased in -water-wheat ratio. - - - _The New Roman Pound_ - -Trade with Egypt led the Romans, not only to use the Alexandrian -medimnos, but also to put aside the As for commercial purposes and adopt -a standard taken from the Alexandrian talent. Its 1500 double-shekels -made 125 libræ each of 12 unciæ = 437 grains. The libra was thus = 5244 -grains as compared with the As = 5049 grains. - -A further uncial division of the libra made the Uncia either of 6 -sextulæ, 24 scrupuli, 48 oboli, 144 siliquæ, or of 12 semi-sextulæ, 144 -siliquæ. - -The siliqua was a little less than the Eastern qirát, being 3·03 grains -instead of the 3·1616 grain carat of the Ptolemaïc series of weights. - - - TABLE OF ROMAN WEIGHTS AND MEASURES OF CAPACITY - - WEIGHTS - - OLD WEIGHTS (MINT SERIES) - - As = 5040 grs. 12 unciæ - Deunx 11 „ - Dextans 10 „ - Dodrans 9 „ - Bessis 8 „ - Septunx 7 „ - Semissis 6 „ - Quincunx 5 „ - Triens 4 „ - Quadrans 3 „ - Sextans 2 „ - Uncia = 420 grs. 1 „ - - NEW WEIGHTS (MEDICINAL SERIES) - - Libra = 5244 grs. - Uncia = 437 „ - Sextula = 72·8 „ = 1/6 uncia - Denarius = 62·45 „ = 1/7 uncia - Drachma = 54·6 „ = 1/8 uncia - Scrupulus = 18·2 „ = 1/3 drachma - Obolus = 9·1 „ - Siliqua = 3·03 „ - Chalcus = 1 „ = 1/3 siliqua - Lens (Sitarion) = 3/4 „ = 1/4 siliqua - - MEASURES - - WINE - - Metretes (Gr.) = 8·8 gall. - Quadrantal 80 As = 5·77 „ - Urna 40 „ - Congius 10 „ = 5·77 pints - Sextarius 20 unciæ = 0·96 „ - Hemina 8 „ - Acetabulum 2 „ - Cyathus 1 „ - Ligula 1/4 „ - - CORN - - Medimnos = 11·45 gall. = 2 quadrantal - Modius = 1·92 gall. = 1/3 quadrantal - - - 5. THE OLYMPIC TALENT - -From the Olympic foot, two-thirds of that most ancient linear standard -the common cubit of Egypt and the other Eastern monarchies, a talent was -also constructed— - - 12·16^3 in. = 1798 c.i. = 64·81 lb. water = 453,670 grs. - -and in practice its actual weight was the same as that calculated. - -It was divided in two ways: - -1. On the Bosphoric system, which prevailed in Asia Minor, in the -Phœnician colonies, and in some parts of Greece, it was divided into 80 -miná, each = 5670 grains, and these into 100 drachms of 56·7 grains. Or -the Bosphoric miná was divided uncially into 12 ounces of 472·5 grains. - -2. On the Euboic system, frequently used in Greek commerce, this talent -was divided into 50 minás of 100 drachms. - -The drachm = 90·73 grains. - -There was also a Euboic talent which coincided with the weight of the -Roman Quadrantal, nominally of 80 As weight = 57·7 lb., and in -transactions with the East the Romans appear to have called their -Quadrantal-weight of water a Euboic talent. But it will presently be -seen that this was the Attic monetary talent. - -The volume of an Olympic talent of water was 8 times the Hebrew Bath or, -for dry goods, Epha. - - - COMPARISON OF OLYMPIC AND IMPERIAL MEASURES - - OLYMPIC IMPERIAL - Foot = 12·16 in. 12 in. - Cubic foot = 1798 c. in. 1728 c. in. - Talent = 64·81 lb. 62·3 lb. - 1/1000 of talent = 453·6 grs. 437·5 grs. - - │ Orig. Wine gallon 7·83 lb. - 1/8 = Bath = 8·1 lb. water │ Modern „ „ 8·33 „ - │ Imperial „ „ 10 „ - - - 6. GREEK COIN-WEIGHTS - -In ancient Greece as in medieval Europe, financial difficulties led -rulers to lower the weight of the coinage. But while in Europe, in -England for instance, more pennies were coined from the mint-pound of -silver, this remaining fixed, although nominally based on the weight of -the sterling, the weights of Greece were actually based on that of the -drachma. - -When the drachma was diminished in weight, the miná and the talent both -dropped proportionately. Thus the standard of the Alexandrian talent, -carefully preserved in Egypt, dropped in Greece. - - Miná Talent - Drachma of of - 100 drachmæ 60 miná - - Egypt 109-1/4 grs. 10,926 grs. 93·65 lb. - Ægina, early 105 „ 10,560 „ 90·5 „ - „ before 700 103·7 „ 10,370 „ 88·9 „ - „ after 700 95·68 „ 9,568 „ 81·76 „ - Athens, 600 B.C. 93·08 „ 9,308 „ 79·78 „ - -So in Athens, where the Ægina standard was in use, the drachma stood at -93·08 grains when, in 594 B.C., Solon’s Seisachthia law ‘unburdened’ the -State and other debtors by decreeing that 73 (or more accurately 72-1/2) -drachmæ should now be equal to 100 drachmæ, and altering the coinage -accordingly. - -This reduced the coin-weights of Athens to— - - Drachma Didrachma Miná Talent - 67·37 grs. 125·74 grs. 6737 grs. 57·75 lb. - -But commercial weight remained the same. The miná emporikí, the trade -miná, was fixed at 138 of the new drachmæ, so that it continued to be -100 of the old drachmæ: 138 × 67·37 = 100 × 93·08 grains. - -The commercial miná thus remained at the 600 B.C. standard of 9308 -grains = 1·33 lb. and the talent at 79·78 lb.[9] - -Footnote 9: - - There was a custom of _rhōpi_, turn of the scale, or long weight, - which increased the legal commercial weight to a customary weight - tending towards that of the Alexandrian talent series. - -In settling the reduction of the Attic money-weight at 100 new drachmæ = -73 old drachmæ, Solon probably fixed on the latter figure in order to -make the new talent, = 57·74 lb., have approximately the simple ratio of -4 : 5 with the Greek-Asiatic talent— - - 4/5 × 72·13 lb. = 57·704 lb. - -Thus the Roman As being = 5049 grains, 1/100 of the Greek-Asiatic -talent, 80 As, = 403,920 grains = 57·7 lb., came to coincide with the -Attic monetary talent. - - - 7. THE ARABIC TALENT - -To the talents and measures of capacity evolved from the feet of the -three principal cubits of antiquity, must be added the talent and other -measures evolved from the Black foot of Al-Mamūn’s cubit. They have had -great influence on the weights and measures of Europe. - -Al-Mamūn’s cubit was = 21·28 inches, the foot = 14·186 inches. - -The foot cubed gave a measure of water, the weight of which was the -Egyptian Cantar or Cental— - - 14·1868^3 = 2855 c.i. = 102·92 lb. water = 720,441 grs. - -This talent was divided in two ways: - -1. As the Romans had divided the Alexandrian talent into 125 pounds of -12 ounces, so the new talent was divided into 125 parts each = 5763 -grains. This was the Arabic lesser Rotl, its ounce = 480·25 grains. The -rotl was also divided in the Greek way into 100 drachms or dirhems = -57·63 grains. - -2. Another mode of division was into 100 greater Rotl, thus becoming a -Cental of 100 lb. each = 7204·4 grains. - -This greater rotl was divided, commercially into 16 ounces (Ar. _ukyé_, -Gr. _oggia_, L. _uncia_) of 450,275 grains, and uncially for coin-weight -into 12 × 12 dirhems of 50·03 grains. - -Both these dirhems became, like the drachma coin-weights of Greece, the -bases of other systems of weight, either at their original weight or at -the lower weights to which coins might fall. - -The Lesser Rotl— - -1. With its ounce of 480-1/4 grains would seem to have given rise to the -Troy pounds, but it is much more probable that their variable ounces -were 10 dirhems of about 48 grains. - -2. From 8 of its drachms came the Venetian pound and the German -apothecaries’ pound with an ounce of 8 × 57·63 = 461 grains. - -From the Greater Rotl came— - -1. Eight of its ounces of 450-1/4 grains = the Marc of Cologne, its -double being the German Imperial pound = 7218 grains; our royal -Tower-pound of Plantagenet times being 12 ounces = 5400 grains. - -The 100 lb. centner of North Germany = 103·1 lb. was almost exactly the -same weight as Al-Mamūn’s Cantar. - - 2. WEIGHTS OF EASTERN EUROPE (see Chap. XV) - - The Polish pound 16 × 8 dirhems of 48·9 grains - „ Russian „ „ „ 49·37 „ - „ Austrian „ „ „ 50·6 „ - -From 8 dirhems of 50 to 47 grains came the ounces of the pounds of -Southern France. - -From 10 dirhems of 48 grains, more or less, came the ounces of the Troy -pounds. - -The weight of the dirhem is now: Turkey 49·6 grains, Greece 49·4 grains, -Morocco 49 grains, Egypt 47·6 grains, Tripoli 47·07 grains. In Tripoli -there is a small weight = 12·55 grains called a dirhem, which seems to -be 1/4 of an original weight dirhem = 50·1 grains. - -The fall of the dirhem weight, and consequently of the weights which are -multiples of it, accounts for the Egyptian Cantar having fallen from its -original weight to somewhat over 98 lb. - -The quarter-Cantar gave its Arabic name to other quarter-hundredweights, -the Arroba of Spain, the Rubbio of Italy, the Rub of Southern France -(from Ar. _rouba_, four; cf. Rubaiyát, quatrain). - - - _Measures of Capacity derived from Arabic Linear - Measures_ - -Al-Mamūn’s cubit cubed became the medieval standard of grain measure on -the Mediterranean coasts— - - 21·28 in. cubed = 9639 c.i. = 347·314 lb. water, - -which is equal to 34·73 gallons or 4·34 bushels. - -This measure subsists in Egypt as the Rebekeh = 4·32 bushels. It passed -to Marseilles as the Cargo, and to Paris as the Setier. - -These developments of the Arabic cubit and foot will be more fully -explained in the chapters on foreign systems. They are sketched in order -to show how the Eastern caliphate took up the system begun by the great -monarchies of many centuries before, and elaborated by Greece and Rome. -Thus, from Moslem Egypt as from Pharaonic Egypt have come virtually all -the weights and measures of the Western world. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER IV - - THE INVOLUTION OF LINEAR MEASURES FROM - WEIGHTS - - - THE SOURCES OF THE ENGLISH AND OF THE RHINELAND - FOOT - -Commerce is the great conservator of standards. These may become altered -by the ill-advised action of rulers, by municipal or parochial -carelessness, even by the desire of profit on short measure, or -occasionally, as seen to a slight extent in our old Bushel, by the -faulty dimensions of a standard; but wholesale trade, supported, in -weights at least, by the goldsmith and the apothecary, preserved the -integrity of many standards during the Middle Ages and up to modern -times. Commerce conveyed to the West the standards that had developed in -the great Oriental Kingdoms, sometimes with the modifications due to -Roman influence. Masons and architects also preserved the standards of -length and, allowing for variations inevitable under the feudal system, -the principal linear measures can generally be traced to their sources -as surely as weights. But there are two, yea three, striking exceptions -among the linear standards of the West: the English foot, and the -Rhineland foot, and also the Pán of Marseilles. These are quite -unconnected with any ancient measures, and there is no record of their -origin. The only clue to it is found in the simple relation of each to -the corresponding weights and measures of capacity, the origin of which -can be satisfactorily traced. This leads to the hypothesis that these -linear measures were ‘involved,’ that is produced by a method of -involution the inverse of that which had evolved the measures of weight -and capacity. - - - 1. THE ENGLISH FOOT - -There seem three hypotheses for the origin of the English foot. - -1. That it was the Olympic foot = 12·16 inches, its standard diminished -by the accidents of time. - -But we know that the Romans established their measures in Britain, and -our mile of 8 stadia and of 5000 feet (first Roman, then English) up to -Tudor times, shows that it was originally 1000 Roman paces of 5 feet; -and our early wine-bushel, of which the wine-gallon was 1/8, is -referable to the cube of the English foot, not to that of the Olympic -foot. - -There is no trace of the Olympic foot in Northern Europe except the -possibility (mentioned under Foreign Linear Measures) of the Amsterdam -local foot, = 11·146 inches, being 11 inches of the Olympic foot. - -2. It happens that the mean of the Roman foot = 11·67 inches, and of the -Rhineland foot = 12·356 inches, gives 12·013 inches. But there is no -instance of a new standard being formed from the mean of two older ones; -moreover this hypothesis begs the question of the Rhineland foot. - -3. The hypothesis which I consider the most likely is that the foot is -the measure of the side of a cubical vessel containing 1000 Roman ounces -of water. It seems likely that in early times, possibly under King -Alfred by the advice of Italian moneyers or Jewish merchants, this -measurement was effected in order to establish a foot and a cubic foot -measure of capacity corresponding to a new talent of 1000 Roman ounces. -There is no record of this, any more than there is a record of the -standard taken for the Tower pound of the Norman and Plantagenet kings. -All we know is that, during the times of these kings, the relation of -Averdepois or Roman weight to our measures of capacity was utterly -ignored until at last, in 1685, ‘some Gentlemen at Oxford determined the -weight of a cubic foot of spring water, or 1728 solid inches, to be 1000 -ounces averdepois.’ That the correct weight is not 1000 but about 998 -ounces at 62° does not militate against the connexion of the weight and -measure any more than the fact that a cubic decimetre of water, supposed -to weigh 1000 grammes, only weighs about 998-1/2 grammes would disprove -a connexion between the cubic decimetre and the gramme. - -The difficulty of making a ‘quadrantal,’[10] a vessel of exactly cubical -form inside, is so great that the wardens of the Metric System abandoned -the cubic decimetre of water as giving the standard, either of the litre -for capacity, or of the kilogramme for weight. Even approximate accuracy -was unattainable, and they were obliged to make the kilogramme an -arbitrary standard of mass and the litre a vessel containing a -kilogramme of water. - -Footnote 10: - - Quadrantal, the Roman standard of capacity, a cubic vessel measuring - one foot on each of its inside panels. - -When it is seen that a difference of 1 in 2500 in the length of the foot -taken as the inside measure of a quadrantal makes a difference of 3 -cubic inches out of 1728 in its capacity, the material difficulties of -constructing a vessel exactly cubical will be understood. However, a -quadrantal being constructed, perhaps after many trials of sides as -exactly equal as possible, and holding 1000 ounces of Roman ounces (= -437 grains) of water, the mean measure of its panels was taken as a -foot, and the quadrantal as a cubic foot—the wine-bushel. - -Let us take 1000 Roman ounces and divide the total number of grains -weight by the statute number of grains in a cubic inch of water as -determined by Captain Kater in 1824. - -The dividend will be the number of cubic inches, and its cube root will -be the foot— - - 437,000/252,458 = 1729·8 cubic inches, - -of which the cube root is 12·0042 inches, a length differing by only -1/2400 from the actual Imperial foot. - -I took the idea of this hypothesis from that by which Don V. V. Queipo -inferred the Beládi cubit to be the double measure of the side of a -cubical vessel containing a Ptolemaïc talent of water. Certainly it -solves the question of the origin of our foot, and it happens that, -applied to the equally obscure origin of the Rhineland foot, the results -are equally satisfactory. - - - 2. THE RHINELAND FOOT - -Let the same process of involution be applied to the side of a cubical -vessel containing 1000 Troy ounces of water. - -The standard of Troy weight varied very much, from the Danish value of a -little over 481 grains in the ounce, to the French Troy value of 472·13 -grains. - -The Scots Troy weight, = 476·09 grains to the ounce, is nearly the same -as the Amsterdam weight, = 476·68 grains. - -These Troy weights may be taken at three main standards, high, medium, -and low, represented by: - - English Troy, its ounce = 480 grains - Amsterdam „ „ „ = 476·68 „ - French „ „ „ = 472·13 „ - -Let us apply to 1000 ounces of water, at the medium Amsterdam standard, -= 10 Egyptian dirhems of 47·6 grains, the same measurement of a -quadrantal made to contain them as exactly as possible. - - 476·687/252·458 = 1886·9 cubic inches - -and the cube root of the dividend gives 12·357 inches, exactly, to 1 in -20,000, the Rhineland foot as established in Prussia = 12·3564 inches. -The Prussian standard of the Cologne pound (its ounce = 451·1 grains) -was 1/66 of a Rhineland cubic foot of water at 65·75 F., and was fixed -at 7217·9 grains. This was exactly 1/66 of 1000 Troy ounces of water at -the standard of 476·38 grains. So 66 Prussian pounds were equal to 1000 -Troy ounces, or to 62·5 Troy pounds at that standard. - -The Rhineland cubic foot had, like the English cubic foot, long been the -bushel standard of North Germany. The Himt, now, or until quite -recently, the unit of corn-measure in Hanover and Brunswick, contained -6·852 gallons, or 68·52 lb. of water. It is probable that the Himt, -which passed to Scotland in the fifteenth century as the firlot of that -time, had risen slightly, and that it was originally = 68·05 lb., the -true Rhineland cubic foot of water. - - - 3. THE PÁN OF MARSEILLES - -Marseilles, a city of Greek origin, always in extensive commercial -relations with the Mediterranean countries using the Arabic system of -weights and measures, had an almost perfect system of its own, entirely -sexdecimal, and dating from about the tenth century. This system is -still extant, so far as the French law can be evaded (see Chap. XXI: Old -Weights and Measures of France). Wine and corn measures were in the -usual Southern water-wheat ratio of 1 to 1·22, and the principal of -these was the Escandau for wine and oil, and the Panau for corn. Now -Escandau means ‘standard’; and this measure was 1/4 of the Mieirolo, the -half wine-load or ‘wey’ which corresponded in water-wheat ratio to the -half-load or wey of wheat. The load of wheat, the _cargo_, was the cubic -cubit of Al-Mamūn, brought from Egypt by the corn-trade. The unit of -length was the Pan (pronounced páng), a word apparently similar to the -palmo of Italy and Spain, but really different. Palmo becomes _paume_ in -Provençal, while Pan is from L. _pannus_, a side, pane or panel;[11] and -the Marseilles Pan = 9·9 inches is exactly the measure of the side or -pan of an Escandau of cubical form. The filiation of the Escandau is -evident, while the Pan is not derived from any antecedent measure. That -the Pan was the measure of the pan or panel of a cubical Escandau is -supported by the name of the corn-standard, the Panau, corresponding to -the fluid standard of the Escandau, and of the land-measure, L. -_Panalata_, the peck-land, originally the extent usually sown with a -Panau of wheat. - -Footnote 11: - - The French word _pan_ has the same meaning, while Fr. _empan_, a span, - is a corruption of _espan_. - - Escandau = 16·096 litres = 3·54 gallons. - ∛16096 = 25·24 centimetres, the Pan = 9·9 inches. - -The evidence of the Pan seems to me to remove any doubt as to the -medieval evolution of linear measures from imported standards of weight -or capacity. The meaning of Pan as ‘side, panel’ is conclusive, -especially when supported by the Panau measure and by other Provençal -derivatives: - -_Panard_, a limping man, leaning to one side as he walks. - -_Lou Panard_, the star Antares which, rising late and setting early, not -appearing much above the horizon, is visible only on one side of it. - - - 4. THE FILIATION OF THE ENGLISH FOOT, OF THE - RHINELAND FOOT, AND OF THE MARSEILLES PAN - -In the description of the ancient cubits and talents and of the Roman -system derived from them, the filiation of the English system of weights -and measures, and of the Scots and other cognate systems, is clearly -seen. There was no taking of a King’s heel-to-toe as a foot, no pound -imported from some unknown country at an unknown period, no -wheat-quarter preserved in the dimensions of an Egyptian sarcophagus, -not even a pint from the Roman sextarius; legend disappears, the course -of evolution, and, at one point, of involution, is clear, and as -thoroughly scientific as in any system invented by an Academy of -Sciences. Here are the links of filiation of the English foot: - - 1. The Egyptian meridian cubit. - - 2. The royal cubit, increased from the meridian cubit. - - 3. The royal foot, two-thirds of the royal cubit. - - 4. The cubic royal foot. - - 5. The Alexandrian talent, the weight of a royal cubic foot of - water. - - 6. The Roman ounce, 1/1500 of the Alexandrian talent. - - 7. The English talent, 1000 Roman ounces. - - 8. The volume of 1000 Roman ounces of water, the original - wine-bushel. - - 9. The 1000-ounce Quadrantal becomes the cubic foot, its side - giving the English foot. - -For the Rhineland and Scots system we have: - - 1. The Egyptian meridian cubit. - - 2. The Arabic or Black cubit, 7 palms of the meridian cubit’s 6 - palms. - - 3. The Arabic foot, two-thirds of the Arabic cubit. - - 4. The Arabic talent or Cantar, the weight of an Arabic cubic - foot of water. - - 5. The Troy ounce, 1/1500 of the Cantar, and coinciding with 10 - lesser dirhems of about 48 grains. - - 6. The Rhineland talent of 1000 Troy ounces Amsterdam standard. - - 7. The Quadrantal containing 1000 Troy ounces of water becomes - the cubic Rhineland foot, its side giving the measure of the - Rhineland foot. - -For the Provençal system we have: - - 1. The Egyptian meridian cubit. - - 2. The Arabic cubit, 7 palms of the meridian cubit’s 6 palms. - - 3. The Arabic cubit cubed, in the corn-measure of medieval - Egypt, the Cargo of Marseilles, the Setier of Paris. - - 4. The half-cargo reduced to wine-measure in wheat-water ratio - becomes the Mieirolo; of which one-fourth is the Escandau or - Standard measure. - - 5. The Quadrantal containing an Escandau gives, as the measure - of its side or panel, the Pán of Marseilles. - -The evolution of the English foot, of the Rhineland or Scots foot, of -the Pán of Marseilles, being now made clear, we can proceed to English -and other linear measures. The origin of the Ounce, the foot, the cubic -foot or wine-bushel is explained. That of Troy weight has been seen, and -its predecessor, Tower weight, came from another ounce of the Arabic -cantar. The origin of every measure and weight used in the civilised -world will be found in the stories of the ancient cubits and talents. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER V - - ENGLISH LINEAR MEASURES - - - 1. THE YARD, THE FOOT, THE INCH - -The term Yard, the Old English ‘gerde’ or ‘yerde,’ a wand or rod, became -specially applied to a wand of 3 feet, or 4 spans; from this double mode -of division and from its convenient length the cloth-yard of 3 feet -became generally used. It has the convenience of being a half-fathom, -and of being divisible not only into feet and inches, but also -sexdecimally into units which are familiar as limb-lengths of the cubit -and span system. - -The half-yard corresponds to the Cubit. - -The quarter-yard is a Span.[12] - -Footnote 12: - - The usual dimensions of bricks are a span by a half-span, by a nail. - -The eighth is a Finger; women constantly measure linen approximately by -the length of the bent middle finger. - -The sixteenth is a Nail; this is the length of the half-finger, the last -two joints of the middle finger.[13] - -Footnote 13: - - The story of the Nail will be found in Chap. XX. - -While the yard is lawfully divided into halves, quarters, eighths, and -nails, it may also, as a measure of 3 feet, be divided into 36 inches. -Yard-measures are usually divided in both ways, on one side into 16 -nails, on the other into inches. - -It is customary to say either a yard and a quarter, or 45 inches, or 3 -feet 9 inches. Or to say either 58 inches or 4 feet 10 inches; but it is -not customary to say a yard and 22 inches. We cease to use the yard as -unit when we cannot express its fractions sexdecimally. - -The Foot is lawfully divided into 12 inches; but there is nothing to -prevent it being divided decimally, or otherwise, as convenient. - -The Inch is divided according to convenience, either - - Sexdecimally, into halves, quarters, &c., down to sixty-fourths. - This is the usual division. - - Duodecimally, into 12 lines. - - Decimally, into tenths and hundredths. - -Steel foot-rules usually show all three of these scales. - -Some trades may have special scales. Thus type-founders divide the Inch -into 6 ‘picas’ each = 2 lines, and the ‘pica’ into 12 points each = 1/6 -line or 1/72 inch. Nonpareil type is 6 points; Brevier is 8 points. - - - 2. STANDARDS OF THE LINEAR MEASURES - -Tables of measures, from the earliest, about 1500, down to quite recent -times, usually began by stating that ‘Three barley-corns make an inch’ -or that ‘Geographical measures begin at a barley-corn and increase -upward to a league,’ &c. - -King David I of Scotland (_c._ 1150) is credited with the pronouncement -that the Scots inch was to be the mean measure of ‘the thowmys of iij -men, that is to say an mekill man and a man of messurabil statur and of -a lytell man. The thoums are to be messurit at the rut of the nayll.’ -But no more in Scotland than in England, or elsewhere, has the inch ever -been anything but a division of the foot. - -A standard of the English foot was fixed in Old St. Paul’s Church, -London, and was known as Paul’s foot, all measures being referred to the -standard ‘qui insculpitur super basim columpnæ in ecclesia Sancti -Pauli.’ In 1273 a deed gave the measurement of land ‘according to the -iron ell [yard] of the King’s palace.’ - -The present standard yard is a bronze bar kept in London, the length of -which agrees exactly with the yard, still extant, of Tudor times. A set -of standard measures of length is fixed along the base of the northern -wall of Trafalgar Square,[14] and another set is in the flooring of the -Guildhall. Sets are also fixed to public buildings in several chief -towns of the United Kingdom. - -Footnote 14: - - The Standards Commission in 1870 advised that the public standards of - length should be placed so as to be readily accessible to the public - without their use ‘being disturbed by passers or idle gazers.’ Anyone - who has tried to get access to those in Trafalgar Square may regret - that there seems to be no provision made against their site being made - the usual lounge of often very objectionable persons. - -As metal rods vary in length according to temperature, comparisons with -a standard measure should be made at the normal temperature of 62°. But -there is an alloy of steel and nickel (42 per cent.), named Invar, which -is not perceptibly affected by temperature. - -A pendulum beating seconds at sea-level and at normal temperature -measures 39·1393 inches at Greenwich (Act of Parliament, 1824). This -length varies in different places from the variations of gravity due to -the ellipticity of the earth and local causes of deviation. - - - 3. THE HAND - -The popular ‘hand’ was the ‘palm’ of ancient times, four digits or -finger-breadths. - -_Pes habet palmos iv, palmus habet digitos iv_ (Frontinus). - -‘Foure graines of barlye make a finger; foure fingers a hande; foure -handes a foote’ (Eden, 1566). - -But the present Hand for horse-measurement is ‘the measure called a -Handful used in measuring the height of horses, by 27 Hen. 8, Chap. 6, -ordained to be 4 inches’ (Sam. Leake, 1701). This is part of an old -popular duodecimal division of the foot into 3 hands of 4 inches, then -of the inch into 3 barleycorns (lengthwise) each of 4 poppy-seeds, and -of these again into 12 hairbreadths. - -In Austria this horse-measure is the Faust or fist. - -Another very widely spread limb-measure is that of the fist with the -thumb projecting, roughly = 6 inches. It is the Shaftment of some parts -of England, _scæft-mund_ (shaft-hand) in Old English, _bawd_ in Wales; -the _somesso_ of Italy, the _kubdeh_ of Egypt, the _taim_ of Burma. - -In the Laws of Æthelstan (1000) a measurement is given as 9 feet, 9 -shaftments, and 9 barleycorns, i.e. 9 feet + 9 half-feet + 3 inches. - - - 4. THE ELL - -The yard, being 4 spans, was formerly one of the Ells, measures of 3, 4, -5 or more spans, related to the cubit of 2 spans. The Scots yard, of 37 -inches, was always known as an Ell, and it was only gradually that our -yard took the place, for cloth measure, of the Ell of 5 spans = 45 -inches, which was long maintained by statute. The yard and the ell were -usually distinguished as _virga_ and _ulna_ in statutes, but sometimes -_ulna_ meant a yard. - -Both yard and ell were divided into halves, quarters, and nails -(sixteenths). - -See Chap. XVI (The Ells), and Chap. XX (section on the Nail and the -Clove). - - - 5. THE ROD, FURLONG, MILE, AND LEAGUE - -The earliest table of English linear measures is probably that in -Arnold’s ‘Customs of London,’ _c._ 1500. - - The lengith of a barly corne iij tymes make an ynche - and xij ynches make a fote - and iij fote make a yerde - and v quatirs of the yarde make an elle - v fote make a pace - cxxv pace make a furlong - and viij furlong make an English myle. - -Thus, in 1500, the furlong was 125 × 5 = 625 feet, and the mile = 5000 -feet = 1666·6 yards. - -The mile was originally the Roman mile, 1000 paces or 5000 Roman feet, -and = (5000 × 11·67)/(3 × 12) in. = 1621-1/3 yards. So in course of time -our mile had become 5000 English feet. - -But the linear unit for land measurement was not, as in the Roman -system, a _pertica_ or rod of 10 or 12 feet; it became very early, on -the Teutonic system, a rod of 16 feet, with varieties, under French -influence later on, of 18, of 21 and 24 feet. - -In early Plantagenet times, not later than Edward I, the statute rod was -fixed at 5-1/2 yards or 16-1/2 feet. Thus, while the rood, that is the -field-furlong, was 40 rods or perches of 16-1/2 feet = 660 feet, the -itinerary furlong, 1/8 mile, remained 625 feet, ‘xxxviij perchis sauf ij -fote’ (Arnold’s ‘Chronicle’). This clashing of the new statute rod, and -its multiple the rood or field-furlong of 40 rods, with the ancient -itinerary furlong now only = 37·87 rods, was rectified in Tudor times, -probably temp. Henry VII, but definitely by a statute of Elizabeth which -raised the furlong to coincide with the rood. The mile thus became of -its present length, 8 furlongs of 40 rods of 5-1/2 yards = 1760 yards = -5280 feet. The mile has then successively been: - - 1.—Roman mile of 5000 Roman feet = 1621·3 yards. - 2.—Old English mile „ 5000 English „ = 1666·6 „ - 3.—New „ „ „ 5280 „ „ = 1760 „ - -For long measurements chains came into use, and shortly after 1600 -Edward Gunter introduced, for surveying purposes, measurement by a chain -of 4 rods, i.e. a ‘brede’ or ‘acre-brede,’ the breadth of an acre of 40 -× 4 rods, divided into 100 links. - -So the multiples of the yard are now: - - 5-1/2 yards = 1 rod - 22 „ or 4 rods, or 100 links = 1 chain - 220 „ „ 40 „ „ 10 chains = 1 furlong (rood) - 1760 „ „ 320 „ „ 80 „ or 8 furlongs = 1 mile - -The Scots mile and the Irish mile were equally 8 furlongs of 40 rods, -but Scots and Irish rods (see Chap. XIV). - - Scots mile 320 rods of 6 ells (6·1766 yards) = 1976 yards - Irish „ „ „ 7 yards = 2240 „ - -The term Yard has been used for certain large land-measures. These, with -the evolution of the Rod, will be given in the next chapter. - - - _The League_ - -It has been seen that the Persian Parasang was three meridian miles, or -3000 Olympic fathoms. France retains this as the _lieue marine_ of 20 to -the degree, and Southern France long retained a league of 3 miles each -of 1000 toises or cannes. But in Roman times the Leuca or Leuga of Gaul -was 1-1/2 Roman miles. It passed to medieval England at about the same -length, being defined as _duodecim quaranteinis_, 12 furlongs or roods -of 40 rods. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER VI - - LAND-MEASURES - - - 1. INTRODUCTION - -The first measures of land were seed-measures. They are found in every -country; they become fixed in course of time as the idea of geometric -measurement arises; they survive in name giving the peasant a concrete -idea of the extent of his fields. - -Then came the estimation of land by the amount of ploughing, or -sometimes of hand-digging, that could be done in a day, and by the -extent that could be cultivated with a pair of oxen. Then came a system -of geometric measurement, fixing the former seed-units or labour-units -by measures of length and breadth, and finally the abstract idea of -superficial area. These different systems have succeeded one another -everywhere and in all time. - -1. Seed-units.—The land that could be sown with a certain measure of -seed-corn, wheat being the usual standard: Fr. _seterée_, _estrée_, -_boisselée_, &c.; It. _moggio_; Sp. _fanega_; G. _scheffel_; Nor. -_tunn-land_. These names correspond to corn-measures. - -2. Day’s hand-labour units.—The land that could be tilled with spade or -hoe in a day: the ‘Daieswork,’ about 10 square rods; Fr. _hommée_, -_ouvrée_—20 square rods of vineyard. - -3. Day’s ploughing units.—L. _jugerum_; It. _giornata_; Fr. _journal_, -_arpent_; G. _morgen_, _joch_, _acker_; Du. _bouw_; Hind. _bigha_; Ar. -_feddan_; Ir. _ardagh_. All about an English acre more or less. - -4. Oxgang units.—The land that a boor with a yoke of oxen could keep in -husbandry; about 7 acres of arable, about 30 acres including wood and -pasture: - -Yard-land; Du. _hoeve_. A group of oxgangs, generally of four yoke, made -a Ploughland; Prov. _un mas de quatre couble_, a four-yoke farm. - -5. Geometric units.—First, units of a certain shape based on the -customary length of the furrow: Rood, 40 rods by 1 rod broad; Fr. -_vergée_, _seillon_. Then small units of a square rod, the rod being of -customary length; with large units, usually groups of roods, vergées, -&c. Four roods side by side make the English or the Norman acre. A rood -square or square furlong is the ‘acreme’ or 10-acre field. - -Legal units of land were usually abstract, of so many square rods or -fathoms, independently of any customary shape. - - - 2. EVOLUTION OF GEOMETRIC LAND-MEASURES - -While smaller units, such as the superficial rod, can easily be -conceived as square, the larger arable units have, or have had, a -peculiar form which still attaches to them. The peasant, whose mind’s -eye can perceive the square rod or toise or verge, refers the rood or -the acre, the vergée or the arpent, to the familiar length of the furrow -and to the breadth of the rod or of the four-rod acre-breadth equal to a -cricket-pitch. These lengths and breadths will long be his essentially -concrete standards of field-measurement. - -While some legal units of surface have recognised the customary -furrow-length as an element of this form, others have always been -undefined as to form. - -In ancient Egypt the land was surveyed by the state, not only for -revenue purposes, but because of the Nile overflow effacing the -land-marks usual in other countries. - -‘Hence land-measuring appears to me to have had its beginning, and to -have passed over to Greece’ (Herodotus). The agrarian unit of Egypt, -called by the Greeks _aroura_, a plough-land, was a square, each side -being a Khet or cord, of 100 royal cubits = 172 feet or 57-1/3 yards. -The square khet is represented by the present Egyptian feddan al risach -of 20 lesser qasáb (each 20 × 4 Hashími cubits) = 170·4 feet square = -2/3 acre. - -Ten square khet made the usual land-holding. This unit, = 6·79 acres, -corresponds closely to 10 modern feddan, to the véli or oxgang unit of -Southern India, and to the 7 acres of arable in the medieval English -boor’s yard-land. That the ancient Egyptian oxgang was 10 khets in a -line, giving if required a furrow of 573 yards easy in muddy alluvial -soil, seems certain, for its hieroglyphic is a line of ten small -squares. This is exactly the primitive form of the English acre, 10 × 1 -chains. - -In ancient Greece the unit of land-measure was the plethron of 10 rods -(kalamoi) each of 10 Olympic feet, = 101·33 English feet. Had it a -concrete agrarian form? Evidently the square plethron (= 0·235 acre or -nearly a rood) was much too short for a plough-unit; but the larger unit -was the tetragyon, i.e. a four-rood field, and with the four square -plethra end-on-end, this Greek acre afforded a furrow-length of 135 -yards. So it is probable that the tetragyon, 135 × 33-3/4 yards, = 0·94 -acre, was the usual concrete agrarian unit. - -A common size of land-holding was 12 × 12 = 144 plethra, = about 34 -acres, a size corresponding to our medieval oxgang. - -In ancient Italy land was measured by the Roman decempeda or pertica, -the 10-foot perch or rod, = 9·725 feet. - -A strip of land 120 × 4 Roman feet made an Actus, probably the breadth -of a double furrow, up and down. The square actus, actus quadratus, = 30 -acti = 120 × 120 feet, about 50 square rods. - -Two square acti made a Jugerum, the day’s work for a yoke of oxen, = -0·623 acre. - -Four square acti, bina jugera, made the Heredium, = 1·246 acre. - -How were the four square acti arranged? Were they in a square 240 × 240 -feet? No doubt that would be the official form of the heredium; but it -is probable that, as I have assumed for the Greek tetragyon of 4 square -plethra, the 4 Roman acti would be, when convenient, practically -arranged in a line, thus giving an agrarian unit of 480 × 120 feet and a -furrow of about 160 yards, which is nearly one-tenth of the 5000 feet -Roman mile.[15] - -Footnote 15: - - For evidence on the form of agrarian units see Notes in section 5 of - this chapter. - -The official division of the field was based on the jugerum; this being -divided, on the duodecimal or uncial system, into 12 unciæ, each of 24 -square perticæ, the latter being the scruples, the qiráts, of the Roman -land-ounce. Here we see the uncial system overshadowing the decempeda; -for if the jugerum could be divided into 12 ounces of 240 × 10 feet and -these into 24 scruples of 10 feet square, each of its two acti might -also be divided into 100 sections of 12 feet square, or the double -jugerum into 100 sections of 24 feet square. It is probable that this -would be a more popular division than that based on the decempeda; for -it is certain that a rod of 16 spans = 12 feet was used; it was the -Græco-Roman _akena_ (from _akis_, goad), a gad or rod. - -The Heredium passed to Gaul, where it established itself in the north, -becoming the French arpent, 100 square perches, each of 6 aunes (= 24 -Roman feet) square, so that the arpent is identical with the heredium, -and was divided on the plan I have suggested as that of the Roman -land-measure. But the arpent rarely coincided with the standard of the -Paris government, and both seed-measures and work-measures, of fixed -area, were often preferred. Where the _coutumes de Normandie_ are still -in almost full force and are cherished by the people, the principal unit -of land-measure was, and is still, the Acre de Normandie, containing 160 -perches of 24 feet square. The standard of the foot varies; sometimes it -is the royal foot, sometimes the Roman foot, retained by the device of -taking 11 royal inches for a foot. The ancient standard of this acre is -thus expressed in law-Latin: Pertica terræ fecit 24 passus seu soleas -pedis; 40 perticæ faciunt virgatam; duæ virgatæ faciunt arpentum; 4 -virgatæ faciunt acram. ‘Passus’ is here a foot; but sometimes it meant a -pace, half of the Roman pace which is here represented by the brasse of -5 royal feet = 1·624 metre. So in Normandy land-measure the _pas_ = 32 -inches and the Caux peasant reckons his vergée as 100 × 20 paces = 88·8 -× 17·76 yards. These concrete forms of land-unit are dying out, yet -everywhere traces of it can be found in conversation with old peasants. - -From the South of France to England and Scotland there is a concrete -shape recognisable in the large unit of land-measure. The Provençal -Saumado of 1600 square cano or toises, the Normandy acre of 160 square -rods of 4 toises, the English acre of 160 square rods of 5-1/2 yards, -the Scots acre of 160 square rods of 6 ells = 18·53 feet, are all -connected by a common tradition of concrete form, and are all made up of -four minor units: sesteirado, vergées, roods, &c. Looking back to the -land-measures of Greece and Rome we find this same group of four lesser -units in the tetragyon and heredium. The law may only recognise abstract -superficial standards, but the peasant holds to the concrete units of -form convenient for cultivation. - - - 3. ENGLISH LAND-MEASURES - -Notwithstanding Homer’s recommendation of mules as ‘better far than kine -to drag the jointed plough,’ oxen are still used in the greater part of -the world. In light soils one yoke of oxen is sufficient, but in heavy -fallows, with deep-working ploughs, two, three or more yoke were used; -and in feudal times it would appear that the four tenants of a hide or -ploughland co-operated with their oxen. A furrow of 40 rods could thus -be made easily in one breath, and as this length of a rood coincided -approximately with the eighth of a mile, that division of the mile was -also called a furrow-long or furlong. When ploughing up fallow-land the -oxen, on getting to the end of the ‘shot,’ turned and took breath. The -ploughman measured a rod-breadth from the first furrow by means of his -goad, Scottice by the ‘fall’ of it, and this rod-breadth down which the -oxen turned, the _tornatura_ of Italy, was a rood. - -Sometimes between the roods a narrow unploughed strip, a balk of land, -was left, marking the roods or ‘selions,’ four of which, side by side, -made an acre, and forty of which made the square furlong, the ten-acre -field. - -Ploughing in roods, selions, square furlongs, is still far from extinct. -In Brittany land is still reckoned by _seillons_ of so many furrows -wide, or of so many _gaules_ or 12-foot rods. In Southern France fields -are estimated in breadths of a _destre_, of the 12-foot rod -corresponding roughly to the width cleared by a couple of mowers. In our -Isle of Axholme, in North Lincolnshire, land is reckoned in selions of a -rod wide and usually of a furlong in length; these selions or roods -being grouped into furlongs, that is, actually or originally, into -greater units of a square furlong = 40 roods or 10 acres. - -Simple country-folk, whose only ideas of land-measure were taken from -the length of the ox-goad and of the furrow, and from the breadth of the -long acre-strip of land, came slowly to understand that the surface of a -field of irregular shape might be reckoned in acres and rods. A statute -of Edward II gave a table of the different breadths of the acre when it -was less than forty rods or perches in length: - -‘When an acre of land containeth ten perches in length, then it shall be -in breadth sixteen perches; when it containeth eleven perches in length, -then it shall be in breadth fourteen and a half and three-quarters of a -foot’—and so on through the different lengths an acre might be. - -So people came gradually to abstract the idea of superficial measure -from shape and to apply it to land of any figure, however different from -a square or a rectangle. Thus measures, always _concrete_ at first and -taken from some known object of comparison, became _abstract_ in men’s -minds for purposes of calculation. Then came the land-surveyor -introducing arithmetic and geometry into the art of measurement, and -using the cord or chain instead of the measuring rod; and it was also -found that decimal calculation would be an improvement in this art. - -For purposes of accurate measurement and calculation, Edward Gunter -introduced, nearly three centuries ago, measurement by a chain of a -hundred links and twenty-two yards or four rods in length. Its adoption -decimalised the land-measures without disturbing them. Ten chains go to -a furlong and ten square chains to an acre. - -Norden (‘Surveior’s Dialogue,’ 1610) mentions the ‘standard chaine, that -is by the chaine of 16-1/2 foote.’ It was soon after this that the chain -was increased to 66 feet or 4 rods, which length was a current unit, the -‘brede’ or acre-brede, the breadth of an acre. - - - MEASURES OF LENGTH AND OF SURFACE - -In the following table each superficial unit is placed opposite the -lineal unit of which it is the square: - - ─────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────────── - LINEAL MEASURES │ SUPERFICIAL MEASURES - ─────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────── - 12 inches 1 foot │ 144 square inches 1 sq. foot. - 3 feet 1 yard │ 9 square feet 1 sq. yard. - 5-1/2 yards 1 rod │ 30-1/4 square yards 1 sq. rod. - │⎧ 40 square rods 1 rood - 40 rods 1 furlong │⎨ (4 roods or 160 square rods 1 acre). - │⎩ 40 roods (10 acres) 1 sq. furlong. - 8 furlongs 1 mile │ 64 square furlongs (640 acres) 1 sq. mile. - ─────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────────────────────── - - SURVEYOR’S MEASURE - ─────────────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────────────────── - 1 link (7·8 inches) ·22 yards.│1 square link ·048 sq. yds. - 10 links 2·2 „ │100 square links 4·84 „ - 100 links (1 chain) 22 „ │10,000 sq links (1 sq. chain) 484 „ - 10 chains (1 furlong) 220 „ │10 sq. chains (1 acre) 4840 „ - ─────────────────────────────────┴───────────────────────────────────────────── - -It must be remembered that _the length of the rod determined the length -of the mile and the area of the acre_. This is shown in the table on the -following page. - - - BRITISH MILES AND ACRES DERIVED FROM DIFFERENT RODS IN LOCAL USAGE - - ────────────────────────┬─────────────────────┬───────────────────── - LENGTH │ STATUTE │ SCOTTISH - ────────────────────────┼─────────────────────┼───────────────────── - 1 rod │ 5-1/2 yards │ 6·1766 yards - 40 rods = 1 furlong │ 220 „ │ 247 „ - 8 furlongs = 1 mile │ 1760 „ │ 1976 „ - │ │= 1·123 statute miles - │ │ - SURFACE │ │ - 1 square rod │ 30-1/4 square yards│ 38·15 square yards - 40 square rods = 1 rood │ 1210 „ „ │ 1526 „ „ - 4 roods = 1 acre │ 4840 „ „ │ 6104 „ „ - │ │ = 1·26 statute acre - ────────────────────────┼─────────────────────┼───────────────────── - LENGTH │ IRISH │ CHESHIRE - ────────────────────────┼─────────────────────┼───────────────────── - 1 rod │ 7 yards │ 8 yards - 40 rods = 1 furlong │ 280 „ │ - 8 furlongs = 1 mile │ 2240 „ │ - │= 1·278 statute miles│ - │ │ - SURFACE │ │ - 1 square rod │ 49 square yards│ 64 square yards - 40 square rods = 1 rood │ 1960 „ „ │ 2560 „ „ - 4 roods = 1 acre │ 7840 „ „ │ 10240 „ „ - │ = 1·62 statute acre │= 2·116 statute acre - ────────────────────────┴─────────────────────┴───────────────────── - -_Note._—The Scottish rod or ‘fall’ is six Scottish ells or yards. The -Scottish and Irish miles have long been practically obsolete. The -Lancashire rod and acre, also the Guernsey perch and acre, are the same -as the Irish. The Guernsey land-measures are statute locally; the rood -or vergée is the customary unit.[16] - -Footnote 16: - - It is worth remark that the 160 square rods of the Irish, Lancashire - or Guernsey acre being equal to 1·62 statute acres, 100 of these - square rods would make almost exactly a statute acre. A rod of 6·957 - yards would give a decimal square rod of 48·4 square yards equal - 1-10th square chain, or 1-100th acre, or 1-1000th square furlong. A - square-shape acre is 69·57 yards square. - - - A SQUARE FURLONG OR TEN-ACRE FIELD - - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 - ┌┬┬┬┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐ - │││││ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ - │││││ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ - │││││ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├────┤ - │││││ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ - │││││ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ - │││││ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├────┤ - │││││ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ - │││││ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ - │││││ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├────┤ - │││││ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ - │││││ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ - │││││ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├────┤ - │││││ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ - │││││ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ - │││││ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├────┤ - │││││ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ - │││││ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ - │││││ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├────┤ - │││││ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ - │││││ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ - │││││ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├────┤ - │││││ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ - │││││ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ - │││││ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├────┤ - │││││ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ - │││││ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ - │││││ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├────┤ - │││││ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ - │││││ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ - └┴┴┴┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ - - Acre No. 1 is divided, according to the ancient custom, into 4 - roods, each 40 rods long and 1 rod broad. - - Acre No. 10 is divided, according to Gunter’s decimal system, - into 10 square chains, each 4 rods square. - - - 4. FEUDAL LAND-MEASURES - -In ancient Egypt land was surveyed by a State department, but other -Eastern Kingdoms, even of the present time, are less advanced. There is -a simple system of taxing each plough. This was approximately the -medieval system, as we see in the Domesday revenue-survey, the great -record of the plough-lands and rental of England. Estates are thus -described: - - 2-1/2 hides; land for 1-1/2 ploughs. There is 1 plough with 4 - bordars and 4 serfs. Worth 30_s._ - - 2 hides, land for 2 ploughs, 30 acres meadow. Worth 60_s._ - - 4 hides, 1-1/2 virgates; land for 10 ploughs. Now worth 14 li., - formerly at 17 li. - -In some parts the ‘knight’s fee’ was reckoned at 480 acres (4 hides) -worth 40 shillings a year. On this valuation— - - The pound-land, librata terræ, was 240 acres. - The shilling-land, solidata terræ, was 12 acres. - The penny-land, denariata terræ, was 1 acre. - The farthing-land, 1/2 obolata terræ, was 1 rood. - -_Cent livrées de terre à l’esterlin_ (Froissart) a hundred pound-lands, -reckoned of the annual value of 100 pounds sterling. This is sometimes -taken as the amount of ‘relief,’ another feudal estimate, often taken at -one year’s value. - -In Edward I’s time a son and heir paid £18 for relief of his land which -was worth £18 a year. In Henry II’s time £5 appears to be the usual -relief paid for a knight’s fee on succession to it. By Magna Charta the -relief of a whole barony (10 to 40 knight’s fees) was fixed at 100 -marks; in Henry III’s time it was £100. - -I may here give a fifteenth-century record of English linear -measures.[17] - - Nota, for to mesure and mete lande. - - It is to mete that iij Early Cornys in the myddis of the Ere - makyth one ynche, And xij enchis makyth a foote - - And sixteyne foote and a halfe makyth a perche; And in sum - cuntre a perche ys xviij foote. - - Fourty perchys in lengyth makyth a Rode of Lande; put iiij - therto in brede, and that makyth an Acre. - - And xiiij Acrys makyth a yerde of lande; - - And v yerdis makyth an hyde of lande, which ys lxx Acrys. - - And viij hydis makyth a knyghtis fee, which is vC.lx Acrys of - lande. - -Footnote 17: - - I insert this note (sent to the _Academy_ in August 1896 by the late - Mr. F. J. Furnivall, who found it in a Bodleian MS.) because it - happened to direct my attention to our measures, and was thus the seed - whence this book has sprung. The yardland and hide are here of less - than half the usual extent. - - - 5. TERMS USED IN LAND-MEASURES - -ROD.—Pole, Perch, Goad, Lug, L. _pertica_, Fr. _perche_, _verge_, G. -_ruthe_, Du. _roede_. - -The equivalent words, L. _virga_, Fr. _verge_, A.S. _geard_, Eng. -‘yard,’ originally any long straight twig or rod, came to mean: (1) a -yard or ell-measure, (2) a rod measure of land, lineal or superficial. -The French verge is still thus used in Normandy and the Channel Islands. -Our ‘yard’ acquired this extended sense, and others still more extended. -In Cornwall 2 staves (of 9 feet) make a yard of land. In Somerset the -lineal rod is the ‘land-yard,’ and the yard of land is a square rod. -Thus the rood is ‘forty yard o’ ground’ and the acre is ‘eight score -yard o’ ground.’ - -ROOD.—A differentiated form of ‘rod’ applied in a lineal sense to 40 -rods, and also to the area of a quarter-acre 40 × 1 rods. - -In Normandy and the Channel Islands our rod and rood are verge and -vergée, and as the first sense of verge was ‘yard’ so vergée became in -English a ‘yard of lande.’ So here we have a third sense of the -triple-form word virga-verge-yard. - -‘A rodde of land which some call a roode, some a yarde lande, and some a -farthendale’ (Recorde, 1542). - -The latter term, meaning a ‘fourth part,’ as in the farthing to the -penny, may also have referred to the rood as being a farthing-land in -rental. It appears as L. _furendellus_, _farundel_, _ferling_. - -The rood was also divided into 4 day’s-work, each of 10 square rods. - -ACRE.—As the rood was sometimes lineal, though usually superficial, so -also the ‘acre’ was sometimes a rough lineal measure, generally an -acre-breadth, or 4 rods (a cricket-pitch). But it might also be an -acre-length = a rood length. The verse in 1 Samuel xiv.: ‘And that first -slaughter which Jonathan and his armour bearer made was about twenty men -within as it were an half-acre of land which a yoke of oxen might plow,’ -is in Coverdale’s version (1535) ‘within the length of halve an aker of -londe,’ that is, in a length of 20 rods. In French ‘arpent’ was likewise -used for a French acre-length, reckoned, not of the official square -arpent, but of the furrow-long arpent, nearly a furlong. Thus in the -Chanson de Roland - - _Einz qu ’hum alast un sul arpent de camp_ - (Before one (he) went a single acre of ground) - -evidently means about a furlong, just as in Iliad x., ‘when he was as -far off as the length of the furrow made by mules’ has the same meaning. - -Similarly the _sesteirado_ of Provence was used as an itinerary measure, -probably of 100 cano = about 220 yards, the same as the centenié. - -The _sesteirado_, the rood of Southern France, corresponding to the -_boisselée_, the bushel-land of Mid-France, was, like the latter, -originally a seed-unit, the extent sown with a _sestié_ of seed-corn. -Its extent is 0·4 acre, = our rood. Now if this were square, each side -would measure 40 yards, a length too small for itinerary measure. -Neither Northern nor Southern France had any official itinerary measure -under the league, so field-units were necessarily used; in the north the -arpent-length, in the south the sesteirado-length; both corresponding to -our rood-length, furrow-length or furlong. There seems little doubt that -the _centenié_, the popular itinerary measure of the south, 100 cano or -fathoms, was the same as the sesteirado-length. And the sesteirado being -400 square cano, it seems that its dimensions were 100 × 4 cano. It was -moreover the rood, or quarter of the greater land-unit, the _saumado_, -the ‘seam’ of land, which would thus be 100 × 16 cano just as our rood -was 40 × 1 rods, and our acre 40 × 4 rods. Ten sesteirado-lengths, 10 -centenié, made the _milo_, a mile of 1000 local fathoms, one-third of -the league of Southern France. - -YARDLAND.—L. _quatrona terræ_, _virgata_. Fr. _bouvée_. Bovate, Oxgang. -About 30 acres more or less, including pasture and perhaps some -woodland. Before the Norman conquest the gebur-geriht (boor’s right) was -6 sheep and 7 acres arable on his yard-land. This corresponds roughly to -the German _hufe_ = about 20 acres, and to the Netherlands _hoeve_, the -unit of small holding. Almost everywhere and always, 6 or 7 acres of -arable have been all that the boor’s yoke of oxen can till. There was -other work for the oxen besides ploughing, and at least five ploughings -were usually necessary for proper tillage; then there was cartage and -feudal duties in consideration of the small rent. - -In the Roll of Battel Abbey (tenth and eleventh centuries) the perch is -16 feet; the acre is 40 perches long and 4 broad and pays a penny a -year; 3 shillings for the virgate or wist, the price of which was about -20 shillings. In this case 8 virgates made a hide, but this ‘eighth’ is -exceptional, for the term ‘virgate’ brought a fourth sense to the virga -= yard series of words, giving rise to the term yard-land as a quarter -of the plough-land or hide. As the vergée in France (sometimes -ambiguously called verge, as it has been seen that Recorde spoke of ‘a -rodde of lande which some call a roode’) and the rood in England were a -quarter-acre, and as this quarter-acre was sometimes called a ‘yard of -land,’ so virga-verge-yard acquired the general sense of -‘quarter’—either of an acre or of a ploughland or carucate. Thus in -‘Quant une homme est feffe dune verge de terre et dun autre de un carue -du terre’ (Statute of Wards, 1300), the term ‘verge de terre’ means not -a rod, a verge, but a yardland or virgate. - -‘Farthing’ or ‘ferling’ as a quarter was used in the same double sense: -a quarter-acre or a quarter-hide, indeed, as will presently be seen, a -quarter-virgate. - -ACREME.—This old law-term for 10 acres of land points to a tradition -that our original unit of land-measurement was a rood or furlong square, -that is 40 × 40 rods: it was called a Ferlingata or Ferdelh. - -A document temp. Edw. II describes the virgate (of which 4 made a hide; -5 hides being a knight’s fee) as of 4 (square) furlongs, each of 10 -acres. - - X acræ terræ faciunt unam fardellam. - - Decem acræ faciunt ferlingatam; quatuor ferlingatæ faciunt - virgatam, et quatuor virgatæ faciunt hidam; quinque hidæ faciunt - feodum militis. - -So it appears conclusive (1) that the hide was 16 square furlongs, a -quarter of a square mile = the quarter section of America; (2) that the -acre was originally a slice of land off the square furlong, a rood, or -furlong in length, a tenth of this in breadth. - -FURLONG AND FERLING.—The square furlong is the same as the Acreme = 10 -acres. The square furlong or furrow-long tends to become confused with -ferling, G. _vierling_, with fardel, G. _viertel_, with farthendale, Du. -_vierendeel_, all meaning a fourth. This confusion arises from the -square furlong, similar in sound to ferling, being approximately the -fourth, or farthing, of the virgate or yardland, itself Ferlingus terræ, -a fourth of the hide or ploughland. So a ferling may be a fourth of an -acre, or of a virgate, or of a hide. Similarly it may be, as farthendale -or farendel, a quarter-bushel. - -Another cause of confusion in feudal land-measures is the -money-estimation of land. Bishop Fleetwood (‘Chronicon,’ 1707) thought -the acre was a marc-land of 160 pence and the rod a penny-land, -denariatus terræ, so that the quarter-rod was a farthing-land. He was -deceived by the coincidence of the 160 rods of the acre with the 160 -pence, 13_s._ 4_d._, 8 ounces of silver, of the monetary marc, and he -mistook the Farthingdale or Farendel, a quarter-acre or rood, for a -quarter-rod. The acre was distinctly a penny-land, and the hide of 160 -acres was a marc-land, paying 160 pence. - -HIDE.—Ploughland, carucate, L. _carucata_, Fr. _caruée_. Normally 16 -square furlongs = 160 acres, but sometimes 120 acres or less, varying -according to the arable on it; and usually divided into 4 oxgangs, -bovates or yardlands. In some parts the hide seems to have comprised -several ploughlands and to have coincided with the knight’s fee (see -Customs of Lancaster). - -HUNDRED.—This division of a shire is supposed to have been originally -one hundred hides; more probably it was a hundred knight’s fees. - - - 6. THE YARD AND THE VERGE - -These cognate terms have many developments of meaning, running almost -parallel both in English and French. ‘Yard,’ the equivalent of A.S. -gyrd, geard, and perhaps gæd (gad), is cognate to ‘Rod’ and to Fr. -Verge. It may mean: - -1. A rod from a tree; L. _virga_, Fr. _verge_. - -2. A short measure of 4 to 6 spans; Fr. _verge_. - -3. A pole of indefinite length, in various senses, naval, &c. Fr. -_verge_, _vergue_. - -4. A long measure of 9 to 24 feet = rod, pole, perch. In France the -_perche_ may be from 9-1/2 feet (Burgundy) to 22 feet (French). - -5. A measure of surface 9 to 24 feet square. Yard, Fr. _verge_. - -6. A larger measure of surface 40 × 1 rod = a quarter-acre. Yard-land, -rood, Fr. _vergée_. - -7. A quarter of a still larger unit. Virgata, yard-land. - -8. A holding of a rood when enclosed became a yard or garth, then a -cultivated enclosure of any size: tree-yard (Du. _boom-gaard_), -apple-garth, win-gaard (vineyard).[18] - -Here the Fr. _verge_ parts company with ‘yard’; its place is taken by -_cour_ (L. _curtiferum_) and G. _hof_. - -9. Any enclosed land attached to a house: Palace-yard, Fr. _cour_. -Farm-yard, Fr. _basse-cour_. Court-yard, G. _hof_. Court = farmyard in -Somerset. - -Fr. _verge_ reappears in the English form of ‘verge’ in the sense of a -circle or ring, AS. gyrd, now ‘girth.’ The gyrd was a geard or yard bent -into a hoop. Fr. _verge_ = ring was a verge or rod bent into a hoop or -ring. Cf. Fr. _bague_, ring made by bending a rod or baguette into a -hoop. The English sense of ‘verge’ = circle is seen in: - - O would to God that the inclusive verge - Of golden metal that must round my brow. - - _Rich. III_, iv. 1. - - To the furthest verge - That ever was survey’d by English eye. - - _Rich. III_, i. 1. - -The ‘verge’ of the King’s palace or court, sometimes stated as twelve -leagues (of 1-1/2 miles), a circuit equal to about 3 miles in radius. - -Footnote 18: - - Orthodoxly A.S. _gaard_ is considered to be unconnected with _geard_, - a yard or rod. - - - 7. HOW THE ROD CAME TO BE 5-1/2 YARDS - -The Roman pertica was 10 feet; though it seems probable that there was -also a customary rod of 12 feet. - -The French perche was 6 ells of 4 Roman feet, double the presumed -customary perch of Rome. - -The Scots rod was 6 ells of 3 Rhineland feet. - -The German and Norse ruthen are nearly always either of 12 or of 16 -feet. - -How came it that the English rod was fixed, about the time of Edward I, -at 5-1/2 yards = 16-1/2 feet? - -There is reason to believe that it was originally 5 yards, at first in -Roman feet, then in Rhineland feet. - -A length of 5 yards and 1 or 2 inches (= 1/(8 × 40) of the Roman mile) -survives in the Dorsetshire ‘goad’ or ‘lug.’[19] - -Footnote 19: - - Whence the term ‘lug’ = rod? I venture a derivation: - - 1. Lug, the ear. - - 2. Luggie (Sc.), a milking vessel with handles or lugs. - - 3. Lug, lugge, of land, that can be metely sown with a luggie of - seed-corn. - - 4. Lug, the rod-length of the lug of land. - - 5. Lug, a rod, as for ‘waling’ fruit trees. - -The Cornish rod or yard is 2 staves of 3 yards = 6 yards. There was, as -late as 1540, a rod of 6 yards, ‘every pole containing eighten footes of -the kinges standard.’ - -The rod of Guernsey, of Lancashire and of Ireland is 7 yards; it is the -French perche of 20 pieds = 21·36 feet taken roughly at 21 English feet; -this, and the Cheshire rod of 8 yards = 4 fathoms, are probably of -Norman origin. - -The English rod of pre-Norman and early Norman times was probably the -Teutonic rod of 16 feet, as seen in the Roll of Battel Abbey. How did it -become 16-1/2 feet? - -I cannot absolutely solve the question; I can only offer the possible -hypotheses: - -1. That 5-1/2 yards was a compromise between a Southern rod of 5 yards -and a Northern of 6 yards. But the former length only survived in the -Dorsetshire lug, probably from Roman times, and 16 feet is the probable -length of the Southern rod. And such a compromise is most improbable. I -know of no measure established as a mean of two different measures. - -2. That the length of the 5-1/2-yard rod was taken from that of the -medieval lance. Certainly in France there is some evidence of the -spear-length being used as a rough land-measure, ‘un hanst’ or ‘une -hanstée’ de terre. ‘Hanste,’ in modern French _hampe_, a shaft, is from -L. _hasta_. Doubtless very long lances have been used by infantry. The -Macedonian phalanx had lances of 8 yards, so that five rows of spear -points projected from its front. The Scots lance was 6 ells, the Scots -rod, ‘That in all, Spears be six Elns in length, under the pain of etc.’ -(James III); but this length, = 18-1/2 feet, was ordered two centuries -later than Edward I, at a time when infantry were brought to resist the -onslaught of cavalry. Two centuries later still, it was ordered by 13 -Chas. II that a pikeman was to be armed with a pike not under 16 feet in -length. It is improbable that in Edward I’s time foot soldiers were -armed with pikes anything like that length, while the knights’ spears -could not have been longer than 10 feet. Those shown in the Bayeux -embroidery are about 7 feet. - -It is possible that the length of the ox-goad may have been used as a -rough land-measure, but English ox-goads appear to have usually been -only about the length of the Cornish goad, not more than 3 yards long. - -Inclined myself to this second hypothesis—for was not Hector’s spear of -11 cubits = 22 spans, and are not 22 spans = 16-1/2 feet?—I yet -acknowledge that it is scarcely tenable. - -3. The most probable hypothesis is that the Rod was originally a North -German Ruthe of 16 Norse or Rhineland feet brought over by Saxons or -Danes, and that, established as is seen by the Roll of Battel Abbey -‘pertica vero xvi pedes,’ it was afterwards adjusted to the standard of -the King’s foot. Thus 16 Rhineland feet = 16 feet 5·7 inches; which -would make the statute rod practically 16 feet 6 inches. In North -Germany the Ruthe is usually of 16 local feet, originally, it may be -presumed, Rhineland feet, displaced by the local foot = 11·23 to 11·5 -inches. Sometimes this fall in the length of the foot is compensated by -an increase in the number of ruthen to the ‘morgen’ or acre, sometimes, -as in Holland, by making the _roede_ 13 Amsterdam short feet (of 11 -inches) instead of 12 Rhineland feet. - -It seems likely that the North German acker of 160 square ruthen came to -Northern France with the Franks and the Normans, that it became the Acre -de Normandie of 160 square rods, the length of the rod becoming changed -by the influence of the French standard of 6 _aunes_ = 24 Roman feet. -This length of 24 feet passed, under Norman influence, to Cheshire, -becoming the local rod of 8 yards or 24 English feet. - -The rod of 6 _aunes_, French ells, passed to Scotland as 6 ells, but 6 -Scots ells = 18 Rhineland feet. - - - 8. HOW THE ACRE CAME TO BE 160 RODS - -The North German acker or morgen is 160 ruthen. Why? It may be presumed -that, on the sexdecimal system dear to the bucolic mind throughout the -world, it was 16 times an original unit of 10 square ruthen, of 16 feet -square, analogous to the Greek plethron of 10 square kalamoi and to the -Provençal _cosso_ of 10 square fathom-rods. There is still extant, in -North Holland, the _snees_, snick, or score, of land, = 20 square roede. - -The Austrian joch is 1600 square ‘klafter’ of 6 feet = 1·42 acre. - -There are 1600 square rods in our square furlong, the original square -unit of which the acre is a one-tenth slice. - -In Provence, the people, long under Roman influence, are yet much more -Greek than Roman, and there is not a trace of any Roman standard among -their weights and measures. There the greater land-unit is the saumado -of 1600 square cano of 6 feet. It is divided in two ways: (1) on the -sexdecimal system,[20] (2) into 160 cosso, each of 10 square cano. - -Footnote 20: - - Concordantly with the sexdecimal system of corn-measures into 4 - sesteirado, or 8 eiminado. See Seed-measures in Section 10. - -It seems as if the 1600 small units in our square furlong, in the -Austrian joch, in the Provençal saumado, come from an extension of the -sexdecimal multiple 16 to 160 and 1600. - - - 9. CUSTOMS OF LANCASTER - -‘Customs of places doe differ; for in the Dutchy of Lancaster a knightes -fee containeth foure hides of land, every hide foure ploughlands called -in latine carucata terræ, and that is quantum aratrum arare potest in -æstivo tempore, and that is (as I take it) which is in the North parts -called an Oxegange. And every ploughland or carue is foure yard land -which in latine is called quatrona terræ; every yardland thirty acres, -halfe a yard land in some places in the West is called a Cosset, half a -Cosset is a Mese which containeth about 7-1/2 acres. But commonly a -carue or plow-land containeth a hundreth and twenty acres; a hide of -land 480 acres and every knightes fee 1920 acres. But after some -computations, a knights fee containeth five hydes of land, every hyde -foure yard land, and every yard land twenty foure acres.’ (‘The -Surveior’s Dialogue,’ by J. Norden, ‘at my poore house at Hendon, 27 -Martis 1610.’) - -So in Domesday Book it will be found that ‘inter Ripe et Mersham,’ -between the Ribble and the Mersey, the hide was not synonymous with the -carucate. The series of feudal measures appears to have been there: - - Acre, of Lancashire standard = 1·62 statute acres. - - Bovate or Virgate of about 15 acres, paying about 4 pence - ‘relief’ to the king. - - Carucate or Ploughland, of 8 bovates, paying about 32 pence. - - Hide of 6 carucates, paying about one pound. - -These feudal measures were evidently vague and variable. The King’s -assessment was very much the same as it was in Upper Burma fifty years -ago. There no survey was required; the land-tax (very light, as the -king’s revenue was derived, as in medieval England, from forest and -other monopolies and from fines) was one rupee a plough, that is for a -plough and a yoke of cattle. The Norman kings’ assessment was for the -common plough of the whole carucate, 4 oxgangs. - - - 10. SEED-MEASURES OF LAND - -When men, emerging from the pastoral stage, took to agriculture, land -was plentiful and would roughly but conveniently be estimated by the -quantity of seed-corn required for it. Thus seed-units of land were the -earliest, and many survive to this day. - -It was ordered in Israel (Lev. xxvij.) that land should be ‘estimated -according to the seed thereof, an homer of barley-seed shall be valued -at fifty shekels of silver.’ Taking the homer at 8 bushels, a homer of -land = 3 or 4 acres, was worth 50 shekels, or half-crowns, of silver. - -The Romans had the modius of land, sown with a modius, about 1/4 bushel, -of corn. - -In Northern France there is still the _bonnier_ of land, about 4 acres, -sown with a _boune_ or _bounie_ of seed, about 8 bushels. - -Throughout the greater part of France the land is reckoned in _seterées_ -or _sesteirado_, units now fixed but originally named after the variable -_setier_ of seed-corn. - -Smaller units are the _mine_ or _eiminado_, and _boisselée_, all -seed-units. - -In North Germany the Scheffel, or Schepel (Du.), corn-measure is also a -land-measure of about half an acre. The Schepel passed from Holland to -New England as the Skipple, a bushel-skip. In North Germany and Norway -there is the Tunn or Tonde, a barrel of about 4 bushels, corresponding -to the Tondeland of about 1-1/3 acre (roughly equal to the French -_estrée_). - -To the Salma of Italy, to the Saumado (she-ass load) of Provence, -corresponds the old English Seam, the Quarter of corn. The word seam -hence got the general meaning of a quarter. So although the Seam of Corn -would sow 4 acres, a seam of an acre meant a quarter-acre. - -‘A Sester or Sextarius was what we call a Quarter or a seam containing 8 -bushels (Sauma, quod unius equi fit sauma, i.e. sarcina)’ (Bishop -Fleetwood, 1707). - -There are still traces of seed-measures to be found in some parts of -England. But in ‘A pek of londe’—‘Half a pek and a nayle of londe’ -(Rolls of Parliament, 1442),[21] it is doubtful whether the peck of land -was really a seed-measure or a quarter-acre, as the peck is a -quarter-bushel. A nail of land would be 1/16 acre. - -Footnote 21: - - Quoted in the _New English Dictionary_, a treasury of quotations, - which has often put me on the track of valuable information. - -There were seed-measures of land in Scotland. Thus: ‘15th Cy. Chart -Aberd. Als mekill land as a celdr of aits will schawe,’ i.e. a Chalder -of land, as much as a chalder = 64 firlots = 55 bushels, will sow, about -25 acres. There was also the Lippy of land, that which took a lippy, -1/16 firlot of seed. It was usually about 100 square yards. - -In many parts of Southern Europe there are no other kinds of -land-measure than those derived from the corn-measures of seed required. - -Thus in Provence, the earliest civilised country in medieval times, the -whole series of corn-measures and land-measures have names in common. - - Corn-measures Land-measures Sq. cano - Saumado 4·4 bushel. Saumado 1·58 acre 1600 - Sestié 1·1 „ Sesteirado 0·4 „ 400 - Eimino 4·4 gallon. Eiminado 0·2 „ 200 - Quartiero 1·1 „ Quarteirado 0·05 „ 50 - Pougnadeiro 1/4 „ Pougneirado 0·01 „ 12-1/2 - Cosso (Sc. Luggie) 1/5 „ Cosso (Sc. Lug.) „ 10 - -These land-measures would correspond to Coomb-land, Bushel-land, -Peck-land, &c. The Cosso of land is 1/160 of the Saumado, as our square -rod is 1/160 acre. - -In Italy and Spain there are similar series of land-measures named after -corn-measures. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER VII - - ENGLISH COMMERCIAL WEIGHTS - - - I. THE STORY OF AVERDEPOIS - -The story of our Imperial system has hitherto been utterly obscure. The -origin of our foot, our gallon, our pound, indeed of all our measures, -was quite unknown. That of the pound, which gives the key to the whole -system, had been obscured by statutes which ignored any but the royal -pound used at the mints. Yet these statutes, often purposely obscure, -can be made to show the hidden sources of our system. - -Our pound, settled at its present Imperial standard in the time of Queen -Elizabeth, was then found to have risen slightly since the time of -Edward III. It was found to have increased by about 8 grains. The ounce, -now = 437-1/2 grains, had been 437 grains, the same weight as the ounce -of Egypto-Roman pound, the Roman libra.[22] There is every reason to -believe that this Roman standard passed to Britain, and that the libra, -raised to 16 ounces, became the commercial pound, afterwards known as -Averdepois, and now the Imperial pound. - -Footnote 22: - - The modern _libbra_ is 12 ounces = 436·27 grains in Rome, 436·66 in - Florence. - -When the Romans took the Alexandrian talent as the standard of their new -libra-system, they divided it into 125 libræ, which were 1500 ounces or -double-shekels, each ounce = 437 grains. - -When the Arab Caliphs conquered the southern and eastern Mediterranean -countries, they found in Egypt the Egypto-Roman pound, 1/125 of the -Alexandrian talent; they adopted it, and divided it for coin-weight -purposes into 72 mithkals, just as the Roman Emperors had divided the -old As pound into 72 aurei; so 6 mithkals = the libra-ounce of 437 -grains, just as 6 aurei = the As-ounce of 420-2/3 grains. It is not -improbable that the survival of the Roman commercial pound in Saxon -England was strengthened by commercial and scientific relations with the -Moors of Spain. King Offa of Mercia struck a gold coin with an Arabic -inscription, dated 157 of the Hejira = A.D. 774. - -However this may have been, there seems no doubt that the Roman pound, -raised to 16 ounces, was the standard of England before as after the -Norman conquest, and there is no evidence of it having ever been in -abeyance. In early Plantagenet times there was a sexdecimal series of -weights: - -The Stone of 16 lb. - -The Wey of 16 stone = 256 lb. - -There was also the Hundredweight, of which 20 made a ton of 2000 lb.; -and 20 weys made a Last of approximately 5120 lb. or 2-1/2 tons. - -The pound was divided into 16 ounces, each = 437 grains, and the ounce -into 16 drams or drops = 27·3 grains. - -Both before and after the Conquest there was another pound used in the -mints, like the As in Rome. It was of Tower, or Cologne-marc, standard. -There were doubtless many local variations of commercial standard, -especially in measures of capacity, and it was the necessity of checking -these which made King John and his successors declare that ‘there should -be one standard throughout our kingdom, whether in weights or in -measures.’ - -But the king had a mint-pound of his own, and he had to reconcile the -existence of the coinage-pound and of the commercial pound with the -customary declaration of unity of weight made in each reign. The king’s -councillors evaded the difficulty by pretending that the measures of -capacity were based on the mint-pound and, in statutes where a -commercial pound had to be mentioned, by pretending that this was equal -to 25 shillings weight or 15 ounces of the mint-pound. This deception -led to others, so that, to make out the meaning of a statute of weights -and measures, one must be able to read between the lines, and to be -prepared for misleading and contradictory statements. I will take as an -instance, Act 51 Henry III (1267): - - An English peny called a Sterling, round and without clipping, - shall weigh 32 wheat corns in the midst of the ear; and 20 d. do - make an Ounce, and 12 Ounces one Pound, and 8 Pounds do make a - gallon of wine and 8 gallons of wine do make a London Bushel - which is the eighth part of a Quarter. - -This declaration may be thus interpreted: - -In the Tower there is a standard pound. An English silver penny should -weigh 1/240 of this pound and 1/20 of its ounce, and the penny-weight -may be divided into 32 aces or little grains. But there is another -old-established pound used for all goods but gold and silver, bread and -drugs. Our regard for the unity of weight forbids us to describe this -pound otherwise than by mentioning that a wine-gallon contains 8 of -these pounds weight of wine or of water, that 8 larger gallons each -containing 8 pounds, not of wine, but of wheat, make a Bushel; and that -8 of these bushels make a quarter of a Chaldron containing a ton or 2000 -lb. of wheat. - -That this is correct is easily proved. - -The Bushel is 1/8 of the Quarter, which was the quarter of a chaldron, -the measure of a ton of 20 true hundredweight. The quarter was 500 lb. -of average wheat, and the bushel weighed 500/8 = 62-1/2 averdepois lb. -of wheat or, in wheat-water ratio, 78 lb. of wine or of water, the -specific gravity of which differs but little. But 8 × 8 Tower lb. of -wine = (5400 grs. × 8 × 8)/7000 = 49·4 averdepois lb. or, to be quite -accurate, 49·5 lb. of early Plantagenet averdepois weight, when the -ounce was of Roman standard, 437 grains; how then could the bushel = 78 -lb. of wine, be the measure of 49·5 lb. of wine? - -That there were two different gallons, the one for wine, the other for -corn, is shown in the Ordinance 31 Edw. III, where it is ordered that ‘8 -lb. of wheat shall make a gallon.’ It is true that this is continued by -‘the lb. shall contain 20 s.’; but very soon after the ordinance states -that, for everything except groceries, each lb. shall be of 25 s., and -we know that the 25 s. was merely a subterfuge to show the averdepois -pound as 15 ounces Tower, afterwards 15 ounces Troy, neither of which it -ever was: we may therefore dismiss this statement, and recognise that -the wine-gallon held approximately 8 averdepois lb. of wine, and that -the corn gallon, about one-fourth larger, held 8 averdepois lb. of -wheat. - -Further evidence is to be found in 12 Henry VII (1496). - -This statute, after the usual preamble about ‘one weight and one -measure,’ orders: - - That the measure of a Bushel contain 8 gallons of wheat, and - that every Gallon contain 8 lb. of wheat of Troy weight, and - every Pound contain 12 ounces of Troy weight, and every Ounce - contain 20 sterlings and every Sterling be of the weight of 32 - Corns of wheat that grew in the midst of the ear of wheat - according to the old law of the land. - -While the bushel is now described as containing 8 gallons of wheat and -each gallon 8 pounds of wheat, the old fiction is kept up that these are -royal pounds. Only these pounds are now Troy, of 5760 grains, instead of -Tower, of 5400 grains; 64 Troy pounds were equal to 52-2/3 lb. -averdepois, a weight still far from the 62-1/2 lb. averdepois of wheat -contained in the extant bushel-measure of Henry VII. And though the -mints were coining 420, instead of 240, pennies from the 5760 -grain-pound of silver, so that these were little more than half the -weight of Henry III’s pennies, yet they were still of the weight of 32 -wheat-corns. - -The substance of this statute was embodied in a State-document adorned -with a picture of the King’s Steward presiding over the gauging of -bushels and weighing of wheat-corns, surmounted by a picture of two -entwined wheat-ears with the inscription: - - THE CONAGE OF THE MYNTE. - - The whete eare. Two graynes maketh the xvi p^{te}. of a penny, - ffower graynes maketh the viij p^{te}. of a penny. - -After this impudent assertion one is not surprised to read that it was -‘the same tyme ordeired that xvi uncs of Troie maketh the Haberty poie a -pounde for to buy spice[23] by,’ nor by the statement that ‘the C is -true at this daye, ffyve score for the hundred as appeareth in Magna -Carta.’ - -Footnote 23: - - Probably in the meaning of the Dutch _spijs_, food. - -Comment on these ingenious statements seems hardly necessary. - -The only changes in English weights since the time of Henry III, or -indeed much earlier times, have been: - -1. The raising of the hundredweight to 112 lb. - -2. The lowering of the stone from 16 lb. to 14 lb. to make it one-eighth -of the new hundredweight. - -3. The rise of the averdepois pound from 16 Roman ounces of 437 grains -to 16 ounces of 437-1/2 grains; a difference of 8 grains, so as to make -it 7000 grains of the Tudor Troy pound. - -4. The re-legalising of the 100 lb. or cental weight in 1879. - -I may observe that the octonary series of measures of capacity, also of -the 14 lb. stone and new Cwt., is quite in harmony with the sexdecimal -system, however objectionable be those units. - - - _The Recognition of Averdepois Weight_ - -It is not until 1485 (Ripon Ch. Acts, quoted in the ‘New English -Dictionary’) that we find mention of averdepois, though there had been -standard weights of it from temp. Edw. III, ‘per balance cum ponderibus -de haberdepase,’ and those standards were extant in the time of -Elizabeth. - -The document embodying 12 Henry VII (1496) mentions, as has been seen, -the Habertypoie pound, with the assertion that it was 16 Troy ounces, an -assertion causing confusion for centuries afterwards. - -In Arnold’s ‘Customs of London,’ _c._ 1500, there is mentioned ‘the -Lyggynge Weyght, by which is boughte and solde all maner of marchaundise -as tynne, ledde ... and al maner of specery ... and such other as is -used to be solde by weyght; and of this weyght xvj uncis make a pound, -and C and xij li. is an C, and x C make a M of all suche marchaundises -... except wulle.’ - -This ‘lying weight’ was by the balance, the weight lying in one scale, -and not hanging or sliding on the beam of a stilyard as in Auncell -weight. The stilyard, very portable, as not requiring heavy weights, yet -admitted of fraud. Arnold says ‘this weight is forboden in England by -statute of parlement, and also holy church hath cursed in England all -that beyen or sellen by that auncel weyght.’ - -In 1532 it was ordered by 24 Henry VIII that meat ‘shall be sold by -weight called Haver-du-pois,’ and in 1543 Recorde (‘Ground of Artes’) -says, ‘But commenly there is used an other weyght called haberdyepoyse -in which 16 onces make a pounde.’ - -In 1545 the Custom-House notified that ‘thys lyinge and Habardy peyse is -all one.’ - -Having cleared away, as I hope, the obscurity which so long hung over -the commercial weight ignored by the statutes, it may be well to mention -that ‘Averdepois’ is the best spelling of this word, and is so accepted -by the ‘New English Dictionary.’ ‘Aver’ is an old-established English -word for ‘goods,’ and the earlier form ‘Haberdepase’ shows the original -pronunciation. The spelling of the last syllable in ‘Averdepois’ is a -sufficient concession to an incorrect modern custom. - -The term originally applied to heavy goods, such as came from beyond -sea; if the word was sometimes spelt, as in 25 Edw. III, ‘bledz, -avoirdepois, chars, pessons’ (corn, heavy goods, meat, fish), it does -not follow that the _oi_ diphthong was pronounced as in ‘boy.’ The word -_pessons_, now written _poissons_, shows the sound-value of the -diphthong. The sound now given to it in modern French is a corruption. -Up till 1700, even in Paris, _oi_ was pronounced _é_ or _wé_. -‘Averdepez’ is the true pronunciation. However, the influence of ‘poise’ -prevents any improvement on the word being written and pronounced as -‘Averdepois.’ - -Though measures of capacity had always been on an averdepois basis, the -admission of averdepois weight to statute recognition only dates from -the time of Elizabeth. In her reign light begins to appear in our system -of weights and measures. In 1574 she ordered a jury to examine the -standard weights (many of Edward III and succeeding kings), to report on -them, and to construct standards ‘as well of troy weight as of the -avoirdupois.’ - -The standards made by this jury were as unsatisfactory as their report. -Little could be expected from persons who could, with Edward III’s -standard weights before them, report that ‘the lb. weight of avoirdepoiz -weight dothe consiste of fiftene ounc troie.’ This was in accordance -with the old fiction that the averdepois pound must be a commercial -offshoot of the royal pound, that it was 15 ounces Tower = 6750 grains, -and afterwards in Tudor times 15 ounces Troy = 7200 grains, or even 16 -ounces Troy = 7680 grains. - -Elizabeth and her advisers were not deceived by this obsequious report, -so, the standards made being found very erroneous, in 1582 a second and -more intelligent jury of goldsmiths and merchants was appointed, and the -result of their work was the production of 57 sets of standard Troy and -averdepois weights, which were distributed to the Exchequer, to cities -and towns. Some of these averdepois weights are still extant and do not -now differ by more than one grain in each pound from Imperial standard. - -The Proclamation for Weights of December 16, 1587, established -averdepois weight, and ordered that ‘no person shall use any Troy weight -but only for weighing of bread, gold, silver and electuaries and for no -other thing.’ - -It seems probable that, in the two centuries before Elizabeth, the -standard of the commercial pound had risen by about 8 grains. This may -have occurred when the Troy pound superseded the Tower pound. In the -adjustment, which I assume as probable, of the Troy and Averdepois -pounds so as to obtain a ratio of 5760 to 7000, the latter standard, -raising the ounce from 437 to 437-1/2 grains, and the pound by 8 grains, -may have been adopted so as to avoid or diminish the cutting down of the -new Troy pound. - -Thus was established by Elizabeth the English standard of weight. -Excellent standards of capacity and of length were also made; and she -established our silver coinage on its present basis. - -And yet, well into the nineteenth century, even into the twentieth, went -on the puzzledom of our weights and measures, left to arithmetic book -and almanack makers blinded by the glamour of the royal pound. - -No official utterance came to clear the darkness, for it was not till -1855 that the pound, then established as an Imperial standard, was -really defined. - - - 2. THE IMPERIAL POUND - -It is the weight in vacuo of a certain piece of platinum kept in London. -It is divided into 16 ounces, approximately Roman ounces. The ounce may -be divided into 16 drams. - -The pound is also divided into 7000 grains, the ounce being 437-1/2 -grains. - -It may be well to anticipate or remove any uncertainty about the grain. -The averdepois pound was only divided into ounces and drams (just as the -yard is only divided, as a yard, into quarters and nails), but on its -adjustment with the troy pound as = 7000 grains of which the latter = -5760, it became divisible into grains. These were long called Troy -grains, in consequence of the superstition about the noble Troy weight. -This word seems to have paralysed the intelligence of many persons -doubtless sensible enough in other matters; thus Rees’ ‘Cyclopædia’ -(1819) informed its readers that ‘the pound or 7680 grains avoirdupois -equals 7000 grains troy, and hence 1 grain troy equals 1·097 -avoirdupois.’ - -The weight of the standard pound in a vacuum (that is, its weight not -diminished by the buoyancy of the air) being 7000 grains, a commercial -brass pound exactly equal to the platinum standard when weighed against -it in air at 62°, would weigh 7000·6 grains in a vacuum. - - - _The Dram_ - -This, 1/16 of an ounce = 27-1/3 grains, is principally used as a unit -for powder in the cartridges of sporting guns. In Scotland it was called -a ‘drop.’ - -1673. A quech weighing 18 unce and 10 drop. - -1805. An arrow of from 20 to 24 drop weight (‘N.E.D.’). - -The dram was possibly so called from its corresponding to the quentchen, -1/8 of the German Loth or half-ounce (1/16 of a marc) as the drachm was -1/8 of a medicinal ounce.[24] Or it may merely have been called a dram -as being the part of the ounce, in the same way that the drachm was the -next lower part of the apothecaries’ ounce. - -Footnote 24: - - The dram of spirits is a measure probably so called from its being 1/8 - of a pint, i.e. half a quartern. - - - 3. SCIENTIFIC AND MEDICINAL DIVISIONS OF THE POUND - -For scientific purposes the pound is considered as of 7000 grains. It -may be divided into tenths, hundredths, thousandths; this last division -being called a Septem, as = 7 grains. The tenth of this might be called -a Septula = 0·7 grain, and the hundredth a Septicent = 0·07 grain. This -small weight would be one 100,000th of the gallon, the same proportion -as the centigramme to the litre. In analyses of water the solid -constituents are usually stated in centigrammes to the litre, or parts -in 100,000; and as grains to the gallon or parts in 70,000 they have to -be divided by 0·7 to get that ratio. Septicents to the gallon would be -the English equivalent of centigrammes to the litre. - -An Apothecaries’ Troy ounce lingers in the Board of Trade list of -standards, for a permissive use utterly unrequired by medical -prescribers or by druggists; the British Pharmacopœia only recognising -Imperial weight, the ounce and the grain. For convenience, a weight of -60 grains is called a Drachm, and one of 20 grains is called a Scruple. -It is most rare for prescriptions to contain an ounce of any solid -medicine; and when an ounce of such a medicine is most exceptionally -prescribed, it might be an Imperial ounce, just as ounces of fluid -medicines prescribed are Imperial ounces. - - - 4. THE LONG HUNDREDWEIGHT - -The multiples of the pound were originally, like its divisions, in a -sexdecimal series, with an alternative series to bring in the -hundredweight, i.e. the true Cwt. - - 16 lb. 1 stone - 16 stone 1 wey = 256 lb. - 2 weys 1 quarter = 500 lb. approximately - 8 „ 1 ton = 2000 lb. „ - 16 „ 1 last = 4000 lb. „ - -The approximative relation of the quarter, strictly speaking of 512 lb., -mattered but little, as it applied to corn-measure, in which the -measured quarter, 8 bushels, varied from 500 lb. for wheat of 62-1/2 lb. -to the bushel, to 512 lb. for heavy wheat of 64 lb. to the bushel. The -arrangement was convenient for the corn-trade and could not give rise to -fraud; and the main object of all laws on weights and measures should be -to prevent fraud, especially in retail trade. - -This convenient arrangement was altered in the times of Edward I and -Edward III. The former King found the Cwt. of 100 lb. with a quarter of -25 lb. and a sixteenth = 6-1/4 lb. as its nail or clove. In his Acts -there is mention of the 100 weight, the 1000 weight, the 2000 weight. -But by the Ordinance of Measures 31 Edw. I, 1302, a distractingly -obscure statute, no less than three different weights are ordered for -the stone: - -A stone for lead of 12 lb. - -A London stone of 12-1/2 lb., one-eighth of the true Cwt. - -A stone for groceries of 8 lb.; and 13-1/2 stone to make a Cwt. of 108 -lb. - -And the ‘fotmal’ of lead is to be 6 stones of 12 lb. but less 2 lb., -‘which are 70 lb. making 5 stones.’ - -Here then we see, besides a 12 lb. stone for lead, - - (_a_) The true Cwt. of 100 lb. divided into quarters and nails. - - (_b_) A transitional Cwt. of 108 lb. in 13-1/2 old half-stones - of 8 lb. - - (_c_) A new Cwt. of 112 lb. in 8 stones of 14 lb. - -The Cwt. (centena) of 108 lb. seems to have been preparatory to the Cwt. -of 112 lb. mentioned in this Ordinance (if it be not a later -interpolation) and established later by Edward III. It preserved, for a -time, the ancient half-stone of 8 lb., but by the inconvenient process -of making 13-1/2 of these as the Cwt.; probably to prepare the merchant -for a new Cwt. of 112 lb. first in 14 stones of 8 lb. and then in 8 -stones of 14 lb. - -This is the Cwt. which has come down from Edward III to the present day, -against which trade has had to struggle more or less successfully ever -since, and which torments the schoolboy with sums in tons, cwts., qrs. -and lb. - -To this day the old Stone of 16 lb. or its half, the Clove of 8 lb., -still continues in use. The butcher’s and fishmonger’s stone is 8 lb., -and cheese is sold, in most parts of England, by the 16 lb. stone, as it -was five or six centuries ago. In 1434, by 9 Henry VI, it was ordered -that the Wey of cheese should contain 32 cloves, yet we learn from -Arnold (1500) that the weight of Suffolk Cheese is xij score and xvj -lb., the same weight as the wey (16 × 16 = 256 lb.), and Recorde (1543) -says that for butter and cheese ‘a clove containeth 8 lb. and a wey 32 -cloves which is 256 lb.’ By 10 Anne (1712) a barrel of soap is to -contain 256 lb., i.e. a Wey. - -The Plantagenet 14 lb. stone is used for flour and potatoes, &c., but -the load, the modern form of the wey, is 18 stone of 14 lb. = 252 lb., -evidently an approximately near substitute for the 16 × 16 lb. = 256 lb. -of the Wey, there being until quite recently no lawful weights allowed -above 7 lb. but in multiples of that weight. The load, like the wey, has -the advantage of being equal to 4 bushels of heavy corn at 63 lb., so -that it is half of the Quarter and an eighth of the wheat-chaldron or -ton-measure. - -What was the reason for the Plantagenet Cwt.? for the inconvenient unit, -rightly rejected by our brethren in North America, and in several -colonies? - -Edward I’s intermediate Cwt. of 108 lb. seems to show that it was -intended to bring our Cwt. up to that of foreign countries using Troy -pounds, 108 lb. being very close to the French and Flemish quintal -(Arabic cantar) of 100 Troy lb. The wool-trade with Flanders, the -dominion of the Plantagenets in France, may have been the motives for -this increase. - -The hypothesis that the Cwt. was made 112 lb. so as to be equal to 100 -long Troy lb. of 16 Troy ounces, is excluded by the ratio of averdepois -to long troy being 100 to 109·7 and also by the new Cwt. dating at least -from the time of Edward III, when the royal lb. was still Tower, not -Troy, with a ratio to averdepois of 100 to 128; and it was certainly not -of 16 ounces. - -The only lawful multiples of the Imperial pound were, until quite -recently, those of the stone series: - - 7 lb. . . a clove. - 14 lb. . . a stone. - 28 lb. . . a quarter-Cwt. - 56 lb. . . a half-Cwt. - 112 lb. . . a Cwt. - 2240 lb. . . a ton. - -And the only lawful weights were those of 56, 28, 14, 7, 4, 2, and 1 lb. - -I have had some personal experience of the inconvenience of these -weights. For years I had to weigh recruits and other soldiers, recording -their weights in pounds with this inconvenient set of weights. To get -the weight of a man of 152 lb. I had to reckon 2 × 56 lb. + 28 + 7 + 4 + -1 lb. Errors were necessarily frequent when many weighings had to be -rapidly done, so I had a set of decimal weights made—20, 10, 5 lb.—and -all trouble ceased. But these weights were not lawful, at least for -trade purposes. - -There was, however, another lawful unit, the Cental, that is, the -original English Cwt., brought back to England from North America by the -corn-trade. Commerce demanded the recognition of the Cental and got it -in 1879. - -In 1902, the tobacco-trade in Liverpool, annoyed at the inconvenience of -the lawful units of weight, as inconvenient for the wholesale -tobacco-warehouse as for my military purposes, moved the Liverpool -Chamber of Commerce to get the Board of Trade to allow them to use a -half-cental weight; a whole cental, the only lawful unit of the kind, -being too heavy for handling. In reply to this request, it was suggested -that a nest of weights, 28 + 14 + 7 + 1 lb. = 50 lb. might be used. To -this the tobacco-trade objected, and after correspondence, the use of a -50 lb. weight was granted. Then they requested permission to use smaller -fractions of the cental, in fact a decimal series of 20, 10, 5 lb. And -they obtained it. So, thanks to the perseverance of the Liverpool -tobacco-merchants and Chamber of Commerce, the decimal fractions of the -Cental are now lawful weights, and no one need use the inconvenient 14 -lb. stone series. - - - 5. WOOL AND LEAD WEIGHT - - - _Wool Weight_ - -The revenue of the Plantagenet kings being largely derived from duties -on the export of wool, the weight of the sack was fixed by statute. By -31 Edw. I ‘the sack of wool ought to weigh 28 stone of 12-1/2 lb.’ = 350 -lb. By 14 Edw. III ‘the sack shall contain 26 stone and each stone 14 -lb.’ = 364 lb., i.e. 2 weys of 13 stone. This regulation was supported -by other statutes, in 1389 and 1496, and appears to have had due effect, -for it is the standard at the present time: 26 stone or 13 ‘tods.’ - -Why was this particular weight ordered? - -Possibly because the sack thus corresponded nearly to the skippund -(ship-pound) of the Baltic trade and of Scotland, a weight of 20 lispund -each of 16 Norse Troy pounds or of 20 pounds of light standard = 352 to -375 lb. The Baltic skippund at the present day is about 350 lb. - -In Scotland the sack of wool was ordered to be 24 stone, which was -equivalent to 26 English stone, in proportion to the heavier weight of -the Scots pound. - -The Plantagenet domination in France caused the stone to pass there, -though not always at English weight; and there being no regular weight -in France between the pound and the quintal, local stones came into use. -‘Les laines vend on par sacs et par pois, par pierres, par claus et par -livres,’ the French terms for the sack, the wey, the stone, the clove -and the pound.[25] Sometimes the stone was called ‘gal’ (stone, _galet_, -shingle) and the clove ‘demi-gal’ (Livre blanc de l’hotel de ville -d’Abbeville). The French stone was of variable weight. One record gives -the sack of wool (= 4 Montpellier light quintals) as of 25 pierres, -which would make them 9 lb. each. Another record gives it as 36 stone of -9 standard pounds (= 10 English pounds). - -Footnote 25: - - See section on the Nail and the Clove, Chap. XX. - -The stone appears to be extinct now in France; I find that as late as -1579 wool was sold in Burgundy by the wool-stone (_la pierre de laine_) -= 12 French or about 13 English pounds. - -While the old English wey or load was 16 × 16 = 256 lb., the wey ordered -for wool was half a sack = 182 lb. It would seem that, once the King’s -dues paid, the shipper was free to make up his sacks or sarplers of wool -as most convenient to him. The customary wey or weigh (Sc. waugh or -wall) seems to have been 32 cloves or nails of 7 lb. = 2 cwt. A ‘poke’ -of wool ‘weand 4 C. 15 nallis,’ i.e. 4 cwt. and 105 lb. A sack might be -‘6 wall and 25 naill,’ i.e. 12 cwt. and 175 lb. - -The wey or weigh became, in statute French, _poids_, _pois_; but the -scribes took the wrong _pois_ and thinking it meant ‘pease’ made it -_pisa_ in their Latin, just as they took the wrong ‘nail’ and made it L. -_clavus_, and in French _clau_, through L. _clavis_, meaning a ‘key.’ - - - _Lead Weight_ - -While the fother is 17-2/3 cwt. for coal, it is 19-1/2 cwt. = 2184 lb. -for lead. This peculiar unit, also called the char or load, is the -consequence of a statute 31 Edw. I, perhaps the most confused and -bewildering of the many confused medieval statutes on weights and -measures, and one in which subsequent interpolations may be suspected. -It ordered two stones, one of 12 lb. and another of 12-1/2 lb., and to -keep up the pretence of there being no weight other than of Tower -standard, it declared that a pound shall contain 25 shillings. This -shilling standard may be put aside. - -The 12 lb. stone is ordered apparently either as a double of a customary -‘lead-pound’ of 6 lb. or to make the customary fotmal or ‘pig’ of lead, -70 lb. weight, ‘contain 6 stones (of 12 lb.) less 2 lb.’ It also says -that the deduction of 2 lb. leaves ‘70 lb. making 5 stones.’ This -passage appears to be a subsequent interpolation after the institution -of Edward III’s 14 lb. stone. - -The fother of lead, of 30 fotmals, would thus be = 2100 lb. But the -stone of 12-1/2 lb., evidently intended to be 1/8 of the true -hundredweight, and to pave the way for the coming 14 lb. stone, is also -applied to lead. How it is not said; but the present fother, = 2184 lb., -is almost exactly equal to 30 fotmal, each of 73 lb. = 2190 lb.; and 73 -lb. is just 6 stone of 12-1/2 lb. less 2 lb. - -The 70 lb. fotmal seems to have disappeared by the seventeenth century, -but in the meantime the uncertainty of the fother led to the use of -Boole-weight, meaning the weight used at the lead-boles or natural bowls -in which lead ore was smelted. The fother, boole-weight, was 30 fotmals -of 6 stone of 14 lb. Sometimes it was of 24 fotmals = 2016 lb., that is -18 cwt. - -The meaning of Fother is given in Chapter XX. - - - 6. TRADE-UNITS OF WEIGHT - -It is unnecessary to describe or even name the various weights peculiar -to trade or local custom. Everyone in the trade knows them; out of it no -one need know them. If a person not in the trade buys a cask of wine, a -barrel of beer, a sack of flour or a load of potatoes, commonsense -prompts him to ask how many gallons or pounds are contained in these -units. It is the same in France and other countries of the metric -system, where the cask, the sack, the churnful, &c., are trade-units -with their peculiar equivalents of litres or kilogrammes. It is indeed -by the use of trade-units that manufacturers evade the rigour of the -metric system. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - - ENGLISH MEASURES OF CAPACITY - - - I. THE OLD WINE MEASURES - -It has been seen that a cubic foot of water is very approximately = 1000 -Roman ounces = 62-1/2 lb. of water at the early averdepois standard. -There is reason to believe that this cubic foot was our original -wine-unit, the wine-bushel, 1/8 of it = 216 cubic inches, being the -wine-gallon; and that the cubic foot, increased in water-wheat ratio -1728 × 1·25 = 2160 c.i., was the corn-bushel. The corn-gallon, 2160/8 = -270 c.i., remained at this standard for centuries, 268·8 c.i. being the -London measure, and 272-1/4 c.i. the Winchester measure, the slight -differences being due to difficulties in casting and gauging shallow -metal pans. - -That the wine-gallon was originally 1/8 cubic foot is rendered very -probable by the existence in Ireland of a gallon of almost exactly that -capacity. This gallon was legalised for ale, beer and spirits by George -II (1735) at a capacity of 217·6 c.i. - -The rise of the wine-gallon in England to 219 c.i., to 224 c.i., and -finally to 231 c.i. under Henry VIII, seems due to two influences: - -1. The desire to make it hold 8 lb. of wine = about 222 c.i., that -weight being mentioned in statute. - -2. The influence of wine-measures used at the ports whence wine came. - -The principal unit of wine-measure at Bordeaux, and some other -continental ports, was the Velte, the equivalent of the German viertel -which was 1/4 Rhineland cubic foot = 471·6 c.i. So our gallon tended to -increase towards the measure of 235·8 c.i., the half-velte. It could not -increase further than 231 c.i. without deranging its water-wheat ratio -with the corn-gallon, already increased, temporarily at least, under -Henry VIII to 282 c.i. But the principal reason for 231 c.i. was that -this was the capacity of a cylinder 7 inches in diameter and 6 inches -deep. It has always been desirable that market-measures should be of -dimensions easily remembered and readily gauged with a foot-rule. The -wine-gallon of 231 c.i., confirmed by the new measures made by -Elizabeth’s order, was afterwards known as Queen Anne’s gallon. It is to -this day the fluid gallon of the United States, Canada and Ceylon. - -The half-velte was the French _galon_, a word connected with _galloie_, -_jallaie_, _jalle_, _jarre_, with our ‘jar’ and with ‘gauge,’ Fr. -_jauge_. It may be mentioned that ‘velte’ sometimes meant a gauging-rod -for wine-casks. - -The wine-gallon was divided into 2 pots, or 4 quarts or 8 pints. The -wine-pint = 16·57 fluid ounces = 5/6 Imperial pint. - - - _Cask Measures_ - -By 2 Henry VI (1423)— - - The wine-Hogshead was 63 gallons - The Pipe „ 126 „ - The Tun (tonnel) „ 252 „ (12 score and 12). - -Thus the hogshead (Flemish _okshoofd_, ox-head) was approximately 1/4 of -the tun or fluid ton. - - 252 wine-gallons of 8 lb. = 2016 lb. - -The customary beer-barrel contained, and still contains, 36 gallons (now -Imperial gallons). It is probable that it was originally a half-hogshead -= 31-1/2 or 32 gallons, and that it rose as an indirect consequence of -the statutory rise of the Cwt. and Ton. (This will be explained under -Corn Measure.) - -The half-barrel of 18 gallons was called a Kilderkin, from the old -Flemish word _kinderkin_, a little child. To it corresponded the Runlet -of 18-1/2 wine-gallons (1483), the German Eimer or double Anker. - -The quarter-barrel of 9 gallons is a Firkin, a word in which _vierde_, a -fourth, replaces _kinder_; so that in the fifteenth century it was a -Ferdekyn. - -But the ale-barrel remained nominally at 32 gallons, its kilderkin at -16, its firkin at 8 gallons. This counterbalanced the increase of the -ale-gallon to 282 c.i. How did this rise come about? The probable -explanation is that the ale-gallon was really a corn-gallon of Henry VII -and VIII; it disappeared for corn, but it remained for ale. - - - 2. THE ALE-GALLON - -Henry III proclaimed on his accession that, according to Magna Charta, -there should be but one standard of measure and of weight throughout the -realm, one measure of wine, one measure of ale, and one measure of corn. - -There seems to be no information extant about the second of these -measures; it was presumably the same as the corn-gallon. A statute of -Henry VIII ordered the barrel of beer to be 36 gallons and that of ale -32 gallons, whence it may be presumed that the former were wine-gallons -and the latter corn-gallons, 32 and 36 being taken as the whole numbers -nearly proportionate to wine and corn measure, and admitting of the -quarter-barrel being 8 gallons of ale and 9 of beer.[26] - -Footnote 26: - - For a long time the difference between ale and beer was that beer was - hopped. - -In 1496 (temp. Henry VII) a new corn-bushel was made = 2240 c.i., its -gallon being 280 c.i. While it is possible that this increase was due to -inaccurate casting, yet it might be that the new corn-gallon was -intended to be on a water-wheat ratio with the wine-gallon, then = 224 -c.i. (224 × 1-1/4 = 280), in the same way that the usual corn-gallon of -270 c.i. was in that ratio to the original 1/8 cubic foot gallon of 216 -c.i. (216 × 1-1/4 = 270).[27] - -Footnote 27: - - It has been suggested that the 280 c.i. corn-gallon was constructed so - as to have Averdepois-Troy ratio to the 231 c.i. wine-gallon - (1·215 : 1). But the latter had not at the time risen to 231 c.i., and - it is more probable that the ratio was that of water to wheat, the - pound-pint ratio. - -In 1531 the corn-gallon was increased to 282 c.i. But under Elizabeth -the corn-gallon was restored to its old standard of 1/8 bushel = -2150·4/8 c.i. = 268·8 c.i. and the wine-gallon fixed at 231 c.i. At -these standards both gallons stood until their unification in 1824. -Confirmed by Queen Anne, they are known by her name. - -But the corn-gallon of Henry VIII, = 282 c.i., remained as the -Ale-gallon, probably because it had become the standard measure for -malt. - - - _The Quart and Pint_ - -While the wine-pint was an eighth of a wine-gallon the common pint of -England was the Ale-pint, an eighth of the Tudor Ale-gallon, which was -280 or 282 cubic inches and differed little from the Imperial gallon = -277·27 cubic inches. So the pint of ale in Tudor times differed little -from an Imperial pint. - -The Quart and Pint of Elizabeth preserved at the Standards Office are -larger than Imperial measure, the Quart holding 40·53 ounces as compared -with the 40 ounces of the Imperial quart; it is one-fourth of a gallon -of 280 cubic inches, the Tudor ale-gallon. - - - 3. CORN MEASURE - -It has been seen that Henry III’s statute defined the gallon as -containing 8 lb. of wine, and Edward I’s as containing 8 lb. of wheat. -It is probable that the Magna Charta principle of ‘one weight, one -measure’ prevented the mention of two different gallons, as it prevented -the mention of two different pounds. But we know that there were two -gallons. In England as in ancient Greece the unit of corn-measure was -the fluid measure of the Talent increased in water-wheat ratio; so our -cubic foot, taken as a wine-bushel of 8 wine-gallons, and increased -one-fourth, gave the corn-bushel of 8 corn-gallons. - - 1728/8 c.i. = 216 c.i., the original wine-gallon, - 1728 c.i. × 1·25 = 2160 c.i., the corn-bushel, - -of which 1/8 = 270 c.i. was the corn-gallon. - -It has been seen that the wine-gallon increased to 231 c.i., but the -corn-standard remained for centuries (excepting a vagary temp. Henry VII -and VIII) at very nearly its original value. It must be remembered how -difficult it must have been to cast accurately a shallow brass pan -18-1/2 inches in diameter and only 8 inches deep; and this is probably -the cause of the slight difference between the two standards of -corn-measure, the London bushel and the Winchester bushel. These were -simply variants, inevitable in making standard measures of the -calculated capacity of the bushel = 2160 cubic inches = 1-1/4 cubic -feet. - -The London bushel = 2150·42 c.i.; the gallon = 268·8 c.i. - -The Winchester bushel = 2178 c.i.; the gallon = 272-1/4 c.i. - -The latter standard was so called, it is said, because its standard had -been kept at Winchester since the time of King Edgar; it was, by 22 -Chas. II (1670) and 10 Geo. III (1769), the standard measure for corn -and other dry goods. - -But by 13 Wm. III (1702) and by 5 Anne (1707) the London bushel was the -standard, and this is the present corn-bushel of the United States. It -is, however, commonly called, but inaccurately, a Winchester bushel. - - - 4. THE QUARTER AND THE CHALDRON - -When the Cwt. was raised to 112 lb. and the Ton to 2240 lb. the Chaldron -or ton-measure of wheat was increased by statute from 4 × 8 = 32 bushels -to 36 bushels. One would think it would follow that the Quarter would be -raised from 8 to 9 bushels. No, it was not raised, by law at least; so -the corn-trade raised it themselves, thinking that evidently if a -chaldron is now 36 bushels, for the quarter of it we must ask or give 9 -bushels. - -But this practice was apparently held to be an offence against the -repeated royal declarations beginning with the 32 wheat-corn weight of -the penny and ending with the ‘bushel which is the eighth part of the -Quarter.’ While one statute raised the Chaldron to 36 bushels, another -declared that its quarter was to remain at 8 bushels. In 15 Rich. II -(1391) it is declared that ‘8 bushels striked should make the Quarter of -corn nevertheless that divers people will not buy but 9 bushels for the -Quarter.’ - -As statutes of 1436 and 1496 repeated this prohibition of any increase -of the quarter one may presume that the forbidden practice continued, -the increased quarter being called a Vat. But there was another way of -evading these statutes; the old story with bad legislation; _Fatta la -lege, trovato l’inganno_. It became in many parts customary to give, not -a long-quarter, but a long-bushel of 9 gallons, so that 8 long-bushels -would make the new quarter-chaldron. It was possibly a relic of this -practice which caused the Chester corn-measure to become 70 lb., roughly -62-1/2 lb. × 9/8 = 70·3 lb. Cheshire perhaps benefited by its -neighbourhood to Lancashire, which was specially exempted by 13 Rich. II -from the penalties for offences against the unity of weights and -measures, ‘because in that county it hath always been used to have -greater measure than in any other part of the realm.’[28] Yet -long-bushels are sometimes the striked equivalents of heaped measure. - -Footnote 28: - - Curiously Lancashire still uses the Cheshire acre, and in some parts a - pound of butter is a pound + the weight of 2 pennies, formerly the - heavy Georgian ounce-pennies, now the lighter bronze coins. - -But in most parts of the country the attempts to correct stupid -legislation were abandoned, and so the Chaldron of 36 bushels fell -almost out of use and the Quarter ceased to be a quarter of any measure. -In 1707 Bishop Fleetwood (‘Chronicon preciosum’) could only say -‘doubtless a Quarter is a quarter or fourth part of some load or -weight.’ And there is a story that Lord Kelvin, asking the head of the -Standards Office (giving evidence before a Royal Commission on Weights -and Measures) of what a Quarter was the quarter, failed to obtain any -light on the subject. And he himself did not know. - -But since the corn-trade brought back from North America the old ton of -20 centals, the quarter has found its long-lost father. The freight-ton -of ships, 40 cubic feet of cargo, contains 32 bushels (at 1-1/4 cubic -feet to the bushel), that is 4 Quarters or 2000 lb. of average wheat = -20 centals. - - - 5. COAL MEASURE - -The Chaldron of 36 bushels is used for the sale of coke and in -Northumberland for coal. - -A ‘keel’ of coal, i.e. the load of the Tyneside lighter known as a -‘keel,’ was, up till the fifteenth century, 20 ‘chaldres,’ the measure -of 20 old tons: - - The old chaldron of wheat, 32 bushels of 62-1/2 lb. = 2000 lb. - „ „ „ „ coal, 25 „ „ 80 lb. = 2000 lb. - -When the old Chaldron became illegal it gradually gave place to the new -ton and to the new chaldron. The Newcastle chaldron was 2 statute -chaldrons = 72 bushels. The modern keel of coal is 21·2 tons = 16 -statute chaldrons of 36 bushels = 8 Newcastle chaldrons. This double -chaldron is then 72 bushels, or, as 1/8 of the keel, = 21·2 tons, it is -53 cwt., and it is divided into 3 Fother of 17-2/3 cwt. = 1966 lb. or -nearly the old ton of 2000 lb. Thus the Newcastle fother is nearly the -old ton, and the keel of 24 fothers or old tons has taken the place of -the sixteenth-century keel of 20 old tons. - -In the eighteenth century the coal-bushel was slightly changed from -London or Winchester standard. 12 Anne (1714) ordered a special -coal-bushel. It was defined as containing a Winchester bushel and a -quart, 33 instead of 32 quarts = 2218 cubic inches, and coal was to be -sold by the chalder of 36 such bushels, heaped. - -This new bushel was 1/8 inch more in diameter and in depth than the old -standard; it arose probably from a faulty casting. It is remarkable, -inasmuch as its capacity is almost exactly that of the Edinburgh firlot -and also of the Imperial bushel instituted a century later. - -The Chaldron survives for coke. When coal is coked at the gas-works it -swells, so that a ton of coal, = about 3/4 chaldron, yields about a -chaldron of coke. - - - _Heaped Measure_ - -It has been seen that in 1392 the bushel was to be measured ‘striked’ -and not heaped. Yet the love of extra weight or measure is so ingrained -in human nature that it persisted, at least in retail transactions. With -a pan-shaped bushel more than twice as broad as deep, heaping increased -the measure by not less than one-fourth. With a drum-shaped bushel, its -depth equal to its diameter, the increase of heaped over striked measure -would be about an eighth, so that a bushel of wheat would weigh about 70 -lb. instead of 62 lb. Heaped measure was made illegal in 1835. - -It is possible that some long-bushels (as that of Chester = 70 lb.) were -originally, or actually, heaped bushels. - - - 6. THE IMPERIAL GALLON - -In 1824 some of our measures were reorganised, and among the changes was -the unification of wine and corn measure. The better concordance of -capacity with weight by a single gallon containing exactly 10 lb. of -water at ordinary temperature has been a great advantage. It has -enlarged the decimal capabilities of our system without impairing its -convenient and popular series of capacity units. It is indeed an -advantage that the slight increase of the corn-gallon now gives a weight -of 64 lb. good wheat to the bushel, so that the pint corresponds very -exactly to a pound of wheat. - -Yet it must be remembered that our brethren of the United States, not -usually deemed unprogressive, get on very well with Queen Anne’s -wine-gallon and corn-gallon. - -The new gallon holds exactly 10 lb. of pure water at 62° or 277·274 -cubic inches. - -The bushel is of the capacity of 2218·19 cubic inches. It holds 80 lb. -of pure water. - -The change from the old corn-gallon was very slight, increasing it by -only 3 per cent., from 268·8 to 277·27 c.i. (and rather less from the -Winchester gallon of 270 c.i.), so that the bushel formerly holding -62-1/2 lb. of wheat now holds 64 lb. - -Wine-measure was increased by almost exactly 20 per cent., from 231 c.i. -to 277·27 c.i., so that a gallon of wine is contained in 6 customary -bottles, instead of 5 as formerly, or as at present in the United -States. - -Bushel measures are of two shapes: the drum-shape, 15 inches diameter by -12-2/4 inches deep, and the standard shape (that of the old -corn-measure), 18-1/2 inches diameter by 8-1/4 inches deep. - -Nothing has been changed in the excellent octonary series of measures, -pint, gallon, bushel, quarter (eight of the first making one of the -second and so on), with binary sub-units—some of them general, as the -quart; others local, as the coomb; and some more or less obsolete, as -the tuffet, famous in nursery rhyme. - - - MEASURES OF CAPACITY - - ─────────────────────┬───┬───────────────────────────────────────── - 2 Noggins 1 Gill │ │ (In the South 4 gills to a pint) - 2 Gills 1 Pint │ │20 oz. water│1 lb. wheat - │ │ │ - 2 Pints 1 Quart │⎫ │ │ - 2 Quarts 1 Pottle │⎬ 8│ │ - 2 Pottles 1 Gallon │⎭ │10 lb. water│8 lb. wheat - │ │ │ - 2 Gallons 1 Peck │⎫ │ │16 lb. wheat (old stone) - 2 Pecks 1 Tuffet │⎬ 8│ │ - 2 Tuffets 1 Bushel │⎭ │80 lb. water│62-64 lb. wheat - │ │ │ - 2 Bushels 1 Strike │⎫ │ │ - 2 Strikes 1 Coomb │⎬ 8│ │256 lb. wheat (16 old stone) - 2 Coombs 1 Quarter │⎭ │ │500-512 lb. wheat - │ │ │ - 4 Quarters 1 Corn-ton│ │ │40 cubic feet - ─────────────────────┴───┴────────────┴──────────────────────────── - -These measures can be used for either dry goods or fluids. The smaller -measures below a pint are used for fluids. - - - _Fluid Measures_ - -The institution of the Imperial gallon, while increasing corn-measure by -3 per cent., had less effect on Ale-measure. The Ale-pint, being 1/8 of -the Ale-gallon of 282 cubic inches, was somewhat larger than the new -Imperial pint, holding about 20-1/4 ounces; so the change to the -Imperial pint of 20 ounces was practically imperceptible. - -The Gill is officially, according to southern custom, a 1/4 pint; but in -Lancashire and the north it is a half-pint. The name Gill, like the Jug -synonym for Pint, is part of a popular series of names for beer or -spirit measures. Jug is the feminine of Jack, with which name Gill is -familiarly associated. - - Pint or Jug 20 ounces - 1/2 „ „ Gill (in the north) 10 „ - 1/4 „ „ Jack (or Noggin) 5 „ - 1/8 „ „ Jock (a dram) 2 1/2 „ - 1/16 „ „ Joey 1 1/4 „ - -The customary capacity of wine-bottles is 1/6 gallon = 26-2/3 ounces. So -six customary bottles go to the gallon, and a customary ‘dozen’ of wine -or spirits = 2 gallons. - -In India the gallon of canteen-spirit, rum or arrack, is reckoned as 48 -drams, each 1/8 bottle or 3-1/3 fluid ounces. - - - 7. MEDICINAL FLUID MEASURES - -The Imperial gallon, as 10 lb. of water = 160 fluid ounces, each of -437-1/2 grains of water at standard temperature. - -Its eighth part, the Pint, contains 20 ounces weight or 20 fluid-ounces -measure. It is so divided on druggists’ glass measures. The fluid ounce -is divided into 8 fluid drachms, each of 60 minims, approximately fluid -grains. - -In the United States, where the old wine-gallon of 231 cubic inches is -retained, the old wine-pint of 16 fluid ounces is used. 231 c.i. × -252·458 (grains of water in 1 c.i.) gives— - - 58,317·8 grains for the gallon - 7,289·7 „ „ „ pint - 455·6 „ „ „ ounce - -The fluid ounce is divided as in England into 8 fluid drachms, of 60 -minims. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER IX - - THE MINT-POUNDS - - - 1. THE SAXON OR TOWER POUND - -At some time before the Norman Conquest the Marc of Cologne was brought -to England, probably only as the mint-standard of the later English -kings, for the 16-ounce Roman pound was already long-established as the -commercial weight. - -The standard of the Cologne marc has never varied much. - -Its mean weight = 3608 grains; when doubled it made a pound = 7216 -grains, with an ounce = 451 grains. This pound is almost identical with -the greater rotl of Al-Mamūn, 1/100 of the cantar = 102·92 lb.; and the -old Prussian pound of Cologne standard was 1/100 of the Prussian centner -= 103·11 lb. - -The Norman Conquest made no change; the Saxon pound became the Tower -pound, the King’s treasury or mint being in the Tower of London. The -Tower pound of standard silver was coined into 240 silver pennies, -which, at 22-1/2 grains, their weight down to the time of Edward III, -gives 5400 grains for the pound and 450 grains for the ounce. An actual -weight = 5404 grains was found in the Pyx chamber in 1842. - -The shilling, of 12 pence, was until Tudor times only money of account. -But it was also a weight of account, the pound being either 12 ounces of -20 pennyweight, or 20 shillings of 12 pennyweight. - -‘When a quarter of wheat is sold for 12 pence, the wastel-bread of a -farthing shall weigh 6 li. and 16 s. But bread cocket of a farthing -shall weigh more by 2 s.’ (Assize of Bread, 51 Henry III.) That is, the -farthing loaf shall weigh 6-16/20 Tower lb. = 5-1/4 averdepois lb., and -the second sort 24 dwt. or 1-1/5 Tower ounce more. - -Here is an instance of the confusion caused by making bread, like gold, -silver and medicines, saleable only by the royal pound. This system of a -peculiar pound for bread lasted till the eighteenth century. - -Under Edward I the halfpenny loaf weighed 40 s., that is 2 lb. Tower = a -little more than 1-1/2 lb. averdepois. - -Moneyers and goldsmiths divided the dwt. or original weight of the -silver penny, for fine weighing, on the Dutch system, that is into 2 -mayles, 4 ferlings 8 troisken, 16 deusken, 32 azen (aces). This would -account for the 32 wheat-corns which the silver penny was always -supposed to weigh, however many pence the mint struck from the pound of -silver. - -The mayle and ferling (Fr. _maille_ and _felin_) were the mint-names for -the silver halfpenny and farthing. - -Under the gradual influence of Troy weight the dwt. Tower was also -divided into 24 parts or grains. It was so divided in the time of Edward -III. - -It must be remembered that there was absolutely no definition of Tower -weight, nothing but the usual proclamation about the 32 wheat-corns, a -convenient definition, as they still appeared to balance the penny when -it had fallen to half its original weight. - - - 2. THE TROY POUND - -The pound of Troie is mentioned in the time of Henry IV, and in the next -reign goldsmiths were ordered to use _la libre de Troy_, though by 9 -Henry V mint-rates were still stated in _la libre de Tour_. By 2 Henry -VI the price of standard silver is fixed at 30_s._ la livre du Troie, -which means that 12 × 30 pennies of 15 grains were being coined from a -pound of 5400 grains, evidently still a Tower pound. Notwithstanding the -change of name, the Troy pound was not proclaimed as the royal pound -until 1527, when by 18 Henry VII ‘the pounde Towre shall be no more -used, but all manner of golde and sylver shall be wayed by the pounde -Troye which excedith the pound Towre in weight 3 quarters of the ounce.’ -But the Troy pound had been used concurrently with the old mint-pound -for a long time, and there had been two standards at the mint. - -According to an anonymous writer in 1507 (quoted in Snelling’s ‘View of -the Silver Coin and Coinage,’ 1762) ‘it is a right great untruth and -deceit that any such pound Toweres should be occupied, for that thereby -the merchant is deceived subtilly and the mint master is thereby -profited.’ - -There is no doubt that after the conquest of England by Henry Tudor a -cloud of deceit came over the coinage, deceit only ended by Elizabeth’s -establishment of the coinage on an honest basis. Comparing the -declaration of weights, measures, and coinage by Henry III in 1266 with -that of 12 Henry VII in 1496, the latter does not show to advantage. It -orders— - - That every Pound contain 12 ounces of Troy weight and every - ounce contain 20 sterlings and every Sterling be of the weight - of 32 corns of wheat that grew in the midst of the ear according - to the old law of the said land. - -Meanwhile the Troy ounce of silver was being coined, not into 20, but -into 40 sterlings or pennies. But each of these was supposed to weigh 32 -wheat-corns just as they did when they were really 20 to the ounce, -albeit a Tower ounce. - - - _Whence came the Troy Pound?_ - -It is probable that the name of the King’s Troy pound came from the marc -of Troyes, but it is certain that the English Troy pound no more came -from Troyes than the ‘pound Toweres’ came from Tours. - -There were four principal marcs in France: - - Marc de Troyes its oz. = 472·1 grains - „ „ La Rochelle „ = 443·4 „ - „ „ Limoges „ = 436·5 „ - „ „ Tours „ = 430·9 „ - -The marc of Troyes doubled made the livre poids de marc, the Paris -standard = 7554 grains. - -That of La Rochelle, the marc d’Angleterre, would appear from its name -to have been, originally at least, the marc of Cologne, Tower standard, -but its standard corresponds almost exactly to the marc of Castille. I -make inquiries at La Rochelle, and am informed that the La Rochelle mint -had at one time been coining for Spain, perhaps at the time of -Plantagenet dominion in the South. - -The marc of Limoges coincides nearly exactly with 8 ounces averdepois of -Plantagenet times; it will be remembered that Limoges was for a long -time an English Plantagenet city. - -The marc of Tours is of southern rather than northern type. - -None of these marcs seem to have any relation with the Troy weight of -England. - -There appears to have been in Northern France, England and Scotland, -about the eighth century, a heavy 16-ounce pound of nearly 8500 grains, -possibly related, through the Russian pound, with the miná of the -Greek-Asiatic talent = 8415 grains. This was probably the heavy pound -which survived in Guernsey up till the eighteenth century; and perhaps -other pounds said to be of 18 ounces, such as that of Cumberland up to a -generation ago, were really survivals of this heavy northern pound. -Whether this pound dwindled spontaneously, or whether it was superseded -by the pound derived, either directly from the lesser Arabic rotl with -an ounce = 480-1/4 grains, or indirectly from an ounce of 10 dirhems, of -about 48 grains, is difficult to say. All that is known is that there is -a family of pounds usually known as Troy with an ounce varying between -483 and 472 grains; that the pennies of Charlemagne averaging 25 grains -correspond to an ounce of about 500 grains, possibly more, which is -certainly not modern French Troy, and that many Saxon pennies of about -that time were much heavier than those of the times nearer to the -Conquest. The Northern Troy pounds show the following variations: - - Swedish mark-weight pund, its ounce = 483·3 grains - Danish solvpund „ = 481·5 „ - Scots Tron pound „ = 481·1 „ - Bremen pound „ = 480·8 „ - Norwegian skaalpund „ = 477·4 „ - Amsterdam pound „ = 476·6 „ - Scots Trois „ „ = 475·5 „ - Dutch Troy „ „ = 474·7 „ - French Troy „ „ = 472·1 „ - -The variation in these Troy pounds seems due to their ounces being 10 -dirhems of 48 grains, more or less; the lightest ounce, that of French -Troy, being 10 dirhems of 47·1 grains, the same as the dirhem of which -the Provençal ounce, 377 grains, contained 8. - -Our Troy pound, while taking its name, like the Scots and Dutch pound, -from the Troyes marc, took its standard from some pound of full weight, -possibly from the Bremen pound, introduced by the Hanse merchants. Its -exact standard appears due to the influence of the averdepois pound, and -this would explain— - - - _How the Averdepois Pound was of 7000 Grains._ - -This division into 7000 grains was not arbitrary, but it was due to the -desire to give it as simple a ratio as possible to the new Troy pound. -It was found by a Parliamentary Committee in 1758 to weigh 7000 of those -grains into which the Troy pound had always been divided, necessarily -into 5760 of them (12 oz. × 20 dwt. × 24 grs.). Now it seems probable -that when the Troy pound was adopted for mint purposes its weight might -be modified, on the advice of goldsmiths and merchants, so as to give it -a convenient relation to the old-established averdepois pound. Supposing -the new pound were of the Bremen standard, 7693 grains, of which 12 -ounces = 5769·6 grains, then its weight would be to that of averdepois -as 5769·6 to 7000, or as 5760 to 6987·8. To make the proportion 5760 to -7000 it would be necessary to decrease the weight of the Troy pound by -about 8 grains or to increase that of the averdepois pound by about 10 -grains. It is probable that the latter alternative was adopted, and that -the averdepois pound was raised in such proportion that it now weighed -7000 grains of the Troy pound = 5760 grains. This accounts for the rise -in the weight of the averdepois standard between Plantagenet and -Elizabethan times, making the ounce = 437-1/2 grains instead of the 437 -grains of the Roman ounce. - -It is not improbable that the change of mint-standard from Tower to Troy -was due to the very inconvenient ratio of the Tower pound to the -averdepois pound. The mint-pound being necessarily divided into 12 -ounces of 20 pennyweight of 24 parts or grains = 5760 parts, the ratio -of the Tower and averdepois pounds was 5400 to nearly 7000, or -5760 : 7453, the latter figure being about the number of Tower grains = -0·937 grain, contained in the original averdepois pound. The -introduction of a new pound, which by slight modification in either it -or the averdepois pound would give the simpler ratio of 5760 to 7000, -would probably be most welcome to the mercantile community. - -In Teutonic countries the usual system of dividing the pounds was as -follows: - - Mint-marc of 8 oz. × 20 dwt. × 24 grs. (or 32 azen). Oz. of 480 grains. - Medicinal lb. of 12 oz. × 24 scruples × 20 grs. Oz. of 480 grains. - Commercial ⎧ Marc of 16 loth × 16 ort (German). - ⎩ lb. of 16 oz. × 16 drams (English). - -The Latin nations followed the ancient Roman system of dividing the -ounce: - - Mint-pound of 12 oz. × 6 sextulæ × 24 siliquæ = 1728 - siliquæ, the ounce being of 6 × 24 = 144 siliquæ or - carats, and the carat of 4 grains, giving 576 grains in - an ounce. - - Medicinal lb. of 12 oz. ⎧ × 8 drachmæ × 3 scrupuli × 24 granæ, - ⎩ × 8 drachmæ × 3 scrupuli × 2 oboli × 12 - granæ. - -In Southern France: - - Pound of 16 oz. × 8 ternau × 3 denié × 24 gran. - -There we see the scruple becomes a pennyweight, and the obolus or -half-scruple becomes a halfpenny. - -In Northern France: - - Mint-marc 8 oz. × 8 gros × 3 deniers × 24 grains. - Medicinal lb. of 12 oz. × 8 drachmes × 3 scrupules × 24 grains. - Commercial lb. of 16 oz. × 8 gros × 72 grains. - -In this system, common to France, Spain, Portugal, Florence, and Rome, -the ounce is divided into 576 parts or grains, while the Troy ounce of -the rest of Europe is of 480 grains. This makes the Latin grain lighter. - -In the medicinal pound, more or less international throughout the West, -the 24 Scruples of the ounce are grouped into 8 drachms of 3 scruples. - -It may be concluded that the English Troy pound was a Northern weight -with its ounce of 480 instead of 576 parts. It has no direct connexion -but in name with the marc of Troyes. It probably came to us as an -apothecary’s and goldsmith’s pound, and in the latter, the Latin factors -24 scruples × 20 grains were transposed for mint purposes so as to -preserve the ancient pennyweight 1/20 ounce of the Tower pound. But in -the apothecary’s Troy pound the ounce remained divided into 24 scruples -(8 drachms of 3 scruples) each of 20 grains as in other countries except -France, &c. - -The story of the goldsmiths’ Carat and Grain will be found in Chapter -XX, that of the Provençal weights, from which the French Troy was -derived, in Chapter XVIII. - - - 3. THE PRIDE AND FALL OF TROY - -The myth of the 32 wheat-corns which formed the basis of the Tower pound -= 5400 grains, passed to the Troy pound = 5760 grains, and this -deliberate fiction lasted till the time of Elizabeth and perhaps later. -It did little harm as regards these mint-pounds, but its application to -the Averdepois pound, alleged to be an offshoot of the royal pound, -either as 25 shillings, that is 300 pennyweights of 32 wheat-corns, or -as 15 ounces Troy, or at a later period as 16 ounces Troy, produced a -mental obliquity which is most lamentable. - -The jury of merchants and goldsmiths appointed in 1574 to examine the -ancient standards, and construct a new set, declared that ‘the one sorte -of weight nowe in use is commonlie called the troie weight and that -other sorte thereof is also commonlie called the avoir de poiz weight, -and further they say that both the saide consiste compounded frome -thauncient Englishe penye named a sterling rounde and unclipped which -penny is limeted to waie twoo and thirtie grains of wheate in the midest -of the eare and twentie of those pence make an oz. and twelf of those -ounc make one pound troie.’ They go on to ‘saie that the said twoo -sortes of weights doe differ in weight the one from the other three -ounces troie at the pounde weight, for the pounde weight troie doth -consiste onlie of xii oz. troie and the lb. weight of avoir de poiz -weight dothe consiste of fiftene ounc troie.’ - -Thomas Hylles, in his ‘Arte of Vulgar Arithmeticke’ (1600), showed -himself emancipated from the superstition of troy weight so far as to -say: - -‘15 ounces of Troy weight should by the statute make 1 pound of -haverdepoise, but the same pound weyeth commonly but 14 ounces 1/2 Troy, -14 ounces 3/5 at the uttermost.’ - - (14-1/2 oz. troy = 6960 grs.; 14-3/5 oz. = 7008 grs.) - -But he unfortunately went on to say that ‘of things liquid and dry 1 -pound of Troy weight maketh a pinte in measure,’ not seeing that 12 oz. -troy = only 13·16 oz. averdepois, while a wine-pint contained 16-2/3 -ounces of water, and a corn-pint close on 16 ounces of wheat or 20 of -water. - -But the ignorance and superstition engendered by troy weight was just as -bad in 1702 as in 1600 or even in 1500, as shown by the following -utterance of an eighteenth-century scientist: - - Troy weight, whereby bread, gold, silver, apothecaries’ wares - etc. are weighed containing only 12 ounces in the pound, each - ounce 20 pennyweight each pennyweight 24 grams. This seems to - have been the most ancient weight by its name, as derived from - the famous city of Troy, from whence Brutus and his people are - said to have descended and to have called London Troy-Novant or - New Troy. - -So said J. Ralphson, F.R.S., in his ‘Mathematical Dictionary’ (London, -1702). And then he continued: - - The second and more common weight is called Avoirdupois, being - fuller and larger weight than the other, for it contains 16 - ounces or 128 drams, viz. 384 scruples, viz. 7680 grains, by - this are weighed all kinds of grocery ware and base metals, as - iron, copper and brass, as also hemp, flax, rosin, pitch, tar - &c. - -A century later we find not much improvement in the idea of the pounds -Troy and Averdepois. - -‘The pound or 7680 grains avoirdupois equals 7000 grains troy and hence -1 grain troy equals 1·097 avoirdupois’ (Rees’ ‘Encyclopædia,’ 1819). -This is an example of the utter muddle the Troy pound had made in the -minds of otherwise intelligent people. - -Similar pedantic efforts were continued, well into the nineteenth -century, to represent the Troy pound as the sole standard of England and -the averdepois pound only respectable as an offshoot of the royal pound -used for vulgar purposes. - - - _The Assize of Bread_ - -Such fictions were helped by the old statutes which compelled the sale, -first by Tower and then by Troy weight, of bread as well as of gold, -silver, and medicines. And confusion was made worse by the use for a -long period of a third weight for bread, the Amsterdam or Scotch troy -pound. - -The peck loaf, supposed to be that produced from a peck of flour (16 -pints), was to weigh 16 of these pounds = 17 lbs. 6 oz. averdepois, the -quartern loaf 4 = 4 lb. 5 oz., and the pint loaf (to be sold at a penny -when wheat was 4_s._ a bushel or 32_s._ a quarter) was to weigh one -pound = 17 oz. 6 drams averdepois. The periodical Assize of Bread fixed -the price of the peck loaf. - -It appears then that the pound of bread was = 7600 grains, its ounce = -475 grains, which was about the Scottish (and Dutch) troy standard. It -was probably adopted as coinciding with the weight of bread supposed to -be produced from a pint of flour and as keeping up the old superstition -that bread must be sold by troy weight. As some persons in authority did -not share the stupidity of those who considered the averdepois pound to -be 16 troy ounces, the Scottish 16-ounce pound of troy standard was -imported for the purpose. - -This weight was abolished by 8 Anne (1710) and the sliding scale was put -in the averdepois equivalent. - -The Assize of Bread was abolished in 1815, but traces of it remain in -the name ‘quartern loaf,’ although this now means a loaf of 4 imperial -pounds. It may also mean a loaf weighing the quarter of a 16-lb. stone. - - - _The Disappearance of the Troy Pound_ - -In 1841 a Royal Commission on Weights and Measures recommended the -abolition of the Troy pound as ‘wholly useless,’ retaining its ounce -provisionally for the use of bullion merchants, pending ‘the removal of -the troy scale.’ This recommendation was not carried out until 1878, -when the Troy pound disappeared, except of course in almanacks and books -for the instruction of youth—but the Troy ounce still survives at the -mint, and consequently in the bullion market; and it is virtually forced -on druggists in spite of the Medical Council. Troy weight was abolished -by the Pharmacopœia Committee in 1864, Imperial weight being alone -recognised; yet the Board of Trade keeps up the Apothecaries’ ounce of -480 grains. Troy weight has fallen; but, like many other superstitions, -it dies hard. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER X - - THE CUBIC FOOT AND THE TON REGISTER - - -The cubic foot and the cubic inch are the usual measures of solidity. -The cubic yard is used as a measure of masonry, earthwork, or reservoirs -of water. - -The cubic foot has many points of concordance with weights and with -measures of capacity, and is the basis of ship and cargo measurement. - -The definition of the Imperial gallon as 277·274 cubic inches, the -volume of 10 lb. of water at 62°, a pound of water measuring 27·7274 -cubic inches, led to attempts to determine accurately the weight of a -cubic inch and of a cubic foot of water. These experiments are -interesting in consequence of the recognition, in 1685,[29] that the -cubic foot of water weighed approximately 1000 ounces, and of the -probability that this weight of water in Roman ounces, = 437 grains, was -the source of our Imperial system. It has already been shown how -difficult it is either to construct accurately a measure containing a -certain weight of water or conversely to determine the weight of water -in a standard measure.[30] - -Footnote 29: - - ‘Some Gentlemen at Oxford in 1685 determined the weight of a cubic - foot of spring water, or 1728 solid inches, to be 1000 ounces - averdepois.’—Kelly, _Metrology_, 1816. - -Footnote 30: - - For this reason the custodians of the metric system have abandoned the - cubic decimetre of water as the basis of measures either of capacity - or of weight. The kilogramme is now, like our pound, a certain metal - standard, and the litre is a measure containing, more or less exactly, - a kilogramme of water. A perfect litre standard contains 1000 grammes - of water at 39·2°; but 1·1 gramme less at 62°, 2 grammes less at 70°, - and 3·3 grammes less at 80°, a very frequent summer temperature. For - exact correspondence of measure with weight, corrections are always - required whether on the imperial or on the metric system. - -The statute definition of the cubic inch of water as = 252·458 grains at -62° corresponds to 62·326 lb., or 997·21 ounces, for the cubic foot. -Reduction of these weights to the standard of maximum density of water -at 39·2° increases the weight of the cubic inch by 0·29 grain, and of -the cubic foot by 1·1 ounce, making it = 62·4 lb. or 998·3 ounces. An -Order in Council of 1889 gives 252·286 grains as the weight of the cubic -inch of water. But the exact weight is uncertain, and the 1824 statute -definition seems to be as accurate as the more recent determinations, -all different. - -It may be taken that the cubic foot of water weighs very approximately— - - at 62° in air 997·2 ounces - at 39·2° in air 998·3 „ (+ 0·9 ounce) - at 39·2° in vacuo 999·6 „ (+ 2·4 „ ) - -And 1000 ounces of water at the original weight of the averdepois ounce, -of Roman standard = 437 grains, would weigh 999·5 of such ounces, at 62° -in air. - -Practically measures of capacity need only approximate coincidence with -standards; they are used for convenience in order to avoid weighing, -especially in retail trade. Corn and many other kinds of produce are -more conveniently measured than weighed, the average weight being -ascertained, if desired, by a sample bushel. - -Fluids may also require corrections for temperature when bought or sold -by measure. Water increases in volume 1 per 1000 between 39° and 61°; -and another 1 per 1000 between 61° and 70°; other fluids have their -peculiar coefficients of expansion. - -Allowing then for small temperature-corrections, the cubic foot may be -taken as equal to 62-1/2 lb. or 1000 ounces of water, and at this -sufficiently approximate standard it becomes the basis of a series of -measures for ship and other purposes. - - - _The Ton Register_ - -The capacity of ships has for centuries been reckoned in tons. The term -arose from the custom, in French and other wine ports, to take as the -unit of cargo-bulk the tun of wine usually contained in four hogsheads, -each of 63 wine-gallons. The number of hogsheads divided by 4 gave the -tonnage to be charged. - -This cargo-ton, the _tonneau d’encombrement_, was equal to 42 French -cubic feet = 51 English cubic feet. - -The Ton Register appears to have arisen in the ports of Northern Europe. -There the unit was usually the skippund (ship-pound) of about 360 lb. -for wool and light goods. But the Last was also a wide-spread, though -variable, measure; in the Baltic trade it was usually reckoned at 11-1/4 -quarters of wheat = 90 bushels or 5400 lb. In England it was usually 10 -quarters = 80 bushels = 5000 lb. Now this bulk of wheat measures about -100 cubic feet, so 100 English cubic feet has become the unit adopted in -all maritime countries, as the Ton Register. In France it is called the -_tonneau de jaugage_ and is taken as = 2·83 cubic metres. - -A ship of 2000 tons register is of a capacity = 200,000 cubic feet below -decks. The register tonnage is thus obtained: - -Mean length × 0·94 of maximum beam × depth from upper deck to keel, the -measure being taken inside, and in feet. The product is cubic feet, -which divided by 100 gives register tonnage. - -In France these measurements have to be made in metres; the product in -cubic metres is divided by 0·38 to get tonnage. - -Net tonnage, as distinguished from gross tonnage, is the latter less the -space occupied by cabins below deck, by engines and bunkers, in short -all that is not ‘hold.’ - -This deduction gives the space available for cargo, a very large -proportion in a sailing-ship, a very small proportion in a steam-yacht -or tug. - -The Cargo Ton is usually reckoned at 40 cubic feet; the space occupied -by 20 centals = 4 quarters of wheat, or 25 centals of water. - -A steamship of 4500 tons register may be 3000 tons net; as each of these -net tons will contain 2-1/2 tons of cargo of about the same weight as -wheat, after allowing for cases, dunnage, &c., the ship may be described -as carrying 7500 tons dead-weight. Of course, this would only apply to -goods of medium weight; not to iron rails or to ore, which could only be -taken as a limited part of the cargo, the rest of the space being either -filled with light goods or remaining empty. - -The ship-owner has the choice of charging freight by measurement, -usually at 40 c. ft. to the ton, or by the ton weight for metal and -other heavy goods. - - CONCORDANCE OF CAPACITY, WEIGHT AND MEASUREMENT - - ┌──────────────────┬───────────────────┬───────┬───────────────┬──────┐ - │ │ Weight of Water │ Cubic │Weight of Wheat│ Cubic│ - │ Capacity ├─────┬────────┬────┤Inches │ Lb. │ Feet │ - │ │ Oz. │ Lb. │ Oz.│ │ │ │ - ├──────────────────┼─────┼────────┼────┼───────┼───────────────┼──────┤ - │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ - │ │ │ │ 1│ 1·73 │ │1/1000│ - │ (1/2 Quartern) │2-1/2│ │ │ │ │ │ - │ │ │ │ 10│ │ │ 1/100│ - │× 8 = Pint │20 │= 1-1/4│ │ 34·6 │ 1 │ │ - │ │ │ │ 100│ │ 5 │ 1/10│ - │× 8 = Gallon │160 │= 10 │ │277-1/4│ 8 │ │ - │ │ │ 62-1/2│1000│ │ 50 │ 1│ - │× 8 = Bushel │ │ 80 │ │ 2218 │ 64 │ │ - │ │ │ │ │ │ Cental 100 │ 2│ - │× 8 = Quarter │ │ │ │ │ 500 │ 10│ - │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ - │× 4 = Ton-cargo │ │ │ │ │ 2000 │ 40│ - │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ - │ = Ton-register│ │ │ │ │ 10 Qrs. 5000 │ 100│ - └──────────────────┴─────┴────────┴────┴───────┴───────────────┴──────┘ - - With the Corn-bushel (U.S.) = 62-1/2 lb. of wheat, 1 Quarter = 500 lb. - „ „ Imperial bushel = 64 lb. „ 1 „ = 512 lb. - - TABLE OF VOLUME AND WEIGHT OF WATER - AT DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES - - ┌───────────┬──────────┬──────────┬─────────────┬─────────────────┐ - │ │Expansion │ Density │ Weight of │ Corrections │ - │Temperature│ ———— │ ———— │1 Cubic Foot.│ from 1000 ozs. │ - │ Fahr.° │1000 Units│1000 Units│ Ounces │in 1 Cubic Foot. │ - │ │of Volume │of Weight │ │ │ - ├───────────┼──────────┼──────────┼─────────────┼─────────────────┤ - │ 32 │ 1000·13 │ 999·8 │ 998·1 │ │ - │ │ │ │ │ │ - │ 39·2 │ 1000 │ 1000 │ 998·3 │ -1·7 oz. │ - │ │ │ │ │ │ - │ 45 │ 1000·1 │ 999·9 │ 998·2 │ -1·8 „ │ - │ │ │ │ │ │ - │ 50 │ 1000·25 │ 999·7 │ 998 │ -2 „ │ - │ │ │ │ │ │ - │ 55 │ 1000·55 │ 999·4 │ 997·7 │ -2·3 „ │ - │ │ │ │ │ │ - │ 60 │ 1000·9 │ 999·1 │ 997·4 │ -2·6 „ │ - │ │ │ │ │ │ - │ 62 │ 1001·1 │ 998·9 │ 997·2 │ -2·8 „ │ - │ │ │ │ │ │ - │ 65 │ 1001·5 │ 998·6 │ 996·8 │ -3·1 „ │ - │ │ │ │ │ │ - │ 70 │ 1002 │ 998 │ 996·3 │ -3·7 „ │ - │ │ │ │ │ │ - │ 75 │ 1002·6 │ 997·4 │ 995·7 │ -4·3 „ │ - │ │ │ │ │ │ - │ 80 │ 1003·3 │ 996·7 │ 995 │ -5 „ │ - │ │ │ │ │ │ - │ 85 │ 1004 │ 996 │ 994·3 │ -5·7 „ │ - │ │ │ │ │ │ - │ 90 │ 1004·8 │ 995·2 │ 993·5 │ -6·5 „ │ - │ │ │ │ │ │ - │ 95 │ 1005·7 │ 994·3 │ 992·6 │ -7·4 „ │ - │ │ │ │ │ │ - │ 100 │ 1006·8 │ 993·2 │ 991·5 │ -8·5 „ │ - └───────────┴──────────┴──────────┴─────────────┴─────────────────┘ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XI - - SCOTS, IRISH, AND WELSH MEASURES AND - WEIGHTS - - - 1. SCOTLAND - -The Scots system was distinctly North German, influenced by English -measures. - - - _Linear Measures_ - -The standard of length was the Scots Ell = 37·06 English inches. -Originally three Rhineland feet at 12·353 inches, it was always -described as containing 37 inches. The inch, at 1/37 of the ell, was -slightly longer, by less than 2 in 1000, than the English inch. The -penalty edicted in 1685 against the use of any other foot but that of 12 -inches, while ‘three foot and an inch’ were a Scots ell, seems to show -that a foot equal to one-third of an ell may have been used. - -The rod or ‘fall’ was 6 ells; the acre was 160 square rods = 1·26 acre, -and very nearly equal to the French arpent, which was equal to the Roman -heredium. This is, however, a mere coincidence. The Scots acre comes, -like the English acre, from North Germany. The type of the Scots acre is -seen in the Jück (yoke) of Oldenburg; this field-measure is 160 square -ruthen; each ruthe is 18 feet square, presumably 18 Rhineland feet = 6 -Scots ells, originally; though now of a lower standard which makes the -Jück = only 1·12 acre instead of the 1·26 acre of Rhineland standard. - - - _Weights_ - -There was an ancient weight, the Tron pound, of variable standard, about -20 Scots ounces. But its actual weight appears to have been 9622 grains, -which is exactly 20 ounces of the original Arabic ounce = 481·18 grains. -This was abolished by the Act of 1618, which ordered ‘that the standards -be kept, two firlots by Linlithgow, the stone weight by Lanark, the ell -by Edinburgh, and the pint by Stirling, as of old.’ - -The Lanark stone was 16 lb. of Scots Trois weight. An inscription on the -standard still extant states that it was equal to 15 lb. 14 oz. English -Troy, that is to the fictive long Troy pound of 7680 grains. The Scots -pound, = 7609 grains, was divided into 16 ounces = 475·5 grains, divided -into 16 drops. - -The stone was blunderingly described (1618) as ‘the French Trois Stone -containing sixteen Trois ounces.’ But it had nothing to do with French -weight (in which the ounce = 472·12 grains); its standard was of the -Dutch Troy (Trooisch) class, coinciding very closely with that of the -Amsterdam pound = 7925 grains, the ounce = 476·5 grains. - -When the 7600-grains lb. came to England as the standard of the Assize -of Bread, it was known as the Scots or Dutch pound. - -An Act of James I (1410), ‘That a Stone be made for weighing fifteen -Trois pounds and divided into sixteen Scots pounds,’ leads to a -suspicion that there was another Scots pound, of Rhineland standard; for -16 pounds or double marks of Cologne are very approximately equal to 15 -long Troy pounds of English standard. - -Troy oz., 480 grs. × 16/15 = 450 grs. = Tower oz. - -One may thus surmise that the royal pound of Scotland, like that of -England up to Tudor times, was of Cologne or Tower standard, and was -superseded in course of time by the Amsterdam or Scots Trois pound. - - - _Measures of Capacity_ - -In 1410 it was ordered: - - That the Boll be divided into 4 Firlots, and contain 29 inches - within the boords, and above 27 and an half-inch even over, and - in deepness 19 inches; that the Firlot contain in breadth even - over 16 inches under and above within the boords, and in - deepness 9 inches; that the Firlot contain 2 gallons and a pint, - and the Pint to weigh, of the water of Tay 41 ounces or 2 pounds - 9 ounces; so the Gallon weighs 20 pounds 8 ounces, the Firlot 41 - pounds and the Boll 164 pounds. - -This seems as clear as the water of Tay; unfortunately the three firlots -mentioned in the first half of the quotation are three different -firlots. - -There is also a difficulty about the pint. An Act of James VI gives ‘the -pint of Stirling two pounds and nine ounces Trois, of clear water,’ the -same weight as above. But another and previous Act of the same king -(1618) orders ‘that the Pint weigh three pounds seven ounces Trois of -the running water of the Water of Leith’; and this pint is also called -the Stirling Pint, Jug or Stoup, so there were two pints, as well as -several firlots. - -Of the two pints, the standard of one is still extant, which we will -call the Stirling Jug or larger pint. It contains 104·2 cubic inches = -60·1 ounces of water, almost exactly 3 Imperial pints, and was 55 ounces -or 3 lb. 7 oz. Scots of water. It was not an aliquot part of any of the -firlots, but was itself a standard basis of measure, of which the firlot -might be 18, 19, 21-1/4, &c. There is little doubt that it was one of -the ‘Kanne’ of North Germany (Du. _stoop_); these kanne vary at the -present day between 2·83 pints in Bremen and 3·2 pints in Hamburg. There -was in Prussia until quite recently the Metze of 6 pints or 120·8 -ounces, almost exactly twice the larger Stirling Jug. - -The other pint, of 41 Scots ounces = 44-1/2 English ounces or 2-1/4 -pints, was not a standard measure. It was merely a divisional unit, -one-sixteenth of the above-described wine firlot containing 41 lb. -Scots, or 44-1/2 English pounds, of water. This firlot was divided into -2 gallons = 20-1/2 lb. Scots, or 22-1/4 English pounds; and the gallon -into 8 pints of 41 ounces Scots. - -What was the origin of this firlot, or rather of the Boll, of which it -was a fourth? There is only one measure with which it has any affinity: -the half-Cargo of Marseilles,[31] divided like it, sexdecimally. The two -series run thus: - - SCOTLAND MARSEILLES (original Standard) - Imp. Gall. Imp. Gall. - Boll 164 lb. Scots = 17·8 Half-Cargo = 17·76 - Firlot 41 „ = 4·45 Panau, Eimino = 4·43 - Gallon 20-1/2 „ = 2·22 Half-Eimino = 2·21 - Pint, Jug 41 oz. = 2·2 Pechié (Pitcher) = 2·21 - -Footnote 31: - - There was considerable intercourse between Marseilles and Scotland. - The Scots custom of eating grey peas with oil on Carlin’ Sunday is - taken from the Provençal custom of eating chick-peas on Palm Sunday; - and the traditional reason, the arrival on that day, in famine-time, - of a ship laden with pulse, is the same at Leith as at Marseilles. - -In the next reign, that of James II, about 1450, another Firlot -appeared. It was to be ‘a general Mett, according to the Pint and Quart -formerly given to the Burgh of Stirling for an universal standard, -whereof each Firlot to contain eighteen Pints ... and that none use -another measure.’ - -Which of the Stirling pints was the Standard? The smaller pint of 41 -Scots ounces of water, or the Jug, the larger pint, of 55 ounces? - -In this case it was certainly the larger pint; for 18 pints of this -standard are very nearly equal to a firlot containing a Rhineland cubic -foot of water, 1000 Troy ounces = 1886 cubic inches. Except the slight -difference between Amsterdam and Scots Troy weight, this firlot was -62-1/2 lb. Scots, just as the English cubic foot was 62-1/2 lb. -averdepois. It was 18 pints of 104·2 cubic inches = 1875·6 cubic inches -= 54 Imperial pints or 6·76 Imperial gallons. This corresponds very -closely to the Himt or cubic Rhineland-foot measure of North Germany, -actually = 6·85 gallons. - -This was a corn-firlot, and I recognise in it the firlot mixed up with -the wine-firlot and only rescued by its stated dimensions corresponding -to a capacity so different from the calculated contents of the latter. -The dimensions given correspond to a capacity of 1809 cubic inches, a -considerable divergence, but the old custom of ordering the gauge of -bushel-measures in inches either whole or with simple fractions often -caused considerable divergence from the calculated standard of capacity. - -Progress through the Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland reveals to us -more firlots, with the same anxiety which has been seen in English -statutes for unity of standards, with the same attempts to conceal their -plurality beneath plausible wording. Under James VI (and I of England) -the Parliaments were anxious ‘that the measure and firlot of Linlithgow -should be the only firlot for all his Majesty’s liedges.’ It was -therefore ordered that the Pint of Stirling be 2 lb. 9 oz. Trois of -clear water, and the Firlot of Linlithgow 19 pints. - -It has been seen that the Act of James I which ordered the wine-firlot -to be 41 lb. in 2 gallons of 20 lb. 8 oz. also stated that it was to -contain 2 gallons and a pint; thus making it in one line 16 pints (of 41 -ounces), in another 17 pints. The Act of James II ordered the firlot -(presumably a corn-firlot) to be 18 pints, of 55 ounces. And then the -Act of James VI made the firlot 19 pints, of 41 ounces = 48-3/4 lb. -Scots or 53 English pounds. This capacity corresponds approximately to -the Schepel of Oldenburg, now = 50 lb. - -Yet another Act of James VI (1616) finds the Linlithgow standard of the -Firlot to be true and to contain ‘twentie are pincts and ane mutchkin of -just Sterline Jug and measure,’ but, in order to put an end to heaped -measure, it orders a new firlot for malt, barley and oats, containing 31 -pints Stirling Jug, and that the pint weigh 3 lb. 7 oz. Trois of the -running water of the Water of Leith. Thus different Acts order firlots -of 16, 17, 18, 19, 21-1/4, 31, pints; sometimes the pint is to be 41 -ounces Scots, sometimes 55 ounces, and sometimes it is not mentioned -which. - -The firlot of 21-1/4 pints was probably an imported measure found to -contain that number of pints; 21-1/4 × 104·2 gives 2214 cubic inches, = -7·98 Imperial gallons, for its capacity, a measure coinciding very -closely with the Anker, which varies between 7·83 gallons in Oldenburg -and 8 gallons in Lubeck (and 7·95 gallons in the Cape Colony). The Boll -of 4 firlots = 4 bushels was equal to the Lubeck Ohm; and the term Anker -was used in Scotland for the potato-firlot. - -This firlot of 21-1/4 pints became the Edinburgh firlot; and it happens -to coincide almost exactly with the Imperial bushel. It being fixed at -21-1/4 Stirling pints (of 104·2 c.i.) when 20-1/2 pints would have made -it 2136 c.i., almost exactly the old English bushel (2150 c.i.), shows -that it was not influenced by the latter; it was clearly an independent -measure imported by trade. Its series was quaternary: - - Boll (of 4 firlots) = 4 Imperial bushels. - Firlot = 1 „ „ - Peck = 2 „ gallons. - Lippy (or forpit) = 4 „ pints. - -The lippy, as its sixteenth, came to mean a sixteenth generally. The -word is a diminutive of the O.E. ‘leap,’ a basket, e.g. ‘seed-lip.’ - -The barley and oats firlot of 31 pints = 3230 cubic inches is the real -Linlithgow firlot. It was the Edinburgh firlot increased to contain the -same weight of malt, bear (barley) and oats as that contained of -wheat.[32] Its capacity was 11·6 gallons, and its Boll contained 46-1/2 -gallons or 5·8 bushels. It was probably a Boll of about this capacity -the dimensions of which, giving a capacity of about 43 gallons, were -roughly stated in the Act of 1410 as those of the wine-boll. - -Footnote 32: - - It was a common custom formerly to measure corn by the shallow bushel, - striked for wheat, heaped for lighter corn. The oats firlot of 31 - pints was ordered to end the practice of giving ‘three straiked for - two heaped measures [which] do exceed and are not just.’ - -The Chalder (of Culross) was 16 Edinburgh bolls. - -I need scarcely do more than mention the smaller measures: to the -Choppin (Fr. _chopine_), half a wine-pint; to the Mutchkin (Du. -_maatje_), its quarter; to the Gill, its eighth, usually. - -The measures of Scotland may be thus summarised: They appear to have all -come from North Germany, except one from Provence. - -The Ell was a length of 3 Rhineland feet, divided into 37 inches, -approximately of English standard. - -The Acre was a North German acker of 160 rods, each 6 Rhineland feet -square. - -The Pound was the Amsterdam standard of Troy = 7609 grains, multiplied -and divided sexdecimally. - -The old wine-boll = 17·8 gallons was the half-Cargo of Marseilles, -divided into 16 pints of 41 Scots ounces. - -The larger Stirling Jug was a North German ‘kanne’ of 104·2 cubic inches -= 55 Scots ounces or 3 Imperial pints. It was the standard of -corn-measure; the corn-firlots were multiples of it. - -The common corn-firlot was a Rhineland cubic foot = 1000 Troy ounces or -18 Stirling Jugs. It was the North German Himt. - -Another firlot was 19 lesser pints = 48-3/4 lb. Scots. - -The Edinburgh Firlot of 21-1/4 Stirling Jugs or 2214 cubic inches was -the North German Anker, become a corn-measure. - -The Firlot of 31 Stirling Jugs was a wheat-firlot enlarged to hold about -the same weight of oats. - - - 2. IRELAND - -There are in Ireland many primitive Celtic measures worthy of study, if -merely as showing the ways of thought of the people; but apart from -these, the system of weights and measures, established for many -centuries, has been the English system introduced in early Plantagenet -times. - -Some of these measures, relics of that time, long overlaid in England, -are of interest; for instance, the gallon of 217 c.i. is one-eighth of -the early wine-bushel = 1 cubic foot. - -The Irish road and field measures, multiples of the seven-yard rod, have -been noticed. - - - 3. WALES - -The general unit is the Cibyn (kibbin) = 4 gallons or 32 lb. of wheat, -the English half-bushel or tuffet. It is divided into 4 quarts, and 16 -cibyns make a Peg = 8 bushels or 1 quarter. - -Measures on the English stone system are also used: - - The Ffiol = 1 stone, 14 lb. - „ Peck = 3 „ - „ Hobbet = 12 „ about 2-1/2 bushels. - -There is a Hobbet in England, but this is about a bushel. - -The 5-span Ell survived in Wales for a long time as the Hirlath. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XII - - MEASURES AND WEIGHTS OF SOME BRITISH - DOMINIONS - - - 1. THE CHANNEL ISLANDS - -These measures are the connecting links between those of old France, -through Normandy, and those of England, especially in land-measures. -Normandy had a system of measures kept in fair unity by the English -dukes of Normandy. - -‘Thanks to their firm administration the English system was generally -marked by a scientific regularity which, notwithstanding its -complication, is in remarkable contrast with the barbarous French -system.’[33] - -Footnote 33: - - _Etudes sur la condition de la classe agricole en Normandie au moyen - age_ (Leopold V. Delisle, 1851). - -For England had already, at the Norman Conquest, a good system in which -weight, wine-measure, corn-measure, and linear measure were co-related; -albeit this co-relation, under the influence of the royal mint pound, -was forgotten for many centuries, and is indeed scarcely known at -present. - -But Northern France and Normandy had no such co-related system. Southern -France had an excellent system, indeed that of Marseilles was perfect; -while Paris, taking its measures from the South, destroyed their -co-ordination and was careless of their standards. - -None of the Paris series had any simple relation. So it was in Normandy, -where the systems of North and South were mixed with Teutonic measures. - -The original Norman perch, like that of England, - - _et est la mesure 16 pies la perque_, - -probably Rhineland feet, but perches of 20, 22 and 24 Paris feet, often -of reduced Paris feet, superseded it. The Acre was always 4 Vergées or -roods, nearly always of 40 square perches, and divided into quarters. - -The charuée, caruée or ploughland was usually 60 Normandy acres, divided -into 12 bouvées or oxgangs, each of 5 acres or 20 vergées. - -Corn-measure had for principal unit the Bushel, 8 of which made a -Quarter, a quarter of a horse-load or, if large, of a cartload. The -bushel was, or appeared usually to be, a multiple of the Pot; this led -to divergencies according to the number of pots taken; yet it seems -probable that the Pot was itself a fraction, an eighth, a tenth, a -twelfth, or a sixteenth of some bushel either wine-measure or -corn-measure. - -While the weights and measures of Paris had established themselves in -Rouen and Caen, local measures more in agreement with Norman customs -were in general use. Thus the Paris bushel = 793 cubic inches was -scarcely used. A typical Norman measure was the _Boisseau étalon de -l’abbaye de Jumièges_, containing, as nearly as I could measure, 1648 -cubic inches. Now this is very approximately a cubic foot of the reduced -Paris 11-inch standard usual in Normandy, akin to the 11-inch foot of -Jersey. This cubic foot was very nearly the Roman cubic foot or -Quadrantal; for the reduced Paris foot, = 11·72 English inches, was very -nearly the same as the quarter of the aune, which was 4 Roman feet very -approximately. - -There was another standard Bushel—the _Boisseau étalon de la Ville de -Bolbec_—containing, as nearly as I could measure, 2534 cubic inches. - -There is also a peculiar measure for apples, the _barattée_ or churnful, -usually of 25 pots. - -In Normandy as in the rest of France weights were not related to -measures. It was always known what was the usual weight of corn in the -bushel; thus the Paris bushel was supposed to hold 20 French pounds of -wheat. - -Some heavy pounds, brought possibly by the Normans, disappeared -gradually before the Paris Troy pound. Wool-weight brought from England -was used; the sack being 36 stone of 9 French pounds or about 350 -averdepois pounds. - -Such was the system of measures and weights used in Normandy, and -surviving there in great part. The slightly differing systems of the -Channel Islands are simply variants of this system, a rough sketch of -which I have given by way of introduction to them. - -Jersey and Guernsey (the latter including Alderney and Sark in its -government) are each practically autonomous. The Islanders keep their -Norman laws, customs and dialects, and retain their systems of measures, -weights and currency. These are being gradually modified by increased -intercourse with England; and French influence tries hard, especially in -Jersey, to introduce the metric system. - - - _Linear and Land Measures_ - -1. _Jersey._—For ordinary linear measures the English standards are -used, the yard and the pied du roi; that is the English foot. There is -also an ancient ell of 4 feet. - -For land measure the Jersey foot is 11 English inches (but divided into -12 land-inches); and 24 of these feet make a perch = 22 English feet. -This peculiar standard is evidently an adaptation of the Norman custom -(which prevailed in France) of making 24 short feet of either a quarter -aune, or 11 pouces, the perch or verge, which became officially the -_perche d’ordonnance_ of 22 French feet. - -The Jersey Vergée or rood is 40 square perches = 0·44 acre. - -2. _Guernsey._—The linear measures are based on the English standards. -They were, in 1611: - - Cloth yard = 38-1/2 inches (= half a toise). - Sail Cloth yard = 44 „ - English ell = 45-1/2 „ - English yard = 36 (Verge d’Angleterre). - -The perch or verge is 21 feet; probably an approximate adaptation of the -common perch of 20 French feet = 21·3 English feet. It is the same as -the Irish and Lancashire rod. - -The verge or rood is 40 square perches = 0·4 acre. - -The acre-unit is not used now in either island. - -The bouvée (bovate) of 20 vergées, and caruée (carucate) of 12 bouvées -remain only in manorial records. - - - _Measures of Capacity_ - -1. _Jersey._—The standard ordered in 1754, and confirmed in 1771, is the -Cabot, defined as containing 10 Pots. - -The Pot contains 123·56 cubic inches = 0·445 Imperial gallon. It does -not correspond directly to the Paris pot = 111 cubic inches or 0·41 -gallon, nor apparently to the various Normandy pots, of which that of -Caen, about Paris standard, is the type. It is simply one-tenth of the -Cabot. - -The Cabot, a common name in Normandy for a corn-measure, is for wheat -and for wine, cider, &c. A larger cabot, for barley and other light -grain, is one-third larger, containing 13-1/3 pots; another, for coal, -contains 14 pots. Lime and charcoal are measured by the cask of 120 -Pots, i.e. 6 bushels of 20 pots. For a double cabot is usually called a -bushel. - -The Cabot = 1235·6 cubic inches, and containing 4·456 gallons, coincides -nearly with one-eighth of the Paris Setier = 4·29 bushels, and also with -the Panau or Eimino, 1/8 of the Marseilles Cargo of 4·34 bushels. - -It is divided into 6 Sixtonniers. - -For wine, cider, &c., it is divided into gallons (double pots, 1/5 -cabot), pots, quarts and pints. - -A double cabot is the bushel. The duodecimal division of the Paris -Setier and the division (in the corresponding wheat-water series) of the -Quartant into 9 veltes, prevent the relations of the Jersey measures -with those of Paris being clearly seen. But the relations with the -Marseilles standards, corn and wine, from which the Paris standards were -taken, are evident. It will be seen in the chapter on the Old Measures -of France that the Paris Setier was derived, through the Marseilles -Cargo, from the Egyptian Rebekeh, which is the cubed cubit of Al-Mamūn. - -The Cabot has been stated (Ansted, ‘Channel Islands,’ 1862) to contain -43 lb. 7 oz. of water. On this estimate = 4·344 gallons, it is exactly -the Marseilles Eimino. - - MARSEILLES JERSEY - - Gallons Gallons - Cargo 34·72 Quarter (8 Cabots) 35·6 - Sestié 8·68 Bushel 8·91 - Eimino, Panau 4·34 Cabot 4·45 - 1/6 „ 0·72 Sixtonnier 0·74 - - _Fluid Measures._ - - Escandau 3·54 - Quartié 0·885 Gallon 0·89 - 1/2 „ 0·442 Pot (1/10 Cabot) 0·445 - Pot, Pechié 0·221 Quarte 0·222 - Fuieto 0·11 Pinte 0·111 - -N.B.—The Escandau is the Panau diminished in wheat-water ratio. The -Jersey pot is the fluid measure in wheat-water ratio with 1/8 cabot. - -There seems no doubt that the cabot is the eighth of the setier (and of -the Cargo), slightly variant, as the Jersey pound is a variant of the -Paris pound. - -There is also a measure for apples = 3·77 bushels or 30 gallons. The -ordinary barattée (churnful) of apples in Normandy is 25 pots = 10 -gallons. - -The larger Cabot for barley and other grains except wheat was to be = -1-1/3 of the wheat cabot, that is 13-1/3 pots; it was therefore = 5·933 -gallons, very nearly 3/4 an imperial bushel = 1647 c.i. Was it fixed at -this size to hold approximately the same weight of barley, &c., as the -smaller cabot held of wheat, or was it the Boisseau de Jumièges = 1648 -c.i. approximately? That I cannot say. But the question is of some -importance historically, for Guernsey adopted a bushel of about this -capacity, the lineage of which is a matter of considerable interest. - -2. _Guernsey._—In 1582, also in 1611, the Guernsey bushel was ordered to -be 16 inches diameter and 8 inches deep; it was to hold 13 pots and a -quart. The pot was not defined: at the end of the seventeenth century it -is recorded to be equal to 121 cubic inches. On this basis the bushel -should be 1633 cubic inches, but according to the dimensions ordered it -contains only 1608 cubic inches. This is evidently one of the cases -where the wish to order a measure of simple dimensions has caused the -standard to deviate practically from its calculated value. There is -considerable doubt as to the capacity of the pot, the original standard -of which is not extant. But from the definition of the Guernsey bushel -as 13-1/2 pots of approximately 121 cubic inches, it would seem that -this was considered as roughly equivalent to the 13-1/3 pots, each -123-1/2 cubic inches, of the Jersey barley-bushel = 1647 c.i. - -The bushel is divided, on its calculated capacity of 13-1/2 pots, = 1631 -c.i., into - - 2 Cabotels - 6 Denerels (Jersey sixtonniers) = 272 c.i. - 30 Quintes = 54-1/2 „ - -The Denerel is thus, probably by mere coincidence, exactly the old -corn-gallon, and the bushel is 6 corn-gallons. - -The word Denerel means ‘standard’ in the sense of the standard coin or -pattern piece, the Denerial or Deneral, to which the French moneyers had -to strike deniers or silver pence. We may confer with this term the -Marseilles Escandau, meaning ‘standard,’ a measure = 3·54 gallons, the -basis of a whole system of measures. - -But if the bushel were based on another measure than the obsolete pot—on -a standard still extant in the Sheriff’s Office, the - - _Quinte, grande mesure du marché de Guernesey 1615_, - -it would be of larger capacity. For the Quinte, I found when I measured -it in 1885, is approximately 54·7 cubic inches, and it is stated to -contain fully 32 ounces of water. As it happens to be equal to a fifth -of the imperial gallon, the Denerel should be equal to an imperial -gallon, and the bushel to 6 gallons. - -There are two other bushels: - -The Coal-bushel (1611) of 18-1/2 inches diameter, by 8 deep, then stated -to be equal to 16-3/4 pots (an evident mistake, in Roman numerals, for -17-3/4 pots) and containing an English corn-bushel. - -The Barley-bushel, 1625 and 1673, to contain 17-1/2 pots; of such size -that it should hold, striked, as much as the wheat-bushel held when -heaped. Its calculated capacity is 2117·5 c.i. = 7·63 gallons. - - - _Wine-Measures_ - -These have assimilated themselves in the course of trade to those of the -countries of exportation, but the fluid measures of the islands still -subsist for cider and other liquors. The Jersey gallon is, or was, 2 -pots = 247 c.i. The Guernsey gallon is, or was, 1/8 of the bushel = 252 -c.i. or perhaps 2 pots = 242 c.i. - -Both are somewhat over the old English wine-gallon. - - - _Weights_ - -The Jersey pound, = 7561 grains, is 7 grains over the old French pound; -104 pounds make a cwt. = 112·3 lb. - -The Guernsey pound, = 7623 grains, differs by only 2 grains from the -Amsterdam pound; 100 Guernsey pounds = 108·9 lb. - -There is a tradition that this pound was originally 18 ounces of Rouen -weight, reduced in 1730 to 16 ounces. But it is not 16 ounces of any -weight but that of Amsterdam. It may have been originally 16 ounces of -some heavy pound with an ounce of about 530 grains, akin to the Austrian -and Russian ounce; then converted into 18 lighter ounces, and afterwards -16 ounces were taken for the pound. In the seventeenth century it is -recorded as being 18 ounces of 471 grains, which is approximately the -Paris standard = 472·1 grains. In 1730 it was ordered to be of 16 -ounces, but of what standard there is no evidence. And in the nineteenth -century it is 16 ounces of 476·6 grains, almost exactly the Amsterdam -standard. It looks as if the change in 1730 was to 16 ounces of another -standard, Amsterdam Troy, instead of French Troy. - -I have given some space to these Channel Island measures, so interesting -as a survival of Norman measures and as a link between the measures of -old France and of England. The peculiar monetary system of Guernsey will -be given in Chapter XIII. - - - 2. SOUTH AFRICA (CAPE COLONY) - -Here we find two systems, those of Holland and of England, used -according to public convenience, and combined as far as possible. The -linear standard is Rhineland; the foot = 12·356 inches. The rod is 12 -Rhineland feet; the English mile is reckoned as 426 rods. - -The land-unit is the Morgen = 2·12 acres, of 600 square rods. - -Weights are now Imperial; with a cental-cwt., and a ton of 20 centals or -2000 lb. - -For corn measures, Imperial and Dutch measures are combined in the Mud -of 3 bushels or 4 Schepels. - -For fluid measure the unit is the Anker = 7·95 gallons, a lower standard -than the Amsterdam anker = 8·5 gallons, probably through the influence -of English measure. The Legger (leaguer) is 126·6 gallons, in 4 Aam, 16 -Anker and 80 Velts. This gives the Velt somewhat a lower standard than -in Java, where the legger = 127·34 gallons, and the velt = 1·59 gallons. - - - 3. INDIA - -Of the measures and weights of India, a country containing one-fifth of -the population of the world, divided into many nationalities, only a -slight sketch can be given, and that chiefly of the measures used in -British India as distinguished from the tributary states. The measures -of the Aryan population of Hindustan, and those of the Dravidian peoples -of peninsular India, are different; moreover the influence of the Moslem -conquerors, Mogul and Pathan, of the Portuguese in the sixteenth and -seventeenth centuries, of the English in more modern times, has modified -these measures. - -As in other Eastern countries the linear unit is usually a cubit, the -_hástha_ or _háth_, divided into 24 digits. Traces of the Egyptian -increased cubit are to be found. In a classical work on architecture, -the Mánasára, the Hástha, of 24 digits for timber, is increased to 25 -for temples, to 26 for houses, to 27 for municipal buildings and land. -The addition of 3 digits to the 24 of the Egyptian common cubit would -give 27 digits, approximately equal to the 28 smaller digits of the -royal cubit. - -In Southern India the cubit is sometimes the _mūyangál_ (_mūyam_, cubit; -_kál_, leg), the length from the knee to the ankle. - -In Malabar the unit is the Kol = 28-1/4 inches as used for timber; but -for land it seems to have increased to 30 inches. - -The kol was probably 3 spans or half-cubits of 9·41 inches. - -A guz brought by the Moslems, = 33 inches, has established itself in -Bengal. It was probably 3 Beládi feet of 10·944 inches. - -The Portuguese Covado of 3 spans = 27·17 inches, usually taken as 27 -inches, has established itself in Western India. It is divided into 48 -digits, of which two-thirds, i.e. 32 digits = 18 inches, are the usual -cubit; 1/8 of this = the English nail. - -All these measures appear to have been modified by the English foot and -inch. - -Native itinerary measures are rough and variable; the Koss of 100 -fathoms is the usual standard. - -Land-measures are of course very variable. - -12 guz, usually = 33 feet, make a cord or chain, and 5 cords make a -Jarib = 10 rods. A square jarib = 100 square rods, is the usual Bigha of -Northern India = O·625 acre. - -Another unit is the Mah of 100 rods 12 × 12 feet = 1600 square yards, -about half the above bigha. - -Land-units, like most other units, can be divided into 16 annas, so that -the anna of the bigha is 200, that of the Mah is 100, square yards. - -In Madras the unit of land measure is the Káni (cawny) = 1-1/3 acre of -24 grounds = 6400 square yards. So there appears to be a common unit of -about 1600 square yards, with its anna or sixteenth = 100 square yards -or 10 yards square. - -Five káni make a Véli, the usual extent of arable land which can be -cultivated for rice or other wet crops by a peasant with a yoke of oxen. - -Everywhere there are seed-measures of land, as in other countries. - - - _Weights_ - -These are derived from a coin-weight basis, the silver rupee-weight or -Tola in most parts, the golden pagoda-weight or Varahan in the south of -India. In each case 80 of these coin-units made a Sér. (See Indian -Coinage, in Chap. XIII.) - - The Bengal sér, 80 tolas of 180 grs. = 14,400 grs. - The Madras sér, 80 varahan of 54 „ = 4320 „ - -The Bombay sér was based on another gold coin, the _tanc_ (gold) of a -little over 68 grains, 72 of which = 4900 grains. - -The Bengal sér is, curiously enough, = 2 Cologne pounds of 7200 grains. -It is divided into 16 chittaks or double ounces of 5 tolas. The tola is -divided into 12 mashas (= 15 grains) of 8 ráti (the red seed of _Abrus -precatoria_): 40 sér make a mánd = 82·28 lb. - -This sér (Ang. seer), the Government standard, is really a Troy weight. -The rupee of different standard in the three presidencies was fixed in -1833 at 180 grains, 3 drachms of the Troy ounce; this being so, the sér -of 80 rupees weight is = 30 Troy ounces and the mánd of 40 sérs is = -1200 Troy ounces or 100 Troy pounds. - -About 1870-72 the metric propaganda was epidemic among Indian Government -Engineers; light railways were made on metre-gauge, and a nearly -successful attempt was made to get the sér fixed at one kilogramme. An -Act was about to be passed to this effect when the death of Lord Mayo -stopped it, and the Act fell through. - -The Bengal sér and mánd[34] are the usual weights for official purposes. -Some other sérs are used, often of low standard known as Kucha sérs -(unripe, half-baked) in regard to the pukka (ripe, full-measure) sér of -80 tolas. - -Footnote 34: - - The difficulty in representing the sound _á_, _ah_, in English letters - led to a general substitution of _aw_. Hence ‘cawny, maund, ghaut - (steep), pawni (water), cawn (khan),’ &c.; all these words having an - _a_, or _ah_, vowel. The Anglo-Indian also says _seer_ for sér. - -The Madras mánd was = 24·68 lb.; 20 mánd = 1 kándi, 493·7 lb.; but -English trade considered the mánd as 25 lb. and the ‘candy’ as 500 lb. - -Madras had also a weight called the Vísham (Ang. Viss) of 120 tolas = 5 -of its sérs, or 3·086 lb. divided into 40 pollams. - - - _Capacity_ - -To this Madras weight corresponds the Adangáli, dangáli or puddi, or -measure containing a vísham of grain, and therefore a pound-pint measure -= about 3 pints. It is the usual measure of the daily grain-wage of -agricultural labourers. - -Similarly in other parts of India, the sér measure contains a sér weight -of the usual food grain. - -The measure is usually heaped, and whether sér or dangáli it delivers -approximately either a sér or a vísham of the usual grains, rice, wheat, -millet, pulse, &c. It is a pound-pint measure, avoiding the use of the -balance. The Madras Government wanted to fix the dangáli at 100 cubic -inches, but this would have been useless as not delivering a vísham. The -necessary capacity to deliver a vísham of water is found by 3·086 lb. × -27·725 to be 85·76 cubic inches. Increased in the Southern water-wheat -ratio of 1 : 1·22, we have 104·62 cubic inches as the true dangáli -measure. So Government allowed 104-1/4 cubic inches, and this was about -the capacity of a dangáli 8 inches high by 4 inches diameter, often a -section of bamboo cut down to the proper capacity. - -In Madras, the dangáli, puddi or measure is then = 104-1/4 c.i. divided -into 8 ollocks; and 8 dangáli = 1 Mercál; 424 mercáls, = 120 Bengal -mánds, made a Garce, which is a Government measure for salt = 4·4 tons. - -The cubic measure used in Southern India for dry goods, such as lime, is -the Parah = 5 mercáls = 5 × 8 dangáli, or 4000 cubic inches at 100 c.i. -to the dangáli: but 4184 c.i. at the customary capacity of that measure; -so the parah is = 15 gallons. - -The Bombay parah = 4-1/2 gallons. - -The Ceylon parah = 5·6 gallons; 8 parah = 1 amómam = 5·6 bushels. - -To the amómam of grain corresponds the amómam of land, which, at 2 -bushels seed to the acre, = 2·8 acres. By measurement it is 2·74 acres. - - - 4. BURMA AND THE STRAITS - -In Burma, as in the ancient Eastern Kingdoms, there was a common cubit -and a royal cubit. The former, = 19-1/2 inches, was of 24 digits, in 3 -taim or handshafts; the latter = 22 inches. Here we have repeated the -two Hindu _hástha_ of 24 and 27 digits; the royal cubit being almost -exactly 27/24 of the common cubit. - -The basis of weight is the Tikal (shekel), = 252 grains (= 1 cubic inch -of water), divided into 4 moo, = 63 grains, and 16 gyi of 15-3/4 grains -(corresponding to the Indian masha), of 8 rati. - -100 tikal = 1 piet-tha = 3·6 lb., corresponding to the Indian vísham. - -The principal measure of capacity is the teng or basket, somewhat less -than a bushel; it contains 16 piet of rice = 57·6 pound-pints. - -The tikal of Siam = 234 grains; 80 tikal = 1 catty = 2-2/3 lb.; 50 catty -= 1 pikal, = 133-3/4 lb., or about 2 bushels of rice. - -The Pikal (i.e. man’s load) of Singapore (and of China) = 133-1/3 lb., -is of 100 catty; the catty = 1-1/3 lb. of 16 taels = 1-1/3 oz. The tael -is of 10 mace; the mace is a Chinese coin-weight = 58-1/3 grain, the -representative of the Greek and Asiatic drachma in the Far East. - -The pikal of Java = 135·63 lb., similarly divided. - -The hyak-kin or pikal of Japan = 132-1/2 lb. It is also of 100 catty or -kin = 1·325 lb. of 16 × 10 momme, the latter a weight equivalent to the -mace = 58 grains; and 10 × 10 momme make another unit, the hyaku-me = -5797 grains. - -I refrain from doing more than giving a glance at the weights and -measures of the Far East; suffice it to say that most of them have every -appearance of being Arabic in origin. - - - 5. CANADA AND MAURITIUS - - - _Canada_ - -The Imperial system is used, but the Cental replaces the long Cwt. and -its stone divisions. - -In the old French districts of Quebec certain old French measures are -lawful: the Paris foot, the perch, usually of 20 feet, the Arpent of 100 -perches. - -The Minot, of 3 boisseaux = 1·073 bushel, is still used. - - - _Mauritius_ - -This island, formerly a French colony, retained the old French measures -and weights: the Paris foot, the Toise, the Mille of 1000 toises = 1·21 -mile, the Perch, usually of 18 feet, the Arpent of 100 perches, the -French livre, the corn-setier, the wine-setier or Velte = 1·639 gallon. - -The Metric system was substituted in 1876, notwithstanding that ‘the -feeling of a great portion of the community was so strongly against it -that in 1882 it was thought to be not improbable that the British -Imperial weights and measures might be reverted to’ (‘Merchants’ -Handbook,’ by W. A. Browne, 1899). It is added that this antagonistic -feeling gradually died out, but evidence on this point would be -desirable. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - - MEASURES OF VALUE - - - 1. ENGLISH MONEY - -In all times money has been the weight of a certain amount of copper, -silver or gold, in the form of coins the fineness of which is guaranteed -by the stamp of the State. The weight of coins used in payments may -change in course of time, but the nominal unit of weights often -continues, the pound, or livre, or marc, &c. Thus, the original Roman -unit, the As, or mint-pound of copper or bronze, reduced gradually to -1/24 of its primitive weight, persisted as a money of account long after -it had been replaced in the currency by the silver Denarius. This was -originally coined at a time when it represented the value of 10 As; -hence its name deni-aris, ten of copper. - -The French livre, or livre d’estelins, reduced gradually to a coin about -1/74 of a 12-oz. livre, retains its name as a synonym of the franc. - -The English pound of silver, once a Tower pound = 5400 grains, reduced -long ago to 1745 grains, in 20 shillings, persists as a money of -account, though the silver is superseded in payments over 40 shillings -by a gold coin weighing 123-1/4 grains. Prices over 40_s._ are still -often stated in shillings. - -The Roman denarius originally weighed 60 grains, afterwards reduced to -52-1/2 grains. A golden denarius was also coined, which afterwards -became the Arabic dinar. - -Under Charlemagne the mint weight of France was heavier than the marc of -Troyes afterwards adopted as a standard. Adapting the Roman system to -the customs of his Teutonic subjects the emperor Karl divided the pound -of silver into 20 silver solidi or sols, each equal to 12 silver penings -or pennies of about 25 grains which, assimilated to the Roman denarii, -were called deniers, also estelins or sterlings. The solidus appears to -have corresponded to a Teutonic monetary unit, the shilling, equal to a -variable number of penings, which coins were not of uniform value until -about Charlemagne’s time. - -The Carlovingian systems of coinage had passed to England long before -the Norman Conquest, displacing the old Norse and Saxon systems—the -Norse, in which the Ore was of 20 silver penings = 1/8 marc or 1/12 lb., -and the Saxon Sceatta of 40 Styca, usually equivalent to pence. The -shilling, = 1/20 pound of silver pence, became established—‘xxx -scyllinge penega,’ thirty shillings of pence (‘Saxon Chronicle,’ 775). -The Norman Conquest made no appreciable change in the English customary -coinage. The Tower pound of silver which the Normans found established -was coined into 240 of the ‘English peny called a sterling,’ each -weighing 22-1/2 grains instead of the 25 grains of Charlemagne’s -sterlings. Twelve pence made a shilling of 20 to the pound, and twenty -pence or pennyweights made an ounce of 12 to the mint-pound. - -England soon followed France, but much more slowly, in the usual -dwindling of the weight of coins, as the king, pushed for money, ordered -his moneyers to melt down the silver pennies and recoin them of lower -weight. They remained at 22-1/2 grains down to the time of Edward I. -Edward III’s first pennies were of 22-1/4 grains, but in the 18th year -of his reign they weighed 20-1/4 grains, in the 20th year 20 grains, and -after the 27th year he made the pound of silver yield 300 pennies at 18 -grains. He also coined groats (great sterlings or grosses). Silver -halfpence (mayles) and farthings (ferlynges) were coined, and a statute -specially ordered that no sterling halfpenny nor farthing be molten ‘for -to make vessel or any other thing by goldsmiths nor others.’ - -At this time, if we may believe the Statute of Labourers, one penny was -the usual daily pay of the farm-labourer, but mowers were to have -fivepence by the acre or the day. Prices of farm-produce were fixed. A -penny would buy a chicken or six pounds of bread, 2 pence a fowl, 4 -pence a goose. - -The diminution in the weight of the penny was slow and did not affect -wholesale dealings in which payment was usually made by weight.[35] - -Footnote 35: - - Clipping the pennies, against which crime frequent statutes threatened - punishment, affected the poor who paid and were paid by tale, not by - weight. It afforded a pretext for occasionally raiding the Jews and - plundering their store of coin, always found of course to have been - clipped. - -In all but retail transactions payment might be agreed to be by weight. -In Stephen’s reign the land-revenue of countries was farmed out. The -sheriff or ‘fermour’ of Wiltshire and Dorsetshire paid into the treasury -£454 10_s._ by weight (ad pensum) and £262 4_s._ by tale (numero). He -probably picked out the full-weight coins for payment by tale, and had -to take (as perhaps he received) weight-value for the rest. - -Under Henry IV the sterling had fallen to 15 grains; under Edward IV it -fell to 12 grains, at which weight it stood till Henry VIII brought it -down to 10-1/2 grains, and also debased it to only one-third its weight -of silver. His father had coined shillings, hitherto only a money of -account; his own mint continued this coinage, but got 48 of them, -instead of 20, from the Troy pound of silver, and subsequently by -debasement nearly 150. - -In Edward VI’s reign the Protector Somerset continued this system, but, -at his fall, efforts were made by the Council to restore honesty to the -coinage, at least as regards the shillings and crowns. The pennies -remained debased until the wisdom of Elizabeth restored the standard, -and since that time our silver coinage has remained of true standard and -at the weight of 7-1/2 grains for each penny value, or one-third of its -weight at the time of the Norman Conquest. The Scots silver coinage fell -much lower than that of England; by the time of the Union it had fallen -to 1/36, the pound Scots being worth 20 pence English, instead of 20 -shillings. - -It is curious that the kings, so ready to make a profit by lowering the -silver coins, appear to have disdained the evident profit of a copper -coinage. Penalties were repeatedly threatened by statute against the -copper coins which necessity of ‘change’ caused to be made or imported. -These were unlawful coins called galyhalpens, saskyns, dodekyns and -dotkins (probably Scottish ‘doits’). James I granted a patent for the -making of copper farthings. Halfpennies were first coined in Charles -II’s time, but it was not till near the end of George III’s reign that a -copper penny was struck, probably because the tradition of the silver -penny weighing 32 wheat-corns, albeit shrunken, was against the penny -being other than silver. - -The penny was at first a full ounce of copper. Twopenny pieces were also -struck weighing two ounces. - -The present bronze coinage was made in 1860 after the example of the -bronze coinage of Napoleon III, the reformer of the French currency; it -was he who established a gold standard in France, hitherto a ‘silver -country.’ - -A bronze penny not much worn weighs 1/3 oz., the halfpenny 1/5 oz. The -latter is one inch in diameter. The silver penny of early Plantagenet -times was the size of the present sixpence but thinner, so that, at the -full weight of 22-1/2 grains, it was slightly heavier than our -threepenny piece = 21·8 grains. It bore the effigy of the king with -‘Henricus Rex’ or suchlike inscription; on the reverse was a cross, with -pellets or other ornaments in the intervals, and the name of the moneyer -and city, as ‘Edmund on Lin(coln).’ The cross gave rise to the idea that -it indicated where the penny could be broken or cut into halfpence or -farthings. Doubtless it was so cut where change was scarce; and the -first silver farthing was coined by Edward I, 1279, to prevent this -cutting up of the pence, but equally with a cross. - -At present silver pence and twopences are only coined for Maundy money. - -The groat of four pence, grossus sterlingus, first coined about 1279, -discontinued from the time of Elizabeth, who first coined sixpences and -threepences, was revived in 1836 at the instance, or insistence, of -Joseph Hume, an M.P. who, it is said, found it convenient for the exact -payment of an 8_d._ London cab fare not exceeding a mile in the days -when copper pennies weighing an ounce were inconvenient to carry in the -pocket. He died in 1855, and in 1856 the Joey was discontinued. - -The threepenny piece was revived in 1845. - -The florin was first issued in 1849, an ill-advised attempt at -decimalising the pound; it bore the inscription ‘one tenth of a pound,’ -but it has utterly failed to take the place of the convenient -half-crown, an important unit in the binary division of the pound. -Public convenience appreciates the gold sovereign and half-sovereign, -the silver half-crown, shilling, sixpence and threepence. The florin is -a disturbing coin offering no advantage over two separate shillings; and -the double florin is worse. - -No one wants the pound decimalised except a few decimal unpractical -persons. A properly taught schoolboy adds up sums of money duodecimally -for the pence, decimally for the shillings, converting these by twenties -into pounds. It is quite easy to add up a column of pence thus: 8 and 5, -1_s._ 3_d._; and 10, 2_s._ 1_d._; and 8, 2_s._ 9_d._; and 5, 3_s._ 2_d._ -With the shillings column the units are put down and the tens carried to -the column of tens; an odd 1 is put down and half the remainder carried -to the column of pounds. - -English silver coins are 37/40 = 0·925 fine, i.e. 11 oz. 2 dwt. of the -now obsolete 12 oz. mint-pound. - -French five-franc pieces are at 0·900, other silver coins are 0·835 -fine. - - - _Gold Coins_ - -Of the two precious metals, only one can be the standard of value. In a -gold-standard country, as England has been since 1816, the golden -sovereign of lawful weight is the standard of value. As the price of -silver, like that of every other commodity, varies with demand and -supply, it would be futile to attempt to make silver coins correspond in -actual metal value to gold coins; especially as, since the great fall in -the price of silver from its demonetisation in many countries and its -large production, silver coins are really tokens; tokens of value, but -still tokens, not legal tender above a certain amount. A shilling melted -down is only worth fivepence or less; while sovereigns melted down can -be exchanged, at a trifling charge, for their weight in minted gold. - -In silver-standard countries it is gold which varies in price. Thus in -India, where for centuries the standard of value has been the silver -rupee now weighing 180 grains and worth fifty years ago a little over -two shillings, gold coins of the same weight called ‘mohurs’ were -current at market price, about 16 rupees more or less. Sovereigns were -worth about 10 rupees in 1860; they would exchange now for double that -price did not the Government of India, by restricting silver coinage and -other legitimate devices, keep the gold price of the rupee at about -1_s._ 4_d._, so that 15 rupees will buy a sovereign for transactions -with England and other gold-standard countries. - -Gold was coined in ancient Rome. The gold solidus or aureus of -Constantine was 1/72 of an As or mint-pound; so that it weighed 70·14 -grains. It was called ‘solidus,’ entire, as distinguished from the -semissis and tremissis, its half and third. The original French sol, or -shilling, was an ‘entire’ of 12 deniers; hence the £ _s._ _d._ we use -were once the current signs, in France and elsewhere, for libræ, solidi, -denarii. - -There were some gold coins of the early Saxon kings. Under the early -Norman kings foreign gold coins were current, but the first regular gold -coinage was that of Edward III; his Noble of fine gold, 1/50 of a Tower -pound, weighed 108 grains, the weight of two golden florins of Florence -or of two ducats or zechins of Venice. He afterwards coined nobles at -the rate of 42 to the mint-pound; these weighed 119 grains, and, as they -were of 23-7/8 carats fine, contained almost exactly the same weight of -pure gold as the modern sovereign of 123-1/4 grains. Their value was -about half a marc or 80 sterlings of full weight, and as the proper -weight of silver in English coins was then three times that at present, -the 6_s._ 8_d._ equivalence of the noble then is that of the sovereign -now. - -The weight of gold coins mattered little in practice; they were always -weighed, and represented an amount of sterling varying according to the -state of the money-market and to the condition of the silver coinage. - -Edward IV’s noble was called a Rial; and the Angel, 2/3 of its weight or -about 80 grains, was also coined. Henry VII coined a double Rial of half -a Troy ounce. Under Henry VIII this was called a Sovereign. - -The fineness of gold coins, originally of 23 carats 3-1/2 grains = 994·7 -gold in 1000, was reduced to 22 carats under Henry VIII and, after some -variations, this standard = 916·6 gold in 1000 was finally adopted.[36] - -Footnote 36: - - ‘Twenty-four carat’ was taken as the standard of pure gold because the - Roman gold solidus weighed twenty-four carats (each 1/144 of an - ounce). The assayer’s carat is 1/24 part divided into four - assay-grains. Medieval gold coins such as Edward III’s noble and the - Venetian zechin, always of the same quaint pattern, were generally - twenty-three carat 3-1/2 grains fine, = 995 parts in 1000. But this - nearly pure gold being very soft, it became customary to alloy the - metal with a certain amount of copper to give it the hardness - necessary for trade purposes in modern times. - -Sovereigns or Unites were coined under James I at 172 grains, under -Charles I at 141 grains. Their value in silver varied of course -according to market-rates for gold. Coined under Charles II at 130 -grains they were henceforth called Guineas, varying in value from 30 to -20 shillings. Repeated attempts to fix their value by law utterly -failed. In the eighteenth century it was generally above the 21_s._ -standard at which the guinea is still reckoned as a polite coin. In -1816, on the adoption of a gold standard, the name of Sovereign was -revived for the coin which is its basis. - -The sovereign weighs 123·274 grains, of which 113·006 are pure gold. It -is light if it weighs less than 122-1/2 grains, that is if it has lost -more than 1-1/2_d._ in value. Its life of current weight is about 20 -years in ordinary circumstances of circulation. - -The mint value of gold is £3 17_s._ 10-1/2_d._ an ounce Troy; that is -2·1212 pence a grain pure, or 1·7676 penny at the standard fineness of -22 carats = 916·6 in 1000. - -France adopted a gold standard in 1855; other countries followed. - -The United States adopted it in 1900. - -The sovereign is coined at full value without ‘seigniorage.’ In France -and other gold-standard countries a charge is made for coining. In -France this charge is 6 fr. 70 c. on the kilo of standard gold, 0·900 -fine, value 3100 francs; this is equal to 0·216 per cent., so that -20-franc pieces lose 4·4 centimes or nearly a halfpenny each on being -melted, besides assay charges. - -The history of mint-weight will be further told in Chapter XX, section -‘The Carat and the Grain.’ - - - 2. GUERNSEY CURRENCY - -In this curious relic of the old French monetary system the Livre is the -equivalent of the _louis d’or_ of 24 francs; the Sol or sou is a -shilling, 1/20 of the livre; the Denier is a penny, 1/12 of the -shilling, and it is divided into 8 doubles, each equal to the old French -_liard_ or quarter-sou of 3 deniers, not to the old French double of 2 -deniers. The only Guernsey coins are the bronze pieces of 8, 4, 2, 1 -doubles; that of 8 doubles being the penny. - -The silver coins are French, counted 10 pence to the franc; so that the -five-franc piece passes for 4_s._ 2_d._ Guernsey. - -The Guernsey pound is either a bank-note for this amount, or 24 francs -in French silver, equal to 240 Guernsey pence. Sovereigns are current, -taken at the usual rate of 25 francs and 2 pence = 252 pence or 21 -shillings Guernsey. So the English sovereign becomes a guinea in French -silver and Guernsey bronze. - -The people of Guernsey hold by their old system; they find no -inconvenience in it; and it is decidedly advantageous to the English -resident in the island. - - - 3. INDIAN MONEY - -The East India Company made little change in the monetary system of the -Mogul Empire. In the greater part of India the silver rupee was the -standard of value, and the E.I.C. struck Sicca rupees (_sikkah_, coined) -in the name of Shah Alam, the Great Mogul reigning at the end of the -eighteenth century. These weighed 192 grains, but they were superseded -in 1836 by the present standard of rupee, 180 grains, of which 165 fine, -bearing the English sovereign’s head. The rupee is divided for account -into 16 annas, each of 12 copper pies, though the coin so called bore -until recently the Persian inscription _salas pai_, one-third of a pie; -the real pie, inscribed _ek pai_, one pie, being the quarter-anna. - -There are silver coins of a half, quarter and eighth of a rupee, but no -anna coin. The copper or bronze coins are half, quarter and twelfth -annas. - -The monetary system of the Madras Presidency (the people of which are a -different race, speaking Dravidian languages, not the Indo-European -languages of which Hindustani is the _lingua franca_) was different from -that of the rest of India. It was a gold-standard country, the monetary -unit being the ‘Varahan’ or ‘pagoda,’ a small thick gold coin of 53 -grains, reckoned as equivalent to 3-1/2 rupees or nearly 8 shillings. -There were also gold Fanams of about 6 grains, and still smaller gold -coins, used principally for largesse at festivities. - -The Star-pagoda, the usual gold currency, was of button-shape, with a -star on the convex surface, a Hindu deity on the flat. It weighed 52-1/2 -grains, the same weight as the Roman denarius, the Arabic dinar, and the -Venetian zechin, but it was only 19-1/2 carats fine. The E.I.C. coined -pagodas of lesser weight, about 46 grains, but of English standard -fineness. They also coined silver fanams, 42 being nominally equivalent -to the pagoda. These weighed 15 grains, so that they were equivalent to -1/12 of the 180-grain rupee, to 1-1/3 anna, or to 4 copper pysa. So -there was in the Madras Presidency a double monetary series, based on -the gold pagoda and on the silver rupee, the relative value of these -coins being of course inconstant. Gradually during the nineteenth -century the gold standard was replaced by silver, the change taking the -following order: - -1. The Pagoda of 42 fanams of 8 pysa of 4 kásh. - -The Rupee of 12 fanams. - -2. Then the two-anna piece replaced the fanam, taking its name. - -The Rupee of 8 fanams, of 6 pysa, of 4 kásh. - -3. The Rupee of 16 annas, of 3 pysa, of 4 kásh. - -4. The Rupee of 16 annas of 4 quarter-annas (called 3/4 pysa by the -natives) or of 12 kásh improperly called ‘pies.’ - -The division of the rupee into 8 fanams of 24 kásh survives, or did -survive till quite recent years, in the French settlements of -Pondichery, &c. The reason alleged was that the anna is non-existent as -a coin. But it is curious that the French administration did not -discover that there was a decimal system connected with the rupee. For -in Southern India thirty years ago, and perhaps at the present day, the -pysa was = 1/3 anna and the half-pysa 1/6 anna, but these were always -reckoned among the people as 1/50 and 1/100 rupee.[37] To the people of -the South the rupee is divided into 5 fanams each of 10 pysa each of 3 -kásh. But the term kásh (kássu) is merely a name for the lowest coin. -The E.I.C.’s pysa of 1808 bears the Persian inscription _Bis kás chhar -fleūs ast_ (It is 20 kásh, 4 filūs), followed by ‘XX cash.’ So this -coin, so dear to the people of Southern India that they cannot look on -the modern quarter-anna (the Anglo-Indians’ ‘pice’) otherwise than as a -_mookal_, a 3/4 pysa, is really 20 kásh, and the rupee is 200 filūs or -1000 kásh. Here is a decimal division ready for the rupee, for the -half-pysa, nominally 1/96 rupee (in 1797 coins it is so inscribed ‘96 to -one rupee’), but 1/100 rupee in the bazaar, is similarly inscribed as of -‘10 kásh 2 filūs.’ So the rupee could easily be made of 10 fanams, 100 -lesser pysa, 1000 kásh. But the sexdecimal division into annas, and the -duodecimal division into pies, are too convenient to be given up for a -decimal system. - -Footnote 37: - - This obvious decimal system of a rupee divided into 10 lesser fanams - and 100 pysa would not have appealed to French officials. It is not a - decimal system, but the Metric system, that the French scientist - requires; the decimal series of measures is only a stalking-horse for - the French system abroad. The French do not as a rule care about using - it themselves. - -The 2 filūs of the half-pysa show that the pysa was once divided into 4 -of a small coin (the present pie), the _fils_, an Arabic word probably -representing the L. follis.[38] - -Footnote 38: - - 1638. Fluces are 10 to a cozbeg (one halfpenny).—_N.E.D._ In this - quotation it seems as if Sir T. Herbert had mistaken the filūs for the - 10 kásh of the half-pysa. - - - _Indian Gold Coinage_ - -Northern and Central India, the parts more immediately under the Mogul -empire, were silver-standard countries. The silver rupee (sicca, = 192 -grains) was the standard; and the golden rupee of the same weight, -called an Ashráfi, or gold mohur, was valued at 16 rupees, though -generally more, according to the market-value of gold. The E.I.C. -continued to strike gold mohurs, with halves, thirds and quarters. Other -gold coins were current, notably the Venetian zechin, and the -approximate correspondence of this coin to the quarter-mohur caused the -latter to be commonly known as a ‘chick.’[39] - -Footnote 39: - - At whist, high play was for ‘Rupee points and a chick on the rub.’ - -Southern India offers the curious instance of a gold-standard country (a -century ago) having changed to a silver standard. The pagoda has -disappeared in currency. The beautiful Farūki pagoda of Tippoo is still -to be found; and the Venetian zechin with its archaic design, never -changed since it was first struck in the thirteenth century, is highly -esteemed in the household treasuries of affluent Indians for its great -purity. The word zechin or sequin is derived from sikkah, ‘coin.’ The -usual Persian inscription on the Mogul coinage, continued by the E.I.C., -is _Shah Alam, bádshah gházi, sikkah mubárak_ (Shah Alam, king -victorious, coin auspicious).[40] - -Footnote 40: - - The E.I.C. continued the custom of inscriptions on coins being in - Persian, the polite language of Moslem India. - - - 4. DECIMAL CURRENCY - -It is scarcely necessary to describe the decimal systems of which the -Dollar currency is the type. They have some advantages in numeration -with the counterbalancing defects of all decimal series. Division of the -dollar stops at a quarter; then there is a drop to 10 cents, and that -coin has no quarter. Any thirding can only be approximate. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - - MEASURES OF TIME - - -The primitive divisions of time were the day (the civil day between two -sunrises or sunsets), and the lunar month taken as 30 days instead of -the actual 29-1/2. Twelve lunar months made a calendar year of 360 days, -to which were added, in ancient Egypt, five intercalary days. The -additional day required every fourth year was called by the Romans -_bissextum calendis_, as it was introduced by repeating the sixth day of -the calends of March (our February 24). - -From the 360 calendar days of the year was derived the division of the -sun’s apparent path on the ecliptic (and of every other circle) into 360 -degrees. The ecliptic was divided, like the year, into twelve equal -parts named from the constellations to which they corresponded; each of -these was of 30 parts. - -To avoid the intercalary days at the end of the ordinary year, these -were afterwards distributed among the months in various ways. The number -of days to each modern month is inherited, with some changes, from the -arrangement adopted by a Greek-Asiatic nation. The names of the months -are those given by the Romans; their year originally began with March -(as indeed did ours, on Lady Day, down to 1751), and the original names -were: - - _Martius_ from Mars. - _Aprilis_ from Aphrodite (Venus).[41] - _Maius_ from _dü maiores_, the elder gods. - _Junius_ from _dü juniores_, the younger gods. - Quintilis the 5th month, afterwards Julius. - Sextilis the 6th „ „ Augustus. - Septembris the 7th „ - Octobris the 8th „ - Novembris the 9th „ - Decembris the 10th „ - Januarius from Janus or Dianus, the sun-god. - Februarius from februum, the expiation month. - -Footnote 41: - - In the Bithynian calendar were a couple of months, _Areios_ and - _Aphrodisios_ (once _Artemisios_), the Greek forms corresponding to - Martius and Aprilis. - -The week is of astrological origin. Even in Europe there are still many -people who believe that the seven planets of the pre-Copernican system -rule, each in its turn, the successive hours of each day; the planet -ruling the first hour gives its name to the day, and influences it -astrologically. Thus the week is the series of seven days ruled -successively in the first hour by one of the seven planets. From the -series of planets arranged in the order of their periods—Saturn, -Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon—the order of the day-names -comes about in the following way: - -Sunday (_dies Solis_) was so named from the Sun ruling its first hour. -The following six hours being ruled by the other planets, the Sun again -rules the eighth hour, also the fifteenth and the twenty-second; the -twenty-third hour is ruled by the next planet in the series, Venus;[42] -the twenty-fourth by Mercury, and the first hour of the next day by the -Moon, hence this will be Monday (_dies Lunæ_). The Moon ruling the -first, eighth, fifteenth, twenty-second hours of Monday, the -twenty-third hour will be ruled by Saturn (beginning the series again), -the twenty-fourth by Jupiter, and the first hour of the next day by -Mars; hence this day will be _dies Martis_ or Tuesday, from the planet -Tiw = Mars. And so on with the remaining days, the names of the planet -ruling the next day being obtained by passing over the name of the two -planets ruling the twenty-third and twenty-fourth hours. Thus beginning -with the first planet of the series we get: - - Saturn ruling Saturday _dies Saturni_ - Sun „ Sunday „ _Solis_ - Moon „ Monday „ _Lunæ_ - Mars (Tiw) „ Tuesday „ _Martis_ - Mercury (Woden) „ Wednesday „ _Mercurii_ - Jupiter (Thor) „ Thursday „ _Jovis_ - Venus (Frigu) „ Friday „ _Veneris_ - -Footnote 42: - - In the _Knightes Tale_ (Chaucer) Palamon visits the temple of Venus at - her hour, then the temples of Diana (the Moon) and of Mars at their - respective hours. - -Latin Christianity made only two changes: _d. dominicus_ for Sunday, and -_d. sabbati_ for Saturday; but the latter still retains its old name in -several countries, thus: - - Provençal. Welsh. - - Dimenche Dydd Sul - Dilun „ Llyn - Dimars „ Mawrth - Dimècre „ Mercher - Dijòu „ Jau - Divèndre „ Givener (Wener) - Dissate „ Sadwrn - -The unit of time is the mean solar-day, the time between the noons of -two successive days, noon being taken as the moment of the passage of -the sun over the local meridian, corrected by the equation of time or -daily correction required to reduce the varying solar days to a mean of -all the solar days. So ‘mean time’ is that of a well-regulated clock -dividing the year into mean solar-days of 24 hours; there being 365 -days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 46 seconds, in the astronomical year. - -It is probable that everywhere, in primitive times, both day and night -would be divided, in southern countries at least, or at the equinoxes, -into three watches of fairly equal length: the morning, midday, -afternoon; and the evening, midnight and dawn. Each of these would -become divided, with the rise of astronomical observations and the use -of sun-dials, into fourths, making twelve hours for either day or night; -twelve hours corresponding to the twelve months of the year or to the -uncial divisions of other measures. The civil day would thus be of -twenty-four hours, grouped into watches of four hours or into the eight -canonical divisions of the day. In medieval times midday was properly -the hour of sexte, the sixth hour from prime, the third from tierce; but -in course of time the ninth hour, nones, was shifted from 3 P.M. to -midday, which thus became ‘noon.’ - -But the original division of the day, probably Chaldæan, was strictly -sexagesimal. It was divided into 60 parts (= 24 minutes), each part into -60, and this again into 60. - -In medieval times the Sun’s daily path was divided into 24 hours, each -of 15 degrees; and each hour was also divided into 3 miles or mileways -of 5 degrees (= 20 minutes). This division was connected with the -popular concrete idea of time in which 20 to 24 minutes was the common -unit. In India the popular unit is still the time required to boil a pot -of rice (20 to 24 minutes) or do some similar domestic task. In the -Middle Ages the Western unit was the time required to walk a mile, on -medieval roads. - -‘And thogh I stonde there a myle’ (Gower, 1390). - -‘And maketh every minute seem a myle’ (Spenser, 1594). - -Then the degree was divided sexagesimally into 60 minutes each of 60 -seconds, as at present. These divisions were at first called scruples, -from the above-mentioned division of the day into 60 scruples of 24 -minutes (the ounce being divided into scruples each of 24 light grains). -Here the scruple-sense of 1/24 passes to 1/60. - -‘1610. The latitude fiftie degrees and fortie scruples or minutes’ -(Quot. _N.E.D._). - -The hour was also divided similarly into 60 scruples or minutes, each of -60 second scruples or seconds. - -The ounce and scruple division of time is shown in the following passage -from ‘Le Breviari d’Amor,’ a thirteenth-century poem by Ermengaud, a -monk of Beziers. I have freely translated it from the Languedocian. ‘The -day is divided into quarters, each of 6 hours; and the fourth part of an -hour is a point, the tenth part of which is a moment; the moment is -divided into 12 parts called ounces, and each of the ounces yields 47 -atoms, which time called an atom cannot be further divided.’ It seems -almost certain that ‘atomus xlvij’ is either a mistake for xlviij or -deliberately put for _set_ (7), to rime with _ret_ (yields). The ounce -of time, = 7-1/2 seconds, would be divided into 24 scruples and 48 -oboli, called atoms as being the end of the division. Similar dropping -of a unit from Roman numerals is to be found in medieval Acts of -Parliament and Ordinances. - - - _The Lunar Year_ - -In the lunar year used by Moslems and Jews, and also recognised by law -in the movable date of Easter and some other feasts, the month is -approximately of 29-1/2 days, so that the year is 354 days, less than -the solar year by 11 days, or 12 in leap years. Hence Moslem feasts or -fasts, such as the Ramadán and the times of pilgrimage, are that number -of days earlier each year. - -The age of the Moon is found by the Epact, its age on the first day of -the year. It is about the same on March 1 as on January 1, owing to -January and February being together equal to two lunar months. So the -increase of the Epact during the year, at the rate of about one day in -the month, begins March 1; and September is, for this purpose, the -seventh month. - -To the day of the month add the Epact and the number of the month, -beginning March 1. The total, over 0 or over 30, is the age of the moon. - -_Example._—September 10, 1910 (7th Month), Epact for 1910 being xix. - -10 + 19 + 7 = 36. The Moon was 6 days old. - -What will be the date of full moon, its fifteenth day, in November 1912? -November is the ninth month and the Epact for 1912 is xi. - -11 + 9 = 20. 45 (= 30 + 15) - 20 = 25. _Ans._ November 17. - -Agriculturists who believe that certain seeds should be sown, trees -planted, and pigs converted into bacon during the waxing of the moon, -while trees are felled during the waning, find the Epact useful in -reckoning the moon’s age. It is also useful in calculating whether -country-roads will be moonlit during certain nights. - -The Epact increases 11 days annually: 1911, 0; 1912, xi; 1913, xxij; -coming back to 0 in 31 years. - - - _The Compass Card_ - -While the circle of the horizon is divided into 360 degrees for -astronomy and for accurate navigation, the steersman has always divided -it sexdecimally. The temple of the Winds at Athens was octagonal; and -the points of the horizon were named after the eight winds, a number -increased to sixteen about the time of Ptolemy. The Romans tried in vain -to substitute an uncial division; their 12 winds and points could not -supersede the 8 winds and points of the Greeks. And to this day in the -Mediterranean there are 8 principal points, named after the sun and -winds: - -Tramontano, Levant, Mezzodi, Ponente. - -Greco, N.E.; Scirocco, S.E.; Libeccio, S.W.; Maestralo, N.W. - -Amerigo Vespucci sailed for the ‘_Ponente una quarta di Libeccio_,’ -West, one point S.W.; and afterwards for the ‘_Libeccio una quarta del -Mezzodi_,’ S.W. one point S. - -[Illustration: - - DIAGRAM INDICATING THE PLANET RULING EACH HOUR, - FROM - DE TEMPORUM COMPUTATIONE ATQUE DIVISIONE, - Joannis Padovanii, Veronæ, 1577. - -] - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XV - - MEASURES OF HEAT AND OF DENSITY - AND COMPOUND INDUSTRIAL UNITS - - - 1. MEASURES OF HEAT - - _Thermometric Scales_ - -About 1595 Galileo made a thermometer, probably one with an air-bulb in -which expansion of the air forces water down the tube. - -Isaac Newton made an oil-thermometer with a scale of 12° between -freezing-point and body-heat. - -Fahrenheit, about 1714, made a mercurial thermometer, its 0 at the cold -produced by a refrigerating mixture and 24° at body-heat. On this scale, -freezing-point was 8° and boiling-point 53°. The quarter-degrees were -then made whole degrees, producing the Fahrenheit scale with 32° for -freezing-point, 96° (more correctly 98·4°) for body-heat, and 212° for -boiling-point at ordinary atmospheric pressure. There are 180° between -freezing and boiling points. - -Réaumur’s scale has 80° between these points. - -Celsius (of Upsala, 1742) used a scale of 100° between these points. -Hence it is usually called Centigrade. This is the scale of -international physical and chemical reports; and is generally used in -laboratory-work. - -The maximum density of water is at 4° Centigrade = 39·2° F. - -The Fahrenheit scale is generally used in English-speaking countries. It -is convenient for meteorological purposes as there is rarely any need to -use ‘minus’ degrees for winter temperatures as in the Centigrade and -Réaumur scales. For medical purposes it is also more convenient to have -the normal body-temperature at 98·4° F. (close to 100°), than at 36·9° -C. or at 29·5° R.[43] - -Footnote 43: - - Normal body-temperature is taken in France as 37° C. In Germany it is - taken as 29·3° Réaumur = 97·9° F. - -To convert Centigrade degrees into Fahrenheit: - -Double the degrees; deduct 1/10; add 32°. - -E.g., 20° C.; 20 × 2 = 40; 40 - 4 = 36; 36 + 32 = 68° F. - -To convert Fahrenheit degrees into Centigrade: - -Deduct 32°; halve the degrees; add 1/9 (roughly 1/10 or a little more). - -E.g., 100° F.; - 32 = 68; 1/2 68 = 34; 34 + 3·4 = 37·4 (37·75 correct). - - - 2. MEASURES OF DENSITY - -Specific gravity and the density of fluids at different temperatures -were known in very ancient times. The ‘Eureka’ experiments of Archimedes -are well known. Al-Khazini (1121)[44] determined the specific gravity of -metals and of fluids at different temperatures as accurately as modern -physicists have done. - -Footnote 44: - - _Book of the Balance of Wisdom_ (H. Carrington Bolton). - -The hydrometer, divided into 24 qiráts, was well known in the East, even -before the time of the Caliphates. - -The density or specific gravity of solids and fluids is usually referred -to that of distilled water at 62° F. = 16·6° C. - -It is sometimes referred to 4° C. = 39·2° F. There is no advantage in -this temperature, that of water at its maximum density; corrections for -temperature will always have to be made in exact determinations, while, -in the approximate determinations of trade, the indoor standard of 62° -F. requires no correction. - -The specific gravity of gases being in the ratio of their molecular -weight, which is referred to that of hydrogen, this gas is taken as the -standard. - -The density of solutions of salts, sugar, acids, &c., is referred to -that of water or stated on a trade-scale usually indicating the -percentage in solution. - -The density of spirits is referred to that of water, but their alcoholic -strength to: - -(_a_) A scale indicating the volume of alcohol per cent. (Gay-Lussac and -Tralles). - -(_b_) An arbitrary scale (Cartier and Baumé). - -(_c_) An excise-scale on the basis of proof-spirit (Sykes). - -Proof-spirit meant originally a spirit sufficiently strong to take -light, and which, if poured on gunpowder and lighted, would cause the -powder to explode. This was the ‘Holland-proof,’ By a statute of 1816 it -was defined as of specific gravity 12/13 that of water at 51° F., which -is = 0·923; but at the present standard temperature of 60° = 15·5° C. it -is 0·920. - -With Sykes’s hydrometer, used in England: - -_Under Proof_ (U.P.)—each degree means 1 per cent. of water, the rest -being proof spirit. - -_Over Proof_ (O.P.)—each degree means 1 per cent. of water required to -be added to bring the spirit down to proof. - -The scale of Tralles’s alcoholometer only differs from Gay-Lussac’s by -water being taken at 39·2° and pure alcohol as of sp. gr. 7939 at 60°. - - Alcohol Sykes° Baumé° - Sp. Gr. Vol. per cent. (Excise) (French) - - 1·000 0 100 U.P. 10 - 0·920 57·05 Proof 22 - 0·848 85·2 49·6 O.P. 36 Fr. Rect. Spirit Troix-six. - 0·838 88·8 55·8 „ 38·2 Rect. Spirit, Brit. Pharm. - 0·821 93·75 64·3 „ 41·8 Strongest Rect. Spirit. - 0·794 100 —— 48 Absolute Alcohol. - -The approximate relation of the five usual scales for proof and French -rectified spirit are as follows: - - Proof 0·920 Fr. Rect. Sp. 0·848 - - Gay-Lussac 58° 86° - Tralles 56·3° 85° - Cartier 21·6° 34° - Baumé 22·6° 36° Trois-six - Sykes Proof 49·6° - - - _Compound Industrial Units_ - -Units of Power, of Electricity, of Caloric, &c., are abstract compound -units based on units of time, weight, length, &c., combined for -industrial convenience, e.g. a certain weight moved a certain distance -in a certain time. - -The H.P., engine horse-power, is 550 lb. raised one foot in one second. -In France this becomes 75·9 kilos, raised one metre in one second, = -about 3/4 of the kilo-watt unit of electric power. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - - THE ELLS - - -The Ells are the Cubits of the modern West. They are of two kinds: the -Foot-Ells, of which the Persian cubit and the Beládi cubit, divisible -into 2 feet, were the types, and the Span-Ells, of 3, 4, 5 or 6 spans. - - - 1. THE FOOT-ELLS - -In France the Aune was 4 Roman feet. - -In the Italian states the Braccio was usually 2 local feet, but -sometimes an Eastern cubit. - -In the German and Norse states the Eln was 2 local feet. - -In Spain the Covado, of 2 Burgos feet, was the Beládi cubit. - - - 2. THE SPAN-ELLS - -The Span-Ells of Western Europe are of two types, derived either from -the English foot, or from a Netherlands foot which has disappeared and -which was probably the Olympic foot. (See Holland, in the next chapter.) - -The Netherlands Ell appears then to be 3 spans of an Olympic cubit = 3 × -18·24/2, which is equivalent to 2-1/4 Olympic feet: 2-1/4 × 12·16: both -= 27·36 inches. The Antwerp Ell was formerly = 27·396 inches, and that -of Amsterdam = 27·216 inches. There has been shrinkage, probably through -the influence of the English standard of the Flemish Ell, we having -taken 3 of our own spans, = 27 inches, for this largely used -trade-measure, and our standard having prevailed in foreign trade. So -the Flemish Ell has tended more and more to the English standard. In -Holland and its colonies it is = 27·08 inches. This is also the standard -in Portugal. The lesser _pík_ or _drá_ of Constantinople, = 27 inches, -was probably = 26·8 inches as in Egypt; it may have increased under the -influence of the English or Flemish Ell. The Venetian braccio, = 26·9 -inches, probably comes from this Turkish _pík_. - -In Northern France there was an Aune = 27·1 inches and another of 27 -Amsterdam inches = 27·36 inches (the Amsterdam foot being of 11 inches). - -In Prussia there is, or was, an Ell = 26·257 inches. It was described as -of 2-1/8 Rhineland feet; but it was almost certainly 3 Roman spans = -2-1/4 Roman feet (11·67 × 2-1/4 = 26·257 inches), brought into the -Rhineland system by representing it as 2-1/8 Rhineland feet, which it is -only approximately; 2-1/8 × 12·3563 being = 26·2617 inches. - -Nowhere out of England and Scotland is there found any Span-ell other -than of 3 spans. The apparent exceptions are in Spain, where the Vara of -3 feet, = 1-1/2 Beládi cubit, is a 4-span ell, like our Yard, and in -Occitania (Southern France), where the Cano is an 8-span fathom. - -‘Ell,’ formerly Elne, meant at first the natural cubit or length of the -forearm (L. _ulna_) from the finger tips to the bend of the arm or -‘el-bow.’ Originally of 2 spans, it came to mean a greater multiple of -the span, or, as in the case of the German ells and the French aune, a -multiple of the foot. - -Our Ells were: - - Flemish Ell 3 spans = 27 inches - English Yard 4 „ = 36 „ - Scots Ell 4 „ = 36 „ (Scots) - English Ell 5 „ = 45 „ - Long English Ell or Cloth-goad 6 „ = 54 „ - -The Flemish Ell was that of the Netherlands, brought to the standard of -our inches. - -The Long English Ell or cloth-goad of 6 spans was a double Flemish ell. -It has long been extinct. - -The Yard has survived, from its convenience as either of 4 spans or of 3 -feet. - -The Scots Ell = 37·058 inches corresponded to the English yard; it was 3 -feet Scots, i.e. of Rhineland standard, = 12·353 inches. - -The Common English Ell, the tailor’s yard, ‘taylors yerde, virga -cissoris,’ was probably the French aune = 46·6 inches, introduced under -the Plantagenets from their French dominions and cut down to fit our ell -system. This ell appears to have been carried abroad by trade. Both the -3-span Covado and the 5-span Vara of Portugal are identical with our -ells, their spans being longer than the ordinary Portuguese spans and -called _palmos avantejados_, long spans. - -The four-foot Ell of Jersey and Guernsey was probably the French ell -increased from 4 Roman feet to 4 English feet. - -Of the foot-ells of Italy and Germany, several were exactly half our -ell, while quite foreign to the native standards. - -Both our Ell and our Yard were divided into 4 quarters and 16 nails. The -Elizabethan standards, still extant, are so divided. - -Of the English span-ells the Yard alone remains. The 5-span Ell, -maintained by the statute authority which prescribed the breadth of -cloth, lived only as a royal measure and, like the royal pound, was -gradually superseded by the more popular measure. The ell was obsolete -nearly a century before the royal pound silently disappeared. It seems, -however, to have survived in Wales for a long time. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XVII - - FOREIGN LINEAR MEASURES - - -Only a sketch of these can be given, for in some countries so various -are the local standards that each petty state, each district sometimes, -would require a long study. - - - I. THE TEUTONIC COUNTRIES - - _Sweden_ - -The Roman foot = 11·67 inches. This is, or was, also used in Oldenburg -and in some parts of Holland. - - - _Denmark and Norway_ - -The Rhineland foot = 12·356 inches, divided into 12 Tomme (thumbs), 12 -feet = 1 rode (rod). - -_North Germany_ - -The principal types are: - -1. The Rhineland foot, in Prussia, &c. - -2. The Hanoverian foot = 11·5 inches more or less, used in Hanover, -Pomerania, part of Holland and Belgium, Bavaria, Mecklenburg, and -Geneva. - -3. The Hanseatic foot, 11·32 inches more or less, used in Lubeck, Bremen -(11·39), Hamburg (11·276), Dantzig, also in Hesse, Saxe-Coburg, and -Poland. - -The length of 11·32 inches points to the probability of the Hanseatic -foot being a reduced Rhineland foot, 11/12 of 12·356 inches = 11·3264 -inches. There are several instances of the popular objection to a long -foot and of the artifice which reduces it to a more convenient length by -taking 11 inches of the government standard, and making from them a foot -of 12 short inches. - -4. The Amsterdam foot = 11·146 inches, also used in the Dutch parts of -New England. This foot is divided into 11 inches, an evident instance of -a reduced foot, unconcealed by any division into 12 new inches. The -practice of making a reduced foot stands revealed, and is confirmed by -the Amsterdam rod (roede) being 13 of these reduced feet, evidently to -make up in land-measure for the reduction in the foot in the home and in -the workshop. This compensation is of the same kind as that now used in -English agricultural weights where, to compensate for the statute -reduction of the ancient 16 lb. stone, of which 16 made a wey or load of -256 lb., the custom arose of taking 18 statute-stones of 14 lb. to make -a load of 252 lb. approximately the same as the old load. - -The question now arises: What was the foot of 12·16 inches which the -Hollanders reduced to 11/12 = 11·146 inches? Was it the Olympic foot? - -The seafaring Netherlander, to whom the nautical mile and its 1/1000 -part = the Olympic fathom, were familiar, would very possibly take its -sixth part as their foot, just as the seafaring Greeks had taken it. But -landfolk accustomed to the short Roman foot, which is still to be found -in the land-measures of Holland, would reduce the longer foot to 11 -inches for popular use. - -Yet the longer foot has left traces in the Netherlands. The Amsterdam -roede of 13 Amsterdam feet is = 12·07 feet, i.e. 12 feet of 12·07 -inches. The Amsterdam Ell, = 27·08 inches at present (= 3 spans of 9·023 -inches), was, in 1647, according to John Greaves, = 27·216 inches, -giving a foot of 12·1 inches, and he gives the Antwerp Ell as = 27·396 -inches, which gives an Antwerp foot 12·176 inches, a length very close -to that of the Olympic foot of 12·16 inches. There appears to have been -a slight shrinkage in the Amsterdam ell. - - - _Austria_ - -There are two standards of foot. While the ordinary foot, 1/6 of the -Klafter or fathom, is = 12·441 inches, that of the ell (which is 2-1/2 -feet) = 12·245 inches. It looks as if the one were increased, and the -other equally decreased, from the Rhineland foot, = 12·356 inches. - - - 2. THE LATIN COUNTRIES - - _Italy_ - -Here every state, almost every city, had a different standard of length. -The foot was generally of Roman type = 11·67 inches, or of a very short -type, = about 10·3 inches, referable possibly to half an Egyptian royal -cubit, = 20·64 inches, a measure still extant in Egypt. There was -usually also a braccio or cloth-ell of 23 to 26 inches, probably of -Eastern origin. - -In Lombardy the standard was the Luitprandi foot (pié Aliprandi) = 20·28 -inches, with a corresponding pertica or rod of 12 _piedi_, usually = -20·23 feet. Legend refers this measure to the foot-length of a giant -Lombard king; but it is evidently a cubit, probably a variant of the -Egyptian royal cubit, for 2/3 of it gave the Lombard foot, = 13·52 -inches; and this, as also the Venetian foot, = 13·69 inches, seems -referable to the Egyptian royal foot, = 13·76 inches. - -But everywhere and always the people object to a long foot-standard. -Whether in ancient Egypt or in modern Italy, they will take a more -convenient length; they will halve the cubit so as to get a short foot, -or take some span, or some ell divisible into spans. So in Italy there -was generally a local foot and also a span. Sometimes the span was 3/4 -of the foot, at other times it was a fraction of a braccio or ell; and -both foot and span might be called a _palmo_. This term was equivalent -to the L. _palmus major_ as distinguished from the ordinary _palmus_ of -4 digits. In Rome there is, or was till recently, a series the same as -that of ancient Rome, on the basis of a foot = 11·72 inches, slightly -longer than the ancient foot = 11·67 inches; 5 feet made a _passo_, and -1000 _passi_ a mile. - -The foot was of 16 digits, usually called _oncie_, inches, and 12 of -these digits were taken for a palmo = 8·79 inches. Three of these palmi -made the braccio, the cloth-ell, = 26·38 inches. - -The Roman field-measures were a mixture of decimal chain-units and of -lengths derived from seed-measures of land. - -In Tuscany the standard was the braccio, = 22·98 inches, half of which -was the palmo, = 11·49 inches. The braccio was divided, as if it were a -money-pound, into 20 soldi, of 12 denari. - -In the kingdom of Naples, with its population of Greek origin, the -standard of length was the meridian mile, divided into 1000 Olympic -fathoms or passi. But the passo was divided, not into six long feet, -but, like the Egyptian royal cubit, into 7 palmi, = 10·4 inches. The -usual standard was the Canna of 8 palmi, a reversion to the common -Mediterranean measure of the reed of 8 spans. - -In Genoa there was, and perhaps is still, a palmo = 9·764 inches, a -length exactly that of the pán in several cities of Provence. It has -changed but little since the time of Recorde’s ‘Pawn of Geans’ (1543) or -since John Greaves (1647) gave it as = 9·78 inches.[45] - -Footnote 45: - - In this ‘pawn’ (the spelling of which shows that English had already - lost the _a_ sound of the first vowel and had to represent it by _aw_) - I see the fusion of two words etymologically different, the Italian - _palmo_, L. _palmus_, and the Provençal _pán_, side, panel. See, in - Chaps. IV and XXI, ‘The Pán of Marseilles.’ - -Genoa, the language of which district is a dialect of Provençal, has -measures of the Provençal type. The measures of Provence will be -described at length in Chap. XXI. - - - _Spain_ - -The standard is the Burgos foot = 11·127 inches, 3 feet making a Vara. -This foot was originally = 10·944 inches,[46] i.e. half the Beládi -cubit, brought by the Moors. This original standard has been preserved -very nearly in the two-foot _Covado di ribera_, the shore-cubit, = -21·9157 inches, its half = 10·9578 inches. - -Footnote 46: - - As pointed out by Don V. V. Queipo (_Essai sur les Systèmes - Métriques_, 1859), but not quite accurately. His values are often - confused or obscure, but his work is most useful. - -That the Burgos foot has deviated, like most Spanish weights and -measures, from the accurate standards of the Moors, is shown by the -length of the Spanish _Legua maritima_, the league of 3 meridian miles, -or 6653·36 varas. At the modern standard of the Burgos foot this is - -6653·36 × 3 × 11·127 inches = 220,958 inches, while 3 meridian miles are - -2026·66 yards × 3 × 12 inches = 218,880 inches, showing an error of 2078 -inches = 57·7 yards. - -Taking the original standard of the Burgos foot at 10·944 inches, - -6653 varas × 3 × 10,944 = 218,880 inches, - -exactly corresponding to the Parasang, = 10,000 Beládi cubits of 21·888 -inches, or to 20,000 Burgos feet as instituted by the Moors. - -The erroneous standard of the Burgos foot appears to have been -corrected. The tables of A. de Malarce, approved by the French -government in 1879, give the Burgos foot as = O·27833 metre = 10·938 -inches. - -That Spain also once had the Roman foot is shown by the survival in -Tunis of the Drá Andalussi, the Spanish Ell, of 3 Roman spans of 8·753 -inches = 26·25 inches. - - - _Portugal_ - -Here the Roman standard is seen in the Palmo or span = 8·749 inches, 3/4 -of a foot = 11·665 inches. The palmo is divided into 8 _polegadas_, -inches, of 12 lines, or into 12 _dedo_, digits, of 8 lines. - -The Vara, = 43·7 inches, is of 5 spans; the Braça, or fathom, is 2 varas -or 10 spans; 3000 fathoms make a league, = 3·89 miles, divided into 3 -_milhas_ of 8 _estados_, stadia or furlongs. In land-measure 4840 square -varas make a _geira_ (= 1·47 acre) exactly, as 4840 square yards make -our acre. One may infer that the form and division of the geira was -similar to that of our acre; that it is, or was, 220 × 22 varas, a 1/10 -strip of some ‘acreme’ measure. This view is supported by the use in -Brazil of a land-unit, the _quadro_, officially 150 × 1 metres; a strip -of an original square quadro corresponding to the 10-geira field. In -Argentina the _cuadra_ is 150 varas, and the _cuadra cuadrada_, 4·17 -acres, is that measure squared. - -Portugal has another span, the _palmo avantejado_ = 9·0256 inches, of -which 3 make a covado or cubit = 27·078 inches, virtually the Flemish -ell of English standard. - - - 3. RUSSIA AND THE EAST - - _Russia_ - -The standard of length is the English foot, introduced by Peter the -Great. There is another and older measure, the Arshīn = 28 inches, i.e. -the Turkish arshīn of 27·9 inches varied to a simple relation with the -new foot; and like the Turkish measure it is divided into 16 nails -(Verstok). See ‘Arshīn,’ further on. - - 3 Arshīns = 1 Sajeng = 7 feet. - 500 Sajeng = 1 Verst = 1166·6 yds. (1·06 kilometre). - - - _Turkey_ - - The Arshīn or Halebi pík = 27·9 inches. - 5-1/2 Arshīns = 1 Qasáb. - -The Hendázi or Stambūli _drá_ = 25·688 inches, very nearly the Hashími -cubit = 25·56 inches. - -The Cloth-drá = the Flemish ell. - -All these are divided into either 16 nails or 24 qirát. - - - _Egypt_ - -The Hendázi drá, as above. - -The Nile pík of two standards: - - 1. That of the Black cubit = 21·28 inches. - 2. That of the Royal cubit = 20·65 „ - -There is also a commonly used pík = 26·8 inches, probably a low standard -Flemish ell. - - - _Persia_ - -The geodesic traditions of the ancient Oriental monarchies maintain many -of their standards. The principal is the Guz or Yard of 2 common -Egyptian cubits 2 × 18·24 = 36·48 inches. It is 1/6000 of the Farsakh, -the ancient Parasang or league of 3 meridian miles. - -There are also amongst others: - - A Cloth guz = 1-1/2 Hashími cubits = 38·3 inches. - Another guz = 1-1/2 Persian cubits = 37·9 „ - „ „ = 1-2/3 Hashími cubits = 42 „ - - - _Roumania_ - -The measures differ little from those of Turkey. - - The Halebi pík = 27·6 inches. - The Hendázi „ = 26·03 „ - - - _Greece_ - -The Hendázi _píchus_, of Hashími standard = 25·51, is the usual measure. - - - _Tunis, Tripoli, Algeria_ - -The Moorish drá = 18·94 to 19·2 inches (3/4 of the Hashími cubit), the -usual standard. The multiples by 8 show the influence of the Cano of 8 -spans from Southern France and Italy. - -The ancient Roman mile still exists in Tunis, with a length = 1610-1/4 -yards. - - - 4. THE HASHÍMI CUBIT - -After the Moslem conquest of the countries of the Eastern great -monarchies, the 25·26 inch standard of the Persian cubit was raised to -25·56 inches. This is the Hashími, or Hashemic cubit, named after -Hashim, the chief of the Arab tribe to which the prophet Mahomed -belonged. It is the cubit mentioned in the ‘Arabian Nights’ (524th -night). But the cubit or the foot of the Nights, when not specified, is -usually either of the Olympic or of Al-Mamūn’s standard. The increase of -the Persian cubit was probably to bring it, together with the Beládi -cubit and the Arshīn (to be described presently), into simple relation -with a Qasáb of length slightly increased so that this should, for -building and land measurement, be a common multiple of the three cubits. -This is the Turkish qasáb, the qasáb qabáni = 153·45 inches. - - 7 Beládi cubits at 21·888 inches = 153·216 inches. - 6 Hashími „ „ 25·56 „ = 153·36 „ - 5-1/2 Arshīns „ 27·9 „ = 153·45 „ - -By taking the 7 Beládi cubits at the equatorial standard of the Jewish -cubit, 21·914 inches, they would give 153·34 inches, and taking 5-1/2 -arshīns at the slightly diminished length of 27·88 inches, the qasáb -would be an exact common multiple of them at 153·36 inches. - -This qasáb can be divided into 6 Hashími cubits, or 12 feet, or 24 -kubdehs (handshafts), or sexdecimally into 2 fathoms, 4 guz, 8 cubits, -16 spans. It is a mere coincidence that the old French foot, = 12·789 -inches, was very approximately half a Hashími cubit. - - - 5. THE HALEBI PÍK OR ARSHĪN - -The date of this measure is as uncertain as its source. It is a Turkish -measure = 27·9 inches or thereabouts, divided into 16 qirát. This -division points to it being 2/3 of a Persian guz of 24 qirát. - -Among the guz of Persia there is one = 1-2/3 Hashími cubits = 42 inches, -of which 16/24 = 28 inches. If this length were taken, it might have -been somewhat lessened to make it an aliquot part of the Turkish reed or -qasáb, 6 Hashími cubits = 153·36 inches. At the length of 27·9 inches, -5-1/2 arshīn = 153·45 inches or within 1/10 inch of the qasáb. - -It is curious that the Reed should be 5-1/2 arshīns, as our Rod is 5-1/2 -yards. - -While the Turkish qasáb is— - -7 Beládi cubits, 6 Hashími cubits = 5-1/2 arshīns, the Egyptian qasáb, -somewhat less, is— - -6 Assyrian cubits of 25·26 inches = 151·56 inches, or 5-1/2 double royal -feet of 13·76 = 151·36 inches, and is divided into 10 ‘belendi’ feet of -15·156 inches. - -There is a lesser Egyptian qasáb of 5 arshīns = 139·65 inches and a -third still less, of 4 Assyrian cubits = 101 inches. With each of these -qasáb 20 × 20 make a Feddan of land. - -The word Pík is the Greek pichūs, a cubit. - - - _Note of Acknowledgment_ - -In this and the next two chapters I have necessarily had to work largely -on materials gathered by others. The equivalents of foreign measures and -weights are in many cases taken from— - -Kelly’s ‘Cambist,’ 1816. - -Woolhouse’s ‘Measures, Weights and Moneys of all Nations,’ 1890. - -De Malarce, ‘Poids et Mesures,’ 1879. - -Browne’s ‘Merchants’ Handbook,’ 1899. - -The information in the last of these is excellently compiled and very -trustworthy. - -My object is to give, not tabulated series of measures but their history -and rationale, to apprehend the ways of thought which have given rise to -them, to seek their relations. No country has an isolated system, or -even an isolated measure, and unity underlies the infinite variety of -measures and weights. - - TABLE OF SOME EUROPEAN ITINERARY MEASURES - - - Yards Miles - 1. Meridian mile—Naples 2026-2/3 1·1515 - „ league, 1/20 degree — 4·54 - - 2. Ancient Roman mile 1621-1/3 0·921 - - 3. Roman mile, modified— - Venice, 1000 paces of 5 feet 1901 1·08 - Sicily, 720 rods of 8 palmi 1625 0·924 - Spain, 1000 paces of 5 feet 1520 0·863 - Portugal, 8 stadia of 234-2/3 varas 2281 1·296 - England, 8 furlongs of 220 yards 1760 1·0 - France, 1000 toises 2131 1·21 - - 4. German Meile, about a meridian league— - Austria, 4000 fathoms of 6 feet — 4·71 - Prussia and Denmark, 2000 rods of 12 feet — 4·68 - Hanover, 1587 rods of 16 feet — 4·66 - Brunswick, 1625 rods of 16 feet — 4·61 - - 5. An ‘hour-walk’ league— - Holland—Uur gaans — — - Switzerland—Stunde, 1600 rods of 10 feet — 2·98 - - 6. Russia—Verst, 500 sajeng of 7 feet 1166·6 0·663 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII - - FOREIGN WEIGHTS - - - 1. TEUTONIC SYSTEMS OF WEIGHT - -The German and Norse pounds are of three types: - -1. The pound of the Cologne mark, the double marc, = 7216 grains, its -ounce = 451 grains. This was the standard of the old Tower weight of the -English mints. It coincides with the Arabic lesser rotl, 1/100 of the -Cantar of Al-Mamūn (= 102·92 lb.). - -Its modern type is, or was, the pound of Prussia and Hanover = 7218 -grains, 1/100 of the Centner = 103·11 lb. It was defined as 1/66 of the -weight of a Rhineland cubic foot of water (see next chapter). - -2. The Troy pound, of variable standard, from 7705 grains (ounce = 481·5 -grs.) in Denmark, and as high as 483 grains in Sweden, to 7595 grains -(ounce = 474·7 grs.) in Holland. Even in Holland there is another -standard, that of the Amsterdam pound, 7625 grains (ounce = 476·7 grs.), -the medium standard of Troy weight, = 10 Egyptian dirhems of 47·6 -grains. - -3. The Nuremburg pound = 7390 grains, its ounce = 462 grains. As the -12-oz. pound of apothecaries’ weight, it is = 5522 grains, its ounce = -460·2 grains. This pound is derived from the 8-ounce _peso di marco_ of -Venice = 3695 grains. The Venice ounce, = 460·2 grains, was divided into -144 carats of 3·19609 grains. This ounce was 8 centesimal drachmæ of the -Arabic lesser rotl = 5763 grains, when divided on the Greek system into -100 drachmæ of 57·63 grains, instead of on the uncial system, so that 8 -× 57·63 = 461·04 grains. This is the apparent basis of the Venetian -marc-ounce and the Nuremburg ounce. - -As the Marc was 2/3 of the classic 12-oz. pound, the word came to mean -2/3 of a pound, either weight or coin; it probably came from ‘San Marco’ -of Venice. - -German and Scandinavian ounces were usually divided into 2 loths or -half-ounces, 8 quentchen and 16 Pfenning. - -In Holland the mint-ounce was of 20 Engels, each of 32 Azen. ‘Engel’ is -the English sterling or dwt.; the Aas is an ace, a light grain = 0·7417 -grain. - -_The Baltic Skippund._ This ship-pound was 20 lispund, of either 20 -light or 16 heavy pounds: - - Denmark & Norway—20 lispund of 16 skaalpund = 352 lb. - Sweden—20 lispund of 20 skaalpund = 375 lb. - Russia—the berkowitz, 10 pūd of 40 fūnt = 361 lb. - - - 2. EAST-EUROPEAN SYSTEMS OF WEIGHT - -The Pounds of Poland, of Russia, of Austro-Hungary and Bavaria (also a -mint-pound in Sweden), appear to have developed from the Arabic pounds -on a dirhem-basis. - -1. The Polish pound, 16 × 8 dirhems of 48·9 grains, = 6258 grs. It is -divided into 16 ounces; the oz. = 391 grs. (Cf. the lb. of Sardinia and -of Languedoc; the oz. = 392 grs.) - -2. The Russian pound or fūnt, of 12 ounces. The ounce (lana) = 526·6 -grains is almost exactly 10 greater dirhems of 52·6 grains. - -This ounce is exactly that of the rottolo attári or Assyrian rotl of -8426 grains (the Greek-Asiatic miná) still extant in Bássora (Chaldæa) -and in Algeria. The relationship is evident, since the Roman As was -1/100 of the Greek-Asiatic talent, and the greater dirhem was 1/9 of the -As-ounce = 420·75 grains. - -3. The Austro-Hungarian pound, also used in Bavaria, is 16 × 8 dirhems -of 50·6 grains = 6482·3 grs. - -4. The Swedish mint-pound. - -This pound, = 6503 grains, was divided into 2 mint-marcs, divided again -into 8 ounces of 406·3 grains. Of the same type is the commercial -skaalpund = 6536 grs.; its oz. = 408·5 grs., a weight exactly the same -as that of the ounce of Genoa, which belongs to the dirhem-system, being -8 dirhems of 51 grains. - -The Swedish medicinal weight is Nuremburg. There are two miner’s pounds -showing the extremes of Troy weight; the ounces being 483 and 471 -grains. - - - 3. THE MEDITERRANEAN SYSTEMS OF WEIGHT - -In Egypt the dirhem-system gives rise to two series of weights: that of -the Oka and that of the Rottolo. In the latter word the Arabic ‘rotl’ is -Italianised, the Arabic weights having come under Roman influence; an -influence of long standing, since Al-Mamūn divided the Cantar after the -Roman plan into 125 lesser rotl as well as into 100 greater rotl, when -the Arabic gold Mithkal, 1/72 of the Egypto-Roman libra, took the place -of the exagium solidi or aureus, 1/72 of the Roman mint-As. - -The Mithkal, or Miskal, = 72·74 grains, was divided into 24 Egyptian -qirát = 3·03 grains, as the Aureus had been divided into 24 Roman -Siliquæ = 2·92 grains, and 16 of the 24 qirát was the standard of the -silver dirhem = 48·5 grains, _the lesser dirhem_. - -The golden Dinar, 21-3/4 qirát, was of the weight of the Attic -commercial drachma = 65·6 grains; it displaced the Roman golden -denarius. But the lesser dirhem, 2/3 the weight of the Mithkal, did not -succeed in displacing an old-established drachma, which became a greater -dirhem. For, as the Mithkal had a dirhem 2/3 of its weight, so the Roman -Aureus, 1/6 of the As-ounce, had a silver drachma 3/4 of its weight. The -As, originally 1/100 of the Greek-Asiatic talent, had its ounce divided, -after the Greek system, into 8 drachmæ each 5049/(12 × 8) = 52·6 grains. -Apparently this _greater dirhem_ tended, in Arab times, to fall towards -the standard of the lesser dirhem = 48·5 grains. This is the probable -explanation of the variations of the dirhems, and of the pounds based on -them, along the Mediterranean coasts. - -In Tunis the dirhem = 48·58, almost exactly the original weight of the -lesser dirhem. But in Tripoli there are two standards, 47·075 and 50·1 -grains. The Ukyé or ounce is goldsmith’s weight, 10 dirhems of 47·075 -grains; but in commercial weight it is in dirhems of 50·1 grains, so it -is made the same weight by reckoning it as 150 kharūb or qirát instead -of 160 of these as in the goldsmith’s ounce of 10 dirhems of 16 qirát. - -So there are variations in the weight of the dirhem basis of the -Mediterranean pounds: - - In Egypt the dirhem = 47·66 grains - In Tripoli „ = ⎧47·07 „ - ⎩50·1 „ - In Tunis „ = 48·58 „ - In Morocco „ = 49 „ - In Turkey „ = 49·6 „ - -The qirát, 1/16 of the dirhem, varies with it. - - - _Egypt_ - -The Oka, = 2·723 lb., is 400 dirhems of 47·66 grs. - -The Rottolo, = 98 lb., is 144 dirhems of 47·66 grs. - -The Oka is a centesimal multiple of the dirhem. - -The Rottolo is an uncial multiple of it. - -100 Rottoli = 1 Cantar = 98 lb.; this is the modern Egyptian Cwt. which -has succeeded the Cantar of Al-Mamūn = 102·92 lb. - - - _Turkey_ - -There is a double series as in Egypt, but the Turkish series are based, -one on the Dirhem and the other on the Egypto-Roman ounce at the -standard of 436·45 grains. In modern Rome it is 436·26 grains, in -Tuscany 436·66 grains. - -The Dirhem, = 49·5 grains, is 16 qirát of 3·1 grains. - -The Cheké is of 100 dirhems = 4950 grains. - -The Oka is of 400 dirhems = 2·83 lb. - -The Cantar is = 2000 ounces = 124·7 or 44 Oke. - -The Cantar is divided into 100 Rottoli of 1·247 lb., = 20 ounces. - - - _The Libbra and the Rottolo_ - -Rottoli of over 16 ounces are not uncommon in Mediterranean countries, -whether Moslem or Christian. They form an alternate series with the -libbra series. Thus in Algiers there are 3 rottoli of 16, 18 and 24 oz., -each ounce, = 526·6 grains, being 10 greater dirhems, and coinciding -with the Russian ounce. There are— - - in Sicily a 12-oz. libbra, = 4897 grs., and a 30-oz. rottolo = - 12,244 grs.; - - in Malta a 12-oz. libbra, = 4886 grs., and a 30-oz. rottolo = - 12,215 grs.; - - in Genoa a 12-oz. libbra, = 4893 grs., and an 18-oz. rottolo = - 7378 grs.; - - in Naples a 12-oz. libbra, = 4950 grs., and a rottolo = 13,750 - grs. - -These Italian libbre belong to the dirhem system, their ounces being 8 -dirhems of slightly different weights; and the ounces are of much lower -weight than the ounces of the northern countries or of ancient Rome. -Though divided into 12 ounces, these libbre belong to the same class as -the 16-oz. pounds of Southern France; all having ounces of 8 dirhems. -But in North Africa the Oka and the rottolo have an ounce of 10 dirhems. - - OUNCES AND DIRHEMS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN SYSTEM - - Lb. of Oz. Dirhem of - Genoa 12 oz. 408·5 grs. 1/8 = 51 grs. - Sicily „ 408 „ 1/8 = 51 „ - Malta „ 407 „ 1/8 = 51 „ - Sardinia „ 392·6 „ 1/8 = 49·1 „ - Majorca „ 392 „ 1/8 = 49 „ - Languedoc 16 oz. 400 „ 1/8 = 50 „ - Gascony „ 392 „ 1/8 = 49 „ - Provence „ 377 „ 1/8 = 47·1 „ - Turkey = 49·5 „ - Egypt = 47·66 „ - Morocco Rotl 20 oz. 392 „ = 49 „ - Tripoli Oka 40 oz.⎫ 470·75 „ 1/10 = 47 „ - Algiers Rotl 16 oz.⎭ - Tunis Rotl 16 oz. 485·8 „ 1/10 = 48·58 „ - -Everywhere there is a Cantar or Quintal, a hundredweight, divided into 4 -_rūba_ and into 100 pounds or rotl. - -In Tunis the Cantar = 111 lb., divided into 100 rotl of 16 ukyé or -ounces of 10 dirhems. - -In Tripoli it is = 107·6 lb., in 100 rotl of 16 ukyé, of 8 dirhems of -47·075 grains. - -In Morocco it is = 112 lb. of 100 rotl, each of 20 ukyé of 8 dirhems; -the ukyé or ounce = 392 grains as in Gascony (Foix, Albi, &c.), where it -was 8 ternau. - - - SUMMARY - -However differently the Mediterranean pound or the rotl may be divided, -its ukyé or ounce is always based on one of the dirhems. This -dirhem-basis is found in every pound used in Europe and the countries -colonised from Europe. - -The pound, whether of 12 or 16 ounces, found in Morocco, Majorca, -Sardinia, Gascony, is then an Arabic weight, with an ounce of 8 dirhems, -of 49 grains = 392 grains. - -The pound of Provence was 16 ounces, each 8 dirhems of 47·1 grains. - -The Troy pounds had ounces of 10 dirhems varying between 47·2 grains for -French Troy and 48·3 for northern Troy. - -The Spanish pound = 7101 grains, its ounce = 443·8 grains, was -originally at the Moorish standard of 6 mithkals to the ounce, that is -the Egypto-Roman ounce, the old averdepois ounce. But 6 mithkals being -equal to 9 lesser dirhems, this dirhem-basis appears to have been taken. -Then, for lesser dirhems of 48·5 grains, 9 heavier dirhems of 49·3 -grains, nearly the Morocco and Gascony standard, were substituted. - -The Nuremburg or Venetian pound. Its ounce, = 460 grains, was 12 drachms -of 57·6 grains, 1/100 of the lesser rotl. - -The Cologne pound of 7200 grains, its ounce = 451 grains, or at Tower -standard 450 grains, was the greater rotl. Or its ounce was 9 dirhems of -that rotl, dirhems of 50·03 grains. - -It is thus seen that every European pound is composed of ounces on a -dirhem-basis, of 8, 9, 10 or 12 dirhems; or, as in the case of the -averdepois ounce, coinciding with the ounce of 6 mithkals or 9 dirhems. -The ounce was— - - 8 dirhems in the light Mediterranean pounds. - 9 dirhems in the medium pounds of Spain and Cologne. - 10 dirhems in the Troy pounds. - 10 greater dirhems in the Russian pound. - 12 drachmæ in the Venetian pound. - - ORIGINAL WEIGHTS OF THE DIRHEMS - - 1. Coin-weights:— Grains. - Aureus, 1/6 of As-ounce 70·1 - 3/4 „ 1/8 „ „ greater dirhem 52·6 - Mithkal, 1/6 of Egypto-Roman ounce 72·74 - 3/4 „ 1/9 „ „ „ lesser dirhem 48·5 - - 2. Rotl-weights:— - 1/100 lesser rotl drachma 57·63 - 1/144 greater rotl medium dirhem 50·03 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XIX - - FOREIGN MEASURES OF CAPACITY - - - 1. THE TEUTONIC SYSTEM - -Measures of capacity are always either— - -(_a_) based on a certain cubed linear measure; - -(_b_) made to hold a certain weight of water or of corn. - -A measure of capacity for wine or other fluids may be increased in -water-wheat, or pound-pint, ratio to make a corn-measure. - -In England they were originally based on the measure of 1000 ounces of -water, which became a cubic foot. Many foreign measures are either a -cubic foot, sometimes increased in water-wheat ratio, or a cubed cubit. - -In Germany, amid a great diversity of measures, a chaos to anyone who -has not the key to the principle of unity underlying variety, apparently -aberrant measures often show by their names that, while their value has -changed, they were originally of a standard that can be traced. And it -will generally be found that they are related to a cubic foot, perhaps -increased in water-wheat ratio. Sometimes there is one measure for wine -and corn, and sometimes the increased corn-measure may have come to be -used for fluids while the corn-measure actually in use has been -imported. - -Taking three representative German feet, and evolving from them their -cubic measure, we have: - - Foot. Cubic foot. Gallons. × 1·25 - (_a_) Amsterdam 11·146 in. 1384·6 c.in. = (4·94) = 6·15 - (_b_) Hamburg 11·241 „ 1420 „ = (5·12) = 6·4 - (_c_) Rhineland 12·356 „ 1886 „ = 6·78 = 8·5 - -(_a_) In Holland there seems to be no measure of capacity corresponding -to the cubic foot, but this, increased in w.w. ratio, gives the Schepel -= 6·12 gallons, the Skipple of New England. - -(_b_) In Hamburg the cubic-foot measure is also absent, but the w.w. -increased measure appears as the Eimer = 6·375 gallons, now used for -wine, and this measure, again increased, appears as the Anker = 7·97 -gallons, both being now fluid measures. - -In Bremen and Lubeck, the Eimer = 6·4 gallons, and the Anker = 8 -gallons, the one of 4 and the other of 5 viertels, are both -wine-measures; while the corn-measure, the Scheffel, = 7·6 gallons, is -very nearly the old English corn-bushel. - -(_c_) Prussia and Hanover both had the Rhineland foot, but Prussia, -while recognising the cubic foot of water as 66 lb. weight, Cologne -standard, had no corresponding measure of capacity. In Hanover and in -Brunswick the Rhineland cubic foot of water, = 6·78 gallons, was -represented, not by a wine-measure, but by a corn-measure, the Himt = -6·852 gallons. And the increased measure, 6·85 × 1·25 = 8·56 gallons, -which should properly have been the corn-bushel, appears in Hanover as -the Anker, a second wine-measure. - -And yet a wine-measure corresponding to the Rhineland cubic foot did -exist, in the Viertel = 1·713 gallons, exactly one-fourth of the -capacity of the Himt. Five viertels make an Anker, which shows that the -Himt, presumably at first a wine-measure of 4 viertels or quarters, was -increased in water-wheat ratio to the Anker of 5 viertels. But their -original positions were reversed: the Himt became a corn-measure and the -Anker a wine-measure. - -The original wine-measure of 4 viertels, now the Himt corn-measure -(represented in Scotland by the Firlot), is important in this story. - -The existence of the Himt supports my hypothesis of the origin of the -Rhineland foot. The side of a Himt of quadrantal, or exactly cubical, -shape measures 12·385 inches, not 3/100 of an inch above the 12·356 -inches of the Rhineland standard foot. - -The Himt is then the Troy talent of 1000 ounces, 2/3 of the Arabic -kantar, which was 1500 Troy ounces, in just the same way that the -English wine-bushel = a cubic foot, the measure of 1000 old averdepois -ounces of water, was 2/3 of the Alexandrian talent of 1500 Egypto-Roman -ounces. - -The Himt being the Troy talent-measure, 2/3 of the Arabic cubic foot, it -should have to the Arabic cubic cubit a proportion 2/3 of the normal -proportion 1/3·375 of any cubic foot to its cubic cubit. So the Himt = -6·852 gallons × 3/2 × 3·375 = 34·688 gallons, almost exactly the Arabic -cubic cubit, which became the Cargo of Marseilles, or the Setier of -Paris. Now this standard of 34·73 gallons or thereabouts is not uncommon -in Germany. In Hanover and Hesse-Cassel the Ohm = 34·26 gallons is a -wine-measure, in Saxony the Malter = 34·7 gallons is a corn-measure, -divided into 12 scheffels. Corresponding to this in England was an -ancient measure, the Amber (Hamberboune, Hamberbarrel). In other parts -of Germany where the cubic foot is smaller, being derived, as in -Hamburg, from a foot = 11·24 inches (or at least corresponding to this -foot), the cubic foot there gives a measure = 5·12 gallons, and when -increased in w.w. ratio = 6·4 gallons. This latter measure × 5 gives 32 -gallons, and this number of gallons, either as an Ohm, wine-measure, or -× 8 = 32 bushels as a Malter, or corn-measure, is common throughout -Germany. There seems in many places to have been a double standard, the -smaller derived from a cubic foot, and the larger derived from the -Arabic cubic cubit and somewhat cut down to become a multiple of the -smaller measure. - -The Viertel, = 1·713 gallons, the quarter of the Himt, is also an -important measure, not only as giving the clue to the Troy talent, but -also as a very widespread wine-measure. - -It passed to France, there becoming the Velte = 1·62 gallons at -Bordeaux, 1·76 gallons at Paris, where its introduction into the series -of wine-measures broke the regular division of the Muid. At Bordeaux -this velte was probably the cause of the English wine-gallon increasing -from its original 216 cubic inches (1/8 of the cubic foot, or -wine-bushel of 1000 ounces) to 231 cubic inches. At the latter capacity -it became just half of the Bordeaux velte. - -The shrinkage of the Bordeaux velte to 1·62 gallons may have been the -effect of adaptation to an English double wine-gallon, or it may have -been from the velte, when passing to Holland, having to adapt itself to -the other wine-measures of that country. The Dutch Velt or Welt took a -place between the Stoop, = 0·5337 gallons, and the Steekan, of 8 -stoopen; and it thus became a measure of 3 stoopen = 1·601 gallon. - -It gave rise to the Legger, of 80 velts. This passed to English trade as -the Leaguer, but failed to establish itself, being soon only known as a -long cask of about 150 wine-gallons used for the lower tier of -water-casks in ships. Above the ‘leaguers’ came the ‘riders.’ - -The Velt and the Leggar are still used in colonies now or formerly -Dutch. The Leggar in Java = 127·34 gallons. - - The Velt = 1·6 gallons at the Cape & Java (approximately). - „ „ = 1·63 „ „ Mauritius. - „ „ = 1·66 „ „ Ceylon. - ( „ „ = 1·67 „ in France, near La Rochelle.) - -But the Viertel maintained, even increased, its standard of 1·713 -gallons when entering the Marseilles-Paris systems of wine-measures as -the Velte; rising to 1·77 gallons in order to become half of the -Escandau of Marseilles, and taking a place at = 1·76 gallons in the -Paris series of wine-measures (see Chapter XXI). Coming from the North, -it was yet an evolution of the Arabic foot, while the Escandau was 1/8 -of the Marseilles Cargo reduced in wheat-water ratio, and this cargo was -the Arabic cubic cubit. - - - 2. THE MEDITERRANEAN SYSTEM - -The Moslem conquest of the greater part of the Mediterranean countries, -with the influence of Arab trade and of Moorish civilisation, displaced -the Roman system of weights and measures, already modified by the -influence of Ptolemaïc Egypt, and caused changes even in the weights and -measures of Italy. Not only the North of Africa, but Spain, Provence -(and the other Occitanian lands), the dominions of the three republics -of Venice, Genoa and Arles, with the countries forming the Turkish -Empire, all these took more or less the Arab system of weights and -measures, and this system penetrated deep into Western Europe. - -The principal Arab measures which form the basis of the Mediterranean -measures of capacity were: - -1. The cubed Persian cubit = 8 Persian cubic feet (the Persian foot -being half the cubit of 25·26 inches). The Persian cubic foot of water -being the Persian or Greek-Asiatic talent, at its calculated value of -72·61 lb., the cubed cubit is 8 × 72·61 = 580·88 lb. = 58·088 gallons. - -This was the Arab (and Hebrew) Den = 58·2 gallons, divided into - - 4 Artaba of 14·55 gallons - each of 4 Wuebe of 3·6375 „ - each of 6 Saa of 0·6064 „ - -The Artaba was thus = 2 cubic feet, and the Saa was the qirát, 1/24 of -the Artaba. - -The modern Persian Artaba = 14·47 gallons. - -2. The cubed Black cubit of Al-Mamūn = 34·73 gallons. - -3. The cubed Black foot of Al-Mamūn = 10·29 gallons, the weight of which -was the Kantar = 102·92 lb. - -4. The Ardeb = 4 cubed Black feet; 4 × 10·29 = 41·168 gallons. - -The measures derived from these cubed linear measures are as follows: - -1. The first of these measures, the cubed Persian cubit, has been -accurately preserved in the Cafiz of Tunis, which is the Den, doubled, 2 -× 58·088 = 116·4 gallons. Its present standard is 116·34 gallons, and it -is divided into - - 16 Wuebe of 7·27 gallons (1/2 Artaba) - each of 12 Saa of 0·605 „ - -While the Cafiz of Tunis is of 8 Artaba, the Cahiz of Spain is of 10 -Artaba, 10 × 14·55 = 145·5 gallons. It is divided into - - 12 Fanegas of 12·125 gallons - each of 12 Almudas or Celemines of 1·0104 gallons. - -The present standard in Spain of the Cahiz = 144·7 gallons, the Fanega -being = 12·06 gallons, and the Celemin = 1·005 gallon. The Tomolo of -Naples is = 12·22 gallons. - -2. The second measure, the cubed Black cubit = 34·73 gallons, is the -basis of the fluid (oil and wine) measures of Tunis, and also of Spain, -Provence and Paris. - -Reduced in inverse water-wheat ratio, it gives 34·73/1·22 = 28·46 -gallons. - -This fluid measure, apparently not extant at the present time, is yet -found in its double, the Moyo of Spain = 56·79 gallons, and its half, -the Mezzaruola of Italy, the Mieirolo of Marseilles. - -The Mieirolo is the basis of other important measures; its standard, = -28·46/2 = 14·19 gallons, is found— - - in Tunis = 13·97 gallons - in Tripoli = 14·19 „ - in Spain = 14-23 „ (1/4 Moyo). - -A quarter of this measure is the _Arroba mayor_ of Spain (arroba = -al-rūbá, the fourth), the Escandau of Marseilles = 3·54 gallons. - -The half of the Arroba, or of the Escandau, corresponds to the Velte, -1·76 gallon at Paris, 1·73 gallon in Hanover, &c. It is the meeting -point of Northern and Southern measures, which are derived quite -separately from Al-Mamūn’s cubit, the former by weight, the latter by -measure. - -The measures of Portugal differ little from those of Spain. The -corn-unit is the Fanga (Sp. _fanega_, Ar. _faníqa_, sack) = 12·17 -gallons. There appears to have been a larger unit of 6 fangas, as the -name of the Alqueire, 1/4 fanga, implies that this smaller unit was a -qirát, 1/24 of a large measure = 6 fangas. - -The alqueire varies in capacity. In Brazil it is our Imperial bushel. - -In Spain the fanega is the usual seed-measure of land; it is = 1·6 acre -(exactly the saumado seed-measure of Provence), though probably that -amount of land requires fully 2 fanegas of seed-corn. - -The cubed Black cubit appears also as a corn-measure, its original -purpose. - - Original standard 34·73 gallons = 4·34 bushels - Rebekeh of Egypt = 4·32 „ - Cargo of Marseilles = 4·26 „ - Setier of Paris = 4·29 „ - -3. The cubed Black foot, = 10·292 gallons, passed with the Moors to -Spain; it was the standard of the old Burgos fanega until the fifteenth -century, when the present Avila standard prevailed. - -4. The Ardeb of 4 cubed Black feet, 4 × 10·292 = 41·168 gallons, is -represented by the Cairo Ardeb of the present time, = 40 gallons or 5 -bushels, generally somewhat more. It is divided into 6 Wuebe, each of 4 -Rūba or quarters, which are qiráts, 1/24 of the Ardeb. The standard of -the Cairo Ardeb varies. It is sometimes put at as much as 5·44 bushels = -43·52 gallons. The official standard of the Ardeb of wheat is 297 lb., = -38·5 gallons at 60 lb. to the bushel. - - - _Turkey_ - -The weights and measures of capacity seem a maze of confusion, until the -clue is found. There is a double series of weights based on the dirhem -and on the ounce. This ounce is not mentioned in the series of weights, -but once discovered, it gives the clue to the maze, and the system is -then seen to be really simple. - -It has already been seen that the weights are in a double series giving -the Oka of 400 dirhems, and the Cantar of 2000 Egypto-Roman ounces, = -124·7 lb., divided into 100 rottoli. The weight of the dirhem, = 49·5 -grains in the cheké goldsmith’s weight, becomes = 49·6 in the Oka, 1/44 -of the Cantar. - -_Fluid-measure._—A double cantar, 2 × 124·7 lb. = 249·4 lb., was -increased in water-wheat ratio, 249·4 × 1·25 = 311·75 lb. = 31·175 -gallons. The actual capacity of this water-Cantar is 31·412 gallons. -This measure is divided into 100 rottoli-measure (= 3·14 lb. of water), -each of 2-1/2 rottoli weight = 50 ounces. - -_Corn-measure._—The Cantar measure becomes, for corn, the Fortin, at a -standard of 31·1 gallons. This measure being 2 × 1·25 = 2-1/2 times the -Cantar weight of 2000 ounces, contains 5000 ounces of water or 4000 -ounces of wheat. It is divided into 4 Killows of 7·775 gallons. This -measure is evidently named from the Greek _chilioi_ (Fr. kilo) as -holding 1000 ounces of wheat. It is divided again into 4 Saa. - -The Fortin is also divided into 88 rottoli, the rottolo containing 500 -dirhems of water or 400 dirhems of corn. - -In fluid-measure there is an oka-measure; 8 oka, = 3-2/3 -rottoli-measure, make an Almud = 1·15 gallon. I only mention this -intrusive measure to confer it with the Spanish Almuda or Celemin = 1·01 -gallon. - -These Turkish measures, fluid and corn, afford another instance of the -practice of increasing a fluid measure in water-wheat ratio, and then of -using this increased measure for fluids as well as corn. Instances of -this practice have been seen in German measures (for instance the Himt). -And our own gallon affords a somewhat similar instance. Increased from -the cubic foot to make a corn-gallon, this was again increased by 3 per -cent. to make the Imperial gallon, both for fluids and for corn. - - - _Italy_ - -The system of measures left from ancient Rome, themselves of Oriental -origin, has been to a great extent overlaid by Arabic measures. - -In Bologne the Corba, = 17·3 gallons, is half the cubed Black cubit, to -which the Neapolitan oil-Salma, = 35·5 gallons, is closely approximate. - -In Rome the principal corn-measure, the Rubbio = 64·77 gallons, bears an -Arabic name; it is doubled in the Tuscan Moggio, and investigation would -probably discover a measure of 4 rubbii = 259 gallons = 32-1/3 bushels -or about the old English chaldron of 4 quarters. - -The Starello of Sardinia, = 10·8 gallons, is approximately a quarter of -the Ardeb. - - - 3. HEBREW WEIGHTS AND MEASURES OF CAPACITY - -The Hebrews used the measures of Egypt and Phœnicia. The common Egyptian -cubit, very near ‘the cubit of a man,’ was the usual measure of length. -They brought back from the Captivity some Persian measures: - -1. The Great Assyrian cubit, which is ‘the cubit and an hand-breadth.’ - -2. A measuring Reed of six cubits long, by the cubit and an hand-breadth -= the modern qasáb of Egypt. - -3. The Cubit of the Talmud = 21·914 inches, the 1/3000 of the Bereh, -which was 1/1000 of an hour on the equator (see page 27). - -For weights they used the Alexandrian talent or Kikkar divided in the -Phœnician manner into 50 minás of 60 shekels = 218-1/2 grains. This -shekel was sometimes called the Shekel of the Sanctuary and was then -divided, not into 8 Gerahs of 27·31 grains (our dram, 1/16 of the -Egypto-Roman ounce) but into 2 Bekah or 4 Reba or 20 Gerah = 10·9 -grains. The Reba, 1/4 Shekel, was the drachma of the Phœnician weights, -= 54·62 grains. - -When, as recorded in Exodus xxvii, 603,550 men contribute each a Bekah -or half-shekel of silver, the amount of 301,775 shekels is stated to be -= 100 talents and 1775 shekels, after the shekel of the Sanctuary. In -this statement the talent is of 3000 shekels, according to the Phœnician -reckoning. - -In Ezekiel xlvi, the shekel is given as of 20 gerahs and the miná is -stated to be 20 + 25 + 15 = 60 shekels, confirming the Phœnician mode of -dividing the Alexandrian talent as that used by the Hebrews, viz. 50 -minás of 60 shekels. - -The measures of capacity had for principal unit the Olympic talent, the -weight of water of the common Egyptian foot cubed, = 6·48 gallons. It -was called the Bath for fluid measure, the Epha for corn and other dry -measure. The Bath was divided into 6 Hin = 1·08 gallon (this being about -the same capacity as the Spanish and Turkish almuda) and into 72 Log, = -2/3 pint. The Epha was likewise of 72 log, and 4 log made a Cab. - -The Cor or Homer was a measure of 10 Epha or Bath, = 64·8 gallons or 8·1 -bushels. It coincided approximately with 2 great Artaba, this measure -being the cubed Royal cubit = 31·695 gallons; × 2 = 63·39 gallons. - -The Hebrew field-units were at first seed-measures, afterwards fixed -geometrically. - -The unit was the Bathsea, sown with a Bath of grain; it was 8 qasáb, or -48 great cubits, square, = a rood. - -The Betheoron, sown with a Cor, 10 Bath, of grain, was 10 of the lesser -unit and therefore = 2-1/2 acres. - -In these three chapters on foreign measures and weights I have tried to -show the principles of unity underlying the variety of measures. To -describe them fully would require a series of monographs which, however -interesting, would lack the more important general view. I shall -therefore confine myself to the full description, in Chapters XXI and -XXII, of the measures and weights of France which, both in the old -system and in the metric system, are of special interest to us. Before -proceeding to these I must treat, in a somewhat discursive chapter, of -the meanings of some names of measures. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XX - - THE DEVELOPMENT OF MEANING IN THE NAMES - OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES - - - 1. GENERAL REMARKS - -In the various names of weights and measures there are many -general-utility words which offer no difficulty in the sphere of those -who use them habitually, yet which are sometimes puzzling to others, -while they are interesting to the student of semantics. They form a -chapter in the history of weights and measures, itself a volume in the -history of the human mind. - -Some terms have an obvious meaning, as ‘half’ and ‘quarter.’ - -These inevitably run through the usual series of measures. Even the -metric system has to tolerate half-units as a concession to unscientific -weakness while refusing quarters otherwise than as 25 hundredths of the -unit. But quarters are firmly rooted in the human mind and resist -scientific attempt to extirpate them. They are very common in the -sexdecimal series, representing a fourth of one unit and four of a lower -unit. - -Quart and Quartern have acquired certain definite senses, the first of a -quarter-gallon, the second either of a quarter-pint or of a -quarter-peck. Quarter by itself is of wide application; it may mean the -fourth of a pound or of a hundredweight or of a dollar, or of an acre. -In its Teutonic form we have it in farthing and in firkin. France has -its _quart_ as a quarter-pound, its _quartié_ in land-measure, its -_quarteron_ as a quarter-hundred, though usually 26. - -The context, whether in writing or in speech, usually shows the meaning -of ‘quarter’ unless that meaning has been destroyed by legislation, as -in the case of the Quarter of wheat where the meaning of the word could -not be recognised either by the eminent scientific member of a -Parliamentary Committee or by the scientific expert in measures giving -evidence before him. The Quarter has remained, while the Chaldron, of -which it was a fourth, was so worried by legislative interference that -it disappeared as a corn-measure. - -The French Setier in its different senses of a load of corn, of a -bushel, of a double gallon, and of a pint, had long lost all connection -with L. _sextuarius_; it had indeed got to mean a quarter in the same -way that in Italy the _sestiero_, originally one of the six districts of -a city, had acquired a similar sense to the French _quartier_ as a -district. The French setier or sestié had so lost its original meaning -as to be often written ‘septier,’ as if it were a seventh. - -The Greek obolos (originally meaning a copper nail), 1/6 of a drachm, -acquired in Latin the sense of ‘half.’ When the drachma took the -weight-sense of 60 grains, an obolus was 10 grains; but this was half a -scruple, so it took a general sense of ‘half,’ and the halfpenny was -latinised as an obolus. - -Maille was the corresponding French word for halfpenny, being It. -_medaglio_, Prov. _medaio_, akin not only to ‘medal’ but also to -‘metal,’ in which there seems to be a sense of ‘half’ of an alloy. Yet -it became a weight of 1/4 ounce, perhaps from being half of the loth or -half-ounce. And the Fr. _felin_, It. _ferlino_, probably corruptions of -vierling or farthing, on becoming 1/4 of the _maille_, was 1/16 of the -ounce. In the section on terms used in old land-measures I have shown -the equivocal sense of words related to ‘ferling.’ - -Our Yard, from the influence of its French equivalents—_verge_, rod, and -_vergée_, rood—became a quarter-acre, and then a quarter-hide. - -The Drachm as a part of the Troy ounce, 1/8, became the dram as a part -of the averdepois ounce, 1/16. As a measure it became 1/8 of a spirit -pint. - -The terms signifying 1/12, 1/16, 1/24 and some smaller fractions of -weights or measures, show a development of meaning which will be given -in the following sections. - - - 2. THE NAIL AND THE CLOVE; THE INCH AND THE OUNCE - -The yard is lawfully divided (as was also the ell) into 4 quarters and -16 nails. - -The hundredweight is divided into 4 quarters, 8 stones and 16 cloves or -nails. - -How did ‘Nail’ come to mean a sixteenth of a unit, length or weight? - -The ‘New English Dictionary’ throws no light on the origin of this -peculiarly English term. The only other general name I know for a -sixteenth is the Indian ‘anna,’ the sixteenth of a rupee, of a crop, of -a venture, &c. - -The story of the Nail reaches back to the early history of weights and -measures and is of philological as well as metrological interest. The -half-cubit or span, the common handy measure in most parts of the world, -is of 12 digits, while the foot is 16 digits and is still so divided in -Italy and other southern countries. The digit is not only a -middle-finger breadth, it is also a thumb-nail breadth; as the former it -was in Greek _dactylos_, as the latter _onyx_, which became _onkia_ in -Southern Italy and gave rise to two Latin words, _unguis_ for the actual -finger-nail, _uncia_ for the thumb-nail breadth equal to the digit and -generally for a twelfth part. Hence a differentiation of meaning in the -Romance languages. - - GREEK _onyx_, _onkia_ - - Latin _unguis_ _uncia_, thumb-nail breadth, ounce - Italian _unghia_ _oncia_, last thumb-joint, ounce - Provençal _ounglo_ _ounço_, finger-joint, knuckle, ounce - French _ongle_ _once_, finger-joint (obs.), ounce - English (nail) _unce_, ynch - -When the Romans adopted the duodecimal or ‘uncial’ system they applied -it to the foot, which was divided into either 12 or 16 parts both called -unciæ; but to distinguish these they used two other words, _digitus_ for -the sixteenth and _pollex_, thumb, for the twelfth, the thumb-breadth. - -In English ‘unce, ynch’ always meant the thumb-breadth 1/12 of a foot, -‘Nail,’ the thumb-nail breadth equal to the digit, being kept for the -1/16 foot. Thence ‘nail’ came to have the general sense of sixteenth and -to be applied to that fraction of a 4-span yard, of a 5-span ell, of a -bushel, of a hundredweight. - -In Latin the analogous general sense of twelfth belonged to _uncia_, -whether of the foot, of the land-unit, of the pound. The general sense -of twenty-fourth attached to the scruple as 1/24 ounce, passed to the -qirát, or carat, in the countries influenced by Arab customs, as being -1/24 of the mithkal, the Arab successor of the Roman solidus. - -In modern Italy the palmo or span, and the libbra or pound, were both -divided into 12 _oncie_, meaning inches or ounces. - -With the general substitution of the 16-ounce pound for that of 12 -ounces, the word ‘ounce’ lost its meaning of twelfth. In some of the -Romance languages its sense of length extended to the length of any -finger-joint, especially to the length of the proximal joint of the -thumb. Thus in Southern France the _ounço dóu pouce_ (Fr. _once de -poulce_) was taken as 1/5 of the span or nearly 2 inches. - -When our Cwt. was raised to 112 lb. and the 16-lb. stone replaced by -that of 14 lb. the term Nail was applied to the half of the new stone, -and it was perhaps the divisibility of the new Cwt. into 16 parts of 7 -lb. that reconciled people to the unpopular new weight. But for all -that, the people held on for centuries to the 16-lb. stone, and call its -half, 8 lb., a nail, though it is no longer the sixteenth of a larger -unit. - -When the half of the 14-lb. stone was legally called a nail, how was -this term to be rendered into law-Latin or statute French by the scribes -of Plantagenet times ignorant of the origin of the term? Naturally they -blundered; they got hold of the wrong nail, rendering it by L. _clavus_ -instead of by _unguis_, and by Fr. _clou_, _cloue_, or in the script of -the time _clove_ instead of by _ongle_. This misnomer took; and a -statute of 1430 states that a Wey of cheese may contain 32 cloves, every -clove 7 lb., making the wey = 224 lb., 2 Cwt. But despite statutes the -cheese-trade went on with its 8-lb. clove, of which 32 make 256 lb., the -true wey. - -It was the same with the wool-trade, controlled by the State for revenue -purposes. The half-stone of wool became a nail. In 1342 we find _quatuor -clavos lanæ_, 4 nails of wool. - -But _clavus_, a nail, became confounded with _clavis_, a key, and so in -Southern France the nail-weight, introduced from England, became _clau_, -a key, instead of _clavèu_, a nail. Thus the nail, Fr. _once_, _ongle_, -became clove, Fr. _clou_, L. _clavis_, an iron nail; then in Prov. and -Fr. _clau_, L. _clavus_, a key. - - - 3. THE CARAT AND THE GRAIN - - (A) _The Carat_ - -One would hardly recognise the golden Solidus of Rome in the French Sol, -the brass halfpenny with the effigy of Louis XVI, current within my -memory, or in the bronze Sou by which sums under three francs are still -reckoned in France. - -The Solidus, Aureus, or Exagium solidi, was so called because, -representing the As, or unit of money, it was the gold-unit of which the -semissis was the half and the tremissis the third. - -Weighing 70·1 grains (under Constantine) it was 1/6 of the Roman -mint-ounce = 420-2/3 grains, or 1/72 of the As libralis. Its weight was -equal to 24 siliquæ, afterwards called Carats = 2·921 grains, and its -third, the tremissis, weighed nearly 24 grains, the troy pennyweight. -Hence pure gold was considered as solidus or ‘entire’ of 24 carats, and -the quality or ‘touch’ of gold would be denoted by the number of carats -of pure gold it contained out of 24. The carat of fineness was divided -into 4 assay-grains, and these again into fourths. English gold coins -are 22 carats fine since the time of Henry VIII, but the Plantagenet -gold coins were usually 23 carats 3-1/2 grains fine, that is 191/192 = -nearly 995 in 1000. - -Thus the carat was 1/24 Solidus or 1/144 ounce. - -When the Arab caliphs had conquered Egypt and the greater part of the -Mediterranean countries, they followed Roman imperial customs and -replaced the gold Exagium solidi, 1/72 of the As, by the gold mithkal, -1/72 of the Libra or Egypto-Roman pound. The Mithkal was then 1/6 of the -Egypto-Roman ounce = 437 grains, so that it weighed 72·7 grains. It was -divided like the Roman coin into 24 qirát, each = 3·035 grains and -divided into 4 hubba or light grains, meaning corn-grains. - -The Ptolemaïc or lesser Alexandrian talent had been divided into 60 -minás of 12 ounces; these either 100 drachmæ or 12 × 12 carats of 3·1616 -grains. The carat was an ancient Eastern weight, originally the flat -seed of the caroub or locust-tree, _Ceratonia siliqua_, and in Greek -_keration_. Throughout North Africa and in other Moslem countries there -are two usual lesser units of weight: - - The Mithkal = 72·7 grs. of 24 Kharūb or qirát - The Dirhem = 48-1/2 „ „ 16 „ „ „ - -The carat, from a goldsmith’s assay-weight, became the unit for the -weight of precious stones, varying slightly in different countries and -usually divided into 4 diamond-carats. - - THE CARATS - - Roman siliqua 2·916 grs. 1/4 = ·729 gr. - Roman-Egyptian carat 3·035 „ „ = ·758 „ - Ptolemaïc „ 3·1616 „ „ = ·790 „ - Venetian „ 3·196 „ „ = ·799 „ - Egyptian (modern) „ 3·088 „ „ = ·772 „ - Spanish (Moorish) „ 3·082 „ „ = ·770 „ - Amsterdam (diamond) carat 3·165 „ - Hamburg „ „ 3·176 „ = 1/142 Cologne oz. - English „ „ 3·177 „ - French metric „ 3·086 „ = ·2 gramme - -The Eastern qirát has retained all the derived senses seen in the -Western carat, 1/24 of a pure gold-unit. A cubit of 28 digits has an -alternative division into 24 qirát. The kharūb of Egypt, 16 to a dirhem -and 24 to a mithkal, is the weight-counterpart of the digit, 16 to the -foot and 24 to the cubit. The density of brine is on a scale of 24 -qirát. Points in a competition, shares in a business or ship are -reckoned similarly. At Marseilles the ownership of a vessel is divided -into 24 qirát as it is in England into sixty-fourths. - -‘Ai un queirat sus un navire’: _Calendau_ v. (by Mistral). - -Sometimes the 24 qirát are grouped into 4 _rob_ of 6 qirát. _Rob_ is -from Ar. _al rabaa_, fourth; cf. _rubaiyat_ = quatrain. In Spain and -Portugal the arroba, in Provence the _rub_ (It. _rubbio_) is the -quarter-hundredweight. - - - _The Refiner’s Carat_ - -There is another use of the term Carat, confined to goldsmiths and -refiners of the precious metals. The old troy pound was regarded as 24 -carats; the carat was 4 grains, each of 4 quarters or of 60 grains. This -system was used in the refinery of the Royal Mint up to 1882. - -In Germany the Cologne marc (8 ounces) was divided by refiners (1) for -gold into 24 carats of 12 grains; (2) for silver into 16 loth -(half-ounces) of 18 grains. - -It is probable that this system came to England with the Tower pound (12 -ounces of the Cologne marc) and was continued with the Troy pound. - - - - - (B) _The Grain_ - -The names given to the smaller weights were taken from seeds just as -measures of length were named after limb-lengths corresponding roughly -to them. The kharoub may be used for a carat-weight. The ruttee or ráti, -a scarlet pea with a black spot, is used in India as a goldsmith’s -weight = 1·75 grain. Poppy-seeds, mustard-seeds, barley-corns, -wheat-corns, have been used for minute weights. The Grain was the Greek -_sitatrion_, a wheat-corn. It was perhaps from the custom of saying that -3 poppy-seeds = one mustard-seed, and that 6 of these = one barley-corn, -&c., that an idea arose of these seeds being the basis of systems of -weight. It has been seen that the definition of the Plantagenet -mint-weight was that 32 wheat-corns were the pennyweight. This idea, -hallowed in our statutes, is not yet extinct. - -Ambroise Paré, in treating of medicinal weights (1582) said: - - Every weight arises from some beginning and element. For as our - bodies arise from the four first simple or elementary bodies, so - all weights arise from the grain, which is _tanquam_ the - beginning and the end of the remainder. We understand a grain of - barley, neither dried nor mouldy, but well made and of medium - fatness. From 10 grains of this sort comes the obolus, from 2 - oboli or 20 grains the scruple ... &c. - -This is medieval rubbish. As John Greaves, Professor of Astronomy at -Oxford, in his ‘Discourse of the Roman foot’ (1647) wisely said: - - I cannot but approve the counsel of Villapandus who adviseth - such as will examine measures and weights to begin with the - greater and not the lesser.... The most curious man alive with - the exactest scale that the most skilful artisan can invent, - shall never be able, out of the standard of one grain, to - produce a weight equal to the weight of ten thousand grains. - -While the subdivision of linear measures and of weights usually stopped -at some familiar quantity named after a seed, yet efforts were sometimes -made to get at an ultimate atom as the term of the series. The Hindus -who began, or ended, a series of weights with one of the motes or fine -particles of dust visible in a sunbeam, were imitated by the English -moneyers who continued the 20-dwt. and 24-grain series by dividing the -grains into 20 Mites, each of 24 Droits, each of 20 Periots, each of 24 -Blanks, the blank being 1/230400 of a grain. - -So our mint expressed the weight of a Stuart silver penny, not as -7-23/31 grains (all the silver coins having then a fraction of 31sts); -that would have been too simple—but as 7 grains, 14 mites, 20 droits, 2 -periots, 12 blanks. Even then the statement was not exact; one or two -more infinitesimal units would have had to be added to the series. - -It may be noted that 7-23/31 grains is simpler than the modern decimal -equivalent 7·74193548, &c. - -The origin of these mint-terms is obscure; the ‘N.E.D.’ casts no light -on it. I consider their source to be— - -Mite—mijt, a small Dutch coin. - -Droit—a corruption of the Dutch _duit_, Sc. ‘doit,’ a fraction of a -farthing. It was more properly written ‘dwit’; perhaps the _r_ was -inserted to avoid confusion with ‘dwt.’ - -Periot—a period or full stop; perhaps influenced by ‘iota’ and ‘jot.’ - -Blank—as the blank in dominoes, still lower than the ace, point, or full -stop, the Dutch As; perhaps influenced by ‘point-blank,’ in which the -bull’s eye, at first the ‘point,’ became the blank or white. - -It has been seen, under Troy weight, that there are two classes of -grains: - -The heavy grain 1/(20 × 24) = 1/480 ounce as in English Troy. - -The light grain 1/(24 × 24) = 1/576 ounce as in French Troy. - -The ounce of 576 light grains was used in France, some Italian states, -Spain and Portugal. Elsewhere, throughout Europe, the mint and medicinal -ounce was 480 heavy grains, the scruple being 20 grains. - -The heavy and light grains have been connected respectively with the -barley-corn and the wheat-corn. They may have been so originally, but it -is more probable that the grain, at first a seed-weight, came to mean a -division of the scruple into either 20 or 24 parts. - -In Dutch mint-weight the Troy ounce was of 20 dwt. or Engels, each of 2 -mail, 4 vierling, 8 troisken, 16 deusken, 32 azen or aces. The Aas was -the wheat-corn of our mint-legend. In the Spanish Netherlands the Engel -was increased to make the ounce 24 × 24 grains. The Engel thus became -(Antwerp 1580) = 28·8 grains = 1-1/5 English dwt. The word Engel means -‘angel,’ not the angel coin weighing 3 engel 10 azen, but Angle—‘Angli, -non Angeli.’ - - - 4. THE TUN AND THE FOTHER - -These words belong to an onomatopœic class: - -1. Bung—akin to ‘bomb,’ to Fr. _bonbonne_, a more or less globular -vessel giving out a ‘bom’ sound when struck. In Somerset the bung-hole -of a cask is the bum-hole; a ‘bun’ is a puffed somewhat semi-globular -cake. Bung was probably a cask; the word is applied to a portly publican -fancifully resembling one of his casks. Bumboat probably meant a boat -carrying ‘bums’ or casks to ships. - -2. Ton, tun—a large cask giving a thundering sound. L. _tonitru_, Fr. -_tonnerre_, whence Fr. _tonne_, our ton for weight, tun for capacity. - -3. Fr. _Foudre_, a ‘thundering big’ cask or vat. L. _fulgur_, Fr. -_fouldre_, _foudre_, a thunder-bolt, in German _fuder_, whence our -‘fudder’ and ‘fother,’ about a ton of coal or of lead, a cartload of -about a ton. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XXI - - THE OLD MEASURES AND WEIGHTS OF FRANCE - - -Up to the time of the Revolution each province had its own measures and -weights, more or less influenced by the uncertain standard measures of -the king in Paris. This was the effect of the feudal system and of the -very gradual annexation of the provinces under conditions which left -considerable powers to the parliaments and other local authorities. Even -in each province varieties of measures were to be found, and they exist -to this day in each _pays_, often in each parish. - -The basis of this very loose system was Roman, influenced in the North -by Teutonic importations, but especially by the peculiar and -intrinsically perfect system of the South, where the Roman basis had -entirely disappeared under the influences of commerce with Egypt and -with that portion of Africa which begins across the Pyrenees, and which -in medieval times imparted much of its high civilisation to European -countries. - - - 1. THE SOUTHERN SYSTEM - -This system, prevailing far beyond the limits of Occitania, the land of -the Lengo d’O, had for its basis the Load of Wheat, a measure very -nearly that of the cubed Arabic cubit, and comparable with the English -Coomb or half-Quarter. Just as the English Quarter of corn is 8 bushels, -so the Cargo (load, or Saumado, ass-load, Seam) is 8 Eimino. And just as -we had a wine-bushel, originally a cubic foot in water-wheat ratio with -the corn-bushel, so Occitania had its Escandau for wine corresponding, -in the Southern water-wheat ratio of 1 to 1·22, to the Eimino or Panau. -The only difference in this evolution was that, while our corn-measure -was increased from the wine-measure, the southern wine-measure, and -other measures evolved inversely from it, were produced from the -corn-measure as a basis. The word Escandau means ‘standard’ (like the -Denerel of Guernsey), and just as the cubic measure, the quadrantal, of -1000 Roman ounces of water, is the standard of our foot and virtually of -all our other measures, so the Escandau-quadrantal is the standard of -the Pán and of all the other measures of Marseilles. I take the -standards of Marseilles as it was the great port of trade in the South, -and incidentally those of Arles, the capital of the medieval kingdom of -Arles or of Burgundy, afterwards the republic of Arles. This was so -considerable a seaport, connected as it was with the sea both by the -Rhone and by a canal passage, the Fossæ Marianæ, through the lagoons, -that at one time the Lion of Arles was a rival of its brother of St. -Mark, and gave its name to the Gulf which receives the Rhone. - -The process of involution by which the Pán of Marseilles was derived -from the side of an Escandau of quadrantal form has been described in -Chapter IV. - -The Cano or fathom, = 79·24 inches, was 8 pán or spans each = 9·904 -inches; the span was of 8 menut or inches, also divided into 8 -parts.[47] - -Footnote 47: - - In Provençal, the principal idiom of the Occitanian language, nouns - take no plural form; so pán, cáno, &c., do not change. The Provençal - words in this chapter are pronounced—páng, cánn, saomádd, eymīnn, - escandáo, panáo, cárrg, miyeyròl. - -The basis of the Southern system, typically that of Marseilles, was then -the Cargo, a corn-measure = 34·73 gallons (the equivalent of 154·79 -litres, the official metric value), which was the cubic cubit of -Al-Mamūn: - - 21·28 inches cubed = 9639 c.i. = 34·73 gallons. - -Now what water or wine measure would be produced from the Cargo, -decreased in wheat-water ratio? - -Dividing the measure of the cargo by 1·22 we have: - - 34·73/1·22 = 28·46 gallons. - -A fluid measure of this capacity is not in use at Marseilles, but we -find its half, almost exactly, in the Mieirolo = 14·19 gallons, a wine -and oil measure used extensively in Mediterranean ports. - -The word Mieirolo, in which _mié_ means half, corresponds to the name of -the first in an Italian series of wine-measures: - -Mezzaruola, Terzaruola, Quartaruola, fractions of a 28-gallon measure -now apparently obsolete. - -The standard of the Mieirolo is now at— - - Marseilles, 64·384 litres = 14·19 gallons. - Tripoli, 64·386 „ „ „ - Tunis, 63·347 „ 13·97 „ - Spain, 64·55 „ 14·23 „ - -One-fourth of the Mieirolo, or one-eighth of the obsolete wine-cargo, is -the Escandau, equal to the Spanish arroba (a word meaning ‘quarter’), -and containing, at the present Marseilles standard, 16·096 litres = 3·54 -gallons. To this Escandau or standard corresponds, in water-wheat ratio, -the Panau = 4·34 gallons, 1/8 of the Cargo = 4·34 bushels or 34·73 -gallons. - -The correspondence of this series of wine and corn measures, in southern -water-wheat ratio, is perfect, even after many centuries, probably since -the tenth century. The Escandau and the Panau or Eimino correspond then -to about 4 wine-gallons and 4 corn-gallons. - -The Escandau has always been understood to be a cubic pán. Escandau[48] -means a standard; Pán means a side, pane or panel, and it is the measure -of the side of a ‘quadrantal’ containing an Escandau of water, as our -foot is the measure of one containing an English talent of 1000 Roman -ounces of water. The cube root of 16·096 litres is 25·24 centimetres, a -length differing by less than a millimetre from the standard of the -Marseilles pán = 25·16 centimetres or 9·9 inches. - -Footnote 48: - - Escandau is to gauge, to sound depths, to standardise. This word is - from the same root as ‘scandalise’ applied to moral tripping, and then - to the use of the ‘stiliard,’ the lever-balance that trips with any - inequality of weight. - - - _Land-measures_ - -The ancient system of seed-measures, fixed geometrically, survives to -this day in Southern France, indeed throughout most of France. I shall -make no apology for dwelling on it, for the linear land and cubic -measures of Southern France show a perfectly concordant system of -measures, more so even than those of England; indeed they are the type -of a perfect system. - -The largest unit of land is the Saumado, of 4 Sesteirado, each of 2 -Eiminado; these being originally the ground that could be sown with a -Saumado (or Cargo), with a Sestié, with an Eimino, of wheat. - -These seed-measures of land corresponding to our Coomb, Bushel and Peck -land, became fixed respectively at 1600, at 400, and at 200 square cano -or fathoms. - -To the Sestié and the Sesteirado correspond the _boisseau_ and -_boisselée_ of Poitou and other provinces, the _boisselée_, or -bushel-land, being 400 square toises. - -But the surveyor’s measuring-rod is the Destre, a double cano, of 16 pán -= 13 ft. 2-1/2 in. In Languedoc, west of the Rhone, the square destre = -4 square cano is the smallest unit, so that the Saumado of land is 1600 -square cano or 400 destre. But in Provence the destre of land is 2 -square cano, so that the Saumado is 1600 square cano or 800 destre; the -reason probably being that the destre should be 2 cano superficial as it -is 2 cano linear, and also that the Eiminado or peck-seedlip of land -should be 100 destre. - -The Eiminado is divided into quarters and sixteenths, corresponding to -the gallon and quart divisions of the Eimino or peck. It is also divided -into 20 Cosso, the ground corresponding to a cosso (= quart, -wine-measure) of seed. - -It is interesting to observe that the Saumado of 4 Sesteirado of 40 -Cosso, corresponds, in division, to our Acre of 4 roods, of 40 square -rods.[49] And the Cosso = 1/100 acre or 1/10 sq. chain. - -N.B.—1000 sq. cano = 1 acre. - -The Saumado, of 1600 sq. cano = 1·6 acre. - -Footnote 49: - - The cosso is a wooden bowl, Sc. ‘luggie,’ used by shepherds. Our rod - is in some districts a ‘lug.’ - -Such is the typical system of Southern measures, best preserved in the -neighbourhood of Marseilles, but prevailing throughout the Southern half -of France, though with local variations in the length of the cano and -the names of the land-units. - - - _Measures of Capacity_ - -These have mostly been given in the story of the pán and in the -seed-measures corresponding to the land-measures. - -Throughout the system the divisions in each series are sexdecimal, even -the Cosso, 1/20 Eiminado, being 1/160 Saumado. - - - _Weights_ - -There were three types of pounds in South France, local variations from -these being very slight. The pound was always 16 ounces, each of 8 -ternau. The Ternau, so called from its being divided into 3 -pennyweights, was the Arab dirhem. The three types of pound were: - - Languedoc lb. = 6400 grs. Ounce = 400 grs. Ternau = 50 grs. - - Gascony „ = 6280 „ „ = 392 „ „ = 49 „ - - Provence „ = 6030 „ „ = 377 „ „ = 47 „ - - (See - Chapter - XVIII.) - -The Quintal was 100 of these pounds, but long hundredweights were -common. Its quarter was the Rub (Ar. _rouba_, four). These weights are -nearly obsolete, as the possession of any weights not of the Republican -system would be illegal. The measures of length and capacity are often -slightly altered so as to be in metric units: the pán becomes a -quarter-metre; groceries are often ticketed by the hectogramme, as this -is known to coincide very closely with the old Southern quarter-pound. - -We now pass to the Northern or Paris system, mostly taken from the -South, and bearing evident traces of this origin. - - - 2. THE NORTHERN SYSTEM - - _Measures of Length_ - -The Roman foot survived in North France as the quarter of the Aune or -ell, a measure = 46·77 inches. (Cf. the passetto or double braccio of -Tuscany, of 4 palmi = 45·96 inches.) As a cloth-measure the Aune was -divided, like our cloth-yard and ell, into eighths and sixteenths. - -But there was also the pied de roi, the royal foot, one-sixth of the -Toise, which = 76·73 inches = 1·949 metre. - -The royal foot, = 12·789 inches, was divided into inches (pouces) of 12 -lines, each of 12 points. Its standard was traditionally referred to -Charlemagne, either to the length of his foot, or to a standard brought -to him by the envoys of Harūn-al-Rashid. It coincides with half a -Hashími cubit, 25·56/2 = 12·78 inches. This tradition must be dismissed; -new measures are not introduced as standards in that way. It was simply -one-sixth of the toise, which was a Cano from civilised South France, -but its standard was so ill-kept as to be of doubtful exactitude. All -that is known of its standard is that, about 1668, an iron rod was fixed -in a wall of the Grand Chatelet in Paris and that the length of this rod -was that of half the breadth of the eastern gateway of the -Louvre-palace, which gateway was, according to the plans, 12 feet in -breadth. This standard was, however, considered to be 5/12 inch short of -the customary toise. - -The Louvre standard, taking it at = 1·965 metre (which I find it by -actual measurement), corresponds closely to the Cano of Beaucaire. This -town on the southern Rhone, opposite Tarascon, had a great annual fair, -and may thus have given its linear standard to trade in the same way -that Marseilles passed the Cargo of its Egyptian corn-trade on to Paris -as the Setier, and that Troyes passed the marc used at its great annual -fair on to Paris as the standard of the French troy pound.[50] - -Footnote 50: - - There were relations between Burgundy and England. The former was, up - to the fall of its powerful dukes in the sixteenth century, a state - enjoying prosperity and independence, while France was mostly in a - condition of misery. It had, and retained till quite recently, its - system of measures and weights, derived from the southern system at - the time when Arles was the capital of the kingdom of Burgundy. It had - two toises, one = 7-1/2 French feet, the other, for field measure, = - 9-1/2 French feet. Now the first seems to have passed to England, for - a time at least, for the _Liber Albus_, 1419, contains an order for - the City of London: - - ‘The Toise of pavement to be 7-1/2 feet in length, and the foot of St. - Paul in breadth.’ - - The English wool-weights, the wey, stone (12 French lb.) and clove, - were current in Burgundy and in Southern France. - -But the royal foot was inconveniently long for popular use, and a -practice arose of taking 11 inches of it as a customary foot = 11·7 -inches. This reduced foot, coinciding almost exactly with the -quarter-Aune, was much used in the districts north of Paris as the _pied -de Ponthieu_, or _de Clermont_. The Brasse was a short fathom of 5 pieds -= 5 ft. 4 in., probably an adaptation of the Roman pace. A _pas_ (pace), -of half a brasse = 32 inches, is used in some districts for -land-measurement. - - - _Measures of Distance_ - -There was no official measure of distance, such as our furlong and mile, -between the toise and the league, and the league was very variable (see -Chapter III). Acre-lengths, cordes, and other popular measures supplied -the want, more or less well. In some districts (also in Mauritius) there -were milestones at intervals of 1000 toises, called a mille. In South -France the mille was divided into centenié of 100 toises or perhaps -local cano. This was probably the length of the sesteirado, the rood, -100 × 4 cano. - -The corde, a field-measure used before the surveyor’s chain, was of -variable length. In Burgundy the league of 3000 toises was divided for -roadwork into 50 portées, of 12 cordes; these would thus be 5 toises or -30 feet. But there seems also to have been a corde of 33 feet, perhaps -reduced feet, and thus = 30 royal feet, and this, doubled, was used as -the rough measure of a ‘cord’ of firewood = 4 × 4 feet, in 4-foot logs. -This is the probable origin of our ‘cord-wood’ as applied to stacked -logs for fuel. - - - _Land-measures_ - -The units are the square toise = 4·543 sq. yards, the perche and the -arpent, with other units in local usage. - -There were three different perches officially recognised, and still in -common use. - -1. _Perche d’ordonnance_ or of the _Eaux et Forêts_ administration, 22 -royal feet = 23·466 English feet; the square perch of 484 sq. feet = -13·44 sq. toises = 2 sq. rods. - -The approximate coincidence of the quarter-aune with the reduced royal -foot, i.e. of 12 Roman inches with 11 royal inches, was the probable -reason of the standard perch being fixed at 22 feet = 24 Roman feet or 6 -aunes. - -The standard arpent was 100 square perches = 1344 sq. toises = 200 rods -or 1·26 acre. - -2. _Perche commune_, 20 royal feet = 21·3 English feet, the square perch -of 400 sq. feet = 11·11 sq. toises = 50·47 sq. yards. - -The _arpent commun_ was 100 of these square perches = 1111 sq. toises = -1·04 acre. - -3. _Perche de Paris_, 18 royal feet = 19·83 English feet, the square -perch of 324 sq. feet = 9 sq. toises = 40·9 sq. yards. - -The _arpent de Paris_ was 100 of these square perches = 900 sq. toises = -0·844 acre. - -The arpent commun is that of Quebec. - -The arpent de Paris is that of Mauritius. - -The acre de Normandie varies according to its perch, but it is always -160 sq. perches, and if these be standard it is equal to 2 acres. But -the usual unit is the vergée or rood, of 40 perches = 1/2 acre. - -It has been seen that the Jersey vergée is 40 perches of 22 reduced -English feet square, the foot being 11 inches. This is an adaptation of -a very general Normandy perch, 22 feet of 11 French inches. It is = 0·44 -acre. - -Local French land-measures varied considerably, from different standards -of perch, from different lengths taken for the foot of the perch. But -the size of the unit, Journal, Estrée, &c., &c., is very generally = -1400 to 1600 square perches or roughly about 1-1/2 acre. These measures, -so irrational to the Parisian, are dear to the peasant’s heart; he -understands them, and as people do not buy land as they would apples or -eggs, no one is deceived. - -The Estrée or Seterée (Setier seed-land) might be divided into 12 -Boisselées (small-bushel lands). - - - _Weight_ - -The royal pound, _livre poids de marc_, the double-marc of Troyes, was -one of several pounds current in Northern France. It was, like the royal -foot, ascribed to Charlemagne, but his standard of weight, as known by -his silver pennies, nearly always much above 24 grains, 1/20 of some -ounce heavier than that of the Troyes marc, was probably altered later -on. The royal pound, = 5570 grains, was raised for commercial purposes -(about 1350) to 16 ounces = 7554·1 grains, the ounce = 472·13 grains. - -The weight of the 12-ounce pound coincides very closely with that of the -Bosphoric miná, 100 drachmæ of 56·66 grains; this is perhaps the origin -of the story that it was sent to Charlemagne by Harūn al Rashid. Its -ounce is also approximately the Tripoli ukyé of 10 dirhems × 470-3/4 -grains, and nearer still to 471 grains, the weight of 10 of the dirhems -of which 8 made the Provençal ounce. - -It is probable that the French pound was one of the lighter pounds of -the variable Northern Troy series, all with an ounce of 10 dirhems of 48 -grains more or less. - -The ounce was divided into 8 gros, groats or drachms, of 3 deniers or -dwt., each of 24 grains. So the livre was 16 × 24 × 24 = 9216 French -grains. These were light grains, not the heavy grains, 20 × 24 to the -ounce, of English and other mint-weights. - -There was a Quintal of 100 livres = 107·7 lb. - -The Tonne or tonneau was 2000 livres = 2154 lb. - - - _Value_ - -The French coinage-system, probably instituted by Charlemagne, was the -same as ours. The original unit was the silver penny, _estelin_ -(sterling) or denier (L. _denarius_) of 24 French grains; 12 deniers -made a sol or sou (L. _solidus_, shilling) and 20 sols made the livre or -pound, originally a livre d’estelins, a 12-ounce pound of sterlings. But -the silver coinage shrank and was debased, until, by the eighteenth -century, the pound, livre or franc was a silver coin worth tenpence, the -sol a copper halfpenny, and the denier had shrunk, even as copper, to so -minute a size that its place was taken by the _liard_, a small copper -coin of 3 deniers, a quarter-sou; even the _double_ of 2 deniers had -disappeared. Accounts were kept in livres and sols and deniers, our £ -_s._ _d._, but at 1/25 the present value of our coin. - -The _écu_ of 3 livres, that is of 60 sous, was largely used; wages of -farm-servants are often at the present day reckoned in écus. This was -properly a _petit-écu_ or half-crown, but the real écu of 6 livres was -so little used that the smaller coin took its name. And, as our -half-crown has the great convenience of being one-eighth of a sovereign, -so the écu had that of being one-eighth of a louis, the gold piece of 24 -livres. This was the value of the louis at par, for it varied as did -that of the guinea when England was a silver-standard country. - - - _Measures of Capacity_ - -These measures, both the wine-series and the corn-series, were quite -discordant and had no relation to the measures of length. That this was -caused by an incoherent system of factors is shown by there being in -each series a unit derived from the perfectly concordant measures of the -South: - -The wine-velte = 1·76 gallon, half of the Escandau. - -The corn-setier = 34·32 gallons, the Marseilles Cargo. - -The former, when increased in water-wheat ratio, is almost exactly 1/16 -of the latter. So, had the former, increased in this ratio, been -multiplied sexdecimally, concordance would have been preserved. But -there was a customary Muid = 63-1/2 gallons, our hogshead, with its -quarter, our kilderkin, the Quartaut = 15·8 gallons, and not to derange -these measures the velte was made one-ninth of the Quartaut. And in the -corn-series the Setier was divided and multiplied duodecimally. So the -concordance was entirely deranged. - -1. _Wine-measures._—The Velte (the origin of which is given in Chapter -XIX) was divided into 2 gallons (our wine-gallon), 4 pots (our pottle), -8 pintes. The last of these, = 1·76 pint, was about our old wine-quart, -= 32 oz., its half was a chopine or setier, = our wine-pint, and the -half of this was the demi-setier, a name still current, the French -equivalent of our popular ‘half-pint.’ - -2. _Corn-measures._—The standard unit was the Setier = 34·32 gallons, or -4·29 bushels, differing very slightly from the Marseilles Cargo = 4·34 -bushels. As the Setier was an isolated measure, while the Cargo was from -early medieval times the basis of the complete system of Southern -measures, it may confidently be inferred that the Paris unit of -corn-measure was taken from that of Marseilles, which was the Egyptian -Rebekeh, the cubed Arabic cubit. - -The term Setier is the L. _sextuarius_, but it had lost its original -meaning and become a general-utility term in measures. The Setier = the -Marseilles Cargo of 4 Sestié, must not be confused with this sestié. It -was divided into 12 boisseaux of variable standard, but usually -estimated to hold 20 French pounds of wheat. As 1/12 setier, the -boisseau was = 2·86 gallons, and it was divided into 16 litrons = 1·43 -pint. - -There were intermediate divisions of the Setier; it was of 2 mines (a -term taken from the Southern _eimino_), 4 minots, 12 boisseaux. - -There was also a Muid for corn and salt. The corn-muid was 12 setiers. - -There are still in France traces of an older system of corn-measures -derived from the cubic foot. I found, in the Rouen Museum, the standard -bushel of the town of Bolbec. It measures 16 inches diameter by 12·6 -inches deep = 2533 cubic inches or 9·14 gallons. It appears to be the -French cubic foot = 2091 cubic inches increased in water-wheat ratio to -2533 × 1·22 = 2551 cubic inches, a difference probably to be ascribed to -the difficulty in measuring at all accurately. - -There are also many local standards of capacity, well deserving of -study. Some, as the bushel of La Rochelle, indeed of the west of France -generally, = 56 lb. of wheat, are much larger than the Paris Bushel. -There was a general rejection of the duodecimal division of the Setier. - - TABLE OF OLD FRENCH MEASURES - - Length Land - Aune = 46·77 inches. Square Toise = 4·54 sq. yards. - Toise = 76·73 „ Square Perche = 2 sq. rods. - Pied = 12·789 „ Arpent (× 100) = 1·26 acre. - Perche = 23·446 feet. - - - Wine-measure Corn-measure Bushels - Muid = 63·5 galls. Muid = 51·6 - 4 Quartaut = 15·8 „ 12 Setier = 34·32 gall. = 4·29 - 9 Velte = 1·76 „ 12 Boisseau = 2·86 „ - 8 Pinte = 1·76 pint. 16 Litron = 1·43 pint. - 2 Chopine = 0·88 „ - - - Weights - Quintal = 107·7 lb. - 100 Livre = 7554 grains. - 16 Once = 472·1 „ - 24 Deniers (dwt.) = 3 to a ‘gros.’ - 24 Grains. - - - _Remarks on the French Measures of Capacity_ - -The fault of the Paris system was that there was little or no -concordance between the different series. - -In length, 6 aunes approximately coincided with 22 feet or 3-2/3 toises. - -The measures of length had no concordance with those of capacity, and in -the latter, wine-measure and corn-measure had lost their original -concordance when they were brought from the south. They lost it by two -faults: - -1. By making the quartaut of 9 veltes instead of 8; - -2. By dividing the setier into 12 boisseaux instead of 8. - -Had this octonary division been substituted, it would have been quite -satisfactory, and concordance with the linear standard would have been -obtained. - -A quartaut of 8 veltes, 8 × 1·76 = 14·08 gallons, would have been in -water-wheat ratio with the corn half-setier = 17·16 gallons: - - 14·08 × 1·22 = 17·17. - -And the setier divided into 8 parts would have given a larger boisseau = -4·29 gallons (a peck) corresponding in water-wheat ratio to the double -velte of 4 gallons and measuring approximately 1000 cubic pouces (983 -exactly); its side, when of cubic form, being almost 10 pouces, and thus -affording an easily applied linear measurement as a check on the -variation of the boisseau. The standard of this measure was most -variable from want of such a check. Really, as 1/12 Setier it should -have been 655·4 cubic pouces, but it varied between 644 and 677, its -reputed capacity being 640 cubic pouces. - -It would have been easy to have fixed the new boisseau at 1000 cubic -pouces, raising the variable standard of the Setier to 8000 cubic pouces -= 34·9 gallons instead of its reputed standard = 34·32 gallons. - -By these slight alterations perfect accordance with the southern -measures would also have been obtained. - -Leaving the measures of length and surface which were sufficiently -concordant, the measures of capacity would have been: - - Wine-measure Corn-measure - Muid = 56·32 gallons. Muid = 34·9 bushels - = 4·36 qrs. - 1/2 „ = 28·16 „ (8) Setier = 34·9 gallons - Quartaut = 14·08 „ = 8000 c.p. - (8) Boisseau = 4·36 gallons - (8) Velte = 1·76 „ = 1000 c.p. - (8) Pinte = 1·76 pint. 16 Litron = 2·18 pint. - -A water-wheat ratio of 1 : 1·24 would have been preserved between the -two series, and their connection with linear measures through a cubic -boisseau of 10 pouces each side (or a cylindrical one of 10 pouces -diameter and 11·4 pouces in height) would have been most advantageous. - -It may seem futile to make these proportions 120 years too late, but -they may be useful in showing how unnecessary was the revolutionary plan -of uprooting the old measures. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XXII - - THE METRIC SYSTEM - - -The great diversity in the weights and measures used in different parts -of France, and the discordance between the series of the official -system, or want of system, were inconvenient, and tended to become more -so with the increasing facilities of communication between the -provinces. Unification was required, and was being studied at the time -when the Revolution broke out. - -The obvious plan was to make such alterations in the Paris system as -were strictly necessary, keeping to the main standards of length and -capacity, standards not irreconcilable, and to make it obligatory -throughout France. As Napoleon said, ‘It was so simple that it could -have been done in twenty-four hours, and adopted throughout France in -less than a year.’ - -Amendments such as I have sketched in the last chapter would have -answered the purpose sufficiently. - -The ostensible plan of the new system of weights and measures was (May -8, 1790) ‘to create them anew on invariable bases, and to establish in -commercial calculations the uniformity which Reason has vainly called -for during so many centuries, and which must form a new bond between -men.’ - -Even this scientific and fraternal plan, at first on the basis of a -normal pendulum-length, 3/4 inch longer than the half-toise (as proposed -by James Watt in 1783), might have been carried out so as to disturb the -hereditary ideas and customs of the people as little as possible. But it -was resolved to take a geodesical basis. This, taken afresh and not -accurately, for the metre, was already at hand in a toise equal to the -Olympic fathom, 1/1000 of the meridian mile. And in the report to the -Convention, it was recognised that the most ancient people had measures -derived from the terrestrial meridian. - -More than two centuries before the Revolution an abbé (Mouton) had -proposed a revival of the Olympic system, decimalised from the meridian -mile down to a digit, 1/100 of the fathom. - -Without this decimalisation, at least in the popular series of measures, -there was a geodesic basis—for this was resolved as necessary—already at -hand in the Olympic system, and the Olympic foot cubed would have given -a unit of capacity and the Olympic talent one of weight, all the more -suitable inasmuch as 1/1000 of it would have been an ounce = 453·6 -grains, closely approximating to the Cologne ounce and therefore likely -to be acceptable in other countries. But the real object was to make a -clean sweep of the past; and the formation of a Republican system of -measures was entrusted to mathematicians and other scientists who did -not consider that a system convenient to them might be very inconvenient -to unscientific people. The division of all measures must be on an -obligatory decimal system convenient to mathematicians and most -inconvenient to nearly everyone else. - -The basis of the new system was a measure considered to be one -ten-millionth of the quarter-meridian, of the distance from the equator -to the pole. This unit was neither original in conception nor exact in -measurement. When Aristotle divided the circumference of the globe into -400,000 stadia, instead of the 240,000 stadia of 1000 Olympic fathoms, -his stadion, 1/100,000 of the quarter-meridian, was equal to 100 metres. -But there was no practical advantage in it, and navigators continued to -use the nautical mile of 10 Olympic stadia, as they do to this day. - -At least Aristotle did not seek to upset all the weights and measures of -the Macedonian empire; and his stadion disappeared. - -It is doubtful if absolute exactness will ever be attained in the -measurement of the surface of our globe, irregularly spherical in form -and of very uneven surface; but there is no doubt that the ancient -Chaldæans and Egyptians measured it sixty centuries ago quite as -accurately as the astronomers of the first Republic; and the Olympic -standard of the meridian mile, not the kilometre, is the unit used to -this day by the navigators of France as by those of every other maritime -nation. - -Having determined with little exactitude the metric decimal fraction of -the quarter-meridian, the astronomers and mathematicians of the -Republic, _les idéologues_ as Napoleon called them, proceeded to evolve -from it the most inconvenient possible units of length, surface, -capacity, and weight. All that could be said for these units is that -they were exactly and decimally derived from the metre. The metre was -unacceptable to the people, as no metric unit of length corresponds even -approximately to the universal limb-units of fathom, cubit, foot, span, -palm, finger or thumb-breadth. The different series admit only the -factors, 1, 2, 5; so each decimal unit has a half (0·5) and a double, -but no quarter or third. The prefixes—in Latin for divisions, _deci_, -_centi_, _milli_; in Greek for multiples, _deca_, _hecto_, _kilo_, -_myria_—give the only names allowed. - - - _Length_ - -The Metre, = 39·370113 inches, is divided into 10 decimetres, 100 -centimetres, 1000 millimetres. - -1 yard = 0·9144 metre; 1 foot = 0·3048 metre; 1 inch = 0·0254 metre, or -2·54 centimetres. - -It is multiplied by 10 for the decametre, by 100 for the hectometre, by -1000 for the kilometre, by 10,000 for the myriametre. Practically the -kilometre, = 0·621 mile or 1093·6 yards, is the only larger unit used; -the other units are useless. And though it be interesting to know that -the kilometre is approximately 1/10,000 of the quarter-meridian, it is a -useless fact. - - - _Surface_ - -The square metre = 1·196 square yard. The lower units are little used. -For land-measurement the square decametre, 10 × 10 metres, is called an -Are; 100 ares = 100 × 100 metres, make a Hectare = 2·47 acres; and the -square metre is a Centiare. - - 1 acre = 0·40468 hectare. - - - _Solidity_ - -The cubic metre = 35·315 cubic feet (nearly the volume of a ton of water -= 35·84 cubic feet) contains 1000 cubic decimetres, each of 1000 cubic -centimetres (= 61 cubic inches). - - 1 cubic foot = 0·028317 cubic metre. - -The cubic centimetre is strictly speaking 1/1000 cubic decimetre, but as -used in chemistry for fluid measure it is considered as 1/1000 of the -litre, which is only approximately a cubic decimetre. - - - _Capacity_ - -The Litre was originally a cubic decimetre, but this definition has been -abandoned. It is now defined as the volume of a kilogramme of pure water -in air at 4 degrees Centigrade = 39·2° Fahrenheit. - -At ordinary temperatures a litre of water weighs about 998·8 grammes or -0·9988 kilogramme (see Table at end of Chap. X). - -The only minor unit practically used (and only in scientific work) is -the millilitre, under the name of cubic centimetre, = 15·432 grains of -water. - -1 Litre = 2·204 lb. water, or 1·76 pint. - -1 Pint = 0·568 litre; 1 gallon = 4·546 litres. - -The principal larger unit is the Hectolitre = 22·04 gallons or 2·75 -bushels. The Decalitre = 2·2 gallons. - -1 Bushel = 36·37 litres; 1 Quarter 291 litres or nearly 3 hectolitres. - -1 Bushel to the acre = 0·9 hectolitre to the hectare. (Deduct 1/10 on -English.) - -1 Hectolitre to the hectare = 1·11 bushel to the acre. (Add 1/10 to -French.) - - - _Weight_ - -The original unit was the Gramme, defined as the weight of a cubic -centimetre of water at 4° Centigrade = 15·432 grains. It is divided into -10 decigrammes, 100 centigrammes, 1000 milligrammes. Of its multiples -the decagramme is useless; the hectogramme is merely the name inscribed -on a 100-gramme weight; the kilogramme of 1000 grammes is used when its -use cannot be avoided. - -But the present legal unit is not the gramme but the kilogramme = 2·2046 -lb. or 15,432 grains.[51] - -Footnote 51: - - This is a partial return to the original arrangement. The kilogramme - was originally named the Grave, with its decigrave and centigrave. The - tonne of 1000 kilogrammes was originally called a Bar, with its - decibar and centibar. The gramme was a Gravet, with its decigravet and - centigravet. Similarly the hectolitre was originally named the - Decicade (1/10 of the Cade = 1000 litres) of 10 centicades. The litre - was a Cadil. - -Intended to be the weight of a cubic decimetre of water at 4° C. (as the -gramme was that of a cubic centimetre), this definition has been -abandoned as inexact; it is now, like our pound, the mass of a certain -platinum standard, in a vacuum.[52] - -Footnote 52: - - In the latitude of Paris. If weighed at Marseilles it would be equal - to about 1000·4 grammes; if in London to 999·75 grammes. It - necessarily varies with latitude, as does the length of the pendulum - beating seconds. But this variation does not impair its relative - accuracy, as whatever it is weighed against is similarly affected. - -Practically, the unit of weight in the ordinary transactions of life is -the ‘half-kilo’ of 500 grammes, more usually known as a livre or pound, -though the use of this word in trade is punishable. - -The livre or half-kilo = 1·1 lb. or 7716 grains. - -1 kilo = 2·2046 lb. or 15,432 grains. - -100 kilos or Quintal metrique = 220·46 lb. - -1000 kilos or Tonne 2204·6 lb. = 0·984 ton. - -1 ton = 1016 kilos; 1 cwt. = 50·8 kilos; 1 lb. = 0·4536 kilo or 453·6 -grammes. - -1 ounce = 28·35 grammes; 1 grain = 6·48 centigrammes. - -100 kilos of wheat = 3·53 bushels, at 62-1/2 lb. - -100 litres (1 hectolitre) of wheat = 2·75 bushels. - -7 fr. duty on 100 kilos wheat = 2 fr. a bushel or 12_s._ 4_d._ a -quarter. - -1 bushel = 36·4 litres. - - - _Money_ - -The monetary unit is the Franc, practically the same as the old livre, -somewhat less. According to the original plan, the Republican franc was -to be 10 grammes weight, so that the decimal harmony of the system -should not be disturbed. But financial expediency required it to be of -about the same weight as before, so 80 old livres were recoined as 81 -francs at 5 grammes weight and 0·900 fineness. The franc was to be of -100 centimes instead of 20 sous of 4 liards. - -The copper coins, changed to bronze in about 1854, are pieces of 10 and -5 centimes, the latter equivalent to the old sou, so that the franc is -commonly called a 20-sou piece, and the other silver coins, nominally of -5, 2, and 1/2 franc, are called in the same way _pièces de cent sous_, -_quarante sous_ and _dix sous_. The centime is so rarely seen as to be -practically non-existent, and the decimal system not allowing the half -or quarter of the 5-centime piece or sou, great inconvenience is felt by -the poor,[53] yet the symmetry of the system has been marred by the -issue of nickel quarter-francs, of a size which makes them often -undistinguishable from francs. But this is 25 centimes, while the -half-sou would be written 2·5 centimes, marring the symmetry of the -centime column in accounts—where practically it would never appear. - -Footnote 53: - - Thus if bread is 25 centimes or 5 sous the kilo, a single pound or - half-kilo of bread cannot be bought at this price. - -Since the adoption of a gold standard under the second Empire, the gold -20-franc piece is the standard of exchange, and of payments in trade. It -weighs 6·451 grammes = 99·5635 grains; it is of 0·900 fineness (= 22-1/5 -carats) and thus contains 86·6071 grains of pure gold. Its exchange -value is usually 15_s._ 10-1/2_d._, our sovereign being equal to 25 -francs 20 centimes. - -The system of international currency has led to the French currency -containing coins, both gold and silver, of strange devices, and the -necessity of placards in shops showing figures of the numerous coins -which should not be accepted. Considerable vigilance is necessary to -avoid taking coins not current, or taking for francs the nickel five-sou -pieces scarcely distinguishable from them except in a good light. - - - _Temperature_ - -The French thermometer, called Centigrade (the proper term would have -been centesimal), is on Celsius’s scale, of 100 degrees between the -freezing and boiling points of water, under the normal atmospheric -pressure, which for France is 760 millimetres = 29·92 inches. - - - _Metric Measures of Time_ - -These are dropped, officially, at present; but they may be -re-established, for they were the essential part of the Republican -system. Ardent republicans constantly claim their re-establishment, and -sound republican newspapers, dated according to the republican calendar, -take care that this shall not be forgotten. Scientific journals demand -the re-establishment of decimal time and decimal degrees; for even to -sell eggs or handkerchiefs by the dozen is a sin, and ought to be made a -crime, against the decimal system. - -Republican zeal, unable to reform the solar system, had to content -itself with reviving the ancient Egyptian year of twelve equal months -followed by five extra days, to be called Jours Sansculottides, and with -instituting a new era. The extra day of leap-years made a sixth -sansculottide; these years were therefore sextile, and the period of -four years ending with leap-year was to be called a Franciade. - -In justice to the authors of the Metric system, it must be said that -they were not responsible for the Republican calendar; this was the work -of a separate Committee, to whom the Convention handed over the work -carried out by the Weights and Measures Committee of the Académie des -Sciences. On August 1, 1793, it thanked the W. and M. Committee for -their work, on the 6th it closed all the Academies, and soon after sent -the great chemist Lavoisier, the principal member of the Committee, to -prison and ultimately to the scaffold. Among the small number of real -republicans who ruled France from Paris, there was much less enthusiasm -for the metric system, intended to sweep away the memory of the old -customs of weights and measures, than for the calendar, the essential -part of which was a new era and the sweeping away of past superstitions, -whether Pagan or Christian. In both cases one can see the power of a -very small but enthusiastic, well-organised and violent minority of -Jacobins against the large, but unorganised and terrorised, majority of -the French people. In both cases we see the truth of Guizot’s saying: -‘Blind aversion for the past is full of falsehood and of ignorance.’[54] - -Footnote 54: - - It had been proposed in 1789 to divide France into equal departments - or districts by rule and compass. Each district was to be half a - degree square. It was only the refractoriness of the coast line that - prevented this geographic homage to equality. - -The decree instituting the complete Republican system began by these -words, characteristic of the times: - - The French era begins with the foundation of the Republic, which - was on 22nd September 1792 of the vulgar era, the day when the - sun arrived at the true autumnal equinox, entering the sign of - the Balance, at 9h. 18m. 30s. a.m., Paris Observatory time. - - Thus (it continued) the heavens marked the equality of days and - nights at the same moment that civil and moral equality was - proclaimed by the representatives of the French people as the - sacred foundation of its new government. - -The month was divided into three decades and the days of the decimal -week were numbered from one to ten. - -The saints whose names had been attached to the days were abolished. -They were replaced by objects of republican veneration, animals, -vegetables, minerals, tools, &c. Each Decadi was consecrated to an -agricultural implement, the plough, the watering-pot, the pitchfork, &c. - -Each Quintidi was consecrated to a useful animal, the horse, the ass, -the pig, the trout, &c. - -The eight other days of the decade were consecrated to plants, &c. It -was difficult to find 288 useful plants, but by bringing in such as the -nettle, the dandelion (under its vulgar French name), strange plants -discovered in a herbal dictionary, together with the manure heap and a -few useful minerals, the saints were entirely replaced. To popularise -these substitutes for the _ci-devant_ saints an appendix to the -Decadaire or Annuaire (for the term Calendar was abolished as savouring -of superstition) gave popular information, in the crudest terms, on the -diseases for which the vegetables and herbs were recommended by the -scientific advisers of the Republic. - -To complete this system, the circles of the globe, and all other -circles, were divided into 400 degrees, divided decimally. The day was -divided into 10 hours, of 100 decimal minutes, each of 100 decimal -seconds. - -The republican division of the day was not generally put into practice -except in official documents, probably because the Jacobin leaders found -it personally inconvenient. Decreed as obligatory in Frimaire, an II, it -was suspended in Germinal, an III, yet that it was extant, if not in -force, up to 1800 is shown by a police-report of an occurrence on ‘21 -Brumaire an VIII à 2 heures 10 minutes décimales,’ i.e. at 5 A.M. - -The story of the means by which the unpopular republican measures were -enforced has not yet been told. Some idea of it may be guessed from a -remark of de Bonald (1817): - - I believe that the same firmness, rigour, and lavish - expenditure, used to establish, or rather to try and establish, - uniformity of weights and measures, would have been sufficient - to establish uniformity of religion. - -If in a country which had experienced Louis XIV’s system for -establishing uniformity of religion, this could be said of the means by -which the republican weights and measures were enforced, it is evident -that the new system met with anything but the welcome usually supposed. - -But a man had arisen who delivered France, for a time at least, from the -more objectionable parts of the republican measures, and the good he -effected in this way had doubtless much to do with his popularity. From -the time of his Consulate, at the end of 1799, the rigour of the system -was gradually relaxed. His contempt for the mathematician-advisers of -the Republic, whom he had found to be incapable in public business, was -probably brought to a climax by the following event. - -The ordnance survey-maps of France were on Cassini’s scale of 1/86,400, -i.e. 1 line to 100 toises (which is the proportion of the second to the -mean day). A new map having been made on the metric scale of 1/100,000, -Napoleon soon found this out, and ordered the map to be restored to the -old scale. - -‘Je la veux sur l’échelle de Cassini, et je me moque des divisions -décimales’ (letter to the Minister of War, 1809). - -The republican calendar and era were used until the end of 1805, when -Napoleon restored the Gregorian calendar and its era; thus 11 Nivose, an -XIV, was the last day of the republican system. - -But the republican idea of a new calendar and a new era is not dead; it -has so little died out that a calendar and era devised by a French -mathematician and sociologist in 1852 is now actually used, not only in -France, but in England, and also in Brazil, by the followers of this -reformer.[55] - -Footnote 55: - - In this Positivist Calendar the saints of the old calendar and the - agricultural produce of the revolutionary calendars are replaced by - great men and women; typical great men, from Moses and Homer to - Descartes and Bichat, giving their names to the 13 months, each of 28 - days. There is an extra day at the end of the year, and two extra days - in leap-year. This system has the advantage of the 7th, 14th, 21st and - 28th of the month always falling on the same day of the week. - - The Positivist era dates from 1789; and the followers of Auguste - Comte, in England, France and elsewhere, thus date 1911 as the ‘year - 123 of the Great Crisis.’ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XXIII - - HOW THE METRIC SYSTEM WORKS IN FRANCE - - -Napoleon, who had witnessed the rigorous measures of the Republican -government to enforce its metric system, said of it: - - It violently broke up the customs and habits of the people as - might have been done by some Greek or Tartar tyrant who, with - uplifted rod, wills to be obeyed in all his decrees, regulated - by his prejudices or his interests, without any regard for those - of the conqueror.... It was tormenting the people for - trifles.[56] - -Footnote 56: - - The full French text of Napoleon’s opinion is given in _Against the - Metric System_, by Herbert Spencer (Williams and Norgate, price - 3_d._). - -But he was too wise to disturb trade again by any change in the material -standards, however objectionable; he kept these, while abolishing the -unpopular decimal series. - -The decree of February 12, 1812, accordingly ordered that weights and -measures, while being strictly in accordance with the existing standard -units, should have ‘such fractions and multiples as were generally used -in trade and were best suited to the needs of the people.’ - -A double-metre became the new Toise, divided, like the old toise, into 6 -feet of 12 inches. The Aune was to be 1·2 metre. - -The hectolitre and the litre were divided sexdecimally, one-fourth of -the hectolitre becoming a double-Boisseau differing very slightly from -the old measure of the same name. - -The half-kilogramme became the Livre, divided into 16 ounces, these -being divided into eighths. The Quintal was 100 livres, the millier 1000 -livres, the tonneau 2000 livres. - -With regard to money, the gold napoleon being 20 francs and the franc of -20 sous, divided into 4 liards or half-farthings, the system was -convenient. - -This practical though incomplete compromise was in force until 1837, -when Louis-Philippe restored, on paper at least, the full republican -system, except the measures of time. Yet the Napoleonic compromise held -its ground, and indeed has lost little up to the present day, -notwithstanding a more rigorous enforcement of the decimal system under -the second Empire and the third Republic. - -About 1859 began the propaganda of the metric system abroad. Holland and -Belgium, on which it had been imposed when those countries were seized -by France in 1792 and 1795, retained it after the peace of 1814-1815; at -least the old systems had been destroyed, and it was deemed best to -retain the new one, so in 1821 it was compulsory. - -The new kingdom of Italy threw away the remains of its metric -inheritance from ancient Rome when in 1859 it took the French system, -partly perhaps from the apparent difficulty of co-ordinating the -measures of the different states, but probably as part consideration for -French help against Austria. - -Portugal adopted it, on paper at least, in 1863. - -The worst was when, in 1868, it was adopted by the North German -Confederated States, and when in 1872 it was made compulsory. - -It is said that the governing powers of Germany, anxious to unify the -diverse systems of its component states, took the fatal step in -consequence of English official assurances that the metric system would -soon be imposed on the British empire. After this disastrous surrender -to international science, the governments of other countries, large and -small, civilised and semi-barbarous, were easily induced by skilful -diplomacy to impose the French republican measures on their peoples, -heedless of the fact that all the persuasion and pressure of the French -government had failed to get its own people to use the system whenever -it could be evaded. - -Herbert Spencer says, of the progress of the metric system: - - When fifty years after its nominal establishment in France the - metric system was made compulsory, it was not because those who - had to measure out commodities over the counter wished to use - it, but because the government commanded them to do so, and when - it was adopted in Germany under the Bismarckian regime we may be - sure that the opinions of shop-keepers were not asked. Similarly - elsewhere, its adoption has resulted from the official will and - not from the popular will. - -The gradual adoption of the metric system by countries of all degrees of -civilisation from Germany and Italy to Venezuela or Haïti, has not been -from any desire of the people of those countries for it, except an -infinitely small minority of scientists who desire that the whole world -should use the system found convenient in international scientific -reports, and a somewhat larger proportion of enthusiasts with high and -unpractical cosmopolitan ideals. Many also acquiesce from the same -motive which induces people to buy a well-advertised and puffed article -instead of one to which they had been accustomed and had found -satisfactory. They undergo the contagion to which the crowd-mind is so -subject. In England a few genuine enthusiasts, and many more who have -caught the scientific and cosmopolitan craze, take to the metric system -as they take to learning Esperanto, and so long as they have not to use -the one in business or the other in conversation, their enthusiasm -lasts, especially when it affords opportunities for showing themselves -friends of science and progress. But when the contagion spreads so wide -that it threatens to revolutionise the habits and customs of a nation -and its whole manufactures and trade, the danger is most serious. - -The favour which the metric system has found amongst a small proportion -of English people is largely due to their ignorance of their own system, -an ignorance very excusable when there exists no official statement of -our system, or even of its standards. The people are left to the -information afforded very badly in school-books and scarcely better in -almanacks. So our system is left without defence against the attacks -made on it by well-meaning persons who do not know it, and by the -never-ceasing action of the French government.[57] It may therefore be -interesting to see - - - _How far the French have adopted the Metric System._ - -Footnote 57: - - Aided greatly by the Alliance Française, an association formed, under - government patronage, ‘to extend the political and moral power of - France ... and make pacific conquests abroad by its superior - civilisation.’ Every member of it abroad is bound to promote this - cause. - -A century of official pressure, of state-education, and of police -proceedings against any public selling, marking or crying of goods -otherwise than in metric measures and coins, cannot be without some -effect, especially in large towns, but even there, while accounts are -kept and bills made according to the legal system, the people, as -distinguished from the official classes, have never taken to it, and in -the country it is nearly entirely ignored, out of official transactions, -both in weight and measures and in money. - -The sizes of baskets and flower-pots are in _pouces_; lamp-chimneys have -their size marked on them in _lignes_. The size of printer’s type is in -points, each 1/6 line or 1/72 of the old French inch; and the printer’s -pocket-rule is divided on one side into centimetres but on the other -into ‘Ciceros’ corresponding to the English ‘pica.’ - -Barometers for ship-use have their scale usually in pouces and lignes. -The port barometer on the quay of the great naval port of Toulon, in -front of the town-hall, is on this old scale. In 1909 I found the -barometer of a new Transatlantique passenger steamer making her first -voyage to be ‘selon Torricelly,’ with its scale in the old _pouces_, 28 -= 29·87 English inches. - -The sounding line of French ships is in brasses of 5 old French feet, -the cable is of 120 brasses, the knot is, as with us, 1/120 of the -nautical mile of 1852 metres; the kilometre being absolutely ignored. - -In Southern France the lengths of boats, as at regattas, is stated in -páns, taken at 1/4 metre. - -Wine is sold wholesale by the queue, by the barrique, by the feuillette. -A barrique or piece of Bordeaux wine is 228 litres, of Burgundy 212 -litres. Trade-units are as common in France as in England. - -The housewife continues to ask for a four-pound loaf, a _pain de quatre -livres_, for a _livre_ of sugar, for a _demi-livre_ of coffee, for _un -quart_ of chicory, for a _demi-quart_ or for _une once_ of pepper. In -the market-place, in the streets fruit is openly cried at _quatre sous -la livre!_ or _deux sous le quart!_ when no policeman is within hearing, -and the police are discreetly deaf, even in Paris, except when ordered -to be more vigilant; but then they kindly give a hint to the -costermongers and street-traders and, after a few days of conformity to -the law, the cries go on as before. - -The grocer does not ticket his wares by the kilo, rarely even by the -demi-kilo; he wisely tickets them with a simple 50, or 75, or 80, which -means 5_d._, 7-1/2_d._, 8_d._, in coin, 10, 15, 16 sous, for a weight -which is not mentioned but is understood to be _une livre_, and which -can be halved and quartered down to an ounce. He finds that his -customers are thus better pleased than if the ticket had ‘1/2 kilo’ -marked on it, and he knows that they would be repelled if the price was -by the kilo. About the only exception is when the price of goods cannot -be expressed in centimes; thus if potatoes are less than, say, 2 sous a -pound, the greengrocer has to ticket them ‘15 le kilo,’ 2 pounds for 3 -sous. The practical non-existence of the centime, and the refusal of -government to coin half-sous or farthings of 2-1/2 centimes, obliges him -thus exceptionally to use the word ‘kilo.’ - -When a _quart_, a quarter-lb., say of coffee, is asked for, the grocer -has to put into the scale three weights, of 100, 20 and 5 grammes, for a -demi-livre two weights of 200 and 50 grammes, instead of being able to -use a single half- or quarter-pound weight as under the Napoleonic -compromise. For an ounce he gives 30 grammes. - -In country towns goods are often openly ticketed in sous; I have even -seen ‘six liards,’ six half-farthings, two for three-halfpence, as the -marked price. In the South books and newspapers sometimes have the price -boldly printed in sous, ‘20 sous,’ &c. In large shops, especially where -there is a cash-desk, the salesmen have trained themselves to speak only -of francs and centimes, but the smaller shopkeepers, even in Paris, -usually say their prices in sous, at least for prices under two or three -francs. - -The peasant bargains for cattle in écus (half-crowns) or in pistoles of -10 francs; wages of farm labourers are still often in écus. Land is -reckoned in the old measures according to local custom, and tables of -these measures, with their metric equivalents, are given in the ‘Usages -Locaux’ published for the use of _juges de paix_ and other officials. -Farms to let and land for sale are frequently advertised in these local -measures. If the extent is given in hectares, the local equivalent in -vergées, seterées, &c., is added. I have such advertisements of recent -date. - -The master of a government school in Normandy advertised the sale of his -haystack by auction. The advertisement (in a newspaper of 1906, now -before me) gave the weight of the hay as ‘5000 kilos (10,000 livres).’ -He knew that the fathers of his pupils understood, as well as he did, a -kilo to be 2 pounds, but he also knew that they would be much readier to -bid if the weight was stated in pounds. - -Market-prices of agricultural produce are frequently stated by -newspapers in the old measures; that of apples is constantly recorded by -the barattée, literally the churnful, about equal to our bushel. - -The old agrarian measures are used quite close to Paris. I ask a farmer, -not six miles from Paris, how much land he has, and he, knowing me to be -‘safe,’ says so many estrées. How much is an estrée? 1600 square toises -is his answer. - -I take up a Paris daily paper and see several advertisements of mushroom -farms for sale, in the old quarries near Paris; the area of these is -always given in toises. - -Direct inquiries will always be answered most favourably to the metric -system. The peasant’s caution will rarely let the inquirer detect his -love of the old weights and measures, quite convenient to him. And the -bourgeois, proud of his superior education and glorying in the triumphs -of the metric system abroad, ignores the existence of any but the legal -system; he is blind and deaf to the constant evidence which strikes the -unprejudiced observer. - -The doctor and the druggist would indignantly deny using any other than -metric measures, but they have their professional units, necessarily on -a gramme basis, though in figures corresponding to ounces, tablespoons, -drachms, scruples and grains; drops (which are actually dropped, not -measured) are prescribed, and the mixture is always made up to a total -of so many ounces of 30 grammes. And the pharmacien, who is able to read -through the frequent ambiguities of prescriptions written in grammes, -centigrammes, &c., very likely to be confused, puts the mixture up in -bottles which are moulded to show tablespoons of 15 grammes, that is -half-ounces. - -The druggists’ price lists give quantities in units of 30, 125, 250, 500 -grammes or cubic centimetres, that is in quantities of 1, 4, 8, 16 -ounces; and these are the quantities in which he usually sells drugs to -his customers. - -Thus in France there is a chronic struggle between the law and the -people; the system of weights and measures was devised there, not for -the convenience of the people, but to suit a decimal theory dear to the -mathematical and bureaucratic mind; the people must make their -convenience fit the system, and it is only by evasions and subterfuges -that it can be made to fit, even approximately. The trader has to evade -the law if he wishes to retain his customers. The manufacturer, not -keeping an open shop, finds evasion easier, and all the circulars -addressed by the government to Chambers of Commerce begging them to -support the metric system remain without effect. A few months ago a -circular deplored the practice of selling and buying silkworms’ eggs by -the ounce. Recently a circular forbade professors and schoolmasters to -utter the names of the old weights, measures or coins, or to allow their -pupils to utter them. - -The instances I have given of the failure of all the efforts to make the -French people take to the metric system are entirely from my personal -observation. I conclude them with an extract from Messrs. Halsey and -Dale’s ‘The Metric Fallacy’ (New York, 1904) on the failure to convert -manufacturers to the system: - - The reasons for the failure of this colossal effort of a century - to change the textile weights and measures of France is not - difficult to find. The ideas of length, area, volume and weight - are as firmly grounded as any that find a lodging in the mind of - man. They are bound to the records of the past, to the work of - the present, and to the plans for the future. They are - ineffaceably imprinted upon the mind of every child to regulate - his ideas of extension and weight as long as life may last. - - These natural conditions are alone sufficient to account for the - failure of the metric system in France. Other influences have - however served to make the failure more complete in the textile - industry. The metric system needed something more than the - transcendent mathematical faculties of its designers to make it - suitable for textile measurements. - - The eminent scientists who designed that system were able to - solve the most difficult problems in higher mathematics, but - failed to comprehend what system of weights and measures was - best suited for the carder, spinner, weaver and finisher of - wool, cotton, linen and silk. The glamor of their fame failed to - make the centimetre suitable for counting ‘picks.’ Their system - had to stand or fall on its merits, and falling has proved that - the highest of mathematical abilities is not inconsistent with a - dense ignorance of the practical affairs of every-day life. - -I strongly recommend Messrs. Halsey and Dale’s book to those who wish to -know the opinion of American engineers and manufacturers on the metric -system. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XXIV - - THE CONFLICT OF THE IMPERIAL AND METRIC - SYSTEMS - - -Two systems are face to face throughout the West—the Imperial system -resting on long custom and on convenience, and the Metric system on an -assumption of science and on revolt against the past. It has been shown -that the system which pretends to be the only scientific one, and the -easiest, is a failure even in France; but there, like the republic which -gave it birth, it is, under the influence of patriotism or national -pride, strong for attack abroad while in a state of anarchy at home, -worrying manufacturers and evaded in trade whenever police-force fails -to have jurisdiction or deems it prudent not to prosecute. - -The one makes men fit the measures however inconvenient; the other makes -measures to fit those who have to use them. The one attacks; the other -apposes a passive resistance. - -Let us take a general view of the system attacked. - - - 1. GENERAL VIEW OF THE IMPERIAL SYSTEM - -The Imperial system of Weights and Measures rests on principles quite as -rational and scientific as those of the Metric system, and it is much -more practical. - -All its series are derived from the English talent, a weight two-thirds -of the Roman-Alexandrian talent which was derived from the royal cubit -and foot of ancient Egypt. - -The original system, of at least ten centuries ago, was as follows: - -_Length._—The foot was the measure of the side of a cubic vessel -containing 1000 Roman ounces of water. - -The furlong became at a very early period a length of 40 rods = 220 -yards. - -The mile, originally 5000 Roman feet, became 5000 English feet, divided -into 8 road-furlongs. - -_Surface._—The acre was one-tenth of the square furlong. - -_Capacity._—The wine-bushel was the cubic foot, the measure of 1000 -ounces of wine or water. 1/8 of it was the wine-gallon = 1728/8 or 216 -cubic inches. - -The corn-bushel was 1-1/4 cubic feet, the measure of 1000 oz. = 62-1/2 -lb. of wheat; 1/8 of it was the corn-gallon = 270 c.i. - -_Weight._—The pound was 16 Roman ounces = 6992 grains. Its multiples -were the 16-lb. stone, the wey of 16 stones, and the true cwt. of 100 -lb. - -This excellent system has become, after many disturbances, the Imperial -system, only differing from the old English system in the following -points: - -1. The slight rise of the pound (by 8 grains) to 7000 grains. - -2. The rise of the wine-gallon to 231 c.i. as now used in America. - -3. The unification of the wine- and corn-gallons (the latter still used -in America at the standard of 268·8 c.i.) in the Imperial gallon = -277-1/4 c.i. = 10 lb. water. - -4. The fixing of the mile at 8 roods or field-furlongs of 220 yards. - -5. The optional decimalisation of several series: - - (_a_) Of the furlong at 10 chains, of the square furlong at 100 - sq. chains, and of the acre at 10 sq. chains. - - (_b_) Of weights by the 10-lb. gallon and the 100-lb. cental. - - (_c_) Of the ton-register of 100 cubic feet = 100,000 ounces of - water. - -6. The disappearance of the Troy pound. The Troy ounce must shortly -disappear; the 112-lb. cwt. and its stone-divisions are optional. - -The Imperial Standards are now: - -_Length._—The Foot, approximately the side of a cubic vessel containing -1000 ounces of water. The yard of 3 feet or 36 inches. - -The Furlong is 220 yards, either— - - 10 chains of 66 feet or 22 yards, or 40 rods of 5-1/2 yards. - -The Mile is 8 furlongs = 1760 yards. - -The Nautical mile is 1000 Olympic fathoms = 6080 feet or 2026-2/3 yards. - -_Surface._—The square furlong is 10 acres; the acre is 10 sq. chains, or -4840 sq. yards, and may be divided into 160 sq. rods. - -_Volume._—The cubic foot is approximately 1000 ounces of water, = 62-1/2 -lb. The Ton-register is 100 cubic feet. - -_Weight._—The pound, of 7000 grains, is divided into 16 ounces of -437-1/2 grains. - -The Gallon of water weighs 10 lb. - -The Cental is 100 lb. - -The Ton is 20 long Cwt. of 112 lb. - -_Capacity._—The Imperial gallon = 277-1/4 c.i. contains exactly 10 lb. -of water, or approximately 8 lb. of wheat. It is divided into 8 pints -containing 20 oz. of water or 16 oz. of wheat. The Bushel, of 8 gallons, -contains 64 lb. of wheat.[58] The Quarter is 8 bushels, which is -approximately the quarter, either of a short ton, 20 centals, of wheat, -or of a freight-ton of 40 cubic feet. - -Footnote 58: - - The system of the United States only differs from the Imperial system - in its retention of the wine-gallon = 231 c.i. and of the corn-gallon - = 268·8 c.i.; and in its rejection of the long cwt. for the cental. - -The principal units, foot, pound, gallon, are connected by their common -origin in the talent of 1000 ounces of water. Corrections are needed for -accuracy since the pound was increased in Elizabethan times by a little -more than 1 per 1000 from its original Roman standard, and since the -bushel and gallon were increased by 3 per cent. from the original -corn-measure to the Imperial standard. - -The co-related units, foot, furlong, acre, pound, gallon, are multiplied -and divided by the factors found by long use to be the most convenient -to the people. When no other influence determines the secondary units, -the usual factor is 8, or its double, its half, its quarter. - -Any unit may be decimalised for purposes of calculation, and several -series have alternative decimal series. Thus— - - Itinerary and Land measures were decimalised three centuries ago - by the chain-series. - - The Ton-register of 100 cubic feet, used throughout the world, - has a complete decimal series of divisions. - - The pound-gallon-cental series are fully decimalised, from the - 100-lb. cental down to the septem, 1/1000 of a pound. - -A decimal series of weights from the pound upwards is perfectly lawful. -It may be confidently expected that it will before long replace for most -purposes the stone and long-hundredweight series imposed in the -fourteenth century, and fought against ever since. - -Apothecaries’ weight, abolished by the Medical Council half a century -ago, still lingers in the Board of Trade list of standards. Mint-weight -is still on the Troy system. The half-crown is one grain less than an -Imperial half-ounce. It may be hoped that it, and other silver coins, -will before long be brought exactly to that standard. Already the bronze -penny is one-third of the Imperial ounce. - -Further improvements will be made. Some adjustment of the inconvenient -112-lb. hundredweight with the cental series, that of our ancient -hundredweight, returned to us from America, will probably be effected. -In the meantime we know that our system is progressive. - -It may not have such a scientific appearance as that of the metric -system. But we must not be dazzled by the word ‘scientific.’ Our system -has its series related with sufficient exactness to have practically as -much unity as the metric system; and it is convenient. Let us -distinguish between science and pedantry. - - - 2. THE PROPAGANDA OF THE METRIC SYSTEM - -I have read many books and many articles and letters in newspapers and -scientific periodicals advocating the compulsory use of the metric -system, optional amongst us since 1897, but which no trade, industry or -profession will adopt, and I have almost invariably found that the -writers knew the metric system imperfectly, and always that they knew -their own very badly. I have found their advocacy illustrated by -examples of problems in imperial weight and measure which showed -defective instruction in the art of cyphering and supported by -statements which were misleading and only to be charitably excused on -the ground of ignorance.[59] Too often opponents of their propaganda are -sneered at as wanting in scientific knowledge, business experience, and -common sense. - -Footnote 59: - - For instance, in _The Coming of the Kilogram_ (H. O. Arnold-Forster) - the problem ‘How many times is 1 grain contained in 1 ton?’ is worked - out in a half-page of figures. It can be done in 15 seconds, almost - mentally. A cwt. is 112 lb.; a ton is 2240 lb.; multiply by 7000. - Answer: 15,680,000 grains (or times). - -The propaganda of the metric system is effected, from abroad by -diplomacy, and from within by— - -1. Calling it ‘antiquated,’ a term which might be applied to Law, to -Religion, to Marriage, to Property, and other ancient institutions. - -2. Calling it ‘irrational,’ when it has that great reason which comes -from custom, convenience, improvement in recent times. - -3. Calling it ‘unscientific,’ when it joins to popular convenience the -option of decimalisation, whenever that is found convenient, in addition -to the alternate decimalisation already established in several series. - -4. Putting forward as current certain weights, such as the Troy pound, -long ago obsolete. - -5. Putting forward as legal measures trade-units, such as the cask, the -sack, &c., used for convenience in trade, as much in metric countries as -with us.[60] - -6. Putting forward, as necessary, sums and calculations which a decently -taught schoolboy would laugh at. - -7. Ignoring all that is convenient in our system and all that is -inconvenient in the metric system. - -8. Ignoring the satisfaction of the people of the United States with our -system, even when retaining the old wine-gallon and corn-gallon. - -9. Ignoring the resistance of the French people to the metric system -after a century of education in it and of police-constraint. - -10. Urging us to follow the example of other countries that have adopted -it, but omitting to find out whether the peoples of these countries, -from civilised Germany to barbarous Haïti, use it—so far as they do use -it—otherwise than under compulsion. It is the governments of these -countries, not the people, that have adopted it, always in the name of -Science; and the day police-pressure were taken off, the old system -would return, or, at the least, the decimal series would disappear. - -11. Threatening loss of foreign trade, when our trade weights and -measures are so well understood by foreign manufacturers and merchants -that they find no difficulty in placing their goods on our market, and -are so well known that many foreign manufacturers find it impossible to -use metric standards, those of England being alone accepted in most of -the markets to which British manufactures are exported. - -12. Calling opponents prejudiced, unprogressive, unscientific, wanting -in business experience and common sense. - -Footnote 60: - - I have even seen it put forward (in a book now before me) that our - system has several bushels, indeed thirty is the number given; the - ground for this assertion being that bushels of wheat, of oats, or - peas, &c., are of different weights. The propagandist supposed no one - would think of answering that it is the same with the Hectolitre, - which contains different weights of different grains. - -Such are the arguments used in the propaganda of a system which would -make much of the past life of our country unintelligible, send most of -its manufacturing machinery to the scrap-heap, dislocate trade for years -and bring about in our country the same struggle that is still to be -seen in France between the law and the people. - -The claims of the metric system are exactly on the same basis as those -of the Esperanto language. If the metric system were made compulsory, an -energetic body of Esperantists might only have to adopt the metric plan -of campaign to get their ‘simple, rational, scientific and -international’ language made first optional, and then, when it was found -that no one would use it, compulsory, while the use of the antiquated -and unscientific English language would be forbidden. - -What will be the result of the conflict between the two systems -prevailing about equally in the greater part of the Western world? On -the one side North America, the United Kingdom and its colonies in the -Eastern Hemisphere; on the other side the Latin nations of both -hemispheres with the principal Teutonic nations whose governments have -imposed the French system on them. Russia and several other countries -are awaiting the results of the conflict. But it is a siege rather than -a conflict, for the attack is entirely from France; and though it has -the inherent weakness of its system being a failure in the country of -its origin, yet the defence has the weakness of its people being so -badly instructed in their system that they cannot repel the invasion, -and have even allowed the enemy to take up a legal position in their own -country. The colonial policy of England, the simple plan of respecting -custom, of not interfering needlessly, is very different from that of -France. British colonies that were French or Dutch keep the laws and -customs that we found there, and amongst these their systems of weights -and measures. If these were convenient they remained, trade bringing a -gradual adoption of the English system mixed with local measures; and as -these were on a system more or less common to all the Western nations -before the French Revolution, weights and measures gradually harmonised. -But the policy of France is distinctly aggressive; its colonies must -have French laws and the metric system, and other countries also must be -induced to abolish their systems and replace them by the system which a -century of police-action has not succeeded in making the French people -adopt, and which they evade in every possible way. - -Why the propaganda of the metric system should have had any success in -England appears a mystery—yet it is intelligible to anyone who has -observed the contagion of opinions, even the wildest. England has been -fascinated by its presentation as scientific and international. This is -a scientific age, and every new thing that can be puffed as ‘scientific’ -is likely to take with people unprepared to criticise the science. I -have seen the council of no mean English city induced by the word -‘scientific’ to vote in favour of a petition to make the use of the -metric system compulsory; the few members, not one-tenth of the whole, -who dared to oppose the resolution being called unscientific, -unprogressive, &c. - -Repeatedly repulsed, the French siege will not cease its attacks; -England, and America also, must be prepared to meet them. - -Although the English-speaking peoples have a system with which they are -satisfied, unfortunately few know its principles; and, in weights and -measures as in other matters, an inferior article well advertised -supplants an old-established and satisfactory article that is not -advertised. If the French people have not revolted long ago against the -system imposed on them by the Paris bureaucracy, it is because it is -thoroughly advertised as scientific, international, and as conquering -the world by the superior civilisation of the French nation. They have -been trained to make almost any sacrifices for the glory of France, and -so long as they can evade the decimal and other inconvenient portions of -the metric system they suffer this patiently for the satisfaction it -gives to their patriotic feelings. - -But their government must go on conquering, or they may strike against a -system which brings in no more glory; as other peoples may when they see -that the English-speaking peoples of the world refuse to be persuaded -into accepting it. - -Here is the weak point of the attack. And when the English-speaking -peoples, those of the British Empire and America, are as well instructed -in their good system as the peoples of the metric countries are in the -bad system imposed on them (and which they evade for all the good -teaching of it), the assailants will raise the siege. - -We could reply: Amend your own system and make it acceptable to your own -people before you ask us to put aside a system which we find convenient -and which is founded on better principles than ours. Our system has been -carried to all countries; it is decimal wherever decimalisation is -convenient; its international unit is the Ton-register of 100 cubic -feet, or 100,000 ounces, as old as the first civilisation of the world, -as the civilisation which established the Meridian mile used by your -seamen as by ours. We reject an artificial system founded in hatred of -the past, and only kept up in its native country by police-force. In the -name of decimals you want us to abolish our pound, and use a kilogramme -which your own people will not use. It should be enough for you that we -have given your system a denizenship by the abuse of which we have been -greatly annoyed. - - - 3. THE REFORM OF THE METRIC SYSTEM - -The defence must be active; then the attack would cease, and the French -people, seeing its failure, would demand a reform of the system imposed -on them; the other nations suffering under it would follow their -example, if indeed the Teutonic peoples did not begin the reaction. - -Modifications would be demanded, rendering the metric system less -inconvenient for manufacturers, for trade, for the everyday business of -life. - -The metric standards would be retained, but the decimal system would be -optional, left principally for scientific purposes. The divisions and -multiples would be in harmony with the customs of each people, usually -in sexdecimal series. - -For France, the _système usuel_ of Napoleon’s compromise would be -revived. Incomplete a century ago, it could be rendered complete by the -following arrangement of the metric system, suitable both to Northern -and to Southern France. - -1. The metre to be divided optionally either into 3 feet of 12 inches, -or into 4 spans of 9 inches or 12 digits; 2 metres to be a toise and 10 -toises a perch; 100 toises or 10 perches to be a centenié (furlong) and -800 toises or 8 furlongs a mile = 1741-3/4 yards. The meridian mile -would be 926 toises or 9-1/4 cables. - -2. Land to be measured by the square toise, 1/25 of an are; 1600 square -toises to be an arpent of 16 vergées metriques or boisselées, each 10 -toises square, = 4 ares. - -3. The livre, = 500 grammes, to be divided commercially into 16 ounces -of 8 drachms; and for medicinal purposes, the drachm to be 8 oboles of 8 -grains. Grammes and decimal fractions of a gramme could be used for -scientific purposes. - -4. The hectolitre would be divided sexdecimally, into 4 boisseaux, of 4 -gallons = 6-1/4 litres. The litre would be divided into 2 setiers or -chopines, 4 half-setiers, and 32 ounces. - -The equivalence with imperial measures would be approximately: - - 1 Metre = 1-1/10 yard. - 1 Mille = 1 mile. - 1 Vergée = 1/10 acre. - 1 Arpent = 1·6 acre. - 1 Livre = 1-1/10 lb. - 1 Litre = 9/10 quart. - -Similar arrangements could be made in other countries, the units being -made in accordance with the old custom of the people, but always on a -metric basis so that international conversion of measures would be easy -and accurate. - - - ENVOI - -With this suggestion of compromise, of _entente cordiale_, instead of -constant aggression by the French system against that of the British -dominions and America, I close the last chapter of my work. I took to it -twelve years ago for useful occupation in the leisure of approaching -retirement from active life in a great seaport. But as I carried out my -design I found the verge of the wide subject recede with every advance I -made; every fresh field I worked showed another field beyond. A renewal -of life for study, travel, observation, would be needed to enable me to -carry out at all completely this history of the human mind in one of its -most interesting and important aspects. But age warns me to bring my -work to a close, leaving its correction and completion to younger men. -Yet I hope I have been able to show the principles of unity and of -diversity; and apparent confusion becomes clear when the keys of -metrology are at hand. The trend of the human mind is always the same; -for weights and measures are a part of the daily life of every man and -woman. The rise of measurement, the naturalisation of weights and -measures brought by commerce, even by conquest, when they are found -convenient, the varieties caused by changes of circumstance, the -deflections under the constraint of ill-advised rulers, the effect of -long custom in reconciling to new standards if they can only be arranged -conveniently, the shifts by which they can be made endurable, the -tendency to resume the old trend along another path—all these traits of -human nature are shown in this study. One thing is certain, that a wise -government sanctions the measures which fit its people; its business is -to maintain unity in the inevitable variety; and it should distrust the -pretensions of science to dictate to men and women, to trade and -manufacturers, the measures they shall use. Whether in theocratic -ancient Egypt or in revolutionary modern Europe, science is a good -servant of Humanity, but a bad master. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CONVERSION TABLES OF METRIC AND IMPERIAL MEASURES - - ───────────────┬───────────────┬─────────────────── - Centimetres │ Grammes │ Kilos ⎫ to 10 lb. - to Inches. │ to Grains. │ Litres⎭ gallons. - ───────────────┼───────────────┼─────────────────── - 1. 0·39370113 │ 1. 15·432356 │ 1. 0·22046 - 2. 0·78740226 │ 2. 30·864713 │ 2. 0·44092 - 3. 1·1811339 │ 3. 46·29707 │ 3. 0·66138 - 4. 1·5748452 │ 4. 61·72942 │ 4. 0·88184 - 5. 1·9685565 │ 5. 77·16178 │ 5. 1·10231 - 6. 2·3622678 │ 6. 92·59414 │ 6. 1·32277 - 7. 2·7559791 │ 7. 108·02649 │ 7. 1·54323 - 8. 3·1496904 │ 8. 123·45885 │ 8. 1·7637 - 9. 3·5434017 │ 9. 138·89121 │ 9. 1·98416 - ───────────────┴───────────────┴─────────────────── - - - IMPERIAL TO METRIC MEASURE - - 1 inch = 2·54 centim. - 1 foot = 30·48 „ - 1 yard = 91·44 „ - 1 mile = 1609 metres. - 1 sq. yd. = 0·836 sq. metre. - 1 sq. rod = 25·3 „ - 1 sq. rood = 1011 „ - 1 acre = 0·404 hectare. - - 1 cubic inch water 252-1/4 grs. = 16·38 c.c. or grammes. - 1 „ foot „ 62-1/3 lb. = 28 c. decim. or kilos. - - 1 grain = 6·48 centigr. - 1 ounce = 28·35 grammes. - 1 lb. = 453·59 „ - - 1 gallon = 4·536 litres. - - 1 bushel = 36-1/3 „ - - 1 quarter = 2·91 hectol. - - 1 ton = 1016 kilos. - - 1 hectolitre = 2-2/3 bushels. - 3 „ = 1·03 quarter. - 1 „ to the hectare = 1-1/9 bushel to 1 acre. - 1000 kilos to the hectare = 0·4 ton to 1 acre. - 1 franc a hectolitre = 3·6 pence a bushel. - 1 franc 100 kilos = 22-1/2 pence a quarter. 98 pence a ton. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - INDEX - - - Acre, 72, 74, 78, 87 - - Acreme, 81 - - Ale-gallon, 117 - - Apothecaries’ weight, 140 - - Arshīn, 215 - - As, 38, 94 - - Austria, W. & M., 208, 220 - - Averdepois, 93, 99 - - - Bath, 239 - - Bereh, 27, 238 - - Bovate, 80, 89 - - Bread-weight, 128, 138 - - Burma and the Straits, W. & M., 173 - - Bushel, old and of U.S., 96; - Winchester, 119; - Imperial, 124 - - - Canada and Mauritius, W. & M., 173 - - Carat, 35, 245; v. Qirát - - Carucate, 82, 89 - - Cask-measures, 116 - - Cental, 45, 109 - - Chain, 64, 73 - - Chaldron, 120, 122 - - Channel Islands, W. & M., 157 - - Clove, 107, 110, 242 - - Coal-measure, 122 - - Corn-measure, 122 - - Cubit, natural, 1; - Egyptian common, or Olympic, 2, 14; - Egyptian royal, 18; - Great Assyrian or Persian, 23; - Beládi, 25; - Talmudic, 27, 238; - Black, Al-Mamūn’s, 28; - Hashími, 214 - - Customs of Lancaster, 88 - - - Decimal system, 5, 182, 188 - - Denmark, W. & M., 221 - - Density, measures of, 198; - of water, 146 - - Digit, 1, 4 - - Dirhem, 45, 222 - - Drachm, 105, 135 - - Drachma, 41, 43, 221 - - Dram, 103 - - Duodecimal system, 5 - - - Egypt, modern, W. & M., 67, 213, 220, 235 - - Ell, 62, 202 - - England, linear measures, 58; - land-measures, 65; - wine-measures, 114; - corn-measures, 118; - commercial weights, 93; - mint-weights, 127, 250; - money, 174 - - Epha, 239 - - - Fathom, Olympic, 6, 15 - - Firkin, 116 - - Foot, origin of, 4; - Olympic, 4; - Egyptian royal, 12; - Assyrian, 25; - Beládi, 26; - Burgos, 26, 211; - Black, 29; - Roman, 18; - English, 49, 60; - Rhineland, 52; - Hanseatic, 207; - Amsterdam, 207; - French, 259; - French reduced, 159, 261 - - Fother, 111, 252 - - Fotmal, 112 - - France, W. & M., Southern, 253; - Northern, 259; - Metric, 271 - - Furlong, 63, 81 - - - Gallon, Wine, 114; - Corn, 119; - Imperial, 123 - - Germany, W. & M., 206, 219, 225, 228 - - Gill, 125 - - Grain, 103, 245, 249 - - Greece, ancient, W. & M., 17, 68; - Coin-weights, 43 - - Guernsey, W. & M., 157; - Currency, 183 - - - Hand, 61 - - Heat, measures of, 197 - - Hebrew, W. & M., 237 - - Hide, 81 - - Holland, W. & M., 207, 218, 228 - - Homer of corn, 90, 230 - - Hundredweight, 94, 105 - - - Imperial bushel, 123; - gallon, 123; - pound, 102; - system, 295 - - Inch, 4, 18, 59, 244 - - India, W. & M., 167; - money, 184 - - Ireland, acre and mile, 74; - gallon, 155 - - Italy, W. & M., 208, 223, 237 - - - Kilderkin, 116 - - Knot, 16 - - - Land-measures, Egyptian, 67; - Greek, 67; - Roman, 68; - English, 71 - - Last, 105, 143 - - Lead-weight, 111 - - League, 64 - - Leaguer, leggar, 167, 231 - - Libra, 40, 94 - - Load, 107 - - - Marc, 127, 130 - - Medicinal weights, 104; - measures, 126 - - Medimnos, 34 - - Metretes, 37 - - Metric system, 271; - working of, 284; - reform of, 306 - - Mile, meridian, 15; - equatorial, 16; - Roman, 17; - English, 63; - of time, 193 - - Miná, 33 - - Mithkal, 94, 221 - - Modius, 40 - - - Nail, 58, 111, 242 - - Norway, W. & M., 132, 206, 209 - - - Octonary system, 5, 124 - - Ounce, Roman, 38, 40; - Averdepois, 93; - Imperial, 102; - Tower, 95, 127; - Troy, 98 - - Oxgang, 66 - - - Palm, 4, 19, 61, 209 - - Pán, 53 - - Parasang, 16 - - Penny, 95; pennyweight, 128 - - Pint, wine, 115; - ale, 118; - Imperial, 125 - - Ploughland, 82 - - Portugal, measures, 212, 234 - - Pound, Roman, 38, 94; - Averdepois, 93, 133; - Imperial, 102; - Tower, 127; - Troy, 129; - Scots, 139; - Amsterdam, 218; - Mediterranean, 220; - Nuremburg, 225; - Cologne, 225; - French, 258 - - Pound sterling, 174 - - - Qasáb, 25, 215 - - Qirát, 221 - - Quadrantal, 39, 50 - - Quarter, 96, 105, 120, 145 - - - Rod, 62, 77, 84 - - Roman W. & M., 38, 68 - - Rood, 71, 78 - - Rotl, 45, 223 - - Rūba, Arroba, 224, 248 - - - Scotland, W. & M., 147; - acre and mile, 74 - - Scruple, 40, 105, 135 - - Seed-measures of land, 90 - - Sexdecimal system, 5 - - Shaftment, 61 - - Shekel, 31, 33 - - South Africa, W. & M., 166 - - Spain, W. & M., 210, 225, 233 - - Sterling, 95 - - Stone, 94, 105, 110 - - Sweden W. & M., 206, 220 - - - Tables— - Olympic measures of length, 17 - The five ancient cubits, 30 - Roman weights and measures of capacity, 41 - British miles and acres, 74 - Provençal corn and land-measures, 92 - English measures of capacity, 125 - Standard of various Troy weights, 132 - Concordance of capacity, weight and measurement, 144 - Volume and weight of water, 146 - Marseilles and Jersey measures of capacity, 162 - Specific gravity scales of spirits, 200 - European itinerary measures, 217 - Ounces and dirhems, 224 - Original weight of dirhems, 226 - Old French measures, 267 - Conversion of Metric and Imperial W. & M., 309 - - Talent, Alexandrian, 33; - Ptolemaïc, 35; - Greek-Asiatic, 36; - Olympic, 42; - Arabic, 44 - - Thermometer-scales, 197 - - Time, measures of, 189 - - Toise, 260 - - Ton, 96, 105; - register, 143; - cargo, 144 - - Tower-weight, 95, 127 - - Troy-weight, 129 - - Tun, 116, 252 - - Tunis, W. & M., 214, 221, 233 - - Turkey, W. & M., 213, 222, 235 - - - Velte, 115, 230, 265 - - Verge, 78, 83, 160 - - Vergée, 78, 160 - - Virgate, 76, 80, 89 - - - Wales, measures, 156 - - Wey, 94, 105 - - Winchester bushel, 119 - - Wine-gallon, 114 - - Wool-weight, 109 - - - Yard, 58, 83 - - Yardland, 66, 80 - - - _Spottiswoode & Co. Ltd., Printers, Colchester, London and Eton._ - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ - │ │ - │ _Finance_ │ - │ │ - ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ - │ │ - │ Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d. │ - │ │ - │ Lombard Street: │ - │ A Description of the Money Market. │ - │ │ - │ By the late Walter Bagehot. │ - │ │ - │15th Thousand. 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It is eminently readable, and the │ - │ description of a typical flotation, “Hygienic │ - │ Toothpowder, Ltd.,” is a literary gem.’ │ - │ │ - ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ - │ │ - │ London: Smith, Elder & Co., 15 Waterloo Place, S.W. │ - │ │ - └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ - │ │ - │ _At all Booksellers and Bookstalls._ │ - │ │ - │ Smith, Elder & Co.’s │ - │ New 1s. Net Series. │ - │ │ - ╞══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╡ - │ │ - │ 1. Deeds that Won the Empire. Dr. W. H. Fitchett.│ - │ │ - │ 2. The Cruise of the “Cachalot” Round │ - │ the World after Sperm Whales. Frank T. Bullen.│ - │ │ - │ 3. Fights for the Flag. Dr. W. H. Fitchett.│ - │ │ - │ 4. The Log of a Sea Waif. Frank T. Bullen.│ - │ │ - │ 5. The Gamekeeper at Home. Richard Jefferies.│ - │ │ - │ 6. A Londoner’s Log Book. Rt. Hon. G. W. E. Russell.│ - │ │ - │ 7. The Sowers. H. S. Merriman.│ - │ │ - │ 8. Jess. H. Rider Haggard.│ - │ │ - │ 9. Vice Versâ. F. Anstey.│ - │ │ - │10. Woodland, Moor, and Stream. J. A. Owen.│ - │ │ - │11. The Tale of the Great Mutiny. Dr. W. H. Fitchett.│ - │ │ - │12. Sixty Years in the Wilderness. Sir Henry W. Lucy.│ - │ │ - │13. A Vision of India. Sidney Low.│ - │ │ - │14. The Defence of Plevna. Capt. F. W. von Herbert.│ - │ With an Introduction by General Sir │ - │ JOHN FRENCH, G.C.B., K.C.B., etc. │ - │ │ - │15. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. A. Conan Doyle.│ - │ │ - │16. Nelson and His Captains. Dr. W. H. Fitchett.│ - │ │ - │17. With Edged Tools. Henry Seton Merriman.│ - │ │ - ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ - │ │ - │ London: SMITH, ELDER & CO., 15 Waterloo Place, S.W. │ - │ │ - └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - Transcriber’s note: - -Errata, ‘last’ changed to ‘Last,’ “„ 306 _Last line_ „ “our” „ “yours.”” - -Page 72, ‘od’ changed to ‘rod,’ “instead of the measuring rod” - -Page 90, ‘sétier’ changed to ‘setier,’ “the variable setier of -seed-corn” - -Page 92, ‘„’ inserted before ‘10,’ “Cosso (Sc. Lug.) „ 10” - -Page 145, decimal struck before ‘1-1/4,’ “20 [oz] = 1-1/4 [lb]” - -Page 167, ‘Moghul’ changed to ‘Mogul,’ “Moslem conquerors, Mogul and -Pathan” - -Page 187, ‘filus’ changed to ‘filūs,’ “filūs), followed by ‘XX cash.’” - -Page 193, ‘t me requ red’ changed to ‘time required,’ “unit was the time -required to walk” - -Page 195, ‘epact’ changed to ‘Epact,’ “increase of the Epact during” - -Page 198, ‘densit’ changed to ‘density,’ “The maximum density of water” - -Page 198, ‘double’ changed to ‘halve,’ “Deduct 32°; halve the degrees; -add” - -Page 198, hyphen moved from before ‘body’ to after, “Normal -body-temperature is taken” - -Page 201, ‘er ai’ changed to ‘certain,’ “certain distance in a certain -time” - -Page 222, dittos replaced with original text, “is 144 dirhems of 47·66 -grs.” - -Page 224, ‘ruba’ changed to ‘rūba,’ “divided into 4 rūba and” - -Page 252, ‘onomatopæic’ changed to ‘onomatopœic,’ “belong to an -onomatopœic class” - -Page 255, ‘gallons’ value inserted for ‘Spain,’ -“Spain, 64·55 „ 14·23 „” - -Page 282, ‘decimales’ changed to ‘décimales,’ “à 2 heures 10 minutes -décimales” - -Page 299, ‘alterative’ changed to ‘alternative,’ “have alternative -decimal series” - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Men and Measures, by Edward Nicholson - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEN AND MEASURES *** - -***** This file should be named 56290-0.txt or 56290-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/6/2/9/56290/ - -Produced by deaurider and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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} - </style> - </head> - <body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Men and Measures, by Edward Nicholson - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Men and Measures - -Author: Edward Nicholson - -Release Date: January 2, 2018 [EBook #56290] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEN AND MEASURES *** - - - - -Produced by deaurider and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div> - <h1 class='c000'>MEN AND MEASURES</h1> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c001' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> -<div class='nf-center c001'> - <div><span class='xlarge'>MEN AND MEASURES</span></div> - <div class='c002'>A HISTORY OF</div> - <div><span class='large'>WEIGHTS AND MEASURES</span></div> - <div>ANCIENT AND MODERN</div> - <div class='c003'>BY</div> - <div>EDWARD NICHOLSON, F.I.C., F.C.S.</div> - <div class='c002'><span class='small'>SURGEON LIEUT.-COLONEL ARMY MEDICAL DEPARTMENT</span></div> - <div><span class='small'>AUTHOR OF ‘A MANUAL OF INDIAN OPHIOLOGY’</span></div> - <div><span class='small'>‘THE STORY OF OUR WEIGHTS AND MEASURES’ ‘FLOURETO DE PROUVÈNÇO’ ETC.</span></div> - <div class='c003'>LONDON</div> - <div>SMITH, ELDER & CO., 15 WATERLOO PLACE</div> - <div>1912</div> - <div class='c002'>[All rights reserved]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c001' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c004'><span class='under'>ERRATA.</span></h2> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='7%' /> -<col width='7%' /> -<col width='7%' /> -<col width='10%' /> -<col width='3%' /> -<col width='7%' /> -<col width='10%' /> -<col width='17%' /> -<col width='10%' /> -<col width='17%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c005'><i>Page</i></td> - <td class='c006'>36</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'><i>Line</i></td> - <td class='c006'>21</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'><i>For</i></td> - <td class='c007'>“×1000”</td> - <td class='c005'><i>Read</i></td> - <td class='c008'>“×7000.”</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c006'>136</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c006'>21</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>“grams”</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>“grains.”</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c006'>148</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c006'>27</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>“7925”</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>“7625.”</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c006'>154</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'><i>Lines</i></td> - <td class='c007' colspan='3'>21, 22, 23</td> - <td class='c008' colspan='3'><i>delete</i> “to.”</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c006'>155</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'><i>Line</i></td> - <td class='c006'>4</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'><i>For</i></td> - <td class='c007'>“feet”</td> - <td class='c005'><i>Read</i></td> - <td class='c008'>“ells.”</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c006'>195</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c006'>15</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>“17”</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>“25.”</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c006'>198</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c006'>19</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>“double”</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>“halve.”</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c006'>263</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c006'>13</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>“perches”</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>“toises.”</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c006'>295</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c006'>16</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>“apposes”</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>“opposes.”</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c006'>306</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005' colspan='2'><i>Last line</i></td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>“our”</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>“yours.”</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c004'>PREFACE</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>This history is the development of a short story -of the Imperial System of Weights and Measures published -eleven years ago, but withdrawn when this -fuller work took shape. To have made it at all complete -would have required a long lifetime of research; -to give and discuss every authority, to trace, even to -acknowledge, every source of information would have -unduly swollen the volume and slackened the interest -of the narrative. I offer it with all its shortcomings -as an attempt to show the metric instincts of man -everywhere and in all time, to trace the origins and -evolution of the main national systems, to explain -the apparently arbitrary changes which have affected -them, to show how the ancient system used by the -English-speaking peoples of the world has been able, -not only to survive dangerous perturbations in the -past, but also to resist the modern revolutionary -system which has destroyed so many others less -homogeneous, less capable of adaptation to circumstances.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-r'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>E. N.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c010'><i>Feb. 1912.</i></p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_vii'>vii</span> - <h2 class='c004'>TABLE OF CONTENTS</h2> -</div> - -<table class='table1' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='4%' /> -<col width='86%' /> -<col width='8%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'><span class='large'>CHAPTER I</span></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'> </td> - <td class='c012'> </td> - <td class='c013'><span class='fss'>PAGE</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005' colspan='2'>GENERAL VIEW OF THE EVOLUTION OF MEASURES</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_1'>1</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'><span class='large'>CHAPTER II</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'>THE STORY OF THE CUBITS</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>1.</td> - <td class='c012'>The Egyptian common or Olympic cubit</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_14'>14</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'> </td> - <td class='c012'>The meridian mile</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_15'>15</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'> </td> - <td class='c012'>Greek itinerary measures</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_16'>16</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'> </td> - <td class='c012'>The Roman mile</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_17'>17</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>2.</td> - <td class='c012'>The Egyptian royal cubit</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_18'>18</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>3.</td> - <td class='c012'>The great Assyrian or Persian cubit</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_23'>23</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>4.</td> - <td class='c012'>The Beládi cubit</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_26'>26</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'> </td> - <td class='c012'>The Bereh or equatorial land-mile</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_27'>27</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>5.</td> - <td class='c012'>The Black cubit</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_28'>28</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'> </td> - <td class='c012'>Comparative lengths of the five ancient cubits</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_30'>30</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'><span class='large'>CHAPTER III</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'>THE STORY OF THE TALENTS</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>1.</td> - <td class='c012'>The Alexandrian talent</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_33'>33</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'> </td> - <td class='c012'>The Medimnos</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_34'>34</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>2.</td> - <td class='c012'>The lesser Alexandrian or Ptolemaïc talent</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_35'>35</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>3.</td> - <td class='c012'>The Greek-Asiatic talent</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_36'>36</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'> </td> - <td class='c012'>The Metretes</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_37'>37</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_viii'>viii</span>4.</td> - <td class='c012'>Roman weights and measures of capacity</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_38'>38</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'> </td> - <td class='c012'>The new Roman pound</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_40'>40</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>5.</td> - <td class='c012'>The Olympic talent</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_42'>42</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>6.</td> - <td class='c012'>Greek coin-weights</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_43'>43</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>7.</td> - <td class='c012'>The Arabic talent</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_44'>44</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'> </td> - <td class='c012'>Measures of capacity derived from Arabic linear measures</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_47'>47</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'><span class='large'>CHAPTER IV</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'>THE INVOLUTION OF LINEAR MEASURES FROM WEIGHTS</td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'>THE ORIGIN OF THE ENGLISH AND OF THE RHINELAND FOOT</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>1.</td> - <td class='c012'>The English foot</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_49'>49</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>2.</td> - <td class='c012'>The Rhineland foot</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_52'>52</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>3.</td> - <td class='c012'>The pán of Marseilles</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_53'>53</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>4.</td> - <td class='c012'>The filiation of the English foot, of the Rhineland foot, and of the pán of Marseilles</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_55'>55</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'><span class='large'>CHAPTER V</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'>ENGLISH LINEAR MEASURES</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>1.</td> - <td class='c012'>The yard, the foot, the inch</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_58'>58</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>2.</td> - <td class='c012'>Standards of the linear measures</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_59'>59</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>3.</td> - <td class='c012'>The hand</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_61'>61</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>4.</td> - <td class='c012'>The ell</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_62'>62</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>5.</td> - <td class='c012'>The rod, furlong, mile, and league</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_62'>62</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'><span class='large'>CHAPTER VI</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'>LAND-MEASURES</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>1.</td> - <td class='c012'>Introduction</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_65'>65</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>2.</td> - <td class='c012'>Evolution of geometric land-measures</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_66'>66</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>3.</td> - <td class='c012'>The story of English land-measures</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_71'>71</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>4.</td> - <td class='c012'>Feudal land-measures</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_75'>75</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>5.</td> - <td class='c012'>Terms used in old land-measures</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_77'>77</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>6.</td> - <td class='c012'>The yard and the verge</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_82'>82</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>7.</td> - <td class='c012'>How the rod came to be 5-1/2 yards</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_84'>84</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>8.</td> - <td class='c012'>How the acre came to be 160 square rods</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_87'>87</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>9.</td> - <td class='c012'>Customs of Lancaster</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_88'>88</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>10.</td> - <td class='c012'>Seed-measures of land</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_90'>90</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'><span class='pageno' id='Page_ix'>ix</span><span class='large'>CHAPTER VII</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'>ENGLISH COMMERCIAL WEIGHTS</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>1.</td> - <td class='c012'>The story of Averdepois</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_93'>93</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>2.</td> - <td class='c012'>The Imperial pound</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_102'>102</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>3.</td> - <td class='c012'>Scientific and medicinal divisions of the pound</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_104'>104</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>4.</td> - <td class='c012'>The long hundredweight</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_105'>105</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>5.</td> - <td class='c012'>Wool and lead weight</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_109'>109</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>6.</td> - <td class='c012'>Trade-units of weight</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_112'>112</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'><span class='large'>CHAPTER VIII</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'>ENGLISH MEASURES OF CAPACITY</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>1.</td> - <td class='c012'>The old wine-measures</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_114'>114</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>2.</td> - <td class='c012'>The ale-gallon</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_117'>117</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>3.</td> - <td class='c012'>Corn-measure</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_118'>118</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>4.</td> - <td class='c012'>The quarter and the chaldron</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_120'>120</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>5.</td> - <td class='c012'>Coal-measure</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_122'>122</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>6.</td> - <td class='c012'>The Imperial gallon</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_123'>123</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>7.</td> - <td class='c012'>Medicinal fluid-measures</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_126'>126</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'><span class='large'>CHAPTER IX</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'>THE MINT-POUNDS</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>1.</td> - <td class='c012'>The Saxon or Tower pound</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_127'>127</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>2.</td> - <td class='c012'>The Troy pound</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_129'>129</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'> </td> - <td class='c012'>How the averdepois pound was of 7000 grains</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_133'>133</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>3.</td> - <td class='c012'>The pride and fall of Troy</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_136'>136</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'> </td> - <td class='c012'>The assize of bread</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_138'>138</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'> </td> - <td class='c012'>The disappearance of the Troy pound</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_139'>139</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'><span class='large'>CHAPTER X</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'>THE CUBIC FOOT AND THE TON REGISTER</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>Concordance of capacity, weight, and measurement</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_145'>145</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>Volume and weight of water at different temperatures</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_146'>146</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'><span class='pageno' id='Page_x'>x</span><span class='large'>CHAPTER XI</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'>SCOTS, IRISH, AND WELSH MEASURES AND WEIGHTS</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>1.</td> - <td class='c012'>Scotland</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_147'>147</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>2.</td> - <td class='c012'>Ireland</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_155'>155</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>3.</td> - <td class='c012'>Wales</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_156'>156</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'><span class='large'>CHAPTER XII</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'>MEASURES AND WEIGHTS OF SOME BRITISH DOMINIONS</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>1.</td> - <td class='c012'>The Channel islands</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_157'>157</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>2.</td> - <td class='c012'>South Africa (Cape Colony)</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_166'>166</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>3.</td> - <td class='c012'>India</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_167'>167</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>4.</td> - <td class='c012'>Burma and the Straits</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_172'>172</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>5.</td> - <td class='c012'>Canada and Mauritius</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_173'>173</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'><span class='large'>CHAPTER XIII</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'>MEASURES OF VALUE</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>1.</td> - <td class='c012'>English money</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_174'>174</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>2.</td> - <td class='c012'>Guernsey currency</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_183'>183</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>3.</td> - <td class='c012'>Indian money</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_184'>184</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>4.</td> - <td class='c012'>Decimal currency</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_188'>188</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'><span class='large'>CHAPTER XIV</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'>MEASURES OF TIME</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>The lunar year</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_194'>194</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>The compass-card</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_195'>195</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'><span class='large'>CHAPTER XV</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005' colspan='2'>MEASURES OF HEAT AND OF DENSITY</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_197'>197</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>Compound industrial units</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_201'>201</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'><span class='pageno' id='Page_xi'>xi</span><span class='large'>CHAPTER XVI</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005' colspan='2'>THE ELLS</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_202'>202</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'><span class='large'>CHAPTER XVII</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'>FOREIGN LINEAR MEASURES</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>1.</td> - <td class='c012'>Teutonic countries</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_206'>206</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>2.</td> - <td class='c012'>Latin countries</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_208'>208</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>3.</td> - <td class='c012'>Russia and the East</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_212'>212</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>4.</td> - <td class='c012'>The Hashimi cubit</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_214'>214</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>5.</td> - <td class='c012'>The Halebi pík or arshīn</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_215'>215</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'><span class='large'>CHAPTER XVIII</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'>FOREIGN WEIGHTS</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>1.</td> - <td class='c012'>Teutonic systems</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_218'>218</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>2.</td> - <td class='c012'>East-European systems</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_219'>219</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>3.</td> - <td class='c012'>Mediterranean systems</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_220'>220</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'> </td> - <td class='c012'>Summary</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_224'>224</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'> </td> - <td class='c012'>Original weights of the dirhems</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_226'>226</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'><span class='large'>CHAPTER XIX</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'>FOREIGN MEASURES OF CAPACITY</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>1.</td> - <td class='c012'>The Teutonic system</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_227'>227</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>2.</td> - <td class='c012'>The Mediterranean system</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_232'>232</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>3.</td> - <td class='c012'>Hebrew weights and measures of capacity</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_237'>237</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'><span class='large'>CHAPTER XX</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'>THE DEVELOPMENT OF MEANING IN THE NAMES OF</td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'>WEIGHTS AND MEASURES</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>1.</td> - <td class='c012'>General remarks</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_240'>240</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>2.</td> - <td class='c012'>The nail and the clove; the inch and the ounce</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_242'>242</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>3.</td> - <td class='c012'>The carat and the grain</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_245'>245</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>4.</td> - <td class='c012'>The tun and the fother</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_252'>252</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'><span class='pageno' id='Page_xii'>xii</span><span class='large'>CHAPTER XXI</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'>THE OLD MEASURES AND WEIGHTS OF FRANCE</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>1.</td> - <td class='c012'>The Southern system</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_253'>253</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>2.</td> - <td class='c012'>The Northern system</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_259'>259</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'><span class='large'>CHAPTER XXII</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005' colspan='2'>THE METRIC SYSTEM</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_271'>271</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'><span class='large'>CHAPTER XXIII</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005' colspan='2'>HOW THE METRIC SYSTEM WORKS IN FRANCE</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_284'>284</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'><span class='large'>CHAPTER XXIV</span></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='3'>THE CONFLICT OF THE IMPERIAL AND METRIC SYSTEMS</td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>1.</td> - <td class='c012'>General view of the Imperial system</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_295'>295</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>2.</td> - <td class='c012'>The propaganda of the Metric system</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_300'>300</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>3.</td> - <td class='c012'>The reform of the Metric system</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_306'>306</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>CONVERSION-TABLES OF METRIC AND IMPERIAL MEASURES</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_310'>310</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>INDEX</td> - <td class='c013'><a href='#Page_311'>311</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c001' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> -<div class='nf-center c001'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_1'>1</span><span class='xlarge'>MEN AND MEASURES</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER I<br /> <br /><span class='small'>GENERAL VIEW</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>The earliest measures were those of length, and they -were derived from the rough-and-ready standard -afforded by the limbs of man.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The readiest of these measures were those offered -by the length of the forearm, and by parts of the -hand; these formed a natural series of far-reaching -importance.</p> - -<p class='c014'>These arm-measures were—</p> - -<p class='c014'>1. The Cubit, the length of the bent forearm from -elbow-point to finger-tip, about 18 to 19 inches.</p> - -<p class='c014'>2. The Span, the length that can be spanned between -the thumb-tip and little finger-tip of the outstretched -hand. It is nearly half of the cubit, about 9 inches.</p> - -<p class='c014'>3. The Palm, the breadth of the four fingers, one-third -of the span, one-sixth of the cubit, about 3 inches.</p> - -<p class='c014'>4. The Digit or finger-breadth at about the middle -of the middle finger, one-twelfth of the span, one-twenty-fourth -of the cubit = 3/4 inch.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_2'>2</span>From this division of the cubit into 6 palms and -24 digits, and of its half, the span, into 12 digits, -came the division of the day into watches and hours, -of the year into months; came also the consecration -of the number 12 in legend, history, and social institutions—came -in short duodecimalism wherever we -find it.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Add to the above measures the outstretch of the -arms, the fathom, we have the five primitive limb-lengths.</p> - -<p class='c014'>A time came when civilisation required the fixing -of a standard cubit. It was perhaps at first an arbitrary -standard, but it became fixed by law in the most -ancient Eastern Kingdoms and, about the fortieth -century before the Christian era, perhaps much earlier, -certainly by the time of the Egyptian fourth dynasty, -it had been fixed at a length known for certain to be -equal to 18·24 English inches.</p> - -<p class='c014'>This was no arbitrary standard, any more than -that of the English yard or the French metre. I may -say that, apart from parochial varieties and convenient -trade-units, always referable to some recognised -standard, there are no arbitrary standards in any -country; all have a directly scientific basis or a lineage -reaching, perhaps far back, to a scientific basis. They -may have deviated, by carelessness, or even by petty -fraud, from some accepted standard, but wholesale -trade has always been a conservator of standards.</p> - -<p class='c014'>There is not the slightest doubt that the common -cubit of ancient Egypt, brought probably from Chaldæa, -was deduced from the measurement of the earth, from -<span class='pageno' id='Page_3'>3</span>the quarter-meridian distance between the pole and -the equator. There are no written records of this -measurement; but an imperishable monument remained -to record it, and other ancient monuments -still remain to corroborate this testimony. The base -of the Great Pyramid was, from ancient times, always -known to be 500 cubits long on each side, and it is -found to be exactly half a meridian mile, or 500 -Egyptian fathoms, in perimeter.</p> - -<p class='c014'>There is no doubt that the wise men of the ancient -Eastern Kingdoms had great astronomical knowledge -and were capable of making the necessary meridian -measurement.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Bailly (author of ‘Histoire de l’Astronomie,’ 1775-1787) -wrote:</p> - -<p class='c015'>The measurement of the earth was undertaken a vast -number of ages ago in the times of primitive astronomy.... -We pass contemptuously by the results of ancient -astronomical observations; we substitute others and, as -we perfect these, we find the same results that we had -despised.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It will be seen that these ancient observations were -of great accuracy, and that modern science cannot -improve much on the measurements of the meridian -that were made on the plains of Chaldæa, or along the -Nile, at least sixty centuries ago.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The unit of distance used at the present day by -seamen of all nations, the meridian mile, one-sixtieth -of a degree, is exactly 1000 Egyptian fathoms, or -4000 Egyptian meridian cubits, and the Great Pyramid -was built with a base measuring exactly 500 of these -<span class='pageno' id='Page_4'>4</span>cubits along each side and 500 of these fathoms in -perimeter.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It had probably been found convenient before that -time to take a shorter unit than the cubit for use in -many everyday measurements. It was two-thirds -of the cubit, one-sixth of the fathom, and was called -a Foot from its being roughly about the length of a long -human foot. Apparently one of the primitive limb-measures, -it is really an outcome of the cubit, ‘foot’ -being merely a convenient name for it. The foot of -the meridian cubit was of 4 palms or 16 digits and was -= 12·16 English inches.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Egyptian standards of linear measure, thus -adjusted to the meridian mile, passed to Greece, and -under the name of ‘Olympic’ became the Greek -standards of length.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The use of the cubit and foot series of measures -is seen in Hesiod (ninth century <span class='fss'>B.C.</span>):</p> - -<p class='c015'>Hew a mortar three feet (<i>tripodīn</i>) in diameter, and a -pestle three cubits (<i>tripichtēn</i>), and an axletree seven feet -(<i>heptapodīn</i>) ... and hew a wheel of three spans (<i>trispithamon</i>) -for the plough-carriage of ten palms (<i>dekadōro</i>) -length.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Besides the original division of the foot into 16 -finger-breadths or digits, there arose an alternative -division into 12 thumb-breadths or inches. So for -the Roman foot, of shorter standard than the Egyptian -or Olympic foot from which it was derived—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Pes habet palmos iv, uncias xij, digitos xvi,</div> - <div class='line'>Palmus habet digitos iv, uncias iij.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_5'>5</span>It may be said that with the foot originated the -sexdecimal system, as with the span the duodecimal -system. But the foot had as many inches, twelve, as -the span had of digits; and this division was the -same in other feet or spans not differing much from -the Olympic standard.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The popularity of the foot, its general adoption -for the common purposes of life, are due to its being -divided into either 12 inches or 16 digits, the familiar -thumb-breadths and finger-breadths. Every popular -system meeting the convenience and the ways of thought -of men and women, must have its measures of length -approximately coinciding with the familiar units of -limb-lengths, and it must be divided sexdecimally -or duodecimally to enable people, men, women and -children, to calculate mentally in the everyday business -of life.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The octonary or semi-sexdecimal mode of division -seen in our Pint-Gallon-Bushel series is also very -convenient, especially for measures of capacity and -for land-measures, admitting extensive halving and -quartering with subordinate units at each division. -Duodecimal division having the convenience of thirding -is convenient for the coinage series. A combination -of the score and dozen series, as in our money-pound -of 20 × 12 pence, combines the advantages of extensive -halving and thirding.</p> - -<p class='c014'>But never has man taken to a decimal series of -weights and measures; he may use them on compulsion, -and then will evade them whenever he can. He -has ten fingers, whence decimal numeration from the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_6'>6</span>earliest times; but he has always rejected decimal -measures.<a id='r1' /><a href='#f1' class='c016'><sup>[1]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c014'>If to the inconvenience of not being able to halve -a unit more than once (and that only as a concession -to unscientific weakness of mind), so that there is an -interval of ten units between each named unit of the -series, be added that the familiar units of common life, -the thumb-breadth, the span, the foot, the pound, the -pint, have no representatives in a decimal system, -then no cajolery of science or patriotism will persuade -men and women to use the system, except under -police compulsion, and every trick will be used to -evade it. Such are the ways of the human mind. -Systems that are suited to popular convenience, both -in wholesale and retail trade; systems that admit of -modification and improvement—these will live. Systems -imposed by police-force in which the people must -fit themselves to the system—these are bound to fail.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The convenient foot being taken as subsidiary to -the cubit, it afforded, for long measurements, larger -units which harmonised with the cubit, and with its -half, the span. The most usual long unit has been the -Fathom and its double—</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>The Fathom</td> - <td class='c006'>4</td> - <td class='c005'>cubits</td> - <td class='c005'>or</td> - <td class='c006'>6</td> - <td class='c005'>feet</td> - <td class='c005'>or</td> - <td class='c006'>8</td> - <td class='c017'>spans</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>The Reed or Rod</td> - <td class='c006'>8</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c006'>12</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c006'>16</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>This Rod, varying according to the local standard -of the foot or the span, is that nearly always used -in countries round the Mediterranean. In northern -<span class='pageno' id='Page_7'>7</span>countries where the foot has superseded the span for -measures of any length, 16 feet instead of 16 spans is -a usual length for the rod-measure.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It is a curious fact in the history of human nature -that neither ancient Egypt nor the other Eastern -monarchies kept to the meridian cubit and the measures -based on it. While it survived in Greece, it was -abandoned, officially at least, in Egypt, Assyria, and -Persia. Influences in which science was mixed with -astrolatry caused a second cubit to arise, even at the -time of the building of the Great Pyramid, and this -cubit superseded the meridian cubit as the official -standard of the Eastern Kingdoms. Centuries passed -and other cubits, not many, five or six at the most, -arose through analogous influences. From these Eastern -cubits, and from the Roman linear measures based -on a mile eight-tenths of the meridian mile, all the -various systems of the civilised world have been evolved.</p> - -<p class='c014'>From linear measures, the fathom and the rod, -came measures of surface which, quickly in some -countries, slowly in others, superseded more primitive -estimates of cultivated area. A very usual unit of -land-length and of road-distance was the customary -length of the furrow. In all times and countries the -peasant has found that a certain length of furrow, -often about 100 fathoms or 50 rods, was convenient -for himself and his plough-cattle. A strip of land of -this length, and of one or more rods in breadth, would -become a unit of field-measurement, and in time this -superficial extent, in some shape or other, would -become a geometrical standard.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_8'>8</span>Commerce, even of the most primitive kind, led to -two other forms of measure—to Weight and Capacity. -The capacity of the two hands, that of a customary -basket or pot, that of the bottomed cylinder obtained -from a segment of well-grown bamboo, would be -superseded by that of a vessel containing a certain -weight of corn, oil or wine, as soon as the goldsmith -had devised the balance. Seeds of generally constant -weight such as those of the locust-tree, used for weighing -the precious metals, would soon be supplemented -by a larger standard for heavier weighing; and the -weight of a cubic span or a cubic foot of water would -afford a suitable unit. A vessel containing a cubic -foot of water thus afforded a standard, the Eastern -Talent, both for weight and for capacity. The cubic -foot would become a standard for the measure of oil -or wine, while this measure increased, usually by 22 -or 25 per cent., so as to contain a talent-weight of corn, -generally of wheat, would become the Bushel or otherwise-named -standard of capacity, for the peasant and -for corn-dealers.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The peasant would use his bushel not only to -measure his corn, but also to estimate his land according -to the measure of seed-corn it required. He would -also take a day’s ploughing on a customary length -of furrow, as a rough measure of surface, and the -landlord would estimate the extent of his property by -the number of yoke of plough-cattle required to work -it. These seed-units and plough-units would in time -be fixed, and thus become the basis of agrarian measures.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In the meantime coinage would have arisen. A -<span class='pageno' id='Page_9'>9</span>subdivision of the talent would become the pound -or common unit of weight in the retail market, and a -subdivision of the pound would be fixed as the weight -of silver which, impressed with signs guaranteeing its -fineness, if not its actual weight, would be the currency -of the merchants.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Then arose, by involution, another system of -weights in which the pound was usually of 12 or 16 -ounces, and the ounce was the weight of so many -standard coins. Every modern pound was based on -this system. But again, the pound of silver would -yield a certain number of coins, giving rise to a new -monetary system under which the coin-origin of the -pound would in time be forgotten.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The necessary state-privilege of coining money -sometimes led to differences between mint-weight -and commercial weight. Just as there arose in the -ancient East a royal or sacred cubit different from that -in vulgar use, so there arose in many countries a royal -pound used in the mint and different from the vulgar -commercial weight. In many countries, ancient and -modern, the mint has kept up systems of weight consecrated -by tradition but obsolete for all other uses, -and out of harmony with commercial weight.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The scientific measurement of time had early been -established by the astronomers who had measured the -meridian.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The skilled artisans who constructed astronomical -instruments and the standard measures of capacity -and weight must have observed that the water contained -in the standard measure of capacity weighed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_10'>10</span>more when it was as cold as possible than when at the -temperature of an Eastern summer; they could not -fail to develop the idea of thermometry thus made -evident to them. Nor could anyone fail to see that -oil was lighter than water, strong wine than unfermented, -and spring-water than brine or sweet juices. -Some means of aræometry, by an immersed rod or -bead, would be devised to avoid the trouble of finding -their density by the balance.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It may thus be said that the scientists and skilled -artisans of very ancient Eastern lands were fully as -capable of constructing a scientific system of weights -and measures as Western Europeans in our eighteenth -century.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Good systems were carried by commerce to less -advanced countries; if convenient they took root, -partially or entirely, and, with such modifications as -circumstances caused or required, they spread and -were in due time given legal sanction.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Such is the usual course of evolution in the formation -of a system of weights and measures from a linear -measure.</p> - -<p class='c014'>A modification of the original linear standard may -lead to the evolution of a new system. Thus, when -the Romans took as their foot 1/5000 of a short mile of -8 Olympic stadia instead of 1/6000 of the meridian mile -of 10 stadia, this new foot was the starting point of a -new system.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Another process of evolution, or rather of involution, -may occur from an imported standard of capacity. -Supposing that trade has carried a certain measure to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_11'>11</span>a country which it supplies with corn, and that this -measure has been adopted, with divisions convenient -to the people: from this corn-measure another -measure, about 4/5 of it, may be constructed, containing -the same weight of wine or water that the former -contains of corn; here will be a standard fluid measure, -and perhaps some fraction of it filled with water may -be taken as a standard of weight. Let now some -cubical vessel be constructed to hold exactly the -standard measure of water; the length or breadth of -each side will give a linear unit which, if it approximate -sufficiently with a foot or span to which the people -are accustomed, will offer a fixed linear standard in -harmony with the other standards. Thus, from a convenient -foreign unit of capacity or of weight, a new -and complete system of national measures may be -constructed by involution.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It will be seen that several cases of such involution -have happened. There is indeed no documentary -evidence for them, and often very little for the more -usual processes of evolution. But the evidence for -the origin of most weights and measures is entirely -circumstantial; it is by the study of metrology, -founded on research into the systems of different -countries, that the student is able to weigh circumstantial -evidence, to use it prudently, to guard himself -against mere coincidence, to clear away legend, to -examine documentary evidence carefully, to read -between the lines of records, often very deceptive -if he come to them unprepared.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The various systems which have developed by these -<span class='pageno' id='Page_12'>12</span>processes, generally of evolution, but sometimes of -involution, lose the appearance of Babel-confusion -they had before their development could be explained -otherwise than by fanciful legend or despotic caprice. -But once the right point of view is found, unity is seen -in the hitherto bewildering variety, and the trend of the -human mind is seen to be regular in the systems that -it evolves, in its way of meeting difficulties, in its -acceptance of changes which are real improvements, -in its aversion to arbitrary changes, in its devices for -evading despotic interference with what it has found -convenient.</p> - -<hr class='c018' /> -<div class='footnote' id='f1'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r1'>1</a>. </span>Even in numeration he often prefers to count by the score. -The Welshman says <i>dega-dugain</i> (10 and 2-score), the Breton -<i>quarante et dix</i>, other Frenchmen <i>quatre-vingt-dix</i> (4 score and 10)</p> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_13'>13</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER II<br /> <br /><span class='small'>THE STORY OF THE CUBITS</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>The story of the cubits and of the talents, the great -units of weight evolved from the cubits, is part of the -history of the ancient and medieval Eastern Kingdoms, -so intimately is it connected with their mutual relations, -with their astrolatric ideas, and with the influence of -those ideas on their science and art. This story, -extending over more than fifty centuries, from long -before the building of the Great Pyramid to near the -tenth century of our era, explains the evolution of all -weights and measures, ancient and modern.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The standard of the cubits has come down to us in -great monuments, the measurements of which show -undoubted unity of standard, and ancient histories -and records often state the dimensions in the original -cubits or in other cubits. Sometimes the actual -wooden measures used by architects or masons are -still extant; sometimes weights known to have been -derived from these cubits either survive or can be -ascertained. Thus in various ways the original length -of the ancient cubits is known more accurately than -that of many modern standards of length.</p> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_14'>14</span> - <h3 class='c019'>1. <span class='sc'>The Egyptian Common, or Olympic Cubit</span></h3> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>A certain record of this cubit remains in the Great -Pyramid. It is known to have measured 500 cubits -along each side of the base, 2000 cubits or 500 fathoms -being the perimeter of the base. The measurement -made by our Ordnance Surveyors gave 760 feet for -the side. The latest measurement, by Mr. Flinders -Petrie, is not quite 6 inches longer. Taking the Ordnance -Survey figure we have (760 × 12)/500 = 18·24 inches -as the length of the common cubit, and two-thirds of -this gives 12·16 inches for the common foot, or the -Olympic foot as it is called from the adoption of this -standard by the Greeks.</p> - -<p class='c014'>This length, supported by measurements of other -ancient monuments, may be regarded as certain. Four -cubits or six Olympic feet were contained in the -Egypto-Greek orgyia or fathom, and this measure = -72·96 inches or 6·08 feet, is exactly one-thousandth of -the 6080 feet length of the Meridian or Nautical Mile.</p> - -<p class='c014'>This cubit, common to the three great ancient -kingdoms, Babylonia, Egypt, and afterwards Assyria, -originated probably in Chaldæa, passing to Egypt with -the earliest civilisation of that country, and thence to -Greece. The name of Olympic thence attached to -this standard must not make us forget its origin. -The saying of Sir Henry Maine, ‘Except the blind -forces of nature, nothing moves in the world which -was not Greek in its origin,’ is not exact unless we -include as Greek the great kingdoms conquered by -<span class='pageno' id='Page_15'>15</span>Alexander, and which, under the Roman empire and -afterwards under the Saracen caliphates, continued to -have great influence over the civilisation of the West.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>The Meridian Mile</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>At least sixty centuries ago the Chaldæan astronomers -had divided the circumference of the earth, -and of circles generally, into 360 degrees (that is 6 × 60) -each of 60 parts. There is good reason to believe that -they, before the Egyptians, who had the same scientific -ideas, had already measured the terrestrial meridian -and determined the length of the mean degree and of -its sixtieth part, the meridian mile.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Owing to the flattening of the globe towards its -poles, meridian degrees are not of equal lengths; they -increase in length from the equator, so that their -sixtieth parts are—</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>At degrees</td> - <td class='c006'>1</td> - <td class='c005'>to</td> - <td class='c006'>3</td> - <td class='c007'>= 68·704</td> - <td class='c005'>statute</td> - <td class='c005'>miles</td> - <td class='c008'>; 1/60 = 6046 ft.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c006'>88</td> - <td class='c005'>to</td> - <td class='c006'>90</td> - <td class='c007'>= 69·409</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>; 1/60 = 6108 ft.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>The mean length is at about 49° N. where the -degree and mile are—</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>69·091 statute miles; 1/60 = 6080 feet.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>The perimeter of the base of the Great Pyramid is -exactly half of that length, i.e. 3040 feet.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The length of the meridian mile, 1000 Olympic -fathoms = 4000 Olympic feet, was divided by the -Greek geometers (and probably by the Egyptians and -Chaldæans long before them) into 10 stadia, each of -100 fathoms = 600 Olympic feet = 608 feet, which is -about our present cable length. And the meridian or -<span class='pageno' id='Page_16'>16</span>nautical mile, used by seamen of all nations, is this -same Egypto-Greek mile of 6080 feet = 2026-2/3 yards -= 1013-1/3 fathoms = 1·1515 statute miles. It is sometimes -put at 6082-2/3 feet. French geometers estimate -it at 1852·227 metres = 6076-3/4 feet, one ten-millionth -of the quarter-meridian being = 1·0002 metre. The -nautical mile is sometimes called a knot, in the sense -of a ship going so many nautical miles in an hour, as -ascertained by the number of knots of the log-line, -each 1/120 of a nautical mile or 50-2/3 feet, run out in half -a minute, 1/120 of an hour.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The meridian mile must not be confounded with the -geographical or equatorial mile, 1/60 degree along the -equatorial circumference = 6087-1/3 feet.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Greek Itinerary Measures</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>Though a length of 10 stadia is a meridian mile, -neither the Egyptians nor the Greeks appear to have -used this mile as an itinerary measure. Herodotus -says:</p> - -<p class='c015'>All men who are short of land measure it by Fathoms; -but those who are less short of it, by Stadia; and those -who have much, by Parasangs; and such as have a very -great extent, by Schoinoi. Now a Parasang is equal to -30 stadia, and each Schoinos, which is an Egyptian -measure, is equal to 60 stadia.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Parasang of 30 stadia was then 3 meridian -miles, the modern marine league, 1/20 of a degree.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Schoinos was probably common to Egypt and -to Chaldæa. The Chaldæans venerated the numbers -6, 60, 600, &c., and their sexagesimal scale, making the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_17'>17</span>year 6 × 60 + 5 days and the circle 6 × 60 degrees -each of 60 minutes, has prevailed. The Olympic or -Egyptian-Greek measures of distance were on this -scale, though land-measures were, officially at least, -on a decimal scale.</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c022'>6 Olympic feet</td> - <td class='c008'>= 1 fathom (orgyia)</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>60 „ „</td> - <td class='c008'>= 1 rod (kalamos)</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>60 rods or 600 feet</td> - <td class='c008'>= 1 stadion</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>60 stadia (6 meridian miles)</td> - <td class='c008'>= 1 schoinos</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>60 schoinoi</td> - <td class='c008'>= 6 meridian degrees</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>60 × 6 degrees</td> - <td class='c008'>= circumference of the globe.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>Between the Stadion and the Schoinos there is a -long gap, but the Greeks, for whose small country the -Stadion was a convenient unit, used, when abroad, the -Persian Parasang of 3 meridian miles, = 1/7200 of the -meridian circumference.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The rise of other cubits obscured the Olympic -series of measures. The Schoinos became absorbed in -the Parasang, and under the Roman domination it -became a measure of 32 stadia or 4 Roman miles. The -Stadion also came to vary; it was nearly always of -100 fathoms, but these might be fathoms of systems -varying from the Olympic. The slightly different -term Schoinion, meaning a rope or chain, was applied -to a measure of 10 fathoms.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>The Roman Mile</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>The Romans took for their itinerary unit a length -of 8 Olympic stadia and, dividing it into 1000 paces -or double steps, called it a mille (mille passus) -or mile. The Roman mile and pace are therefore -<span class='pageno' id='Page_18'>18</span>respectively four-fifths of the meridian mile and the -Olympic fathom—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>8/10 of 6080 ft. = 4864 ft. = 1621-1/3 yards.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>The pace was divided into 5 feet.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>1/5 of 4·864 ft. (or 58·368 inches) = 11·673 inches.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>There was in course of time some slight variation -in the length of the Roman foot. It has been calculated -at between 11·65 and 11·67 inches. The best value -appears to be that of Greaves at 11·664 inches, but -11·67 seems to me sufficiently accurate, and corresponding -better to other Roman measures.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The pace was also divided into quarters (palmipes) -of a foot and a palm.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The foot was divided into 16 digits or into 12 inches -(pollices). Roman dominion over Greece and Egypt -led to some modifications, probably local, in measures -of distance. There was a Roman schœnus of 4 miles, -and the mile was divided, sometimes into 10 Olympic -stadia, sometimes into 8 Pythic stadia of 500 feet -or 100 paces.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It will be seen that the English mile was originally -5000 Roman feet, and then 5000 English feet, before -being fixed at its present length of 5280 feet or 1760 -yards.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>2. <span class='sc'>The Egyptian Royal Cubit</span> (<i>c.</i> 4000 <span class='fss'>B.C.</span>)</h3> - -<p class='c020'>The possession of a geodesic cubit, 1/4 of the fathom -which was 1/1000 of the meridian mile, did not satisfy -the astrolatric priesthood of Egypt. Under their -<span class='pageno' id='Page_19'>19</span>influence another cubit, of 7 palms = 20·64 inches, -became the official measure of Egypt, and it was used -in the planning of the monuments, always excepting -the outside plan of the Great Pyramid.</p> - -<p class='c014'>What could have been the reason for this change, -from the scientifically excellent and fairly convenient -common cubit to this less convenient length, and for -bringing the inconvenient number seven into the -divisions and making both palms and digits different -in length from those of the common cubit?</p> - -<p class='c014'>No valid reason can be found other than the desire -to institute, by the side of the common cubit in which -the 6 palms and 24 digits corresponded to the watches -and hours of the day, a sacred cubit in which the 7 -palms would correspond to the seven planets or to the -week of seven days, and the 28 digits to the vulgar -lunar month of four weeks of seven days.<a id='r2' /><a href='#f2' class='c016'><sup>[2]</sup></a> Among us, -at the present day, astrology is far from being dead; -the days still bear the names of the seven planets -ruling successively the first hour of the days named -respectively after them; we call, however unconsciously, -men’s temperaments or characters according -to the mercurial, jovial, saturnine and other influences -of the planets which rule the hour of birth. It is not -for us then to criticise severely the pious desire of a -learned priesthood or of a theocratic king to institute -a sacred standard of linear measure with divisions -corresponding in number to the seven planets which -<span class='pageno' id='Page_20'>20</span>ruled the destinies of man, whose influence ruled -them through the Christian middle ages, which at the -present day still rule the world in the minds of the -great majority of mankind. The royal or sacred -cubit became the official cubit of the Eastern great -kingdoms, the common or meridian cubit being also -used, not only for ordinary purposes, but sometimes -along with it. Thus, the external dimensions of the -Great Pyramid are in common cubits, while the unit -of its internal dimensions is the royal cubit, perhaps -recently established at the time of the building.<a id='r3' /><a href='#f3' class='c016'><sup>[3]</sup></a> And -centuries after the institution of the royal cubit, the -meridian cubit became the standard of the Greeks.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The question naturally arises—Why was the royal -cubit not formed by simply adding a seventh palm to -the common cubit, a palm of the same length, = 3·04 -inches, as the six others? This would have given a new -cubit of 18·24 × 7/6 = 21·28 inches, instead of 20·64 -inches in 7 palms of 2·95 inches. And it will be seen -that this was actually done, fifty centuries later, by -the caliph Al-Mamūn.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The answer I venture to give is, that the royal -cubit was intended to be, not only by its division a -homage to the seven planets, but also, by its increase -of length, a symbol of the proportion of latitude to -longitude at some Egyptian observatory.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_21'>21</span>Possibly it was a practical commemoration of the -art of determining longitude. On this hypothesis the -new cubit was made as much longer than the old -cubit as the mean degree of latitude is longer than -the degree of longitude in 29° N., at an observatory -about 50 meridian miles south of the Pyramids. In -that parallel, the proportion of the degree of longitude -to the degree of latitude is 1 : 1·13, or as 18·24 to -20·64.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Measurements of monuments, both in Egypt and -in the Babylonian and Assyrian Kingdoms, show that -20·64 inches was the length of the royal cubit, and -actual cubit measures now extant do not vary from -it more than one-or two-hundredths of an inch. There -are at least ten of these cubits in museums and in -other collections. One, a double cubit, is in the British -Museum; another, very perfect, is in the Louvre; -another, of rough graduation, but accurate length, is in -the Liverpool Museum. There may be others, generally -unknown. I found one, apparently unrecorded, in the -museum of Avignon.</p> - -<p class='c014'>As the Pyramids are very nearly in the same -parallel of latitude as the southern limits of Babylonia, -near Ur of the Chaldees, it is possible that the length -of the royal or sacred cubit may have been as acceptable -to the priesthood of Babylonia as that of Egypt. -This would account for the prevalence of the seven-palm -cubit throughout the Eastern great monarchies. -Perhaps the new cubit may have been instituted -internationally between the Bureau des Longitudes -of Egypt and that of Babylonia.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_22'>22</span>As in the case of the common cubit, two-thirds of -the royal cubit were taken for the royal foot = 13·76 -inches, a measure which when cubed will be seen to be -the source of our Imperial system of weights and -measures.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The inconvenience of a cubit of 7 palms is increased -when two-thirds of it are taken for the foot; this foot, -being 4-2/3 palms or 18-2/3 digits, was possibly divided for -popular use into 16 digits, if it were ever in popular use. -For scientific and probably for popular use it appears to -have been divided into 2 feet = 10·32 inches. This -may be inferred from the division of the degrees, -attributed to Eratosthenes (third century <span class='fss'>B.C.</span>), into -700 stadia, each 600 of these feet. Probably 700 is -a round number, for, on the basis of this foot, the -degree would be 706·8 stadia.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Three centuries later Pliny gave the base of the -Great Pyramid a length of 883 feet. The modern -measurement being 760 feet = 9120 inches, we have -9120/883 = 10·328 as the length of the foot in Pliny’s -account, a length differing by less than 1/100 inch from -that of the half-cubit.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The investigations of Fréret, Jomard, Letronne -and other mathematicians led them to the conclusion -that the ancient Egyptians had surveyed their land -so exactly as to know its dimensions to a cubit near, -and that certainly at some unknown time they had -measured an arc of the meridian and established their -measures on the basis of the meridian degree with no -less exactness than has been done in modern times.</p> - -<p class='c014'>I have put aside all attempts, often connected with -<span class='pageno' id='Page_23'>23</span>theology, to show that the base of the Great Pyramid -was 220 double cubits (of 2 × 20·61 inches), the same -number as the yards in an Elizabethan furlong, or -that its other dimensions were intended to hand down -the English inch, or the gallon, or the squaring of the -circle, or the laws of harmonic progression.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>3. <span class='sc'>The Great Assyrian or Persian Cubit</span><br />(<i>c.</i> 700 <span class='fss'>B.C.</span>)</h3> - -<p class='c020'>The Egyptian idea of increasing the cubit appears -to have also seized the Assyrian monarchy many -centuries later. It was increased to 8 palms, as -different from those of the Egyptian royal cubit as -these were from those of the meridian cubit.</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>18·24</td> - <td class='c005'>Egyptian</td> - <td class='c007'>common</td> - <td class='c005'>cubit</td> - <td class='c005'>6</td> - <td class='c005'>palms</td> - <td class='c005'>of 3·08 in. 24</td> - <td class='c017'>digits</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>20·64</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>royal</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>7</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>of 2·95 in. 28</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>25·26</td> - <td class='c005'>Assyrian</td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>8</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>of 3·16 in. 32</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>This new measure is the cubit of Ezekiel, the -‘great cubit,’ the ‘cubit and a handbreadth,’ = 25·26 -inches.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The same question as that presented by the increased -cubit of Egypt arises in the case of the Assyrian -cubit. What reason can be suggested for an increase -such as to again disturb the palm and the digit? The -advantage of having a standard of 8 palms divisible -into 2 feet of 4 palms, could have been obtained -far more simply and conveniently by adding an -eighth palm equal to the others, making it 23·6 inches, -with a half giving a foot = 11·8 inches. Or two palms -might have been added to the common cubit, making -<span class='pageno' id='Page_24'>24</span>a new cubit = 24·32 inches, with the Olympic foot -as its half.</p> - -<p class='c014'>I again venture a similar explanation. The increase -from the length of the Egyptian royal cubit corresponds -to the ratio of the degree of longitude to the degree of -latitude in 35·5° N., i.e. 1 : 1·224—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>1 : 1·224 :: 20·64 : 25·26.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>This position was only 30 meridian miles from the -parallel of 36° N., a line which, passing through -Rhodes and Malta to the Straits of Gibraltar, was considered -by the ancient geographers as the first parallel -and was the base-line of their maps. It was called by -the Greek geographers the ‘diaphragm of the world.’<a id='r4' /><a href='#f4' class='c016'><sup>[4]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c014'>This line passing also a few miles south of Nineveh, -it is possible that some observatory near that capital -city, a few miles south of 36°, may have been the point -at which the difference in the lengths of the degrees of -longitude and of latitude was determined for the -standard length of the new cubit.</p> - -<p class='c014'>There is an alternate hypothesis. The Egyptian -royal cubit was increased by 1·224 to make the Great -Assyrian cubit. Now this is about the proportion in -which a measure containing a certain weight of water -must be increased in height to contain the same weight -of wheat. This proportion, the water-wheat ratio, is -something between 1·22 and 1·25, the former being -the usual ratio with the heavier wheat of Southern -countries. Supposing a cubical vessel measuring a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_25'>25</span>royal cubit of 20·64 inches in each side, therefore -containing 8792 cubic inches = 317 lb. of water (which -was the Great Artaba) to be increased in height so as -to hold the same weight of wheat, its height would now -be 1·224 × 20·64 = 25·26 inches. This might have -been taken for a new cubit.</p> - -<p class='c014'>This would not prevent the new cubit, the Great -Assyrian cubit, being itself in course of time cubed to -form the Den measure, as its half, the foot, was cubed -for its weight of water to make the Greek-Asiatic -talent.</p> - -<p class='c014'>However this be, the great Assyrian cubit, which -continued to be used in the Persian empire, had the -advantage of being divided into 8 palms and of making -a good two-foot rule, though its half, the foot, was -rather too long for popular use. This cubit exists to -this day in Egypt, being the basis of the Reed or -Qasáb. This is the ‘full reed of six great cubits’ -(Ezek. xli.), the ‘measuring rod of six cubits by the -cubit and a handbreadth,’ that is the old seven-palm -cubit with a palm added. The Qasáb = 151·16 inches -is = 12 Assyrian feet.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Yet, for the common purposes of life, a foot = -12·63 inches was too long to be popular; everywhere -the people like a short foot, especially in the South and -the East. Moreover the cubit was a departure from -the simple geodesic standard of the meridian cubit. -Accordingly there was devised in Persia a cubit satisfactory -both to the scientific class and to the people, -with a simple geodesic standard for scientific purposes -and a convenient short foot for the common purposes -<span class='pageno' id='Page_26'>26</span>of life. This was the Beládi cubit. It is perhaps the -best of the cubits.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>4. <span class='sc'>The Beládi Cubit</span> (<i>c.</i> 300 <span class='fss'>B.C.</span>)</h3> - -<p class='c020'>The new Persian cubit, known as the Beládi (from -<i>belád</i>, country), had the advantage, first, of a simple -relation to the Parasang or meridian league of 30 -stadia = 1/20 degree; secondly, of it being divisible -into two feet of convenient length.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The meridian mile being = 6080 feet or 72,960 inches -the parasang is therefore 3 × 72,960 = 218,880 inches; -and the Beládi cubit, 1/10000 of the parasang, was therefore -= 21·880 inches. This is the length that John -Greaves gave in 1645 as his measurement of what he -called the Cairo cubit, one of the different standards -that have accumulated in Egypt during sixty centuries.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Beládi cubit is still to be found in the -East. A half Beládi cubit = 10·944 inches, a convenient -foot for Eastern use, passed to Spain with the -Moors and became the Burgos foot, the standard of which -was allowed to go astray after the fall of the Moorish -dominion. But the Spanish shore-cubit (<i>Covado di -ribera</i>) still exists at the standard of 21·9157 inches.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Beládi cubit is that used by Posidonius (131-53 -<span class='fss'>B.C.</span>). He gave the circumference of the globe as -240,000 stadia, which = 666·66 to the degree, or -11·111 to the meridian mile of 6080 feet or 72,960 inches, -72,960/11.111 = 6566 inches or 10 fathoms of 65·66465 inches, -exactly 3 Beládi cubits or 6 half-cubits.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It is interesting to find this Greek philosopher, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_27'>27</span>settled in Rome, reckoning the circumference of the -globe accurately on the basis of the Beládi cubit of -Persia. Coupling this with the use by the Hebrews -of the Bereh equatorial cubit brought back from the -Captivity, the date of the Beládi meridional cubit is -evidently at some centuries before the Christian era.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>The Bereh or Equatorial Land-mile.</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>The Jews brought back from the Captivity a -measure known as the Cubit of the Talmud. It was -1/3000 of a mile, called the Bereh, which was said to be -1/24000 the circumference of the earth. Now this -latter fraction corresponds to one-thousandth of an -hour of longitude, or of 15 degrees on the equator, and -thus points to the Bereh being an equatorial, not a -meridian mile. It is still extant in the Turkish -dominions in Asia. While the modern, as the ancient, -Persian Parasang is 1/7200 of the meridian, the Turkish -Farsang of 3 Bereh should be 3/24000 = 1/8000 of the -equatorial circumference—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>1/8000 of 2029·11 yards × 60 × 360 = 5478·6 yards.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>This corresponds very closely to the length of the -farsang, which is 5483·9 yards. The Bereh, by calculation, -is 1826 yards and the Talmudic cubit, 1/3000 of it, -= 21·914 inches.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Each then was one 72-millionth of the terrestrial -circumference, but the Talmudic cubit was measured -on the equator, the Beládi cubit on the meridian.</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Talmudic</td> - <td class='c005'>cubit</td> - <td class='c005'>1/10000</td> - <td class='c005'>of a</td> - <td class='c005'>league</td> - <td class='c005'>1/7200</td> - <td class='c005'>of the</td> - <td class='c008'>equator.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Beládi</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>1/9000</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>1/8000</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>meridian.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_28'>28</span> - <h3 class='c019'>5. <span class='sc'>The Black Cubit</span> (<span class='sc'>Ninth Century</span>)</h3> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>Many centuries after the institution of the Assyrian -great cubit and of the Persian Beládi cubit, another -important cubit became a standard of measure in the -Moslem caliphate which reigned over the lands of the -Eastern great kingdoms.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Under Al-Mamūn, son of Harūn al-Rashid, science -was flourishing in the East, while the West was in the -dark ages, at least in all the countries unenlightened -by the civilisation of the Moors of Spain. Of Christian -Europe, Provence and the other Occitanian countries -alone had that light, a light that shone over other -countries until extinguished by the Albigensian crusade.</p> - -<p class='c014'>‘Mahmd Ibn Mesoud says that in the time of -Almamon (the learned Calife of Babylon) by the elevation -of the pole of the equator, they measured the -quantity of the degree upon the globe of the earth, and -found it to be 56-2/3 miles, every mile containing -4000 cubits, and each cubit 24 digits, and every digit -6 barleycorns, and every barleycorn 6 hairs of a camel’ -(‘A Discourse of the Romane Foot and Denarius,’ -by John Greaves, Professor of Astronomy in the -University of Oxford, 1647).</p> - -<p class='c014'>From this determination of 56-2/3 meridian miles to the -degree of longitude it would appear, (1) that the measurement -was made at about 20·1°; south of Mecca, (2) that -the meridian mile was still of 4000 Egyptian common -cubits or 1000 Egyptian fathoms.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It was then probably after this measurement that -Al-Mamūn instituted his new Cubit, sometimes known -<span class='pageno' id='Page_29'>29</span>as the Black cubit, so named from the black banner -and dress adopted by the Abbaside caliphs.</p> - -<p class='c014'>This new cubit was not, directly at least, of geodesic -basis. The caliph was probably inspired by the idea -of making in a reasonable manner the alteration which -the ancient Egyptians had done badly in making their -seven-palm cubit out of simple proportion to the -common cubit. So the new cubit had palms and -digits of the same length as the common cubit. But -it had all the inconveniences of the factor seven. -Perhaps Al-Mamūn may have thought that the addition -of a seventh palm was not only a homage to the -seven planets but that it was satisfactory to lengthen -the common cubit in the ratio of the degree of latitude -to that of longitude in a part of his dominions where -the ratio was exactly 7 to 6. This is the ratio at -Alexandria, in 31° N.</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>The Common cubit being</td> - <td class='c007'>= 18·24</td> - <td class='c005'>inches</td> - <td class='c008'>= 6 × 3·04 in.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>The Black cubit was</td> - <td class='c007'>= 21·28</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>= 7 × 3·04 in.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='narrow'> - -<p class='c023'>Two-thirds of this cubit were taken for</p> - -<p class='c023'>The Black foot = 14·186 inches, divided into 16 -digits of the 24 digits or qiráts of the cubit.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c014'>This cubit and foot are still in use. The old nilometer -on the island of Al-Rauzah (Rode) near Cairo -has its scale in cubits of this standard, and measurement -of the worn scale gives 21·29 inches for the cubit.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The cubit and foot of Al-Mamūn are the basis of -measures and of weights which spread from Egypt to -every country in Europe.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The story of the five cubits, ancient and medieval, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_30'>30</span>has shown that they were all derived, directly or indirectly, -from the meridian measurement of the earth, -some of them being probably instituted with the desire -to make them representative of the relation of latitude -and longitude.</p> - -<p class='c014'>I venture to say that every measure and weight -used throughout the world has been developed from -one of these cubits and thus, more or less directly, from -the Egyptian meridian cubit. The Republican system -of France is but a decimal imitation of the system -based on the common Egyptian meridian cubit; its -basis being the kilometre, 1/10000 of the quarter-meridian, -instead of the Egyptian meridian mile, 1/(90 × 60) of the -quarter-meridian.</p> - -<p class='c014'>There were some other cubits of minor importance; -one of them is the Hashími cubit described in -<a href='#XVII'>Chapter XVII</a>.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div><span class='sc'>Comparative Lengths of the Five Ancient Cubits</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>Egyptian</td> - <td class='c007'>common</td> - <td class='c005'>cubit</td> - <td class='c007'>= 18·24</td> - <td class='c005'>in.;</td> - <td class='c005'>its foot</td> - <td class='c007'>2/3 = 12·16</td> - <td class='c017'>in.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>royal</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>= 20·64</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>2/3 = 13·76</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>Great Assyrian</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>= 25·26</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>1/2 = 12·63</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>Beládi</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>= 21·888</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>1/2 = 10·944</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>Black</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>= 20·28</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>2/3 = 14·186</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<hr class='c018' /> -<div class='footnote' id='f2'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r2'>2</a>. </span>Plutarch speaks of the mystic connexion assumed by the -Egyptians between the 28 cubits maximum rise of the Nile and -the same number of days in the lunar month.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f3'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r3'>3</a>. </span>The royal cubit is sometimes called the Philiterian cubit; -this name (apparently meaning ‘royal’) is used by the later Hero -of Alexandria, who wrote about 430. But Herodotus says, ‘They -call the pyramids after a herdsman Philition who at that time -grazed his herds about that place’; so it is probable that the -name came from some legend.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f4'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r4'>4</a>. </span>Διάφραγμα τῆς ὀικουμένης. Instituted by Dicæarchus 310 <span class='fss'>B.C.</span>, -corrected by Eratosthenes 276-196.</p> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_31'>31</span> - <h2 id='III' class='c004'>CHAPTER III<br /> <br /><span class='small'>THE STORY OF THE TALENTS</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>It has been seen that throughout the ancient Eastern -Kingdoms, from soon after 5000 <span class='fss'>B.C.</span> to some centuries -after our era, there was general unity in the system -of linear measures. It will now be seen that there was -similar unity in the system of weights and measures, -all derived from some well-known linear standard -cubed. In modern times this unity is much less -apparent, but yet it can be traced, and it survives with -little change in the great part of the world where the -English system of weights and measures remains as an -inheritance from the most ancient epochs of civilisation.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The 400 shekels of silver, currency of the merchants, -that Abraham weighed to Ephron about 1900 years <span class='fss'>B.C.</span> -were probably of about the same weight as 400 half-crowns -of the present day.</p> - -<p class='c014'>When Moses levied 100 talents and 1775 shekels, at -the rate of half a shekel on each of the 603,550 men -who were numbered (Exod. xxxviii.), the weight of the -silver shekels can be precisely ascertained.</p> - -<p class='c014'>603550/2 = 301,775 shekels = 100 talents and 1775 shekels.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Talent was the weight of an Egyptian royal -cubic foot of water and was divided into 3000 shekels.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_32'>32</span>The royal foot, 2/3 of the cubit, = 13·76 inches.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The foot cubed = 2605 cubic inches; 2605/27·73 = -93·9 lb. as the calculated weight of the standard afterwards -known as the Alexandrian talent.<a id='r5' /><a href='#f5' class='c016'><sup>[5]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c014'>The actual weight was 93·65 lb. = 655·550 grains; -655550/3000 = 218·5 grains was the weight of the shekel, -nearly our half-ounce—exactly the half-ounce of -Plantagenet times, and very near to the weight of our -half-crown, which weighs 218·18 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The difference between calculated weight and the -actual weight determined from coin or other standards, -from trustworthy historical statements and other -sources of information or of evidence, is generally due -to the great difficulty in constructing accurately the -cubical vessel used to ascertain the weight of a cubed -measure of water. A difference of 2/100 of an inch -in the sides of the vessel made to hold a royal cubic -foot of water would make a difference of about 3 parts -in 1000, of 4-1/2 of the 1500 ounces or double-shekels of -water it contained. And we do not know the temperature -of the water used.</p> - -<p class='c014'>From the ancient and medieval cubits were derived -all the weights and measures of medieval and modern -civilisation, largely through the medium of the talents -derived from these standards.</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>From</td> - <td class='c005'>the</td> - <td class='c005'>Egyptian</td> - <td class='c007'>common</td> - <td class='c005'>foot</td> - <td class='c005'>came</td> - <td class='c005'>the</td> - <td class='c008' colspan='2'>Olympic Talent</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>royal</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>Alexandrian</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>Great Assyrian</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>Greek-Asiatic</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>Arabic</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>Arabic</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_33'>33</span> - <h3 class='c019'>1. <span class='sc'>The Alexandrian Talent</span></h3> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>The standard of this talent has been already given -as 93·65 lb., which × 7000 = 655,550 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It was divided on different systems:</p> - -<p class='c024'>1. By the Chaldæans and Egyptians into 60 minás, -divided—</p> - -<p class='c025'>(<i>a</i>) On the Chaldæan system into 60 shekels of -182 grains, with a quarter-shekel = 45-1/2 -grains.</p> - -<p class='c025'>(<i>b</i>) On the Phœnician, and Hebrew, system into -50 shekels of 218-1/2 grains, with a quarter-shekel -= 54·6 grains.</p> - -<p class='c024'>2. By the Greek-Egyptians into 120 minás (or the -half or lesser talent into 60 minás) of 100 -drachmæ = 54·6 grains.</p> - -<p class='c024'>3. By the Romans into 125 libræ of 12 unciæ -(1500 ounces) further divided by the Greeks -into 8 drachmæ = 54·6 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Three of these modes of division give a drachma of -54·6 grains. So a Phœnician or Hebrew shekel, a -Ptolemaïc tetradrachm and a Roman half-ounce, are -of the same weight, differing by only 1/4 grain from -our half-ounce, and by only 1/2 grain from our half-crown.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Alexandrian talent was the Hebrew Kikkar or -talent of the sanctuary. In the Chaldæan kingdom the -standard measure was the Egyptian royal cubit, and -the standard weight was the talent derived from its -foot; but the miná appears to have been divided into -60 instead 50 shekels.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_34'>34</span>The words which Belshazzar saw written on the -wall referred to the miná and shekel, or tekel, of this -talent. Their meaning may be thus rendered:</p> - -<p class='c024'>Mene, a miná—the great King Nabupalasur, founder -of the new Chaldæan Kingdom.</p> - -<p class='c024'>Mene, a miná—the great King Nabukudurusur, son -of the preceding.</p> - -<p class='c024'>Tekel, a shekel (of 4 quarters)—Nabunahid (Belshazzar) -and his three predecessors, all of small -account.</p> - -<p class='c024'>Upharsin, a division, perhaps 2 half-shekels, the -Medes and Persians. Or it may simply be the -Parsīs or Persians, the enemies at the gate.</p> - -<p class='c014'>This talent is still extant at Bássora (in Chaldæa) as -the <i>mánd sofi</i> = 93·22 lb.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>The Medimnos.</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>This was the measure made to hold an Alexandrian -talent of wheat. The cubed Egyptian royal foot (probably -used as a fluid measure) was increased in the -Southern water-wheat ratio of 1 : 1·22. Thus 2605 c.i. -× 1·22 = 3176 c.i. and 3176/277·4 = 11·45 gallons as the -contents of the Medimnos.</p> - -<p class='c014'>This measure was adopted by the Romans, as -well as by the Greeks, as the basis of their corn-measures, -doubtless in consequence of the corn-trade -from Egypt. A sixth part of it was the Roman Modius.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Medimnos was divided by the Greeks into -48 Choinix, or into 96 Xestes (L. <i>sextarius</i>) = 0·95 -Imperial pint or 19 fluid ounces.</p> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_35'>35</span> - <h3 class='c019'>2. <span class='sc'>The Lesser Alexandrian or Ptolemaïc Talent</span></h3> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>This was half of the ordinary or greater talent.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Half the calculated weight of the greater talent -gives 46·956 lb. for the lesser. But the actual weight -was somewhat less, 46·82 lb.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It was divided into 60 Ptolemaïc miná = 5462 -grains, and the miná into 100 drachms. The drachm -= 54·62 grains and the tetradrachm = 218·5 grains -coincide as coin-weights with the quarter-shekel and -shekel of the greater talent.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The miná was divided also on the Roman uncial -system:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>1/12 = an ounce = 455·28 grs.; of this</div> - <div class='line'>1/12 = a double-scruple = 37·94 grs.; of this</div> - <div class='line'>1/12 = a carat of 3·1616 grs.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>The carat 1/144 ounce, is exactly, to 1/100 grain, the -jeweller’s carat of to-day in European countries.</p> - -<p class='c014'>What could be the reason for this talent?</p> - -<p class='c014'>Its miná was half an Alexandrian miná; its drachm -was a quarter-shekel.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Don V. V. Queipo<a id='r6' /><a href='#f6' class='c016'><sup>[6]</sup></a> considered that the half Beládi -cubit had been produced from it by involution, taking -the side of a cubical vessel containing half an Alexandrian -talent of water and then doubling this new foot -to make a new cubit. Its water-volume = 1302·5 c.i. -gives as cube root 10·9207 inches, almost exactly half -the Beládi cubit = 21·888 inches. But the Beládi cubit -being 1/7200 of a Parasang is sufficient evidence of its -<span class='pageno' id='Page_36'>36</span>origin. I consider that the close coincidence of the -half-cubit with the side of a cubic vessel containing an -Alexandrian half-talent of water led the Ptolemies to -institute this smaller talent, as if it had been evolved -from the Beládi foot in the same way that the Greek-Asiatic -talent had been evolved from the Persian foot -or half-cubit.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>3. <span class='sc'>The Greek-Asiatic Talent</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>After the institution of the great Assyrian or -Persian cubit a new talent was necessarily evolved -from it.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Persian foot, half of the cubit, was cubed, and -the weight of this cubic foot of water was the Persian -or Greek-Asiatic talent—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>25·26/2 = 12·63 inches; 12·63<sup>3</sup> = 2014 c.i. = 72·61 lb.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>The actual weight of this talent (as in the case of -the Alexandrian talent) was somewhat less. It -corresponded to a cubic foot of 2000 c.i., giving -72·13 lb. = 504,910 grains. This was divided into 60 -minás—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>(72·13 lb. × 1000)/60 = 8415 grams = 1·2 lb.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>The miná was divided by the Persians into 100 -darics = 84·15 grains. The actual weight of silver -darics found, 83·73 grains, corresponds almost exactly -to this weight.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_37'>37</span>This is the talent Herodotus used when estimating -the revenue of the Persian empire. Its miná has -survived as the Attári or Assyrian rotl = 8426 grains, -extant in Algeria. Another Attári pound = 8320 -grains is still used at Bássora, near the Persian gulf. -The ounce of this rotl, 8426/16 = 526·6 grains, is exactly -the Russian ounce.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Persian coins weighing 129-130 grains usually -called darics are staters or Greek didrachms.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>The Metretes</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>The second Greek standard of capacity was the -Metretes.</p> - -<p class='c014'>While the Medimnos contained an Alexandrian -talent of wheat, the Metretes contained a Greek-Asiatic -talent of it.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The capacity of the Persian cubic foot was 2000 c.i. -= 72·13 lb. = 7·213 gallons.</p> - -<p class='c014'>This cubic foot, increased in water-wheat ratio, -gives 7·213 × 1·22 = 8·8 gallons or 70·4 pints, as the -capacity of the Amphoreus metretes.<a id='r7' /><a href='#f7' class='c016'><sup>[7]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c014'>Some archæologists have given it as = 8·68 gallons, -a very slight difference.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Metretes was divided into 36 Choinix or 72 -Xestes, which contained O·977 pint as against the O·955 -pint of the Xestes, which was 1/96 Medimnos. A mean -<span class='pageno' id='Page_38'>38</span>figure, 0·96 pint, is usually taken as the common -capacity of the two Xestes.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Greeks had thus two standards of capacity, -the Metretes and the Medimnos, both cubic feet -increased in water-wheat ratio to make them corn-measures. -It is very likely that, having these two -measures from different sources, the one of 72 -Xestes, the other of 96, they would use the -smaller as a fluid measure. In modern measures -there are several instances of corn-measures having -become wine-measures. Our Imperial gallon used -for fluids is a slightly altered corn-gallon; at -present the multiples above the gallon are used for -corn, the gallon and its divisions for fluids.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>4. <span class='sc'>Roman Weights and Measures of Capacity</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>Used by the Greek colonies in Asia, the Greek-Asiatic -talent passed to the Greek or Trojan colonies -in South Italy, and became the source of the old Roman -pound, the <i>As libralis</i> = 5049 grains, 1/100 of the talent; -(72·13 × 7000)/100 = 5049 grains.<a id='r8' /><a href='#f8' class='c016'><sup>[8]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c014'>The Aes or As, the bronze or copper pound of the -Roman republic in its earlier times, was divided into -12 ounces, each = 420·75 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It remained the mint-pound of both Republic and -Empire.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Aurei of Julius Caesar, 1/40 As, weigh 127 grains, -those of Augustus 125 grains. The mean weight -<span class='pageno' id='Page_39'>39</span>appears to be about 126 grains, which gives 5040 -grains for the As.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Aurei of the later Empire were struck at -1/72 As, and weigh 70 grains, giving the same -weight, 5040 grains, for the As. At 70·1 grains -they would give 5049 grains, the calculated weight -of the As.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The evolution of the As from the Greek-Asiatic -talent leads to consideration of the measures connected -with it, and with the Alexandrian talent.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It has been seen that the Roman foot, 1/5000 of the -Roman mile, 8 Olympic stadia, was 11·67 inches. This -foot being cubed, the weight of the cubic foot of -water was made the basis of the Roman measures of -capacity—</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>11·67<sup>3</sup> inches = 1589 c.i. = 57·32 lb. water</div> - <div>= 401,240 grains.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>This calculated measure, 57·32 lb. = 5·732 gallons -= 45·8 pints, was the Amphora Quadrantal, supposed -to weigh, of wine, 80 As or primitive pounds. <i>Quadrantal -vinei octoginta pondo sit.</i> The correspondence -was only approximate. The Quadrantal should have -been = 57·7 lb. for its 1/80 part (= 5049 grains) to -correspond with the As. Its capacity was probably -adjusted so as to make it half a Medimnos and = 3 -Modii.</p> - -<p class='c014'>There are specimens extant of the Quadrantal, of -cubical shape, showing that it was named from its -being a cubic foot in measure.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Quadrantal, being equal to 45·8 pints, was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_40'>40</span>almost exactly half the Greek Medimnos, equal to -91·5 pints; so that, divided into 8 congii, each of -6 sextarii, the Sextarius, 1/48 Quadrantal, was practically -the same as the Xestes, 1/96 of the Medimnos.</p> - -<p class='c014'>And the Quadrantal being also very nearly two-thirds -of the Greek Metretes, equal to 70·4 pints, the -Sextarius was also nearly the same as the other Xestes, -1/72 of the Metretes.</p> - -<p class='c014'>So the Sextarius was 1/48 Quadrantal, 1/72 Metretes, -and 1/96 Medimnos.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The relation of the Roman Modius to the Alexandrian-Greek -medimnos appears to be only a coincidence, -as the former is one-third of a Roman cubic foot, and -the latter an Alexandrian cubic foot increased in water-wheat -ratio.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>The New Roman Pound</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>Trade with Egypt led the Romans, not only to use -the Alexandrian medimnos, but also to put aside the -As for commercial purposes and adopt a standard -taken from the Alexandrian talent. Its 1500 double-shekels -made 125 libræ each of 12 unciæ = 437 grains. -The libra was thus = 5244 grains as compared with -the As = 5049 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>A further uncial division of the libra made the Uncia -either of 6 sextulæ, 24 scrupuli, 48 oboli, 144 siliquæ, or -of 12 semi-sextulæ, 144 siliquæ.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The siliqua was a little less than the Eastern qirát, -being 3·03 grains instead of the 3·1616 grain carat of -the Ptolemaïc series of weights.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_41'>41</span><span class='sc'>Table of Roman Weights and Measures of Capacity</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Weights</span></div> - <div class='c002'><span class='fss'>OLD WEIGHTS (MINT SERIES)</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>As = 5040 grs.</td> - <td class='c006'>12</td> - <td class='c017'>unciæ</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Deunx</td> - <td class='c006'>11</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Dextans</td> - <td class='c006'>10</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Dodrans</td> - <td class='c006'>9</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Bessis</td> - <td class='c006'>8</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Septunx</td> - <td class='c006'>7</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Semissis</td> - <td class='c006'>6</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Quincunx</td> - <td class='c006'>5</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Triens</td> - <td class='c006'>4</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Quadrans</td> - <td class='c006'>3</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Sextans</td> - <td class='c006'>2</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Uncia = 420 grs.</td> - <td class='c006'>1</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='fss'>NEW WEIGHTS (MEDICINAL SERIES)</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Libra</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c006'>5244</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005'>grs.</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Uncia</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c006'>437</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Sextula</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c006'>72</td> - <td class='c005'>·</td> - <td class='c007'>8</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>= 1/6 uncia</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Denarius</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c006'>62</td> - <td class='c005'>·</td> - <td class='c007'>45</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>= 1/7 uncia</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Drachma</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c006'>54</td> - <td class='c005'>·</td> - <td class='c007'>6</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>= 1/8 uncia</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Scrupulus</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c006'>18</td> - <td class='c005'>·</td> - <td class='c007'>2</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>= 1/3 drachma</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Obolus</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c006'>9</td> - <td class='c005'>·</td> - <td class='c007'>1</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Siliqua</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c006'>3</td> - <td class='c005'>·</td> - <td class='c007'>03</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Chalcus</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c006'>1</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>= 1/3 siliqua</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Lens (Sitarion)</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c006'>3</td> - <td class='c005'>/</td> - <td class='c007'>4</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>= 1/4 siliqua</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Measures</span></div> - <div class='c002'><span class='fss'>WINE</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c007' colspan='3'>Metretes (Gr.)</td> - <td class='c007'>= 8·8</td> - <td class='c017'>gall.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Quadrantal</td> - <td class='c006'>80</td> - <td class='c005'>As</td> - <td class='c007'>= 5·77</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Urna</td> - <td class='c006'>40</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c017'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Congius</td> - <td class='c006'>10</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>= 5·77</td> - <td class='c017'>pints</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Sextarius</td> - <td class='c006'>20</td> - <td class='c005'>unciæ</td> - <td class='c007'>= 0·96</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Hemina</td> - <td class='c006'>8</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c017'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Acetabulum</td> - <td class='c006'>2</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c017'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Cyathus</td> - <td class='c006'>1</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c017'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Ligula</td> - <td class='c006'>1/4</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c017'> </td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='fss'>CORN</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Medimnos</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c006'>11·45 gall.</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c026'>2 quadrantal</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Modius</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c006'>1·92 gall.</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c026'>1/3 quadrantal</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_42'>42</span> - <h3 class='c019'>5. <span class='sc'>The Olympic Talent</span></h3> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>From the Olympic foot, two-thirds of that most -ancient linear standard the common cubit of Egypt and -the other Eastern monarchies, a talent was also constructed—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>12·16<sup>3</sup> in. = 1798 c.i. = 64·81 lb. water = 453,670 grs.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>and in practice its actual weight was the same as -that calculated.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It was divided in two ways:</p> - -<p class='c014'>1. On the Bosphoric system, which prevailed in -Asia Minor, in the Phœnician colonies, and in some -parts of Greece, it was divided into 80 miná, each = -5670 grains, and these into 100 drachms of 56·7 grains. -Or the Bosphoric miná was divided uncially into -12 ounces of 472·5 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>2. On the Euboic system, frequently used in Greek -commerce, this talent was divided into 50 minás of -100 drachms.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The drachm = 90·73 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>There was also a Euboic talent which coincided -with the weight of the Roman Quadrantal, nominally -of 80 As weight = 57·7 lb., and in transactions with -the East the Romans appear to have called their -Quadrantal-weight of water a Euboic talent. But it -will presently be seen that this was the Attic monetary -talent.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The volume of an Olympic talent of water was -8 times the Hebrew Bath or, for dry goods, -Epha.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_43'>43</span><span class='sc'>Comparison of Olympic and Imperial Measures</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c005' colspan='2'><span class='fss'>OLYMPIC</span></td> - <td class='c017'><span class='fss'>IMPERIAL</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Foot</td> - <td class='c007'>= 12·16 in.</td> - <td class='c008'>12 in.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Cubic foot</td> - <td class='c007'>= 1798 c. in.</td> - <td class='c008'>1728 c. in.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Talent</td> - <td class='c007'>= 64·81 lb.</td> - <td class='c008'>62·3 lb.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>1/1000 of talent</td> - <td class='c007'>= 453·6 grs.</td> - <td class='c008'>437·5 grs.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<table class='table3' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c027'> </td> - <td class='blt c027'>Orig.</td> - <td class='c028'>Wine</td> - <td class='c028'>gallon</td> - <td class='c029'>7·83</td> - <td class='c028'>lb.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'>1/8 = Bath = 8·1 lb. water</td> - <td class='blt c027'>Modern</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - <td class='c029'>8·33</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'> </td> - <td class='blt c027'>Imperial</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - <td class='c027'>10</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<h3 class='c019'>6. <span class='sc'>Greek Coin-weights</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>In ancient Greece as in medieval Europe, financial -difficulties led rulers to lower the weight of the coinage. -But while in Europe, in England for instance, more -pennies were coined from the mint-pound of silver, -this remaining fixed, although nominally based on the -weight of the sterling, the weights of Greece were -actually based on that of the drachma.</p> - -<p class='c014'>When the drachma was diminished in weight, the -miná and the talent both dropped proportionately. -Thus the standard of the Alexandrian talent, carefully -preserved in Egypt, dropped in Greece.</p> - -<table class='table4' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='7%' /> -<col width='19%' /> -<col width='7%' /> -<col width='7%' /> -<col width='7%' /> -<col width='7%' /> -<col width='11%' /> -<col width='7%' /> -<col width='7%' /> -<col width='7%' /> -<col width='7%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c030' colspan='2'><span class='small'>Drachma</span></td> - <td class='c031'> </td> - <td class='c005' colspan='2'><span class='small'>Miná<br />of<br />100 drachmæ</span></td> - <td class='c031'> </td> - <td class='c017' colspan='2'><span class='small'>Talent<br />of<br />60 miná</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Egypt</td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c032'>109-1/4</td> - <td class='c005'>grs.</td> - <td class='c031'> </td> - <td class='c006'>10,926</td> - <td class='c005'>grs.</td> - <td class='c031'> </td> - <td class='c007'>93·65</td> - <td class='c017'>lb.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Ægina,</td> - <td class='c007'>early</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c032'>105</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c031'> </td> - <td class='c006'>10,560</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c031'> </td> - <td class='c007'>90·5</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>before 700</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c032'>103·7</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c031'> </td> - <td class='c006'>10,370</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c031'> </td> - <td class='c007'>88·9</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>after 700</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c033'>95·68</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c031'> </td> - <td class='c006'>9,568</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c031'> </td> - <td class='c007'>81·76</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Athens,</td> - <td class='c007'>600 <span class='fss'>B.C.</span></td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c033'>93·08</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c031'> </td> - <td class='c006'>9,308</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c031'> </td> - <td class='c007'>79·78</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>So in Athens, where the Ægina standard was in use, -the drachma stood at 93·08 grains when, in 594 <span class='fss'>B.C.</span>, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_44'>44</span>Solon’s Seisachthia law ‘unburdened’ the State and -other debtors by decreeing that 73 (or more accurately -72-1/2) drachmæ should now be equal to 100 drachmæ, -and altering the coinage accordingly.</p> - -<p class='c014'>This reduced the coin-weights of Athens to—</p> - -<table class='table5' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='25%' /> -<col width='25%' /> -<col width='25%' /> -<col width='25%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c005'><span class='small'>Drachma</span></td> - <td class='c005'><span class='small'>Didrachma</span></td> - <td class='c005'><span class='small'>Miná</span></td> - <td class='c017'><span class='small'>Talent</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>67·37 grs.</td> - <td class='c005'>125·74 grs.</td> - <td class='c005'>6737 grs.</td> - <td class='c017'>57·75 lb.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>But commercial weight remained the same. The -miná emporikí, the trade miná, was fixed at 138 of -the new drachmæ, so that it continued to be 100 of the -old drachmæ: 138 × 67·37 = 100 × 93·08 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The commercial miná thus remained at the 600 <span class='fss'>B.C.</span> -standard of 9308 grains = 1·33 lb. and the talent at -79·78 lb.<a id='r9' /><a href='#f9' class='c016'><sup>[9]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c014'>In settling the reduction of the Attic money-weight -at 100 new drachmæ = 73 old drachmæ, Solon probably -fixed on the latter figure in order to make the -new talent, = 57·74 lb., have approximately the simple -ratio of 4 : 5 with the Greek-Asiatic talent—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>4/5 × 72·13 lb. = 57·704 lb.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>Thus the Roman As being = 5049 grains, 1/100 of -the Greek-Asiatic talent, 80 As, = 403,920 grains = -57·7 lb., came to coincide with the Attic monetary -talent.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>7. <span class='sc'>The Arabic Talent</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>To the talents and measures of capacity evolved -<span class='pageno' id='Page_45'>45</span>from the feet of the three principal cubits of antiquity, -must be added the talent and other measures evolved -from the Black foot of Al-Mamūn’s cubit. They have -had great influence on the weights and measures of -Europe.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Al-Mamūn’s cubit was = 21·28 inches, the foot = -14·186 inches.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The foot cubed gave a measure of water, the weight -of which was the Egyptian Cantar or Cental—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>14·1868<sup>3</sup> = 2855 c.i. = 102·92 lb. water = 720,441 grs.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>This talent was divided in two ways:</p> - -<p class='c014'>1. As the Romans had divided the Alexandrian -talent into 125 pounds of 12 ounces, so the new talent -was divided into 125 parts each = 5763 grains. This -was the Arabic lesser Rotl, its ounce = 480·25 grains. -The rotl was also divided in the Greek way into -100 drachms or dirhems = 57·63 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>2. Another mode of division was into 100 greater -Rotl, thus becoming a Cental of 100 lb. each = -7204·4 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>This greater rotl was divided, commercially into -16 ounces (Ar. <i>ukyé</i>, Gr. <i>oggia</i>, L. <i>uncia</i>) of 450,275 -grains, and uncially for coin-weight into 12 × 12 -dirhems of 50·03 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Both these dirhems became, like the drachma coin-weights -of Greece, the bases of other systems of -weight, either at their original weight or at the lower -weights to which coins might fall.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Lesser Rotl—</p> - -<p class='c014'>1. With its ounce of 480-1/4 grains would seem to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_46'>46</span>have given rise to the Troy pounds, but it is much -more probable that their variable ounces were -10 dirhems of about 48 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>2. From 8 of its drachms came the Venetian pound -and the German apothecaries’ pound with an ounce of -8 × 57·63 = 461 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>From the Greater Rotl came—</p> - -<p class='c014'>1. Eight of its ounces of 450-1/4 grains = the Marc -of Cologne, its double being the German Imperial -pound = 7218 grains; our royal Tower-pound of -Plantagenet times being 12 ounces = 5400 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The 100 lb. centner of North Germany = 103·1 lb. -was almost exactly the same weight as Al-Mamūn’s -Cantar.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>2. <span class='sc'>Weights of Eastern Europe</span> (see <a href='#XV'>Chap. XV</a>)</div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>The</td> - <td class='c007'>Polish</td> - <td class='c005'>pound</td> - <td class='c005'>16 × 8</td> - <td class='c005'>dirhems</td> - <td class='c005'>of</td> - <td class='c007'>48·9</td> - <td class='c017'>grains</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>Russian</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>49·37</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>Austrian</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>50·6</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>From 8 dirhems of 50 to 47 grains came the ounces -of the pounds of Southern France.</p> - -<p class='c014'>From 10 dirhems of 48 grains, more or less, came -the ounces of the Troy pounds.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The weight of the dirhem is now: Turkey 49·6 -grains, Greece 49·4 grains, Morocco 49 grains, Egypt -47·6 grains, Tripoli 47·07 grains. In Tripoli there is -a small weight = 12·55 grains called a dirhem, which -seems to be 1/4 of an original weight dirhem = 50·1 -grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The fall of the dirhem weight, and consequently of -the weights which are multiples of it, accounts for the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_47'>47</span>Egyptian Cantar having fallen from its original weight -to somewhat over 98 lb.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The quarter-Cantar gave its Arabic name to other -quarter-hundredweights, the Arroba of Spain, the -Rubbio of Italy, the Rub of Southern France (from -Ar. <i>rouba</i>, four; cf. Rubaiyát, quatrain).</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Measures of Capacity derived from Arabic Linear<br />Measures</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>Al-Mamūn’s cubit cubed became the medieval -standard of grain measure on the Mediterranean -coasts—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>21·28 in. cubed = 9639 c.i. = 347·314 lb. water,</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>which is equal to 34·73 gallons or 4·34 bushels.</p> - -<p class='c014'>This measure subsists in Egypt as the Rebekeh = -4·32 bushels. It passed to Marseilles as the Cargo, -and to Paris as the Setier.</p> - -<p class='c014'>These developments of the Arabic cubit and foot -will be more fully explained in the chapters on foreign -systems. They are sketched in order to show how -the Eastern caliphate took up the system begun by -the great monarchies of many centuries before, and -elaborated by Greece and Rome. Thus, from Moslem -Egypt as from Pharaonic Egypt have come virtually -all the weights and measures of the Western world.</p> - -<hr class='c018' /> -<div class='footnote' id='f5'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r5'>5</a>. </span>The Imperial pound = 27·727 cubic inches of water, 7000 -grains: the gallon 10 lb. or 277·274 c.i.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f6'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r6'>6</a>. </span><i>Essai sur les Systèmes Métriques</i> (1859).</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f7'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r7'>7</a>. </span>The Metretes was one-tenth more than our firkin. In the -story of the Marriage at Cana (John ii.) the Greek has ‘two or -three metretes.’ This term is kept in Wycliff’s version (1388) and -in the modern Dutch version.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f8'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r8'>8</a>. </span>5050 grs.—Smith’s <i>Dict. of Antiquities</i>. 5047 grs.—Daremberg -and Scaglio’s <i>Dict. of Antiquities</i>.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f9'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r9'>9</a>. </span>There was a custom of <i>rhōpi</i>, turn of the scale, or long weight, -which increased the legal commercial weight to a customary weight -tending towards that of the Alexandrian talent series.</p> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_48'>48</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER IV<br /> <br /><span class='small'>THE INVOLUTION OF LINEAR MEASURES FROM<br />WEIGHTS</span></h2> -</div> - -<h3 class='c019'><span class='sc'>The Sources of the English and of the Rhineland<br />Foot</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>Commerce is the great conservator of standards. These -may become altered by the ill-advised action of rulers, -by municipal or parochial carelessness, even by the -desire of profit on short measure, or occasionally, as -seen to a slight extent in our old Bushel, by the faulty -dimensions of a standard; but wholesale trade, -supported, in weights at least, by the goldsmith and -the apothecary, preserved the integrity of many -standards during the Middle Ages and up to modern -times. Commerce conveyed to the West the standards -that had developed in the great Oriental Kingdoms, -sometimes with the modifications due to Roman -influence. Masons and architects also preserved the -standards of length and, allowing for variations -inevitable under the feudal system, the principal linear -measures can generally be traced to their sources as -surely as weights. But there are two, yea three, -striking exceptions among the linear standards of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_49'>49</span>West: the English foot, and the Rhineland foot, -and also the Pán of Marseilles. These are quite -unconnected with any ancient measures, and there is no -record of their origin. The only clue to it is found -in the simple relation of each to the corresponding -weights and measures of capacity, the origin of which -can be satisfactorily traced. This leads to the hypothesis -that these linear measures were ‘involved,’ that -is produced by a method of involution the inverse -of that which had evolved the measures of weight and -capacity.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>1. <span class='sc'>The English Foot</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>There seem three hypotheses for the origin of the -English foot.</p> - -<p class='c014'>1. That it was the Olympic foot = 12·16 inches, its -standard diminished by the accidents of time.</p> - -<p class='c014'>But we know that the Romans established their -measures in Britain, and our mile of 8 stadia and of -5000 feet (first Roman, then English) up to Tudor times, -shows that it was originally 1000 Roman paces of -5 feet; and our early wine-bushel, of which the wine-gallon -was 1/8, is referable to the cube of the English -foot, not to that of the Olympic foot.</p> - -<p class='c014'>There is no trace of the Olympic foot in Northern -Europe except the possibility (mentioned under -Foreign Linear Measures) of the Amsterdam local foot, -= 11·146 inches, being 11 inches of the Olympic foot.</p> - -<p class='c014'>2. It happens that the mean of the Roman foot = -11·67 inches, and of the Rhineland foot = 12·356 -inches, gives 12·013 inches. But there is no instance -<span class='pageno' id='Page_50'>50</span>of a new standard being formed from the mean of two -older ones; moreover this hypothesis begs the question -of the Rhineland foot.</p> - -<p class='c014'>3. The hypothesis which I consider the most likely -is that the foot is the measure of the side of a cubical -vessel containing 1000 Roman ounces of water. It -seems likely that in early times, possibly under King -Alfred by the advice of Italian moneyers or Jewish -merchants, this measurement was effected in order to -establish a foot and a cubic foot measure of capacity -corresponding to a new talent of 1000 Roman ounces. -There is no record of this, any more than there is a -record of the standard taken for the Tower pound of -the Norman and Plantagenet kings. All we know is -that, during the times of these kings, the relation of -Averdepois or Roman weight to our measures of -capacity was utterly ignored until at last, in 1685, -‘some Gentlemen at Oxford determined the weight -of a cubic foot of spring water, or 1728 solid inches, to -be 1000 ounces averdepois.’ That the correct weight is -not 1000 but about 998 ounces at 62° does not militate -against the connexion of the weight and measure -any more than the fact that a cubic decimetre of -water, supposed to weigh 1000 grammes, only weighs -about 998-1/2 grammes would disprove a connexion -between the cubic decimetre and the gramme.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The difficulty of making a ‘quadrantal,’<a id='r10' /><a href='#f10' class='c016'><sup>[10]</sup></a> a vessel -of exactly cubical form inside, is so great that the -wardens of the Metric System abandoned the cubic -<span class='pageno' id='Page_51'>51</span>decimetre of water as giving the standard, either of -the litre for capacity, or of the kilogramme for weight. -Even approximate accuracy was unattainable, and -they were obliged to make the kilogramme an arbitrary -standard of mass and the litre a vessel containing a -kilogramme of water.</p> - -<p class='c014'>When it is seen that a difference of 1 in 2500 in -the length of the foot taken as the inside measure of a -quadrantal makes a difference of 3 cubic inches out of -1728 in its capacity, the material difficulties of constructing -a vessel exactly cubical will be understood. -However, a quadrantal being constructed, perhaps after -many trials of sides as exactly equal as possible, and -holding 1000 ounces of Roman ounces (= 437 grains) of -water, the mean measure of its panels was taken as a foot, -and the quadrantal as a cubic foot—the wine-bushel.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Let us take 1000 Roman ounces and divide the -total number of grains weight by the statute number -of grains in a cubic inch of water as determined by -Captain Kater in 1824.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The dividend will be the number of cubic inches, -and its cube root will be the foot—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>437,000/252,458 = 1729·8 cubic inches,</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>of which the cube root is 12·0042 inches, a length -differing by only 1/2400 from the actual Imperial foot.</p> - -<p class='c014'>I took the idea of this hypothesis from that by -which Don V. V. Queipo inferred the Beládi cubit to -be the double measure of the side of a cubical vessel -containing a Ptolemaïc talent of water. Certainly it -<span class='pageno' id='Page_52'>52</span>solves the question of the origin of our foot, and it -happens that, applied to the equally obscure origin of -the Rhineland foot, the results are equally satisfactory.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>2. <span class='sc'>The Rhineland Foot</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>Let the same process of involution be applied to -the side of a cubical vessel containing 1000 Troy -ounces of water.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The standard of Troy weight varied very much, -from the Danish value of a little over 481 grains in the -ounce, to the French Troy value of 472·13 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Scots Troy weight, = 476·09 grains to the -ounce, is nearly the same as the Amsterdam weight, -= 476·68 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>These Troy weights may be taken at three main -standards, high, medium, and low, represented by:</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>English</td> - <td class='c005'>Troy,</td> - <td class='c005'>its</td> - <td class='c005'>ounce</td> - <td class='c007'>= 480</td> - <td class='c017'>grains</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Amsterdam</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>= 476·68</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>French</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>= 472·13</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>Let us apply to 1000 ounces of water, at the medium -Amsterdam standard, = 10 Egyptian dirhems of 47·6 -grains, the same measurement of a quadrantal made to -contain them as exactly as possible.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>476·687/252·458 = 1886·9 cubic inches</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>and the cube root of the dividend gives 12·357 inches, -exactly, to 1 in 20,000, the Rhineland foot as established -in Prussia = 12·3564 inches. The Prussian standard -of the Cologne pound (its ounce = 451·1 grains) was -1/66 of a Rhineland cubic foot of water at 65·75 F., and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_53'>53</span>was fixed at 7217·9 grains. This was exactly 1/66 of -1000 Troy ounces of water at the standard of 476·38 -grains. So 66 Prussian pounds were equal to 1000 -Troy ounces, or to 62·5 Troy pounds at that standard.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Rhineland cubic foot had, like the English -cubic foot, long been the bushel standard of North -Germany. The Himt, now, or until quite recently, -the unit of corn-measure in Hanover and Brunswick, -contained 6·852 gallons, or 68·52 lb. of water. It is -probable that the Himt, which passed to Scotland -in the fifteenth century as the firlot of that time, had -risen slightly, and that it was originally = 68·05 lb., the -true Rhineland cubic foot of water.</p> - -<h3 id='Pan' class='c019'>3. <span class='sc'>The Pán of Marseilles</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>Marseilles, a city of Greek origin, always in extensive -commercial relations with the Mediterranean countries -using the Arabic system of weights and measures, had -an almost perfect system of its own, entirely sexdecimal, -and dating from about the tenth century. -This system is still extant, so far as the French law -can be evaded (see <a href='#XXI'>Chap. XXI</a>: Old Weights and -Measures of France). Wine and corn measures were -in the usual Southern water-wheat ratio of 1 to 1·22, -and the principal of these was the Escandau for wine -and oil, and the Panau for corn. Now Escandau -means ‘standard’; and this measure was 1/4 of the -Mieirolo, the half wine-load or ‘wey’ which corresponded -in water-wheat ratio to the half-load or wey of -wheat. The load of wheat, the <i>cargo</i>, was the cubic -<span class='pageno' id='Page_54'>54</span>cubit of Al-Mamūn, brought from Egypt by the corn-trade. -The unit of length was the Pan (pronounced -páng), a word apparently similar to the palmo of Italy -and Spain, but really different. Palmo becomes -<i>paume</i> in Provençal, while Pan is from L. <i>pannus</i>, a -side, pane or panel;<a id='r11' /><a href='#f11' class='c016'><sup>[11]</sup></a> and the Marseilles Pan = 9·9 -inches is exactly the measure of the side or pan of an -Escandau of cubical form. The filiation of the -Escandau is evident, while the Pan is not derived from -any antecedent measure. That the Pan was the -measure of the pan or panel of a cubical Escandau is -supported by the name of the corn-standard, the -Panau, corresponding to the fluid standard of the -Escandau, and of the land-measure, L. <i>Panalata</i>, the -peck-land, originally the extent usually sown with a -Panau of wheat.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Escandau = 16·096 litres = 3·54 gallons.</div> - <div class='line in2'>∛16096 = 25·24 centimetres, the Pan = 9·9 inches.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>The evidence of the Pan seems to me to remove any -doubt as to the medieval evolution of linear measures -from imported standards of weight or capacity. -The meaning of Pan as ‘side, panel’ is conclusive, -especially when supported by the Panau measure -and by other Provençal derivatives:</p> - -<p class='c014'><i>Panard</i>, a limping man, leaning to one side as he -walks.</p> - -<p class='c014'><i>Lou Panard</i>, the star Antares which, rising late -and setting early, not appearing much above the -horizon, is visible only on one side of it.</p> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_55'>55</span> - <h3 class='c019'>4. <span class='sc'>The Filiation of the English Foot, of the<br />Rhineland Foot, and of the Marseilles Pan</span></h3> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>In the description of the ancient cubits and talents -and of the Roman system derived from them, the -filiation of the English system of weights and measures, -and of the Scots and other cognate systems, is clearly -seen. There was no taking of a King’s heel-to-toe as a -foot, no pound imported from some unknown country -at an unknown period, no wheat-quarter preserved in -the dimensions of an Egyptian sarcophagus, not even -a pint from the Roman sextarius; legend disappears, -the course of evolution, and, at one point, of involution, -is clear, and as thoroughly scientific as in any system -invented by an Academy of Sciences. Here are the -links of filiation of the English foot:</p> - -<p class='c015'>1. The Egyptian meridian cubit.</p> - -<p class='c015'>2. The royal cubit, increased from the meridian -cubit.</p> - -<p class='c015'>3. The royal foot, two-thirds of the royal cubit.</p> - -<p class='c015'>4. The cubic royal foot.</p> - -<p class='c015'>5. The Alexandrian talent, the weight of a royal -cubic foot of water.</p> - -<p class='c015'>6. The Roman ounce, 1/1500 of the Alexandrian -talent.</p> - -<p class='c015'>7. The English talent, 1000 Roman ounces.</p> - -<p class='c015'>8. The volume of 1000 Roman ounces of water, the -original wine-bushel.</p> - -<p class='c015'>9. The 1000-ounce Quadrantal becomes the cubic -foot, its side giving the English foot.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_56'>56</span>For the Rhineland and Scots system we have:</p> - -<p class='c015'>1. The Egyptian meridian cubit.</p> - -<p class='c015'>2. The Arabic or Black cubit, 7 palms of the -meridian cubit’s 6 palms.</p> - -<p class='c015'>3. The Arabic foot, two-thirds of the Arabic cubit.</p> - -<p class='c015'>4. The Arabic talent or Cantar, the weight of an -Arabic cubic foot of water.</p> - -<p class='c015'>5. The Troy ounce, 1/1500 of the Cantar, and coinciding -with 10 lesser dirhems of about 48 grains.</p> - -<p class='c015'>6. The Rhineland talent of 1000 Troy ounces -Amsterdam standard.</p> - -<p class='c015'>7. The Quadrantal containing 1000 Troy ounces of -water becomes the cubic Rhineland foot, its side giving -the measure of the Rhineland foot.</p> - -<p class='c014'>For the Provençal system we have:</p> - -<p class='c015'>1. The Egyptian meridian cubit.</p> - -<p class='c015'>2. The Arabic cubit, 7 palms of the meridian -cubit’s 6 palms.</p> - -<p class='c015'>3. The Arabic cubit cubed, in the corn-measure of -medieval Egypt, the Cargo of Marseilles, the Setier of -Paris.</p> - -<p class='c015'>4. The half-cargo reduced to wine-measure in -wheat-water ratio becomes the Mieirolo; of which one-fourth -is the Escandau or Standard measure.</p> - -<p class='c015'>5. The Quadrantal containing an Escandau gives, -as the measure of its side or panel, the Pán of Marseilles.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The evolution of the English foot, of the Rhineland -or Scots foot, of the Pán of Marseilles, being now made -clear, we can proceed to English and other linear -measures. The origin of the Ounce, the foot, the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_57'>57</span>cubic foot or wine-bushel is explained. That of Troy -weight has been seen, and its predecessor, Tower -weight, came from another ounce of the Arabic cantar. -The origin of every measure and weight used in the -civilised world will be found in the stories of the -ancient cubits and talents.</p> - -<hr class='c018' /> -<div class='footnote' id='f10'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r10'>10</a>. </span>Quadrantal, the Roman standard of capacity, a cubic vessel -measuring one foot on each of its inside panels.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f11'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r11'>11</a>. </span>The French word <i>pan</i> has the same meaning, while Fr. <i>empan</i>, -a span, is a corruption of <i>espan</i>.</p> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_58'>58</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER V<br /> <br /><span class='small'>ENGLISH LINEAR MEASURES</span></h2> -</div> - -<h3 class='c019'>1. <span class='sc'>The Yard, the Foot, the Inch</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>The term Yard, the Old English ‘gerde’ or ‘yerde,’ a -wand or rod, became specially applied to a wand of -3 feet, or 4 spans; from this double mode of division -and from its convenient length the cloth-yard of 3 feet -became generally used. It has the convenience of -being a half-fathom, and of being divisible not only -into feet and inches, but also sexdecimally into units -which are familiar as limb-lengths of the cubit and -span system.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The half-yard corresponds to the Cubit.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The quarter-yard is a Span.<a id='r12' /><a href='#f12' class='c016'><sup>[12]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c014'>The eighth is a Finger; women constantly measure -linen approximately by the length of the bent middle -finger.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The sixteenth is a Nail; this is the length of the -half-finger, the last two joints of the middle finger.<a id='r13' /><a href='#f13' class='c016'><sup>[13]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c014'>While the yard is lawfully divided into halves, -quarters, eighths, and nails, it may also, as a measure -<span class='pageno' id='Page_59'>59</span>of 3 feet, be divided into 36 inches. Yard-measures -are usually divided in both ways, on one side into -16 nails, on the other into inches.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It is customary to say either a yard and a quarter, -or 45 inches, or 3 feet 9 inches. Or to say either -58 inches or 4 feet 10 inches; but it is not customary -to say a yard and 22 inches. We cease to use the yard -as unit when we cannot express its fractions sexdecimally.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Foot is lawfully divided into 12 inches; but -there is nothing to prevent it being divided decimally, -or otherwise, as convenient.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Inch is divided according to convenience, either</p> - -<p class='c024'>Sexdecimally, into halves, quarters, &c., down -to sixty-fourths. This is the usual division.</p> - -<p class='c024'>Duodecimally, into 12 lines.</p> - -<p class='c024'>Decimally, into tenths and hundredths.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Steel foot-rules usually show all three of these -scales.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Some trades may have special scales. Thus type-founders -divide the Inch into 6 ‘picas’ each = 2 lines, -and the ‘pica’ into 12 points each = 1/6 line or 1/72 inch. -Nonpareil type is 6 points; Brevier is 8 points.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>2. <span class='sc'>Standards of the Linear Measures</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>Tables of measures, from the earliest, about 1500, -down to quite recent times, usually began by stating -that ‘Three barley-corns make an inch’ or that -‘Geographical measures begin at a barley-corn and -increase upward to a league,’ &c.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_60'>60</span>King David I of Scotland (<i>c.</i> 1150) is credited with -the pronouncement that the Scots inch was to be the -mean measure of ‘the thowmys of iij men, that is to -say an mekill man and a man of messurabil statur and -of a lytell man. The thoums are to be messurit at the -rut of the nayll.’ But no more in Scotland than in -England, or elsewhere, has the inch ever been anything -but a division of the foot.</p> - -<p class='c014'>A standard of the English foot was fixed in Old St. -Paul’s Church, London, and was known as Paul’s foot, -all measures being referred to the standard ‘qui -insculpitur super basim columpnæ in ecclesia Sancti -Pauli.’ In 1273 a deed gave the measurement of -land ‘according to the iron ell [yard] of the King’s -palace.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>The present standard yard is a bronze bar kept -in London, the length of which agrees exactly with the -yard, still extant, of Tudor times. A set of standard -measures of length is fixed along the base of the northern -wall of Trafalgar Square,<a id='r14' /><a href='#f14' class='c016'><sup>[14]</sup></a> and another set is in the -flooring of the Guildhall. Sets are also fixed to public -buildings in several chief towns of the United Kingdom.</p> - -<p class='c014'>As metal rods vary in length according to temperature, -comparisons with a standard measure should be -made at the normal temperature of 62°. But there is -<span class='pageno' id='Page_61'>61</span>an alloy of steel and nickel (42 per cent.), named Invar, -which is not perceptibly affected by temperature.</p> - -<p class='c014'>A pendulum beating seconds at sea-level and at -normal temperature measures 39·1393 inches at -Greenwich (Act of Parliament, 1824). This length -varies in different places from the variations of gravity -due to the ellipticity of the earth and local causes of -deviation.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>3. <span class='sc'>The Hand</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>The popular ‘hand’ was the ‘palm’ of ancient -times, four digits or finger-breadths.</p> - -<p class='c014'><i>Pes habet palmos iv, palmus habet digitos iv</i> -(Frontinus).</p> - -<p class='c014'>‘Foure graines of barlye make a finger; foure -fingers a hande; foure handes a foote’ (Eden, 1566).</p> - -<p class='c014'>But the present Hand for horse-measurement is -‘the measure called a Handful used in measuring the -height of horses, by 27 Hen. 8, Chap. 6, ordained to -be 4 inches’ (Sam. Leake, 1701). This is part of an -old popular duodecimal division of the foot into 3 hands -of 4 inches, then of the inch into 3 barleycorns (lengthwise) -each of 4 poppy-seeds, and of these again into -12 hairbreadths.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Austria this horse-measure is the Faust or fist.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Another very widely spread limb-measure is that -of the fist with the thumb projecting, roughly = -6 inches. It is the Shaftment of some parts of England, -<i>scæft-mund</i> (shaft-hand) in Old English, <i>bawd</i> in Wales; -the <i>somesso</i> of Italy, the <i>kubdeh</i> of Egypt, the <i>taim</i> of -Burma.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_62'>62</span>In the Laws of Æthelstan (1000) a measurement is -given as 9 feet, 9 shaftments, and 9 barleycorns, i.e. -9 feet + 9 half-feet + 3 inches.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>4. <span class='sc'>The Ell</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>The yard, being 4 spans, was formerly one of the -Ells, measures of 3, 4, 5 or more spans, related to the -cubit of 2 spans. The Scots yard, of 37 inches, was -always known as an Ell, and it was only gradually that -our yard took the place, for cloth measure, of the Ell -of 5 spans = 45 inches, which was long maintained by -statute. The yard and the ell were usually distinguished -as <i>virga</i> and <i>ulna</i> in statutes, but sometimes -<i>ulna</i> meant a yard.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Both yard and ell were divided into halves, quarters, -and nails (sixteenths).</p> - -<p class='c014'>See <a href='#XVI'>Chap. XVI</a> (The Ells), and <a href='#XX'>Chap. XX</a> (section -on the Nail and the Clove).</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>5. <span class='sc'>The Rod, Furlong, Mile, and League</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>The earliest table of English linear measures is -probably that in Arnold’s ‘Customs of London,’ -<i>c.</i> 1500.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The lengith of a barly corne iij tymes make an ynche</div> - <div class='line'>and xij ynches make a fote</div> - <div class='line'>and iij fote make a yerde</div> - <div class='line'>and v quatirs of the yarde make an elle</div> - <div class='line in4'>v fote make a pace</div> - <div class='line in4'>cxxv pace make a furlong</div> - <div class='line'>and viij furlong make an English myle.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_63'>63</span>Thus, in 1500, the furlong was 125 × 5 = 625 feet, -and the mile = 5000 feet = 1666·6 yards.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The mile was originally the Roman mile, -1000 paces or 5000 Roman feet, and = (5000 × 11·67)/(3 × 12) -in. = 1621-1/3 yards. So in course of time our mile -had become 5000 English feet.</p> - -<p class='c014'>But the linear unit for land measurement was not, -as in the Roman system, a <i>pertica</i> or rod of 10 or 12 feet; -it became very early, on the Teutonic system, a rod -of 16 feet, with varieties, under French influence later -on, of 18, of 21 and 24 feet.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In early Plantagenet times, not later than Edward I, -the statute rod was fixed at 5-1/2 yards or 16-1/2 feet. -Thus, while the rood, that is the field-furlong, was -40 rods or perches of 16-1/2 feet = 660 feet, the itinerary -furlong, 1/8 mile, remained 625 feet, ‘xxxviij perchis -sauf ij fote’ (Arnold’s ‘Chronicle’). This clashing of the -new statute rod, and its multiple the rood or field-furlong -of 40 rods, with the ancient itinerary furlong -now only = 37·87 rods, was rectified in Tudor times, -probably temp. Henry VII, but definitely by a -statute of Elizabeth which raised the furlong to -coincide with the rood. The mile thus became of its -present length, 8 furlongs of 40 rods of 5-1/2 yards = -1760 yards = 5280 feet. The mile has then successively -been:</p> - -<table class='table6' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='14%' /> -<col width='9%' /> -<col width='9%' /> -<col width='4%' /> -<col width='9%' /> -<col width='9%' /> -<col width='9%' /> -<col width='19%' /> -<col width='14%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c007' colspan='3'>1.—Roman mile</td> - <td class='c005'>of</td> - <td class='c007' colspan='3'>5000 Roman feet</td> - <td class='c007'>= 1621·3</td> - <td class='c017'>yards.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007' colspan='3'>2.—Old English mile</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>5000</td> - <td class='c005'>English</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>= 1666·6</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>3.—New</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>5280</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>= 1760</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>For long measurements chains came into use, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_64'>64</span>shortly after 1600 Edward Gunter introduced, for -surveying purposes, measurement by a chain of 4 rods, -i.e. a ‘brede’ or ‘acre-brede,’ the breadth of an acre -of 40 × 4 rods, divided into 100 links.</p> - -<p class='c014'>So the multiples of the yard are now:</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>5</td> - <td class='c007'>-1/2</td> - <td class='c005'>yards</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c006'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c006'> </td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c008'>= 1 rod</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>22</td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>or</td> - <td class='c006'>4</td> - <td class='c005'>rods,</td> - <td class='c005'>or</td> - <td class='c006'>100</td> - <td class='c007'>links</td> - <td class='c008'>= 1 chain</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>220</td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c006'>40</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c006'>10</td> - <td class='c007'>chains</td> - <td class='c008'>= 1 furlong (rood)</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>1760</td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c006'>320</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c006'>80</td> - <td class='c034'>„ or 8 furlongs</td> - <td class='c008'>= 1 mile</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>The Scots mile and the Irish mile were equally -8 furlongs of 40 rods, but Scots and Irish rods (see -<a href='#XIV'>Chap. XIV</a>).</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Scots</td> - <td class='c005'>mile</td> - <td class='c005'>320</td> - <td class='c005'>rods of</td> - <td class='c007'>6 ells (6·1766 yards)</td> - <td class='c007'>= 1976</td> - <td class='c017'>yards</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Irish</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>7 yards</td> - <td class='c007'>= 2240</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>The term Yard has been used for certain large -land-measures. These, with the evolution of the Rod, -will be given in the next chapter.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>The League</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>It has been seen that the Persian Parasang was -three meridian miles, or 3000 Olympic fathoms. -France retains this as the <i>lieue marine</i> of 20 to the -degree, and Southern France long retained a league -of 3 miles each of 1000 toises or cannes. But in Roman -times the Leuca or Leuga of Gaul was 1-1/2 Roman miles. -It passed to medieval England at about the same -length, being defined as <i>duodecim quaranteinis</i>, 12 -furlongs or roods of 40 rods.</p> - -<hr class='c018' /> -<div class='footnote' id='f12'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r12'>12</a>. </span>The usual dimensions of bricks are a span by a half-span, by -a nail.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f13'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r13'>13</a>. </span>The story of the Nail will be found in <a href='#XX'>Chap. XX</a>.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f14'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r14'>14</a>. </span>The Standards Commission in 1870 advised that the public -standards of length should be placed so as to be readily accessible -to the public without their use ‘being disturbed by passers or -idle gazers.’ Anyone who has tried to get access to those in -Trafalgar Square may regret that there seems to be no provision -made against their site being made the usual lounge of often very -objectionable persons.</p> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_65'>65</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER VI<br /> <br /><span class='small'>LAND-MEASURES</span></h2> -</div> - -<h3 class='c019'>1. <span class='sc'>Introduction</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>The first measures of land were seed-measures. They -are found in every country; they become fixed in -course of time as the idea of geometric measurement -arises; they survive in name giving the peasant a -concrete idea of the extent of his fields.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Then came the estimation of land by the amount of -ploughing, or sometimes of hand-digging, that could -be done in a day, and by the extent that could be -cultivated with a pair of oxen. Then came a system -of geometric measurement, fixing the former seed-units -or labour-units by measures of length and breadth, and -finally the abstract idea of superficial area. These -different systems have succeeded one another everywhere -and in all time.</p> - -<p class='c014'>1. Seed-units.—The land that could be sown with -a certain measure of seed-corn, wheat being the usual -standard: Fr. <i>seterée</i>, <i>estrée</i>, <i>boisselée</i>, &c.; It. <i>moggio</i>; -Sp. <i>fanega</i>; G. <i>scheffel</i>; Nor. <i>tunn-land</i>. These -names correspond to corn-measures.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_66'>66</span>2. Day’s hand-labour units.—The land that could -be tilled with spade or hoe in a day: the ‘Daieswork,’ -about 10 square rods; Fr. <i>hommée</i>, <i>ouvrée</i>—20 square -rods of vineyard.</p> - -<p class='c014'>3. Day’s ploughing units.—L. <i>jugerum</i>; It. <i>giornata</i>; -Fr. <i>journal</i>, <i>arpent</i>; G. <i>morgen</i>, <i>joch</i>, <i>acker</i>; Du. -<i>bouw</i>; Hind. <i>bigha</i>; Ar. <i>feddan</i>; Ir. <i>ardagh</i>. All about -an English acre more or less.</p> - -<p class='c014'>4. Oxgang units.—The land that a boor with a -yoke of oxen could keep in husbandry; about 7 acres -of arable, about 30 acres including wood and pasture:</p> - -<p class='c014'>Yard-land; Du. <i>hoeve</i>. A group of oxgangs, -generally of four yoke, made a Ploughland; Prov. <i>un -mas de quatre couble</i>, a four-yoke farm.</p> - -<p class='c014'>5. Geometric units.—First, units of a certain shape -based on the customary length of the furrow: Rood, -40 rods by 1 rod broad; Fr. <i>vergée</i>, <i>seillon</i>. Then -small units of a square rod, the rod being of customary -length; with large units, usually groups of roods, -vergées, &c. Four roods side by side make the English -or the Norman acre. A rood square or square furlong -is the ‘acreme’ or 10-acre field.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Legal units of land were usually abstract, of so -many square rods or fathoms, independently of any -customary shape.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>2. <span class='sc'>Evolution of Geometric Land-measures</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>While smaller units, such as the superficial rod, -can easily be conceived as square, the larger arable -units have, or have had, a peculiar form which still -attaches to them. The peasant, whose mind’s eye -<span class='pageno' id='Page_67'>67</span>can perceive the square rod or toise or verge, refers the -rood or the acre, the vergée or the arpent, to the -familiar length of the furrow and to the breadth of the -rod or of the four-rod acre-breadth equal to a cricket-pitch. -These lengths and breadths will long be his -essentially concrete standards of field-measurement.</p> - -<p class='c014'>While some legal units of surface have recognised -the customary furrow-length as an element of this -form, others have always been undefined as to -form.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In ancient Egypt the land was surveyed by the -state, not only for revenue purposes, but because of -the Nile overflow effacing the land-marks usual in -other countries.</p> - -<p class='c014'>‘Hence land-measuring appears to me to have had -its beginning, and to have passed over to Greece’ -(Herodotus). The agrarian unit of Egypt, called by -the Greeks <i>aroura</i>, a plough-land, was a square, each -side being a Khet or cord, of 100 royal cubits = 172 -feet or 57-1/3 yards. The square khet is represented by -the present Egyptian feddan al risach of 20 lesser -qasáb (each 20 × 4 Hashími cubits) = 170·4 feet -square = 2/3 acre.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Ten square khet made the usual land-holding. -This unit, = 6·79 acres, corresponds closely to 10 modern -feddan, to the véli or oxgang unit of Southern India, -and to the 7 acres of arable in the medieval English -boor’s yard-land. That the ancient Egyptian oxgang -was 10 khets in a line, giving if required a furrow of -573 yards easy in muddy alluvial soil, seems certain, -for its hieroglyphic is a line of ten small squares. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_68'>68</span>This is exactly the primitive form of the English -acre, 10 × 1 chains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In ancient Greece the unit of land-measure was the -plethron of 10 rods (kalamoi) each of 10 Olympic feet, -= 101·33 English feet. Had it a concrete agrarian -form? Evidently the square plethron (= 0·235 acre -or nearly a rood) was much too short for a plough-unit; -but the larger unit was the tetragyon, i.e. a four-rood -field, and with the four square plethra end-on-end, -this Greek acre afforded a furrow-length of 135 -yards. So it is probable that the tetragyon, 135 × -33-3/4 yards, = 0·94 acre, was the usual concrete agrarian -unit.</p> - -<p class='c014'>A common size of land-holding was 12 × 12 = 144 -plethra, = about 34 acres, a size corresponding to our -medieval oxgang.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In ancient Italy land was measured by the Roman -decempeda or pertica, the 10-foot perch or rod, -= 9·725 feet.</p> - -<p class='c014'>A strip of land 120 × 4 Roman feet made an Actus, -probably the breadth of a double furrow, up and down. -The square actus, actus quadratus, = 30 acti = -120 × 120 feet, about 50 square rods.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Two square acti made a Jugerum, the day’s work -for a yoke of oxen, = 0·623 acre.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Four square acti, bina jugera, made the Heredium, -= 1·246 acre.</p> - -<p class='c014'>How were the four square acti arranged? Were -they in a square 240 × 240 feet? No doubt that -would be the official form of the heredium; but it is -probable that, as I have assumed for the Greek tetragyon -<span class='pageno' id='Page_69'>69</span>of 4 square plethra, the 4 Roman acti would be, -when convenient, practically arranged in a line, thus -giving an agrarian unit of 480 × 120 feet and a furrow -of about 160 yards, which is nearly one-tenth of the -5000 feet Roman mile.<a id='r15' /><a href='#f15' class='c016'><sup>[15]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c014'>The official division of the field was based on the -jugerum; this being divided, on the duodecimal or -uncial system, into 12 unciæ, each of 24 square perticæ, -the latter being the scruples, the qiráts, of the Roman -land-ounce. Here we see the uncial system overshadowing -the decempeda; for if the jugerum could be -divided into 12 ounces of 240 × 10 feet and these into -24 scruples of 10 feet square, each of its two acti might -also be divided into 100 sections of 12 feet square, or the -double jugerum into 100 sections of 24 feet square. It -is probable that this would be a more popular division -than that based on the decempeda; for it is certain -that a rod of 16 spans = 12 feet was used; it was the -Græco-Roman <i>akena</i> (from <i>akis</i>, goad), a gad or rod.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Heredium passed to Gaul, where it established -itself in the north, becoming the French arpent, 100 -square perches, each of 6 aunes (= 24 Roman feet) -square, so that the arpent is identical with the heredium, -and was divided on the plan I have suggested as that -of the Roman land-measure. But the arpent rarely -coincided with the standard of the Paris government, -and both seed-measures and work-measures, of fixed -area, were often preferred. Where the <i>coutumes de -Normandie</i> are still in almost full force and are cherished -<span class='pageno' id='Page_70'>70</span>by the people, the principal unit of land-measure -was, and is still, the Acre de Normandie, containing -160 perches of 24 feet square. The standard of the -foot varies; sometimes it is the royal foot, sometimes -the Roman foot, retained by the device of taking 11 -royal inches for a foot. The ancient standard of this -acre is thus expressed in law-Latin: Pertica terræ -fecit 24 passus seu soleas pedis; 40 perticæ faciunt -virgatam; duæ virgatæ faciunt arpentum; 4 virgatæ -faciunt acram. ‘Passus’ is here a foot; but sometimes -it meant a pace, half of the Roman pace which is -here represented by the brasse of 5 royal feet = 1·624 -metre. So in Normandy land-measure the <i>pas</i> = -32 inches and the Caux peasant reckons his vergée as -100 × 20 paces = 88·8 × 17·76 yards. These concrete -forms of land-unit are dying out, yet everywhere traces -of it can be found in conversation with old peasants.</p> - -<p class='c014'>From the South of France to England and Scotland -there is a concrete shape recognisable in the large unit -of land-measure. The Provençal Saumado of 1600 -square cano or toises, the Normandy acre of 160 square -rods of 4 toises, the English acre of 160 square rods of -5-1/2 yards, the Scots acre of 160 square rods of 6 ells -= 18·53 feet, are all connected by a common tradition -of concrete form, and are all made up of four minor -units: sesteirado, vergées, roods, &c. Looking back -to the land-measures of Greece and Rome we -find this same group of four lesser units in the -tetragyon and heredium. The law may only recognise -abstract superficial standards, but the peasant holds -to the concrete units of form convenient for cultivation.</p> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_71'>71</span> - <h3 class='c019'>3. <span class='sc'>English Land-measures</span></h3> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>Notwithstanding Homer’s recommendation of mules -as ‘better far than kine to drag the jointed plough,’ -oxen are still used in the greater part of the world. In -light soils one yoke of oxen is sufficient, but in heavy -fallows, with deep-working ploughs, two, three or -more yoke were used; and in feudal times it would -appear that the four tenants of a hide or ploughland -co-operated with their oxen. A furrow of 40 rods could -thus be made easily in one breath, and as this length -of a rood coincided approximately with the eighth of a -mile, that division of the mile was also called a furrow-long -or furlong. When ploughing up fallow-land the -oxen, on getting to the end of the ‘shot,’ turned -and took breath. The ploughman measured a rod-breadth -from the first furrow by means of his goad, -Scottice by the ‘fall’ of it, and this rod-breadth down -which the oxen turned, the <i>tornatura</i> of Italy, was a rood.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Sometimes between the roods a narrow unploughed -strip, a balk of land, was left, marking the roods or -‘selions,’ four of which, side by side, made an acre, -and forty of which made the square furlong, the ten-acre -field.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Ploughing in roods, selions, square furlongs, is still -far from extinct. In Brittany land is still reckoned -by <i>seillons</i> of so many furrows wide, or of so many -<i>gaules</i> or 12-foot rods. In Southern France fields are -estimated in breadths of a <i>destre</i>, of the 12-foot rod -corresponding roughly to the width cleared by a couple -of mowers. In our Isle of Axholme, in North Lincolnshire, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_72'>72</span>land is reckoned in selions of a rod wide and usually -of a furlong in length; these selions or roods being -grouped into furlongs, that is, actually or originally, into -greater units of a square furlong = 40 roods or 10 acres.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Simple country-folk, whose only ideas of land-measure -were taken from the length of the ox-goad -and of the furrow, and from the breadth of the long -acre-strip of land, came slowly to understand that the -surface of a field of irregular shape might be reckoned -in acres and rods. A statute of Edward II gave a -table of the different breadths of the acre when it was -less than forty rods or perches in length:</p> - -<p class='c014'>‘When an acre of land containeth ten perches in -length, then it shall be in breadth sixteen perches; -when it containeth eleven perches in length, then it -shall be in breadth fourteen and a half and three-quarters -of a foot’—and so on through the different -lengths an acre might be.</p> - -<p class='c014'>So people came gradually to abstract the idea of -superficial measure from shape and to apply it to land -of any figure, however different from a square or a -rectangle. Thus measures, always <i>concrete</i> at first -and taken from some known object of comparison, -became <i>abstract</i> in men’s minds for purposes of calculation. -Then came the land-surveyor introducing -arithmetic and geometry into the art of measurement, -and using the cord or chain instead of the measuring -rod; and it was also found that decimal calculation -would be an improvement in this art.</p> - -<p class='c014'>For purposes of accurate measurement and calculation, -Edward Gunter introduced, nearly three centuries -<span class='pageno' id='Page_73'>73</span>ago, measurement by a chain of a hundred links and -twenty-two yards or four rods in length. Its adoption -decimalised the land-measures without disturbing -them. Ten chains go to a furlong and ten square -chains to an acre.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Norden (‘Surveior’s Dialogue,’ 1610) mentions the -‘standard chaine, that is by the chaine of 16-1/2 foote.’ -It was soon after this that the chain was increased to -66 feet or 4 rods, which length was a current unit, the -‘brede’ or acre-brede, the breadth of an acre.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div><span class='sc'>Measures of Length and of Surface</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>In the following table each superficial unit is placed -opposite the lineal unit of which it is the square:</p> - -<table class='table7' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='21%' /> -<col width='18%' /> -<col width='3%' /> -<col width='36%' /> -<col width='21%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='btt bbt brt c028' colspan='2'><span class='sc'>Lineal Measures</span></td> - <td class='btt bbt c028'> </td> - <td class='btt bbt c028' colspan='2'><span class='sc'>Superficial Measures</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'>12 inches</td> - <td class='brt c027'>1 foot</td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c027'>144 square inches</td> - <td class='c027'>1 sq. foot.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'>3 feet</td> - <td class='brt c027'>1 yard</td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c027'>9 square feet</td> - <td class='c027'>1 sq. yard.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'>5-1/2 yards</td> - <td class='brt c027'>1 rod</td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c027'>30-1/4 square yards</td> - <td class='c027'>1 sq. rod.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'>⎧</td> - <td class='c027'>40 square rods</td> - <td class='c027'>1 rood</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'>40 rods</td> - <td class='brt c027'>1 furlong</td> - <td class='c028'>⎨</td> - <td class='c027'>(4 roods or 160 square rods</td> - <td class='c027'>1 acre).</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'>⎩</td> - <td class='c027'>40 roods (10 acres)</td> - <td class='c027'>1 sq. furlong.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt c027'>8 furlongs</td> - <td class='bbt brt c027'>1 mile</td> - <td class='bbt c028'> </td> - <td class='bbt c027'>64 square furlongs (640 acres)</td> - <td class='bbt c027'>1 sq. mile.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<table class='table3' summary=''> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='4'><span class='sc'>Surveyor’s Measure</span></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='btt c027'>1 link (7·8 inches)</td> - <td class='btt brt c027'>·22 yards.</td> - <td class='btt c027'>1 square link</td> - <td class='btt c027'>·048 sq. yds.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'>10 links</td> - <td class='brt c029'>2·2 „</td> - <td class='c027'>100 square links</td> - <td class='c035'>4·84 „</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'>100 links (1 chain)</td> - <td class='brt c029'>22 „</td> - <td class='c027'>10,000 sq links (1 sq. chain)</td> - <td class='c035'>484 „</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt c027'>10 chains (1 furlong)</td> - <td class='bbt brt c029'>220 „</td> - <td class='bbt c027'>10 sq. chains (1 acre)</td> - <td class='bbt c035'>4840 „</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>It must be remembered that <i>the length of the rod -determined the length of the mile and the area of the acre</i>. -This is shown in the table on the following page.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_74'>74</span><span class='sc'>British Miles and Acres Derived from Different Rods in Local Usage</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table3' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='btt bbt c028'><span class='sc'>Length</span></td> - <td class='btt bbt blt c028' colspan='3'><span class='sc'>Statute</span></td> - <td class='btt bbt blt c028' colspan='3'><span class='sc'>Scottish</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'>1 rod</td> - <td class='blt c036'>5-1/2</td> - <td class='c028'>yards</td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='blt c036'>6·1766</td> - <td class='c028'>yards</td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'>40 rods = 1 furlong</td> - <td class='blt c036'>220</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='blt c036'>247</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'>8 furlongs = 1 mile</td> - <td class='blt c036'>1760</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='blt c036'>1976</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'> </td> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='blt c036'>= 1·123</td> - <td class='c028'>statute</td> - <td class='c028'>miles</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c028'><span class='sc'>Surface</span></td> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'>1 square rod</td> - <td class='blt c036'>30-1/4</td> - <td class='c028'>square</td> - <td class='c028'>yards</td> - <td class='blt c036'>38·15</td> - <td class='c028'>square</td> - <td class='c028'>yards</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'>40 square rods = 1 rood</td> - <td class='blt c036'>1210</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - <td class='blt c036'>1526</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'>4 roods = 1 acre</td> - <td class='blt c036'>4840</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - <td class='blt c036'>6104</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt c027'> </td> - <td class='bbt blt c036'> </td> - <td class='bbt c028'> </td> - <td class='bbt c028'> </td> - <td class='bbt blt c036'>= 1·26</td> - <td class='bbt c028'>statute</td> - <td class='bbt c028'>acre</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt c028'><span class='sc'>Length</span></td> - <td class='bbt blt c028' colspan='3'><span class='sc'>Irish</span></td> - <td class='bbt blt c028' colspan='3'><span class='sc'>Cheshire</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'>1 rod</td> - <td class='blt c036'>7</td> - <td class='c028'>yards</td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='blt c036'>8</td> - <td class='c028'>yards</td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'>40 rods = 1 furlong</td> - <td class='blt c036'>280</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'>8 furlongs = 1 mile</td> - <td class='blt c036'>2240</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'> </td> - <td class='blt c036'>= 1·278</td> - <td class='c028'>statute</td> - <td class='c028'>miles</td> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c028'><span class='sc'>Surface</span></td> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'>1 square rod</td> - <td class='blt c036'>49</td> - <td class='c028'>square</td> - <td class='c028'>yards</td> - <td class='blt c036'>64</td> - <td class='c028'>square</td> - <td class='c028'>yards</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'>40 square rods = 1 rood</td> - <td class='blt c036'>1960</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - <td class='blt c036'>2560</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'>4 roods = 1 acre</td> - <td class='blt c036'>7840</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - <td class='blt c036'>10240</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt c027'> </td> - <td class='bbt blt c036'>= 1·62</td> - <td class='bbt c028'>statute</td> - <td class='bbt c028'>acre</td> - <td class='bbt blt c036'>= 2·116</td> - <td class='bbt c028'>statute</td> - <td class='bbt c028'>acre</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'><i>Note.</i>—The Scottish rod or ‘fall’ is six Scottish ells or yards. The Scottish and -Irish miles have long been practically obsolete. The Lancashire rod and acre, also -the Guernsey perch and acre, are the same as the Irish. The Guernsey land-measures -are statute locally; the rood or vergée is the customary unit.<a id='r16' /><a href='#f16' class='c016'><sup>[16]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_75'>75</span><span class='sc'>A Square Furlong or Ten-Acre Field</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/p075.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<p class='c024'>Acre No. 1 is divided, according to the -ancient custom, into 4 roods, each 40 -rods long and 1 rod broad.</p> - -<p class='c024'>Acre No. 10 is divided, according to -Gunter’s decimal system, into 10 square -chains, each 4 rods square.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>4. <span class='sc'>Feudal Land-Measures</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>In ancient Egypt land was surveyed by a State -department, but other Eastern Kingdoms, even of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_76'>76</span>present time, are less advanced. There is a simple -system of taxing each plough. This was approximately -the medieval system, as we see in the -Domesday revenue-survey, the great record of the -plough-lands and rental of England. Estates are thus -described:</p> - -<p class='c024'>2-1/2 hides; land for 1-1/2 ploughs. There is 1 plough -with 4 bordars and 4 serfs. Worth 30<i>s.</i></p> - -<p class='c024'>2 hides, land for 2 ploughs, 30 acres meadow. -Worth 60<i>s.</i></p> - -<p class='c024'>4 hides, 1-1/2 virgates; land for 10 ploughs. Now -worth 14 li., formerly at 17 li.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In some parts the ‘knight’s fee’ was reckoned at -480 acres (4 hides) worth 40 shillings a year. On this -valuation—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The pound-land, librata terræ, was 240 acres.</div> - <div class='line'>The shilling-land, solidata terræ, was 12 acres.</div> - <div class='line'>The penny-land, denariata terræ, was 1 acre.</div> - <div class='line'>The farthing-land, 1/2 obolata terræ, was 1 rood.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'><i>Cent livrées de terre à l’esterlin</i> (Froissart) a hundred -pound-lands, reckoned of the annual value of -100 pounds sterling. This is sometimes taken as the -amount of ‘relief,’ another feudal estimate, often taken -at one year’s value.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Edward I’s time a son and heir paid £18 for -relief of his land which was worth £18 a year. In -Henry II’s time £5 appears to be the usual relief paid -for a knight’s fee on succession to it. By Magna -Charta the relief of a whole barony (10 to 40 knight’s -fees) was fixed at 100 marks; in Henry III’s time it -was £100.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_77'>77</span>I may here give a fifteenth-century record of English -linear measures.<a id='r17' /><a href='#f17' class='c016'><sup>[17]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>Nota, for to mesure and mete lande.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c024'>It is to mete that iij Early Cornys in the myddis of the -Ere makyth one ynche, And xij enchis makyth a foote</p> - -<p class='c024'>And sixteyne foote and a halfe makyth a perche; And -in sum cuntre a perche ys xviij foote.</p> - -<p class='c024'>Fourty perchys in lengyth makyth a Rode of Lande; -put iiij therto in brede, and that makyth an Acre.</p> - -<p class='c024'>And xiiij Acrys makyth a yerde of lande;</p> - -<p class='c024'>And v yerdis makyth an hyde of lande, which ys lxx -Acrys.</p> - -<p class='c024'>And viij hydis makyth a knyghtis fee, which is vC.lx -Acrys of lande.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>5. <span class='sc'>Terms used in Land-measures</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'><span class='sc'>Rod.</span>—Pole, Perch, Goad, Lug, L. <i>pertica</i>, Fr. -<i>perche</i>, <i>verge</i>, G. <i>ruthe</i>, Du. <i>roede</i>.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The equivalent words, L. <i>virga</i>, Fr. <i>verge</i>, A.S. -<i>geard</i>, Eng. ‘yard,’ originally any long straight twig -or rod, came to mean: (1) a yard or ell-measure, (2) a -rod measure of land, lineal or superficial. The French -verge is still thus used in Normandy and the Channel -Islands. Our ‘yard’ acquired this extended sense, and -others still more extended. In Cornwall 2 staves (of -9 feet) make a yard of land. In Somerset the lineal -rod is the ‘land-yard,’ and the yard of land is a square -<span class='pageno' id='Page_78'>78</span>rod. Thus the rood is ‘forty yard o’ ground’ and -the acre is ‘eight score yard o’ ground.’</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='sc'>Rood.</span>—A differentiated form of ‘rod’ applied in -a lineal sense to 40 rods, and also to the area of a -quarter-acre 40 × 1 rods.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Normandy and the Channel Islands our rod and -rood are verge and vergée, and as the first sense of -verge was ‘yard’ so vergée became in English a ‘yard -of lande.’ So here we have a third sense of the triple-form -word virga-verge-yard.</p> - -<p class='c014'>‘A rodde of land which some call a roode, some a -yarde lande, and some a farthendale’ (Recorde, 1542).</p> - -<p class='c014'>The latter term, meaning a ‘fourth part,’ as in the -farthing to the penny, may also have referred to the -rood as being a farthing-land in rental. It appears as -L. <i>furendellus</i>, <i>farundel</i>, <i>ferling</i>.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The rood was also divided into 4 day’s-work, each of -10 square rods.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='sc'>Acre.</span>—As the rood was sometimes lineal, though -usually superficial, so also the ‘acre’ was sometimes -a rough lineal measure, generally an acre-breadth, or -4 rods (a cricket-pitch). But it might also be an -acre-length = a rood length. The verse in 1 Samuel -xiv.: ‘And that first slaughter which Jonathan and his -armour bearer made was about twenty men within as -it were an half-acre of land which a yoke of oxen -might plow,’ is in Coverdale’s version (1535) ‘within -the length of halve an aker of londe,’ that is, -in a length of 20 rods. In French ‘arpent’ was -likewise used for a French acre-length, reckoned, -not of the official square arpent, but of the furrow-long -<span class='pageno' id='Page_79'>79</span>arpent, nearly a furlong. Thus in the Chanson -de Roland</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><i>Einz qu ’hum alast un sul arpent de camp</i></div> - <div class='line'>(Before one (he) went a single acre of ground)</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>evidently means about a furlong, just as in Iliad x., -‘when he was as far off as the length of the furrow -made by mules’ has the same meaning.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Similarly the <i>sesteirado</i> of Provence was used as -an itinerary measure, probably of 100 cano = about -220 yards, the same as the centenié.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The <i>sesteirado</i>, the rood of Southern France, -corresponding to the <i>boisselée</i>, the bushel-land of Mid-France, -was, like the latter, originally a seed-unit, the -extent sown with a <i>sestié</i> of seed-corn. Its extent is -0·4 acre, = our rood. Now if this were square, each -side would measure 40 yards, a length too small for -itinerary measure. Neither Northern nor Southern -France had any official itinerary measure under the -league, so field-units were necessarily used; in the -north the arpent-length, in the south the sesteirado-length; -both corresponding to our rood-length, furrow-length -or furlong. There seems little doubt that the -<i>centenié</i>, the popular itinerary measure of the south, -100 cano or fathoms, was the same as the sesteirado-length. -And the sesteirado being 400 square cano, it -seems that its dimensions were 100 × 4 cano. It was -moreover the rood, or quarter of the greater land-unit, -the <i>saumado</i>, the ‘seam’ of land, which would thus -be 100 × 16 cano just as our rood was 40 × 1 rods, -and our acre 40 × 4 rods. Ten sesteirado-lengths, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_80'>80</span>10 centenié, made the <i>milo</i>, a mile of 1000 local fathoms, -one-third of the league of Southern France.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='sc'>Yardland.</span>—L. <i>quatrona terræ</i>, <i>virgata</i>. Fr. <i>bouvée</i>. -Bovate, Oxgang. About 30 acres more or less, including -pasture and perhaps some woodland. Before the -Norman conquest the gebur-geriht (boor’s right) was -6 sheep and 7 acres arable on his yard-land. This -corresponds roughly to the German <i>hufe</i> = about -20 acres, and to the Netherlands <i>hoeve</i>, the unit of -small holding. Almost everywhere and always, 6 or -7 acres of arable have been all that the boor’s yoke of -oxen can till. There was other work for the oxen -besides ploughing, and at least five ploughings were -usually necessary for proper tillage; then there was -cartage and feudal duties in consideration of the small -rent.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In the Roll of Battel Abbey (tenth and eleventh -centuries) the perch is 16 feet; the acre is 40 perches -long and 4 broad and pays a penny a year; 3 shillings -for the virgate or wist, the price of which was about -20 shillings. In this case 8 virgates made a hide, but -this ‘eighth’ is exceptional, for the term ‘virgate’ -brought a fourth sense to the virga = yard series of -words, giving rise to the term yard-land as a quarter -of the plough-land or hide. As the vergée in France -(sometimes ambiguously called verge, as it has been -seen that Recorde spoke of ‘a rodde of lande which -some call a roode’) and the rood in England were -a quarter-acre, and as this quarter-acre was sometimes -called a ‘yard of land,’ so virga-verge-yard -acquired the general sense of ‘quarter’—either of an -<span class='pageno' id='Page_81'>81</span>acre or of a ploughland or carucate. Thus in ‘Quant -une homme est feffe dune verge de terre et dun -autre de un carue du terre’ (Statute of Wards, 1300), -the term ‘verge de terre’ means not a rod, a verge, but -a yardland or virgate.</p> - -<p class='c014'>‘Farthing’ or ‘ferling’ as a quarter was used in the -same double sense: a quarter-acre or a quarter-hide, -indeed, as will presently be seen, a quarter-virgate.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='sc'>Acreme.</span>—This old law-term for 10 acres of land -points to a tradition that our original unit of land-measurement -was a rood or furlong square, that is -40 × 40 rods: it was called a Ferlingata or Ferdelh.</p> - -<p class='c014'>A document temp. Edw. II describes the virgate (of -which 4 made a hide; 5 hides being a knight’s fee) -as of 4 (square) furlongs, each of 10 acres.</p> - -<p class='c015'>X acræ terræ faciunt unam fardellam.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Decem acræ faciunt ferlingatam; quatuor ferlingatæ -faciunt virgatam, et quatuor virgatæ faciunt hidam; -quinque hidæ faciunt feodum militis.</p> - -<p class='c014'>So it appears conclusive (1) that the hide was 16 -square furlongs, a quarter of a square mile = the -quarter section of America; (2) that the acre was -originally a slice of land off the square furlong, a rood, -or furlong in length, a tenth of this in breadth.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='sc'>Furlong and Ferling.</span>—The square furlong is -the same as the Acreme = 10 acres. The square -furlong or furrow-long tends to become confused with -ferling, G. <i>vierling</i>, with fardel, G. <i>viertel</i>, with farthendale, -Du. <i>vierendeel</i>, all meaning a fourth. This -confusion arises from the square furlong, similar in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_82'>82</span>sound to ferling, being approximately the fourth, or -farthing, of the virgate or yardland, itself Ferlingus -terræ, a fourth of the hide or ploughland. So a -ferling may be a fourth of an acre, or of a virgate, or of a -hide. Similarly it may be, as farthendale or farendel, -a quarter-bushel.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Another cause of confusion in feudal land-measures -is the money-estimation of land. Bishop Fleetwood -(‘Chronicon,’ 1707) thought the acre was a marc-land of -160 pence and the rod a penny-land, denariatus terræ, -so that the quarter-rod was a farthing-land. He was -deceived by the coincidence of the 160 rods of the acre -with the 160 pence, 13<i>s.</i> 4<i>d.</i>, 8 ounces of silver, of the -monetary marc, and he mistook the Farthingdale or -Farendel, a quarter-acre or rood, for a quarter-rod. -The acre was distinctly a penny-land, and the hide -of 160 acres was a marc-land, paying 160 pence.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='sc'>Hide.</span>—Ploughland, carucate, L. <i>carucata</i>, Fr. -<i>caruée</i>. Normally 16 square furlongs = 160 acres, -but sometimes 120 acres or less, varying according -to the arable on it; and usually divided into 4 oxgangs, -bovates or yardlands. In some parts the hide seems to -have comprised several ploughlands and to have coincided -with the knight’s fee (see Customs of Lancaster).</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='sc'>Hundred.</span>—This division of a shire is supposed to -have been originally one hundred hides; more probably -it was a hundred knight’s fees.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>6. <span class='sc'>The Yard and the Verge</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>These cognate terms have many developments of -meaning, running almost parallel both in English and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_83'>83</span>French. ‘Yard,’ the equivalent of A.S. gyrd, geard, -and perhaps gæd (gad), is cognate to ‘Rod’ and to -Fr. Verge. It may mean:</p> - -<p class='c014'>1. A rod from a tree; L. <i>virga</i>, Fr. <i>verge</i>.</p> - -<p class='c014'>2. A short measure of 4 to 6 spans; Fr. <i>verge</i>.</p> - -<p class='c014'>3. A pole of indefinite length, in various senses, -naval, &c. Fr. <i>verge</i>, <i>vergue</i>.</p> - -<p class='c014'>4. A long measure of 9 to 24 feet = rod, pole, -perch. In France the <i>perche</i> may be from 9-1/2 feet -(Burgundy) to 22 feet (French).</p> - -<p class='c014'>5. A measure of surface 9 to 24 feet square. Yard, -Fr. <i>verge</i>.</p> - -<p class='c014'>6. A larger measure of surface 40 × 1 rod = a -quarter-acre. Yard-land, rood, Fr. <i>vergée</i>.</p> - -<p class='c014'>7. A quarter of a still larger unit. Virgata, -yard-land.</p> - -<p class='c014'>8. A holding of a rood when enclosed became a -yard or garth, then a cultivated enclosure of any size: -tree-yard (Du. <i>boom-gaard</i>), apple-garth, win-gaard -(vineyard).<a id='r18' /><a href='#f18' class='c016'><sup>[18]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c014'>Here the Fr. <i>verge</i> parts company with ‘yard’; -its place is taken by <i>cour</i> (L. <i>curtiferum</i>) and -G. <i>hof</i>.</p> - -<p class='c014'>9. Any enclosed land attached to a house: Palace-yard, -Fr. <i>cour</i>. Farm-yard, Fr. <i>basse-cour</i>. Court-yard, -G. <i>hof</i>. Court = farmyard in Somerset.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Fr. <i>verge</i> reappears in the English form of ‘verge’ -in the sense of a circle or ring, AS. gyrd, now ‘girth.’ -The gyrd was a geard or yard bent into a hoop. Fr. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_84'>84</span><i>verge</i> = ring was a verge or rod bent into a hoop or -ring. Cf. Fr. <i>bague</i>, ring made by bending a rod or -baguette into a hoop. The English sense of ‘verge’ = -circle is seen in:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>O would to God that the inclusive verge</div> - <div class='line'>Of golden metal that must round my brow.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='c037'><i>Rich. III</i>, iv. 1.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>To the furthest verge</div> - <div class='line'>That ever was survey’d by English eye.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='c037'><i>Rich. III</i>, i. 1.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>The ‘verge’ of the King’s palace or court, sometimes -stated as twelve leagues (of 1-1/2 miles), a circuit equal -to about 3 miles in radius.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>7. <span class='sc'>How the Rod came to be 5-1/2 Yards</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>The Roman pertica was 10 feet; though it seems -probable that there was also a customary rod of -12 feet.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The French perche was 6 ells of 4 Roman feet, -double the presumed customary perch of Rome.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Scots rod was 6 ells of 3 Rhineland feet.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The German and Norse ruthen are nearly always -either of 12 or of 16 feet.</p> - -<p class='c014'>How came it that the English rod was fixed, about -the time of Edward I, at 5-1/2 yards = 16-1/2 feet?</p> - -<p class='c014'>There is reason to believe that it was originally -5 yards, at first in Roman feet, then in Rhineland feet.</p> - -<p class='c014'>A length of 5 yards and 1 or 2 inches (= 1/(8 × 40) -<span class='pageno' id='Page_85'>85</span>of the Roman mile) survives in the Dorsetshire ‘goad’ -or ‘lug.’<a id='r19' /><a href='#f19' class='c016'><sup>[19]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c014'>The Cornish rod or yard is 2 staves of 3 yards = 6 -yards. There was, as late as 1540, a rod of 6 yards, -‘every pole containing eighten footes of the kinges -standard.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>The rod of Guernsey, of Lancashire and of Ireland -is 7 yards; it is the French perche of 20 pieds = -21·36 feet taken roughly at 21 English feet; this, and -the Cheshire rod of 8 yards = 4 fathoms, are probably -of Norman origin.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The English rod of pre-Norman and early Norman -times was probably the Teutonic rod of 16 feet, as seen -in the Roll of Battel Abbey. How did it become -16-1/2 feet?</p> - -<p class='c014'>I cannot absolutely solve the question; I can only -offer the possible hypotheses:</p> - -<p class='c014'>1. That 5-1/2 yards was a compromise between a -Southern rod of 5 yards and a Northern of 6 yards. -But the former length only survived in the Dorsetshire -lug, probably from Roman times, and 16 feet is the -probable length of the Southern rod. And such a -compromise is most improbable. I know of no measure -established as a mean of two different measures.</p> - -<p class='c014'>2. That the length of the 5-1/2-yard rod was taken -<span class='pageno' id='Page_86'>86</span>from that of the medieval lance. Certainly in France -there is some evidence of the spear-length being used -as a rough land-measure, ‘un hanst’ or ‘une hanstée’ -de terre. ‘Hanste,’ in modern French <i>hampe</i>, a -shaft, is from L. <i>hasta</i>. Doubtless very long lances -have been used by infantry. The Macedonian phalanx -had lances of 8 yards, so that five rows of spear points -projected from its front. The Scots lance was 6 ells, -the Scots rod, ‘That in all, Spears be six Elns in -length, under the pain of etc.’ (James III); but this -length, = 18-1/2 feet, was ordered two centuries later -than Edward I, at a time when infantry were brought -to resist the onslaught of cavalry. Two centuries -later still, it was ordered by 13 Chas. II that a pikeman -was to be armed with a pike not under 16 feet in length. -It is improbable that in Edward I’s time foot soldiers -were armed with pikes anything like that length, while -the knights’ spears could not have been longer than -10 feet. Those shown in the Bayeux embroidery are -about 7 feet.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It is possible that the length of the ox-goad may -have been used as a rough land-measure, but English -ox-goads appear to have usually been only about the -length of the Cornish goad, not more than 3 yards long.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Inclined myself to this second hypothesis—for was -not Hector’s spear of 11 cubits = 22 spans, and are -not 22 spans = 16-1/2 feet?—I yet acknowledge that it -is scarcely tenable.</p> - -<p class='c014'>3. The most probable hypothesis is that the Rod -was originally a North German Ruthe of 16 Norse or -Rhineland feet brought over by Saxons or Danes, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_87'>87</span>that, established as is seen by the Roll of Battel Abbey -‘pertica vero xvi pedes,’ it was afterwards adjusted -to the standard of the King’s foot. Thus 16 Rhineland -feet = 16 feet 5·7 inches; which would make the -statute rod practically 16 feet 6 inches. In North -Germany the Ruthe is usually of 16 local feet, originally, -it may be presumed, Rhineland feet, displaced by the -local foot = 11·23 to 11·5 inches. Sometimes this fall -in the length of the foot is compensated by an increase -in the number of ruthen to the ‘morgen’ or acre, sometimes, -as in Holland, by making the <i>roede</i> 13 Amsterdam -short feet (of 11 inches) instead of 12 Rhineland feet.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It seems likely that the North German acker of -160 square ruthen came to Northern France with the -Franks and the Normans, that it became the Acre de -Normandie of 160 square rods, the length of the rod -becoming changed by the influence of the French -standard of 6 <i>aunes</i> = 24 Roman feet. This length -of 24 feet passed, under Norman influence, to Cheshire, -becoming the local rod of 8 yards or 24 English feet.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The rod of 6 <i>aunes</i>, French ells, passed to Scotland -as 6 ells, but 6 Scots ells = 18 Rhineland feet.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>8. <span class='sc'>How the Acre came to be 160 Rods</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>The North German acker or morgen is 160 ruthen. -Why? It may be presumed that, on the sexdecimal -system dear to the bucolic mind throughout the world, -it was 16 times an original unit of 10 square ruthen, of -16 feet square, analogous to the Greek plethron of -10 square kalamoi and to the Provençal <i>cosso</i> of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_88'>88</span>10 square fathom-rods. There is still extant, in North -Holland, the <i>snees</i>, snick, or score, of land, = 20 square -roede.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Austrian joch is 1600 square ‘klafter’ of -6 feet = 1·42 acre.</p> - -<p class='c014'>There are 1600 square rods in our square furlong, -the original square unit of which the acre is a one-tenth -slice.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Provence, the people, long under Roman influence, -are yet much more Greek than Roman, and -there is not a trace of any Roman standard among -their weights and measures. There the greater land-unit -is the saumado of 1600 square cano of 6 feet. It -is divided in two ways: (1) on the sexdecimal system,<a id='r20' /><a href='#f20' class='c016'><sup>[20]</sup></a> -(2) into 160 cosso, each of 10 square cano.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It seems as if the 1600 small units in our square -furlong, in the Austrian joch, in the Provençal saumado, -come from an extension of the sexdecimal multiple -16 to 160 and 1600.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>9. <span class='sc'>Customs of Lancaster</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>‘Customs of places doe differ; for in the Dutchy of -Lancaster a knightes fee containeth foure hides of -land, every hide foure ploughlands called in latine -carucata terræ, and that is quantum aratrum arare -potest in æstivo tempore, and that is (as I take it) -which is in the North parts called an Oxegange. And -every ploughland or carue is foure yard land which -<span class='pageno' id='Page_89'>89</span>in latine is called quatrona terræ; every yardland -thirty acres, halfe a yard land in some places in the -West is called a Cosset, half a Cosset is a Mese which -containeth about 7-1/2 acres. But commonly a carue or -plow-land containeth a hundreth and twenty acres; -a hide of land 480 acres and every knightes fee 1920 -acres. But after some computations, a knights fee -containeth five hydes of land, every hyde foure yard -land, and every yard land twenty foure acres.’ (‘The -Surveior’s Dialogue,’ by J. Norden, ‘at my poore -house at Hendon, 27 Martis 1610.’)</p> - -<p class='c014'>So in Domesday Book it will be found that ‘inter -Ripe et Mersham,’ between the Ribble and the Mersey, -the hide was not synonymous with the carucate. -The series of feudal measures appears to have been -there:</p> - -<p class='c024'>Acre, of Lancashire standard = 1·62 statute acres.</p> - -<p class='c024'>Bovate or Virgate of about 15 acres, paying about -4 pence ‘relief’ to the king.</p> - -<p class='c024'>Carucate or Ploughland, of 8 bovates, paying about -32 pence.</p> - -<p class='c024'>Hide of 6 carucates, paying about one pound.</p> - -<p class='c014'>These feudal measures were evidently vague and -variable. The King’s assessment was very much the -same as it was in Upper Burma fifty years ago. There -no survey was required; the land-tax (very light, as -the king’s revenue was derived, as in medieval England, -from forest and other monopolies and from fines) was -one rupee a plough, that is for a plough and a yoke -of cattle. The Norman kings’ assessment was for the -common plough of the whole carucate, 4 oxgangs.</p> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_90'>90</span> - <h3 class='c019'>10. <span class='sc'>Seed-measures of Land</span></h3> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>When men, emerging from the pastoral stage, took -to agriculture, land was plentiful and would roughly -but conveniently be estimated by the quantity of -seed-corn required for it. Thus seed-units of land -were the earliest, and many survive to this day.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It was ordered in Israel (Lev. xxvij.) that land -should be ‘estimated according to the seed thereof, an -homer of barley-seed shall be valued at fifty shekels -of silver.’ Taking the homer at 8 bushels, a homer of -land = 3 or 4 acres, was worth 50 shekels, or half-crowns, -of silver.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Romans had the modius of land, sown with a -modius, about 1/4 bushel, of corn.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Northern France there is still the <i>bonnier</i> of -land, about 4 acres, sown with a <i>boune</i> or <i>bounie</i> of -seed, about 8 bushels.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Throughout the greater part of France the land is -reckoned in <i>seterées</i> or <i>sesteirado</i>, units now fixed but -originally named after the variable <i>setier</i> of seed-corn.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Smaller units are the <i>mine</i> or <i>eiminado</i>, and <i>boisselée</i>, -all seed-units.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In North Germany the Scheffel, or Schepel (Du.), -corn-measure is also a land-measure of about half an -acre. The Schepel passed from Holland to New -England as the Skipple, a bushel-skip. In North -Germany and Norway there is the Tunn or Tonde, a -barrel of about 4 bushels, corresponding to the Tondeland -of about 1-1/3 acre (roughly equal to the French -<i>estrée</i>).</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_91'>91</span>To the Salma of Italy, to the Saumado (she-ass -load) of Provence, corresponds the old English Seam, -the Quarter of corn. The word seam hence got the -general meaning of a quarter. So although the Seam -of Corn would sow 4 acres, a seam of an acre meant -a quarter-acre.</p> - -<p class='c014'>‘A Sester or Sextarius was what we call a Quarter -or a seam containing 8 bushels (Sauma, quod unius -equi fit sauma, i.e. sarcina)’ (Bishop Fleetwood, 1707).</p> - -<p class='c014'>There are still traces of seed-measures to be found -in some parts of England. But in ‘A pek of londe’—‘Half - a pek and a nayle of londe’ (Rolls of Parliament, -1442),<a id='r21' /><a href='#f21' class='c016'><sup>[21]</sup></a> it is doubtful whether the peck of land was -really a seed-measure or a quarter-acre, as the peck -is a quarter-bushel. A nail of land would be 1/16 -acre.</p> - -<p class='c014'>There were seed-measures of land in Scotland. -Thus: ‘15th Cy. Chart Aberd. Als mekill land as a -celdr of aits will schawe,’ i.e. a Chalder of land, as -much as a chalder = 64 firlots = 55 bushels, will sow, -about 25 acres. There was also the Lippy of land, -that which took a lippy, 1/16 firlot of seed. It was -usually about 100 square yards.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In many parts of Southern Europe there are no -other kinds of land-measure than those derived from -the corn-measures of seed required.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Thus in Provence, the earliest civilised country in -medieval times, the whole series of corn-measures -and land-measures have names in common.</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='9'><span class='pageno' id='Page_92'>92</span></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005' colspan='3'><span class='small'>Corn-measures</span></td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005' colspan='2'><span class='small'>Land-measures</span></td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c008'><span class='small'>Sq. cano</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Saumado</td> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>4·4 bushel.</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>Saumado</td> - <td class='c007'>1·58</td> - <td class='c005'>acre</td> - <td class='c008'>1600</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Sestié</td> - <td class='c007'>1·1 „</td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>Sesteirado</td> - <td class='c007'>0·4</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c038'>400</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Eimino</td> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>4·4 gallon.</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>Eiminado</td> - <td class='c007'>0·2</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c038'>200</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Quartiero</td> - <td class='c007'>1·1 „</td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>Quarteirado</td> - <td class='c007'>0·05</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c039'>50</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Pougnadeiro</td> - <td class='c022'>1/4 „</td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>Pougneirado</td> - <td class='c007'>0·01</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c039'>12-1/2</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Cosso (Sc. Luggie)</td> - <td class='c022'>1/5 „</td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>Cosso (Sc. Lug.)</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c039'>10</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>These land-measures would correspond to Coomb-land, -Bushel-land, Peck-land, &c. The Cosso of -land is 1/160 of the Saumado, as our square rod is 1/160 -acre.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Italy and Spain there are similar series of land-measures -named after corn-measures.</p> - -<hr class='c018' /> -<div class='footnote' id='f15'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r15'>15</a>. </span>For evidence on the form of agrarian units see Notes in -section 5 of this chapter.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f16'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r16'>16</a>. </span>It is worth remark that the 160 square rods of the Irish, Lancashire or Guernsey acre being equal to 1·62 statute acres, 100 of these -square rods would make almost exactly a statute acre. A rod of 6·957 yards would give a decimal square rod of 48·4 square yards equal -1-10th square chain, or 1-100th acre, or 1-1000th square furlong. A square-shape acre is 69·57 yards square.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f17'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r17'>17</a>. </span>I insert this note (sent to the <i>Academy</i> in August 1896 by -the late Mr. F. J. Furnivall, who found it in a Bodleian MS.) because -it happened to direct my attention to our measures, and was thus -the seed whence this book has sprung. The yardland and hide -are here of less than half the usual extent.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f18'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r18'>18</a>. </span>Orthodoxly A.S. <i>gaard</i> is considered to be unconnected with -<i>geard</i>, a yard or rod.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f19'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r19'>19</a>. </span>Whence the term ‘lug’ = rod? I venture a derivation:</p> - -<p class='c014'>1. Lug, the ear.</p> - -<p class='c014'>2. Luggie (Sc.), a milking vessel with handles or lugs.</p> - -<p class='c014'>3. Lug, lugge, of land, that can be metely sown with a luggie -of seed-corn.</p> - -<p class='c014'>4. Lug, the rod-length of the lug of land.</p> - -<p class='c014'>5. Lug, a rod, as for ‘waling’ fruit trees.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f20'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r20'>20</a>. </span>Concordantly with the sexdecimal system of corn-measures -into 4 sesteirado, or 8 eiminado. See Seed-measures in Section 10.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f21'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r21'>21</a>. </span>Quoted in the <i>New English Dictionary</i>, a treasury of quotations, -which has often put me on the track of valuable information.</p> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_93'>93</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER VII<br /> <br /><span class='small'>ENGLISH COMMERCIAL WEIGHTS</span></h2> -</div> - -<h3 class='c019'>I. <span class='sc'>The Story of Averdepois</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>The story of our Imperial system has hitherto been -utterly obscure. The origin of our foot, our gallon, -our pound, indeed of all our measures, was quite -unknown. That of the pound, which gives the key -to the whole system, had been obscured by statutes -which ignored any but the royal pound used at the -mints. Yet these statutes, often purposely obscure, -can be made to show the hidden sources of our -system.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Our pound, settled at its present Imperial standard -in the time of Queen Elizabeth, was then found to have -risen slightly since the time of Edward III. It was -found to have increased by about 8 grains. The ounce, -now = 437-1/2 grains, had been 437 grains, the same -weight as the ounce of Egypto-Roman pound, the -Roman libra.<a id='r22' /><a href='#f22' class='c016'><sup>[22]</sup></a> There is every reason to believe that -this Roman standard passed to Britain, and that the -libra, raised to 16 ounces, became the commercial -<span class='pageno' id='Page_94'>94</span>pound, afterwards known as Averdepois, and now the -Imperial pound.</p> - -<p class='c014'>When the Romans took the Alexandrian talent as -the standard of their new libra-system, they divided -it into 125 libræ, which were 1500 ounces or double-shekels, -each ounce = 437 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>When the Arab Caliphs conquered the southern -and eastern Mediterranean countries, they found in -Egypt the Egypto-Roman pound, 1/125 of the Alexandrian -talent; they adopted it, and divided it for -coin-weight purposes into 72 mithkals, just as the -Roman Emperors had divided the old As pound into -72 aurei; so 6 mithkals = the libra-ounce of 437 -grains, just as 6 aurei = the As-ounce of 420-2/3 grains. -It is not improbable that the survival of the Roman -commercial pound in Saxon England was strengthened -by commercial and scientific relations with the Moors -of Spain. King Offa of Mercia struck a gold coin with -an Arabic inscription, dated 157 of the Hejira = <span class='fss'>A.D.</span> 774.</p> - -<p class='c014'>However this may have been, there seems no doubt -that the Roman pound, raised to 16 ounces, was the -standard of England before as after the Norman -conquest, and there is no evidence of it having ever -been in abeyance. In early Plantagenet times there -was a sexdecimal series of weights:</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Stone of 16 lb.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Wey of 16 stone = 256 lb.</p> - -<p class='c014'>There was also the Hundredweight, of which 20 -made a ton of 2000 lb.; and 20 weys made a Last of -approximately 5120 lb. or 2-1/2 tons.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The pound was divided into 16 ounces, each = 437 -<span class='pageno' id='Page_95'>95</span>grains, and the ounce into 16 drams or drops = 27·3 -grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Both before and after the Conquest there was -another pound used in the mints, like the As in Rome. -It was of Tower, or Cologne-marc, standard. There -were doubtless many local variations of commercial -standard, especially in measures of capacity, and it -was the necessity of checking these which made King -John and his successors declare that ‘there should be -one standard throughout our kingdom, whether in -weights or in measures.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>But the king had a mint-pound of his own, and he -had to reconcile the existence of the coinage-pound -and of the commercial pound with the customary -declaration of unity of weight made in each reign. The -king’s councillors evaded the difficulty by pretending -that the measures of capacity were based on the mint-pound -and, in statutes where a commercial pound had -to be mentioned, by pretending that this was equal -to 25 shillings weight or 15 ounces of the mint-pound. -This deception led to others, so that, to make out the -meaning of a statute of weights and measures, one -must be able to read between the lines, and to be -prepared for misleading and contradictory statements. -I will take as an instance, Act 51 Henry III (1267):</p> - -<p class='c015'>An English peny called a Sterling, round and without -clipping, shall weigh 32 wheat corns in the midst of the -ear; and 20 d. do make an Ounce, and 12 Ounces one -Pound, and 8 Pounds do make a gallon of wine and -8 gallons of wine do make a London Bushel which is the -eighth part of a Quarter.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_96'>96</span>This declaration may be thus interpreted:</p> - -<p class='c014'>In the Tower there is a standard pound. An -English silver penny should weigh 1/240 of this pound and -1/20 of its ounce, and the penny-weight may be divided -into 32 aces or little grains. But there is another -old-established pound used for all goods but gold and -silver, bread and drugs. Our regard for the unity of -weight forbids us to describe this pound otherwise -than by mentioning that a wine-gallon contains 8 of -these pounds weight of wine or of water, that 8 larger -gallons each containing 8 pounds, not of wine, but of -wheat, make a Bushel; and that 8 of these bushels -make a quarter of a Chaldron containing a ton or -2000 lb. of wheat.</p> - -<p class='c014'>That this is correct is easily proved.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Bushel is 1/8 of the Quarter, which was the -quarter of a chaldron, the measure of a ton of 20 true -hundredweight. The quarter was 500 lb. of average -wheat, and the bushel weighed 500/8 = 62-1/2 averdepois -lb. of wheat or, in wheat-water ratio, 78 lb. of wine or of -water, the specific gravity of which differs but little. -But 8 × 8 Tower lb. of wine = (5400 grs. × 8 × 8)/7000 -= 49·4 averdepois lb. or, to be quite accurate, 49·5 lb. of -early Plantagenet averdepois weight, when the ounce -was of Roman standard, 437 grains; how then could -the bushel = 78 lb. of wine, be the measure of 49·5 lb. -of wine?</p> - -<p class='c014'>That there were two different gallons, the one for -wine, the other for corn, is shown in the Ordinance -31 Edw. III, where it is ordered that ‘8 lb. of wheat -<span class='pageno' id='Page_97'>97</span>shall make a gallon.’ It is true that this is continued by -‘the lb. shall contain 20 s.’; but very soon after the -ordinance states that, for everything except groceries, -each lb. shall be of 25 s., and we know that the 25 s. -was merely a subterfuge to show the averdepois pound -as 15 ounces Tower, afterwards 15 ounces Troy, -neither of which it ever was: we may therefore -dismiss this statement, and recognise that the wine-gallon -held approximately 8 averdepois lb. of wine, and -that the corn gallon, about one-fourth larger, held -8 averdepois lb. of wheat.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Further evidence is to be found in 12 Henry VII -(1496).</p> - -<p class='c014'>This statute, after the usual preamble about ‘one -weight and one measure,’ orders:</p> - -<p class='c015'>That the measure of a Bushel contain 8 gallons of -wheat, and that every Gallon contain 8 lb. of wheat of -Troy weight, and every Pound contain 12 ounces of Troy -weight, and every Ounce contain 20 sterlings and every -Sterling be of the weight of 32 Corns of wheat that grew -in the midst of the ear of wheat according to the old law -of the land.</p> - -<p class='c014'>While the bushel is now described as containing -8 gallons of wheat and each gallon 8 pounds of wheat, -the old fiction is kept up that these are royal pounds. -Only these pounds are now Troy, of 5760 grains, -instead of Tower, of 5400 grains; 64 Troy pounds -were equal to 52-2/3 lb. averdepois, a weight still far from -the 62-1/2 lb. averdepois of wheat contained in the -extant bushel-measure of Henry VII. And though -the mints were coining 420, instead of 240, pennies from -<span class='pageno' id='Page_98'>98</span>the 5760 grain-pound of silver, so that these were -little more than half the weight of Henry III’s pennies, -yet they were still of the weight of 32 wheat-corns.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The substance of this statute was embodied in a -State-document adorned with a picture of the King’s -Steward presiding over the gauging of bushels and -weighing of wheat-corns, surmounted by a picture of -two entwined wheat-ears with the inscription:</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Conage of the Mynte.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c015'>The whete eare. Two graynes maketh the xvi p<sup>te</sup>. of -a penny, ffower graynes maketh the viij p<sup>te</sup>. of a penny.</p> - -<p class='c014'>After this impudent assertion one is not surprised -to read that it was ‘the same tyme ordeired that xvi -uncs of Troie maketh the Haberty poie a pounde for to -buy spice<a id='r23' /><a href='#f23' class='c016'><sup>[23]</sup></a> by,’ nor by the statement that ‘the C is -true at this daye, ffyve score for the hundred as -appeareth in Magna Carta.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>Comment on these ingenious statements seems -hardly necessary.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The only changes in English weights since the time -of Henry III, or indeed much earlier times, have been:</p> - -<p class='c014'>1. The raising of the hundredweight to 112 lb.</p> - -<p class='c014'>2. The lowering of the stone from 16 lb. to 14 lb. -to make it one-eighth of the new hundredweight.</p> - -<p class='c014'>3. The rise of the averdepois pound from 16 Roman -ounces of 437 grains to 16 ounces of 437-1/2 grains; a -difference of 8 grains, so as to make it 7000 grains of the -Tudor Troy pound.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_99'>99</span>4. The re-legalising of the 100 lb. or cental weight -in 1879.</p> - -<p class='c014'>I may observe that the octonary series of measures -of capacity, also of the 14 lb. stone and new Cwt., is -quite in harmony with the sexdecimal system, however -objectionable be those units.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>The Recognition of Averdepois Weight</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>It is not until 1485 (Ripon Ch. Acts, quoted in the -‘New English Dictionary’) that we find mention of -averdepois, though there had been standard weights -of it from temp. Edw. III, ‘per balance cum ponderibus -de haberdepase,’ and those standards were extant -in the time of Elizabeth.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The document embodying 12 Henry VII (1496) -mentions, as has been seen, the Habertypoie pound, -with the assertion that it was 16 Troy ounces, an -assertion causing confusion for centuries afterwards.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Arnold’s ‘Customs of London,’ <i>c.</i> 1500, there is -mentioned ‘the Lyggynge Weyght, by which is boughte -and solde all maner of marchaundise as tynne, ledde -... and al maner of specery ... and such other as -is used to be solde by weyght; and of this weyght -xvj uncis make a pound, and C and xij li. is an C, -and x C make a M of all suche marchaundises ... -except wulle.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>This ‘lying weight’ was by the balance, the weight -lying in one scale, and not hanging or sliding on the -beam of a stilyard as in Auncell weight. The stilyard, -very portable, as not requiring heavy weights, yet -admitted of fraud. Arnold says ‘this weight is -<span class='pageno' id='Page_100'>100</span>forboden in England by statute of parlement, and -also holy church hath cursed in England all that beyen -or sellen by that auncel weyght.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>In 1532 it was ordered by 24 Henry VIII that meat -‘shall be sold by weight called Haver-du-pois,’ and in -1543 Recorde (‘Ground of Artes’) says, ‘But commenly -there is used an other weyght called haberdyepoyse -in which 16 onces make a pounde.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>In 1545 the Custom-House notified that ‘thys -lyinge and Habardy peyse is all one.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>Having cleared away, as I hope, the obscurity -which so long hung over the commercial weight -ignored by the statutes, it may be well to mention -that ‘Averdepois’ is the best spelling of this word, -and is so accepted by the ‘New English Dictionary.’ -‘Aver’ is an old-established English word for ‘goods,’ -and the earlier form ‘Haberdepase’ shows the -original pronunciation. The spelling of the last -syllable in ‘Averdepois’ is a sufficient concession to -an incorrect modern custom.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The term originally applied to heavy goods, such -as came from beyond sea; if the word was sometimes -spelt, as in 25 Edw. III, ‘bledz, avoirdepois, chars, -pessons’ (corn, heavy goods, meat, fish), it does not -follow that the <i>oi</i> diphthong was pronounced as in -‘boy.’ The word <i>pessons</i>, now written <i>poissons</i>, -shows the sound-value of the diphthong. The sound -now given to it in modern French is a corruption. Up -till 1700, even in Paris, <i>oi</i> was pronounced <i>é</i> or <i>wé</i>. -‘Averdepez’ is the true pronunciation. However, -the influence of ‘poise’ prevents any improvement -<span class='pageno' id='Page_101'>101</span>on the word being written and pronounced as -‘Averdepois.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>Though measures of capacity had always been on an -averdepois basis, the admission of averdepois weight -to statute recognition only dates from the time of -Elizabeth. In her reign light begins to appear in our -system of weights and measures. In 1574 she ordered -a jury to examine the standard weights (many of -Edward III and succeeding kings), to report on them, -and to construct standards ‘as well of troy weight -as of the avoirdupois.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>The standards made by this jury were as unsatisfactory -as their report. Little could be expected from -persons who could, with Edward III’s standard -weights before them, report that ‘the lb. weight of -avoirdepoiz weight dothe consiste of fiftene ounc troie.’ -This was in accordance with the old fiction that the -averdepois pound must be a commercial offshoot of -the royal pound, that it was 15 ounces Tower = 6750 -grains, and afterwards in Tudor times 15 ounces Troy -= 7200 grains, or even 16 ounces Troy = 7680 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Elizabeth and her advisers were not deceived by this -obsequious report, so, the standards made being found -very erroneous, in 1582 a second and more intelligent -jury of goldsmiths and merchants was appointed, and -the result of their work was the production of 57 sets of -standard Troy and averdepois weights, which were -distributed to the Exchequer, to cities and towns. -Some of these averdepois weights are still extant and -do not now differ by more than one grain in each pound -from Imperial standard.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_102'>102</span>The Proclamation for Weights of December 16, 1587, -established averdepois weight, and ordered that ‘no -person shall use any Troy weight but only for weighing of -bread, gold, silver and electuaries and for no other thing.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>It seems probable that, in the two centuries before -Elizabeth, the standard of the commercial pound had -risen by about 8 grains. This may have occurred -when the Troy pound superseded the Tower pound. -In the adjustment, which I assume as probable, of the -Troy and Averdepois pounds so as to obtain a ratio -of 5760 to 7000, the latter standard, raising the ounce -from 437 to 437-1/2 grains, and the pound by 8 grains, -may have been adopted so as to avoid or diminish the -cutting down of the new Troy pound.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Thus was established by Elizabeth the English -standard of weight. Excellent standards of capacity -and of length were also made; and she established -our silver coinage on its present basis.</p> - -<p class='c014'>And yet, well into the nineteenth century, even into -the twentieth, went on the puzzledom of our weights -and measures, left to arithmetic book and almanack -makers blinded by the glamour of the royal pound.</p> - -<p class='c014'>No official utterance came to clear the darkness, -for it was not till 1855 that the pound, then established -as an Imperial standard, was really defined.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>2. <span class='sc'>The Imperial Pound</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>It is the weight in vacuo of a certain piece of platinum -kept in London. It is divided into 16 ounces, -approximately Roman ounces. The ounce may be -divided into 16 drams.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_103'>103</span>The pound is also divided into 7000 grains, the -ounce being 437-1/2 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It may be well to anticipate or remove any uncertainty -about the grain. The averdepois pound was -only divided into ounces and drams (just as the yard -is only divided, as a yard, into quarters and nails), -but on its adjustment with the troy pound as = -7000 grains of which the latter = 5760, it became -divisible into grains. These were long called Troy -grains, in consequence of the superstition about the -noble Troy weight. This word seems to have paralysed -the intelligence of many persons doubtless sensible -enough in other matters; thus Rees’ ‘Cyclopædia’ -(1819) informed its readers that ‘the pound or 7680 -grains avoirdupois equals 7000 grains troy, and hence -1 grain troy equals 1·097 avoirdupois.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>The weight of the standard pound in a vacuum -(that is, its weight not diminished by the buoyancy -of the air) being 7000 grains, a commercial brass -pound exactly equal to the platinum standard when -weighed against it in air at 62°, would weigh 7000·6 -grains in a vacuum.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>The Dram</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>This, 1/16 of an ounce = 27-1/3 grains, is principally -used as a unit for powder in the cartridges of sporting -guns. In Scotland it was called a ‘drop.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>1673. A quech weighing 18 unce and 10 drop.</p> - -<p class='c014'>1805. An arrow of from 20 to 24 drop weight -(‘N.E.D.’).</p> - -<p class='c014'>The dram was possibly so called from its corresponding -<span class='pageno' id='Page_104'>104</span>to the quentchen, 1/8 of the German Loth or half-ounce -(1/16 of a marc) as the drachm was 1/8 of a medicinal -ounce.<a id='r24' /><a href='#f24' class='c016'><sup>[24]</sup></a> Or it may merely have been called a dram -as being the part of the ounce, in the same way that -the drachm was the next lower part of the apothecaries’ -ounce.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>3. <span class='sc'>Scientific and Medicinal Divisions of the Pound</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>For scientific purposes the pound is considered as -of 7000 grains. It may be divided into tenths, -hundredths, thousandths; this last division being -called a Septem, as = 7 grains. The tenth of this -might be called a Septula = 0·7 grain, and the hundredth -a Septicent = 0·07 grain. This small weight -would be one 100,000th of the gallon, the same proportion -as the centigramme to the litre. In analyses -of water the solid constituents are usually stated in -centigrammes to the litre, or parts in 100,000; and as -grains to the gallon or parts in 70,000 they have to be -divided by 0·7 to get that ratio. Septicents to the -gallon would be the English equivalent of centigrammes -to the litre.</p> - -<p class='c014'>An Apothecaries’ Troy ounce lingers in the Board -of Trade list of standards, for a permissive use utterly -unrequired by medical prescribers or by druggists; -the British Pharmacopœia only recognising Imperial -weight, the ounce and the grain. For convenience, a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_105'>105</span>weight of 60 grains is called a Drachm, and one of -20 grains is called a Scruple. It is most rare for -prescriptions to contain an ounce of any solid medicine; -and when an ounce of such a medicine is most exceptionally -prescribed, it might be an Imperial ounce, -just as ounces of fluid medicines prescribed are Imperial -ounces.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>4. <span class='sc'>The Long Hundredweight</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>The multiples of the pound were originally, like -its divisions, in a sexdecimal series, with an alternative -series to bring in the hundredweight, i.e. the true -Cwt.</p> - -<table class='table8' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='5%' /> -<col width='11%' /> -<col width='23%' /> -<col width='5%' /> -<col width='11%' /> -<col width='5%' /> -<col width='35%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>16</td> - <td class='c007'>lb.</td> - <td class='c007'>1 stone</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c006'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c017'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>16</td> - <td class='c005'>stone</td> - <td class='c007'>1 wey</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c006'>256</td> - <td class='c005'>lb.</td> - <td class='c017'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>2</td> - <td class='c005'>weys</td> - <td class='c007'>1 quarter</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c006'>500</td> - <td class='c005'>lb.</td> - <td class='c017'>approximately</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>8</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>1 ton</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c006'>2000</td> - <td class='c005'>lb.</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>16</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>1 last</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c006'>4000</td> - <td class='c005'>lb.</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>The approximative relation of the quarter, strictly -speaking of 512 lb., mattered but little, as it applied -to corn-measure, in which the measured quarter, -8 bushels, varied from 500 lb. for wheat of 62-1/2 lb. to -the bushel, to 512 lb. for heavy wheat of 64 lb. to the -bushel. The arrangement was convenient for the corn-trade -and could not give rise to fraud; and the main -object of all laws on weights and measures should be to -prevent fraud, especially in retail trade.</p> - -<p class='c014'>This convenient arrangement was altered in the -times of Edward I and Edward III. The former King -found the Cwt. of 100 lb. with a quarter of 25 lb. and a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_106'>106</span>sixteenth = 6-1/4 lb. as its nail or clove. In his Acts -there is mention of the 100 weight, the 1000 weight, -the 2000 weight. But by the Ordinance of Measures -31 Edw. I, 1302, a distractingly obscure statute, no -less than three different weights are ordered for the -stone:</p> - -<p class='c014'>A stone for lead of 12 lb.</p> - -<p class='c014'>A London stone of 12-1/2 lb., one-eighth of the true -Cwt.</p> - -<p class='c014'>A stone for groceries of 8 lb.; and 13-1/2 stone to -make a Cwt. of 108 lb.</p> - -<p class='c014'>And the ‘fotmal’ of lead is to be 6 stones of 12 lb. -but less 2 lb., ‘which are 70 lb. making 5 stones.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>Here then we see, besides a 12 lb. stone for lead,</p> - -<p class='c024'>(<i>a</i>) The true Cwt. of 100 lb. divided into quarters -and nails.</p> - -<p class='c024'>(<i>b</i>) A transitional Cwt. of 108 lb. in 13-1/2 old half-stones -of 8 lb.</p> - -<p class='c024'>(<i>c</i>) A new Cwt. of 112 lb. in 8 stones of 14 lb.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Cwt. (centena) of 108 lb. seems to have been -preparatory to the Cwt. of 112 lb. mentioned in this -Ordinance (if it be not a later interpolation) and -established later by Edward III. It preserved, for -a time, the ancient half-stone of 8 lb., but by the -inconvenient process of making 13-1/2 of these as the -Cwt.; probably to prepare the merchant for a new -Cwt. of 112 lb. first in 14 stones of 8 lb. and then in -8 stones of 14 lb.</p> - -<p class='c014'>This is the Cwt. which has come down from Edward -III to the present day, against which trade has had to -struggle more or less successfully ever since, and which -<span class='pageno' id='Page_107'>107</span>torments the schoolboy with sums in tons, cwts., qrs. -and lb.</p> - -<p class='c014'>To this day the old Stone of 16 lb. or its half, the -Clove of 8 lb., still continues in use. The butcher’s -and fishmonger’s stone is 8 lb., and cheese is sold, in -most parts of England, by the 16 lb. stone, as it was -five or six centuries ago. In 1434, by 9 Henry VI, it -was ordered that the Wey of cheese should contain 32 -cloves, yet we learn from Arnold (1500) that the weight -of Suffolk Cheese is xij score and xvj lb., the same -weight as the wey (16 × 16 = 256 lb.), and Recorde -(1543) says that for butter and cheese ‘a clove containeth -8 lb. and a wey 32 cloves which is 256 lb.’ By -10 Anne (1712) a barrel of soap is to contain 256 lb., -i.e. a Wey.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Plantagenet 14 lb. stone is used for flour and -potatoes, &c., but the load, the modern form of the -wey, is 18 stone of 14 lb. = 252 lb., evidently an -approximately near substitute for the 16 × 16 lb. = -256 lb. of the Wey, there being until quite recently no -lawful weights allowed above 7 lb. but in multiples of -that weight. The load, like the wey, has the advantage -of being equal to 4 bushels of heavy corn at 63 lb., so that -it is half of the Quarter and an eighth of the wheat-chaldron -or ton-measure.</p> - -<p class='c014'>What was the reason for the Plantagenet Cwt.? -for the inconvenient unit, rightly rejected by our -brethren in North America, and in several colonies?</p> - -<p class='c014'>Edward I’s intermediate Cwt. of 108 lb. seems to -show that it was intended to bring our Cwt. up to that -of foreign countries using Troy pounds, 108 lb. being -<span class='pageno' id='Page_108'>108</span>very close to the French and Flemish quintal (Arabic -cantar) of 100 Troy lb. The wool-trade with Flanders, -the dominion of the Plantagenets in France, may -have been the motives for this increase.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The hypothesis that the Cwt. was made 112 lb. so as -to be equal to 100 long Troy lb. of 16 Troy ounces, is -excluded by the ratio of averdepois to long troy being -100 to 109·7 and also by the new Cwt. dating at least -from the time of Edward III, when the royal lb. was -still Tower, not Troy, with a ratio to averdepois of 100 -to 128; and it was certainly not of 16 ounces.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The only lawful multiples of the Imperial pound -were, until quite recently, those of the stone series:</p> - -<table class='table9' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='28%' /> -<col width='21%' /> -<col width='50%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>7 lb.</td> - <td class='c005'>. .</td> - <td class='c008'>a clove.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>14 lb.</td> - <td class='c005'>. .</td> - <td class='c008'>a stone.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>28 lb.</td> - <td class='c005'>. .</td> - <td class='c008'>a quarter-Cwt.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>56 lb.</td> - <td class='c005'>. .</td> - <td class='c008'>a half-Cwt.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>112 lb.</td> - <td class='c005'>. .</td> - <td class='c008'>a Cwt.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>2240 lb.</td> - <td class='c005'>. .</td> - <td class='c008'>a ton.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>And the only lawful weights were those of 56, 28, -14, 7, 4, 2, and 1 lb.</p> - -<p class='c014'>I have had some personal experience of the inconvenience -of these weights. For years I had to weigh -recruits and other soldiers, recording their weights -in pounds with this inconvenient set of weights. To -get the weight of a man of 152 lb. I had to reckon 2 × -56 lb. + 28 + 7 + 4 + 1 lb. Errors were necessarily -frequent when many weighings had to be rapidly done, -so I had a set of decimal weights made—20, 10, 5 lb.—and -all trouble ceased. But these weights were not -lawful, at least for trade purposes.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_109'>109</span>There was, however, another lawful unit, the -Cental, that is, the original English Cwt., brought back -to England from North America by the corn-trade. -Commerce demanded the recognition of the Cental -and got it in 1879.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In 1902, the tobacco-trade in Liverpool, annoyed -at the inconvenience of the lawful units of weight, as -inconvenient for the wholesale tobacco-warehouse as -for my military purposes, moved the Liverpool Chamber -of Commerce to get the Board of Trade to allow them to -use a half-cental weight; a whole cental, the only -lawful unit of the kind, being too heavy for handling. -In reply to this request, it was suggested that a nest of -weights, 28 + 14 + 7 + 1 lb. = 50 lb. might be used. -To this the tobacco-trade objected, and after correspondence, -the use of a 50 lb. weight was granted. Then -they requested permission to use smaller fractions of -the cental, in fact a decimal series of 20, 10, 5 lb. And -they obtained it. So, thanks to the perseverance of -the Liverpool tobacco-merchants and Chamber of -Commerce, the decimal fractions of the Cental are now -lawful weights, and no one need use the inconvenient -14 lb. stone series.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>5. <span class='sc'>Wool and Lead Weight</span></h3> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Wool Weight</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>The revenue of the Plantagenet kings being largely -derived from duties on the export of wool, the weight of -the sack was fixed by statute. By 31 Edw. I ‘the -sack of wool ought to weigh 28 stone of 12-1/2 lb.’ = -<span class='pageno' id='Page_110'>110</span>350 lb. By 14 Edw. III ‘the sack shall contain -26 stone and each stone 14 lb.’ = 364 lb., i.e. 2 weys of -13 stone. This regulation was supported by other -statutes, in 1389 and 1496, and appears to have had -due effect, for it is the standard at the present time: -26 stone or 13 ‘tods.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>Why was this particular weight ordered?</p> - -<p class='c014'>Possibly because the sack thus corresponded -nearly to the skippund (ship-pound) of the Baltic -trade and of Scotland, a weight of 20 lispund each of -16 Norse Troy pounds or of 20 pounds of light standard -= 352 to 375 lb. The Baltic skippund at the present -day is about 350 lb.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Scotland the sack of wool was ordered to be -24 stone, which was equivalent to 26 English stone, in -proportion to the heavier weight of the Scots pound.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Plantagenet domination in France caused the -stone to pass there, though not always at English -weight; and there being no regular weight in France -between the pound and the quintal, local stones came -into use. ‘Les laines vend on par sacs et par pois, -par pierres, par claus et par livres,’ the French terms -for the sack, the wey, the stone, the clove and the -pound.<a id='r25' /><a href='#f25' class='c016'><sup>[25]</sup></a> Sometimes the stone was called ‘gal’ (stone, -<i>galet</i>, shingle) and the clove ‘demi-gal’ (Livre blanc -de l’hotel de ville d’Abbeville). The French stone was -of variable weight. One record gives the sack of wool -(= 4 Montpellier light quintals) as of 25 pierres, which -would make them 9 lb. each. Another record gives it -as 36 stone of 9 standard pounds (= 10 English pounds).</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_111'>111</span>The stone appears to be extinct now in France; I -find that as late as 1579 wool was sold in Burgundy by -the wool-stone (<i>la pierre de laine</i>) = 12 French or about -13 English pounds.</p> - -<p class='c014'>While the old English wey or load was 16 × 16 = -256 lb., the wey ordered for wool was half a sack = -182 lb. It would seem that, once the King’s dues paid, -the shipper was free to make up his sacks or sarplers -of wool as most convenient to him. The customary -wey or weigh (Sc. waugh or wall) seems to have been -32 cloves or nails of 7 lb. = 2 cwt. A ‘poke’ of wool -‘weand 4 C. 15 nallis,’ i.e. 4 cwt. and 105 lb. A sack -might be ‘6 wall and 25 naill,’ i.e. 12 cwt. and 175 lb.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The wey or weigh became, in statute French, <i>poids</i>, -<i>pois</i>; but the scribes took the wrong <i>pois</i> and thinking -it meant ‘pease’ made it <i>pisa</i> in their Latin, just as -they took the wrong ‘nail’ and made it L. <i>clavus</i>, and -in French <i>clau</i>, through L. <i>clavis</i>, meaning a ‘key.’</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Lead Weight</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>While the fother is 17-2/3 cwt. for coal, it is 19-1/2 cwt. -= 2184 lb. for lead. This peculiar unit, also called -the char or load, is the consequence of a statute 31 -Edw. I, perhaps the most confused and bewildering of -the many confused medieval statutes on weights and -measures, and one in which subsequent interpolations -may be suspected. It ordered two stones, one of 12 lb. -and another of 12-1/2 lb., and to keep up the pretence of -there being no weight other than of Tower standard, -it declared that a pound shall contain 25 shillings. -This shilling standard may be put aside.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_112'>112</span>The 12 lb. stone is ordered apparently either as -a double of a customary ‘lead-pound’ of 6 lb. or to -make the customary fotmal or ‘pig’ of lead, 70 lb. -weight, ‘contain 6 stones (of 12 lb.) less 2 lb.’ It also -says that the deduction of 2 lb. leaves ‘70 lb. making -5 stones.’ This passage appears to be a subsequent -interpolation after the institution of Edward III’s -14 lb. stone.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The fother of lead, of 30 fotmals, would thus be = -2100 lb. But the stone of 12-1/2 lb., evidently intended -to be 1/8 of the true hundredweight, and to pave the -way for the coming 14 lb. stone, is also applied to lead. -How it is not said; but the present fother, = 2184 lb., -is almost exactly equal to 30 fotmal, each of 73 lb. = -2190 lb.; and 73 lb. is just 6 stone of 12-1/2 lb. less -2 lb.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The 70 lb. fotmal seems to have disappeared by the -seventeenth century, but in the meantime the uncertainty -of the fother led to the use of Boole-weight, -meaning the weight used at the lead-boles or natural -bowls in which lead ore was smelted. The fother, -boole-weight, was 30 fotmals of 6 stone of 14 lb. -Sometimes it was of 24 fotmals = 2016 lb., that is 18 cwt.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The meaning of Fother is given in <a href='#XX'>Chapter XX</a>.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>6. <span class='sc'>Trade-units of Weight</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>It is unnecessary to describe or even name the -various weights peculiar to trade or local custom. -Everyone in the trade knows them; out of it no one -need know them. If a person not in the trade buys a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_113'>113</span>cask of wine, a barrel of beer, a sack of flour or a load -of potatoes, commonsense prompts him to ask how -many gallons or pounds are contained in these units. -It is the same in France and other countries of the -metric system, where the cask, the sack, the churnful, -&c., are trade-units with their peculiar equivalents -of litres or kilogrammes. It is indeed by the use of -trade-units that manufacturers evade the rigour of the -metric system.</p> - -<hr class='c018' /> -<div class='footnote' id='f22'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r22'>22</a>. </span>The modern <i>libbra</i> is 12 ounces = 436·27 grains in Rome, -436·66 in Florence.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f23'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r23'>23</a>. </span>Probably in the meaning of the Dutch <i>spijs</i>, food.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f24'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r24'>24</a>. </span>The dram of spirits is a measure probably so called from its -being 1/8 of a pint, i.e. half a quartern.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f25'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r25'>25</a>. </span>See section on the Nail and the Clove, <a href='#XX'>Chap. XX</a>.</p> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_114'>114</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER VIII<br /> <br /><span class='small'>ENGLISH MEASURES OF CAPACITY</span></h2> -</div> - -<h3 class='c019'>I. <span class='sc'>The Old Wine Measures</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>It has been seen that a cubic foot of water is very -approximately = 1000 Roman ounces = 62-1/2 lb. of -water at the early averdepois standard. There is -reason to believe that this cubic foot was our original -wine-unit, the wine-bushel, 1/8 of it = 216 cubic inches, -being the wine-gallon; and that the cubic foot, -increased in water-wheat ratio 1728 × 1·25 = 2160 c.i., -was the corn-bushel. The corn-gallon, 2160/8 = 270 c.i., -remained at this standard for centuries, 268·8 c.i. -being the London measure, and 272-1/4 c.i. the Winchester -measure, the slight differences being due to difficulties -in casting and gauging shallow metal pans.</p> - -<p class='c014'>That the wine-gallon was originally 1/8 cubic foot -is rendered very probable by the existence in Ireland -of a gallon of almost exactly that capacity. This -gallon was legalised for ale, beer and spirits by George II -(1735) at a capacity of 217·6 c.i.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The rise of the wine-gallon in England to 219 c.i., -to 224 c.i., and finally to 231 c.i. under Henry VIII, -seems due to two influences:</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_115'>115</span>1. The desire to make it hold 8 lb. of wine = -about 222 c.i., that weight being mentioned in -statute.</p> - -<p class='c014'>2. The influence of wine-measures used at the -ports whence wine came.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The principal unit of wine-measure at Bordeaux, -and some other continental ports, was the Velte, the -equivalent of the German viertel which was 1/4 Rhineland -cubic foot = 471·6 c.i. So our gallon tended to -increase towards the measure of 235·8 c.i., the half-velte. -It could not increase further than 231 c.i. -without deranging its water-wheat ratio with the -corn-gallon, already increased, temporarily at least, -under Henry VIII to 282 c.i. But the principal -reason for 231 c.i. was that this was the capacity of a -cylinder 7 inches in diameter and 6 inches deep. -It has always been desirable that market-measures -should be of dimensions easily remembered and -readily gauged with a foot-rule. The wine-gallon of -231 c.i., confirmed by the new measures made by -Elizabeth’s order, was afterwards known as Queen -Anne’s gallon. It is to this day the fluid gallon of -the United States, Canada and Ceylon.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The half-velte was the French <i>galon</i>, a word -connected with <i>galloie</i>, <i>jallaie</i>, <i>jalle</i>, <i>jarre</i>, with our -‘jar’ and with ‘gauge,’ Fr. <i>jauge</i>. It may be -mentioned that ‘velte’ sometimes meant a gauging-rod -for wine-casks.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The wine-gallon was divided into 2 pots, or 4 quarts -or 8 pints. The wine-pint = 16·57 fluid ounces = 5/6 -Imperial pint.</p> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_116'>116</span> - <h4 class='c021'><i>Cask Measures</i></h4> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>By 2 Henry VI (1423)—</p> - -<table class='table6' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='33%' /> -<col width='9%' /> -<col width='9%' /> -<col width='14%' /> -<col width='33%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>The wine-Hogshead</td> - <td class='c005'>was</td> - <td class='c006'>63</td> - <td class='c005'>gallons</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>The Pipe</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c006'>126</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>The Tun (tonnel)</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c006'>252</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>(12 score and 12).</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>Thus the hogshead (Flemish <i>okshoofd</i>, ox-head) -was approximately 1/4 of the tun or fluid ton.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>252 wine-gallons of 8 lb. = 2016 lb.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>The customary beer-barrel contained, and still -contains, 36 gallons (now Imperial gallons). It is -probable that it was originally a half-hogshead = -31-1/2 or 32 gallons, and that it rose as an indirect -consequence of the statutory rise of the Cwt. -and Ton. (This will be explained under Corn -Measure.)</p> - -<p class='c014'>The half-barrel of 18 gallons was called a Kilderkin, -from the old Flemish word <i>kinderkin</i>, a little child. -To it corresponded the Runlet of 18-1/2 wine-gallons -(1483), the German Eimer or double Anker.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The quarter-barrel of 9 gallons is a Firkin, a word -in which <i>vierde</i>, a fourth, replaces <i>kinder</i>; so that -in the fifteenth century it was a Ferdekyn.</p> - -<p class='c014'>But the ale-barrel remained nominally at 32 gallons, -its kilderkin at 16, its firkin at 8 gallons. This counterbalanced -the increase of the ale-gallon to 282 c.i. How -did this rise come about? The probable explanation -is that the ale-gallon was really a corn-gallon of -Henry VII and VIII; it disappeared for corn, but -it remained for ale.</p> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_117'>117</span> - <h3 class='c019'>2. <span class='sc'>The Ale-gallon</span></h3> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>Henry III proclaimed on his accession that, -according to Magna Charta, there should be but one -standard of measure and of weight throughout the -realm, one measure of wine, one measure of ale, and -one measure of corn.</p> - -<p class='c014'>There seems to be no information extant about -the second of these measures; it was presumably -the same as the corn-gallon. A statute of Henry VIII -ordered the barrel of beer to be 36 gallons and that -of ale 32 gallons, whence it may be presumed that -the former were wine-gallons and the latter corn-gallons, -32 and 36 being taken as the whole numbers -nearly proportionate to wine and corn measure, and -admitting of the quarter-barrel being 8 gallons of ale -and 9 of beer.<a id='r26' /><a href='#f26' class='c016'><sup>[26]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c014'>In 1496 (temp. Henry VII) a new corn-bushel -was made = 2240 c.i., its gallon being 280 c.i. While -it is possible that this increase was due to inaccurate -casting, yet it might be that the new corn-gallon was -intended to be on a water-wheat ratio with the wine-gallon, -then = 224 c.i. (224 × 1-1/4 = 280), in the same -way that the usual corn-gallon of 270 c.i. was in that -ratio to the original 1/8 cubic foot gallon of 216 c.i. -(216 × 1-1/4 = 270).<a id='r27' /><a href='#f27' class='c016'><sup>[27]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_118'>118</span>In 1531 the corn-gallon was increased to 282 c.i. -But under Elizabeth the corn-gallon was restored to -its old standard of 1/8 bushel = 2150·4/8 c.i. = 268·8 c.i. -and the wine-gallon fixed at 231 c.i. At these standards -both gallons stood until their unification in 1824. -Confirmed by Queen Anne, they are known by her -name.</p> - -<p class='c014'>But the corn-gallon of Henry VIII, = 282 c.i., -remained as the Ale-gallon, probably because it had -become the standard measure for malt.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>The Quart and Pint</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>While the wine-pint was an eighth of a wine-gallon -the common pint of England was the Ale-pint, an -eighth of the Tudor Ale-gallon, which was 280 or -282 cubic inches and differed little from the Imperial -gallon = 277·27 cubic inches. So the pint of ale in -Tudor times differed little from an Imperial pint.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Quart and Pint of Elizabeth preserved at the -Standards Office are larger than Imperial measure, the -Quart holding 40·53 ounces as compared with the -40 ounces of the Imperial quart; it is one-fourth of a -gallon of 280 cubic inches, the Tudor ale-gallon.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>3. <span class='sc'>Corn Measure</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>It has been seen that Henry III’s statute defined -the gallon as containing 8 lb. of wine, and Edward I’s -as containing 8 lb. of wheat. It is probable that the -Magna Charta principle of ‘one weight, one measure’ -prevented the mention of two different gallons, as it -<span class='pageno' id='Page_119'>119</span>prevented the mention of two different pounds. But -we know that there were two gallons. In England as -in ancient Greece the unit of corn-measure was the -fluid measure of the Talent increased in water-wheat -ratio; so our cubic foot, taken as a wine-bushel of 8 wine-gallons, -and increased one-fourth, gave the corn-bushel -of 8 corn-gallons.</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>1728/8 c.i.</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c008'>216 c.i., the original wine-gallon,</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>1728 c.i. × 1·25</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c008'>2160 c.i., the corn-bushel,</td> - </tr> -</table> -<p class='c014'>of which 1/8 = 270 c.i. was the corn-gallon.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It has been seen that the wine-gallon increased to -231 c.i., but the corn-standard remained for centuries -(excepting a vagary temp. Henry VII and VIII) at -very nearly its original value. It must be remembered -how difficult it must have been to cast accurately a -shallow brass pan 18-1/2 inches in diameter and only 8 -inches deep; and this is probably the cause of the -slight difference between the two standards of corn-measure, -the London bushel and the Winchester -bushel. These were simply variants, inevitable in -making standard measures of the calculated capacity -of the bushel = 2160 cubic inches = 1-1/4 cubic feet.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The London bushel = 2150·42 c.i.; the gallon = -268·8 c.i.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Winchester bushel = 2178 c.i.; the gallon = -272-1/4 c.i.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The latter standard was so called, it is said, because -its standard had been kept at Winchester since the -time of King Edgar; it was, by 22 Chas. II (1670) and -10 Geo. III (1769), the standard measure for corn and -other dry goods.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_120'>120</span>But by 13 Wm. III (1702) and by 5 Anne (1707) -the London bushel was the standard, and this is the -present corn-bushel of the United States. It is, -however, commonly called, but inaccurately, a Winchester -bushel.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>4. <span class='sc'>The Quarter and the Chaldron</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>When the Cwt. was raised to 112 lb. and the Ton -to 2240 lb. the Chaldron or ton-measure of wheat -was increased by statute from 4 × 8 = 32 bushels -to 36 bushels. One would think it would follow that -the Quarter would be raised from 8 to 9 bushels. No, -it was not raised, by law at least; so the corn-trade -raised it themselves, thinking that evidently if a -chaldron is now 36 bushels, for the quarter of it we -must ask or give 9 bushels.</p> - -<p class='c014'>But this practice was apparently held to be an -offence against the repeated royal declarations beginning -with the 32 wheat-corn weight of the penny -and ending with the ‘bushel which is the eighth part -of the Quarter.’ While one statute raised the Chaldron -to 36 bushels, another declared that its quarter was -to remain at 8 bushels. In 15 Rich. II (1391) it is -declared that ‘8 bushels striked should make the -Quarter of corn nevertheless that divers people will not -buy but 9 bushels for the Quarter.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>As statutes of 1436 and 1496 repeated this prohibition -of any increase of the quarter one may presume -that the forbidden practice continued, the increased -quarter being called a Vat. But there was another -way of evading these statutes; the old story with bad -<span class='pageno' id='Page_121'>121</span>legislation; <i>Fatta la lege, trovato l’inganno</i>. It became -in many parts customary to give, not a long-quarter, -but a long-bushel of 9 gallons, so that 8 long-bushels -would make the new quarter-chaldron. It was possibly -a relic of this practice which caused the Chester corn-measure -to become 70 lb., roughly 62-1/2 lb. × 9/8 = -70·3 lb. Cheshire perhaps benefited by its neighbourhood -to Lancashire, which was specially exempted -by 13 Rich. II from the penalties for offences against -the unity of weights and measures, ‘because in that -county it hath always been used to have greater -measure than in any other part of the realm.’<a id='r28' /><a href='#f28' class='c016'><sup>[28]</sup></a> Yet -long-bushels are sometimes the striked equivalents of -heaped measure.</p> - -<p class='c014'>But in most parts of the country the attempts to -correct stupid legislation were abandoned, and so the -Chaldron of 36 bushels fell almost out of use and the -Quarter ceased to be a quarter of any measure. In -1707 Bishop Fleetwood (‘Chronicon preciosum’) could -only say ‘doubtless a Quarter is a quarter or fourth -part of some load or weight.’ And there is a story -that Lord Kelvin, asking the head of the Standards -Office (giving evidence before a Royal Commission -on Weights and Measures) of what a Quarter was the -quarter, failed to obtain any light on the subject. -And he himself did not know.</p> - -<p class='c014'>But since the corn-trade brought back from North -America the old ton of 20 centals, the quarter has found -<span class='pageno' id='Page_122'>122</span>its long-lost father. The freight-ton of ships, 40 cubic -feet of cargo, contains 32 bushels (at 1-1/4 cubic feet to -the bushel), that is 4 Quarters or 2000 lb. of average -wheat = 20 centals.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>5. <span class='sc'>Coal Measure</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>The Chaldron of 36 bushels is used for the sale of -coke and in Northumberland for coal.</p> - -<p class='c014'>A ‘keel’ of coal, i.e. the load of the Tyneside lighter -known as a ‘keel,’ was, up till the fifteenth century, -20 ‘chaldres,’ the measure of 20 old tons:</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>The</td> - <td class='c005'>old</td> - <td class='c005'>chaldron</td> - <td class='c005'>of</td> - <td class='c005'>wheat,</td> - <td class='c007'>32</td> - <td class='c005'>bushels</td> - <td class='c005'>of</td> - <td class='c007'>62-1/2</td> - <td class='c008'>lb. = 2000 lb.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>coal,</td> - <td class='c007'>25</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>80</td> - <td class='c008'>lb. = 2000 lb.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>When the old Chaldron became illegal it gradually gave -place to the new ton and to the new chaldron. The Newcastle -chaldron was 2 statute chaldrons = 72 bushels. -The modern keel of coal is 21·2 tons = 16 statute -chaldrons of 36 bushels = 8 Newcastle chaldrons. -This double chaldron is then 72 bushels, or, as 1/8 of the -keel, = 21·2 tons, it is 53 cwt., and it is divided into 3 -Fother of 17-2/3 cwt. = 1966 lb. or nearly the old ton of -2000 lb. Thus the Newcastle fother is nearly the old -ton, and the keel of 24 fothers or old tons has taken -the place of the sixteenth-century keel of 20 old tons.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In the eighteenth century the coal-bushel was -slightly changed from London or Winchester standard. -12 Anne (1714) ordered a special coal-bushel. It was -defined as containing a Winchester bushel and a quart, -33 instead of 32 quarts = 2218 cubic inches, and coal -was to be sold by the chalder of 36 such bushels, heaped.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_123'>123</span>This new bushel was 1/8 inch more in diameter and in -depth than the old standard; it arose probably from -a faulty casting. It is remarkable, inasmuch as its -capacity is almost exactly that of the Edinburgh firlot -and also of the Imperial bushel instituted a century -later.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Chaldron survives for coke. When coal is -coked at the gas-works it swells, so that a ton of -coal, = about 3/4 chaldron, yields about a chaldron -of coke.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Heaped Measure</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>It has been seen that in 1392 the bushel was to be -measured ‘striked’ and not heaped. Yet the love -of extra weight or measure is so ingrained in human -nature that it persisted, at least in retail transactions. -With a pan-shaped bushel more than twice as broad as -deep, heaping increased the measure by not less than -one-fourth. With a drum-shaped bushel, its depth -equal to its diameter, the increase of heaped over -striked measure would be about an eighth, so that a -bushel of wheat would weigh about 70 lb. instead of -62 lb. Heaped measure was made illegal in 1835.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It is possible that some long-bushels (as that of -Chester = 70 lb.) were originally, or actually, heaped -bushels.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>6. <span class='sc'>The Imperial Gallon</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>In 1824 some of our measures were reorganised, -and among the changes was the unification of wine and -corn measure. The better concordance of capacity -<span class='pageno' id='Page_124'>124</span>with weight by a single gallon containing exactly -10 lb. of water at ordinary temperature has been a -great advantage. It has enlarged the decimal capabilities -of our system without impairing its convenient -and popular series of capacity units. It is indeed an -advantage that the slight increase of the corn-gallon -now gives a weight of 64 lb. good wheat to the bushel, -so that the pint corresponds very exactly to a pound of -wheat.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Yet it must be remembered that our brethren of the -United States, not usually deemed unprogressive, get on -very well with Queen Anne’s wine-gallon and corn-gallon.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The new gallon holds exactly 10 lb. of pure water -at 62° or 277·274 cubic inches.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The bushel is of the capacity of 2218·19 cubic -inches. It holds 80 lb. of pure water.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The change from the old corn-gallon was very -slight, increasing it by only 3 per cent., from 268·8 to -277·27 c.i. (and rather less from the Winchester gallon -of 270 c.i.), so that the bushel formerly holding 62-1/2 lb. -of wheat now holds 64 lb.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Wine-measure was increased by almost exactly 20 -per cent., from 231 c.i. to 277·27 c.i., so that a gallon of -wine is contained in 6 customary bottles, instead of 5 -as formerly, or as at present in the United States.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Bushel measures are of two shapes: the drum-shape, -15 inches diameter by 12-2/4 inches deep, and the -standard shape (that of the old corn-measure), 18-1/2 -inches diameter by 8-1/4 inches deep.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Nothing has been changed in the excellent octonary -series of measures, pint, gallon, bushel, quarter (eight -<span class='pageno' id='Page_125'>125</span>of the first making one of the second and so on), with -binary sub-units—some of them general, as the quart; -others local, as the coomb; and some more or less -obsolete, as the tuffet, famous in nursery rhyme.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div><span class='sc'>Measures of Capacity</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table10' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='18%' /> -<col width='18%' /> -<col width='7%' /> -<col width='18%' /> -<col width='37%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='btt c027'>2 Noggins</td> - <td class='btt c027'>1 Gill</td> - <td class='btt blt brt c027'> </td> - <td class='btt c028' colspan='2'>(In the South 4 gills to a pint)</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'>2 Gills</td> - <td class='c027'>1 Pint</td> - <td class='blt brt c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'>20 oz. water</td> - <td class='blt c027'>1 lb. wheat</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'> </td> - <td class='c027'> </td> - <td class='blt brt c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='blt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'>2 Pints</td> - <td class='c027'>1 Quart</td> - <td class='blt brt c027'>⎫</td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='blt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'>2 Quarts</td> - <td class='c027'>1 Pottle</td> - <td class='blt brt c027'>⎬ 8</td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='blt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'>2 Pottles</td> - <td class='c027'>1 Gallon</td> - <td class='blt brt c027'>⎭</td> - <td class='c028'>10 lb. water</td> - <td class='blt c027'>8 lb. wheat</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'> </td> - <td class='c027'> </td> - <td class='blt brt c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='blt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'>2 Gallons</td> - <td class='c027'>1 Peck</td> - <td class='blt brt c027'>⎫</td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='blt c027'>16 lb. wheat (old stone)</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'>2 Pecks</td> - <td class='c027'>1 Tuffet</td> - <td class='blt brt c027'>⎬ 8</td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='blt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'>2 Tuffets</td> - <td class='c027'>1 Bushel</td> - <td class='blt brt c027'>⎭</td> - <td class='c028'>80 lb. water</td> - <td class='blt c027'>62-64 lb. wheat</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'> </td> - <td class='c027'> </td> - <td class='blt brt c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='blt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'>2 Bushels</td> - <td class='c027'>1 Strike</td> - <td class='blt brt c027'>⎫</td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='blt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'>2 Strikes</td> - <td class='c027'>1 Coomb</td> - <td class='blt brt c027'>⎬ 8</td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='blt c027'>256 lb. wheat (16 old stone)</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'>2 Coombs</td> - <td class='c027'>1 Quarter</td> - <td class='blt brt c027'>⎭</td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='blt c027'>500-512 lb. wheat</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c027'> </td> - <td class='c027'> </td> - <td class='blt brt c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='blt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt c027'>4 Quarters</td> - <td class='bbt c027'>1 Corn-ton</td> - <td class='bbt blt brt c027'> </td> - <td class='bbt c028'> </td> - <td class='bbt blt c027'>40 cubic feet</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>These measures can be used for either dry goods or -fluids. The smaller measures below a pint are used -for fluids.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Fluid Measures</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>The institution of the Imperial gallon, while -increasing corn-measure by 3 per cent., had less effect -on Ale-measure. The Ale-pint, being 1/8 of the Ale-gallon -of 282 cubic inches, was somewhat larger than -the new Imperial pint, holding about 20-1/4 ounces; -so the change to the Imperial pint of 20 ounces was -practically imperceptible.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Gill is officially, according to southern custom, -a 1/4 pint; but in Lancashire and the north it is a -half-pint. The name Gill, like the Jug synonym -for Pint, is part of a popular series of names for beer -<span class='pageno' id='Page_126'>126</span>or spirit measures. Jug is the feminine of Jack, with -which name Gill is familiarly associated.</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'>Pint</td> - <td class='c005'>or</td> - <td class='c007'>Jug</td> - <td class='c006'>20</td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c017'>ounces</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>1/2</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>Gill (in the north)</td> - <td class='c006'>10</td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>1/4</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>Jack (or Noggin)</td> - <td class='c006'>5</td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>1/8</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>Jock (a dram)</td> - <td class='c006'>2</td> - <td class='c007'>1/2</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>1/16</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>Joey</td> - <td class='c006'>1</td> - <td class='c007'>1/4</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>The customary capacity of wine-bottles is 1/6 gallon = -26-2/3 ounces. So six customary bottles go to the gallon, -and a customary ‘dozen’ of wine or spirits = 2 gallons.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In India the gallon of canteen-spirit, rum or arrack, -is reckoned as 48 drams, each 1/8 bottle or 3-1/3 fluid ounces.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>7. <span class='sc'>Medicinal Fluid Measures</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>The Imperial gallon, as 10 lb. of water = 160 fluid -ounces, each of 437-1/2 grains of water at standard -temperature.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Its eighth part, the Pint, contains 20 ounces -weight or 20 fluid-ounces measure. It is so divided on -druggists’ glass measures. The fluid ounce is divided -into 8 fluid drachms, each of 60 minims, approximately -fluid grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In the United States, where the old wine-gallon of -231 cubic inches is retained, the old wine-pint of -16 fluid ounces is used. 231 c.i. × 252·458 (grains -of water in 1 c.i.) gives—</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>58,317·8</td> - <td class='c005'>grains</td> - <td class='c005'>for</td> - <td class='c005'>the</td> - <td class='c008'>gallon</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>7,289·7</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>pint</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>455·6</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>ounce</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>The fluid ounce is divided as in England into 8 fluid -drachms, of 60 minims.</p> - -<hr class='c018' /> -<div class='footnote' id='f26'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r26'>26</a>. </span>For a long time the difference between ale and beer was that -beer was hopped.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f27'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r27'>27</a>. </span>It has been suggested that the 280 c.i. corn-gallon was constructed -so as to have Averdepois-Troy ratio to the 231 c.i. wine-gallon -(1·215 : 1). But the latter had not at the time risen to 231 c.i., -and it is more probable that the ratio was that of water to wheat, -the pound-pint ratio.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f28'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r28'>28</a>. </span>Curiously Lancashire still uses the Cheshire acre, and in some -parts a pound of butter is a pound + the weight of 2 pennies, formerly -the heavy Georgian ounce-pennies, now the lighter bronze coins.</p> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_127'>127</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER IX<br /> <br /><span class='small'>THE MINT-POUNDS</span></h2> -</div> - -<h3 class='c019'>1. <span class='sc'>The Saxon or Tower Pound</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>At some time before the Norman Conquest the Marc of -Cologne was brought to England, probably only as the -mint-standard of the later English kings, for the 16-ounce -Roman pound was already long-established -as the commercial weight.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The standard of the Cologne marc has never varied -much.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Its mean weight = 3608 grains; when doubled it -made a pound = 7216 grains, with an ounce = 451 -grains. This pound is almost identical with the -greater rotl of Al-Mamūn, 1/100 of the cantar = -102·92 lb.; and the old Prussian pound of Cologne -standard was 1/100 of the Prussian centner = 103·11 lb.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Norman Conquest made no change; the Saxon -pound became the Tower pound, the King’s treasury -or mint being in the Tower of London. The Tower -pound of standard silver was coined into 240 silver -pennies, which, at 22-1/2 grains, their weight down to the -time of Edward III, gives 5400 grains for the pound -and 450 grains for the ounce. An actual weight -<span class='pageno' id='Page_128'>128</span>= 5404 grains was found in the Pyx chamber in -1842.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The shilling, of 12 pence, was until Tudor times -only money of account. But it was also a weight of -account, the pound being either 12 ounces of 20 -pennyweight, or 20 shillings of 12 pennyweight.</p> - -<p class='c014'>‘When a quarter of wheat is sold for 12 pence, the -wastel-bread of a farthing shall weigh 6 li. and 16 s. -But bread cocket of a farthing shall weigh more by -2 s.’ (Assize of Bread, 51 Henry III.) That is, the -farthing loaf shall weigh 6-16/20 Tower lb. = 5-1/4 averdepois -lb., and the second sort 24 dwt. or 1-1/5 Tower ounce -more.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Here is an instance of the confusion caused by -making bread, like gold, silver and medicines, saleable -only by the royal pound. This system of a peculiar -pound for bread lasted till the eighteenth century.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Under Edward I the halfpenny loaf weighed 40 s., -that is 2 lb. Tower = a little more than 1-1/2 lb. averdepois.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Moneyers and goldsmiths divided the dwt. or -original weight of the silver penny, for fine weighing, -on the Dutch system, that is into 2 mayles, 4 ferlings -8 troisken, 16 deusken, 32 azen (aces). This would -account for the 32 wheat-corns which the silver penny -was always supposed to weigh, however many pence -the mint struck from the pound of silver.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The mayle and ferling (Fr. <i>maille</i> and <i>felin</i>) were -the mint-names for the silver halfpenny and farthing.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Under the gradual influence of Troy weight the -dwt. Tower was also divided into 24 parts or grains. -It was so divided in the time of Edward III.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_129'>129</span>It must be remembered that there was absolutely -no definition of Tower weight, nothing but the usual -proclamation about the 32 wheat-corns, a convenient -definition, as they still appeared to balance the penny -when it had fallen to half its original weight.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>2. <span class='sc'>The Troy Pound</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>The pound of Troie is mentioned in the time of -Henry IV, and in the next reign goldsmiths were -ordered to use <i>la libre de Troy</i>, though by 9 Henry V -mint-rates were still stated in <i>la libre de Tour</i>. By -2 Henry VI the price of standard silver is fixed at -30<i>s.</i> la livre du Troie, which means that 12 × 30 pennies -of 15 grains were being coined from a pound of 5400 -grains, evidently still a Tower pound. Notwithstanding -the change of name, the Troy pound was not -proclaimed as the royal pound until 1527, when by -18 Henry VII ‘the pounde Towre shall be no more -used, but all manner of golde and sylver shall be wayed -by the pounde Troye which excedith the pound Towre -in weight 3 quarters of the ounce.’ But the Troy -pound had been used concurrently with the old mint-pound -for a long time, and there had been two standards -at the mint.</p> - -<p class='c014'>According to an anonymous writer in 1507 (quoted -in Snelling’s ‘View of the Silver Coin and Coinage,’ -1762) ‘it is a right great untruth and deceit that any -such pound Toweres should be occupied, for that -thereby the merchant is deceived subtilly and the mint -master is thereby profited.’</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_130'>130</span>There is no doubt that after the conquest of England -by Henry Tudor a cloud of deceit came over the -coinage, deceit only ended by Elizabeth’s establishment -of the coinage on an honest basis. Comparing -the declaration of weights, measures, and coinage -by Henry III in 1266 with that of 12 Henry VII -in 1496, the latter does not show to advantage. -It orders—</p> - -<p class='c015'>That every Pound contain 12 ounces of Troy -weight and every ounce contain 20 sterlings and every -Sterling be of the weight of 32 corns of wheat that grew -in the midst of the ear according to the old law of the -said land.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Meanwhile the Troy ounce of silver was being -coined, not into 20, but into 40 sterlings or pennies. -But each of these was supposed to weigh 32 wheat-corns -just as they did when they were really 20 to the -ounce, albeit a Tower ounce.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Whence came the Troy Pound?</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>It is probable that the name of the King’s Troy -pound came from the marc of Troyes, but it is certain -that the English Troy pound no more came from -Troyes than the ‘pound Toweres’ came from Tours.</p> - -<p class='c014'>There were four principal marcs in France:</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>Marc</td> - <td class='c005'>de</td> - <td class='c007'>Troyes</td> - <td class='c005'>its oz.</td> - <td class='c007'>= 472·1</td> - <td class='c017'>grains</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>La Rochelle</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>= 443·4</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>Limoges</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>= 436·5</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>Tours</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>= 430·9</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_131'>131</span>The marc of Troyes doubled made the livre poids -de marc, the Paris standard = 7554 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>That of La Rochelle, the marc d’Angleterre, would -appear from its name to have been, originally at least, -the marc of Cologne, Tower standard, but its standard -corresponds almost exactly to the marc of Castille. -I make inquiries at La Rochelle, and am informed -that the La Rochelle mint had at one time been coining -for Spain, perhaps at the time of Plantagenet dominion -in the South.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The marc of Limoges coincides nearly exactly with -8 ounces averdepois of Plantagenet times; it will be -remembered that Limoges was for a long time an -English Plantagenet city.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The marc of Tours is of southern rather than -northern type.</p> - -<p class='c014'>None of these marcs seem to have any relation -with the Troy weight of England.</p> - -<p class='c014'>There appears to have been in Northern France, -England and Scotland, about the eighth century, a -heavy 16-ounce pound of nearly 8500 grains, possibly -related, through the Russian pound, with the miná of -the Greek-Asiatic talent = 8415 grains. This was -probably the heavy pound which survived in Guernsey -up till the eighteenth century; and perhaps other -pounds said to be of 18 ounces, such as that of Cumberland -up to a generation ago, were really survivals of -this heavy northern pound. Whether this pound -dwindled spontaneously, or whether it was superseded -by the pound derived, either directly from the lesser -Arabic rotl with an ounce = 480-1/4 grains, or indirectly -<span class='pageno' id='Page_132'>132</span>from an ounce of 10 dirhems, of about 48 grains, is -difficult to say. All that is known is that there is a -family of pounds usually known as Troy with an ounce -varying between 483 and 472 grains; that the pennies -of Charlemagne averaging 25 grains correspond to an -ounce of about 500 grains, possibly more, which is -certainly not modern French Troy, and that many -Saxon pennies of about that time were much heavier -than those of the times nearer to the Conquest. The -Northern Troy pounds show the following variations:</p> - -<table style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" summary="Table of pound weights"> - <tr> - <td colspan="3">Swedish mark-weight pund,</td> - <td style="text-align: center;">its ounce</td> - <td>= 483·3</td> - <td style="text-align: center;">grains</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="3">Danish solvpund</td> - <td style="text-align: center;">„</td> - <td>= 481·5</td> - <td style="text-align: center;">„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="3">Scots Tron pound</td> - <td style="text-align: center;">„</td> - <td>= 481·1</td> - <td style="text-align: center;">„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="3">Bremen pound</td> - <td style="text-align: center;">„</td> - <td>= 480·8</td> - <td style="text-align: center;">„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="3">Norwegian skaalpund</td> - <td style="text-align: center;">„</td> - <td>= 477·4</td> - <td style="text-align: center;">„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Amsterdam</td> - <td style="text-align: center;">pound</td> - <td></td> - <td style="text-align: center;">„</td> - <td>= 476·6</td> - <td style="text-align: center;">„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Scots Trois</td> - <td style="text-align: center;">„</td> - <td></td> - <td style="text-align: center;">„</td> - <td>= 475·5</td> - <td style="text-align: center;">„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Dutch Troy</td> - <td style="text-align: center;">„</td> - <td></td> - <td style="text-align: center;">„</td> - <td>= 474·7</td> - <td style="text-align: center;">„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>French Troy</td> - <td style="text-align: center;">„</td> - <td> </td> - <td style="text-align: center;">„</td> - <td>= 472·1</td> - <td style="text-align: center;">„</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>The variation in these Troy pounds seems due to -their ounces being 10 dirhems of 48 grains, more or -less; the lightest ounce, that of French Troy, being -10 dirhems of 47·1 grains, the same as the dirhem of -which the Provençal ounce, 377 grains, contained 8.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Our Troy pound, while taking its name, like the -Scots and Dutch pound, from the Troyes marc, took its -standard from some pound of full weight, possibly from -the Bremen pound, introduced by the Hanse merchants. -Its exact standard appears due to the influence -of the averdepois pound, and this would -explain—</p> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_133'>133</span> - <h4 class='c021'><i>How the Averdepois Pound was of 7000 Grains.</i></h4> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>This division into 7000 grains was not arbitrary, -but it was due to the desire to give it as simple a ratio -as possible to the new Troy pound. It was found by -a Parliamentary Committee in 1758 to weigh 7000 of -those grains into which the Troy pound had always -been divided, necessarily into 5760 of them (12 oz. × -20 dwt. × 24 grs.). Now it seems probable that when -the Troy pound was adopted for mint purposes its -weight might be modified, on the advice of goldsmiths -and merchants, so as to give it a convenient relation -to the old-established averdepois pound. Supposing -the new pound were of the Bremen standard, 7693 -grains, of which 12 ounces = 5769·6 grains, then its -weight would be to that of averdepois as 5769·6 to -7000, or as 5760 to 6987·8. To make the proportion -5760 to 7000 it would be necessary to decrease the -weight of the Troy pound by about 8 grains or to -increase that of the averdepois pound by about -10 grains. It is probable that the latter alternative -was adopted, and that the averdepois pound was -raised in such proportion that it now weighed 7000 -grains of the Troy pound = 5760 grains. This accounts -for the rise in the weight of the averdepois standard -between Plantagenet and Elizabethan times, making -the ounce = 437-1/2 grains instead of the 437 grains of -the Roman ounce.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It is not improbable that the change of mint-standard -from Tower to Troy was due to the very inconvenient -ratio of the Tower pound to the averdepois -<span class='pageno' id='Page_134'>134</span>pound. The mint-pound being necessarily divided -into 12 ounces of 20 pennyweight of 24 parts or grains -= 5760 parts, the ratio of the Tower and averdepois -pounds was 5400 to nearly 7000, or 5760 : 7453, the -latter figure being about the number of Tower grains -= 0·937 grain, contained in the original averdepois -pound. The introduction of a new pound, which by -slight modification in either it or the averdepois pound -would give the simpler ratio of 5760 to 7000, would -probably be most welcome to the mercantile community.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Teutonic countries the usual system of dividing -the pounds was as follows:</p> - -<table class='table5' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='16%' /> -<col width='83%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c008' colspan='2'>Mint-marc of 8 oz. × 20 dwt. × 24 grs. (or 32 azen). Oz. of 480 grains.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008' colspan='2'>Medicinal lb. of 12 oz. × 24 scruples × 20 grs. Oz. of 480 grains.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Commercial</td> - <td class='c008'>⎧ Marc of 16 loth × 16 ort (German).</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c008'>⎩ lb. of 16 oz. × 16 drams (English).</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>The Latin nations followed the ancient Roman -system of dividing the ounce:</p> - -<div class='narrow'> - -<p class='c023'>Mint-pound of 12 oz. × 6 sextulæ × 24 siliquæ = 1728 -siliquæ, the ounce being of 6 × 24 = 144 siliquæ or -carats, and the carat of 4 grains, giving 576 grains in -an ounce.</p> - -</div> - -<table class='table11' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='28%' /> -<col width='71%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Medicinal lb. of 12 oz.</td> - <td class='c008'>⎧ × 8 drachmæ × 3 scrupuli × 24 granæ,</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c008'>⎩ × 8 drachmæ × 3 scrupuli × 2 oboli × 12 granæ.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>In Southern France:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Pound of 16 oz. × 8 ternau × 3 denié × 24 gran.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_135'>135</span>There we see the scruple becomes a pennyweight, -and the obolus or half-scruple becomes a halfpenny.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Northern France:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Mint-marc 8 oz. × 8 gros × 3 deniers × 24 grains.</div> - <div class='line'>Medicinal lb. of 12 oz. × 8 drachmes × 3 scrupules × 24 grains.</div> - <div class='line'>Commercial lb. of 16 oz. × 8 gros × 72 grains.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>In this system, common to France, Spain, Portugal, -Florence, and Rome, the ounce is divided into 576 parts -or grains, while the Troy ounce of the rest of Europe -is of 480 grains. This makes the Latin grain -lighter.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In the medicinal pound, more or less international -throughout the West, the 24 Scruples of the ounce are -grouped into 8 drachms of 3 scruples.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It may be concluded that the English Troy pound -was a Northern weight with its ounce of 480 instead -of 576 parts. It has no direct connexion but in name -with the marc of Troyes. It probably came to us as -an apothecary’s and goldsmith’s pound, and in the -latter, the Latin factors 24 scruples × 20 grains were -transposed for mint purposes so as to preserve the -ancient pennyweight 1/20 ounce of the Tower pound. -But in the apothecary’s Troy pound the ounce remained -divided into 24 scruples (8 drachms of 3 -scruples) each of 20 grains as in other countries except -France, &c.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The story of the goldsmiths’ Carat and Grain will -be found in <a href='#XX'>Chapter XX</a>, that of the Provençal weights, -from which the French Troy was derived, in -<a href='#XVIII'>Chapter XVIII</a>.</p> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_136'>136</span> - <h3 class='c019'>3. <span class='sc'>The Pride and Fall of Troy</span></h3> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>The myth of the 32 wheat-corns which formed the -basis of the Tower pound = 5400 grains, passed to the -Troy pound = 5760 grains, and this deliberate fiction -lasted till the time of Elizabeth and perhaps later. -It did little harm as regards these mint-pounds, but -its application to the Averdepois pound, alleged to be -an offshoot of the royal pound, either as 25 shillings, -that is 300 pennyweights of 32 wheat-corns, or as -15 ounces Troy, or at a later period as 16 ounces -Troy, produced a mental obliquity which is most -lamentable.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The jury of merchants and goldsmiths appointed -in 1574 to examine the ancient standards, and construct -a new set, declared that ‘the one sorte of weight -nowe in use is commonlie called the troie weight and -that other sorte thereof is also commonlie called the -avoir de poiz weight, and further they say that both -the saide consiste compounded frome thauncient -Englishe penye named a sterling rounde and unclipped -which penny is limeted to waie twoo and thirtie -grains of wheate in the midest of the eare and twentie -of those pence make an oz. and twelf of those ounc -make one pound troie.’ They go on to ‘saie that the -said twoo sortes of weights doe differ in weight the -one from the other three ounces troie at the pounde -weight, for the pounde weight troie doth consiste -onlie of xii oz. troie and the lb. weight of avoir de poiz -weight dothe consiste of fiftene ounc troie.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>Thomas Hylles, in his ‘Arte of Vulgar Arithmeticke’ -<span class='pageno' id='Page_137'>137</span>(1600), showed himself emancipated from the superstition -of troy weight so far as to say:</p> - -<p class='c014'>‘15 ounces of Troy weight should by the statute -make 1 pound of haverdepoise, but the same pound -weyeth commonly but 14 ounces 1/2 Troy, 14 ounces -3/5 at the uttermost.’</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>(14-1/2 oz. troy = 6960 grs.; 14-3/5 oz. = 7008 grs.)</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>But he unfortunately went on to say that ‘of -things liquid and dry 1 pound of Troy weight maketh -a pinte in measure,’ not seeing that 12 oz. troy = -only 13·16 oz. averdepois, while a wine-pint contained -16-2/3 ounces of water, and a corn-pint close on 16 ounces -of wheat or 20 of water.</p> - -<p class='c014'>But the ignorance and superstition engendered by -troy weight was just as bad in 1702 as in 1600 or -even in 1500, as shown by the following utterance of -an eighteenth-century scientist:</p> - -<p class='c015'>Troy weight, whereby bread, gold, silver, apothecaries’ -wares etc. are weighed containing only 12 ounces in the -pound, each ounce 20 pennyweight each pennyweight 24 -grams. This seems to have been the most ancient weight -by its name, as derived from the famous city of Troy, -from whence Brutus and his people are said to have -descended and to have called London Troy-Novant or -New Troy.</p> - -<p class='c014'>So said J. Ralphson, F.R.S., in his ‘Mathematical -Dictionary’ (London, 1702). And then he continued:</p> - -<p class='c015'>The second and more common weight is called Avoirdupois, -being fuller and larger weight than the other, for -it contains 16 ounces or 128 drams, viz. 384 scruples, viz. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_138'>138</span>7680 grains, by this are weighed all kinds of grocery ware -and base metals, as iron, copper and brass, as also hemp, -flax, rosin, pitch, tar &c.</p> - -<p class='c014'>A century later we find not much improvement in -the idea of the pounds Troy and Averdepois.</p> - -<p class='c014'>‘The pound or 7680 grains avoirdupois equals -7000 grains troy and hence 1 grain troy equals 1·097 -avoirdupois’ (Rees’ ‘Encyclopædia,’ 1819). This is -an example of the utter muddle the Troy pound had -made in the minds of otherwise intelligent people.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Similar pedantic efforts were continued, well into -the nineteenth century, to represent the Troy pound -as the sole standard of England and the averdepois -pound only respectable as an offshoot of the royal -pound used for vulgar purposes.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>The Assize of Bread</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>Such fictions were helped by the old statutes which -compelled the sale, first by Tower and then by Troy -weight, of bread as well as of gold, silver, and medicines. -And confusion was made worse by the use for a long -period of a third weight for bread, the Amsterdam or -Scotch troy pound.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The peck loaf, supposed to be that produced from a -peck of flour (16 pints), was to weigh 16 of these pounds -= 17 lbs. 6 oz. averdepois, the quartern loaf 4 = -4 lb. 5 oz., and the pint loaf (to be sold at a penny -when wheat was 4<i>s.</i> a bushel or 32<i>s.</i> a quarter) was -to weigh one pound = 17 oz. 6 drams averdepois. -The periodical Assize of Bread fixed the price of the -peck loaf.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_139'>139</span>It appears then that the pound of bread was = -7600 grains, its ounce = 475 grains, which was about -the Scottish (and Dutch) troy standard. It was -probably adopted as coinciding with the weight of -bread supposed to be produced from a pint of flour -and as keeping up the old superstition that bread must -be sold by troy weight. As some persons in authority -did not share the stupidity of those who considered the -averdepois pound to be 16 troy ounces, the Scottish -16-ounce pound of troy standard was imported for -the purpose.</p> - -<p class='c014'>This weight was abolished by 8 Anne (1710) -and the sliding scale was put in the averdepois -equivalent.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Assize of Bread was abolished in 1815, but -traces of it remain in the name ‘quartern loaf,’ -although this now means a loaf of 4 imperial pounds. -It may also mean a loaf weighing the quarter of a -16-lb. stone.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>The Disappearance of the Troy Pound</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>In 1841 a Royal Commission on Weights and -Measures recommended the abolition of the Troy pound -as ‘wholly useless,’ retaining its ounce provisionally for -the use of bullion merchants, pending ‘the removal of -the troy scale.’ This recommendation was not carried -out until 1878, when the Troy pound disappeared, -except of course in almanacks and books for the -instruction of youth—but the Troy ounce still survives -at the mint, and consequently in the bullion market; -and it is virtually forced on druggists in spite of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_140'>140</span>Medical Council. Troy weight was abolished by the -Pharmacopœia Committee in 1864, Imperial weight -being alone recognised; yet the Board of Trade keeps -up the Apothecaries’ ounce of 480 grains. Troy -weight has fallen; but, like many other superstitions, -it dies hard.</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_141'>141</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER X<br /> <br /><span class='small'>THE CUBIC FOOT AND THE TON REGISTER</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>The cubic foot and the cubic inch are the usual -measures of solidity. The cubic yard is used as a -measure of masonry, earthwork, or reservoirs of -water.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The cubic foot has many points of concordance -with weights and with measures of capacity, and is the -basis of ship and cargo measurement.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The definition of the Imperial gallon as 277·274 -cubic inches, the volume of 10 lb. of water at 62°, a -pound of water measuring 27·7274 cubic inches, led to -attempts to determine accurately the weight of a cubic -inch and of a cubic foot of water. These experiments -are interesting in consequence of the recognition, in -1685,<a id='r29' /><a href='#f29' class='c016'><sup>[29]</sup></a> that the cubic foot of water weighed approximately -1000 ounces, and of the probability that this -weight of water in Roman ounces, = 437 grains, was -the source of our Imperial system. It has already -been shown how difficult it is either to construct -accurately a measure containing a certain weight of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_142'>142</span>water or conversely to determine the weight of water -in a standard measure.<a id='r30' /><a href='#f30' class='c016'><sup>[30]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c014'>The statute definition of the cubic inch of water -as = 252·458 grains at 62° corresponds to 62·326 lb., -or 997·21 ounces, for the cubic foot. Reduction of -these weights to the standard of maximum density of -water at 39·2° increases the weight of the cubic inch by -0·29 grain, and of the cubic foot by 1·1 ounce, making -it = 62·4 lb. or 998·3 ounces. An Order in Council -of 1889 gives 252·286 grains as the weight of the cubic -inch of water. But the exact weight is uncertain, and -the 1824 statute definition seems to be as accurate -as the more recent determinations, all different.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It may be taken that the cubic foot of water weighs -very approximately—</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>at 62°</td> - <td class='c007'>in air</td> - <td class='c005'>997·2</td> - <td class='c005'>ounces</td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>at 39·2°</td> - <td class='c007'>in air</td> - <td class='c005'>998·3</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>(+ 0·9</td> - <td class='c005'>ounce</td> - <td class='c008'>)</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>at 39·2°</td> - <td class='c007'>in vacuo</td> - <td class='c005'>999·6</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>(+ 2·4</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>)</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>And 1000 ounces of water at the original weight of -the averdepois ounce, of Roman standard = 437 grains, -would weigh 999·5 of such ounces, at 62° in air.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Practically measures of capacity need only approximate -coincidence with standards; they are used for -<span class='pageno' id='Page_143'>143</span>convenience in order to avoid weighing, especially in -retail trade. Corn and many other kinds of produce -are more conveniently measured than weighed, the -average weight being ascertained, if desired, by a -sample bushel.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Fluids may also require corrections for temperature -when bought or sold by measure. Water increases in -volume 1 per 1000 between 39° and 61°; and another -1 per 1000 between 61° and 70°; other fluids have -their peculiar coefficients of expansion.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Allowing then for small temperature-corrections, -the cubic foot may be taken as equal to 62-1/2 lb. or -1000 ounces of water, and at this sufficiently approximate -standard it becomes the basis of a series of -measures for ship and other purposes.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>The Ton Register</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>The capacity of ships has for centuries been reckoned -in tons. The term arose from the custom, in French -and other wine ports, to take as the unit of cargo-bulk -the tun of wine usually contained in four hogsheads, -each of 63 wine-gallons. The number of hogsheads -divided by 4 gave the tonnage to be charged.</p> - -<p class='c014'>This cargo-ton, the <i>tonneau d’encombrement</i>, was -equal to 42 French cubic feet = 51 English cubic -feet.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Ton Register appears to have arisen in the -ports of Northern Europe. There the unit was -usually the skippund (ship-pound) of about 360 lb. -for wool and light goods. But the Last was also a -wide-spread, though variable, measure; in the Baltic -<span class='pageno' id='Page_144'>144</span>trade it was usually reckoned at 11-1/4 quarters of wheat -= 90 bushels or 5400 lb. In England it was usually -10 quarters = 80 bushels = 5000 lb. Now this bulk -of wheat measures about 100 cubic feet, so 100 English -cubic feet has become the unit adopted in all maritime -countries, as the Ton Register. In France it is called -the <i>tonneau de jaugage</i> and is taken as = 2·83 cubic -metres.</p> - -<p class='c014'>A ship of 2000 tons register is of a capacity = -200,000 cubic feet below decks. The register tonnage -is thus obtained:</p> - -<p class='c014'>Mean length × 0·94 of maximum beam × depth -from upper deck to keel, the measure being taken -inside, and in feet. The product is cubic feet, which -divided by 100 gives register tonnage.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In France these measurements have to be made in -metres; the product in cubic metres is divided by -0·38 to get tonnage.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Net tonnage, as distinguished from gross tonnage, -is the latter less the space occupied by cabins below -deck, by engines and bunkers, in short all that is not -‘hold.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>This deduction gives the space available for cargo, -a very large proportion in a sailing-ship, a very small -proportion in a steam-yacht or tug.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Cargo Ton is usually reckoned at 40 cubic -feet; the space occupied by 20 centals = 4 quarters -of wheat, or 25 centals of water.</p> - -<p class='c014'>A steamship of 4500 tons register may be 3000 -tons net; as each of these net tons will contain 2-1/2 tons -of cargo of about the same weight as wheat, after -<span class='pageno' id='Page_145'>145</span>allowing for cases, dunnage, &c., the ship may be -described as carrying 7500 tons dead-weight. Of -course, this would only apply to goods of medium -weight; not to iron rails or to ore, which could only be -taken as a limited part of the cargo, the rest of the -space being either filled with light goods or remaining -empty.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The ship-owner has the choice of charging freight -by measurement, usually at 40 c. ft. to the ton, or -by the ton weight for metal and other heavy goods.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Concordance of Capacity, Weight and Measurement</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class="bordered" summary="Capacities and weights"> - <tr> - <td class='ca' colspan="2" rowspan="2">Capacity</td> - <td class='ca' colspan="3">Weight of Water</td> - <td class='ca' rowspan="2">Cubic<br />Inches</td> - <td class='ca' colspan="2" rowspan="2">Weight of Wheat<br />Lb.</td> - <td class='ca' rowspan="2">Cubic<br />Feet</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='ca'>Oz.</td> - <td class='ca'>Lb.</td> - <td class='ca'>Oz.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='ll'></td> - <td class='lr'></td> - <td class='rs'></td> - <td class='ls'></td> - <td class='rs'>1</td> - <td class='cs'>1·73</td> - <td class='cs'></td> - <td class='cs'></td> - <td class='rs'>1/1000</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='cs' colspan="2">(1/2 Quartern)</td> - <td class='rs'>2-1/2</td> - <td class='ls'></td> - <td class='rs'></td> - <td class='cs'></td> - <td class='cs'></td> - <td class='cs'></td> - <td class='rs'></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='ll'></td> - <td class='lr'></td> - <td class='rs'></td> - <td class='ls'></td> - <td class='rs'>10</td> - <td class='cs'></td> - <td class='cs'></td> - <td class='cs'></td> - <td class='rs'>1/100</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='ll'>× 8</td> - <td class='lr'>= Pint</td> - <td class='rs'>20</td> - <td class='ls'>= 1-1/4</td> - <td class='rs'></td> - <td class='cs'>34·6</td> - <td class='cs'>1</td> - <td class='cs'></td> - <td class='rs'></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='ll'></td> - <td class='lr'></td> - <td class='rs'></td> - <td class='ls'></td> - <td class='rs'>100</td> - <td class='cs'></td> - <td class='cs'></td> - <td class='cs'>5</td> - <td class='rs'>1/10</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='ll'>× 8</td> - <td class='lr'>= Gallon</td> - <td class='rs'>160</td> - <td class='ls'>= 10</td> - <td class='rs'></td> - <td class='cs'>277-1/4</td> - <td class='cs'>8</td> - <td class='cs'></td> - <td class='rs'></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='ll'></td> - <td class='lr'></td> - <td class='rs'></td> - <td class='ls'> 62-1/2</td> - <td class='rs'>1000</td> - <td class='cs'></td> - <td class='cs'></td> - <td class='cs'>50</td> - <td class='rs'>1</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='ll'>× 8</td> - <td class='lr'>= Bushel</td> - <td class='rs'></td> - <td class='ls'> 80</td> - <td class='rs'></td> - <td class='cs'>2218</td> - <td class='cs'>64</td> - <td class='cs'></td> - <td class='rs'></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='ll'></td> - <td class='lr'></td> - <td class='rs'></td> - <td class='ls'></td> - <td class='rs'></td> - <td class='cs'></td> - <td class='cs'>Cental</td> - <td class='cs'>100</td> - <td class='rs'>2</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='ll'>× 8</td> - <td class='lr'>= Quarter</td> - <td class='rs'></td> - <td class='ls'></td> - <td class='rs'></td> - <td class='cs'></td> - <td class='cs'></td> - <td class='cs'>500</td> - <td class='rs'>10</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='ll'></td> - <td class='lr'></td> - <td class='rs'></td> - <td class='ls'></td> - <td class='rs'></td> - <td class='cs'></td> - <td class='cs'></td> - <td class='cs'></td> - <td class='rs'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='ll'>× 4</td> - <td class='lr'>= Ton-cargo</td> - <td class='rs'></td> - <td class='ls'></td> - <td class='rs'></td> - <td class='cs'></td> - <td class='cs'></td> - <td class='cs'>2000</td> - <td class='rs'>40</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='ll'></td> - <td class='lr'></td> - <td class='rs'></td> - <td class='ls'></td> - <td class='rs'></td> - <td class='cs'></td> - <td class='cs'></td> - <td class='cs'></td> - <td class='rs'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='ll'></td> - <td class='lr'>= Ton-register</td> - <td class='rt'></td> - <td class='lt'></td> - <td class='rt'></td> - <td class='ct'></td> - <td class='ct'>10 Qrs.</td> - <td class='ct'>5000</td> - <td class='rt'>100</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>With</td> - <td class='c005'>the</td> - <td class='c007'>Corn-bushel (U.S.)</td> - <td class='c007'>= 62-1/2</td> - <td class='c007'>lb.</td> - <td class='c005'>of wheat,</td> - <td class='c007'>1</td> - <td class='c005'>Quarter</td> - <td class='c008'>= 500 lb.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>Imperial bushel</td> - <td class='c007'>= 64</td> - <td class='c007'>lb.</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>1</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>= 512 lb.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_146'>146</span><span class='sc'>Table of Volume and Weight of Water</span></div> - <div><span class='sc'>at Different Temperatures</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'><a id='Water'></a></p> - -<table class='table3' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='btt blt brt c028'> </td> - <td class='btt brt c028'>Expansion</td> - <td class='btt brt c028'>Density</td> - <td class='btt brt c028'>Weight of</td> - <td class='btt brt c028' colspan='4'>Corrections</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c028'>Temperature</td> - <td class='brt c028'>——</td> - <td class='brt c028'>——</td> - <td class='brt c028'>1 Cubic Foot.</td> - <td class='brt c028' colspan='4'>from 1000 ozs.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c028'>Fahr.°</td> - <td class='brt c028'>1000 Units</td> - <td class='brt c028'>1000 Units</td> - <td class='brt c028'>Ounces</td> - <td class='brt c028' colspan='4'>in 1 Cubic Foot.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt blt brt c028'> </td> - <td class='bbt brt c028'>of Volume</td> - <td class='bbt brt c028'>of Weight</td> - <td class='bbt brt c027'> </td> - <td class='bbt brt c028' colspan='4'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c040'>32</td> - <td class='brt c029'>1000·13</td> - <td class='brt c029'>999·8</td> - <td class='brt c035'>998·1</td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c041'>39·2</td> - <td class='brt c029'>1000</td> - <td class='brt c027'>1000</td> - <td class='brt c035'>998·3</td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c027'>-1·7</td> - <td class='c028'>oz.</td> - <td class='brt c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c040'>45</td> - <td class='brt c029'>1000·1</td> - <td class='brt c029'>999·9</td> - <td class='brt c035'>998·2</td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c027'>-1·8</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - <td class='brt c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c040'>50</td> - <td class='brt c029'>1000·25</td> - <td class='brt c029'>999·75</td> - <td class='brt c035'>998</td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c027'>-2</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - <td class='brt c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c040'>55</td> - <td class='brt c029'>1000·55</td> - <td class='brt c029'>999·4</td> - <td class='brt c035'>997·7</td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c027'>-2·3</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - <td class='brt c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c040'>60</td> - <td class='brt c029'>1000·9</td> - <td class='brt c029'>999·1</td> - <td class='brt c035'>997·4</td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c027'>-2·6</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - <td class='brt c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c040'>62</td> - <td class='brt c029'>1001·1</td> - <td class='brt c029'>998·9</td> - <td class='brt c035'>997·2</td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c027'>-2·8</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - <td class='brt c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c040'>65</td> - <td class='brt c029'>1001·5</td> - <td class='brt c029'>998·6</td> - <td class='brt c035'>996·8</td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c027'>-3·1</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - <td class='brt c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c040'>70</td> - <td class='brt c029'>1002</td> - <td class='brt c029'>998</td> - <td class='brt c035'>996·3</td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c027'>-3·7</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - <td class='brt c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c040'>75</td> - <td class='brt c029'>1002·6</td> - <td class='brt c029'>997·4</td> - <td class='brt c035'>995·7</td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c027'>-4·3</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - <td class='brt c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c040'>80</td> - <td class='brt c029'>1003·3</td> - <td class='brt c029'>996·7</td> - <td class='brt c035'>995</td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c027'>-5</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - <td class='brt c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c040'>85</td> - <td class='brt c029'>1004</td> - <td class='brt c029'>996</td> - <td class='brt c035'>994·3</td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c027'>-5·7</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - <td class='brt c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c040'>90</td> - <td class='brt c029'>1004·8</td> - <td class='brt c029'>995·2</td> - <td class='brt c035'>993·5</td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c027'>-6·5</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - <td class='brt c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c040'>95</td> - <td class='brt c029'>1005·7</td> - <td class='brt c029'>994·3</td> - <td class='brt c035'>992·6</td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c027'>-7·4</td> - <td class='c028'>„</td> - <td class='brt c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='c027'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c028'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt blt brt c028'>100</td> - <td class='bbt brt c029'>1006·8</td> - <td class='bbt brt c029'>993·2</td> - <td class='bbt brt c035'>991·5</td> - <td class='bbt c028'> </td> - <td class='bbt c027'>-8·5</td> - <td class='bbt c028'>„</td> - <td class='bbt brt c028'> </td> - </tr> -</table> - -<hr class='c018' /> -<div class='footnote' id='f29'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r29'>29</a>. </span>‘Some Gentlemen at Oxford in 1685 determined the weight -of a cubic foot of spring water, or 1728 solid inches, to be 1000 -ounces averdepois.’—Kelly, <i>Metrology</i>, 1816.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f30'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r30'>30</a>. </span>For this reason the custodians of the metric system have -abandoned the cubic decimetre of water as the basis of measures -either of capacity or of weight. The kilogramme is now, like our -pound, a certain metal standard, and the litre is a measure containing, -more or less exactly, a kilogramme of water. A perfect -litre standard contains 1000 grammes of water at 39·2°; but 1·1 -gramme less at 62°, 2 grammes less at 70°, and 3·3 grammes less -at 80°, a very frequent summer temperature. For exact correspondence -of measure with weight, corrections are always required -whether on the imperial or on the metric system.</p> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_147'>147</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XI<br /> <br /><span class='small'>SCOTS, IRISH, AND WELSH MEASURES AND<br />WEIGHTS</span></h2> -</div> - -<h3 class='c019'>1. <span class='sc'>Scotland</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>The Scots system was distinctly North German, -influenced by English measures.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Linear Measures</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>The standard of length was the Scots Ell = 37·06 -English inches. Originally three Rhineland feet at -12·353 inches, it was always described as containing -37 inches. The inch, at 1/37 of the ell, was slightly -longer, by less than 2 in 1000, than the English inch. -The penalty edicted in 1685 against the use of any -other foot but that of 12 inches, while ‘three foot -and an inch’ were a Scots ell, seems to show that a -foot equal to one-third of an ell may have been used.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The rod or ‘fall’ was 6 ells; the acre was 160 -square rods = 1·26 acre, and very nearly equal to the -French arpent, which was equal to the Roman heredium. -This is, however, a mere coincidence. The Scots acre -comes, like the English acre, from North Germany. -The type of the Scots acre is seen in the Jück (yoke) -of Oldenburg; this field-measure is 160 square ruthen; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_148'>148</span>each ruthe is 18 feet square, presumably 18 Rhineland -feet = 6 Scots ells, originally; though now of a -lower standard which makes the Jück = only 1·12 acre -instead of the 1·26 acre of Rhineland standard.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Weights</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>There was an ancient weight, the Tron pound, of -variable standard, about 20 Scots ounces. But its -actual weight appears to have been 9622 grains, which -is exactly 20 ounces of the original Arabic ounce = -481·18 grains. This was abolished by the Act of 1618, -which ordered ‘that the standards be kept, two -firlots by Linlithgow, the stone weight by Lanark, -the ell by Edinburgh, and the pint by Stirling, as -of old.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Lanark stone was 16 lb. of Scots Trois weight. -An inscription on the standard still extant states that -it was equal to 15 lb. 14 oz. English Troy, that is to the -fictive long Troy pound of 7680 grains. The Scots -pound, = 7609 grains, was divided into 16 ounces = -475·5 grains, divided into 16 drops.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The stone was blunderingly described (1618) as -‘the French Trois Stone containing sixteen Trois -ounces.’ But it had nothing to do with French weight -(in which the ounce = 472·12 grains); its standard -was of the Dutch Troy (Trooisch) class, coinciding -very closely with that of the Amsterdam pound = -7925 grains, the ounce = 476·5 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>When the 7600-grains lb. came to England as the -standard of the Assize of Bread, it was known as the -Scots or Dutch pound.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_149'>149</span>An Act of James I (1410), ‘That a Stone be made -for weighing fifteen Trois pounds and divided into -sixteen Scots pounds,’ leads to a suspicion that there -was another Scots pound, of Rhineland standard; -for 16 pounds or double marks of Cologne are very -approximately equal to 15 long Troy pounds of English -standard.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Troy oz., 480 grs. × 16/15 = 450 grs. = Tower oz.</p> - -<p class='c014'>One may thus surmise that the royal pound of -Scotland, like that of England up to Tudor times, was -of Cologne or Tower standard, and was superseded -in course of time by the Amsterdam or Scots Trois -pound.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Measures of Capacity</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>In 1410 it was ordered:</p> - -<p class='c015'>That the Boll be divided into 4 Firlots, and contain -29 inches within the boords, and above 27 and an half-inch -even over, and in deepness 19 inches; that the Firlot -contain in breadth even over 16 inches under and above -within the boords, and in deepness 9 inches; that the -Firlot contain 2 gallons and a pint, and the Pint to weigh, -of the water of Tay 41 ounces or 2 pounds 9 ounces; so -the Gallon weighs 20 pounds 8 ounces, the Firlot 41 pounds -and the Boll 164 pounds.</p> - -<p class='c014'>This seems as clear as the water of Tay; unfortunately -the three firlots mentioned in the first half of the -quotation are three different firlots.</p> - -<p class='c014'>There is also a difficulty about the pint. An Act -of James VI gives ‘the pint of Stirling two pounds -and nine ounces Trois, of clear water,’ the same weight -<span class='pageno' id='Page_150'>150</span>as above. But another and previous Act of the same -king (1618) orders ‘that the Pint weigh three pounds -seven ounces Trois of the running water of the Water -of Leith’; and this pint is also called the Stirling -Pint, Jug or Stoup, so there were two pints, as well as -several firlots.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Of the two pints, the standard of one is still extant, -which we will call the Stirling Jug or larger pint. It -contains 104·2 cubic inches = 60·1 ounces of water, -almost exactly 3 Imperial pints, and was 55 ounces -or 3 lb. 7 oz. Scots of water. It was not an aliquot -part of any of the firlots, but was itself a standard -basis of measure, of which the firlot might be 18, 19, -21-1/4, &c. There is little doubt that it was one of -the ‘Kanne’ of North Germany (Du. <i>stoop</i>); these -kanne vary at the present day between 2·83 pints -in Bremen and 3·2 pints in Hamburg. There was -in Prussia until quite recently the Metze of 6 pints -or 120·8 ounces, almost exactly twice the larger -Stirling Jug.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The other pint, of 41 Scots ounces = 44-1/2 English -ounces or 2-1/4 pints, was not a standard measure. It -was merely a divisional unit, one-sixteenth of the -above-described wine firlot containing 41 lb. Scots, -or 44-1/2 English pounds, of water. This firlot was -divided into 2 gallons = 20-1/2 lb. Scots, or 22-1/4 English -pounds; and the gallon into 8 pints of 41 ounces -Scots.</p> - -<p class='c014'>What was the origin of this firlot, or rather of the -Boll, of which it was a fourth? There is only one -measure with which it has any affinity: the half-Cargo -<span class='pageno' id='Page_151'>151</span>of Marseilles,<a id='r31' /><a href='#f31' class='c016'><sup>[31]</sup></a> divided like it, sexdecimally. -The two series run thus:</p> - -<table class='table6' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='28%' /> -<col width='4%' /> -<col width='9%' /> -<col width='9%' /> -<col width='33%' /> -<col width='4%' /> -<col width='9%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c005' colspan='3'><span class='sc'>Scotland</span></td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c017' colspan='3'><span class='sc'>Marseilles</span> <span class='small'>(original Standard)</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005' colspan='2'><span class='small'>Imp. Gall.</span></td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c017' colspan='2'><span class='small'>Imp. Gall.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Boll 164 lb. Scots</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c007'>17·8</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>Half-Cargo</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c026'>17·76</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Firlot 41 „</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c022'>4·45</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>Panau, Eimino</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c026'>4·43</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Gallon 20-1/2 „</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c022'>2·22</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>Half-Eimino</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c026'>2·21</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Pint, Jug 41 oz.</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c022'>2·2</td> - <td class='c042'></td> - <td class='c007'>Pechié (Pitcher)</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c026'>2·21</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>In the next reign, that of James II, about 1450, -another Firlot appeared. It was to be ‘a general -Mett, according to the Pint and Quart formerly given -to the Burgh of Stirling for an universal standard, -whereof each Firlot to contain eighteen Pints ... -and that none use another measure.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>Which of the Stirling pints was the Standard? -The smaller pint of 41 Scots ounces of water, or the -Jug, the larger pint, of 55 ounces?</p> - -<p class='c014'>In this case it was certainly the larger pint; for -18 pints of this standard are very nearly equal to a -firlot containing a Rhineland cubic foot of water, -1000 Troy ounces = 1886 cubic inches. Except the -slight difference between Amsterdam and Scots Troy -weight, this firlot was 62-1/2 lb. Scots, just as the English -cubic foot was 62-1/2 lb. averdepois. It was 18 pints of -104·2 cubic inches = 1875·6 cubic inches = 54 Imperial -pints or 6·76 Imperial gallons. This corresponds very -<span class='pageno' id='Page_152'>152</span>closely to the Himt or cubic Rhineland-foot measure of -North Germany, actually = 6·85 gallons.</p> - -<p class='c014'>This was a corn-firlot, and I recognise in it the -firlot mixed up with the wine-firlot and only rescued by -its stated dimensions corresponding to a capacity so -different from the calculated contents of the latter. -The dimensions given correspond to a capacity of -1809 cubic inches, a considerable divergence, but the -old custom of ordering the gauge of bushel-measures -in inches either whole or with simple fractions often -caused considerable divergence from the calculated -standard of capacity.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Progress through the Acts of the Parliaments of -Scotland reveals to us more firlots, with the same -anxiety which has been seen in English statutes for -unity of standards, with the same attempts to conceal -their plurality beneath plausible wording. Under -James VI (and I of England) the Parliaments were -anxious ‘that the measure and firlot of Linlithgow -should be the only firlot for all his Majesty’s liedges.’ -It was therefore ordered that the Pint of Stirling -be 2 lb. 9 oz. Trois of clear water, and the Firlot of -Linlithgow 19 pints.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It has been seen that the Act of James I which -ordered the wine-firlot to be 41 lb. in 2 gallons of -20 lb. 8 oz. also stated that it was to contain 2 gallons -and a pint; thus making it in one line 16 pints (of -41 ounces), in another 17 pints. The Act of James II -ordered the firlot (presumably a corn-firlot) to be 18 -pints, of 55 ounces. And then the Act of James VI -made the firlot 19 pints, of 41 ounces = 48-3/4 lb. Scots or -<span class='pageno' id='Page_153'>153</span>53 English pounds. This capacity corresponds approximately -to the Schepel of Oldenburg, now = -50 lb.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Yet another Act of James VI (1616) finds the -Linlithgow standard of the Firlot to be true and to -contain ‘twentie are pincts and ane mutchkin of just -Sterline Jug and measure,’ but, in order to put an end -to heaped measure, it orders a new firlot for malt, -barley and oats, containing 31 pints Stirling Jug, and -that the pint weigh 3 lb. 7 oz. Trois of the running -water of the Water of Leith. Thus different Acts -order firlots of 16, 17, 18, 19, 21-1/4, 31, pints; -sometimes the pint is to be 41 ounces Scots, sometimes -55 ounces, and sometimes it is not mentioned -which.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The firlot of 21-1/4 pints was probably an imported -measure found to contain that number of pints; -21-1/4 × 104·2 gives 2214 cubic inches, = 7·98 Imperial -gallons, for its capacity, a measure coinciding very -closely with the Anker, which varies between 7·83 -gallons in Oldenburg and 8 gallons in Lubeck (and -7·95 gallons in the Cape Colony). The Boll of 4 -firlots = 4 bushels was equal to the Lubeck Ohm; and -the term Anker was used in Scotland for the potato-firlot.</p> - -<p class='c014'>This firlot of 21-1/4 pints became the Edinburgh -firlot; and it happens to coincide almost exactly -with the Imperial bushel. It being fixed at 21-1/4 -Stirling pints (of 104·2 c.i.) when 20-1/2 pints would have -made it 2136 c.i., almost exactly the old English bushel -(2150 c.i.), shows that it was not influenced by the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_154'>154</span>latter; it was clearly an independent measure imported -by trade. Its series was quaternary:</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Boll (of 4 firlots)</td> - <td class='c007'>= 4</td> - <td class='c005'>Imperial</td> - <td class='c008'>bushels.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Firlot</td> - <td class='c007'>= 1</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Peck</td> - <td class='c007'>= 2</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>gallons.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Lippy (or forpit)</td> - <td class='c007'>= 4</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>pints.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>The lippy, as its sixteenth, came to mean a sixteenth -generally. The word is a diminutive of the O.E. -‘leap,’ a basket, e.g. ‘seed-lip.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>The barley and oats firlot of 31 pints = 3230 -cubic inches is the real Linlithgow firlot. It was -the Edinburgh firlot increased to contain the same -weight of malt, bear (barley) and oats as that contained -of wheat.<a id='r32' /><a href='#f32' class='c016'><sup>[32]</sup></a> Its capacity was 11·6 gallons, and its Boll -contained 46-1/2 gallons or 5·8 bushels. It was probably -a Boll of about this capacity the dimensions of which, -giving a capacity of about 43 gallons, were roughly -stated in the Act of 1410 as those of the wine-boll.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Chalder (of Culross) was 16 Edinburgh bolls.</p> - -<p class='c014'>I need scarcely do more than mention the -smaller measures: to the Choppin (Fr. <i>chopine</i>), half -a wine-pint; to the Mutchkin (Du. <i>maatje</i>), its quarter; -to the Gill, its eighth, usually.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The measures of Scotland may be thus summarised: -They appear to have all come from North Germany, -except one from Provence.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_155'>155</span>The Ell was a length of 3 Rhineland feet, divided -into 37 inches, approximately of English standard.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Acre was a North German acker of 160 rods, -each 6 Rhineland feet square.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Pound was the Amsterdam standard of Troy = -7609 grains, multiplied and divided sexdecimally.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The old wine-boll = 17·8 gallons was the half-Cargo -of Marseilles, divided into 16 pints of 41 Scots -ounces.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The larger Stirling Jug was a North German -‘kanne’ of 104·2 cubic inches = 55 Scots ounces or -3 Imperial pints. It was the standard of corn-measure; -the corn-firlots were multiples of it.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The common corn-firlot was a Rhineland cubic -foot = 1000 Troy ounces or 18 Stirling Jugs. It was -the North German Himt.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Another firlot was 19 lesser pints = 48-3/4 lb. Scots.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Edinburgh Firlot of 21-1/4 Stirling Jugs or 2214 -cubic inches was the North German Anker, become -a corn-measure.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Firlot of 31 Stirling Jugs was a wheat-firlot -enlarged to hold about the same weight of oats.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>2. <span class='sc'>Ireland</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>There are in Ireland many primitive Celtic measures -worthy of study, if merely as showing the ways of -thought of the people; but apart from these, the -system of weights and measures, established for many -centuries, has been the English system introduced in -early Plantagenet times.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_156'>156</span>Some of these measures, relics of that time, long -overlaid in England, are of interest; for instance, the -gallon of 217 c.i. is one-eighth of the early wine-bushel = -1 cubic foot.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Irish road and field measures, multiples of the -seven-yard rod, have been noticed.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>3. <span class='sc'>Wales</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>The general unit is the Cibyn (kibbin) = 4 gallons or -32 lb. of wheat, the English half-bushel or tuffet. It -is divided into 4 quarts, and 16 cibyns make a Peg = -8 bushels or 1 quarter.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Measures on the English stone system are also -used:</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>The</td> - <td class='c007'>Ffiol</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c006'>1</td> - <td class='c005'>stone,</td> - <td class='c008'>14 lb.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>Peck</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c006'>3</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>Hobbet</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c006'>12</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>about 2-1/2 bushels.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>There is a Hobbet in England, but this is about a -bushel.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The 5-span Ell survived in Wales for a long time -as the Hirlath.</p> - -<hr class='c018' /> -<div class='footnote' id='f31'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r31'>31</a>. </span>There was considerable intercourse between Marseilles and -Scotland. The Scots custom of eating grey peas with oil on Carlin’ -Sunday is taken from the Provençal custom of eating chick-peas -on Palm Sunday; and the traditional reason, the arrival on that -day, in famine-time, of a ship laden with pulse, is the same at Leith -as at Marseilles.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f32'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r32'>32</a>. </span>It was a common custom formerly to measure corn by the -shallow bushel, striked for wheat, heaped for lighter corn. The -oats firlot of 31 pints was ordered to end the practice of giving -‘three straiked for two heaped measures [which] do exceed and -are not just.’</p> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_157'>157</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XII<br /> <br /><span class='small'>MEASURES AND WEIGHTS OF SOME BRITISH<br />DOMINIONS</span></h2> -</div> - -<h3 class='c019'>1. <span class='sc'>The Channel Islands</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>These measures are the connecting links between -those of old France, through Normandy, and those of -England, especially in land-measures. Normandy had -a system of measures kept in fair unity by the English -dukes of Normandy.</p> - -<p class='c014'>‘Thanks to their firm administration the English -system was generally marked by a scientific regularity -which, notwithstanding its complication, is in remarkable -contrast with the barbarous French system.’<a id='r33' /><a href='#f33' class='c016'><sup>[33]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c014'>For England had already, at the Norman Conquest, -a good system in which weight, wine-measure, corn-measure, -and linear measure were co-related; albeit -this co-relation, under the influence of the royal mint -pound, was forgotten for many centuries, and is indeed -scarcely known at present.</p> - -<p class='c014'>But Northern France and Normandy had no such -<span class='pageno' id='Page_158'>158</span>co-related system. Southern France had an excellent -system, indeed that of Marseilles was perfect; while -Paris, taking its measures from the South, destroyed -their co-ordination and was careless of their standards.</p> - -<p class='c014'>None of the Paris series had any simple relation. -So it was in Normandy, where the systems of North -and South were mixed with Teutonic measures.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The original Norman perch, like that of England,</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><i>et est la mesure 16 pies la perque</i>,</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>probably Rhineland feet, but perches of 20, 22 and 24 -Paris feet, often of reduced Paris feet, superseded it. -The Acre was always 4 Vergées or roods, nearly always -of 40 square perches, and divided into quarters.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The charuée, caruée or ploughland was usually -60 Normandy acres, divided into 12 bouvées or oxgangs, -each of 5 acres or 20 vergées.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Corn-measure had for principal unit the Bushel, -8 of which made a Quarter, a quarter of a horse-load -or, if large, of a cartload. The bushel was, or appeared -usually to be, a multiple of the Pot; this led to divergencies -according to the number of pots taken; yet -it seems probable that the Pot was itself a fraction, -an eighth, a tenth, a twelfth, or a sixteenth of some -bushel either wine-measure or corn-measure.</p> - -<p class='c014'>While the weights and measures of Paris had established -themselves in Rouen and Caen, local measures -more in agreement with Norman customs were in -general use. Thus the Paris bushel = 793 cubic -inches was scarcely used. A typical Norman measure -was the <i>Boisseau étalon de l’abbaye de Jumièges</i>, containing, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_159'>159</span>as nearly as I could measure, 1648 cubic inches. -Now this is very approximately a cubic foot of the -reduced Paris 11-inch standard usual in Normandy, -akin to the 11-inch foot of Jersey. This cubic foot -was very nearly the Roman cubic foot or Quadrantal; -for the reduced Paris foot, = 11·72 English inches, -was very nearly the same as the quarter of the aune, -which was 4 Roman feet very approximately.</p> - -<p class='c014'>There was another standard Bushel—the <i>Boisseau -étalon de la Ville de Bolbec</i>—containing, as nearly as -I could measure, 2534 cubic inches.</p> - -<p class='c014'>There is also a peculiar measure for apples, the -<i>barattée</i> or churnful, usually of 25 pots.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Normandy as in the rest of France weights were -not related to measures. It was always known what -was the usual weight of corn in the bushel; thus the -Paris bushel was supposed to hold 20 French pounds of -wheat.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Some heavy pounds, brought possibly by the -Normans, disappeared gradually before the Paris -Troy pound. Wool-weight brought from England -was used; the sack being 36 stone of 9 French pounds -or about 350 averdepois pounds.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Such was the system of measures and weights used -in Normandy, and surviving there in great part. The -slightly differing systems of the Channel Islands are -simply variants of this system, a rough sketch of which -I have given by way of introduction to them.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Jersey and Guernsey (the latter including Alderney -and Sark in its government) are each practically -autonomous. The Islanders keep their Norman laws, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_160'>160</span>customs and dialects, and retain their systems of -measures, weights and currency. These are being -gradually modified by increased intercourse with -England; and French influence tries hard, especially -in Jersey, to introduce the metric system.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Linear and Land Measures</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>1. <i>Jersey.</i>—For ordinary linear measures the English -standards are used, the yard and the pied du roi; -that is the English foot. There is also an ancient ell -of 4 feet.</p> - -<p class='c014'>For land measure the Jersey foot is 11 English -inches (but divided into 12 land-inches); and 24 of -these feet make a perch = 22 English feet. This -peculiar standard is evidently an adaptation of the -Norman custom (which prevailed in France) of making -24 short feet of either a quarter aune, or 11 pouces, the -perch or verge, which became officially the <i>perche -d’ordonnance</i> of 22 French feet.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Jersey Vergée or rood is 40 square perches -= 0·44 acre.</p> - -<p class='c014'>2. <i>Guernsey.</i>—The linear measures are based on -the English standards. They were, in 1611:</p> - -<table class='table12' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='25%' /> -<col width='15%' /> -<col width='15%' /> -<col width='45%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Cloth yard</td> - <td class='c007'>= 38-1/2</td> - <td class='c008' colspan='2'>inches (= half a toise).</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Sail Cloth yard</td> - <td class='c007'>= 44</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>English ell</td> - <td class='c007'>= 45-1/2</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>English yard</td> - <td class='c007'>= 36</td> - <td class='c008' colspan='2'>(Verge d’Angleterre).</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>The perch or verge is 21 feet; probably an approximate -adaptation of the common perch of 20 French -feet = 21·3 English feet. It is the same as the Irish -and Lancashire rod.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_161'>161</span>The verge or rood is 40 square perches = 0·4 acre.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The acre-unit is not used now in either island.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The bouvée (bovate) of 20 vergées, and caruée -(carucate) of 12 bouvées remain only in manorial -records.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Measures of Capacity</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>1. <i>Jersey.</i>—The standard ordered in 1754, and -confirmed in 1771, is the Cabot, defined as containing -10 Pots.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Pot contains 123·56 cubic inches = 0·445 -Imperial gallon. It does not correspond directly to -the Paris pot = 111 cubic inches or 0·41 gallon, nor -apparently to the various Normandy pots, of which -that of Caen, about Paris standard, is the type. It is -simply one-tenth of the Cabot.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Cabot, a common name in Normandy for a -corn-measure, is for wheat and for wine, cider, &c. A -larger cabot, for barley and other light grain, is one-third -larger, containing 13-1/3 pots; another, for coal, -contains 14 pots. Lime and charcoal are measured -by the cask of 120 Pots, i.e. 6 bushels of 20 pots. For a -double cabot is usually called a bushel.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Cabot = 1235·6 cubic inches, and containing -4·456 gallons, coincides nearly with one-eighth of the -Paris Setier = 4·29 bushels, and also with the Panau or -Eimino, 1/8 of the Marseilles Cargo of 4·34 bushels.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It is divided into 6 Sixtonniers.</p> - -<p class='c014'>For wine, cider, &c., it is divided into gallons -(double pots, 1/5 cabot), pots, quarts and pints.</p> - -<p class='c014'>A double cabot is the bushel. The duodecimal -<span class='pageno' id='Page_162'>162</span>division of the Paris Setier and the division (in the -corresponding wheat-water series) of the Quartant -into 9 veltes, prevent the relations of the Jersey -measures with those of Paris being clearly seen. But -the relations with the Marseilles standards, corn and -wine, from which the Paris standards were taken, are -evident. It will be seen in the <a href='#XXI'>chapter</a> on the Old -Measures of France that the Paris Setier was derived, -through the Marseilles Cargo, from the Egyptian -Rebekeh, which is the cubed cubit of Al-Mamūn.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Cabot has been stated (Ansted, ‘Channel -Islands,’ 1862) to contain 43 lb. 7 oz. of water. On -this estimate = 4·344 gallons, it is exactly the Marseilles -Eimino.</p> - -<table class='table13' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='31%' /> -<col width='22%' /> -<col width='31%' /> -<col width='13%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c043' colspan='2'><span class='sc'>Marseilles</span></td> - <td class='c044' colspan='2'><span class='sc'>Jersey</span></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c007'><span class='small'>Gallons</span></td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c008'><span class='small'>Gallons</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Cargo</td> - <td class='c007'>34·72</td> - <td class='c007'>Quarter (8 Cabots)</td> - <td class='c008'>35·6</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Sestié</td> - <td class='c022'>8·68</td> - <td class='c007'>Bushel</td> - <td class='c038'>8·91</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Eimino, Panau</td> - <td class='c022'>4·34</td> - <td class='c007'>Cabot</td> - <td class='c038'>4·45</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>1/6 „</td> - <td class='c022'>0·72</td> - <td class='c007'>Sixtonnier</td> - <td class='c038'>0·74</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='4'><i>Fluid Measures.</i></td></tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Escandau</td> - <td class='c022'>3·54</td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Quartié</td> - <td class='c022'>0·885</td> - <td class='c007'>Gallon</td> - <td class='c038'>0·89</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>1/2 „</td> - <td class='c022'>0·442</td> - <td class='c007'>Pot (1/10 Cabot)</td> - <td class='c038'>0·445</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Pot, Pechié</td> - <td class='c022'>0·221</td> - <td class='c007'>Quarte</td> - <td class='c038'>0·222</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Fuieto</td> - <td class='c022'>0·11</td> - <td class='c007'>Pinte</td> - <td class='c038'>0·111</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>N.B.—The Escandau is the Panau diminished in -wheat-water ratio. The Jersey pot is the fluid measure -in wheat-water ratio with 1/8 cabot.</p> - -<p class='c014'>There seems no doubt that the cabot is the eighth -<span class='pageno' id='Page_163'>163</span>of the setier (and of the Cargo), slightly variant, as the -Jersey pound is a variant of the Paris pound.</p> - -<p class='c014'>There is also a measure for apples = 3·77 bushels -or 30 gallons. The ordinary barattée (churnful) of -apples in Normandy is 25 pots = 10 gallons.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The larger Cabot for barley and other grains -except wheat was to be = 1-1/3 of the wheat cabot, that -is 13-1/3 pots; it was therefore = 5·933 gallons, very -nearly 3/4 an imperial bushel = 1647 c.i. Was it fixed -at this size to hold approximately the same weight of -barley, &c., as the smaller cabot held of wheat, or was -it the Boisseau de Jumièges = 1648 c.i. approximately? -That I cannot say. But the question is of some -importance historically, for Guernsey adopted a -bushel of about this capacity, the lineage of which is -a matter of considerable interest.</p> - -<p class='c014'>2. <i>Guernsey.</i>—In 1582, also in 1611, the Guernsey -bushel was ordered to be 16 inches diameter and 8 inches -deep; it was to hold 13 pots and a quart. The pot was -not defined: at the end of the seventeenth century it -is recorded to be equal to 121 cubic inches. On this -basis the bushel should be 1633 cubic inches, but -according to the dimensions ordered it contains only -1608 cubic inches. This is evidently one of the cases -where the wish to order a measure of simple dimensions -has caused the standard to deviate practically from -its calculated value. There is considerable doubt as -to the capacity of the pot, the original standard of -which is not extant. But from the definition of the -Guernsey bushel as 13-1/2 pots of approximately 121 -cubic inches, it would seem that this was considered as -<span class='pageno' id='Page_164'>164</span>roughly equivalent to the 13-1/3 pots, each 123-1/2 cubic -inches, of the Jersey barley-bushel = 1647 c.i.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The bushel is divided, on its calculated capacity of -13-1/2 pots, = 1631 c.i., into</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c022'>2 Cabotels</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c017'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c022'>6 Denerels (Jersey sixtonniers)</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c007'>272</td> - <td class='c017'>c.i.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>30 Quintes</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c022'>54-1/2</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>The Denerel is thus, probably by mere coincidence, -exactly the old corn-gallon, and the bushel is 6 corn-gallons.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The word Denerel means ‘standard’ in the sense -of the standard coin or pattern piece, the Denerial or -Deneral, to which the French moneyers had to strike -deniers or silver pence. We may confer with this -term the Marseilles Escandau, meaning ‘standard,’ a -measure = 3·54 gallons, the basis of a whole system of -measures.</p> - -<p class='c014'>But if the bushel were based on another measure -than the obsolete pot—on a standard still extant in -the Sheriff’s Office, the</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><i>Quinte, grande mesure du marché de Guernesey 1615</i>,</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>it would be of larger capacity. For the Quinte, -I found when I measured it in 1885, is approximately -54·7 cubic inches, and it is stated to contain fully -32 ounces of water. As it happens to be equal to a -fifth of the imperial gallon, the Denerel should be -equal to an imperial gallon, and the bushel to 6 gallons.</p> - -<p class='c014'>There are two other bushels:</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Coal-bushel (1611) of 18-1/2 inches diameter, by -8 deep, then stated to be equal to 16-3/4 pots (an evident -<span class='pageno' id='Page_165'>165</span>mistake, in Roman numerals, for 17-3/4 pots) and -containing an English corn-bushel.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Barley-bushel, 1625 and 1673, to contain 17-1/2 -pots; of such size that it should hold, striked, as much -as the wheat-bushel held when heaped. Its calculated -capacity is 2117·5 c.i. = 7·63 gallons.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Wine-Measures</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>These have assimilated themselves in the course of -trade to those of the countries of exportation, but the -fluid measures of the islands still subsist for cider and -other liquors. The Jersey gallon is, or was, 2 pots = -247 c.i. The Guernsey gallon is, or was, 1/8 of the -bushel = 252 c.i. or perhaps 2 pots = 242 c.i.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Both are somewhat over the old English wine-gallon.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Weights</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>The Jersey pound, = 7561 grains, is 7 grains over -the old French pound; 104 pounds make a cwt. = -112·3 lb.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Guernsey pound, = 7623 grains, differs by -only 2 grains from the Amsterdam pound; 100 -Guernsey pounds = 108·9 lb.</p> - -<p class='c014'>There is a tradition that this pound was originally -18 ounces of Rouen weight, reduced in 1730 to -16 ounces. But it is not 16 ounces of any weight but -that of Amsterdam. It may have been originally -16 ounces of some heavy pound with an ounce of -about 530 grains, akin to the Austrian and Russian -ounce; then converted into 18 lighter ounces, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_166'>166</span>afterwards 16 ounces were taken for the pound. In -the seventeenth century it is recorded as being 18 ounces -of 471 grains, which is approximately the Paris -standard = 472·1 grains. In 1730 it was ordered to -be of 16 ounces, but of what standard there is no -evidence. And in the nineteenth century it is 16 ounces -of 476·6 grains, almost exactly the Amsterdam -standard. It looks as if the change in 1730 was to -16 ounces of another standard, Amsterdam Troy, -instead of French Troy.</p> - -<p class='c014'>I have given some space to these Channel Island -measures, so interesting as a survival of Norman -measures and as a link between the measures of old -France and of England. The peculiar monetary system -of Guernsey will be given in <a href='#XIII'>Chapter XIII</a>.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>2. <span class='sc'>South Africa (Cape Colony)</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>Here we find two systems, those of Holland and -of England, used according to public convenience, -and combined as far as possible. The linear standard -is Rhineland; the foot = 12·356 inches. The rod is -12 Rhineland feet; the English mile is reckoned as -426 rods.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The land-unit is the Morgen = 2·12 acres, of -600 square rods.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Weights are now Imperial; with a cental-cwt., -and a ton of 20 centals or 2000 lb.</p> - -<p class='c014'>For corn measures, Imperial and Dutch measures -are combined in the Mud of 3 bushels or 4 Schepels.</p> - -<p class='c014'>For fluid measure the unit is the Anker = 7·95 -<span class='pageno' id='Page_167'>167</span>gallons, a lower standard than the Amsterdam anker -= 8·5 gallons, probably through the influence of -English measure. The Legger (leaguer) is 126·6 -gallons, in 4 Aam, 16 Anker and 80 Velts. This gives -the Velt somewhat a lower standard than in Java, -where the legger = 127·34 gallons, and the velt = -1·59 gallons.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>3. <span class='sc'>India</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>Of the measures and weights of India, a country -containing one-fifth of the population of the world, -divided into many nationalities, only a slight sketch -can be given, and that chiefly of the measures used in -British India as distinguished from the tributary -states. The measures of the Aryan population of -Hindustan, and those of the Dravidian peoples of -peninsular India, are different; moreover the influence -of the Moslem conquerors, Mogul and Pathan, -of the Portuguese in the sixteenth and seventeenth -centuries, of the English in more modern times, has -modified these measures.</p> - -<p class='c014'>As in other Eastern countries the linear unit is -usually a cubit, the <i>hástha</i> or <i>háth</i>, divided into 24 -digits. Traces of the Egyptian increased cubit are -to be found. In a classical work on architecture, the -Mánasára, the Hástha, of 24 digits for timber, is -increased to 25 for temples, to 26 for houses, to 27 for -municipal buildings and land. The addition of 3 digits -to the 24 of the Egyptian common cubit would give -27 digits, approximately equal to the 28 smaller -digits of the royal cubit.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_168'>168</span>In Southern India the cubit is sometimes the -<i>mūyangál</i> (<i>mūyam</i>, cubit; <i>kál</i>, leg), the length from the -knee to the ankle.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Malabar the unit is the Kol = 28-1/4 inches as -used for timber; but for land it seems to have increased -to 30 inches.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The kol was probably 3 spans or half-cubits of -9·41 inches.</p> - -<p class='c014'>A guz brought by the Moslems, = 33 inches, has -established itself in Bengal. It was probably 3 Beládi -feet of 10·944 inches.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Portuguese Covado of 3 spans = 27·17 inches, -usually taken as 27 inches, has established itself in -Western India. It is divided into 48 digits, of which -two-thirds, i.e. 32 digits = 18 inches, are the usual -cubit; 1/8 of this = the English nail.</p> - -<p class='c014'>All these measures appear to have been modified -by the English foot and inch.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Native itinerary measures are rough and variable; -the Koss of 100 fathoms is the usual standard.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Land-measures are of course very variable.</p> - -<p class='c014'>12 guz, usually = 33 feet, make a cord or chain, -and 5 cords make a Jarib = 10 rods. A square jarib = -100 square rods, is the usual Bigha of Northern India -= O·625 acre.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Another unit is the Mah of 100 rods 12 × 12 feet = -1600 square yards, about half the above bigha.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Land-units, like most other units, can be divided -into 16 annas, so that the anna of the bigha is 200, -that of the Mah is 100, square yards.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Madras the unit of land measure is the Káni -<span class='pageno' id='Page_169'>169</span>(cawny) = 1-1/3 acre of 24 grounds = 6400 square yards. -So there appears to be a common unit of about 1600 -square yards, with its anna or sixteenth = 100 square -yards or 10 yards square.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Five káni make a Véli, the usual extent of arable -land which can be cultivated for rice or other wet -crops by a peasant with a yoke of oxen.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Everywhere there are seed-measures of land, as in -other countries.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Weights</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>These are derived from a coin-weight basis, the -silver rupee-weight or Tola in most parts, the golden -pagoda-weight or Varahan in the south of India. In -each case 80 of these coin-units made a Sér. (See -Indian Coinage, in <a href='#XIII'>Chap. XIII</a>.)</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>The Bengal sér, 80 tolas of 180 grs.</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c006'>14,400</td> - <td class='c017'>grs.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>The Madras sér, 80 varahan of 54 „</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c006'>4320</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>The Bombay sér was based on another gold coin, -the <i>tanc</i> (gold) of a little over 68 grains, 72 of which = -4900 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Bengal sér is, curiously enough, = 2 Cologne -pounds of 7200 grains. It is divided into 16 chittaks or -double ounces of 5 tolas. The tola is divided into 12 -mashas (= 15 grains) of 8 ráti (the red seed of <i>Abrus -precatoria</i>): 40 sér make a mánd = 82·28 lb.</p> - -<p class='c014'>This sér (Ang. seer), the Government standard, is -really a Troy weight. The rupee of different standard -in the three presidencies was fixed in 1833 at 180 -grains, 3 drachms of the Troy ounce; this being so, -the sér of 80 rupees weight is = 30 Troy ounces and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_170'>170</span>the mánd of 40 sérs is = 1200 Troy ounces or 100 -Troy pounds.</p> - -<p class='c014'>About 1870-72 the metric propaganda was epidemic -among Indian Government Engineers; light -railways were made on metre-gauge, and a nearly -successful attempt was made to get the sér fixed at one -kilogramme. An Act was about to be passed to this -effect when the death of Lord Mayo stopped it, and -the Act fell through.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Bengal sér and mánd<a id='r34' /><a href='#f34' class='c016'><sup>[34]</sup></a> are the usual weights -for official purposes. Some other sérs are used, often of -low standard known as Kucha sérs (unripe, half-baked) -in regard to the pukka (ripe, full-measure) sér of 80 -tolas.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Madras mánd was = 24·68 lb.; 20 mánd = -1 kándi, 493·7 lb.; but English trade considered the -mánd as 25 lb. and the ‘candy’ as 500 lb.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Madras had also a weight called the Vísham (Ang. -Viss) of 120 tolas = 5 of its sérs, or 3·086 lb. divided -into 40 pollams.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Capacity</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>To this Madras weight corresponds the Adangáli, -dangáli or puddi, or measure containing a vísham of -grain, and therefore a pound-pint measure = about 3 -pints. It is the usual measure of the daily grain-wage -of agricultural labourers.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_171'>171</span>Similarly in other parts of India, the sér measure -contains a sér weight of the usual food grain.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The measure is usually heaped, and whether sér -or dangáli it delivers approximately either a sér or a -vísham of the usual grains, rice, wheat, millet, pulse, -&c. It is a pound-pint measure, avoiding the use of -the balance. The Madras Government wanted to fix -the dangáli at 100 cubic inches, but this would have -been useless as not delivering a vísham. The necessary -capacity to deliver a vísham of water is found by -3·086 lb. × 27·725 to be 85·76 cubic inches. Increased -in the Southern water-wheat ratio of 1 : 1·22, we -have 104·62 cubic inches as the true dangáli measure. -So Government allowed 104-1/4 cubic inches, and this was -about the capacity of a dangáli 8 inches high by 4 -inches diameter, often a section of bamboo cut down -to the proper capacity.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Madras, the dangáli, puddi or measure is then -= 104-1/4 c.i. divided into 8 ollocks; and 8 dangáli -= 1 Mercál; 424 mercáls, = 120 Bengal mánds, made -a Garce, which is a Government measure for salt = -4·4 tons.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The cubic measure used in Southern India for dry -goods, such as lime, is the Parah = 5 mercáls = 5 × 8 -dangáli, or 4000 cubic inches at 100 c.i. to the dangáli: -but 4184 c.i. at the customary capacity of that measure; -so the parah is = 15 gallons.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Bombay parah = 4-1/2 gallons.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Ceylon parah = 5·6 gallons; 8 parah = 1 -amómam = 5·6 bushels.</p> - -<p class='c014'>To the amómam of grain corresponds the amómam -<span class='pageno' id='Page_172'>172</span>of land, which, at 2 bushels seed to the acre, = 2·8 -acres. By measurement it is 2·74 acres.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>4. <span class='sc'>Burma and the Straits</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>In Burma, as in the ancient Eastern Kingdoms, -there was a common cubit and a royal cubit. The -former, = 19-1/2 inches, was of 24 digits, in 3 taim or -handshafts; the latter = 22 inches. Here we have -repeated the two Hindu <i>hástha</i> of 24 and 27 digits; the -royal cubit being almost exactly 27/24 of the common -cubit.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The basis of weight is the Tikal (shekel), = 252 -grains (= 1 cubic inch of water), divided into 4 moo, -= 63 grains, and 16 gyi of 15-3/4 grains (corresponding -to the Indian masha), of 8 rati.</p> - -<p class='c014'>100 tikal = 1 piet-tha = 3·6 lb., corresponding to -the Indian vísham.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The principal measure of capacity is the teng or -basket, somewhat less than a bushel; it contains 16 -piet of rice = 57·6 pound-pints.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The tikal of Siam = 234 grains; 80 tikal = 1 -catty = 2-2/3 lb.; 50 catty = 1 pikal, = 133-3/4 lb., or -about 2 bushels of rice.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Pikal (i.e. man’s load) of Singapore (and of -China) = 133-1/3 lb., is of 100 catty; the catty = 1-1/3 lb. -of 16 taels = 1-1/3 oz. The tael is of 10 mace; the mace -is a Chinese coin-weight = 58-1/3 grain, the representative -of the Greek and Asiatic drachma in the Far East.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The pikal of Java = 135·63 lb., similarly divided.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The hyak-kin or pikal of Japan = 132-1/2 lb. It is -also of 100 catty or kin = 1·325 lb. of 16 × 10 momme, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_173'>173</span>the latter a weight equivalent to the mace = 58 -grains; and 10 × 10 momme make another unit, the -hyaku-me = 5797 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>I refrain from doing more than giving a glance at -the weights and measures of the Far East; suffice it -to say that most of them have every appearance of -being Arabic in origin.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>5. <span class='sc'>Canada and Mauritius</span></h3> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Canada</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>The Imperial system is used, but the Cental -replaces the long Cwt. and its stone divisions.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In the old French districts of Quebec certain -old French measures are lawful: the Paris foot, -the perch, usually of 20 feet, the Arpent of 100 perches.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Minot, of 3 boisseaux = 1·073 bushel, is still used.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Mauritius</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>This island, formerly a French colony, retained -the old French measures and weights: the Paris foot, -the Toise, the Mille of 1000 toises = 1·21 mile, the -Perch, usually of 18 feet, the Arpent of 100 perches, -the French livre, the corn-setier, the wine-setier or -Velte = 1·639 gallon.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Metric system was substituted in 1876, notwithstanding -that ‘the feeling of a great portion of -the community was so strongly against it that in -1882 it was thought to be not improbable that the -British Imperial weights and measures might be -reverted to’ (‘Merchants’ Handbook,’ by W. A. Browne, -1899). It is added that this antagonistic feeling -gradually died out, but evidence on this point would -be desirable.</p> - -<hr class='c018' /> -<div class='footnote' id='f33'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r33'>33</a>. </span><i>Etudes sur la condition de la classe agricole en Normandie au -moyen age</i> (Leopold V. Delisle, 1851).</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f34'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r34'>34</a>. </span>The difficulty in representing the sound <i>á</i>, <i>ah</i>, in English -letters led to a general substitution of <i>aw</i>. Hence ‘cawny, maund, -ghaut (steep), pawni (water), cawn (khan),’ &c.; all these words -having an <i>a</i>, or <i>ah</i>, vowel. The Anglo-Indian also says <i>seer</i> for sér.</p> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_174'>174</span> - <h2 id='XIII' class='c004'>CHAPTER XIII<br /> <br /><span class='small'>MEASURES OF VALUE</span></h2> -</div> - -<h3 class='c019'>1. <span class='sc'>English Money</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>In all times money has been the weight of a certain -amount of copper, silver or gold, in the form of coins -the fineness of which is guaranteed by the stamp of -the State. The weight of coins used in payments may -change in course of time, but the nominal unit of -weights often continues, the pound, or livre, or marc, &c. -Thus, the original Roman unit, the As, or mint-pound -of copper or bronze, reduced gradually to 1/24 of its -primitive weight, persisted as a money of account long -after it had been replaced in the currency by the silver -Denarius. This was originally coined at a time when -it represented the value of 10 As; hence its name -deni-aris, ten of copper.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The French livre, or livre d’estelins, reduced -gradually to a coin about 1/74 of a 12-oz. livre, retains -its name as a synonym of the franc.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The English pound of silver, once a Tower pound -= 5400 grains, reduced long ago to 1745 grains, in 20 -shillings, persists as a money of account, though the -silver is superseded in payments over 40 shillings by -<span class='pageno' id='Page_175'>175</span>a gold coin weighing 123-1/4 grains. Prices over 40<i>s.</i> are -still often stated in shillings.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Roman denarius originally weighed 60 grains, -afterwards reduced to 52-1/2 grains. A golden denarius -was also coined, which afterwards became the Arabic -dinar.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Under Charlemagne the mint weight of France -was heavier than the marc of Troyes afterwards -adopted as a standard. Adapting the Roman system -to the customs of his Teutonic subjects the emperor -Karl divided the pound of silver into 20 silver solidi -or sols, each equal to 12 silver penings or pennies of -about 25 grains which, assimilated to the Roman -denarii, were called deniers, also estelins or sterlings. -The solidus appears to have corresponded to a Teutonic -monetary unit, the shilling, equal to a variable number -of penings, which coins were not of uniform value until -about Charlemagne’s time.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Carlovingian systems of coinage had passed to -England long before the Norman Conquest, displacing -the old Norse and Saxon systems—the Norse, in -which the Ore was of 20 silver penings = 1/8 marc or 1/12 -lb., and the Saxon Sceatta of 40 Styca, usually equivalent -to pence. The shilling, = 1/20 pound of silver -pence, became established—‘xxx scyllinge penega,’ -thirty shillings of pence (‘Saxon Chronicle,’ 775). The -Norman Conquest made no appreciable change in -the English customary coinage. The Tower pound -of silver which the Normans found established was -coined into 240 of the ‘English peny called a sterling,’ -each weighing 22-1/2 grains instead of the 25 grains of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_176'>176</span>Charlemagne’s sterlings. Twelve pence made a shilling -of 20 to the pound, and twenty pence or pennyweights -made an ounce of 12 to the mint-pound.</p> - -<p class='c014'>England soon followed France, but much more -slowly, in the usual dwindling of the weight of coins, -as the king, pushed for money, ordered his moneyers -to melt down the silver pennies and recoin them of -lower weight. They remained at 22-1/2 grains down to -the time of Edward I. Edward III’s first pennies -were of 22-1/4 grains, but in the 18th year of his reign -they weighed 20-1/4 grains, in the 20th year 20 grains, -and after the 27th year he made the pound of silver -yield 300 pennies at 18 grains. He also coined groats -(great sterlings or grosses). Silver halfpence (mayles) -and farthings (ferlynges) were coined, and a statute -specially ordered that no sterling halfpenny nor -farthing be molten ‘for to make vessel or any other -thing by goldsmiths nor others.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>At this time, if we may believe the Statute of -Labourers, one penny was the usual daily pay of the -farm-labourer, but mowers were to have fivepence by -the acre or the day. Prices of farm-produce were -fixed. A penny would buy a chicken or six pounds of -bread, 2 pence a fowl, 4 pence a goose.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The diminution in the weight of the penny was -slow and did not affect wholesale dealings in which -payment was usually made by weight.<a id='r35' /><a href='#f35' class='c016'><sup>[35]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_177'>177</span>In all but retail transactions payment might be -agreed to be by weight. In Stephen’s reign the land-revenue -of countries was farmed out. The sheriff or -‘fermour’ of Wiltshire and Dorsetshire paid into the -treasury £454 10<i>s.</i> by weight (ad pensum) and £262 4<i>s.</i> -by tale (numero). He probably picked out the full-weight -coins for payment by tale, and had to take -(as perhaps he received) weight-value for the rest.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Under Henry IV the sterling had fallen to 15 grains; -under Edward IV it fell to 12 grains, at which weight -it stood till Henry VIII brought it down to 10-1/2 grains, -and also debased it to only one-third its weight of silver. -His father had coined shillings, hitherto only a money -of account; his own mint continued this coinage, but -got 48 of them, instead of 20, from the Troy pound of -silver, and subsequently by debasement nearly 150.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Edward VI’s reign the Protector Somerset -continued this system, but, at his fall, efforts were made -by the Council to restore honesty to the coinage, at -least as regards the shillings and crowns. The pennies -remained debased until the wisdom of Elizabeth -restored the standard, and since that time our silver -coinage has remained of true standard and at the -weight of 7-1/2 grains for each penny value, or one-third -of its weight at the time of the Norman Conquest. -The Scots silver coinage fell much lower than that of -England; by the time of the Union it had fallen to 1/36, -the pound Scots being worth 20 pence English, instead -of 20 shillings.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It is curious that the kings, so ready to make a -profit by lowering the silver coins, appear to have -<span class='pageno' id='Page_178'>178</span>disdained the evident profit of a copper coinage. -Penalties were repeatedly threatened by statute against -the copper coins which necessity of ‘change’ caused -to be made or imported. These were unlawful coins -called galyhalpens, saskyns, dodekyns and dotkins -(probably Scottish ‘doits’). James I granted a patent -for the making of copper farthings. Halfpennies were -first coined in Charles II’s time, but it was not till -near the end of George III’s reign that a copper -penny was struck, probably because the tradition of -the silver penny weighing 32 wheat-corns, albeit -shrunken, was against the penny being other than -silver.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The penny was at first a full ounce of copper. Twopenny -pieces were also struck weighing two ounces.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The present bronze coinage was made in 1860 after -the example of the bronze coinage of Napoleon III, -the reformer of the French currency; it was he who -established a gold standard in France, hitherto a -‘silver country.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>A bronze penny not much worn weighs 1/3 oz., the -halfpenny 1/5 oz. The latter is one inch in diameter. -The silver penny of early Plantagenet times was the -size of the present sixpence but thinner, so that, at the -full weight of 22-1/2 grains, it was slightly heavier than -our threepenny piece = 21·8 grains. It bore the -effigy of the king with ‘Henricus Rex’ or suchlike -inscription; on the reverse was a cross, with pellets -or other ornaments in the intervals, and the name -of the moneyer and city, as ‘Edmund on Lin(coln).’ -The cross gave rise to the idea that it indicated where -<span class='pageno' id='Page_179'>179</span>the penny could be broken or cut into halfpence or -farthings. Doubtless it was so cut where change was -scarce; and the first silver farthing was coined by -Edward I, 1279, to prevent this cutting up of the pence, -but equally with a cross.</p> - -<p class='c014'>At present silver pence and twopences are only -coined for Maundy money.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The groat of four pence, grossus sterlingus, first -coined about 1279, discontinued from the time of -Elizabeth, who first coined sixpences and threepences, -was revived in 1836 at the instance, or insistence, of -Joseph Hume, an M.P. who, it is said, found it convenient -for the exact payment of an 8<i>d.</i> London cab -fare not exceeding a mile in the days when copper -pennies weighing an ounce were inconvenient to carry -in the pocket. He died in 1855, and in 1856 the Joey -was discontinued.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The threepenny piece was revived in 1845.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The florin was first issued in 1849, an ill-advised -attempt at decimalising the pound; it bore the -inscription ‘one tenth of a pound,’ but it has utterly -failed to take the place of the convenient half-crown, -an important unit in the binary division of the pound. -Public convenience appreciates the gold sovereign and -half-sovereign, the silver half-crown, shilling, sixpence -and threepence. The florin is a disturbing coin offering -no advantage over two separate shillings; and the -double florin is worse.</p> - -<p class='c014'>No one wants the pound decimalised except a few -decimal unpractical persons. A properly taught schoolboy -adds up sums of money duodecimally for the pence, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_180'>180</span>decimally for the shillings, converting these by twenties -into pounds. It is quite easy to add up a column of -pence thus: 8 and 5, 1<i>s.</i> 3<i>d.</i>; and 10, 2<i>s.</i> 1<i>d.</i>; and -8, 2<i>s.</i> 9<i>d.</i>; and 5, 3<i>s.</i> 2<i>d.</i> With the shillings column -the units are put down and the tens carried to the -column of tens; an odd 1 is put down and half the -remainder carried to the column of pounds.</p> - -<p class='c014'>English silver coins are 37/40 = 0·925 fine, i.e. 11 oz. -2 dwt. of the now obsolete 12 oz. mint-pound.</p> - -<p class='c014'>French five-franc pieces are at 0·900, other silver -coins are 0·835 fine.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Gold Coins</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>Of the two precious metals, only one can be the -standard of value. In a gold-standard country, as -England has been since 1816, the golden sovereign -of lawful weight is the standard of value. As the price -of silver, like that of every other commodity, varies -with demand and supply, it would be futile to attempt -to make silver coins correspond in actual metal value -to gold coins; especially as, since the great fall in the -price of silver from its demonetisation in many countries -and its large production, silver coins are really tokens; -tokens of value, but still tokens, not legal tender above -a certain amount. A shilling melted down is only -worth fivepence or less; while sovereigns melted down -can be exchanged, at a trifling charge, for their weight -in minted gold.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In silver-standard countries it is gold which varies -in price. Thus in India, where for centuries the -standard of value has been the silver rupee now weighing -<span class='pageno' id='Page_181'>181</span>180 grains and worth fifty years ago a little over -two shillings, gold coins of the same weight called -‘mohurs’ were current at market price, about 16 -rupees more or less. Sovereigns were worth about -10 rupees in 1860; they would exchange now for -double that price did not the Government of India, -by restricting silver coinage and other legitimate -devices, keep the gold price of the rupee at about 1<i>s.</i> 4<i>d.</i>, -so that 15 rupees will buy a sovereign for transactions -with England and other gold-standard countries.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Gold was coined in ancient Rome. The gold -solidus or aureus of Constantine was 1/72 of an As or -mint-pound; so that it weighed 70·14 grains. It -was called ‘solidus,’ entire, as distinguished from the -semissis and tremissis, its half and third. The original -French sol, or shilling, was an ‘entire’ of 12 deniers; -hence the £ <i>s.</i> <i>d.</i> we use were once the current signs, -in France and elsewhere, for libræ, solidi, denarii.</p> - -<p class='c014'>There were some gold coins of the early Saxon -kings. Under the early Norman kings foreign gold -coins were current, but the first regular gold coinage -was that of Edward III; his Noble of fine gold, 1/50 of -a Tower pound, weighed 108 grains, the weight of two -golden florins of Florence or of two ducats or zechins -of Venice. He afterwards coined nobles at the rate -of 42 to the mint-pound; these weighed 119 grains, -and, as they were of 23-7/8 carats fine, contained almost -exactly the same weight of pure gold as the modern -sovereign of 123-1/4 grains. Their value was about half -a marc or 80 sterlings of full weight, and as the proper -weight of silver in English coins was then three times -<span class='pageno' id='Page_182'>182</span>that at present, the 6<i>s.</i> 8<i>d.</i> equivalence of the noble -then is that of the sovereign now.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The weight of gold coins mattered little in practice; -they were always weighed, and represented an amount -of sterling varying according to the state of the money-market -and to the condition of the silver coinage.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Edward IV’s noble was called a Rial; and the -Angel, 2/3 of its weight or about 80 grains, was also -coined. Henry VII coined a double Rial of half a -Troy ounce. Under Henry VIII this was called a -Sovereign.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The fineness of gold coins, originally of 23 carats -3-1/2 grains = 994·7 gold in 1000, was reduced to 22 carats -under Henry VIII and, after some variations, this -standard = 916·6 gold in 1000 was finally adopted.<a id='r36' /><a href='#f36' class='c016'><sup>[36]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c014'>Sovereigns or Unites were coined under James I -at 172 grains, under Charles I at 141 grains. Their -value in silver varied of course according to market-rates -for gold. Coined under Charles II at 130 grains -they were henceforth called Guineas, varying in value -from 30 to 20 shillings. Repeated attempts to fix -their value by law utterly failed. In the eighteenth -century it was generally above the 21<i>s.</i> standard at -<span class='pageno' id='Page_183'>183</span>which the guinea is still reckoned as a polite coin. In -1816, on the adoption of a gold standard, the name -of Sovereign was revived for the coin which is its basis.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The sovereign weighs 123·274 grains, of which -113·006 are pure gold. It is light if it weighs less than -122-1/2 grains, that is if it has lost more than 1-1/2<i>d.</i> in value. -Its life of current weight is about 20 years in ordinary -circumstances of circulation.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The mint value of gold is £3 17<i>s.</i> 10-1/2<i>d.</i> an ounce -Troy; that is 2·1212 pence a grain pure, or 1·7676 -penny at the standard fineness of 22 carats = 916·6 -in 1000.</p> - -<p class='c014'>France adopted a gold standard in 1855; other -countries followed.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The United States adopted it in 1900.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The sovereign is coined at full value without -‘seigniorage.’ In France and other gold-standard -countries a charge is made for coining. In France -this charge is 6 fr. 70 c. on the kilo of standard gold, -0·900 fine, value 3100 francs; this is equal to 0·216 per -cent., so that 20-franc pieces lose 4·4 centimes or -nearly a halfpenny each on being melted, besides assay -charges.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The history of mint-weight will be further told in -<a href='#Carat'>Chapter XX</a>, section ‘The Carat and the Grain.’</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>2. <span class='sc'>Guernsey Currency</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>In this curious relic of the old French monetary -system the Livre is the equivalent of the <i>louis d’or</i> -of 24 francs; the Sol or sou is a shilling, 1/20 of the -livre; the Denier is a penny, 1/12 of the shilling, and it is -<span class='pageno' id='Page_184'>184</span>divided into 8 doubles, each equal to the old French -<i>liard</i> or quarter-sou of 3 deniers, not to the old French -double of 2 deniers. The only Guernsey coins are the -bronze pieces of 8, 4, 2, 1 doubles; that of 8 doubles -being the penny.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The silver coins are French, counted 10 pence to -the franc; so that the five-franc piece passes for -4<i>s.</i> 2<i>d.</i> Guernsey.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Guernsey pound is either a bank-note for this -amount, or 24 francs in French silver, equal to 240 -Guernsey pence. Sovereigns are current, taken at -the usual rate of 25 francs and 2 pence = 252 pence -or 21 shillings Guernsey. So the English sovereign -becomes a guinea in French silver and Guernsey bronze.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The people of Guernsey hold by their old system; -they find no inconvenience in it; and it is decidedly -advantageous to the English resident in the island.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>3. <span class='sc'>Indian Money</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>The East India Company made little change in the -monetary system of the Mogul Empire. In the greater -part of India the silver rupee was the standard of value, -and the E.I.C. struck Sicca rupees (<i>sikkah</i>, coined) in -the name of Shah Alam, the Great Mogul reigning at -the end of the eighteenth century. These weighed -192 grains, but they were superseded in 1836 by the -present standard of rupee, 180 grains, of which 165 -fine, bearing the English sovereign’s head. The -rupee is divided for account into 16 annas, each of -12 copper pies, though the coin so called bore until -recently the Persian inscription <i>salas pai</i>, one-third of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_185'>185</span>a pie; the real pie, inscribed <i>ek pai</i>, one pie, being the -quarter-anna.</p> - -<p class='c014'>There are silver coins of a half, quarter and eighth -of a rupee, but no anna coin. The copper or bronze -coins are half, quarter and twelfth annas.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The monetary system of the Madras Presidency -(the people of which are a different race, speaking -Dravidian languages, not the Indo-European languages -of which Hindustani is the <i>lingua franca</i>) was different -from that of the rest of India. It was a gold-standard -country, the monetary unit being the ‘Varahan’ or -‘pagoda,’ a small thick gold coin of 53 grains, reckoned -as equivalent to 3-1/2 rupees or nearly 8 shillings. There -were also gold Fanams of about 6 grains, and still -smaller gold coins, used principally for largesse at -festivities.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Star-pagoda, the usual gold currency, was -of button-shape, with a star on the convex surface, -a Hindu deity on the flat. It weighed 52-1/2 grains, the -same weight as the Roman denarius, the Arabic dinar, -and the Venetian zechin, but it was only 19-1/2 carats fine. -The E.I.C. coined pagodas of lesser weight, about -46 grains, but of English standard fineness. They also -coined silver fanams, 42 being nominally equivalent -to the pagoda. These weighed 15 grains, so that they -were equivalent to 1/12 of the 180-grain rupee, to 1-1/3 -anna, or to 4 copper pysa. So there was in the Madras -Presidency a double monetary series, based on the gold -pagoda and on the silver rupee, the relative value of -these coins being of course inconstant. Gradually -during the nineteenth century the gold standard was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_186'>186</span>replaced by silver, the change taking the following -order:</p> - -<p class='c014'>1. The Pagoda of 42 fanams of 8 pysa of 4 kásh.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Rupee of 12 fanams.</p> - -<p class='c014'>2. Then the two-anna piece replaced the fanam, -taking its name.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Rupee of 8 fanams, of 6 pysa, of 4 kásh.</p> - -<p class='c014'>3. The Rupee of 16 annas, of 3 pysa, of 4 kásh.</p> - -<p class='c014'>4. The Rupee of 16 annas of 4 quarter-annas -(called 3/4 pysa by the natives) or of 12 kásh improperly -called ‘pies.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>The division of the rupee into 8 fanams of 24 kásh -survives, or did survive till quite recent years, in the -French settlements of Pondichery, &c. The reason -alleged was that the anna is non-existent as a coin. -But it is curious that the French administration did -not discover that there was a decimal system connected -with the rupee. For in Southern India thirty years -ago, and perhaps at the present day, the pysa was = 1/3 -anna and the half-pysa 1/6 anna, but these were always -reckoned among the people as 1/50 and 1/100 rupee.<a id='r37' /><a href='#f37' class='c016'><sup>[37]</sup></a> -To the people of the South the rupee is divided into -5 fanams each of 10 pysa each of 3 kásh. But the -term kásh (kássu) is merely a name for the lowest -coin. The E.I.C.’s pysa of 1808 bears the Persian -inscription <i>Bis kás chhar fleūs ast</i> (It is 20 kásh, 4 -<span class='pageno' id='Page_187'>187</span>filūs), followed by ‘XX cash.’ So this coin, so dear -to the people of Southern India that they cannot look -on the modern quarter-anna (the Anglo-Indians’ -‘pice’) otherwise than as a <i>mookal</i>, a 3/4 pysa, is really -20 kásh, and the rupee is 200 filūs or 1000 kásh. Here -is a decimal division ready for the rupee, for the half-pysa, -nominally 1/96 rupee (in 1797 coins it is so inscribed -‘96 to one rupee’), but 1/100 rupee in the bazaar, is -similarly inscribed as of ‘10 kásh 2 filūs.’ So the -rupee could easily be made of 10 fanams, 100 lesser -pysa, 1000 kásh. But the sexdecimal division into -annas, and the duodecimal division into pies, are too -convenient to be given up for a decimal system.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The 2 filūs of the half-pysa show that the pysa -was once divided into 4 of a small coin (the present -pie), the <i>fils</i>, an Arabic word probably representing the -L. follis.<a id='r38' /><a href='#f38' class='c016'><sup>[38]</sup></a></p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Indian Gold Coinage</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>Northern and Central India, the parts more immediately -under the Mogul empire, were silver-standard -countries. The silver rupee (sicca, = 192 grains) was -the standard; and the golden rupee of the same weight, -called an Ashráfi, or gold mohur, was valued at 16 -rupees, though generally more, according to the -market-value of gold. The E.I.C. continued to strike -gold mohurs, with halves, thirds and quarters. Other -gold coins were current, notably the Venetian zechin, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_188'>188</span>and the approximate correspondence of this coin to -the quarter-mohur caused the latter to be commonly -known as a ‘chick.’<a id='r39' /><a href='#f39' class='c016'><sup>[39]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c014'>Southern India offers the curious instance of a gold-standard -country (a century ago) having changed to -a silver standard. The pagoda has disappeared in -currency. The beautiful Farūki pagoda of Tippoo -is still to be found; and the Venetian zechin with its -archaic design, never changed since it was first struck -in the thirteenth century, is highly esteemed in the -household treasuries of affluent Indians for its great -purity. The word zechin or sequin is derived from -sikkah, ‘coin.’ The usual Persian inscription on the -Mogul coinage, continued by the E.I.C., is <i>Shah Alam, -bádshah gházi, sikkah mubárak</i> (Shah Alam, king -victorious, coin auspicious).<a id='r40' /><a href='#f40' class='c016'><sup>[40]</sup></a></p> - -<h3 class='c019'>4. <span class='sc'>Decimal Currency</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>It is scarcely necessary to describe the decimal -systems of which the Dollar currency is the type. -They have some advantages in numeration with the -counterbalancing defects of all decimal series. Division -of the dollar stops at a quarter; then there is a drop -to 10 cents, and that coin has no quarter. Any -thirding can only be approximate.</p> - -<hr class='c018' /> -<div class='footnote' id='f35'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r35'>35</a>. </span>Clipping the pennies, against which crime frequent statutes -threatened punishment, affected the poor who paid and were paid -by tale, not by weight. It afforded a pretext for occasionally raiding -the Jews and plundering their store of coin, always found of course -to have been clipped.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f36'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r36'>36</a>. </span>‘Twenty-four carat’ was taken as the standard of pure gold -because the Roman gold solidus weighed twenty-four carats (each -1/144 of an ounce). The assayer’s carat is 1/24 part divided into four -assay-grains. Medieval gold coins such as Edward III’s noble -and the Venetian zechin, always of the same quaint pattern, -were generally twenty-three carat 3-1/2 grains fine, = 995 parts in -1000. But this nearly pure gold being very soft, it became -customary to alloy the metal with a certain amount of copper -to give it the hardness necessary for trade purposes in modern -times.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f37'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r37'>37</a>. </span>This obvious decimal system of a rupee divided into 10 lesser -fanams and 100 pysa would not have appealed to French officials. -It is not a decimal system, but the Metric system, that the French -scientist requires; the decimal series of measures is only a stalking-horse -for the French system abroad. The French do not as a rule -care about using it themselves.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f38'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r38'>38</a>. </span>1638. Fluces are 10 to a cozbeg (one halfpenny).—<i>N.E.D.</i> In -this quotation it seems as if Sir T. Herbert had mistaken the filūs -for the 10 kásh of the half-pysa.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f39'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r39'>39</a>. </span>At whist, high play was for ‘Rupee points and a chick on -the rub.’</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f40'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r40'>40</a>. </span>The E.I.C. continued the custom of inscriptions on coins -being in Persian, the polite language of Moslem India.</p> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_189'>189</span> - <h2 id='XIV' class='c004'>CHAPTER XIV<br /> <br /><span class='small'>MEASURES OF TIME</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>The primitive divisions of time were the day (the -civil day between two sunrises or sunsets), and the -lunar month taken as 30 days instead of the actual -29-1/2. Twelve lunar months made a calendar year of -360 days, to which were added, in ancient Egypt, five -intercalary days. The additional day required every -fourth year was called by the Romans <i>bissextum -calendis</i>, as it was introduced by repeating the sixth -day of the calends of March (our February 24).</p> - -<p class='c014'>From the 360 calendar days of the year was -derived the division of the sun’s apparent path on -the ecliptic (and of every other circle) into 360 -degrees. The ecliptic was divided, like the year, -into twelve equal parts named from the constellations -to which they corresponded; each of these was -of 30 parts.</p> - -<p class='c014'>To avoid the intercalary days at the end of the -ordinary year, these were afterwards distributed among -the months in various ways. The number of days to -each modern month is inherited, with some changes, -from the arrangement adopted by a Greek-Asiatic -<span class='pageno' id='Page_190'>190</span>nation. The names of the months are those given by -the Romans; their year originally began with March -(as indeed did ours, on Lady Day, down to 1751), and -the original names were:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><i>Martius</i> from Mars.</div> - <div class='line'><i>Aprilis</i> from Aphrodite (Venus).<a id='r41' /><a href='#f41' class='c016'><sup>[41]</sup></a></div> - <div class='line'><i>Maius</i> from <i>dü maiores</i>, the elder gods.</div> - <div class='line'><i>Junius</i> from <i>dü juniores</i>, the younger gods.</div> - <div class='line'>Quintilis the 5th month, afterwards Julius.</div> - <div class='line'>Sextilis the 6th „ „ Augustus.</div> - <div class='line'>Septembris the 7th „</div> - <div class='line'>Octobris the 8th „</div> - <div class='line'>Novembris the 9th „</div> - <div class='line'>Decembris the 10th „</div> - <div class='line'>Januarius from Janus or Dianus, the sun-god.</div> - <div class='line'>Februarius from februum, the expiation month.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>The week is of astrological origin. Even in Europe -there are still many people who believe that the seven -planets of the pre-Copernican system rule, each in its -turn, the successive hours of each day; the planet -ruling the first hour gives its name to the day, and -influences it astrologically. Thus the week is the -series of seven days ruled successively in the first hour -by one of the seven planets. From the series of -planets arranged in the order of their periods—Saturn, -Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon—the -order of the day-names comes about in the following -way:</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_191'>191</span>Sunday (<i>dies Solis</i>) was so named from the Sun -ruling its first hour. The following six hours being -ruled by the other planets, the Sun again rules the -eighth hour, also the fifteenth and the twenty-second; -the twenty-third hour is ruled by the next planet in the -series, Venus;<a id='r42' /><a href='#f42' class='c016'><sup>[42]</sup></a> the twenty-fourth by Mercury, and -the first hour of the next day by the Moon, hence this -will be Monday (<i>dies Lunæ</i>). The Moon ruling the -first, eighth, fifteenth, twenty-second hours of Monday, -the twenty-third hour will be ruled by Saturn (beginning -the series again), the twenty-fourth by Jupiter, -and the first hour of the next day by Mars; hence this -day will be <i>dies Martis</i> or Tuesday, from the planet -Tiw = Mars. And so on with the remaining days, -the names of the planet ruling the next day being -obtained by passing over the name of the two planets -ruling the twenty-third and twenty-fourth hours. -Thus beginning with the first planet of the series -we get:</p> - -<table class='table12' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='30%' /> -<col width='15%' /> -<col width='20%' /> -<col width='10%' /> -<col width='25%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Saturn</td> - <td class='c005'>ruling</td> - <td class='c007'>Saturday</td> - <td class='c005'><i>dies</i></td> - <td class='c008'><i>Saturni</i></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Sun</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>Sunday</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'><i>Solis</i></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Moon</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>Monday</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'><i>Lunæ</i></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Mars (Tiw)</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>Tuesday</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'><i>Martis</i></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Mercury (Woden)</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>Wednesday</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'><i>Mercurii</i></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Jupiter (Thor)</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>Thursday</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'><i>Jovis</i></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Venus (Frigu)</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>Friday</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'><i>Veneris</i></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>Latin Christianity made only two changes: <i>d. -dominicus</i> for Sunday, and <i>d. sabbati</i> for Saturday; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_192'>192</span>but the latter still retains its old name in several -countries, thus:</p> - -<table class='table14' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='43%' /> -<col width='12%' /> -<col width='43%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c007'><span class='small'> Provençal.</span></td> - <td class='c008' colspan='2'><span class='small'> Welsh.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Dimenche</td> - <td class='c005'>Dydd</td> - <td class='c008'>Sul</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Dilun</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>Llyn</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Dimars</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>Mawrth</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Dimècre</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>Mercher</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Dijòu</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>Jau</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Divèndre</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>Givener (Wener)</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Dissate</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>Sadwrn</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>The unit of time is the mean solar-day, the time -between the noons of two successive days, noon being -taken as the moment of the passage of the sun over -the local meridian, corrected by the equation of time -or daily correction required to reduce the varying solar -days to a mean of all the solar days. So ‘mean time’ -is that of a well-regulated clock dividing the year into -mean solar-days of 24 hours; there being 365 days, -5 hours, 48 minutes, 46 seconds, in the astronomical -year.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It is probable that everywhere, in primitive times, -both day and night would be divided, in southern -countries at least, or at the equinoxes, into three -watches of fairly equal length: the morning, midday, -afternoon; and the evening, midnight and dawn. -Each of these would become divided, with the rise -of astronomical observations and the use of sun-dials, -into fourths, making twelve hours for either day or -night; twelve hours corresponding to the twelve -months of the year or to the uncial divisions of other -measures. The civil day would thus be of twenty-four -<span class='pageno' id='Page_193'>193</span>hours, grouped into watches of four hours or into -the eight canonical divisions of the day. In medieval -times midday was properly the hour of sexte, the -sixth hour from prime, the third from tierce; but in -course of time the ninth hour, nones, was shifted from -3 <span class='fss'>P.M.</span> to midday, which thus became ‘noon.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>But the original division of the day, probably -Chaldæan, was strictly sexagesimal. It was divided -into 60 parts (= 24 minutes), each part into 60, and -this again into 60.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In medieval times the Sun’s daily path was divided -into 24 hours, each of 15 degrees; and each hour was -also divided into 3 miles or mileways of 5 degrees -(= 20 minutes). This division was connected with -the popular concrete idea of time in which 20 to 24 -minutes was the common unit. In India the popular -unit is still the time required to boil a pot of rice (20 to -24 minutes) or do some similar domestic task. In -the Middle Ages the Western unit was the time required -to walk a mile, on medieval roads.</p> - -<p class='c014'>‘And thogh I stonde there a myle’ (Gower, 1390).</p> - -<p class='c014'>‘And maketh every minute seem a myle’ (Spenser, -1594).</p> - -<p class='c014'>Then the degree was divided sexagesimally into 60 -minutes each of 60 seconds, as at present. These -divisions were at first called scruples, from the above-mentioned -division of the day into 60 scruples of 24 -minutes (the ounce being divided into scruples each of 24 -light grains). Here the scruple-sense of 1/24 passes to 1/60.</p> - -<p class='c014'>‘1610. The latitude fiftie degrees and fortie scruples -or minutes’ (Quot. <i>N.E.D.</i>).</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_194'>194</span>The hour was also divided similarly into 60 scruples -or minutes, each of 60 second scruples or seconds.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The ounce and scruple division of time is shown -in the following passage from ‘Le Breviari d’Amor,’ -a thirteenth-century poem by Ermengaud, a monk -of Beziers. I have freely translated it from the -Languedocian. ‘The day is divided into quarters, -each of 6 hours; and the fourth part of an hour is a -point, the tenth part of which is a moment; the -moment is divided into 12 parts called ounces, and each -of the ounces yields 47 atoms, which time called an -atom cannot be further divided.’ It seems almost -certain that ‘atomus xlvij’ is either a mistake for -xlviij or deliberately put for <i>set</i> (7), to rime with <i>ret</i> -(yields). The ounce of time, = 7-1/2 seconds, would be -divided into 24 scruples and 48 oboli, called atoms -as being the end of the division. Similar dropping -of a unit from Roman numerals is to be found in -medieval Acts of Parliament and Ordinances.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>The Lunar Year</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>In the lunar year used by Moslems and Jews, and -also recognised by law in the movable date of Easter -and some other feasts, the month is approximately -of 29-1/2 days, so that the year is 354 days, less than the -solar year by 11 days, or 12 in leap years. Hence Moslem -feasts or fasts, such as the Ramadán and the times of -pilgrimage, are that number of days earlier each year.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The age of the Moon is found by the Epact, its -age on the first day of the year. It is about the same -on March 1 as on January 1, owing to January and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_195'>195</span>February being together equal to two lunar months. -So the increase of the Epact during the year, at the -rate of about one day in the month, begins March 1; -and September is, for this purpose, the seventh month.</p> - -<p class='c014'>To the day of the month add the Epact and the -number of the month, beginning March 1. The total, -over 0 or over 30, is the age of the moon.</p> - -<p class='c014'><i>Example.</i>—September 10, 1910 (7th Month), Epact -for 1910 being xix.</p> - -<p class='c014'>10 + 19 + 7 = 36. The Moon was 6 days old.</p> - -<p class='c014'>What will be the date of full moon, its fifteenth day, -in November 1912? November is the ninth month -and the Epact for 1912 is xi.</p> - -<p class='c014'>11 + 9 = 20. 45 (= 30 + 15) - 20 = 25. <i>Ans.</i> -November 17.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Agriculturists who believe that certain seeds should -be sown, trees planted, and pigs converted into bacon -during the waxing of the moon, while trees are felled -during the waning, find the Epact useful in reckoning -the moon’s age. It is also useful in calculating whether -country-roads will be moonlit during certain nights.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Epact increases 11 days annually: 1911, 0; -1912, xi; 1913, xxij; coming back to 0 in 31 years.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>The Compass Card</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>While the circle of the horizon is divided into 360 -degrees for astronomy and for accurate navigation, -the steersman has always divided it sexdecimally. -The temple of the Winds at Athens was octagonal; -and the points of the horizon were named after the -eight winds, a number increased to sixteen about the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_196'>196</span>time of Ptolemy. The Romans tried in vain to substitute -an uncial division; their 12 winds and points -could not supersede the 8 winds and points of the -Greeks. And to this day in the Mediterranean there -are 8 principal points, named after the sun and winds:</p> - -<p class='c014'>Tramontano, Levant, Mezzodi, Ponente.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Greco, N.E.; Scirocco, S.E.; Libeccio, S.W.; -Maestralo, N.W.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Amerigo Vespucci sailed for the ‘<i>Ponente una quarta -di Libeccio</i>,’ West, one point S.W.; and afterwards for -the ‘<i>Libeccio una quarta del Mezzodi</i>,’ S.W. one point S.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Diagram indicating the Planet ruling each hour</span>,</div> - <div>FROM</div> - <div>DE TEMPORUM COMPUTATIONE ATQUE DIVISIONE,</div> - <div>Joannis Padovanii, Veronæ, 1577.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/p196.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<hr class='c018' /> -<div class='footnote' id='f41'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r41'>41</a>. </span>In the Bithynian calendar were a couple of months, <i>Areios</i> -and <i>Aphrodisios</i> (once <i>Artemisios</i>), the Greek forms corresponding -to Martius and Aprilis.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f42'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r42'>42</a>. </span>In the <i>Knightes Tale</i> (Chaucer) Palamon visits the temple -of Venus at her hour, then the temples of Diana (the Moon) and -of Mars at their respective hours.</p> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_197'>197</span> - <h2 id='XV' class='c004'>CHAPTER XV<br /> <br /><span class='small'>MEASURES OF HEAT AND OF DENSITY<br />AND COMPOUND INDUSTRIAL UNITS</span></h2> -</div> - -<h3 class='c019'>1. <span class='sc'>Measures of Heat</span></h3> - -<h4 class='c045'><i>Thermometric Scales</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>About 1595 Galileo made a thermometer, probably -one with an air-bulb in which expansion of the air -forces water down the tube.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Isaac Newton made an oil-thermometer with a scale -of 12° between freezing-point and body-heat.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Fahrenheit, about 1714, made a mercurial thermometer, -its 0 at the cold produced by a refrigerating -mixture and 24° at body-heat. On this scale, freezing-point -was 8° and boiling-point 53°. The quarter-degrees -were then made whole degrees, producing the -Fahrenheit scale with 32° for freezing-point, 96° (more -correctly 98·4°) for body-heat, and 212° for boiling-point -at ordinary atmospheric pressure. There are -180° between freezing and boiling points.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Réaumur’s scale has 80° between these points.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Celsius (of Upsala, 1742) used a scale of 100° -between these points. Hence it is usually called -<span class='pageno' id='Page_198'>198</span>Centigrade. This is the scale of international physical -and chemical reports; and is generally used in laboratory-work.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The maximum density of water is at 4° Centigrade -= 39·2° F.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Fahrenheit scale is generally used in English-speaking -countries. It is convenient for meteorological -purposes as there is rarely any need to use ‘minus’ -degrees for winter temperatures as in the Centigrade -and Réaumur scales. For medical purposes it is -also more convenient to have the normal body-temperature -at 98·4° F. (close to 100°), than at 36·9° C. -or at 29·5° R.<a id='r43' /><a href='#f43' class='c016'><sup>[43]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c014'>To convert Centigrade degrees into Fahrenheit:</p> - -<p class='c014'>Double the degrees; deduct 1/10; add 32°.</p> - -<p class='c014'>E.g., 20° C.; 20 × 2 = 40; 40 - 4 = 36; 36 + -32 = 68° F.</p> - -<p class='c014'>To convert Fahrenheit degrees into Centigrade:</p> - -<p class='c014'>Deduct 32°; halve the degrees; add 1/9 (roughly -1/10 or a little more).</p> - -<p class='c014'>E.g., 100° F.; - 32 = 68; 1/2 68 = 34; 34 + 3·4 = -37·4 (37·75 correct).</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>2. <span class='sc'>Measures of Density</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>Specific gravity and the density of fluids at -different temperatures were known in very ancient -times. The ‘Eureka’ experiments of Archimedes -are well known. Al-Khazini (1121)<a id='r44' /><a href='#f44' class='c016'><sup>[44]</sup></a> determined the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_199'>199</span>specific gravity of metals and of fluids at different -temperatures as accurately as modern physicists -have done.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The hydrometer, divided into 24 qiráts, was well -known in the East, even before the time of the Caliphates.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The density or specific gravity of solids and fluids -is usually referred to that of distilled water at 62° F. -= 16·6° C.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It is sometimes referred to 4° C. = 39·2° F. There -is no advantage in this temperature, that of water -at its maximum density; corrections for temperature -will always have to be made in exact determinations, -while, in the approximate determinations of trade, -the indoor standard of 62° F. requires no correction.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The specific gravity of gases being in the ratio of -their molecular weight, which is referred to that of -hydrogen, this gas is taken as the standard.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The density of solutions of salts, sugar, acids, &c., -is referred to that of water or stated on a trade-scale -usually indicating the percentage in solution.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The density of spirits is referred to that of water, -but their alcoholic strength to:</p> - -<p class='c014'>(<i>a</i>) A scale indicating the volume of alcohol per cent. -(Gay-Lussac and Tralles).</p> - -<p class='c014'>(<i>b</i>) An arbitrary scale (Cartier and Baumé).</p> - -<p class='c014'>(<i>c</i>) An excise-scale on the basis of proof-spirit -(Sykes).</p> - -<p class='c014'>Proof-spirit meant originally a spirit sufficiently -strong to take light, and which, if poured on gunpowder -and lighted, would cause the powder to explode. This -<span class='pageno' id='Page_200'>200</span>was the ‘Holland-proof,’ By a statute of 1816 it -was defined as of specific gravity 12/13 that of water at -51° F., which is = 0·923; but at the present standard -temperature of 60° = 15·5° C. it is 0·920.</p> - -<p class='c014'>With Sykes’s hydrometer, used in England:</p> - -<p class='c014'><i>Under Proof</i> (U.P.)—each degree means 1 per -cent. of water, the rest being proof spirit.</p> - -<p class='c014'><i>Over Proof</i> (O.P.)—each degree means 1 per cent. of -water required to be added to bring the spirit down to -proof.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The scale of Tralles’s alcoholometer only differs -from Gay-Lussac’s by water being taken at 39·2° -and pure alcohol as of sp. gr. 7939 at 60°.</p> - -<table class='table15' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='9%' /> -<col width='6%' /> -<col width='9%' /> -<col width='6%' /> -<col width='12%' /> -<col width='6%' /> -<col width='48%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005' colspan='3'><span class='small'>Alcohol</span></td> - <td class='c007'><span class='small'>Sykes°</span></td> - <td class='c008' colspan='2'><span class='small'>Baumé°</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'><span class='small'>Sp. Gr.</span></td> - <td class='c005' colspan='3'><span class='small'>Vol. per cent.</span></td> - <td class='c007'><span class='small'>(Excise)</span></td> - <td class='c008' colspan='2'><span class='small'>(French)</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>1·000</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c034'>0</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>100 U.P.</td> - <td class='c007'>10</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>0·920</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c022'>57·05</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>Proof</td> - <td class='c007'>22</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>0·848</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c022'>85·2</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>49·6 O.P.</td> - <td class='c007'>36</td> - <td class='c008'>Fr. Rect. Spirit Troix-six.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>0·838</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c022'>88·8</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>55·8 „</td> - <td class='c007'>38·2</td> - <td class='c008'>Rect. Spirit, Brit. Pharm.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>0·821</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c022'>93·75</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>64·3 „</td> - <td class='c007'>41·8</td> - <td class='c008'>Strongest Rect. Spirit.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>0·794</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>100</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>—</td> - <td class='c007'>48</td> - <td class='c008'>Absolute Alcohol.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>The approximate relation of the five usual scales -for proof and French rectified spirit are as follows:</p> - -<table class='table16' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='22%' /> -<col width='11%' /> -<col width='16%' /> -<col width='16%' /> -<col width='33%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005' colspan='2'><span class='small'>Proof 0·920</span></td> - <td class='c017' colspan='2'><span class='small'>Fr. Rect. Sp. 0·848</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Gay-Lussac</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>58°</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c008'>86°</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Tralles</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>56·3°</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c008'>85°</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Cartier</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>21·6°</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c008'>34°</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Baumé</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>22·6°</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c008'>36° Trois-six</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Sykes</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>Proof</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c008'>49·6°</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_201'>201</span> - <h4 class='c021'><i>Compound Industrial Units</i></h4> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>Units of Power, of Electricity, of Caloric, &c., are -abstract compound units based on units of time, -weight, length, &c., combined for industrial convenience, -e.g. a certain weight moved a certain distance -in a certain time.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The H.P., engine horse-power, is 550 lb. raised one -foot in one second. In France this becomes 75·9 -kilos, raised one metre in one second, = about 3/4 of the -kilo-watt unit of electric power.</p> - -<hr class='c018' /> -<div class='footnote' id='f43'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r43'>43</a>. </span>Normal body-temperature is taken in France as 37° C. In -Germany it is taken as 29·3° Réaumur = 97·9° F.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f44'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r44'>44</a>. </span><i>Book of the Balance of Wisdom</i> (H. Carrington Bolton).</p> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_202'>202</span> - <h2 id='XVI' class='c004'>CHAPTER XVI<br /> <br /><span class='small'>THE ELLS</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>The Ells are the Cubits of the modern West. They -are of two kinds: the Foot-Ells, of which the Persian -cubit and the Beládi cubit, divisible into 2 feet, were -the types, and the Span-Ells, of 3, 4, 5 or 6 spans.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>1. <span class='sc'>The Foot-Ells</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>In France the Aune was 4 Roman feet.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In the Italian states the Braccio was usually -2 local feet, but sometimes an Eastern cubit.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In the German and Norse states the Eln was 2 local -feet.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Spain the Covado, of 2 Burgos feet, was the -Beládi cubit.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>2. <span class='sc'>The Span-Ells</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>The Span-Ells of Western Europe are of two types, -derived either from the English foot, or from a Netherlands -foot which has disappeared and which was -probably the Olympic foot. (See Holland, in the <a href='#XVII'>next chapter</a>.)</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_203'>203</span>The Netherlands Ell appears then to be 3 spans of -an Olympic cubit = 3 × 18·24/2, which is equivalent -to 2-1/4 Olympic feet: 2-1/4 × 12·16: both = 27·36 -inches. The Antwerp Ell was formerly = 27·396 -inches, and that of Amsterdam = 27·216 inches. -There has been shrinkage, probably through the influence -of the English standard of the Flemish Ell, we -having taken 3 of our own spans, = 27 inches, for this -largely used trade-measure, and our standard having -prevailed in foreign trade. So the Flemish Ell has -tended more and more to the English standard. In -Holland and its colonies it is = 27·08 inches. This is -also the standard in Portugal. The lesser <i>pík</i> or <i>drá</i> -of Constantinople, = 27 inches, was probably = 26·8 -inches as in Egypt; it may have increased under the -influence of the English or Flemish Ell. The Venetian -braccio, = 26·9 inches, probably comes from this -Turkish <i>pík</i>.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Northern France there was an Aune = 27·1 -inches and another of 27 Amsterdam inches = 27·36 -inches (the Amsterdam foot being of 11 inches).</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Prussia there is, or was, an Ell = 26·257 inches. -It was described as of 2-1/8 Rhineland feet; but it was -almost certainly 3 Roman spans = 2-1/4 Roman feet -(11·67 × 2-1/4 = 26·257 inches), brought into the Rhineland -system by representing it as 2-1/8 Rhineland feet, -which it is only approximately; 2-1/8 × 12·3563 being = -26·2617 inches.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Nowhere out of England and Scotland is there -found any Span-ell other than of 3 spans. The -<span class='pageno' id='Page_204'>204</span>apparent exceptions are in Spain, where the Vara of -3 feet, = 1-1/2 Beládi cubit, is a 4-span ell, like our Yard, -and in Occitania (Southern France), where the Cano -is an 8-span fathom.</p> - -<p class='c014'>‘Ell,’ formerly Elne, meant at first the natural -cubit or length of the forearm (L. <i>ulna</i>) from the finger -tips to the bend of the arm or ‘el-bow.’ Originally of -2 spans, it came to mean a greater multiple of the span, -or, as in the case of the German ells and the French -aune, a multiple of the foot.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Our Ells were:</p> - -<table class='table6' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='52%' /> -<col width='4%' /> -<col width='9%' /> -<col width='9%' /> -<col width='9%' /> -<col width='14%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Flemish Ell</td> - <td class='c006'>3</td> - <td class='c005'>spans</td> - <td class='c005'>= 27</td> - <td class='c005'>inches</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>English Yard</td> - <td class='c006'>4</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>= 36</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Scots Ell</td> - <td class='c006'>4</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>= 36</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>(Scots)</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>English Ell</td> - <td class='c006'>5</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>= 45</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Long English Ell or Cloth-goad</td> - <td class='c006'>6</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>= 54</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>The Flemish Ell was that of the Netherlands, -brought to the standard of our inches.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Long English Ell or cloth-goad of 6 spans was a -double Flemish ell. It has long been extinct.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Yard has survived, from its convenience as -either of 4 spans or of 3 feet.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Scots Ell = 37·058 inches corresponded to the -English yard; it was 3 feet Scots, i.e. of Rhineland -standard, = 12·353 inches.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Common English Ell, the tailor’s yard, ‘taylors -yerde, virga cissoris,’ was probably the French aune -= 46·6 inches, introduced under the Plantagenets -from their French dominions and cut down to fit our -ell system. This ell appears to have been carried -abroad by trade. Both the 3-span Covado and the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_205'>205</span>5-span Vara of Portugal are identical with our ells, -their spans being longer than the ordinary Portuguese -spans and called <i>palmos avantejados</i>, long spans.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The four-foot Ell of Jersey and Guernsey was -probably the French ell increased from 4 Roman feet -to 4 English feet.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Of the foot-ells of Italy and Germany, several were -exactly half our ell, while quite foreign to the native -standards.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Both our Ell and our Yard were divided into 4 -quarters and 16 nails. The Elizabethan standards, -still extant, are so divided.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Of the English span-ells the Yard alone remains. -The 5-span Ell, maintained by the statute authority -which prescribed the breadth of cloth, lived only as a -royal measure and, like the royal pound, was gradually -superseded by the more popular measure. The ell -was obsolete nearly a century before the royal pound -silently disappeared. It seems, however, to have -survived in Wales for a long time.</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_206'>206</span> - <h2 id='XVII' class='c004'>CHAPTER XVII<br /> <br /><span class='small'>FOREIGN LINEAR MEASURES</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>Only a sketch of these can be given, for in some -countries so various are the local standards that each -petty state, each district sometimes, would require -a long study.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>I. <span class='sc'>The Teutonic Countries</span></h3> - -<h4 class='c045'><i>Sweden</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>The Roman foot = 11·67 inches. This is, or was, -also used in Oldenburg and in some parts of Holland.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Denmark and Norway</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>The Rhineland foot = 12·356 inches, divided into -12 Tomme (thumbs), 12 feet = 1 rode (rod).</p> - -<p class='c014'><i>North Germany</i></p> - -<p class='c014'>The principal types are:</p> - -<p class='c014'>1. The Rhineland foot, in Prussia, &c.</p> - -<p class='c014'>2. The Hanoverian foot = 11·5 inches more or -less, used in Hanover, Pomerania, part of Holland and -Belgium, Bavaria, Mecklenburg, and Geneva.</p> - -<p class='c014'>3. The Hanseatic foot, 11·32 inches more or less, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_207'>207</span>used in Lubeck, Bremen (11·39), Hamburg (11·276), -Dantzig, also in Hesse, Saxe-Coburg, and Poland.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The length of 11·32 inches points to the probability -of the Hanseatic foot being a reduced Rhineland foot, -11/12 of 12·356 inches = 11·3264 inches. There are -several instances of the popular objection to a long foot -and of the artifice which reduces it to a more convenient -length by taking 11 inches of the government standard, -and making from them a foot of 12 short inches.</p> - -<p class='c014'>4. The Amsterdam foot = 11·146 inches, also used -in the Dutch parts of New England. This foot is -divided into 11 inches, an evident instance of a reduced -foot, unconcealed by any division into 12 new inches. -The practice of making a reduced foot stands revealed, -and is confirmed by the Amsterdam rod (roede) being -13 of these reduced feet, evidently to make up in land-measure -for the reduction in the foot in the home and -in the workshop. This compensation is of the same -kind as that now used in English agricultural weights -where, to compensate for the statute reduction of the -ancient 16 lb. stone, of which 16 made a wey or load -of 256 lb., the custom arose of taking 18 statute-stones -of 14 lb. to make a load of 252 lb. approximately -the same as the old load.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The question now arises: What was the foot of -12·16 inches which the Hollanders reduced to -11/12 = 11·146 inches? Was it the Olympic foot?</p> - -<p class='c014'>The seafaring Netherlander, to whom the nautical -mile and its 1/1000 part = the Olympic fathom, were -familiar, would very possibly take its sixth part as -their foot, just as the seafaring Greeks had taken it. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_208'>208</span>But landfolk accustomed to the short Roman foot, -which is still to be found in the land-measures of -Holland, would reduce the longer foot to 11 inches for -popular use.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Yet the longer foot has left traces in the Netherlands. -The Amsterdam roede of 13 Amsterdam -feet is = 12·07 feet, i.e. 12 feet of 12·07 inches. The -Amsterdam Ell, = 27·08 inches at present (= 3 spans -of 9·023 inches), was, in 1647, according to John -Greaves, = 27·216 inches, giving a foot of 12·1 inches, -and he gives the Antwerp Ell as = 27·396 inches, -which gives an Antwerp foot 12·176 inches, a length -very close to that of the Olympic foot of 12·16 inches. -There appears to have been a slight shrinkage in the -Amsterdam ell.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Austria</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>There are two standards of foot. While the -ordinary foot, 1/6 of the Klafter or fathom, is = 12·441 -inches, that of the ell (which is 2-1/2 feet) = 12·245 inches. -It looks as if the one were increased, and the other -equally decreased, from the Rhineland foot, = 12·356 -inches.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>2. <span class='sc'>The Latin Countries</span></h3> - -<h4 class='c045'><i>Italy</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>Here every state, almost every city, had a different -standard of length. The foot was generally of Roman -type = 11·67 inches, or of a very short type, = -about 10·3 inches, referable possibly to half an Egyptian -royal cubit, = 20·64 inches, a measure still extant in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_209'>209</span>Egypt. There was usually also a braccio or cloth-ell -of 23 to 26 inches, probably of Eastern origin.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Lombardy the standard was the Luitprandi -foot (pié Aliprandi) = 20·28 inches, with a corresponding -pertica or rod of 12 <i>piedi</i>, usually = 20·23 feet. -Legend refers this measure to the foot-length of a -giant Lombard king; but it is evidently a cubit, -probably a variant of the Egyptian royal cubit, for -2/3 of it gave the Lombard foot, = 13·52 inches; and -this, as also the Venetian foot, = 13·69 inches, seems -referable to the Egyptian royal foot, = 13·76 inches.</p> - -<p class='c014'>But everywhere and always the people object to -a long foot-standard. Whether in ancient Egypt or -in modern Italy, they will take a more convenient -length; they will halve the cubit so as to get a short -foot, or take some span, or some ell divisible into -spans. So in Italy there was generally a local foot -and also a span. Sometimes the span was 3/4 of the -foot, at other times it was a fraction of a braccio or -ell; and both foot and span might be called a <i>palmo</i>. -This term was equivalent to the L. <i>palmus major</i> as -distinguished from the ordinary <i>palmus</i> of 4 digits. -In Rome there is, or was till recently, a series the same -as that of ancient Rome, on the basis of a foot = 11·72 -inches, slightly longer than the ancient foot = 11·67 -inches; 5 feet made a <i>passo</i>, and 1000 <i>passi</i> a mile.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The foot was of 16 digits, usually called <i>oncie</i>, -inches, and 12 of these digits were taken for a palmo -= 8·79 inches. Three of these palmi made the braccio, -the cloth-ell, = 26·38 inches.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Roman field-measures were a mixture of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_210'>210</span>decimal chain-units and of lengths derived from seed-measures -of land.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Tuscany the standard was the braccio, = 22·98 -inches, half of which was the palmo, = 11·49 inches. -The braccio was divided, as if it were a money-pound, -into 20 soldi, of 12 denari.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In the kingdom of Naples, with its population of -Greek origin, the standard of length was the meridian -mile, divided into 1000 Olympic fathoms or passi. -But the passo was divided, not into six long feet, but, -like the Egyptian royal cubit, into 7 palmi, = 10·4 -inches. The usual standard was the Canna of 8 palmi, -a reversion to the common Mediterranean measure -of the reed of 8 spans.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Genoa there was, and perhaps is still, a palmo -= 9·764 inches, a length exactly that of the pán in -several cities of Provence. It has changed but little -since the time of Recorde’s ‘Pawn of Geans’ (1543) -or since John Greaves (1647) gave it as = 9·78 inches.<a id='r45' /><a href='#f45' class='c016'><sup>[45]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c014'>Genoa, the language of which district is a dialect -of Provençal, has measures of the Provençal type. -The measures of Provence will be described at length -in <a href='#XXI'>Chap. XXI</a>.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Spain</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>The standard is the Burgos foot = 11·127 inches, -3 feet making a Vara. This foot was originally = -<span class='pageno' id='Page_211'>211</span>10·944 inches,<a id='r46' /><a href='#f46' class='c016'><sup>[46]</sup></a> i.e. half the Beládi cubit, brought by -the Moors. This original standard has been preserved -very nearly in the two-foot <i>Covado di ribera</i>, the shore-cubit, -= 21·9157 inches, its half = 10·9578 inches.</p> - -<p class='c014'>That the Burgos foot has deviated, like most -Spanish weights and measures, from the accurate -standards of the Moors, is shown by the length of -the Spanish <i>Legua maritima</i>, the league of 3 meridian -miles, or 6653·36 varas. At the modern standard of -the Burgos foot this is</p> - -<p class='c014'>6653·36 × 3 × 11·127 inches = 220,958 inches, -while 3 meridian miles are</p> - -<p class='c014'>2026·66 yards × 3 × 12 inches = 218,880 inches, -showing an error of 2078 inches = 57·7 yards.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Taking the original standard of the Burgos foot at -10·944 inches,</p> - -<p class='c014'>6653 varas × 3 × 10,944 = 218,880 inches,</p> - -<p class='c014'>exactly corresponding to the Parasang, = 10,000 Beládi -cubits of 21·888 inches, or to 20,000 Burgos feet as -instituted by the Moors.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The erroneous standard of the Burgos foot appears -to have been corrected. The tables of A. de Malarce, -approved by the French government in 1879, give the -Burgos foot as = O·27833 metre = 10·938 inches.</p> - -<p class='c014'>That Spain also once had the Roman foot is shown by -the survival in Tunis of the Drá Andalussi, the Spanish -Ell, of 3 Roman spans of 8·753 inches = 26·25 inches.</p> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_212'>212</span> - <h4 class='c021'><i>Portugal</i></h4> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>Here the Roman standard is seen in the Palmo or -span = 8·749 inches, 3/4 of a foot = 11·665 inches. -The palmo is divided into 8 <i>polegadas</i>, inches, of 12 -lines, or into 12 <i>dedo</i>, digits, of 8 lines.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Vara, = 43·7 inches, is of 5 spans; the Braça, -or fathom, is 2 varas or 10 spans; 3000 fathoms -make a league, = 3·89 miles, divided into 3 <i>milhas</i> of -8 <i>estados</i>, stadia or furlongs. In land-measure 4840 -square varas make a <i>geira</i> (= 1·47 acre) exactly, as -4840 square yards make our acre. One may infer -that the form and division of the geira was similar to -that of our acre; that it is, or was, 220 × 22 varas, -a 1/10 strip of some ‘acreme’ measure. This view is -supported by the use in Brazil of a land-unit, the -<i>quadro</i>, officially 150 × 1 metres; a strip of an -original square quadro corresponding to the 10-geira -field. In Argentina the <i>cuadra</i> is 150 varas, and the -<i>cuadra cuadrada</i>, 4·17 acres, is that measure squared.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Portugal has another span, the <i>palmo avantejado</i> = -9·0256 inches, of which 3 make a covado or cubit = -27·078 inches, virtually the Flemish ell of English -standard.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>3. <span class='sc'>Russia and the East</span></h3> - -<h4 class='c045'><i>Russia</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>The standard of length is the English foot, introduced -by Peter the Great. There is another and older -measure, the Arshīn = 28 inches, i.e. the Turkish -arshīn of 27·9 inches varied to a simple relation with the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_213'>213</span>new foot; and like the Turkish measure it is divided -into 16 nails (Verstok). See ‘Arshīn,’ further on.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in1'>3 Arshīns = 1 Sajeng = 7 feet.</div> - <div class='line'>500 Sajeng = 1 Verst = 1166·6 yds. (1·06 kilometre).</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Turkey</i></h4> - -<div class='lg-container-b c002'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The Arshīn or Halebi pík = 27·9 inches.</div> - <div class='line in11'>5-1/2 Arshīns = 1 Qasáb.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>The Hendázi or Stambūli <i>drá</i> = 25·688 inches, -very nearly the Hashími cubit = 25·56 inches.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Cloth-drá = the Flemish ell.</p> - -<p class='c014'>All these are divided into either 16 nails or 24 qirát.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Egypt</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>The Hendázi drá, as above.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Nile pík of two standards:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>1. That of the Black cubit = 21·28 inches.</div> - <div class='line'>2. That of the Royal cubit = 20·65 „</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>There is also a commonly used pík = 26·8 inches, -probably a low standard Flemish ell.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Persia</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>The geodesic traditions of the ancient Oriental -monarchies maintain many of their standards. The -principal is the Guz or Yard of 2 common Egyptian -cubits 2 × 18·24 = 36·48 inches. It is 1/6000 of the -Farsakh, the ancient Parasang or league of 3 meridian -miles.</p> - -<p class='c014'>There are also amongst others:</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>A Cloth</td> - <td class='c005'>guz</td> - <td class='c007'>= 1-1/2 Hashími cubits</td> - <td class='c007'>= 38·3</td> - <td class='c017'>inches.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>Another</td> - <td class='c005'>guz</td> - <td class='c007'>= 1-1/2 Persian cubits</td> - <td class='c007'>= 37·9</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>= 1-2/3 Hashími cubits</td> - <td class='c007'>= 42</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_214'>214</span> - <h4 class='c021'><i>Roumania</i></h4> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>The measures differ little from those of Turkey.</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>The Halebi pík</td> - <td class='c007'>= 27·6</td> - <td class='c017'>inches.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>The Hendázi „</td> - <td class='c007'>= 26·03</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Greece</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>The Hendázi <i>píchus</i>, of Hashími standard = 25·51, is -the usual measure.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Tunis, Tripoli, Algeria</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>The Moorish drá = 18·94 to 19·2 inches (3/4 of the -Hashími cubit), the usual standard. The multiples -by 8 show the influence of the Cano of 8 spans from -Southern France and Italy.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The ancient Roman mile still exists in Tunis, -with a length = 1610-1/4 yards.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>4. <span class='sc'>The Hashími Cubit</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>After the Moslem conquest of the countries of the -Eastern great monarchies, the 25·26 inch standard of -the Persian cubit was raised to 25·56 inches. This -is the Hashími, or Hashemic cubit, named after Hashim, -the chief of the Arab tribe to which the prophet -Mahomed belonged. It is the cubit mentioned in the -‘Arabian Nights’ (524th night). But the cubit or -the foot of the Nights, when not specified, is usually -either of the Olympic or of Al-Mamūn’s standard. -The increase of the Persian cubit was probably to bring -it, together with the Beládi cubit and the Arshīn (to -be described presently), into simple relation with a -Qasáb of length slightly increased so that this should, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_215'>215</span>for building and land measurement, be a common -multiple of the three cubits. This is the Turkish qasáb, -the qasáb qabáni = 153·45 inches.</p> - -<table class='table16' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='22%' /> -<col width='11%' /> -<col width='5%' /> -<col width='11%' /> -<col width='16%' /> -<col width='22%' /> -<col width='11%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>7 Beládi</td> - <td class='c005'>cubits</td> - <td class='c005'>at</td> - <td class='c007'>21·888</td> - <td class='c005'>inches</td> - <td class='c007'>= 153·216</td> - <td class='c017'>inches.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>6 Hashími</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>25·56</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>= 153·36</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>5-1/2 Arshīns</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>27·9</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>= 153·45</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>By taking the 7 Beládi cubits at the equatorial -standard of the Jewish cubit, 21·914 inches, they would -give 153·34 inches, and taking 5-1/2 arshīns at the slightly -diminished length of 27·88 inches, the qasáb would -be an exact common multiple of them at 153·36 inches.</p> - -<p class='c014'>This qasáb can be divided into 6 Hashími cubits, -or 12 feet, or 24 kubdehs (handshafts), or sexdecimally -into 2 fathoms, 4 guz, 8 cubits, 16 spans. It is a mere -coincidence that the old French foot, = 12·789 inches, -was very approximately half a Hashími cubit.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>5. <span class='sc'>The Halebi Pík or Arshīn</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>The date of this measure is as uncertain as its source. -It is a Turkish measure = 27·9 inches or thereabouts, -divided into 16 qirát. This division points to it being -2/3 of a Persian guz of 24 qirát.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Among the guz of Persia there is one = 1-2/3 -Hashími cubits = 42 inches, of which 16/24 = 28 inches. -If this length were taken, it might have been somewhat -lessened to make it an aliquot part of the Turkish -reed or qasáb, 6 Hashími cubits = 153·36 inches. At -the length of 27·9 inches, 5-1/2 arshīn = 153·45 inches -or within 1/10 inch of the qasáb.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_216'>216</span>It is curious that the Reed should be 5-1/2 arshīns, as -our Rod is 5-1/2 yards.</p> - -<p class='c014'>While the Turkish qasáb is—</p> - -<p class='c014'>7 Beládi cubits, 6 Hashími cubits = 5-1/2 arshīns, -the Egyptian qasáb, somewhat less, is—</p> - -<p class='c014'>6 Assyrian cubits of 25·26 inches = 151·56 inches, -or 5-1/2 double royal feet of 13·76 = 151·36 inches, and -is divided into 10 ‘belendi’ feet of 15·156 inches.</p> - -<p class='c014'>There is a lesser Egyptian qasáb of 5 arshīns -= 139·65 inches and a third still less, of 4 Assyrian -cubits = 101 inches. With each of these qasáb -20 × 20 make a Feddan of land.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The word Pík is the Greek pichūs, a cubit.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Note of Acknowledgment</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>In this and the next two chapters I have necessarily -had to work largely on materials gathered by others. -The equivalents of foreign measures and weights are in -many cases taken from—</p> - -<p class='c014'>Kelly’s ‘Cambist,’ 1816.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Woolhouse’s ‘Measures, Weights and Moneys of all -Nations,’ 1890.</p> - -<p class='c014'>De Malarce, ‘Poids et Mesures,’ 1879.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Browne’s ‘Merchants’ Handbook,’ 1899.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The information in the last of these is excellently -compiled and very trustworthy.</p> - -<p class='c014'>My object is to give, not tabulated series of measures -but their history and rationale, to apprehend the ways -<span class='pageno' id='Page_217'>217</span>of thought which have given rise to them, to seek their -relations. No country has an isolated system, or -even an isolated measure, and unity underlies the -infinite variety of measures and weights.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Table of Some European Itinerary Measures</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table5' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='8%' /> -<col width='62%' /> -<col width='16%' /> -<col width='12%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c007'>Yards</td> - <td class='c008'>Miles</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>1. Meridian mile—Naples</td> - <td class='c007'>2026-2/3</td> - <td class='c008'>1·1515</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c007'>„ league, 1/20 degree</td> - <td class='c034'>—</td> - <td class='c008'>4·54</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>2. Ancient Roman mile</td> - <td class='c007'>1621-1/3</td> - <td class='c008'>0·921</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>3. Roman mile, modified—</td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c007'>Venice, 1000 paces of 5 feet</td> - <td class='c007'>1901</td> - <td class='c008'>1·08</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c007'>Sicily, 720 rods of 8 palmi</td> - <td class='c007'>1625</td> - <td class='c008'>0·924</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c007'>Spain, 1000 paces of 5 feet</td> - <td class='c007'>1520</td> - <td class='c008'>0·863</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c007'>Portugal, 8 stadia of 234-2/3 varas</td> - <td class='c007'>2281</td> - <td class='c008'>1·296</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c007'>England, 8 furlongs of 220 yards</td> - <td class='c007'>1760</td> - <td class='c008'>1·0</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c007'>France, 1000 toises</td> - <td class='c007'>2131</td> - <td class='c008'>1·21</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>4. German Meile, about a meridian league—</td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c007'>Austria, 4000 fathoms of 6 feet</td> - <td class='c034'>—</td> - <td class='c008'>4·71</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c007'>Prussia and Denmark, 2000 rods of 12 feet</td> - <td class='c034'>—</td> - <td class='c008'>4·68</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c007'>Hanover, 1587 rods of 16 feet</td> - <td class='c034'>—</td> - <td class='c008'>4·66</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c007'>Brunswick, 1625 rods of 16 feet</td> - <td class='c034'>—</td> - <td class='c008'>4·61</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>5. An ‘hour-walk’ league—</td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c007'>Holland—Uur gaans</td> - <td class='c034'>—</td> - <td class='c038'>—</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c007'>Switzerland—Stunde, 1600 rods of 10 feet</td> - <td class='c034'>—</td> - <td class='c008'>2·98</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>6. Russia—Verst, 500 sajeng of 7 feet</td> - <td class='c007'>1166·6</td> - <td class='c008'>0·663</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<hr class='c018' /> -<div class='footnote' id='f45'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r45'>45</a>. </span>In this ‘pawn’ (the spelling of which shows that English -had already lost the <i>a</i> sound of the first vowel and had to represent -it by <i>aw</i>) I see the fusion of two words etymologically different, -the Italian <i>palmo</i>, L. <i>palmus</i>, and the Provençal <i>pán</i>, side, panel. -See, in Chaps. <a href='#Pan'>IV</a> and <a href='#XXI'>XXI</a>, ‘The Pán of Marseilles.’</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f46'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r46'>46</a>. </span>As pointed out by Don V. V. Queipo (<i>Essai sur les Systèmes -Métriques</i>, 1859), but not quite accurately. His values are often -confused or obscure, but his work is most useful.</p> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_218'>218</span> - <h2 id='XVIII' class='c004'>CHAPTER XVIII<br /> <br /><span class='small'>FOREIGN WEIGHTS</span></h2> -</div> - -<h3 class='c019'>1. <span class='sc'>Teutonic Systems of Weight</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>The German and Norse pounds are of three types:</p> - -<p class='c014'>1. The pound of the Cologne mark, the double -marc, = 7216 grains, its ounce = 451 grains. This was -the standard of the old Tower weight of the English -mints. It coincides with the Arabic lesser rotl, 1/100 of -the Cantar of Al-Mamūn (= 102·92 lb.).</p> - -<p class='c014'>Its modern type is, or was, the pound of Prussia -and Hanover = 7218 grains, 1/100 of the Centner -= 103·11 lb. It was defined as 1/66 of the weight of a -Rhineland cubic foot of water (see <a href='#XIX'>next chapter</a>).</p> - -<p class='c014'>2. The Troy pound, of variable standard, from -7705 grains (ounce = 481·5 grs.) in Denmark, and as -high as 483 grains in Sweden, to 7595 grains (ounce -= 474·7 grs.) in Holland. Even in Holland there is -another standard, that of the Amsterdam pound, -7625 grains (ounce = 476·7 grs.), the medium standard -of Troy weight, = 10 Egyptian dirhems of 47·6 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>3. The Nuremburg pound = 7390 grains, its -ounce = 462 grains. As the 12-oz. pound of apothecaries’ -weight, it is = 5522 grains, its ounce = 460·2 -<span class='pageno' id='Page_219'>219</span>grains. This pound is derived from the 8-ounce <i>peso -di marco</i> of Venice = 3695 grains. The Venice ounce, -= 460·2 grains, was divided into 144 carats of 3·19609 -grains. This ounce was 8 centesimal drachmæ of the -Arabic lesser rotl = 5763 grains, when divided on -the Greek system into 100 drachmæ of 57·63 grains, -instead of on the uncial system, so that 8 × 57·63 -= 461·04 grains. This is the apparent basis of the -Venetian marc-ounce and the Nuremburg ounce.</p> - -<p class='c014'>As the Marc was 2/3 of the classic 12-oz. pound, the -word came to mean 2/3 of a pound, either weight or -coin; it probably came from ‘San Marco’ of Venice.</p> - -<p class='c014'>German and Scandinavian ounces were usually -divided into 2 loths or half-ounces, 8 quentchen and -16 Pfenning.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Holland the mint-ounce was of 20 Engels, each of -32 Azen. ‘Engel’ is the English sterling or dwt.; -the Aas is an ace, a light grain = 0·7417 grain.</p> - -<p class='c014'><i>The Baltic Skippund.</i> This ship-pound was 20 -lispund, of either 20 light or 16 heavy pounds:</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Denmark & Norway—20 lispund of 16 skaalpund</td> - <td class='c008'>= 352 lb.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Sweden—20 lispund of 20 skaalpund</td> - <td class='c008'>= 375 lb.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Russia—the berkowitz, 10 pūd of 40 fūnt</td> - <td class='c008'>= 361 lb.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<h3 class='c019'>2. <span class='sc'>East-European Systems of Weight</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>The Pounds of Poland, of Russia, of Austro-Hungary -and Bavaria (also a mint-pound in Sweden), -appear to have developed from the Arabic pounds on a -dirhem-basis.</p> - -<p class='c014'>1. The Polish pound, 16 × 8 dirhems of 48·9 -<span class='pageno' id='Page_220'>220</span>grains, = 6258 grs. It is divided into 16 ounces; -the oz. = 391 grs. (Cf. the lb. of Sardinia and of -Languedoc; the oz. = 392 grs.)</p> - -<p class='c014'>2. The Russian pound or fūnt, of 12 ounces. -The ounce (lana) = 526·6 grains is almost exactly -10 greater dirhems of 52·6 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>This ounce is exactly that of the rottolo attári or -Assyrian rotl of 8426 grains (the Greek-Asiatic miná) -still extant in Bássora (Chaldæa) and in Algeria. The -relationship is evident, since the Roman As was 1/100 of -the Greek-Asiatic talent, and the greater dirhem was -1/9 of the As-ounce = 420·75 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>3. The Austro-Hungarian pound, also used in -Bavaria, is 16 × 8 dirhems of 50·6 grains = 6482·3 grs.</p> - -<p class='c014'>4. The Swedish mint-pound.</p> - -<p class='c014'>This pound, = 6503 grains, was divided into -2 mint-marcs, divided again into 8 ounces of 406·3 -grains. Of the same type is the commercial skaalpund -= 6536 grs.; its oz. = 408·5 grs., a weight -exactly the same as that of the ounce of Genoa, which -belongs to the dirhem-system, being 8 dirhems of -51 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Swedish medicinal weight is Nuremburg. -There are two miner’s pounds showing the extremes -of Troy weight; the ounces being 483 and 471 grains.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>3. <span class='sc'>The Mediterranean Systems of Weight</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>In Egypt the dirhem-system gives rise to two series -of weights: that of the Oka and that of the Rottolo. -In the latter word the Arabic ‘rotl’ is Italianised, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_221'>221</span>the Arabic weights having come under Roman influence; -an influence of long standing, since Al-Mamūn divided -the Cantar after the Roman plan into 125 lesser rotl -as well as into 100 greater rotl, when the Arabic gold -Mithkal, 1/72 of the Egypto-Roman libra, took the -place of the exagium solidi or aureus, 1/72 of the Roman -mint-As.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Mithkal, or Miskal, = 72·74 grains, was divided -into 24 Egyptian qirát = 3·03 grains, as the Aureus -had been divided into 24 Roman Siliquæ = 2·92 -grains, and 16 of the 24 qirát was the standard of the -silver dirhem = 48·5 grains, <i>the lesser dirhem</i>.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The golden Dinar, 21-3/4 qirát, was of the weight of -the Attic commercial drachma = 65·6 grains; it -displaced the Roman golden denarius. But the lesser -dirhem, 2/3 the weight of the Mithkal, did not succeed -in displacing an old-established drachma, which -became a greater dirhem. For, as the Mithkal had a -dirhem 2/3 of its weight, so the Roman Aureus, 1/6 of the -As-ounce, had a silver drachma 3/4 of its weight. The -As, originally 1/100 of the Greek-Asiatic talent, had its -ounce divided, after the Greek system, into 8 drachmæ -each 5049/(12 × 8) = 52·6 grains. Apparently this <i>greater -dirhem</i> tended, in Arab times, to fall towards the -standard of the lesser dirhem = 48·5 grains. This is -the probable explanation of the variations of the -dirhems, and of the pounds based on them, along the -Mediterranean coasts.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Tunis the dirhem = 48·58, almost exactly the -original weight of the lesser dirhem. But in Tripoli -<span class='pageno' id='Page_222'>222</span>there are two standards, 47·075 and 50·1 grains. The -Ukyé or ounce is goldsmith’s weight, 10 dirhems of -47·075 grains; but in commercial weight it is in dirhems -of 50·1 grains, so it is made the same weight by reckoning -it as 150 kharūb or qirát instead of 160 of these as -in the goldsmith’s ounce of 10 dirhems of 16 qirát.</p> - -<p class='c014'>So there are variations in the weight of the dirhem -basis of the Mediterranean pounds:</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>In Egypt the</td> - <td class='c005'>dirhem</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c022'>47·66</td> - <td class='c017'>grains</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>In Tripoli</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c007'>⎧47·07</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>⎩50·1</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>In Tunis</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c022'>48·58</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>In Morocco</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c022'>49</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>In Turkey</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c022'>49·6</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>The qirát, 1/16 of the dirhem, varies with it.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Egypt</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>The Oka, = 2·723 lb., is 400 dirhems of 47·66 grs.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Rottolo, = 98 lb., is 144 dirhems of 47·66 grs.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Oka is a centesimal multiple of the dirhem.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Rottolo is an uncial multiple of it.</p> - -<p class='c014'>100 Rottoli = 1 Cantar = 98 lb.; this is the modern -Egyptian Cwt. which has succeeded the Cantar of Al-Mamūn -= 102·92 lb.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Turkey</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>There is a double series as in Egypt, but the Turkish -series are based, one on the Dirhem and the other on -the Egypto-Roman ounce at the standard of 436·45 -grains. In modern Rome it is 436·26 grains, in -Tuscany 436·66 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_223'>223</span>The Dirhem, = 49·5 grains, is 16 qirát of 3·1 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Cheké is of 100 dirhems = 4950 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Oka is of 400 dirhems = 2·83 lb.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Cantar is = 2000 ounces = 124·7 or 44 Oke.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Cantar is divided into 100 Rottoli of 1·247 lb., = -20 ounces.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>The Libbra and the Rottolo</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>Rottoli of over 16 ounces are not uncommon in -Mediterranean countries, whether Moslem or Christian. -They form an alternate series with the libbra series. -Thus in Algiers there are 3 rottoli of 16, 18 and 24 oz., -each ounce, = 526·6 grains, being 10 greater dirhems, -and coinciding with the Russian ounce. There are—</p> - -<p class='c024'>in Sicily a 12-oz. libbra, = 4897 grs., and a 30-oz. -rottolo = 12,244 grs.;</p> - -<p class='c024'>in Malta a 12-oz. libbra, = 4886 grs., and a 30-oz. -rottolo = 12,215 grs.;</p> - -<p class='c024'>in Genoa a 12-oz. libbra, = 4893 grs., and an 18-oz. -rottolo = 7378 grs.;</p> - -<p class='c024'>in Naples a 12-oz. libbra, = 4950 grs., and a rottolo = -13,750 grs.</p> - -<p class='c014'>These Italian libbre belong to the dirhem system, -their ounces being 8 dirhems of slightly different -weights; and the ounces are of much lower weight -than the ounces of the northern countries or of ancient -Rome. Though divided into 12 ounces, these libbre -belong to the same class as the 16-oz. pounds of Southern -France; all having ounces of 8 dirhems. But in -North Africa the Oka and the rottolo have an ounce -of 10 dirhems.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_224'>224</span><span class='sc'>Ounces and Dirhems of the Mediterranean System</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005'>Lb.</td> - <td class='c005'>of</td> - <td class='c005'>Oz.</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c046' colspan='3'>Dirhem of</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>Genoa</td> - <td class='c007'>12 oz.</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>408·5</td> - <td class='c005'>grs.</td> - <td class='c007'>1/8</td> - <td class='c007'>= 51</td> - <td class='c005'>grs.</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>Sicily</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>408</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>1/8</td> - <td class='c007'>= 51</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>Malta</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>407</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>1/8</td> - <td class='c007'>= 51</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>Sardinia</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>392·6</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>1/8</td> - <td class='c007'>= 49·1</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>Majorca</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>392</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>1/8</td> - <td class='c007'>= 49</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>Languedoc</td> - <td class='c007'>16 oz.</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>400</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>1/8</td> - <td class='c007'>= 50</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>Gascony</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>392</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>1/8</td> - <td class='c007'>= 49</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>Provence</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>377</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>1/8</td> - <td class='c007'>= 47·1</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>Turkey</td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c007'>= 49·5</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>Egypt</td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c007'>= 47·66</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Morocco</td> - <td class='c007'>Rotl</td> - <td class='c007'>20 oz.</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>392</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c007'>= 49</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Tripoli</td> - <td class='c007'>Oka</td> - <td class='c007'>40 oz.⎫</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>470·75</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>1/10</td> - <td class='c007'>= 47</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Algiers</td> - <td class='c007'>Rotl</td> - <td class='c007'>16 oz.⎭</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Tunis</td> - <td class='c007'>Rotl</td> - <td class='c007'>16 oz.</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>485·8</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>1/10</td> - <td class='c007'>= 48·58</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>Everywhere there is a Cantar or Quintal, a hundredweight, -divided into 4 <i>rūba</i> and into 100 pounds -or rotl.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Tunis the Cantar = 111 lb., divided into 100 rotl -of 16 ukyé or ounces of 10 dirhems.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Tripoli it is = 107·6 lb., in 100 rotl of 16 ukyé, -of 8 dirhems of 47·075 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Morocco it is = 112 lb. of 100 rotl, each of 20 -ukyé of 8 dirhems; the ukyé or ounce = 392 grains -as in Gascony (Foix, Albi, &c.), where it was 8 ternau.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><span class='small'>SUMMARY</span></h4> - -<p class='c020'>However differently the Mediterranean pound or -the rotl may be divided, its ukyé or ounce is always -<span class='pageno' id='Page_225'>225</span>based on one of the dirhems. This dirhem-basis is -found in every pound used in Europe and the countries -colonised from Europe.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The pound, whether of 12 or 16 ounces, found in -Morocco, Majorca, Sardinia, Gascony, is then an -Arabic weight, with an ounce of 8 dirhems, of 49 -grains = 392 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The pound of Provence was 16 ounces, each 8 -dirhems of 47·1 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Troy pounds had ounces of 10 dirhems varying -between 47·2 grains for French Troy and 48·3 for -northern Troy.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Spanish pound = 7101 grains, its ounce = -443·8 grains, was originally at the Moorish standard of -6 mithkals to the ounce, that is the Egypto-Roman -ounce, the old averdepois ounce. But 6 mithkals -being equal to 9 lesser dirhems, this dirhem-basis -appears to have been taken. Then, for lesser -dirhems of 48·5 grains, 9 heavier dirhems of 49·3 -grains, nearly the Morocco and Gascony standard, -were substituted.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Nuremburg or Venetian pound. Its ounce, = -460 grains, was 12 drachms of 57·6 grains, 1/100 of the -lesser rotl.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Cologne pound of 7200 grains, its ounce = -451 grains, or at Tower standard 450 grains, was the -greater rotl. Or its ounce was 9 dirhems of that rotl, -dirhems of 50·03 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It is thus seen that every European pound is -composed of ounces on a dirhem-basis, of 8, 9, 10 or 12 -dirhems; or, as in the case of the averdepois ounce, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_226'>226</span>coinciding with the ounce of 6 mithkals or 9 dirhems. -The ounce was—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in1'>8 dirhems in the light Mediterranean pounds.</div> - <div class='line in1'>9 dirhems in the medium pounds of Spain and Cologne.</div> - <div class='line'>10 dirhems in the Troy pounds.</div> - <div class='line'>10 greater dirhems in the Russian pound.</div> - <div class='line'>12 drachmæ in the Venetian pound.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Original Weights of the Dirhems</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table12' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='5%' /> -<col width='5%' /> -<col width='10%' /> -<col width='5%' /> -<col width='5%' /> -<col width='10%' /> -<col width='15%' /> -<col width='30%' /> -<col width='15%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>1.</td> - <td class='c007' colspan='4'>Coin-weights:—</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c006'> </td> - <td class='c008'><span class='small'>Grains.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005'>Aureus,</td> - <td class='c005'>1/6</td> - <td class='c005'>of</td> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>As-ounce</td> - <td class='c006'> </td> - <td class='c008'>70·1</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c007'>3/4</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>1/8</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c006'>greater dirhem</td> - <td class='c008'>52·6</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005'>Mithkal,</td> - <td class='c005'>1/6</td> - <td class='c005'>of</td> - <td class='c007' colspan='3'>Egypto-Roman ounce</td> - <td class='c008'>72·74</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c007'>3/4</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>1/9</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c006'>lesser dirhem</td> - <td class='c008'>48·5</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>2.</td> - <td class='c007' colspan='4'>Rotl-weights:—</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c006'> </td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c007' colspan='4'>1/100 lesser rotl</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c006'>drachma</td> - <td class='c008'>57·63</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c007' colspan='4'>1/144 greater rotl</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c006'>medium dirhem</td> - <td class='c008'>50·03</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_227'>227</span> - <h2 id='XIX' class='c004'>CHAPTER XIX<br /> <br /><span class='small'>FOREIGN MEASURES OF CAPACITY</span></h2> -</div> - -<h3 class='c019'>1. <span class='sc'>The Teutonic System</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>Measures of capacity are always either—</p> - -<p class='c014'>(<i>a</i>) based on a certain cubed linear measure;</p> - -<p class='c014'>(<i>b</i>) made to hold a certain weight of water or of corn.</p> - -<p class='c014'>A measure of capacity for wine or other fluids -may be increased in water-wheat, or pound-pint, ratio -to make a corn-measure.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In England they were originally based on the -measure of 1000 ounces of water, which became a cubic -foot. Many foreign measures are either a cubic foot, -sometimes increased in water-wheat ratio, or a cubed -cubit.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Germany, amid a great diversity of measures, a -chaos to anyone who has not the key to the principle -of unity underlying variety, apparently aberrant -measures often show by their names that, while their -value has changed, they were originally of a standard -that can be traced. And it will generally be found -that they are related to a cubic foot, perhaps increased -in water-wheat ratio. Sometimes there is one measure -for wine and corn, and sometimes the increased corn-measure -<span class='pageno' id='Page_228'>228</span>may have come to be used for fluids while the -corn-measure actually in use has been imported.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Taking three representative German feet, and -evolving from them their cubic measure, we have:</p> - -<table class='table6' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='28%' /> -<col width='9%' /> -<col width='4%' /> -<col width='4%' /> -<col width='14%' /> -<col width='4%' /> -<col width='4%' /> -<col width='14%' /> -<col width='14%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>Foot.</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>Cubic foot.</td> - <td class='c005' colspan='2'>Gallons.</td> - <td class='c008'>× 1·25</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>(<i>a</i>) Amsterdam</td> - <td class='c007'>11·146</td> - <td class='c005'>in.</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>1384·6</td> - <td class='c005'>c.in.</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c005'>(4·94)</td> - <td class='c008'>= 6·15</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>(<i>b</i>) Hamburg</td> - <td class='c007'>11·241</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>1420</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c005'>(5·12)</td> - <td class='c008'>= 6·4</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>(<i>c</i>) Rhineland</td> - <td class='c007'>12·356</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>1886</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c005'>6·78</td> - <td class='c008'>= 8·5</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>(<i>a</i>) In Holland there seems to be no measure of -capacity corresponding to the cubic foot, but this, -increased in w.w. ratio, gives the Schepel = 6·12 -gallons, the Skipple of New England.</p> - -<p class='c014'>(<i>b</i>) In Hamburg the cubic-foot measure is also absent, -but the w.w. increased measure appears as the Eimer -= 6·375 gallons, now used for wine, and this measure, -again increased, appears as the Anker = 7·97 gallons, -both being now fluid measures.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Bremen and Lubeck, the Eimer = 6·4 gallons, -and the Anker = 8 gallons, the one of 4 and the other -of 5 viertels, are both wine-measures; while the corn-measure, -the Scheffel, = 7·6 gallons, is very nearly -the old English corn-bushel.</p> - -<p class='c014'>(<i>c</i>) Prussia and Hanover both had the Rhineland -foot, but Prussia, while recognising the cubic foot of -water as 66 lb. weight, Cologne standard, had no -corresponding measure of capacity. In Hanover and -in Brunswick the Rhineland cubic foot of water, = -6·78 gallons, was represented, not by a wine-measure, -but by a corn-measure, the Himt = 6·852 gallons. -And the increased measure, 6·85 × 1·25 = 8·56 -gallons, which should properly have been the corn-bushel, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_229'>229</span>appears in Hanover as the Anker, a second wine-measure.</p> - -<p class='c014'>And yet a wine-measure corresponding to the Rhineland -cubic foot did exist, in the Viertel = 1·713 -gallons, exactly one-fourth of the capacity of the Himt. -Five viertels make an Anker, which shows that the -Himt, presumably at first a wine-measure of 4 viertels -or quarters, was increased in water-wheat ratio to the -Anker of 5 viertels. But their original positions were -reversed: the Himt became a corn-measure and the -Anker a wine-measure.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The original wine-measure of 4 viertels, now the -Himt corn-measure (represented in Scotland by the -Firlot), is important in this story.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The existence of the Himt supports my hypothesis of -the origin of the Rhineland foot. The side of a Himt -of quadrantal, or exactly cubical, shape measures -12·385 inches, not 3/100 of an inch above the 12·356 -inches of the Rhineland standard foot.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Himt is then the Troy talent of 1000 ounces, 2/3 -of the Arabic kantar, which was 1500 Troy ounces, in -just the same way that the English wine-bushel = a -cubic foot, the measure of 1000 old averdepois ounces -of water, was 2/3 of the Alexandrian talent of 1500 -Egypto-Roman ounces.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Himt being the Troy talent-measure, 2/3 of the -Arabic cubic foot, it should have to the Arabic cubic -cubit a proportion 2/3 of the normal proportion 1/3·375 -of any cubic foot to its cubic cubit. So the Himt = -6·852 gallons × 3/2 × 3·375 = 34·688 gallons, almost -<span class='pageno' id='Page_230'>230</span>exactly the Arabic cubic cubit, which became the Cargo -of Marseilles, or the Setier of Paris. Now this standard -of 34·73 gallons or thereabouts is not uncommon in -Germany. In Hanover and Hesse-Cassel the Ohm = -34·26 gallons is a wine-measure, in Saxony the Malter = -34·7 gallons is a corn-measure, divided into 12 scheffels. -Corresponding to this in England was an ancient -measure, the Amber (Hamberboune, Hamberbarrel). -In other parts of Germany where the cubic foot is -smaller, being derived, as in Hamburg, from a foot -= 11·24 inches (or at least corresponding to this foot), -the cubic foot there gives a measure = 5·12 gallons, -and when increased in w.w. ratio = 6·4 gallons. This -latter measure × 5 gives 32 gallons, and this number -of gallons, either as an Ohm, wine-measure, or × 8 = -32 bushels as a Malter, or corn-measure, is common -throughout Germany. There seems in many places -to have been a double standard, the smaller derived -from a cubic foot, and the larger derived from the -Arabic cubic cubit and somewhat cut down to become a -multiple of the smaller measure.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Viertel, = 1·713 gallons, the quarter of the -Himt, is also an important measure, not only as giving -the clue to the Troy talent, but also as a very widespread -wine-measure.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It passed to France, there becoming the Velte = -1·62 gallons at Bordeaux, 1·76 gallons at Paris, where -its introduction into the series of wine-measures broke -the regular division of the Muid. At Bordeaux this -velte was probably the cause of the English wine-gallon -increasing from its original 216 cubic inches (1/8 of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_231'>231</span>cubic foot, or wine-bushel of 1000 ounces) to 231 cubic -inches. At the latter capacity it became just half -of the Bordeaux velte.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The shrinkage of the Bordeaux velte to 1·62 -gallons may have been the effect of adaptation to an -English double wine-gallon, or it may have been from -the velte, when passing to Holland, having to adapt -itself to the other wine-measures of that country. The -Dutch Velt or Welt took a place between the Stoop, -= 0·5337 gallons, and the Steekan, of 8 stoopen; and it -thus became a measure of 3 stoopen = 1·601 gallon.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It gave rise to the Legger, of 80 velts. This -passed to English trade as the Leaguer, but failed to -establish itself, being soon only known as a long cask of -about 150 wine-gallons used for the lower tier of water-casks -in ships. Above the ‘leaguers’ came the -‘riders.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Velt and the Leggar are still used in colonies -now or formerly Dutch. The Leggar in Java = 127·34 -gallons.</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>The</td> - <td class='c005'>Velt</td> - <td class='c007'>= 1·6</td> - <td class='c005'>gallons</td> - <td class='c005'>at</td> - <td class='c008'>the Cape & Java (approximately).</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>= 1·63</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>Mauritius.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>= 1·66</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>Ceylon.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>( „</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>= 1·67</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>in</td> - <td class='c008'>France, near La Rochelle.)</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>But the Viertel maintained, even increased, its -standard of 1·713 gallons when entering the Marseilles-Paris -systems of wine-measures as the Velte; -rising to 1·77 gallons in order to become half of the -Escandau of Marseilles, and taking a place at = 1·76 -gallons in the Paris series of wine-measures (see -<span class='pageno' id='Page_232'>232</span><a href='#XXI'>Chapter XXI</a>). Coming from the North, it was yet an -evolution of the Arabic foot, while the Escandau was -1/8 of the Marseilles Cargo reduced in wheat-water -ratio, and this cargo was the Arabic cubic cubit.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>2. <span class='sc'>The Mediterranean System</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>The Moslem conquest of the greater part of the -Mediterranean countries, with the influence of Arab -trade and of Moorish civilisation, displaced the Roman -system of weights and measures, already modified by -the influence of Ptolemaïc Egypt, and caused changes -even in the weights and measures of Italy. Not only -the North of Africa, but Spain, Provence (and the -other Occitanian lands), the dominions of the three -republics of Venice, Genoa and Arles, with the countries -forming the Turkish Empire, all these took more or -less the Arab system of weights and measures, and -this system penetrated deep into Western Europe.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The principal Arab measures which form the basis -of the Mediterranean measures of capacity were:</p> - -<p class='c014'>1. The cubed Persian cubit = 8 Persian cubic -feet (the Persian foot being half the cubit of 25·26 -inches). The Persian cubic foot of water being the -Persian or Greek-Asiatic talent, at its calculated value -of 72·61 lb., the cubed cubit is 8 × 72·61 = 580·88 -lb. = 58·088 gallons.</p> - -<p class='c014'>This was the Arab (and Hebrew) Den = 58·2 -gallons, divided into</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c006'> </td> - <td class='c007'>4 Artaba of</td> - <td class='c007'>14·55</td> - <td class='c017'>gallons</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>each of</td> - <td class='c007'>4 Wuebe of</td> - <td class='c022'>3·6375</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>each of</td> - <td class='c007'>6 Saa of</td> - <td class='c022'>0·6064</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_233'>233</span>The Artaba was thus = 2 cubic feet, and the Saa -was the qirát, 1/24 of the Artaba.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The modern Persian Artaba = 14·47 gallons.</p> - -<p class='c014'>2. The cubed Black cubit of Al-Mamūn = 34·73 -gallons.</p> - -<p class='c014'>3. The cubed Black foot of Al-Mamūn = 10·29 -gallons, the weight of which was the Kantar = 102·92 -lb.</p> - -<p class='c014'>4. The Ardeb = 4 cubed Black feet; 4 × 10·29 = -41·168 gallons.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The measures derived from these cubed linear -measures are as follows:</p> - -<p class='c014'>1. The first of these measures, the cubed Persian -cubit, has been accurately preserved in the Cafiz of -Tunis, which is the Den, doubled, 2 × 58·088 = 116·4 -gallons. Its present standard is 116·34 gallons, and -it is divided into</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>16 Wuebe</td> - <td class='c007'>of 7·27</td> - <td class='c005'>gallons</td> - <td class='c008'>(1/2 Artaba)</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>each of 12 Saa</td> - <td class='c007'>of 0·605</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>While the Cafiz of Tunis is of 8 Artaba, the Cahiz -of Spain is of 10 Artaba, 10 × 14·55 = 145·5 gallons. -It is divided into</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>12 Fanegas of 12·125 gallons</div> - <div>each of 12 Almudas or Celemines of 1·0104 gallons.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>The present standard in Spain of the Cahiz = 144·7 -gallons, the Fanega being = 12·06 gallons, and the -Celemin = 1·005 gallon. The Tomolo of Naples -is = 12·22 gallons.</p> - -<p class='c014'>2. The second measure, the cubed Black cubit -= 34·73 gallons, is the basis of the fluid (oil and wine) -measures of Tunis, and also of Spain, Provence and Paris.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_234'>234</span>Reduced in inverse water-wheat ratio, it gives 34·73/1·22 -= 28·46 gallons.</p> - -<p class='c014'>This fluid measure, apparently not extant at the -present time, is yet found in its double, the Moyo of -Spain = 56·79 gallons, and its half, the Mezzaruola of -Italy, the Mieirolo of Marseilles.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Mieirolo is the basis of other important -measures; its standard, = 28·46/2 = 14·19 gallons, is -found—</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>in Tunis</td> - <td class='c007'>= 13·97</td> - <td class='c005'>gallons</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>in Tripoli</td> - <td class='c007'>= 14·19</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>in Spain</td> - <td class='c007'>= 14-23</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>(1/4 Moyo).</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>A quarter of this measure is the <i>Arroba mayor</i> of -Spain (arroba = al-rūbá, the fourth), the Escandau -of Marseilles = 3·54 gallons.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The half of the Arroba, or of the Escandau, corresponds -to the Velte, 1·76 gallon at Paris, 1·73 gallon -in Hanover, &c. It is the meeting point of Northern -and Southern measures, which are derived quite -separately from Al-Mamūn’s cubit, the former by -weight, the latter by measure.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The measures of Portugal differ little from those of -Spain. The corn-unit is the Fanga (Sp. <i>fanega</i>, Ar. -<i>faníqa</i>, sack) = 12·17 gallons. There appears to have -been a larger unit of 6 fangas, as the name of the -Alqueire, 1/4 fanga, implies that this smaller unit was -a qirát, 1/24 of a large measure = 6 fangas.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The alqueire varies in capacity. In Brazil it is our -Imperial bushel.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_235'>235</span>In Spain the fanega is the usual seed-measure of -land; it is = 1·6 acre (exactly the saumado seed-measure -of Provence), though probably that amount of -land requires fully 2 fanegas of seed-corn.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The cubed Black cubit appears also as a corn-measure, -its original purpose.</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Original standard 34·73 gallons</td> - <td class='c007'>= 4·34</td> - <td class='c017'>bushels</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Rebekeh of Egypt</td> - <td class='c007'>= 4·32</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Cargo of Marseilles</td> - <td class='c007'>= 4·26</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Setier of Paris</td> - <td class='c007'>= 4·29</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>3. The cubed Black foot, = 10·292 gallons, passed -with the Moors to Spain; it was the standard of the -old Burgos fanega until the fifteenth century, when the -present Avila standard prevailed.</p> - -<p class='c014'>4. The Ardeb of 4 cubed Black feet, 4 × 10·292 = -41·168 gallons, is represented by the Cairo Ardeb of -the present time, = 40 gallons or 5 bushels, generally -somewhat more. It is divided into 6 Wuebe, each of -4 Rūba or quarters, which are qiráts, 1/24 of the Ardeb. -The standard of the Cairo Ardeb varies. It is sometimes -put at as much as 5·44 bushels = 43·52 gallons. -The official standard of the Ardeb of wheat is 297 -lb., = 38·5 gallons at 60 lb. to the bushel.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Turkey</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>The weights and measures of capacity seem a -maze of confusion, until the clue is found. There is a -double series of weights based on the dirhem and on -the ounce. This ounce is not mentioned in the series of -weights, but once discovered, it gives the clue to the -maze, and the system is then seen to be really simple.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_236'>236</span>It has already been seen that the weights are in a -double series giving the Oka of 400 dirhems, and the -Cantar of 2000 Egypto-Roman ounces, = 124·7 lb., -divided into 100 rottoli. The weight of the dirhem, -= 49·5 grains in the cheké goldsmith’s weight, becomes -= 49·6 in the Oka, 1/44 of the Cantar.</p> - -<p class='c014'><i>Fluid-measure.</i>—A double cantar, 2 × 124·7 lb. -= 249·4 lb., was increased in water-wheat ratio, 249·4 -× 1·25 = 311·75 lb. = 31·175 gallons. The actual -capacity of this water-Cantar is 31·412 gallons. -This measure is divided into 100 rottoli-measure -(= 3·14 lb. of water), each of 2-1/2 rottoli weight = 50 -ounces.</p> - -<p class='c014'><i>Corn-measure.</i>—The Cantar measure becomes, for -corn, the Fortin, at a standard of 31·1 gallons. This -measure being 2 × 1·25 = 2-1/2 times the Cantar weight -of 2000 ounces, contains 5000 ounces of water or 4000 -ounces of wheat. It is divided into 4 Killows of -7·775 gallons. This measure is evidently named from -the Greek <i>chilioi</i> (Fr. kilo) as holding 1000 ounces -of wheat. It is divided again into 4 Saa.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Fortin is also divided into 88 rottoli, the -rottolo containing 500 dirhems of water or 400 dirhems -of corn.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In fluid-measure there is an oka-measure; 8 oka, -= 3-2/3 rottoli-measure, make an Almud = 1·15 gallon. I -only mention this intrusive measure to confer it with -the Spanish Almuda or Celemin = 1·01 gallon.</p> - -<p class='c014'>These Turkish measures, fluid and corn, afford -another instance of the practice of increasing a fluid -measure in water-wheat ratio, and then of using this -<span class='pageno' id='Page_237'>237</span>increased measure for fluids as well as corn. Instances -of this practice have been seen in German measures -(for instance the Himt). And our own gallon affords -a somewhat similar instance. Increased from the -cubic foot to make a corn-gallon, this was again -increased by 3 per cent. to make the Imperial gallon, -both for fluids and for corn.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Italy</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>The system of measures left from ancient Rome, -themselves of Oriental origin, has been to a great -extent overlaid by Arabic measures.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Bologne the Corba, = 17·3 gallons, is half the -cubed Black cubit, to which the Neapolitan oil-Salma, -= 35·5 gallons, is closely approximate.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Rome the principal corn-measure, the Rubbio -= 64·77 gallons, bears an Arabic name; it is doubled -in the Tuscan Moggio, and investigation would probably -discover a measure of 4 rubbii = 259 gallons -= 32-1/3 bushels or about the old English chaldron of -4 quarters.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Starello of Sardinia, = 10·8 gallons, is approximately -a quarter of the Ardeb.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>3. <span class='sc'>Hebrew Weights and Measures of Capacity</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>The Hebrews used the measures of Egypt and -Phœnicia. The common Egyptian cubit, very near -‘the cubit of a man,’ was the usual measure of length. -They brought back from the Captivity some Persian -measures:</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_238'>238</span>1. The Great Assyrian cubit, which is ‘the cubit -and an hand-breadth.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>2. A measuring Reed of six cubits long, by the -cubit and an hand-breadth = the modern qasáb of -Egypt.</p> - -<p class='c014'>3. The Cubit of the Talmud = 21·914 inches, the -1/3000 of the Bereh, which was 1/1000 of an hour on the -equator (see page 27).</p> - -<p class='c014'>For weights they used the Alexandrian talent or -Kikkar divided in the Phœnician manner into 50 minás -of 60 shekels = 218-1/2 grains. This shekel was sometimes -called the Shekel of the Sanctuary and was then -divided, not into 8 Gerahs of 27·31 grains (our dram, -1/16 of the Egypto-Roman ounce) but into 2 Bekah or -4 Reba or 20 Gerah = 10·9 grains. The Reba, 1/4 Shekel, -was the drachma of the Phœnician weights, = 54·62 -grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>When, as recorded in Exodus xxvii, 603,550 men -contribute each a Bekah or half-shekel of silver, the -amount of 301,775 shekels is stated to be = 100 -talents and 1775 shekels, after the shekel of the Sanctuary. -In this statement the talent is of 3000 shekels, -according to the Phœnician reckoning.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Ezekiel xlvi, the shekel is given as of 20 gerahs -and the miná is stated to be 20 + 25 + 15 = 60 -shekels, confirming the Phœnician mode of dividing the -Alexandrian talent as that used by the Hebrews, viz. -50 minás of 60 shekels.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The measures of capacity had for principal unit the -Olympic talent, the weight of water of the common -Egyptian foot cubed, = 6·48 gallons. It was called -<span class='pageno' id='Page_239'>239</span>the Bath for fluid measure, the Epha for corn and other -dry measure. The Bath was divided into 6 Hin = -1·08 gallon (this being about the same capacity as the -Spanish and Turkish almuda) and into 72 Log, = 2/3 -pint. The Epha was likewise of 72 log, and 4 log made -a Cab.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Cor or Homer was a measure of 10 Epha or -Bath, = 64·8 gallons or 8·1 bushels. It coincided -approximately with 2 great Artaba, this measure being -the cubed Royal cubit = 31·695 gallons; × 2 = 63·39 -gallons.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Hebrew field-units were at first seed-measures, -afterwards fixed geometrically.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The unit was the Bathsea, sown with a Bath of -grain; it was 8 qasáb, or 48 great cubits, square, = a -rood.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Betheoron, sown with a Cor, 10 Bath, of grain, -was 10 of the lesser unit and therefore = 2-1/2 acres.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In these three chapters on foreign measures and -weights I have tried to show the principles of unity -underlying the variety of measures. To describe -them fully would require a series of monographs which, -however interesting, would lack the more important -general view. I shall therefore confine myself to the -full description, in Chapters <a href='#XXI'>XXI</a> and <a href='#XXII'>XXII</a>, of the -measures and weights of France which, both in the -old system and in the metric system, are of special -interest to us. Before proceeding to these I must -treat, in a somewhat discursive chapter, of the meanings -of some names of measures.</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_240'>240</span> - <h2 id='XX' class='c004'>CHAPTER XX<br /> <br /><span class='small'>THE DEVELOPMENT OF MEANING IN THE NAMES<br />OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES</span></h2> -</div> - -<h3 class='c019'>1. <span class='sc'>General Remarks</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>In the various names of weights and measures there -are many general-utility words which offer no difficulty -in the sphere of those who use them habitually, -yet which are sometimes puzzling to others, while -they are interesting to the student of semantics. -They form a chapter in the history of weights and -measures, itself a volume in the history of the human -mind.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Some terms have an obvious meaning, as ‘half’ -and ‘quarter.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>These inevitably run through the usual series of -measures. Even the metric system has to tolerate -half-units as a concession to unscientific weakness -while refusing quarters otherwise than as 25 hundredths -of the unit. But quarters are firmly rooted in the -human mind and resist scientific attempt to extirpate -them. They are very common in the sexdecimal -series, representing a fourth of one unit and four of a -lower unit.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_241'>241</span>Quart and Quartern have acquired certain definite -senses, the first of a quarter-gallon, the second either -of a quarter-pint or of a quarter-peck. Quarter by itself -is of wide application; it may mean the fourth of a -pound or of a hundredweight or of a dollar, or of an -acre. In its Teutonic form we have it in farthing -and in firkin. France has its <i>quart</i> as a quarter-pound, -its <i>quartié</i> in land-measure, its <i>quarteron</i> as a quarter-hundred, -though usually 26.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The context, whether in writing or in speech, usually -shows the meaning of ‘quarter’ unless that meaning -has been destroyed by legislation, as in the case of the -Quarter of wheat where the meaning of the word could -not be recognised either by the eminent scientific -member of a Parliamentary Committee or by the -scientific expert in measures giving evidence before -him. The Quarter has remained, while the Chaldron, -of which it was a fourth, was so worried by legislative -interference that it disappeared as a corn-measure.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The French Setier in its different senses of a load -of corn, of a bushel, of a double gallon, and of a pint, -had long lost all connection with L. <i>sextuarius</i>; it -had indeed got to mean a quarter in the same way -that in Italy the <i>sestiero</i>, originally one of the six -districts of a city, had acquired a similar sense to the -French <i>quartier</i> as a district. The French setier or -sestié had so lost its original meaning as to be often -written ‘septier,’ as if it were a seventh.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Greek obolos (originally meaning a copper nail), -1/6 of a drachm, acquired in Latin the sense of ‘half.’ -When the drachma took the weight-sense of 60 grains, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_242'>242</span>an obolus was 10 grains; but this was half a scruple, -so it took a general sense of ‘half,’ and the halfpenny -was latinised as an obolus.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Maille was the corresponding French word for halfpenny, -being It. <i>medaglio</i>, Prov. <i>medaio</i>, akin not only -to ‘medal’ but also to ‘metal,’ in which there seems -to be a sense of ‘half’ of an alloy. Yet it became a -weight of 1/4 ounce, perhaps from being half of the loth -or half-ounce. And the Fr. <i>felin</i>, It. <i>ferlino</i>, probably -corruptions of vierling or farthing, on becoming 1/4 of -the <i>maille</i>, was 1/16 of the ounce. In the section on terms -used in old land-measures I have shown the equivocal -sense of words related to ‘ferling.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>Our Yard, from the influence of its French equivalents—<i>verge</i>, -rod, and <i>vergée</i>, rood—became a quarter-acre, -and then a quarter-hide.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Drachm as a part of the Troy ounce, 1/8, became -the dram as a part of the averdepois ounce, 1/16. As a -measure it became 1/8 of a spirit pint.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The terms signifying 1/12, 1/16, 1/24 and some smaller -fractions of weights or measures, show a development -of meaning which will be given in the following -sections.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>2. <span class='sc'>The Nail and the Clove; the Inch and the Ounce</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>The yard is lawfully divided (as was also the ell) into -4 quarters and 16 nails.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The hundredweight is divided into 4 quarters, 8 -stones and 16 cloves or nails.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_243'>243</span>How did ‘Nail’ come to mean a sixteenth of a -unit, length or weight?</p> - -<p class='c014'>The ‘New English Dictionary’ throws no light on -the origin of this peculiarly English term. The only -other general name I know for a sixteenth is the -Indian ‘anna,’ the sixteenth of a rupee, of a crop, of a -venture, &c.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The story of the Nail reaches back to the early -history of weights and measures and is of philological -as well as metrological interest. The half-cubit or -span, the common handy measure in most parts of the -world, is of 12 digits, while the foot is 16 digits and -is still so divided in Italy and other southern countries. -The digit is not only a middle-finger breadth, it is also -a thumb-nail breadth; as the former it was in Greek -<i>dactylos</i>, as the latter <i>onyx</i>, which became <i>onkia</i> in -Southern Italy and gave rise to two Latin words, <i>unguis</i> -for the actual finger-nail, <i>uncia</i> for the thumb-nail -breadth equal to the digit and generally for a twelfth -part. Hence a differentiation of meaning in the -Romance languages.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Greek</span> <i>onyx</i>, <i>onkia</i></div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table12' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='20%' /> -<col width='20%' /> -<col width='60%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Latin</td> - <td class='c007'><i>unguis</i></td> - <td class='c008'><i>uncia</i>, thumb-nail breadth, ounce</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Italian</td> - <td class='c007'><i>unghia</i></td> - <td class='c008'><i>oncia</i>, last thumb-joint, ounce</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Provençal</td> - <td class='c007'><i>ounglo</i></td> - <td class='c008'><i>ounço</i>, finger-joint, knuckle, ounce</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>French</td> - <td class='c007'><i>ongle</i></td> - <td class='c008'><i>once</i>, finger-joint (obs.), ounce</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>English</td> - <td class='c007'>(nail)</td> - <td class='c008'><i>unce</i>, ynch</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>When the Romans adopted the duodecimal or -‘uncial’ system they applied it to the foot, which was -divided into either 12 or 16 parts both called unciæ; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_244'>244</span>but to distinguish these they used two other words, -<i>digitus</i> for the sixteenth and <i>pollex</i>, thumb, for the -twelfth, the thumb-breadth.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In English ‘unce, ynch’ always meant the thumb-breadth -1/12 of a foot, ‘Nail,’ the thumb-nail breadth -equal to the digit, being kept for the 1/16 foot. Thence -‘nail’ came to have the general sense of sixteenth -and to be applied to that fraction of a 4-span yard, -of a 5-span ell, of a bushel, of a hundredweight.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Latin the analogous general sense of twelfth -belonged to <i>uncia</i>, whether of the foot, of the land-unit, -of the pound. The general sense of twenty-fourth -attached to the scruple as 1/24 ounce, passed to -the qirát, or carat, in the countries influenced by Arab -customs, as being 1/24 of the mithkal, the Arab successor -of the Roman solidus.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In modern Italy the palmo or span, and the libbra -or pound, were both divided into 12 <i>oncie</i>, meaning -inches or ounces.</p> - -<p class='c014'>With the general substitution of the 16-ounce -pound for that of 12 ounces, the word ‘ounce’ lost its -meaning of twelfth. In some of the Romance languages -its sense of length extended to the length of any finger-joint, -especially to the length of the proximal joint -of the thumb. Thus in Southern France the <i>ounço dóu -pouce</i> (Fr. <i>once de poulce</i>) was taken as 1/5 of the span -or nearly 2 inches.</p> - -<p class='c014'>When our Cwt. was raised to 112 lb. and the 16-lb. -stone replaced by that of 14 lb. the term Nail was -applied to the half of the new stone, and it was perhaps -the divisibility of the new Cwt. into 16 parts of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_245'>245</span>7 lb. that reconciled people to the unpopular new -weight. But for all that, the people held on for -centuries to the 16-lb. stone, and call its half, 8 lb., a -nail, though it is no longer the sixteenth of a larger unit.</p> - -<p class='c014'>When the half of the 14-lb. stone was legally called -a nail, how was this term to be rendered into law-Latin -or statute French by the scribes of Plantagenet -times ignorant of the origin of the term? Naturally -they blundered; they got hold of the wrong nail, -rendering it by L. <i>clavus</i> instead of by <i>unguis</i>, and by -Fr. <i>clou</i>, <i>cloue</i>, or in the script of the time <i>clove</i> instead of -by <i>ongle</i>. This misnomer took; and a statute of -1430 states that a Wey of cheese may contain 32 cloves, -every clove 7 lb., making the wey = 224 lb., 2 Cwt. -But despite statutes the cheese-trade went on with -its 8-lb. clove, of which 32 make 256 lb., the true wey.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It was the same with the wool-trade, controlled by -the State for revenue purposes. The half-stone of wool -became a nail. In 1342 we find <i>quatuor clavos lanæ</i>, -4 nails of wool.</p> - -<p class='c014'>But <i>clavus</i>, a nail, became confounded with <i>clavis</i>, a -key, and so in Southern France the nail-weight, introduced -from England, became <i>clau</i>, a key, instead of -<i>clavèu</i>, a nail. Thus the nail, Fr. <i>once</i>, <i>ongle</i>, became -clove, Fr. <i>clou</i>, L. <i>clavis</i>, an iron nail; then in Prov. -and Fr. <i>clau</i>, L. <i>clavus</i>, a key.</p> - -<h3 id='Carat' class='c019'>3. <span class='sc'>The Carat and the Grain</span></h3> - -<h4 class='c045'>(<span class='fss'>A</span>) <i>The Carat</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>One would hardly recognise the golden Solidus of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_246'>246</span>Rome in the French Sol, the brass halfpenny with the -effigy of Louis XVI, current within my memory, or in -the bronze Sou by which sums under three francs are -still reckoned in France.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Solidus, Aureus, or Exagium solidi, was so -called because, representing the As, or unit of money, -it was the gold-unit of which the semissis was the half -and the tremissis the third.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Weighing 70·1 grains (under Constantine) it was -1/6 of the Roman mint-ounce = 420-2/3 grains, or 1/72 of -the As libralis. Its weight was equal to 24 siliquæ, -afterwards called Carats = 2·921 grains, and its third, -the tremissis, weighed nearly 24 grains, the troy -pennyweight. Hence pure gold was considered as -solidus or ‘entire’ of 24 carats, and the quality or -‘touch’ of gold would be denoted by the number of -carats of pure gold it contained out of 24. The -carat of fineness was divided into 4 assay-grains, and -these again into fourths. English gold coins are -22 carats fine since the time of Henry VIII, but the -Plantagenet gold coins were usually 23 carats 3-1/2 grains -fine, that is 191/192 = nearly 995 in 1000.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Thus the carat was 1/24 Solidus or 1/144 ounce.</p> - -<p class='c014'>When the Arab caliphs had conquered Egypt and -the greater part of the Mediterranean countries, they -followed Roman imperial customs and replaced the -gold Exagium solidi, 1/72 of the As, by the gold mithkal, -1/72 of the Libra or Egypto-Roman pound. The Mithkal -was then 1/6 of the Egypto-Roman ounce = 437 grains, -so that it weighed 72·7 grains. It was divided like the -Roman coin into 24 qirát, each = 3·035 grains and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_247'>247</span>divided into 4 hubba or light grains, meaning corn-grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Ptolemaïc or lesser Alexandrian talent had been -divided into 60 minás of 12 ounces; these either 100 -drachmæ or 12 × 12 carats of 3·1616 grains. The -carat was an ancient Eastern weight, originally the -flat seed of the caroub or locust-tree, <i>Ceratonia siliqua</i>, -and in Greek <i>keration</i>. Throughout North Africa -and in other Moslem countries there are two usual -lesser units of weight:</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>The Mithkal</td> - <td class='c007'>= 72·7</td> - <td class='c005'>grs.</td> - <td class='c005'>of</td> - <td class='c007'>24</td> - <td class='c005'>Kharūb</td> - <td class='c005'>or</td> - <td class='c017'>qirát</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>The Dirhem</td> - <td class='c007'>= 48-1/2</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>16</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>The carat, from a goldsmith’s assay-weight, became -the unit for the weight of precious stones, varying -slightly in different countries and usually divided -into 4 diamond-carats.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Carats</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table17' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='34%' /> -<col width='6%' /> -<col width='3%' /> -<col width='6%' /> -<col width='10%' /> -<col width='3%' /> -<col width='34%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Roman siliqua</td> - <td class='c007'>2·916</td> - <td class='c005'>grs.</td> - <td class='c005'>1/4</td> - <td class='c007'>= ·729</td> - <td class='c005'>gr.</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Roman-Egyptian carat</td> - <td class='c007'>3·035</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>= ·758</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Ptolemaïc „</td> - <td class='c007'>3·1616</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>= ·790</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Venetian „</td> - <td class='c007'>3·196</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>= ·799</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Egyptian (modern) „</td> - <td class='c007'>3·088</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>= ·772</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Spanish (Moorish) „</td> - <td class='c007'>3·082</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>= ·770</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Amsterdam (diamond) carat</td> - <td class='c007'>3·165</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Hamburg „ „</td> - <td class='c007'>3·176</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c008' colspan='3'>= 1/142 Cologne oz.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>English „ „</td> - <td class='c007'>3·177</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>French metric „</td> - <td class='c007'>3·086</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c008' colspan='3'>= ·2 gramme</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>The Eastern qirát has retained all the derived -senses seen in the Western carat, 1/24 of a pure gold-unit. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_248'>248</span>A cubit of 28 digits has an alternative division into -24 qirát. The kharūb of Egypt, 16 to a dirhem and -24 to a mithkal, is the weight-counterpart of the digit, -16 to the foot and 24 to the cubit. The density of -brine is on a scale of 24 qirát. Points in a competition, -shares in a business or ship are reckoned -similarly. At Marseilles the ownership of a vessel is -divided into 24 qirát as it is in England into sixty-fourths.</p> - -<p class='c014'>‘Ai un queirat sus un navire’: <i>Calendau</i> v. (by -Mistral).</p> - -<p class='c014'>Sometimes the 24 qirát are grouped into 4 <i>rob</i> of -6 qirát. <i>Rob</i> is from Ar. <i>al rabaa</i>, fourth; cf. <i>rubaiyat</i> -= quatrain. In Spain and Portugal the arroba, in -Provence the <i>rub</i> (It. <i>rubbio</i>) is the quarter-hundredweight.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>The Refiner’s Carat</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>There is another use of the term Carat, confined to -goldsmiths and refiners of the precious metals. The -old troy pound was regarded as 24 carats; the carat -was 4 grains, each of 4 quarters or of 60 grains. This -system was used in the refinery of the Royal Mint -up to 1882.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Germany the Cologne marc (8 ounces) was -divided by refiners (1) for gold into 24 carats of 12 -grains; (2) for silver into 16 loth (half-ounces) of 18 -grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It is probable that this system came to England -with the Tower pound (12 ounces of the Cologne marc) -and was continued with the Troy pound.</p> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_249'>249</span> - <h4 class='c047'>(<span class='fss'>B</span>) <i>The Grain</i></h4> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>The names given to the smaller weights were taken -from seeds just as measures of length were named after -limb-lengths corresponding roughly to them. The -kharoub may be used for a carat-weight. The ruttee -or ráti, a scarlet pea with a black spot, is used in India -as a goldsmith’s weight = 1·75 grain. Poppy-seeds, -mustard-seeds, barley-corns, wheat-corns, have been -used for minute weights. The Grain was the Greek -<i>sitatrion</i>, a wheat-corn. It was perhaps from the -custom of saying that 3 poppy-seeds = one mustard-seed, -and that 6 of these = one barley-corn, &c., -that an idea arose of these seeds being the basis of -systems of weight. It has been seen that the definition -of the Plantagenet mint-weight was that 32 wheat-corns -were the pennyweight. This idea, hallowed in our -statutes, is not yet extinct.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Ambroise Paré, in treating of medicinal weights -(1582) said:</p> - -<p class='c015'>Every weight arises from some beginning and element. -For as our bodies arise from the four first simple or elementary -bodies, so all weights arise from the grain, which is -<i>tanquam</i> the beginning and the end of the remainder. We -understand a grain of barley, neither dried nor mouldy, but -well made and of medium fatness. From 10 grains of this -sort comes the obolus, from 2 oboli or 20 grains the scruple -... &c.</p> - -<p class='c014'>This is medieval rubbish. As John Greaves, -Professor of Astronomy at Oxford, in his ‘Discourse -of the Roman foot’ (1647) wisely said:</p> - -<p class='c015'>I cannot but approve the counsel of Villapandus who -<span class='pageno' id='Page_250'>250</span>adviseth such as will examine measures and weights to -begin with the greater and not the lesser.... The most -curious man alive with the exactest scale that the most -skilful artisan can invent, shall never be able, out of the -standard of one grain, to produce a weight equal to the -weight of ten thousand grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>While the subdivision of linear measures and of -weights usually stopped at some familiar quantity -named after a seed, yet efforts were sometimes made to -get at an ultimate atom as the term of the series. -The Hindus who began, or ended, a series of weights -with one of the motes or fine particles of dust visible -in a sunbeam, were imitated by the English moneyers -who continued the 20-dwt. and 24-grain series by -dividing the grains into 20 Mites, each of 24 Droits, -each of 20 Periots, each of 24 Blanks, the blank being -1/230400 of a grain.</p> - -<p class='c014'>So our mint expressed the weight of a Stuart silver -penny, not as 7-23/31 grains (all the silver coins having -then a fraction of 31sts); that would have been too -simple—but as 7 grains, 14 mites, 20 droits, 2 periots, -12 blanks. Even then the statement was not exact; -one or two more infinitesimal units would have had -to be added to the series.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It may be noted that 7-23/31 grains is simpler than the -modern decimal equivalent 7·74193548, &c.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The origin of these mint-terms is obscure; the -‘N.E.D.’ casts no light on it. I consider their source -to be—</p> - -<p class='c014'>Mite—mijt, a small Dutch coin.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Droit—a corruption of the Dutch <i>duit</i>, Sc. ‘doit,’ a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_251'>251</span>fraction of a farthing. It was more properly written -‘dwit’; perhaps the <i>r</i> was inserted to avoid confusion -with ‘dwt.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>Periot—a period or full stop; perhaps influenced by -‘iota’ and ‘jot.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>Blank—as the blank in dominoes, still lower than -the ace, point, or full stop, the Dutch As; perhaps -influenced by ‘point-blank,’ in which the bull’s eye, -at first the ‘point,’ became the blank or white.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It has been seen, under Troy weight, that there -are two classes of grains:</p> - -<p class='c014'>The heavy grain 1/(20 × 24) = 1/480 ounce as in English -Troy.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The light grain 1/(24 × 24) = 1/576 ounce as in French -Troy.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The ounce of 576 light grains was used in France, -some Italian states, Spain and Portugal. Elsewhere, -throughout Europe, the mint and medicinal ounce was -480 heavy grains, the scruple being 20 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The heavy and light grains have been connected -respectively with the barley-corn and the wheat-corn. -They may have been so originally, but it is more -probable that the grain, at first a seed-weight, came -to mean a division of the scruple into either 20 or 24 -parts.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Dutch mint-weight the Troy ounce was of -20 dwt. or Engels, each of 2 mail, 4 vierling, 8 troisken, -16 deusken, 32 azen or aces. The Aas was the wheat-corn -of our mint-legend. In the Spanish Netherlands -<span class='pageno' id='Page_252'>252</span>the Engel was increased to make the ounce 24 × 24 -grains. The Engel thus became (Antwerp 1580) = -28·8 grains = 1-1/5 English dwt. The word Engel means -‘angel,’ not the angel coin weighing 3 engel 10 azen, -but Angle—‘Angli, non Angeli.’</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>4. <span class='sc'>The Tun and the Fother</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>These words belong to an onomatopœic class:</p> - -<p class='c014'>1. Bung—akin to ‘bomb,’ to Fr. <i>bonbonne</i>, a -more or less globular vessel giving out a ‘bom’ sound -when struck. In Somerset the bung-hole of a cask is -the bum-hole; a ‘bun’ is a puffed somewhat semi-globular -cake. Bung was probably a cask; the word -is applied to a portly publican fancifully resembling -one of his casks. Bumboat probably meant a boat -carrying ‘bums’ or casks to ships.</p> - -<p class='c014'>2. Ton, tun—a large cask giving a thundering sound. -L. <i>tonitru</i>, Fr. <i>tonnerre</i>, whence Fr. <i>tonne</i>, our ton for -weight, tun for capacity.</p> - -<p class='c014'>3. Fr. <i>Foudre</i>, a ‘thundering big’ cask or vat. L. -<i>fulgur</i>, Fr. <i>fouldre</i>, <i>foudre</i>, a thunder-bolt, in German -<i>fuder</i>, whence our ‘fudder’ and ‘fother,’ about a ton -of coal or of lead, a cartload of about a ton.</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_253'>253</span> - <h2 id='XXI' class='c004'>CHAPTER XXI<br /> <br /><span class='small'>THE OLD MEASURES AND WEIGHTS OF FRANCE</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>Up to the time of the Revolution each province had -its own measures and weights, more or less influenced -by the uncertain standard measures of the king in -Paris. This was the effect of the feudal system and -of the very gradual annexation of the provinces under -conditions which left considerable powers to the -parliaments and other local authorities. Even in each -province varieties of measures were to be found, and -they exist to this day in each <i>pays</i>, often in each parish.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The basis of this very loose system was Roman, -influenced in the North by Teutonic importations, but -especially by the peculiar and intrinsically perfect -system of the South, where the Roman basis had -entirely disappeared under the influences of commerce -with Egypt and with that portion of Africa which -begins across the Pyrenees, and which in medieval -times imparted much of its high civilisation to European -countries.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'><span class='sc'>1. The Southern System</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>This system, prevailing far beyond the limits of -Occitania, the land of the Lengo d’O, had for its basis -the Load of Wheat, a measure very nearly that of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_254'>254</span>cubed Arabic cubit, and comparable with the English -Coomb or half-Quarter. Just as the English Quarter -of corn is 8 bushels, so the Cargo (load, or Saumado, -ass-load, Seam) is 8 Eimino. And just as we had a -wine-bushel, originally a cubic foot in water-wheat -ratio with the corn-bushel, so Occitania had its -Escandau for wine corresponding, in the Southern -water-wheat ratio of 1 to 1·22, to the Eimino or -Panau. The only difference in this evolution was -that, while our corn-measure was increased from -the wine-measure, the southern wine-measure, and -other measures evolved inversely from it, were produced -from the corn-measure as a basis. The word -Escandau means ‘standard’ (like the Denerel of -Guernsey), and just as the cubic measure, the quadrantal, -of 1000 Roman ounces of water, is the standard of our -foot and virtually of all our other measures, so the -Escandau-quadrantal is the standard of the Pán -and of all the other measures of Marseilles. I take the -standards of Marseilles as it was the great port of -trade in the South, and incidentally those of Arles, -the capital of the medieval kingdom of Arles or of -Burgundy, afterwards the republic of Arles. This -was so considerable a seaport, connected as it was with -the sea both by the Rhone and by a canal passage, the -Fossæ Marianæ, through the lagoons, that at one time -the Lion of Arles was a rival of its brother of St. Mark, -and gave its name to the Gulf which receives the Rhone.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The process of involution by which the Pán of -Marseilles was derived from the side of an Escandau -of quadrantal form has been described in <a href='#Pan'>Chapter IV</a>.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_255'>255</span>The Cano or fathom, = 79·24 inches, was 8 pán or -spans each = 9·904 inches; the span was of 8 menut -or inches, also divided into 8 parts.<a id='r47' /><a href='#f47' class='c016'><sup>[47]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c014'>The basis of the Southern system, typically that of -Marseilles, was then the Cargo, a corn-measure = -34·73 gallons (the equivalent of 154·79 litres, the official -metric value), which was the cubic cubit of Al-Mamūn:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>21·28 inches cubed = 9639 c.i. = 34·73 gallons.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>Now what water or wine measure would be produced -from the Cargo, decreased in wheat-water ratio?</p> - -<p class='c014'>Dividing the measure of the cargo by 1·22 we have:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>34·73/1·22 = 28·46 gallons.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>A fluid measure of this capacity is not in use at Marseilles, -but we find its half, almost exactly, in the -Mieirolo = 14·19 gallons, a wine and oil measure used -extensively in Mediterranean ports.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The word Mieirolo, in which <i>mié</i> means half, corresponds -to the name of the first in an Italian series of -wine-measures:</p> - -<p class='c014'>Mezzaruola, Terzaruola, Quartaruola, fractions of -a 28-gallon measure now apparently obsolete.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The standard of the Mieirolo is now at—</p> - -<table class='table9' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='28%' /> -<col width='14%' /> -<col width='14%' /> -<col width='7%' /> -<col width='14%' /> -<col width='21%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Marseilles,</td> - <td class='c007'>64·384</td> - <td class='c005'>litres</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c005'>14·19</td> - <td class='c017'>gallons.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Tripoli,</td> - <td class='c007'>64·386</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Tunis,</td> - <td class='c007'>63·347</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'>13·97</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Spain,</td> - <td class='c007'>64·55</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'>14·23</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_256'>256</span>One-fourth of the Mieirolo, or one-eighth of the -obsolete wine-cargo, is the Escandau, equal to the -Spanish arroba (a word meaning ‘quarter’), and -containing, at the present Marseilles standard, 16·096 -litres = 3·54 gallons. To this Escandau or standard -corresponds, in water-wheat ratio, the Panau = 4·34 -gallons, 1/8 of the Cargo = 4·34 bushels or 34·73 gallons.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The correspondence of this series of wine and corn -measures, in southern water-wheat ratio, is perfect, -even after many centuries, probably since the tenth -century. The Escandau and the Panau or Eimino -correspond then to about 4 wine-gallons and 4 corn-gallons.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Escandau has always been understood to be a -cubic pán. Escandau<a id='r48' /><a href='#f48' class='c016'><sup>[48]</sup></a> means a standard; Pán means -a side, pane or panel, and it is the measure of the side -of a ‘quadrantal’ containing an Escandau of water, -as our foot is the measure of one containing an English -talent of 1000 Roman ounces of water. The cube root -of 16·096 litres is 25·24 centimetres, a length differing -by less than a millimetre from the standard of the -Marseilles pán = 25·16 centimetres or 9·9 inches.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Land-measures</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>The ancient system of seed-measures, fixed geometrically, -survives to this day in Southern France, -indeed throughout most of France. I shall make no -apology for dwelling on it, for the linear land and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_257'>257</span>cubic measures of Southern France show a perfectly -concordant system of measures, more so even than -those of England; indeed they are the type of a perfect -system.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The largest unit of land is the Saumado, of 4 Sesteirado, -each of 2 Eiminado; these being originally -the ground that could be sown with a Saumado (or -Cargo), with a Sestié, with an Eimino, of wheat.</p> - -<p class='c014'>These seed-measures of land corresponding to our -Coomb, Bushel and Peck land, became fixed respectively -at 1600, at 400, and at 200 square cano or fathoms.</p> - -<p class='c014'>To the Sestié and the Sesteirado correspond the -<i>boisseau</i> and <i>boisselée</i> of Poitou and other provinces, -the <i>boisselée</i>, or bushel-land, being 400 square toises.</p> - -<p class='c014'>But the surveyor’s measuring-rod is the Destre, a -double cano, of 16 pán = 13 ft. 2-1/2 in. In Languedoc, -west of the Rhone, the square destre = 4 square cano -is the smallest unit, so that the Saumado of land is -1600 square cano or 400 destre. But in Provence -the destre of land is 2 square cano, so that the Saumado -is 1600 square cano or 800 destre; the reason probably -being that the destre should be 2 cano superficial as it is -2 cano linear, and also that the Eiminado or peck-seedlip -of land should be 100 destre.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Eiminado is divided into quarters and sixteenths, -corresponding to the gallon and quart divisions -of the Eimino or peck. It is also divided into 20 -Cosso, the ground corresponding to a cosso (= quart, -wine-measure) of seed.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It is interesting to observe that the Saumado of 4 -Sesteirado of 40 Cosso, corresponds, in division, to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_258'>258</span>our Acre of 4 roods, of 40 square rods.<a id='r49' /><a href='#f49' class='c016'><sup>[49]</sup></a> And the -Cosso = 1/100 acre or 1/10 sq. chain.</p> - -<p class='c014'>N.B.—1000 sq. cano = 1 acre.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Saumado, of 1600 sq. cano = 1·6 acre.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Such is the typical system of Southern measures, -best preserved in the neighbourhood of Marseilles, -but prevailing throughout the Southern half of France, -though with local variations in the length of the cano -and the names of the land-units.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Measures of Capacity</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>These have mostly been given in the story of the -pán and in the seed-measures corresponding to the -land-measures.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Throughout the system the divisions in each series -are sexdecimal, even the Cosso, 1/20 Eiminado, being 1/160 -Saumado.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Weights</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>There were three types of pounds in South France, -local variations from these being very slight. The pound -was always 16 ounces, each of 8 ternau. The Ternau, so -called from its being divided into 3 pennyweights, was -the Arab dirhem. The three types of pound were:</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Languedoc</td> - <td class='c005'>lb.</td> - <td class='c007'>= 6400</td> - <td class='c005'>grs.</td> - <td class='c005'>Ounce</td> - <td class='c007'>= 400</td> - <td class='c005'>grs.</td> - <td class='c005'>Ternau</td> - <td class='c007'>= 50</td> - <td class='c017'>grs.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Gascony</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>= 6280</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>= 392</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>= 49</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Provence</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>= 6030</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>= 377</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c007'>= 47</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>(See <a href='#XVIII'>Chapter XVIII</a>.)</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c017'> </td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>The Quintal was 100 of these pounds, but long -hundredweights were common. Its quarter was the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_259'>259</span>Rub (Ar. <i>rouba</i>, four). These weights are nearly -obsolete, as the possession of any weights not of the -Republican system would be illegal. The measures -of length and capacity are often slightly altered so as -to be in metric units: the pán becomes a quarter-metre; -groceries are often ticketed by the hectogramme, -as this is known to coincide very closely with -the old Southern quarter-pound.</p> - -<p class='c014'>We now pass to the Northern or Paris system, -mostly taken from the South, and bearing evident -traces of this origin.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>2. <span class='sc'>The Northern System</span></h3> - -<h4 class='c045'><i>Measures of Length</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>The Roman foot survived in North France as the -quarter of the Aune or ell, a measure = 46·77 inches. -(Cf. the passetto or double braccio of Tuscany, of 4 -palmi = 45·96 inches.) As a cloth-measure the Aune -was divided, like our cloth-yard and ell, into eighths -and sixteenths.</p> - -<p class='c014'>But there was also the pied de roi, the royal foot, one-sixth -of the Toise, which = 76·73 inches = 1·949 metre.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The royal foot, = 12·789 inches, was divided into -inches (pouces) of 12 lines, each of 12 points. Its -standard was traditionally referred to Charlemagne, -either to the length of his foot, or to a standard brought -to him by the envoys of Harūn-al-Rashid. It coincides -with half a Hashími cubit, 25·56/2 = 12·78 inches. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_260'>260</span>This tradition must be dismissed; new measures are -not introduced as standards in that way. It was -simply one-sixth of the toise, which was a Cano from -civilised South France, but its standard was so ill-kept -as to be of doubtful exactitude. All that is known of -its standard is that, about 1668, an iron rod was fixed -in a wall of the Grand Chatelet in Paris and that the -length of this rod was that of half the breadth of the -eastern gateway of the Louvre-palace, which gateway -was, according to the plans, 12 feet in breadth. This -standard was, however, considered to be 5/12 inch short -of the customary toise.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Louvre standard, taking it at = 1·965 metre -(which I find it by actual measurement), corresponds -closely to the Cano of Beaucaire. This town on the -southern Rhone, opposite Tarascon, had a great annual -fair, and may thus have given its linear standard to -trade in the same way that Marseilles passed the Cargo -of its Egyptian corn-trade on to Paris as the Setier, and -that Troyes passed the marc used at its great annual fair -on to Paris as the standard of the French troy pound.<a id='r50' /><a href='#f50' class='c016'><sup>[50]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_261'>261</span>But the royal foot was inconveniently long for -popular use, and a practice arose of taking 11 inches of it -as a customary foot = 11·7 inches. This reduced foot, -coinciding almost exactly with the quarter-Aune, was -much used in the districts north of Paris as the <i>pied de -Ponthieu</i>, or <i>de Clermont</i>. The Brasse was a short fathom -of 5 pieds = 5 ft. 4 in., probably an adaptation of the -Roman pace. A <i>pas</i> (pace), of half a brasse = 32 inches, -is used in some districts for land-measurement.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Measures of Distance</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>There was no official measure of distance, such as -our furlong and mile, between the toise and the league, -and the league was very variable (see <a href='#III'>Chapter III</a>). -Acre-lengths, cordes, and other popular measures -supplied the want, more or less well. In some districts -(also in Mauritius) there were milestones at intervals -of 1000 toises, called a mille. In South France -the mille was divided into centenié of 100 toises or -perhaps local cano. This was probably the length -of the sesteirado, the rood, 100 × 4 cano.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The corde, a field-measure used before the surveyor’s -chain, was of variable length. In Burgundy the -league of 3000 toises was divided for roadwork into -50 portées, of 12 cordes; these would thus be 5 toises -or 30 feet. But there seems also to have been a corde -of 33 feet, perhaps reduced feet, and thus = 30 royal -feet, and this, doubled, was used as the rough measure -of a ‘cord’ of firewood = 4 × 4 feet, in 4-foot logs. -This is the probable origin of our ‘cord-wood’ as -applied to stacked logs for fuel.</p> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_262'>262</span> - <h4 class='c021'><i>Land-measures</i></h4> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>The units are the square toise = 4·543 sq. yards, -the perche and the arpent, with other units in local -usage.</p> - -<p class='c014'>There were three different perches officially recognised, -and still in common use.</p> - -<p class='c014'>1. <i>Perche d’ordonnance</i> or of the <i>Eaux et Forêts</i> -administration, 22 royal feet = 23·466 English feet; -the square perch of 484 sq. feet = 13·44 sq. toises = -2 sq. rods.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The approximate coincidence of the quarter-aune -with the reduced royal foot, i.e. of 12 Roman inches -with 11 royal inches, was the probable reason of the -standard perch being fixed at 22 feet = 24 Roman -feet or 6 aunes.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The standard arpent was 100 square perches = -1344 sq. toises = 200 rods or 1·26 acre.</p> - -<p class='c014'>2. <i>Perche commune</i>, 20 royal feet = 21·3 English -feet, the square perch of 400 sq. feet = 11·11 sq. -toises = 50·47 sq. yards.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The <i>arpent commun</i> was 100 of these square perches -= 1111 sq. toises = 1·04 acre.</p> - -<p class='c014'>3. <i>Perche de Paris</i>, 18 royal feet = 19·83 English -feet, the square perch of 324 sq. feet = 9 sq. toises = -40·9 sq. yards.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The <i>arpent de Paris</i> was 100 of these square perches -= 900 sq. toises = 0·844 acre.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The arpent commun is that of Quebec.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The arpent de Paris is that of Mauritius.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The acre de Normandie varies according to its -<span class='pageno' id='Page_263'>263</span>perch, but it is always 160 sq. perches, and if these -be standard it is equal to 2 acres. But the usual unit -is the vergée or rood, of 40 perches = 1/2 acre.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It has been seen that the Jersey vergée is 40 perches -of 22 reduced English feet square, the foot being 11 -inches. This is an adaptation of a very general -Normandy perch, 22 feet of 11 French inches. It is = -0·44 acre.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Local French land-measures varied considerably, -from different standards of perch, from different -lengths taken for the foot of the perch. But the size -of the unit, Journal, Estrée, &c., &c., is very generally -= 1400 to 1600 square perches or roughly about 1-1/2 -acre. These measures, so irrational to the Parisian, -are dear to the peasant’s heart; he understands them, -and as people do not buy land as they would apples -or eggs, no one is deceived.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Estrée or Seterée (Setier seed-land) might be -divided into 12 Boisselées (small-bushel lands).</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Weight</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>The royal pound, <i>livre poids de marc</i>, the double-marc -of Troyes, was one of several pounds current in -Northern France. It was, like the royal foot, ascribed -to Charlemagne, but his standard of weight, as known -by his silver pennies, nearly always much above 24 -grains, 1/20 of some ounce heavier than that of the Troyes -marc, was probably altered later on. The royal -pound, = 5570 grains, was raised for commercial -purposes (about 1350) to 16 ounces = 7554·1 grains, -the ounce = 472·13 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_264'>264</span>The weight of the 12-ounce pound coincides very -closely with that of the Bosphoric miná, 100 drachmæ -of 56·66 grains; this is perhaps the origin of the story -that it was sent to Charlemagne by Harūn al Rashid. -Its ounce is also approximately the Tripoli ukyé -of 10 dirhems × 470-3/4 grains, and nearer still to 471 -grains, the weight of 10 of the dirhems of which 8 -made the Provençal ounce.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It is probable that the French pound was one of -the lighter pounds of the variable Northern Troy -series, all with an ounce of 10 dirhems of 48 grains -more or less.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The ounce was divided into 8 gros, groats or -drachms, of 3 deniers or dwt., each of 24 grains. -So the livre was 16 × 24 × 24 = 9216 French -grains. These were light grains, not the heavy grains, -20 × 24 to the ounce, of English and other mint-weights.</p> - -<p class='c014'>There was a Quintal of 100 livres = 107·7 lb.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Tonne or tonneau was 2000 livres = 2154 lb.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Value</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>The French coinage-system, probably instituted -by Charlemagne, was the same as ours. The original -unit was the silver penny, <i>estelin</i> (sterling) or denier -(L. <i>denarius</i>) of 24 French grains; 12 deniers made a -sol or sou (L. <i>solidus</i>, shilling) and 20 sols made the -livre or pound, originally a livre d’estelins, a 12-ounce -pound of sterlings. But the silver coinage shrank and -was debased, until, by the eighteenth century, the -pound, livre or franc was a silver coin worth tenpence, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_265'>265</span>the sol a copper halfpenny, and the denier had shrunk, -even as copper, to so minute a size that its place was -taken by the <i>liard</i>, a small copper coin of 3 deniers, -a quarter-sou; even the <i>double</i> of 2 deniers had disappeared. -Accounts were kept in livres and sols and -deniers, our £ <i>s.</i> <i>d.</i>, but at 1/25 the present value of our -coin.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The <i>écu</i> of 3 livres, that is of 60 sous, was largely -used; wages of farm-servants are often at the present -day reckoned in écus. This was properly a <i>petit-écu</i> -or half-crown, but the real écu of 6 livres was so little -used that the smaller coin took its name. And, as -our half-crown has the great convenience of being -one-eighth of a sovereign, so the écu had that of being -one-eighth of a louis, the gold piece of 24 livres. This -was the value of the louis at par, for it varied as did -that of the guinea when England was a silver-standard -country.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Measures of Capacity</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>These measures, both the wine-series and the corn-series, -were quite discordant and had no relation to the -measures of length. That this was caused by an incoherent -system of factors is shown by there being in -each series a unit derived from the perfectly concordant -measures of the South:</p> - -<p class='c014'>The wine-velte = 1·76 gallon, half of the Escandau.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The corn-setier = 34·32 gallons, the Marseilles -Cargo.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The former, when increased in water-wheat ratio, is -almost exactly 1/16 of the latter. So, had the former, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_266'>266</span>increased in this ratio, been multiplied sexdecimally, -concordance would have been preserved. But there -was a customary Muid = 63-1/2 gallons, our hogshead, -with its quarter, our kilderkin, the Quartaut = 15·8 -gallons, and not to derange these measures the -velte was made one-ninth of the Quartaut. And in -the corn-series the Setier was divided and multiplied -duodecimally. So the concordance was entirely -deranged.</p> - -<p class='c014'>1. <i>Wine-measures.</i>—The Velte (the origin of which -is given in <a href='#XIX'>Chapter XIX</a>) was divided into 2 gallons -(our wine-gallon), 4 pots (our pottle), 8 pintes. The -last of these, = 1·76 pint, was about our old wine-quart, -= 32 oz., its half was a chopine or setier, = our -wine-pint, and the half of this was the demi-setier, a -name still current, the French equivalent of our -popular ‘half-pint.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>2. <i>Corn-measures.</i>—The standard unit was the Setier -= 34·32 gallons, or 4·29 bushels, differing very slightly -from the Marseilles Cargo = 4·34 bushels. As the -Setier was an isolated measure, while the Cargo was -from early medieval times the basis of the complete -system of Southern measures, it may confidently be -inferred that the Paris unit of corn-measure was taken -from that of Marseilles, which was the Egyptian -Rebekeh, the cubed Arabic cubit.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The term Setier is the L. <i>sextuarius</i>, but it had lost -its original meaning and become a general-utility term -in measures. The Setier = the Marseilles Cargo of -4 Sestié, must not be confused with this sestié. It was -divided into 12 boisseaux of variable standard, but -<span class='pageno' id='Page_267'>267</span>usually estimated to hold 20 French pounds of wheat. -As 1/12 setier, the boisseau was = 2·86 gallons, and -it was divided into 16 litrons = 1·43 pint.</p> - -<p class='c014'>There were intermediate divisions of the Setier; -it was of 2 mines (a term taken from the Southern -<i>eimino</i>), 4 minots, 12 boisseaux.</p> - -<p class='c014'>There was also a Muid for corn and salt. The corn-muid -was 12 setiers.</p> - -<p class='c014'>There are still in France traces of an older system -of corn-measures derived from the cubic foot. I -found, in the Rouen Museum, the standard bushel of -the town of Bolbec. It measures 16 inches diameter -by 12·6 inches deep = 2533 cubic inches or 9·14 -gallons. It appears to be the French cubic foot = -2091 cubic inches increased in water-wheat ratio to -2533 × 1·22 = 2551 cubic inches, a difference probably -to be ascribed to the difficulty in measuring at all -accurately.</p> - -<p class='c014'>There are also many local standards of capacity, -well deserving of study. Some, as the bushel of La -Rochelle, indeed of the west of France generally, = -56 lb. of wheat, are much larger than the Paris Bushel. -There was a general rejection of the duodecimal division -of the Setier.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Table of Old French Measures</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c005' colspan='3'><span class='small'>Length</span></td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c017' colspan='2'><span class='small'>Land</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Aune</td> - <td class='c007'>= 46·77</td> - <td class='c005'>inches.</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>Square Toise</td> - <td class='c008'>= 4·54 sq. yards.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Toise</td> - <td class='c007'>= 76·73</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>Square Perche</td> - <td class='c008'>= 2 sq. rods.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Pied</td> - <td class='c007'>= 12·789</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>Arpent (× 100)</td> - <td class='c008'>= 1·26 acre.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Perche</td> - <td class='c007'>= 23·446</td> - <td class='c005'>feet.</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> -</table> -<table class='table4' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='15%' /> -<col width='3%' /> -<col width='7%' /> -<col width='7%' /> -<col width='3%' /> -<col width='19%' /> -<col width='3%' /> -<col width='7%' /> -<col width='7%' /> -<col width='3%' /> -<col width='19%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='11'><span class='pageno' id='Page_268'>268</span></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005' colspan='4'><span class='small'>Wine-measure</span></td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005' colspan='4'><span class='small'>Corn-measure</span></td> - <td class='c038' colspan='2'><span class='small'>Bushels</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Muid</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c007'>63·5</td> - <td class='c005'>galls.</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>Muid</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c006'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c008'>51·6</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>4 Quartaut</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c007'>15·8</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>12 Setier</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c006'>34·32</td> - <td class='c005'>gall.</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c038'>4·29</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>9 Velte</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c022'>1·76</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>12 Boisseau</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c006'>2·86</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>8 Pinte</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c022'>1·76</td> - <td class='c005'>pint.</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>16 Litron</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c006'>1·43</td> - <td class='c005'>pint.</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>2 Chopine</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c022'>0·88</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c006'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> -</table> -<table class='table9' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='14%' /> -<col width='35%' /> -<col width='7%' /> -<col width='21%' /> -<col width='21%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='5'><span class='small'>Weights</span></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'> </td> - <td class='c007'>Quintal</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c022'>107·7</td> - <td class='c008'>lb.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>100</td> - <td class='c007'>Livre</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c007'>7554</td> - <td class='c008'>grains.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>16</td> - <td class='c007'>Once</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c022'>472·1</td> - <td class='c017'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>24</td> - <td class='c007'>Deniers (dwt.)</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c008' colspan='2'>3 to a ‘gros.’</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>24</td> - <td class='c007'>Grains.</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c008'> </td> - </tr> -</table> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Remarks on the French Measures of Capacity</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>The fault of the Paris system was that there -was little or no concordance between the different -series.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In length, 6 aunes approximately coincided with -22 feet or 3-2/3 toises.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The measures of length had no concordance with -those of capacity, and in the latter, wine-measure and -corn-measure had lost their original concordance when -they were brought from the south. They lost it by -two faults:</p> - -<p class='c014'>1. By making the quartaut of 9 veltes instead -of 8;</p> - -<p class='c014'>2. By dividing the setier into 12 boisseaux instead -of 8.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_269'>269</span>Had this octonary division been substituted, it -would have been quite satisfactory, and concordance -with the linear standard would have been obtained.</p> - -<p class='c014'>A quartaut of 8 veltes, 8 × 1·76 = 14·08 gallons, -would have been in water-wheat ratio with the corn -half-setier = 17·16 gallons:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>14·08 × 1·22 = 17·17.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>And the setier divided into 8 parts would have given a -larger boisseau = 4·29 gallons (a peck) corresponding -in water-wheat ratio to the double velte of 4 gallons and -measuring approximately 1000 cubic pouces (983 -exactly); its side, when of cubic form, being almost -10 pouces, and thus affording an easily applied -linear measurement as a check on the variation of the -boisseau. The standard of this measure was most -variable from want of such a check. Really, as 1/12 -Setier it should have been 655·4 cubic pouces, but it -varied between 644 and 677, its reputed capacity -being 640 cubic pouces.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It would have been easy to have fixed the new -boisseau at 1000 cubic pouces, raising the variable -standard of the Setier to 8000 cubic pouces = 34·9 -gallons instead of its reputed standard = 34·32 -gallons.</p> - -<p class='c014'>By these slight alterations perfect accordance -with the southern measures would also have been -obtained.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Leaving the measures of length and surface which -<span class='pageno' id='Page_270'>270</span>were sufficiently concordant, the measures of capacity -would have been:</p> - -<table class='table12' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='15%' /> -<col width='5%' /> -<col width='10%' /> -<col width='15%' /> -<col width='5%' /> -<col width='25%' /> -<col width='5%' /> -<col width='10%' /> -<col width='10%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c005' colspan='4'><span class='small'>Wine-measure</span></td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c017' colspan='4'><span class='small'>Corn-measure</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Muid</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c006'>56·32</td> - <td class='c005'>gallons.</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>Muid</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c007'>34·9</td> - <td class='c008'>bushels</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c006'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c022'>4·36</td> - <td class='c008'>qrs.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>1/2 „</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c006'>28·16</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>(8) Setier</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c007'>34·9</td> - <td class='c008'>gallons</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>Quartaut</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c006'>14·08</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c007'>8000</td> - <td class='c008'>c.p.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c006'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>(8) Boisseau</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c022'>4·36</td> - <td class='c008'>gallons</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>(8) Velte</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c006'>1·76</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'> </td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c007'>1000</td> - <td class='c008'>c.p.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>(8) Pinte</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c006'>1·76</td> - <td class='c005'>pint.</td> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c007'>16 Litron</td> - <td class='c005'>=</td> - <td class='c022'>2·18</td> - <td class='c008'>pint.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>A water-wheat ratio of 1 : 1·24 would have been -preserved between the two series, and their connection -with linear measures through a cubic boisseau of 10 -pouces each side (or a cylindrical one of 10 pouces -diameter and 11·4 pouces in height) would have been -most advantageous.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It may seem futile to make these proportions 120 -years too late, but they may be useful in showing how -unnecessary was the revolutionary plan of uprooting -the old measures.</p> - -<hr class='c018' /> -<div class='footnote' id='f47'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r47'>47</a>. </span>In Provençal, the principal idiom of the Occitanian language, -nouns take no plural form; so pán, cáno, &c., do not change. The -Provençal words in this chapter are pronounced—páng, cánn, -saomádd, eymīnn, escandáo, panáo, cárrg, miyeyròl.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f48'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r48'>48</a>. </span>Escandau is to gauge, to sound depths, to standardise. This -word is from the same root as ‘scandalise’ applied to moral tripping, -and then to the use of the ‘stiliard,’ the lever-balance that trips -with any inequality of weight.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f49'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r49'>49</a>. </span>The cosso is a wooden bowl, Sc. ‘luggie,’ used by shepherds. -Our rod is in some districts a ‘lug.’</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f50'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r50'>50</a>. </span>There were relations between Burgundy and England. The -former was, up to the fall of its powerful dukes in the sixteenth -century, a state enjoying prosperity and independence, while France -was mostly in a condition of misery. It had, and retained till -quite recently, its system of measures and weights, derived from -the southern system at the time when Arles was the capital of -the kingdom of Burgundy. It had two toises, one = 7-1/2 French -feet, the other, for field measure, = 9-1/2 French feet. Now the first -seems to have passed to England, for a time at least, for the <i>Liber -Albus</i>, 1419, contains an order for the City of London:</p> - -<p class='c014'>‘The Toise of pavement to be 7-1/2 feet in length, and the foot -of St. Paul in breadth.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>The English wool-weights, the wey, stone (12 French lb.) and -clove, were current in Burgundy and in Southern France.</p> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_271'>271</span> - <h2 id='XXII' class='c004'>CHAPTER XXII<br /> <br /><span class='small'>THE METRIC SYSTEM</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>The great diversity in the weights and measures used -in different parts of France, and the discordance -between the series of the official system, or want of -system, were inconvenient, and tended to become -more so with the increasing facilities of communication -between the provinces. Unification was required, -and was being studied at the time when the Revolution -broke out.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The obvious plan was to make such alterations in -the Paris system as were strictly necessary, keeping -to the main standards of length and capacity, standards -not irreconcilable, and to make it obligatory throughout -France. As Napoleon said, ‘It was so simple that it -could have been done in twenty-four hours, and -adopted throughout France in less than a year.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>Amendments such as I have sketched in the <a href='#XXI'>last chapter</a> -would have answered the purpose sufficiently.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The ostensible plan of the new system of weights -and measures was (May 8, 1790) ‘to create them anew -on invariable bases, and to establish in commercial -calculations the uniformity which Reason has vainly -called for during so many centuries, and which must -form a new bond between men.’</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_272'>272</span>Even this scientific and fraternal plan, at first on -the basis of a normal pendulum-length, 3/4 inch longer -than the half-toise (as proposed by James Watt in -1783), might have been carried out so as to disturb the -hereditary ideas and customs of the people as little -as possible. But it was resolved to take a geodesical -basis. This, taken afresh and not accurately, for the -metre, was already at hand in a toise equal to the -Olympic fathom, 1/1000 of the meridian mile. And in -the report to the Convention, it was recognised that -the most ancient people had measures derived from -the terrestrial meridian.</p> - -<p class='c014'>More than two centuries before the Revolution -an abbé (Mouton) had proposed a revival of the Olympic -system, decimalised from the meridian mile down to a -digit, 1/100 of the fathom.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Without this decimalisation, at least in the popular -series of measures, there was a geodesic basis—for this -was resolved as necessary—already at hand in the -Olympic system, and the Olympic foot cubed would -have given a unit of capacity and the Olympic talent -one of weight, all the more suitable inasmuch as 1/1000 -of it would have been an ounce = 453·6 grains, closely -approximating to the Cologne ounce and therefore -likely to be acceptable in other countries. But the -real object was to make a clean sweep of the past; and -the formation of a Republican system of measures was -entrusted to mathematicians and other scientists -who did not consider that a system convenient to -them might be very inconvenient to unscientific people. -The division of all measures must be on an obligatory -<span class='pageno' id='Page_273'>273</span>decimal system convenient to mathematicians and -most inconvenient to nearly everyone else.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The basis of the new system was a measure considered -to be one ten-millionth of the quarter-meridian, -of the distance from the equator to the pole. This -unit was neither original in conception nor exact in -measurement. When Aristotle divided the circumference -of the globe into 400,000 stadia, instead of the -240,000 stadia of 1000 Olympic fathoms, his stadion, -1/100,000 of the quarter-meridian, was equal to 100 -metres. But there was no practical advantage in it, -and navigators continued to use the nautical mile -of 10 Olympic stadia, as they do to this day.</p> - -<p class='c014'>At least Aristotle did not seek to upset all the -weights and measures of the Macedonian empire; -and his stadion disappeared.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It is doubtful if absolute exactness will ever be -attained in the measurement of the surface of our -globe, irregularly spherical in form and of very uneven -surface; but there is no doubt that the ancient -Chaldæans and Egyptians measured it sixty centuries -ago quite as accurately as the astronomers of the first -Republic; and the Olympic standard of the meridian -mile, not the kilometre, is the unit used to this day by -the navigators of France as by those of every other -maritime nation.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Having determined with little exactitude the -metric decimal fraction of the quarter-meridian, the -astronomers and mathematicians of the Republic, <i>les -idéologues</i> as Napoleon called them, proceeded to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_274'>274</span>evolve from it the most inconvenient possible units -of length, surface, capacity, and weight. All that -could be said for these units is that they were exactly -and decimally derived from the metre. The metre -was unacceptable to the people, as no metric unit of -length corresponds even approximately to the universal -limb-units of fathom, cubit, foot, span, palm, finger or -thumb-breadth. The different series admit only the -factors, 1, 2, 5; so each decimal unit has a half (0·5) -and a double, but no quarter or third. The prefixes—in -Latin for divisions, <i>deci</i>, <i>centi</i>, <i>milli</i>; in Greek for -multiples, <i>deca</i>, <i>hecto</i>, <i>kilo</i>, <i>myria</i>—give the only names -allowed.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Length</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>The Metre, = 39·370113 inches, is divided into -10 decimetres, 100 centimetres, 1000 millimetres.</p> - -<p class='c014'>1 yard = 0·9144 metre; 1 foot = 0·3048 metre; -1 inch = 0·0254 metre, or 2·54 centimetres.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It is multiplied by 10 for the decametre, by 100 for -the hectometre, by 1000 for the kilometre, by 10,000 -for the myriametre. Practically the kilometre, = -0·621 mile or 1093·6 yards, is the only larger unit used; -the other units are useless. And though it be interesting -to know that the kilometre is approximately 1/10,000 -of the quarter-meridian, it is a useless fact.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Surface</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>The square metre = 1·196 square yard. The -lower units are little used. For land-measurement -the square decametre, 10 × 10 metres, is called an -<span class='pageno' id='Page_275'>275</span>Are; 100 ares = 100 × 100 metres, make a Hectare = -2·47 acres; and the square metre is a Centiare.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>1 acre = 0·40468 hectare.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Solidity</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>The cubic metre = 35·315 cubic feet (nearly the -volume of a ton of water = 35·84 cubic feet) contains -1000 cubic decimetres, each of 1000 cubic centimetres -(= 61 cubic inches).</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>1 cubic foot = 0·028317 cubic metre.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>The cubic centimetre is strictly speaking 1/1000 -cubic decimetre, but as used in chemistry for fluid -measure it is considered as 1/1000 of the litre, which is -only approximately a cubic decimetre.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Capacity</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>The Litre was originally a cubic decimetre, but -this definition has been abandoned. It is now defined -as the volume of a kilogramme of pure water in air -at 4 degrees Centigrade = 39·2° Fahrenheit.</p> - -<p class='c014'>At ordinary temperatures a litre of water weighs -about 998·8 grammes or 0·9988 kilogramme (see Table -at end of <a href='#Water'>Chap. X</a>).</p> - -<p class='c014'>The only minor unit practically used (and only in -scientific work) is the millilitre, under the name of -cubic centimetre, = 15·432 grains of water.</p> - -<p class='c014'>1 Litre = 2·204 lb. water, or 1·76 pint.</p> - -<p class='c014'>1 Pint = 0·568 litre; 1 gallon = 4·546 litres.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The principal larger unit is the Hectolitre = 22·04 -gallons or 2·75 bushels. The Decalitre = 2·2 gallons.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_276'>276</span>1 Bushel = 36·37 litres; 1 Quarter 291 litres -or nearly 3 hectolitres.</p> - -<p class='c014'>1 Bushel to the acre = 0·9 hectolitre to the hectare. -(Deduct 1/10 on English.)</p> - -<p class='c014'>1 Hectolitre to the hectare = 1·11 bushel to the -acre. (Add 1/10 to French.)</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Weight</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>The original unit was the Gramme, defined as the -weight of a cubic centimetre of water at 4° Centigrade -= 15·432 grains. It is divided into 10 decigrammes, -100 centigrammes, 1000 milligrammes. Of its multiples -the decagramme is useless; the hectogramme is -merely the name inscribed on a 100-gramme weight; -the kilogramme of 1000 grammes is used when its -use cannot be avoided.</p> - -<p class='c014'>But the present legal unit is not the gramme but -the kilogramme = 2·2046 lb. or 15,432 grains.<a id='r51' /><a href='#f51' class='c016'><sup>[51]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c014'>Intended to be the weight of a cubic decimetre of -water at 4° C. (as the gramme was that of a cubic -centimetre), this definition has been abandoned as -inexact; it is now, like our pound, the mass of a certain -platinum standard, in a vacuum.<a id='r52' /><a href='#f52' class='c016'><sup>[52]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_277'>277</span>Practically, the unit of weight in the ordinary -transactions of life is the ‘half-kilo’ of 500 grammes, -more usually known as a livre or pound, though the -use of this word in trade is punishable.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The livre or half-kilo = 1·1 lb. or 7716 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>1 kilo = 2·2046 lb. or 15,432 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>100 kilos or Quintal metrique = 220·46 lb.</p> - -<p class='c014'>1000 kilos or Tonne 2204·6 lb. = 0·984 ton.</p> - -<p class='c014'>1 ton = 1016 kilos; 1 cwt. = 50·8 kilos; 1 lb. = -0·4536 kilo or 453·6 grammes.</p> - -<p class='c014'>1 ounce = 28·35 grammes; 1 grain = 6·48 centigrammes.</p> - -<p class='c014'>100 kilos of wheat = 3·53 bushels, at 62-1/2 lb.</p> - -<p class='c014'>100 litres (1 hectolitre) of wheat = 2·75 bushels.</p> - -<p class='c014'>7 fr. duty on 100 kilos wheat = 2 fr. a bushel or -12<i>s.</i> 4<i>d.</i> a quarter.</p> - -<p class='c014'>1 bushel = 36·4 litres.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Money</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>The monetary unit is the Franc, practically the -same as the old livre, somewhat less. According to -the original plan, the Republican franc was to be 10 -grammes weight, so that the decimal harmony of the -system should not be disturbed. But financial -expediency required it to be of about the same weight -as before, so 80 old livres were recoined as 81 francs -at 5 grammes weight and 0·900 fineness. The franc -was to be of 100 centimes instead of 20 sous of 4 liards.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The copper coins, changed to bronze in about -1854, are pieces of 10 and 5 centimes, the latter -equivalent to the old sou, so that the franc is commonly -<span class='pageno' id='Page_278'>278</span>called a 20-sou piece, and the other silver coins, -nominally of 5, 2, and 1/2 franc, are called in the same way -<i>pièces de cent sous</i>, <i>quarante sous</i> and <i>dix sous</i>. The -centime is so rarely seen as to be practically non-existent, -and the decimal system not allowing the half -or quarter of the 5-centime piece or sou, great inconvenience -is felt by the poor,<a id='r53' /><a href='#f53' class='c016'><sup>[53]</sup></a> yet the symmetry of the -system has been marred by the issue of nickel quarter-francs, -of a size which makes them often undistinguishable -from francs. But this is 25 centimes, while the -half-sou would be written 2·5 centimes, marring -the symmetry of the centime column in accounts—where -practically it would never appear.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Since the adoption of a gold standard under the -second Empire, the gold 20-franc piece is the standard -of exchange, and of payments in trade. It weighs -6·451 grammes = 99·5635 grains; it is of 0·900 fineness -(= 22-1/5 carats) and thus contains 86·6071 grains of -pure gold. Its exchange value is usually 15<i>s.</i> 10-1/2<i>d.</i>, -our sovereign being equal to 25 francs 20 centimes.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The system of international currency has led to -the French currency containing coins, both gold -and silver, of strange devices, and the necessity of -placards in shops showing figures of the numerous -coins which should not be accepted. Considerable -vigilance is necessary to avoid taking coins not current, -or taking for francs the nickel five-sou pieces -scarcely distinguishable from them except in a good -light.</p> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_279'>279</span> - <h4 class='c021'><i>Temperature</i></h4> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>The French thermometer, called Centigrade (the -proper term would have been centesimal), is on Celsius’s -scale, of 100 degrees between the freezing and boiling -points of water, under the normal atmospheric pressure, -which for France is 760 millimetres = 29·92 -inches.</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>Metric Measures of Time</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>These are dropped, officially, at present; but they -may be re-established, for they were the essential part -of the Republican system. Ardent republicans constantly -claim their re-establishment, and sound republican -newspapers, dated according to the republican -calendar, take care that this shall not be forgotten. -Scientific journals demand the re-establishment of -decimal time and decimal degrees; for even to sell -eggs or handkerchiefs by the dozen is a sin, and ought -to be made a crime, against the decimal system.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Republican zeal, unable to reform the solar system, -had to content itself with reviving the ancient Egyptian -year of twelve equal months followed by five extra -days, to be called Jours Sansculottides, and with -instituting a new era. The extra day of leap-years -made a sixth sansculottide; these years were therefore -sextile, and the period of four years ending with leap-year -was to be called a Franciade.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In justice to the authors of the Metric system, it -must be said that they were not responsible for the -Republican calendar; this was the work of a separate -Committee, to whom the Convention handed over the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_280'>280</span>work carried out by the Weights and Measures Committee -of the Académie des Sciences. On August 1, -1793, it thanked the W. and M. Committee for their -work, on the 6th it closed all the Academies, and soon -after sent the great chemist Lavoisier, the principal -member of the Committee, to prison and ultimately -to the scaffold. Among the small number of real republicans -who ruled France from Paris, there was much -less enthusiasm for the metric system, intended to sweep -away the memory of the old customs of weights and -measures, than for the calendar, the essential part -of which was a new era and the sweeping away of past -superstitions, whether Pagan or Christian. In both -cases one can see the power of a very small but -enthusiastic, well-organised and violent minority of -Jacobins against the large, but unorganised and -terrorised, majority of the French people. In both -cases we see the truth of Guizot’s saying: ‘Blind -aversion for the past is full of falsehood and of ignorance.’<a id='r54' /><a href='#f54' class='c016'><sup>[54]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c014'>The decree instituting the complete Republican -system began by these words, characteristic of the times:</p> - -<p class='c015'>The French era begins with the foundation of the -Republic, which was on 22nd September 1792 of the -vulgar era, the day when the sun arrived at the true -autumnal equinox, entering the sign of the Balance, at -9h. 18m. 30s. a.m., Paris Observatory time.</p> - -<p class='c015'>Thus (it continued) the heavens marked the equality -<span class='pageno' id='Page_281'>281</span>of days and nights at the same moment that civil and -moral equality was proclaimed by the representatives of -the French people as the sacred foundation of its new -government.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The month was divided into three decades and the -days of the decimal week were numbered from one to ten.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The saints whose names had been attached to the -days were abolished. They were replaced by objects -of republican veneration, animals, vegetables, minerals, -tools, &c. Each Decadi was consecrated to an agricultural -implement, the plough, the watering-pot, the -pitchfork, &c.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Each Quintidi was consecrated to a useful animal, -the horse, the ass, the pig, the trout, &c.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The eight other days of the decade were consecrated -to plants, &c. It was difficult to find 288 useful plants, -but by bringing in such as the nettle, the dandelion -(under its vulgar French name), strange plants discovered -in a herbal dictionary, together with the manure -heap and a few useful minerals, the saints were entirely -replaced. To popularise these substitutes for the -<i>ci-devant</i> saints an appendix to the Decadaire or -Annuaire (for the term Calendar was abolished as -savouring of superstition) gave popular information, -in the crudest terms, on the diseases for which the -vegetables and herbs were recommended by the -scientific advisers of the Republic.</p> - -<p class='c014'>To complete this system, the circles of the globe, -and all other circles, were divided into 400 degrees, -divided decimally. The day was divided into 10 hours, -of 100 decimal minutes, each of 100 decimal seconds.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_282'>282</span>The republican division of the day was not generally -put into practice except in official documents, -probably because the Jacobin leaders found it personally -inconvenient. Decreed as obligatory in Frimaire, -an II, it was suspended in Germinal, an III, yet that -it was extant, if not in force, up to 1800 is shown by -a police-report of an occurrence on ‘21 Brumaire an -VIII à 2 heures 10 minutes décimales,’ i.e. at 5 <span class='fss'>A.M.</span></p> - -<p class='c014'>The story of the means by which the unpopular -republican measures were enforced has not yet been -told. Some idea of it may be guessed from a remark -of de Bonald (1817):</p> - -<p class='c015'>I believe that the same firmness, rigour, and lavish -expenditure, used to establish, or rather to try and -establish, uniformity of weights and measures, would have -been sufficient to establish uniformity of religion.</p> - -<p class='c014'>If in a country which had experienced Louis XIV’s -system for establishing uniformity of religion, this -could be said of the means by which the republican -weights and measures were enforced, it is evident that -the new system met with anything but the welcome -usually supposed.</p> - -<p class='c014'>But a man had arisen who delivered France, for a -time at least, from the more objectionable parts of the -republican measures, and the good he effected in this -way had doubtless much to do with his popularity. -From the time of his Consulate, at the end of 1799, -the rigour of the system was gradually relaxed. His -contempt for the mathematician-advisers of the -Republic, whom he had found to be incapable in public -<span class='pageno' id='Page_283'>283</span>business, was probably brought to a climax by the -following event.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The ordnance survey-maps of France were on -Cassini’s scale of 1/86,400, i.e. 1 line to 100 toises (which -is the proportion of the second to the mean day). A -new map having been made on the metric scale of -1/100,000, Napoleon soon found this out, and ordered -the map to be restored to the old scale.</p> - -<p class='c014'>‘Je la veux sur l’échelle de Cassini, et je me moque -des divisions décimales’ (letter to the Minister of -War, 1809).</p> - -<p class='c014'>The republican calendar and era were used until -the end of 1805, when Napoleon restored the Gregorian -calendar and its era; thus 11 Nivose, an XIV, was -the last day of the republican system.</p> - -<p class='c014'>But the republican idea of a new calendar and a -new era is not dead; it has so little died out that a -calendar and era devised by a French mathematician -and sociologist in 1852 is now actually used, not only -in France, but in England, and also in Brazil, by the -followers of this reformer.<a id='r55' /><a href='#f55' class='c016'><sup>[55]</sup></a></p> - -<hr class='c018' /> -<div class='footnote' id='f51'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r51'>51</a>. </span>This is a partial return to the original arrangement. The -kilogramme was originally named the Grave, with its decigrave and -centigrave. The tonne of 1000 kilogrammes was originally called -a Bar, with its decibar and centibar. The gramme was a Gravet, -with its decigravet and centigravet. Similarly the hectolitre -was originally named the Decicade (1/10 of the Cade = 1000 litres) -of 10 centicades. The litre was a Cadil.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f52'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r52'>52</a>. </span>In the latitude of Paris. If weighed at Marseilles it would -be equal to about 1000·4 grammes; if in London to 999·75 grammes. -It necessarily varies with latitude, as does the length of the pendulum -beating seconds. But this variation does not impair its relative -accuracy, as whatever it is weighed against is similarly affected.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f53'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r53'>53</a>. </span>Thus if bread is 25 centimes or 5 sous the kilo, a single pound -or half-kilo of bread cannot be bought at this price.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f54'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r54'>54</a>. </span>It had been proposed in 1789 to divide France into equal -departments or districts by rule and compass. Each district was -to be half a degree square. It was only the refractoriness of the -coast line that prevented this geographic homage to equality.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f55'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r55'>55</a>. </span>In this Positivist Calendar the saints of the old calendar -and the agricultural produce of the revolutionary calendars are -replaced by great men and women; typical great men, from Moses -and Homer to Descartes and Bichat, giving their names to the -13 months, each of 28 days. There is an extra day at the end of -the year, and two extra days in leap-year. This system has the -advantage of the 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th of the month always -falling on the same day of the week.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Positivist era dates from 1789; and the followers of Auguste -Comte, in England, France and elsewhere, thus date 1911 as the -‘year 123 of the Great Crisis.’</p> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_284'>284</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XXIII<br /> <br /><span class='small'>HOW THE METRIC SYSTEM WORKS IN FRANCE</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>Napoleon, who had witnessed the rigorous measures -of the Republican government to enforce its metric -system, said of it:</p> - -<p class='c015'>It violently broke up the customs and habits of the -people as might have been done by some Greek or Tartar -tyrant who, with uplifted rod, wills to be obeyed in all -his decrees, regulated by his prejudices or his interests, -without any regard for those of the conqueror.... It -was tormenting the people for trifles.<a id='r56' /><a href='#f56' class='c016'><sup>[56]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c014'>But he was too wise to disturb trade again by any -change in the material standards, however objectionable; -he kept these, while abolishing the unpopular -decimal series.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The decree of February 12, 1812, accordingly -ordered that weights and measures, while being -strictly in accordance with the existing standard units, -should have ‘such fractions and multiples as were -generally used in trade and were best suited to the -needs of the people.’</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_285'>285</span>A double-metre became the new Toise, divided, -like the old toise, into 6 feet of 12 inches. The Aune -was to be 1·2 metre.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The hectolitre and the litre were divided sexdecimally, -one-fourth of the hectolitre becoming a -double-Boisseau differing very slightly from the old -measure of the same name.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The half-kilogramme became the Livre, divided -into 16 ounces, these being divided into eighths. The -Quintal was 100 livres, the millier 1000 livres, the -tonneau 2000 livres.</p> - -<p class='c014'>With regard to money, the gold napoleon being -20 francs and the franc of 20 sous, divided into 4 liards -or half-farthings, the system was convenient.</p> - -<p class='c014'>This practical though incomplete compromise was -in force until 1837, when Louis-Philippe restored, on -paper at least, the full republican system, except the -measures of time. Yet the Napoleonic compromise -held its ground, and indeed has lost little up to the -present day, notwithstanding a more rigorous enforcement -of the decimal system under the second Empire -and the third Republic.</p> - -<p class='c014'>About 1859 began the propaganda of the metric -system abroad. Holland and Belgium, on which it -had been imposed when those countries were seized -by France in 1792 and 1795, retained it after the peace of -1814-1815; at least the old systems had been destroyed, -and it was deemed best to retain the new one, so in -1821 it was compulsory.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The new kingdom of Italy threw away the remains -of its metric inheritance from ancient Rome when in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_286'>286</span>1859 it took the French system, partly perhaps from -the apparent difficulty of co-ordinating the measures -of the different states, but probably as part consideration -for French help against Austria.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Portugal adopted it, on paper at least, in 1863.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The worst was when, in 1868, it was adopted by the -North German Confederated States, and when in 1872 -it was made compulsory.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It is said that the governing powers of Germany, -anxious to unify the diverse systems of its component -states, took the fatal step in consequence of English -official assurances that the metric system would soon -be imposed on the British empire. After this disastrous -surrender to international science, the governments of -other countries, large and small, civilised and semi-barbarous, -were easily induced by skilful diplomacy -to impose the French republican measures on their -peoples, heedless of the fact that all the persuasion -and pressure of the French government had failed -to get its own people to use the system whenever it -could be evaded.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Herbert Spencer says, of the progress of the metric -system:</p> - -<p class='c015'>When fifty years after its nominal establishment in -France the metric system was made compulsory, it was not -because those who had to measure out commodities over -the counter wished to use it, but because the government -commanded them to do so, and when it was adopted in -Germany under the Bismarckian regime we may be sure -that the opinions of shop-keepers were not asked. Similarly -elsewhere, its adoption has resulted from the official will -and not from the popular will.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_287'>287</span>The gradual adoption of the metric system by -countries of all degrees of civilisation from Germany -and Italy to Venezuela or Haïti, has not been from -any desire of the people of those countries for it, except -an infinitely small minority of scientists who desire -that the whole world should use the system found -convenient in international scientific reports, and a -somewhat larger proportion of enthusiasts with high -and unpractical cosmopolitan ideals. Many also -acquiesce from the same motive which induces people -to buy a well-advertised and puffed article instead of -one to which they had been accustomed and had -found satisfactory. They undergo the contagion to -which the crowd-mind is so subject. In England a -few genuine enthusiasts, and many more who have -caught the scientific and cosmopolitan craze, take to -the metric system as they take to learning Esperanto, -and so long as they have not to use the one in business -or the other in conversation, their enthusiasm lasts, -especially when it affords opportunities for showing -themselves friends of science and progress. But when -the contagion spreads so wide that it threatens to -revolutionise the habits and customs of a nation and -its whole manufactures and trade, the danger is -most serious.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The favour which the metric system has found -amongst a small proportion of English people is largely -due to their ignorance of their own system, an ignorance -very excusable when there exists no official statement -of our system, or even of its standards. The people -are left to the information afforded very badly in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_288'>288</span>school-books and scarcely better in almanacks. So -our system is left without defence against the attacks -made on it by well-meaning persons who do not know -it, and by the never-ceasing action of the French -government.<a id='r57' /><a href='#f57' class='c016'><sup>[57]</sup></a> It may therefore be interesting to see</p> - -<h4 class='c021'><i>How far the French have adopted the Metric System.</i></h4> - -<p class='c020'>A century of official pressure, of state-education, -and of police proceedings against any public selling, -marking or crying of goods otherwise than in metric -measures and coins, cannot be without some effect, -especially in large towns, but even there, while accounts -are kept and bills made according to the legal system, -the people, as distinguished from the official classes, -have never taken to it, and in the country it is nearly -entirely ignored, out of official transactions, both in -weight and measures and in money.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The sizes of baskets and flower-pots are in <i>pouces</i>; -lamp-chimneys have their size marked on them in -<i>lignes</i>. The size of printer’s type is in points, each -1/6 line or 1/72 of the old French inch; and the printer’s -pocket-rule is divided on one side into centimetres -but on the other into ‘Ciceros’ corresponding to the -English ‘pica.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>Barometers for ship-use have their scale usually -in pouces and lignes. The port barometer on the -quay of the great naval port of Toulon, in front of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_289'>289</span>the town-hall, is on this old scale. In 1909 I found -the barometer of a new Transatlantique passenger -steamer making her first voyage to be ‘selon Torricelly,’ -with its scale in the old <i>pouces</i>, 28 = 29·87 -English inches.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The sounding line of French ships is in brasses of -5 old French feet, the cable is of 120 brasses, the knot -is, as with us, 1/120 of the nautical mile of 1852 metres; -the kilometre being absolutely ignored.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In Southern France the lengths of boats, as at -regattas, is stated in páns, taken at 1/4 metre.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Wine is sold wholesale by the queue, by the barrique, -by the feuillette. A barrique or piece of Bordeaux -wine is 228 litres, of Burgundy 212 litres. Trade-units -are as common in France as in England.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The housewife continues to ask for a four-pound -loaf, a <i>pain de quatre livres</i>, for a <i>livre</i> of sugar, for -a <i>demi-livre</i> of coffee, for <i>un quart</i> of chicory, for a -<i>demi-quart</i> or for <i>une once</i> of pepper. In the market-place, -in the streets fruit is openly cried at <i>quatre sous -la livre!</i> or <i>deux sous le quart!</i> when no policeman -is within hearing, and the police are discreetly deaf, -even in Paris, except when ordered to be more vigilant; -but then they kindly give a hint to the costermongers -and street-traders and, after a few days of conformity -to the law, the cries go on as before.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The grocer does not ticket his wares by the kilo, -rarely even by the demi-kilo; he wisely tickets them -with a simple 50, or 75, or 80, which means 5<i>d.</i>, 7-1/2<i>d.</i>, -8<i>d.</i>, in coin, 10, 15, 16 sous, for a weight which is not -mentioned but is understood to be <i>une livre</i>, and which -<span class='pageno' id='Page_290'>290</span>can be halved and quartered down to an ounce. He -finds that his customers are thus better pleased than -if the ticket had ‘1/2 kilo’ marked on it, and he knows -that they would be repelled if the price was by the -kilo. About the only exception is when the price of -goods cannot be expressed in centimes; thus if -potatoes are less than, say, 2 sous a pound, the greengrocer -has to ticket them ‘15 le kilo,’ 2 pounds for -3 sous. The practical non-existence of the centime, -and the refusal of government to coin half-sous or -farthings of 2-1/2 centimes, obliges him thus exceptionally -to use the word ‘kilo.’</p> - -<p class='c014'>When a <i>quart</i>, a quarter-lb., say of coffee, is asked -for, the grocer has to put into the scale three weights, -of 100, 20 and 5 grammes, for a demi-livre two weights -of 200 and 50 grammes, instead of being able to use -a single half- or quarter-pound weight as under the -Napoleonic compromise. For an ounce he gives -30 grammes.</p> - -<p class='c014'>In country towns goods are often openly ticketed -in sous; I have even seen ‘six liards,’ six half-farthings, -two for three-halfpence, as the marked price. In the -South books and newspapers sometimes have the -price boldly printed in sous, ‘20 sous,’ &c. In large -shops, especially where there is a cash-desk, the -salesmen have trained themselves to speak only of -francs and centimes, but the smaller shopkeepers, -even in Paris, usually say their prices in sous, at least -for prices under two or three francs.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The peasant bargains for cattle in écus (half-crowns) -or in pistoles of 10 francs; wages of farm -<span class='pageno' id='Page_291'>291</span>labourers are still often in écus. Land is reckoned in -the old measures according to local custom, and tables -of these measures, with their metric equivalents, -are given in the ‘Usages Locaux’ published for the -use of <i>juges de paix</i> and other officials. Farms to -let and land for sale are frequently advertised in these -local measures. If the extent is given in hectares, -the local equivalent in vergées, seterées, &c., is added. -I have such advertisements of recent date.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The master of a government school in Normandy -advertised the sale of his haystack by auction. The -advertisement (in a newspaper of 1906, now before me) -gave the weight of the hay as ‘5000 kilos (10,000 -livres).’ He knew that the fathers of his pupils -understood, as well as he did, a kilo to be 2 pounds, -but he also knew that they would be much readier to -bid if the weight was stated in pounds.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Market-prices of agricultural produce are frequently -stated by newspapers in the old measures; that of -apples is constantly recorded by the barattée, literally -the churnful, about equal to our bushel.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The old agrarian measures are used quite close to -Paris. I ask a farmer, not six miles from Paris, how -much land he has, and he, knowing me to be ‘safe,’ -says so many estrées. How much is an estrée? 1600 -square toises is his answer.</p> - -<p class='c014'>I take up a Paris daily paper and see several advertisements -of mushroom farms for sale, in the old -quarries near Paris; the area of these is always given -in toises.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Direct inquiries will always be answered most -<span class='pageno' id='Page_292'>292</span>favourably to the metric system. The peasant’s -caution will rarely let the inquirer detect his love of -the old weights and measures, quite convenient to him. -And the bourgeois, proud of his superior education -and glorying in the triumphs of the metric system -abroad, ignores the existence of any but the legal -system; he is blind and deaf to the constant evidence -which strikes the unprejudiced observer.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The doctor and the druggist would indignantly -deny using any other than metric measures, but they -have their professional units, necessarily on a gramme -basis, though in figures corresponding to ounces, tablespoons, -drachms, scruples and grains; drops (which -are actually dropped, not measured) are prescribed, -and the mixture is always made up to a total of so -many ounces of 30 grammes. And the pharmacien, -who is able to read through the frequent ambiguities -of prescriptions written in grammes, centigrammes, -&c., very likely to be confused, puts the mixture -up in bottles which are moulded to show tablespoons -of 15 grammes, that is half-ounces.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The druggists’ price lists give quantities in units -of 30, 125, 250, 500 grammes or cubic centimetres, -that is in quantities of 1, 4, 8, 16 ounces; and these -are the quantities in which he usually sells drugs to -his customers.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Thus in France there is a chronic struggle between -the law and the people; the system of weights and -measures was devised there, not for the convenience -of the people, but to suit a decimal theory dear to the -mathematical and bureaucratic mind; the people -<span class='pageno' id='Page_293'>293</span>must make their convenience fit the system, and it is -only by evasions and subterfuges that it can be made -to fit, even approximately. The trader has to evade -the law if he wishes to retain his customers. The -manufacturer, not keeping an open shop, finds evasion -easier, and all the circulars addressed by the government -to Chambers of Commerce begging them to -support the metric system remain without effect. A -few months ago a circular deplored the practice of -selling and buying silkworms’ eggs by the ounce. -Recently a circular forbade professors and schoolmasters -to utter the names of the old weights, measures -or coins, or to allow their pupils to utter them.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The instances I have given of the failure of all the -efforts to make the French people take to the metric -system are entirely from my personal observation. I -conclude them with an extract from Messrs. Halsey -and Dale’s ‘The Metric Fallacy’ (New York, 1904) -on the failure to convert manufacturers to the system:</p> - -<p class='c015'>The reasons for the failure of this colossal effort of a -century to change the textile weights and measures of -France is not difficult to find. The ideas of length, area, -volume and weight are as firmly grounded as any that find -a lodging in the mind of man. They are bound to the -records of the past, to the work of the present, and to the -plans for the future. They are ineffaceably imprinted -upon the mind of every child to regulate his ideas of -extension and weight as long as life may last.</p> - -<p class='c015'>These natural conditions are alone sufficient to account -for the failure of the metric system in France. Other -influences have however served to make the failure more -complete in the textile industry. The metric system -<span class='pageno' id='Page_294'>294</span>needed something more than the transcendent mathematical -faculties of its designers to make it suitable for -textile measurements.</p> - -<p class='c015'>The eminent scientists who designed that system were -able to solve the most difficult problems in higher mathematics, -but failed to comprehend what system of weights -and measures was best suited for the carder, spinner, -weaver and finisher of wool, cotton, linen and silk. The -glamor of their fame failed to make the centimetre suitable -for counting ‘picks.’ Their system had to stand or fall -on its merits, and falling has proved that the highest of -mathematical abilities is not inconsistent with a dense -ignorance of the practical affairs of every-day life.</p> - -<p class='c014'>I strongly recommend Messrs. Halsey and Dale’s -book to those who wish to know the opinion of American -engineers and manufacturers on the metric system.</p> - -<hr class='c018' /> -<div class='footnote' id='f56'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r56'>56</a>. </span>The full French text of Napoleon’s opinion is given in <i>Against -the Metric System</i>, by Herbert Spencer (Williams and Norgate, -price 3<i>d.</i>).</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f57'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r57'>57</a>. </span>Aided greatly by the Alliance Française, an association -formed, under government patronage, ‘to extend the political and -moral power of France ... and make pacific conquests abroad -by its superior civilisation.’ Every member of it abroad is bound -to promote this cause.</p> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_295'>295</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XXIV<br /> <br /><span class='small'>THE CONFLICT OF THE IMPERIAL AND METRIC<br />SYSTEMS</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>Two systems are face to face throughout the West—the -Imperial system resting on long custom and on -convenience, and the Metric system on an assumption -of science and on revolt against the past. It has been -shown that the system which pretends to be the only -scientific one, and the easiest, is a failure even in -France; but there, like the republic which gave it -birth, it is, under the influence of patriotism or national -pride, strong for attack abroad while in a state of -anarchy at home, worrying manufacturers and evaded -in trade whenever police-force fails to have jurisdiction -or deems it prudent not to prosecute.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The one makes men fit the measures however inconvenient; -the other makes measures to fit those -who have to use them. The one attacks; the other -apposes a passive resistance.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Let us take a general view of the system attacked.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>1. <span class='sc'>General View of the Imperial System</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>The Imperial system of Weights and Measures -rests on principles quite as rational and scientific as -<span class='pageno' id='Page_296'>296</span>those of the Metric system, and it is much more -practical.</p> - -<p class='c014'>All its series are derived from the English talent, -a weight two-thirds of the Roman-Alexandrian talent -which was derived from the royal cubit and foot of -ancient Egypt.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The original system, of at least ten centuries ago, -was as follows:</p> - -<p class='c014'><i>Length.</i>—The foot was the measure of the side of -a cubic vessel containing 1000 Roman ounces of -water.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The furlong became at a very early period a length -of 40 rods = 220 yards.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The mile, originally 5000 Roman feet, became -5000 English feet, divided into 8 road-furlongs.</p> - -<p class='c014'><i>Surface.</i>—The acre was one-tenth of the square -furlong.</p> - -<p class='c014'><i>Capacity.</i>—The wine-bushel was the cubic foot, the -measure of 1000 ounces of wine or water. 1/8 of it -was the wine-gallon = 1728/8 or 216 cubic inches.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The corn-bushel was 1-1/4 cubic feet, the measure of -1000 oz. = 62-1/2 lb. of wheat; 1/8 of it was the corn-gallon -= 270 c.i.</p> - -<p class='c014'><i>Weight.</i>—The pound was 16 Roman ounces = -6992 grains. Its multiples were the 16-lb. stone, the -wey of 16 stones, and the true cwt. of 100 lb.</p> - -<p class='c014'>This excellent system has become, after many -disturbances, the Imperial system, only differing from -the old English system in the following points:</p> - -<p class='c014'>1. The slight rise of the pound (by 8 grains) to -7000 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_297'>297</span>2. The rise of the wine-gallon to 231 c.i. as now -used in America.</p> - -<p class='c014'>3. The unification of the wine- and corn-gallons (the -latter still used in America at the standard of 268·8 -c.i.) in the Imperial gallon = 277-1/4 c.i. = 10 lb. water.</p> - -<p class='c014'>4. The fixing of the mile at 8 roods or field-furlongs -of 220 yards.</p> - -<p class='c014'>5. The optional decimalisation of several series:</p> - -<p class='c024'>(<i>a</i>) Of the furlong at 10 chains, of the square furlong -at 100 sq. chains, and of the acre at 10 sq. -chains.</p> - -<p class='c024'>(<i>b</i>) Of weights by the 10-lb. gallon and the 100-lb. -cental.</p> - -<p class='c024'>(<i>c</i>) Of the ton-register of 100 cubic feet = 100,000 -ounces of water.</p> - -<p class='c014'>6. The disappearance of the Troy pound. The Troy -ounce must shortly disappear; the 112-lb. cwt. and -its stone-divisions are optional.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Imperial Standards are now:</p> - -<p class='c014'><i>Length.</i>—The Foot, approximately the side of a -cubic vessel containing 1000 ounces of water. The -yard of 3 feet or 36 inches.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Furlong is 220 yards, either—</p> - -<p class='c024'>10 chains of 66 feet or 22 yards, or -40 rods of 5-1/2 yards.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Mile is 8 furlongs = 1760 yards.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Nautical mile is 1000 Olympic fathoms = -6080 feet or 2026-2/3 yards.</p> - -<p class='c014'><i>Surface.</i>—The square furlong is 10 acres; the acre is -10 sq. chains, or 4840 sq. yards, and may be divided -into 160 sq. rods.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_298'>298</span><i>Volume.</i>—The cubic foot is approximately 1000 -ounces of water, = 62-1/2 lb. The Ton-register is 100 -cubic feet.</p> - -<p class='c014'><i>Weight.</i>—The pound, of 7000 grains, is divided into -16 ounces of 437-1/2 grains.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Gallon of water weighs 10 lb.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Cental is 100 lb.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The Ton is 20 long Cwt. of 112 lb.</p> - -<p class='c014'><i>Capacity.</i>—The Imperial gallon = 277-1/4 c.i. contains -exactly 10 lb. of water, or approximately 8 lb. -of wheat. It is divided into 8 pints containing 20 oz. -of water or 16 oz. of wheat. The Bushel, of 8 gallons, -contains 64 lb. of wheat.<a id='r58' /><a href='#f58' class='c016'><sup>[58]</sup></a> The Quarter is 8 bushels, -which is approximately the quarter, either of a -short ton, 20 centals, of wheat, or of a freight-ton -of 40 cubic feet.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The principal units, foot, pound, gallon, are -connected by their common origin in the talent of -1000 ounces of water. Corrections are needed for -accuracy since the pound was increased in Elizabethan -times by a little more than 1 per 1000 from its original -Roman standard, and since the bushel and gallon were -increased by 3 per cent. from the original corn-measure -to the Imperial standard.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The co-related units, foot, furlong, acre, pound, -gallon, are multiplied and divided by the factors -found by long use to be the most convenient to the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_299'>299</span>people. When no other influence determines the -secondary units, the usual factor is 8, or its double, -its half, its quarter.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Any unit may be decimalised for purposes of -calculation, and several series have alternative decimal -series. Thus—</p> - -<p class='c024'>Itinerary and Land measures were decimalised -three centuries ago by the chain-series.</p> - -<p class='c024'>The Ton-register of 100 cubic feet, used throughout -the world, has a complete decimal series of -divisions.</p> - -<p class='c024'>The pound-gallon-cental series are fully decimalised, -from the 100-lb. cental down to the septem, 1/1000 -of a pound.</p> - -<p class='c014'>A decimal series of weights from the pound upwards -is perfectly lawful. It may be confidently expected -that it will before long replace for most purposes the -stone and long-hundredweight series imposed in the -fourteenth century, and fought against ever since.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Apothecaries’ weight, abolished by the Medical -Council half a century ago, still lingers in the Board of -Trade list of standards. Mint-weight is still on the -Troy system. The half-crown is one grain less than -an Imperial half-ounce. It may be hoped that it, -and other silver coins, will before long be brought -exactly to that standard. Already the bronze penny -is one-third of the Imperial ounce.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Further improvements will be made. Some adjustment -of the inconvenient 112-lb. hundredweight -with the cental series, that of our ancient hundredweight, -returned to us from America, will probably be -<span class='pageno' id='Page_300'>300</span>effected. In the meantime we know that our system -is progressive.</p> - -<p class='c014'>It may not have such a scientific appearance as -that of the metric system. But we must not be -dazzled by the word ‘scientific.’ Our system has its -series related with sufficient exactness to have practically -as much unity as the metric system; and it is -convenient. Let us distinguish between science and -pedantry.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>2. <span class='sc'>The Propaganda of the Metric System</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>I have read many books and many articles and letters -in newspapers and scientific periodicals advocating -the compulsory use of the metric system, optional -amongst us since 1897, but which no trade, industry or -profession will adopt, and I have almost invariably -found that the writers knew the metric system imperfectly, -and always that they knew their own very -badly. I have found their advocacy illustrated by -examples of problems in imperial weight and measure -which showed defective instruction in the art of cyphering -and supported by statements which were misleading -and only to be charitably excused on the ground of -ignorance.<a id='r59' /><a href='#f59' class='c016'><sup>[59]</sup></a> Too often opponents of their propaganda -are sneered at as wanting in scientific knowledge, -business experience, and common sense.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_301'>301</span>The propaganda of the metric system is effected, -from abroad by diplomacy, and from within by—</p> - -<p class='c014'>1. Calling it ‘antiquated,’ a term which might be -applied to Law, to Religion, to Marriage, to Property, -and other ancient institutions.</p> - -<p class='c014'>2. Calling it ‘irrational,’ when it has that great -reason which comes from custom, convenience, improvement -in recent times.</p> - -<p class='c014'>3. Calling it ‘unscientific,’ when it joins to popular -convenience the option of decimalisation, whenever -that is found convenient, in addition to the alternate -decimalisation already established in several series.</p> - -<p class='c014'>4. Putting forward as current certain weights, -such as the Troy pound, long ago obsolete.</p> - -<p class='c014'>5. Putting forward as legal measures trade-units, -such as the cask, the sack, &c., used for convenience -in trade, as much in metric countries as with us.<a id='r60' /><a href='#f60' class='c016'><sup>[60]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c014'>6. Putting forward, as necessary, sums and calculations -which a decently taught schoolboy would -laugh at.</p> - -<p class='c014'>7. Ignoring all that is convenient in our system and -all that is inconvenient in the metric system.</p> - -<p class='c014'>8. Ignoring the satisfaction of the people of the -United States with our system, even when retaining -the old wine-gallon and corn-gallon.</p> - -<p class='c014'>9. Ignoring the resistance of the French people -<span class='pageno' id='Page_302'>302</span>to the metric system after a century of education in it -and of police-constraint.</p> - -<p class='c014'>10. Urging us to follow the example of other -countries that have adopted it, but omitting to find -out whether the peoples of these countries, from -civilised Germany to barbarous Haïti, use it—so far -as they do use it—otherwise than under compulsion. -It is the governments of these countries, not the people, -that have adopted it, always in the name of Science; -and the day police-pressure were taken off, the old -system would return, or, at the least, the decimal -series would disappear.</p> - -<p class='c014'>11. Threatening loss of foreign trade, when our -trade weights and measures are so well understood by -foreign manufacturers and merchants that they -find no difficulty in placing their goods on our -market, and are so well known that many foreign -manufacturers find it impossible to use metric standards, -those of England being alone accepted in most -of the markets to which British manufactures are -exported.</p> - -<p class='c014'>12. Calling opponents prejudiced, unprogressive, -unscientific, wanting in business experience and -common sense.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Such are the arguments used in the propaganda -of a system which would make much of the past life -of our country unintelligible, send most of its manufacturing -machinery to the scrap-heap, dislocate -trade for years and bring about in our country -the same struggle that is still to be seen in France -between the law and the people.</p> - -<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_303'>303</span>The claims of the metric system are exactly on the -same basis as those of the Esperanto language. If the -metric system were made compulsory, an energetic -body of Esperantists might only have to adopt the -metric plan of campaign to get their ‘simple, rational, -scientific and international’ language made first -optional, and then, when it was found that no one -would use it, compulsory, while the use of the antiquated -and unscientific English language would be -forbidden.</p> - -<p class='c014'>What will be the result of the conflict between the -two systems prevailing about equally in the greater -part of the Western world? On the one side North -America, the United Kingdom and its colonies in the -Eastern Hemisphere; on the other side the Latin -nations of both hemispheres with the principal Teutonic -nations whose governments have imposed the French -system on them. Russia and several other countries -are awaiting the results of the conflict. But it is a -siege rather than a conflict, for the attack is entirely -from France; and though it has the inherent weakness -of its system being a failure in the country of its origin, -yet the defence has the weakness of its people being so -badly instructed in their system that they cannot repel -the invasion, and have even allowed the enemy to -take up a legal position in their own country. The -colonial policy of England, the simple plan of respecting -custom, of not interfering needlessly, is very different -from that of France. British colonies that were -French or Dutch keep the laws and customs that we -found there, and amongst these their systems of weights -<span class='pageno' id='Page_304'>304</span>and measures. If these were convenient they remained, -trade bringing a gradual adoption of the English system -mixed with local measures; and as these were on a -system more or less common to all the Western nations -before the French Revolution, weights and measures -gradually harmonised. But the policy of France is -distinctly aggressive; its colonies must have French -laws and the metric system, and other countries -also must be induced to abolish their systems and -replace them by the system which a century of -police-action has not succeeded in making the French -people adopt, and which they evade in every possible -way.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Why the propaganda of the metric system should -have had any success in England appears a mystery—yet -it is intelligible to anyone who has observed the -contagion of opinions, even the wildest. England -has been fascinated by its presentation as scientific -and international. This is a scientific age, and every -new thing that can be puffed as ‘scientific’ is likely to -take with people unprepared to criticise the science. -I have seen the council of no mean English city -induced by the word ‘scientific’ to vote in favour -of a petition to make the use of the metric system -compulsory; the few members, not one-tenth of the -whole, who dared to oppose the resolution being called -unscientific, unprogressive, &c.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Repeatedly repulsed, the French siege will not -cease its attacks; England, and America also, must be -prepared to meet them.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Although the English-speaking peoples have a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_305'>305</span>system with which they are satisfied, unfortunately -few know its principles; and, in weights and measures -as in other matters, an inferior article well advertised -supplants an old-established and satisfactory article -that is not advertised. If the French people have -not revolted long ago against the system imposed -on them by the Paris bureaucracy, it is because it is -thoroughly advertised as scientific, international, -and as conquering the world by the superior civilisation -of the French nation. They have been trained to make -almost any sacrifices for the glory of France, and so -long as they can evade the decimal and other inconvenient -portions of the metric system they suffer this -patiently for the satisfaction it gives to their patriotic -feelings.</p> - -<p class='c014'>But their government must go on conquering, or -they may strike against a system which brings in no -more glory; as other peoples may when they see that -the English-speaking peoples of the world refuse to be -persuaded into accepting it.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Here is the weak point of the attack. And when -the English-speaking peoples, those of the British -Empire and America, are as well instructed in their -good system as the peoples of the metric countries are -in the bad system imposed on them (and which they -evade for all the good teaching of it), the assailants -will raise the siege.</p> - -<p class='c014'>We could reply: Amend your own system and -make it acceptable to your own people before you -ask us to put aside a system which we find convenient -and which is founded on better principles than ours. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_306'>306</span>Our system has been carried to all countries; it is -decimal wherever decimalisation is convenient; its -international unit is the Ton-register of 100 cubic -feet, or 100,000 ounces, as old as the first civilisation -of the world, as the civilisation which established the -Meridian mile used by your seamen as by ours. We -reject an artificial system founded in hatred of the -past, and only kept up in its native country by police-force. -In the name of decimals you want us to -abolish our pound, and use a kilogramme which your -own people will not use. It should be enough for you -that we have given your system a denizenship by the -abuse of which we have been greatly annoyed.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'>3. <span class='sc'>The Reform of the Metric System</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>The defence must be active; then the attack -would cease, and the French people, seeing its failure, -would demand a reform of the system imposed on -them; the other nations suffering under it would -follow their example, if indeed the Teutonic peoples -did not begin the reaction.</p> - -<p class='c014'>Modifications would be demanded, rendering the -metric system less inconvenient for manufacturers, -for trade, for the everyday business of life.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The metric standards would be retained, but the -decimal system would be optional, left principally for -scientific purposes. The divisions and multiples would -be in harmony with the customs of each people, usually -in sexdecimal series.</p> - -<p class='c014'>For France, the <i>système usuel</i> of Napoleon’s compromise -would be revived. Incomplete a century -<span class='pageno' id='Page_307'>307</span>ago, it could be rendered complete by the following -arrangement of the metric system, suitable both to -Northern and to Southern France.</p> - -<p class='c014'>1. The metre to be divided optionally either into 3 -feet of 12 inches, or into 4 spans of 9 inches or 12 digits; -2 metres to be a toise and 10 toises a perch; 100 toises -or 10 perches to be a centenié (furlong) and 800 toises -or 8 furlongs a mile = 1741-3/4 yards. The meridian -mile would be 926 toises or 9-1/4 cables.</p> - -<p class='c014'>2. Land to be measured by the square toise, 1/25 of -an are; 1600 square toises to be an arpent of 16 -vergées metriques or boisselées, each 10 toises square, -= 4 ares.</p> - -<p class='c014'>3. The livre, = 500 grammes, to be divided commercially -into 16 ounces of 8 drachms; and for -medicinal purposes, the drachm to be 8 oboles of -8 grains. Grammes and decimal fractions of a -gramme could be used for scientific purposes.</p> - -<p class='c014'>4. The hectolitre would be divided sexdecimally, -into 4 boisseaux, of 4 gallons = 6-1/4 litres. The litre -would be divided into 2 setiers or chopines, 4 half-setiers, -and 32 ounces.</p> - -<p class='c014'>The equivalence with imperial measures would be -approximately:</p> - -<table class='table18' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='44%' /> -<col width='55%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>1 Metre</td> - <td class='c008'>= 1-1/10 yard.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>1 Mille</td> - <td class='c008'>= 1 mile.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>1 Vergée</td> - <td class='c008'>= 1/10 acre.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>1 Arpent</td> - <td class='c008'>= 1·6 acre.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>1 Livre</td> - <td class='c008'>= 1-1/10 lb.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>1 Litre</td> - <td class='c008'>= 9/10 quart.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c014'>Similar arrangements could be made in other -<span class='pageno' id='Page_308'>308</span>countries, the units being made in accordance with the -old custom of the people, but always on a metric basis -so that international conversion of measures would be -easy and accurate.</p> - -<h3 class='c019'><span class='sc'>Envoi</span></h3> - -<p class='c020'>With this suggestion of compromise, of <i>entente -cordiale</i>, instead of constant aggression by the French -system against that of the British dominions and -America, I close the last chapter of my work. I took -to it twelve years ago for useful occupation in the -leisure of approaching retirement from active life in a -great seaport. But as I carried out my design I found -the verge of the wide subject recede with every advance -I made; every fresh field I worked showed another -field beyond. A renewal of life for study, travel, observation, -would be needed to enable me to carry out at -all completely this history of the human mind in one -of its most interesting and important aspects. But -age warns me to bring my work to a close, leaving its -correction and completion to younger men. Yet I hope -I have been able to show the principles of unity and of -diversity; and apparent confusion becomes clear when -the keys of metrology are at hand. The trend of the -human mind is always the same; for weights and -measures are a part of the daily life of every man and -woman. The rise of measurement, the naturalisation -of weights and measures brought by commerce, even -by conquest, when they are found convenient, the -varieties caused by changes of circumstance, the deflections -under the constraint of ill-advised rulers, the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_309'>309</span>effect of long custom in reconciling to new standards -if they can only be arranged conveniently, the shifts -by which they can be made endurable, the tendency -to resume the old trend along another path—all these -traits of human nature are shown in this study. One -thing is certain, that a wise government sanctions the -measures which fit its people; its business is to maintain -unity in the inevitable variety; and it should -distrust the pretensions of science to dictate to men -and women, to trade and manufacturers, the measures -they shall use. Whether in theocratic ancient Egypt -or in revolutionary modern Europe, science is a good -servant of Humanity, but a bad master.</p> - -<hr class='c018' /> -<div class='footnote' id='f58'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r58'>58</a>. </span>The system of the United States only differs from the Imperial -system in its retention of the wine-gallon = 231 c.i. and of the -corn-gallon = 268·8 c.i.; and in its rejection of the long cwt. for -the cental.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f59'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r59'>59</a>. </span>For instance, in <i>The Coming of the Kilogram</i> (H. O. Arnold-Forster) -the problem ‘How many times is 1 grain contained in 1 -ton?’ is worked out in a half-page of figures. It can be -done in 15 seconds, almost mentally. A cwt. is 112 lb.; a ton is -2240 lb.; multiply by 7000. Answer: 15,680,000 grains (or times).</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f60'> -<p class='c014'><span class='label'><a href='#r60'>60</a>. </span>I have even seen it put forward (in a book now before me) that -our system has several bushels, indeed thirty is the number given; -the ground for this assertion being that bushels of wheat, of oats, -or peas, &c., are of different weights. The propagandist supposed -no one would think of answering that it is the same with the Hectolitre, -which contains different weights of different grains.</p> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> -<div class='nf-center c001'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_310'>310</span><span class='sc'>Conversion Tables of Metric and Imperial Measures</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table19' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='5%' /> -<col width='26%' /> -<col width='5%' /> -<col width='26%' /> -<col width='15%' /> -<col width='21%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='btt brt c028' colspan='2'><span class='small'>Centimetres</span></td> - <td class='btt brt c028' colspan='2'><span class='small'>Grammes</span></td> - <td class='btt c036'><span class='small'>Kilos ⎫</span></td> - <td class='btt c027'><span class='small'>to 10 lb.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt brt c028' colspan='2'><span class='small'>to Inches.</span></td> - <td class='bbt brt c028' colspan='2'><span class='small'>to Grains.</span></td> - <td class='bbt c036'><span class='small'>Litres⎭</span></td> - <td class='bbt c027'><span class='small'>gallons.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c036'>1.</td> - <td class='brt c027'>0·39370113</td> - <td class='c036'>1.</td> - <td class='brt c029'>15·432356</td> - <td class='c036'>1.</td> - <td class='c027'>0·22046</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c036'>2.</td> - <td class='brt c027'>0·78740226</td> - <td class='c036'>2.</td> - <td class='brt c029'>30·864713</td> - <td class='c036'>2.</td> - <td class='c027'>0·44092</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c036'>3.</td> - <td class='brt c027'>1·1811339</td> - <td class='c036'>3.</td> - <td class='brt c029'>46·29707</td> - <td class='c036'>3.</td> - <td class='c027'>0·66138</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c036'>4.</td> - <td class='brt c027'>1·5748452</td> - <td class='c036'>4.</td> - <td class='brt c029'>61·72942</td> - <td class='c036'>4.</td> - <td class='c027'>0·88184</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c036'>5.</td> - <td class='brt c027'>1·9685565</td> - <td class='c036'>5.</td> - <td class='brt c029'>77·16178</td> - <td class='c036'>5.</td> - <td class='c027'>1·10231</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c036'>6.</td> - <td class='brt c027'>2·3622678</td> - <td class='c036'>6.</td> - <td class='brt c029'>92·59414</td> - <td class='c036'>6.</td> - <td class='c027'>1·32277</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c036'>7.</td> - <td class='brt c027'>2·7559791</td> - <td class='c036'>7.</td> - <td class='brt c027'>108·02649</td> - <td class='c036'>7.</td> - <td class='c027'>1·54323</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c036'>8.</td> - <td class='brt c027'>3·1496904</td> - <td class='c036'>8.</td> - <td class='brt c027'>123·45885</td> - <td class='c036'>8.</td> - <td class='c027'>1·7637</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt c036'>9.</td> - <td class='bbt brt c027'>3·5434017</td> - <td class='bbt c036'>9.</td> - <td class='bbt brt c027'>138·89121</td> - <td class='bbt c036'>9.</td> - <td class='bbt c027'>1·98416</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div><span class='sc'>Imperial to Metric Measure</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table20' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='33%' /> -<col width='25%' /> -<col width='41%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>1 inch</td> - <td class='c008' colspan='2'>= 2·54 centim.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>1 foot</td> - <td class='c007'>= 30·48</td> - <td class='c008'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>1 yard</td> - <td class='c007'>= 91·44</td> - <td class='c008'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>1 mile</td> - <td class='c008' colspan='2'>= 1609 metres.</td> - </tr> -</table> -<table class='table20' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='33%' /> -<col width='25%' /> -<col width='41%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>1 sq. yd.</td> - <td class='c008' colspan='2'>= 0·836 sq. metre.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>1 sq. rod</td> - <td class='c007'>= 25·3</td> - <td class='c039'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>1 sq. rood</td> - <td class='c007'>= 1011</td> - <td class='c039'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>1 acre</td> - <td class='c008' colspan='2'>= 0·404 hectare.</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> -</table> -<table class='table2' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>1</td> - <td class='c005'>cubic</td> - <td class='c005'>inch</td> - <td class='c005'>water</td> - <td class='c006'>252-1/4</td> - <td class='c007'>grs.</td> - <td class='c008'>= 16·38 c.c. or grammes.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'>1</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c005'>foot</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c006'>62-1/3</td> - <td class='c007'>lb.</td> - <td class='c008'>= 28 c. decim. or kilos.</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> -</table> -<table class='table20' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='33%' /> -<col width='33%' /> -<col width='33%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>1 grain</td> - <td class='c008' colspan='2'>= 6·48 centigr.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>1 ounce</td> - <td class='c008' colspan='2'>= 28·35 grammes.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>1 lb.</td> - <td class='c007'>= 453·59</td> - <td class='c008'>„</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>1 gallon</td> - <td class='c008' colspan='2'>= 4·536 litres.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>1 bushel</td> - <td class='c008' colspan='2'>= 36-1/3 „</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>1 quarter</td> - <td class='c008' colspan='2'>= 2·91 hectol.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>1 ton</td> - <td class='c008' colspan='2'>= 1016 kilos.</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> -</table> -<table class='table12' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='5%' /> -<col width='15%' /> -<col width='80%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c007' colspan='2'>1 hectolitre</td> - <td class='c008'>= 2-2/3 bushels.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>3</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>= 1·03 quarter.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c007'>1</td> - <td class='c005'>„</td> - <td class='c008'>to the hectare = 1-1/9 bushel to 1 acre.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008' colspan='3'>1000 kilos to the hectare = 0·4 ton to 1 acre.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008' colspan='3'>1 franc a hectolitre = 3·6 pence a bushel.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008' colspan='3'>1 franc 100 kilos = 22-1/2 pence a quarter. 98 pence a ton.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_311'>311</span> - <h2 class='c004'>INDEX</h2> -</div> - -<ul class='index c003'> - <li class='c048'>Acre, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a>, <a href='#Page_74'>74</a>, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Acreme, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Ale-gallon, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Apothecaries’ weight, <a href='#Page_140'>140</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Arshīn, <a href='#Page_215'>215</a></li> - <li class='c048'>As, <a href='#Page_38'>38</a>, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Austria, W. & M., <a href='#Page_208'>208</a>, <a href='#Page_220'>220</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Averdepois, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a>, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Bath, <a href='#Page_239'>239</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Bereh, <a href='#Page_27'>27</a>, <a href='#Page_238'>238</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Bovate, <a href='#Page_80'>80</a>, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Bread-weight, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Burma and the Straits, W. & M., <a href='#Page_173'>173</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Bushel, old and of U.S., <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>; - <ul> - <li>Winchester, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>;</li> - <li>Imperial, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c003'>Canada and Mauritius, W. & M., <a href='#Page_173'>173</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Carat, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>, <a href='#Page_245'>245</a>; v. Qirát</li> - <li class='c048'>Carucate, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a>, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Cask-measures, <a href='#Page_116'>116</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Cental, <a href='#Page_45'>45</a>, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Chain, <a href='#Page_64'>64</a>, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Chaldron, <a href='#Page_120'>120</a>, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Channel Islands, W. & M., <a href='#Page_157'>157</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Clove, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>, <a href='#Page_242'>242</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Coal-measure, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Corn-measure, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Cubit, natural, <a href='#Page_1'>1</a>; - <ul> - <li>Egyptian common, or Olympic, <a href='#Page_2'>2</a>, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a>;</li> - <li>Egyptian royal, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>;</li> - <li>Great Assyrian or Persian, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>;</li> - <li>Beládi, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>;</li> - <li>Talmudic, <a href='#Page_27'>27</a>, <a href='#Page_238'>238</a>;</li> - <li>Black, Al-Mamūn’s, <a href='#Page_28'>28</a>;</li> - <li>Hashími, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c048'>Customs of Lancaster, <a href='#Page_88'>88</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Decimal system, <a href='#Page_5'>5</a>, <a href='#Page_182'>182</a>, <a href='#Page_188'>188</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Denmark, W. & M., <a href='#Page_221'>221</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Density, measures of, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a>; - <ul> - <li>of water, <a href='#Page_146'>146</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c048'>Digit, <a href='#Page_1'>1</a>, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Dirhem, <a href='#Page_45'>45</a>, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Drachm, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>, <a href='#Page_135'>135</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Drachma, <a href='#Page_41'>41</a>, <a href='#Page_43'>43</a>, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Dram, <a href='#Page_103'>103</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Duodecimal system, <a href='#Page_5'>5</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Egypt, modern, W. & M., <a href='#Page_67'>67</a>, <a href='#Page_213'>213</a>, <a href='#Page_220'>220</a>, <a href='#Page_235'>235</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Ell, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>, <a href='#Page_202'>202</a></li> - <li class='c048'>England, linear measures, <a href='#Page_58'>58</a>; - <ul> - <li>land-measures, <a href='#Page_65'>65</a>;</li> - <li>wine-measures, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a>;</li> - <li>corn-measures, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>;</li> - <li>commercial weights, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a>;</li> - <li>mint-weights, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>, <a href='#Page_250'>250</a>;</li> - <li>money, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c048'>Epha, <a href='#Page_239'>239</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Fathom, Olympic, <a href='#Page_6'>6</a>, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Firkin, <a href='#Page_116'>116</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Foot, origin of, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>; - <ul> - <li>Olympic, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>;</li> - <li>Egyptian royal, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>;</li> - <li>Assyrian, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>;</li> - <li><span class='pageno' id='Page_312'>312</span>Beládi, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>;</li> - <li>Burgos, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>, <a href='#Page_211'>211</a>;</li> - <li>Black, <a href='#Page_29'>29</a>;</li> - <li>Roman, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>;</li> - <li>English, <a href='#Page_49'>49</a>, <a href='#Page_60'>60</a>;</li> - <li>Rhineland, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a>;</li> - <li>Hanseatic, <a href='#Page_207'>207</a>;</li> - <li>Amsterdam, <a href='#Page_207'>207</a>;</li> - <li>French, <a href='#Page_259'>259</a>;</li> - <li>French reduced, <a href='#Page_159'>159</a>, <a href='#Page_261'>261</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c048'>Fother, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a>, <a href='#Page_252'>252</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Fotmal, <a href='#Page_112'>112</a></li> - <li class='c048'>France, W. & M., Southern, <a href='#Page_253'>253</a>; - <ul> - <li>Northern, <a href='#Page_259'>259</a>;</li> - <li>Metric, <a href='#Page_271'>271</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c048'>Furlong, <a href='#Page_63'>63</a>, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Gallon, Wine, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a>; - <ul> - <li>Corn, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>;</li> - <li>Imperial, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c048'>Germany, W. & M., <a href='#Page_206'>206</a>, <a href='#Page_219'>219</a>, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a>, <a href='#Page_228'>228</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Gill, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Grain, <a href='#Page_103'>103</a>, <a href='#Page_245'>245</a>, <a href='#Page_249'>249</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Greece, ancient, W. & M., <a href='#Page_17'>17</a>, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a>; - <ul> - <li>Coin-weights, <a href='#Page_43'>43</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c048'>Guernsey, W. & M., <a href='#Page_157'>157</a>; - <ul> - <li>Currency, <a href='#Page_183'>183</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c003'>Hand, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Heat, measures of, <a href='#Page_197'>197</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Hebrew, W. & M., <a href='#Page_237'>237</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Hide, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Holland, W. & M., <a href='#Page_207'>207</a>, <a href='#Page_218'>218</a>, <a href='#Page_228'>228</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Homer of corn, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a>, <a href='#Page_230'>230</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Hundredweight, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Imperial bushel, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a>; - <ul> - <li>gallon, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a>;</li> - <li>pound, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>;</li> - <li>system, <a href='#Page_295'>295</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c048'>Inch, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>, <a href='#Page_59'>59</a>, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a></li> - <li class='c048'>India, W. & M., <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>; - <ul> - <li>money, <a href='#Page_184'>184</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c048'>Ireland, acre and mile, <a href='#Page_74'>74</a>; - <ul> - <li>gallon, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c048'>Italy, W. & M., <a href='#Page_208'>208</a>, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>, <a href='#Page_237'>237</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Kilderkin, <a href='#Page_116'>116</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Knot, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Land-measures, Egyptian, <a href='#Page_67'>67</a>; - <ul> - <li>Greek, <a href='#Page_67'>67</a>;</li> - <li>Roman, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a>;</li> - <li>English, <a href='#Page_71'>71</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c048'>Last, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Lead-weight, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a></li> - <li class='c048'>League, <a href='#Page_64'>64</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Leaguer, leggar, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>, <a href='#Page_231'>231</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Libra, <a href='#Page_40'>40</a>, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Load, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Marc, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>, <a href='#Page_130'>130</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Medicinal weights, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a>; - <ul> - <li>measures, <a href='#Page_126'>126</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c048'>Medimnos, <a href='#Page_34'>34</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Metretes, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Metric system, <a href='#Page_271'>271</a>; - <ul> - <li>working of, <a href='#Page_284'>284</a>;</li> - <li>reform of, <a href='#Page_306'>306</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c048'>Mile, meridian, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>; - <ul> - <li>equatorial, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>;</li> - <li>Roman, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a>;</li> - <li>English, <a href='#Page_63'>63</a>;</li> - <li>of time, <a href='#Page_193'>193</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c048'>Miná, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Mithkal, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Modius, <a href='#Page_40'>40</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Nail, <a href='#Page_58'>58</a>, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a>, <a href='#Page_242'>242</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Norway, W. & M., <a href='#Page_132'>132</a>, <a href='#Page_206'>206</a>, <a href='#Page_209'>209</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Octonary system, <a href='#Page_5'>5</a>, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Ounce, Roman, <a href='#Page_38'>38</a>, <a href='#Page_40'>40</a>; - <ul> - <li>Averdepois, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a>;</li> - <li>Imperial, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>;</li> - <li>Tower, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>;</li> - <li>Troy, <a href='#Page_98'>98</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c048'>Oxgang, <a href='#Page_66'>66</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Palm, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a>, <a href='#Page_209'>209</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Pán, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Parasang, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Penny, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>; pennyweight, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Pint, wine, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a>; - <ul> - <li>ale, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>;</li> - <li>Imperial, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c048'>Ploughland, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Portugal, measures, <a href='#Page_212'>212</a>, <a href='#Page_234'>234</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Pound, Roman, <a href='#Page_38'>38</a>, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>; - <ul> - <li>Averdepois, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a>, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>;</li> - <li>Imperial, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>;</li> - <li>Tower, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>;</li> - <li>Troy, <a href='#Page_129'>129</a>;</li> - <li>Scots, <a href='#Page_139'>139</a>;</li> - <li>Amsterdam, <a href='#Page_218'>218</a>;</li> - <li><span class='pageno' id='Page_313'>313</span>Mediterranean, <a href='#Page_220'>220</a>;</li> - <li>Nuremburg, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a>;</li> - <li>Cologne, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a>;</li> - <li>French, <a href='#Page_258'>258</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c048'>Pound sterling, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Qasáb, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>, <a href='#Page_215'>215</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Qirát, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Quadrantal, <a href='#Page_39'>39</a>, <a href='#Page_50'>50</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Quarter, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>, <a href='#Page_120'>120</a>, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Rod, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Roman W. & M., <a href='#Page_38'>38</a>, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Rood, <a href='#Page_71'>71</a>, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Rotl, <a href='#Page_45'>45</a>, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Rūba, Arroba, <a href='#Page_224'>224</a>, <a href='#Page_248'>248</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Scotland, W. & M., <a href='#Page_147'>147</a>; - <ul> - <li>acre and mile, <a href='#Page_74'>74</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c048'>Scruple, <a href='#Page_40'>40</a>, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>, <a href='#Page_135'>135</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Seed-measures of land, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Sexdecimal system, <a href='#Page_5'>5</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Shaftment, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Shekel, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a>, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a></li> - <li class='c048'>South Africa, W. & M., <a href='#Page_166'>166</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Spain, W. & M., <a href='#Page_210'>210</a>, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a>, <a href='#Page_233'>233</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Sterling, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Stone, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Sweden W. & M., <a href='#Page_206'>206</a>, <a href='#Page_220'>220</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Tables— - <ul> - <li>Olympic measures of length, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a></li> - <li>The five ancient cubits, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a></li> - <li>Roman weights and measures of capacity, <a href='#Page_41'>41</a></li> - <li>British miles and acres, <a href='#Page_74'>74</a></li> - <li>Provençal corn and land-measures, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a></li> - <li>English measures of capacity, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a></li> - <li>Standard of various Troy weights, <a href='#Page_132'>132</a></li> - <li>Concordance of capacity, weight and measurement, <a href='#Page_144'>144</a></li> - <li>Volume and weight of water, <a href='#Page_146'>146</a></li> - <li>Marseilles and Jersey measures of capacity, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a></li> - <li>Specific gravity scales of spirits, <a href='#Page_200'>200</a></li> - <li>European itinerary measures, <a href='#Page_217'>217</a></li> - <li>Ounces and dirhems, <a href='#Page_224'>224</a></li> - <li>Original weight of dirhems, <a href='#Page_226'>226</a></li> - <li>Old French measures, <a href='#Page_267'>267</a></li> - <li>Conversion of Metric and Imperial W. & M., <a href='#Page_309'>309</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c048'>Talent, Alexandrian, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a>; - <ul> - <li>Ptolemaïc, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>;</li> - <li>Greek-Asiatic, <a href='#Page_36'>36</a>;</li> - <li>Olympic, <a href='#Page_42'>42</a>;</li> - <li>Arabic, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c048'>Thermometer-scales, <a href='#Page_197'>197</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Time, measures of, <a href='#Page_189'>189</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Toise, <a href='#Page_260'>260</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Ton, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>; - <ul> - <li>register, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a>;</li> - <li>cargo, <a href='#Page_144'>144</a></li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c048'>Tower-weight, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Troy-weight, <a href='#Page_129'>129</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Tun, <a href='#Page_116'>116</a>, <a href='#Page_252'>252</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Tunis, W. & M., <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a>, <a href='#Page_233'>233</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Turkey, W. & M., <a href='#Page_213'>213</a>, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a>, <a href='#Page_235'>235</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Velte, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a>, <a href='#Page_230'>230</a>, <a href='#Page_265'>265</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Verge, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a>, <a href='#Page_160'>160</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Vergée, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>, <a href='#Page_160'>160</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Virgate, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a>, <a href='#Page_80'>80</a>, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Wales, measures, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Wey, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Winchester bushel, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Wine-gallon, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Wool-weight, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a></li> - <li class='c003'>Yard, <a href='#Page_58'>58</a>, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a></li> - <li class='c048'>Yardland, <a href='#Page_66'>66</a>, <a href='#Page_80'>80</a></li> -</ul> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div><i>Spottiswoode & Co. Ltd., Printers, Colchester, London and Eton.</i></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c001' /> -</div> - -<table class='table21' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='4%' /> -<col width='90%' /> -<col width='4%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='btt blt c036'> </td> - <td class='btt c028'> </td> - <td class='btt brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c028'><span class='xlarge'><i>Finance</i></span></td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt blt c036'> </td> - <td class='bbt c028'> </td> - <td class='bbt brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c028'>Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d.</td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c027'><span class='xlarge'>Lombard Street:</span></td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c036'>A Description of the Money Market.</td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c028'>By the late Walter Bagehot.</td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c028' colspan='3'>15th Thousand. With a New Preface by Hartley Withers.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c027'><span class='small'><i>Financial Times.</i>—‘This well-known work represents a standard manual of the Money Market, and the new edition, brought up to date, will be appreciated by those who have derived help from the earlier editions.’</span></td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c027'><span class='small'><i>Financial News.</i>—‘There is no city man, however ripe his experience, who could not add to his knowledge from its pages.’</span></td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt blt c036'> </td> - <td class='bbt c028'> </td> - <td class='bbt brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c028'><span class='xlarge'><i>Works by Hartley Withers</i></span></td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c028'><span class='under'>Large post 8vo. 7s. 6d. net each.</span></td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c027'><span class='xlarge'>The Meaning of Money.</span></td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c028'>9th Thousand. 3rd Edition.</td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c027'><span class='small'><i>Financial News.</i>—‘There can be no doubt that Mr. Withers’ book will supersede all other introductions to monetary science ... readers will find it a safe and indispensable guide through the mazes of the Money Market.’</span></td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c027'><span class='small'><i>Daily Mail.</i>—‘A book for the average man. Volumes upon volumes have been written to explain and discuss our monetary system. Now we have a work worth all the rest put together in clearness of exposition and elegance of diction.’</span></td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c027'><span class='small'><i>Manchester Guardian</i> (leading article).—‘No common measure of literary accomplishment, a lucid, forceful, and pointed style, and a great store of material for apt and often amusing illustration have lent both grace and charm to a work of quite exceptional utility.’</span></td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt blt c036'> </td> - <td class='bbt c028'> </td> - <td class='bbt brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c027'><span class='xlarge'>Stocks and Shares.</span></td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c027'><span class='small'><i>World.</i>—‘“Stocks and Shares” is attracting a lot of notice in the City. It is full of information for both speculator and investor, and is written with a brightness and humour that prove the possibility of dealing with the driest of subjects in an attractive manner.’</span></td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c027'><span class='small'><i>Morning Post.</i>—‘It is a good book, it is sure of its public, and if the laymen who read it will only follow Mr. Withers’ advice more than one “bucket-shop” will be closed till further notice.’</span></td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c027'><span class='small'><i>Daily News.</i>—‘Should be of the greatest value to investors and all who take an interest in City matters.... It is eminently readable, and the description of a typical flotation, “Hygienic Toothpowder, Ltd.,” is a literary gem.’</span></td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt blt c036'> </td> - <td class='bbt c028'> </td> - <td class='bbt brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c028'> </td> - <td class='brt c027'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c028' colspan='3'>London: Smith, Elder & Co., 15 Waterloo Place, S.W.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt blt c036'> </td> - <td class='bbt c028'> </td> - <td class='bbt brt c027'> </td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> - -<table class='table22' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='7%' /> -<col width='57%' /> -<col width='34%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='btt blt c036'> </td> - <td class='btt c049'> </td> - <td class='btt brt c050'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c028' colspan='3'><i>At all Booksellers and Bookstalls.</i></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c049'> </td> - <td class='brt c050'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c028' colspan='3'><span class='xlarge'>Smith, Elder & Co.’s</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c028' colspan='3'><span class='xlarge'>New 1s. Net Series.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbtd blt c036'> </td> - <td class='bbtd c049'> </td> - <td class='bbtd brt c050'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c049'> </td> - <td class='brt c050'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'>1.</td> - <td class='c049'>Deeds that Won the Empire.</td> - <td class='brt c050'>Dr. W. H. Fitchett.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c049'> </td> - <td class='brt c050'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'>2.</td> - <td class='c049'>The Cruise of the “Cachalot” Round the World after Sperm Whales.</td> - <td class='brt c050'>Frank T. Bullen.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c049'> </td> - <td class='brt c050'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'>3.</td> - <td class='c049'>Fights for the Flag.</td> - <td class='brt c050'>Dr. W. H. Fitchett.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c049'> </td> - <td class='brt c050'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'>4.</td> - <td class='c049'>The Log of a Sea Waif.</td> - <td class='brt c050'>Frank T. Bullen.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c049'> </td> - <td class='brt c050'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'>5.</td> - <td class='c049'>The Gamekeeper at Home.</td> - <td class='brt c050'>Richard Jefferies.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c049'> </td> - <td class='brt c050'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'>6.</td> - <td class='c049'>A Londoner’s Log Book.</td> - <td class='brt c050'>Rt. Hon. G. W. E. Russell.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c049'> </td> - <td class='brt c050'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'>7.</td> - <td class='c049'>The Sowers.</td> - <td class='brt c050'>H. S. Merriman.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c049'> </td> - <td class='brt c050'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'>8.</td> - <td class='c049'>Jess.</td> - <td class='brt c050'>H. Rider Haggard.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c049'> </td> - <td class='brt c050'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'>9.</td> - <td class='c049'>Vice Versâ.</td> - <td class='brt c050'>F. Anstey.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c049'> </td> - <td class='brt c050'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'>10.</td> - <td class='c049'>Woodland, Moor, and Stream.</td> - <td class='brt c050'>J. A. Owen.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c049'> </td> - <td class='brt c050'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'>11.</td> - <td class='c049'>The Tale of the Great Mutiny.</td> - <td class='brt c050'>Dr. W. H. Fitchett.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c049'> </td> - <td class='brt c050'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'>12.</td> - <td class='c049'>Sixty Years in the Wilderness.</td> - <td class='brt c050'>Sir Henry W. Lucy.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c049'> </td> - <td class='brt c050'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'>13.</td> - <td class='c049'>A Vision of India.</td> - <td class='brt c050'>Sidney Low.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c049'> </td> - <td class='brt c050'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'>14.</td> - <td class='c049'>The Defence of Plevna.</td> - <td class='brt c050'>Capt. F. W. von Herbert.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c028' colspan='3'><span class='small'>With an Introduction by General Sir <span class='sc'>John French, g.c.b., k.c.b.</span>, etc.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c049'> </td> - <td class='brt c050'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'>15.</td> - <td class='c049'>The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.</td> - <td class='brt c050'>A. Conan Doyle.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c049'> </td> - <td class='brt c050'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'>16.</td> - <td class='c049'>Nelson and His Captains.</td> - <td class='brt c050'>Dr. W. H. Fitchett.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c049'> </td> - <td class='brt c050'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'>17.</td> - <td class='c049'>With Edged Tools.</td> - <td class='brt c050'>Henry Seton Merriman.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt blt c036'> </td> - <td class='bbt c049'> </td> - <td class='bbt brt c050'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt c036'> </td> - <td class='c049'> </td> - <td class='brt c050'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='blt brt c028' colspan='3'>London: SMITH, ELDER & CO., 15 Waterloo Place, S.W.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='bbt blt c036'> </td> - <td class='bbt c049'> </td> - <td class='bbt brt c050'> </td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>Transcriber’s note:</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c010'>Errata, ‘last’ changed to ‘Last,’ “„ 306 <i>Last line</i> „ “our” „ “yours.””</p> - -<p class='c010'>Page 72, ‘od’ changed to ‘rod,’ “instead of the measuring rod”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Page 90, ‘sétier’ changed to ‘setier,’ “the variable setier of seed-corn”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Page 92, ‘„’ inserted before ‘10,’ “Cosso (Sc. Lug.) „ 10”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Page 145, decimal struck before ‘1-1/4,’ “20 [oz] = 1-1/4 [lb]”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Page 167, ‘Moghul’ changed to ‘Mogul,’ “Moslem conquerors, Mogul and Pathan”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Page 187, ‘filus’ changed to ‘filūs,’ “filūs), followed by ‘XX cash.’”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Page 193, ‘t me requ red’ changed to ‘time required,’ “unit was the time required to walk”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Page 195, ‘epact’ changed to ‘Epact,’ “increase of the Epact during”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Page 198, ‘densit’ changed to ‘density,’ “The maximum density of water”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Page 198, ‘double’ changed to ‘halve,’ “Deduct 32°; halve the degrees; add”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Page 198, hyphen moved from before ‘body’ to after, “Normal body-temperature is taken”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Page 201, ‘er ai’ changed to ‘certain,’ “certain distance in a certain time”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Page 222, dittos replaced with original text, “is 144 dirhems of 47·66 grs.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Page 224, ‘ruba’ changed to ‘rūba,’ “divided into 4 rūba and”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Page 252, ‘onomatopæic’ changed to ‘onomatopœic,’ “belong to an onomatopœic class”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Page 255, ‘gallons’ value inserted for ‘Spain,’ “Spain, 64·55 „ 14·23 „”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Page 282, ‘decimales’ changed to ‘décimales,’ “à 2 heures 10 minutes décimales”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Page 299, ‘alterative’ changed to ‘alternative,’ “have alternative decimal series”</p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Men and Measures, by Edward Nicholson - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEN AND MEASURES *** - -***** This file should be named 56290-h.htm or 56290-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/6/2/9/56290/ - -Produced by deaurider and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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