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MEN A ND M EA SU R ES

A HISTORY O F

W E IG H TS AND M EASU RE S

ANCI ENT AND M O D ERN

W CH L F SO . S . ED A RD N I O N , C .

- S U RG E O N L IEU T . C OL ONE L ARM Y M E D IC AL DE PA RTM E NT

A U T H O R ox? A M A NU AL or IND IA N O PH IOL OG Y

“ ’ ‘ ' ' TH E ST ORY or ov a wmcur s A ND mzA suax s rno unzro DE Pnouv to Erc.

LONDON

S E O 1 W C . MITH, LDER , 5 ATERLOO PLACE

1 9 1 2

P R E FA C E

THIS history is the development of a short story of the Imperial of Weights and Measures pub

E R RA TA .

A ND EA U RE M S S.

P R E FA C E

THIS history is the development of a short story of the Imperial System of Weights and Measures pub lished eleven years ago , but withdrawn when this

all fuller work took shape . To have made it at com plete would have required a long lifetime of research

s to give and discu s every authority, to trace , even to acknowledge , every source of information would have unduly swollen the and slackened the interest

i ts of the narrative . I offer it w th all i shortcomings as an attempt to show the metric instincts of man t everywhere and in all ime , to trace the origins and evolution of the main national , to explain the apparently arbitrary changes which have affected e them , to show how the anci nt 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 system which has destroyed so many others less

s homogeneous , le s capable of adaptation to circum t s ances .

E . N .

Feb. 1 9 1 2 .

TABL E O F CO NTE NTS

CHAPTER I

GENE RAL VIEW OF THE EVOLUTION OF MEASURES

CHAPTER II

THE STORY OF THE

I The tian comm on or Ol m ic cu it . Egyp y p b The m eri dian Gre e k i tin erary m easures The R oman mile The Egyptian royal The greatAssyrian or Persian cubit The Beladi cubit The Bere h or equatorial lan d - mile The Black cubit Comparative len gth s of the fiv e an cien tcubits

CHAPTER III

THE STORY OF THE TALENTS

The Alexan ri I . d an talen t Th e Medim n os N The lesser Alexan drian or Ptolemaic talen t The r 3. G ee k Asiatic talen t The Metretes viii TABLE OF CONTENTS

om an w ei ts an d m easures of ca acit 4 . R gh p y The n ew Rom an poun d The l m ic tale n t 5. O y p

6 ree coin - w ei ts . G k gh The ra ic talen t 7 . A b Measures of capacity derive d from Arabic lin ear m easures

CHAPTER IV

THE INVOLUTION OF LINEAR MEASURES FROM WEIGHTS THE ORIGIN OF THE ENGLISH AND OF THE RHINELAND

4 - The En glis h foot n The Rh i n elan d foot o The an of arseilles v p M The filiation of the n lis ootof the in elan ootan d of A E g h f , Rh d f , the pan of M arseilles

CHAPTER V

ENGLISH LINEAR MEASURES

n The ar the ootthe in c y d, f , h w Stan dards of th e lin ear measures w The han d A The e ll The urlon mile an d lea ue “ , f g, , g

CHAPTER VI

LAND - MEASURES

In trod uction Evolution of ge ome tric lan d - measures The story of E n glish lan d- meas ures Feu dal lan d - m easures Term s u se d in old lan d- measures The an d the verge H ow th e rod came to b e 5§ H ow the cam e to b e 1 60 square rods Custom s of Lancaste r See d - measures of lan d TABLE OF CONTENTS ix

CHAPTER VII ENGLISH COMMERCIAL WEIGHTS

I Th e stor of Av erde ois . y p P The Impe rial poun d J i n h f Scie n tific an d me icin al i is o s of te pou n ‘ d d v d h The lon un re w ei t - g h d d gh l w e i U Wool an d lead ght Q Trade - un its of weight

CHAPTER VIII ENGLISH MEASURES OF CAPACITY

Th e old win e - measures

The ale - Corn - mea sure The quarter an d the chaldron Coal- m ea sure The Imperial gallon Me dicin al fluid - measures

CHAPTER IX

THE MINT- POUNDS

Th e Sax on or Tower poun d The Troy poun d H ow the av erdepois poun d was of 700 0 grain s The pride an d fall of Troy The assize of bread The disappearan ce of the Troy poun d

CHAPTER X

THE CUBIC FOOT AND THE TON REGISTER

on cor an ce of ca acit w ei tan d measuremen t C d p y , gh , Volume an d weightof water atdifieren ttemperatu res TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER XI

SC S AND AND OT , IRISH , WELSH MEASURES WEIGHTS

CHAPTER XII

MEASURES AND WEIGHTS OF SOME BRITISH DOMINIONS

1 The an n el islan ds . Ch 2 Sout rica a e olon . h Af (C p C y) n ia 3 . I d urm a an d the Straits 4 . B Can a a an d auriti u s 5. d M

CHAPTER XIII

MEASURES OF VAL UE

1 En lis mon e . g h y uernse curren c 2 . G y y n ian m on e 3. I d y al rr n 4 . Decim cu e cy

CHAPTER XIV MEASURES OF TIME

The lunar year The compass- card

CHAPTER XV

MEASURES OF HEAT AND OF DENSITY TABLE OF CONTENTS X1

CHAPTER XVI P AG E THE

CHAPTER XVII FOREIGN LINEAR MEASURES

”Teutonic coun tries n coun tri es u R ussia an d th e East h it s The H ashimi cu - b t i The ale i ik or ars in t H b p h

CHAPTER XVIII FOREIGN WEIGHTS

Te uton ic systems N East- E uropean systems M editerran ean system s Summ ary Original w eights of the dirhems

CHAPTER XIX

FOREIGN MEASURES OF CAP ACITY

The Teutonic system N The Mediterran ean system Hebrew w eights an d measures of capacity

CHAPTER XX

THE DEVELOPMENT OF MEANING IN THE NAMES OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

Gen eral remarks The nail an d th e clove ; the in ch an d the oun ce Th e caratan d the grain The tun an d the {other TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER XXI

THE OLD MEASURE S AND WEIGHTS OF

The Soutern s stem 1 . h y The Nortern s stem 2 . h y

CHAPTER XXII THE METRIC SYSTEM

CHAPTER XXIII

HOW THE METRIC SYSTEM WORK S IN FRANCE

CHAPTER XXIV THE CONFLICT OF THE IMPERIAL AND METRIC SYSTE MS

I e n eral iew of th e m rial s t . G v I pe ys em The ro n f 2 . p paga da o th e M e tri c s ystem Th r 3. e eform of th e Metri c system

CONVERSION - TABLES OF METRIC AND IMPERIAL MEASURES

INDEX M E N A ND M EAS U RES

CHAPTER I

G ENERAL V I EW

THE earliest measures were those of , and they

were derived from the rough - and - ready standard l afforded by the imbs of man . The readiest of these measures were those offered

by the length of the forearm , and by parts of the

; these formed a natural series of far - reaching

importance .

These arm - measures were

I . The Cubit , the length of the bent forearm from

- i fin er- 1 8 1 elbow po nt to g tip , about to 9 .

2 . The , 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 . al 3. The P m , the breadth of the four fingers , one

- third of the span , one sixth of the cubit , about 3 inches .

fin er- 4 . The or g breadth at about the middle

' oi - f S the middle finger , one twel th of the pan , one

- twenty fourth of the cubit . 2 MEN AND MEASURES

From this division of the cubit into 6 palms and 2 1 2 4 digits , and of its half, the span , into digits , came the division of the into watches and , of the year into months ; came also the consecration 1 2 in stitu of the number in legend , history , and social tions— came in short duodecimalism wherever we

fin d it . Add to the above measures the outstretch of the fiv e arms , the , we have the primitive limb . A time came when civilisation required the fixing of a standard cubit . It was perhaps at first an arbitrary law standard , but it became fixed by in the most ancient Eastern Kingdoms and , about the fortieth i century before the Christian era , perhaps much earl er, l certain y by the time of the Egyptian fourth dynasty , it had been fixed at a length known for certain to be 1 82 equal to 4 English inches .

This was no arbitrary standard , any more than that of the English yard or the French . I may al say that , apart from parochi varieties and convenient

- n trade units , always referable to some recog ised 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 l fraud , from some accepted standard, but wholesa e al trade has ways been a conservator of standards . There is not the slightest doubt that the common a cubit of , brought probably from Chald ea , was deduced from the of the earth, from GENERAL VIEW 3 the quarter- meridian distance between the pole and the equator . There are no written records of this measurement ; but an imperishable monument re mained to record it , and other ancient monuments ll sti remain to corroborate this testimony . The base of the Great Pyramid was , from ancient times , always n 00 k own to be 5 cubits long on each side , and it is 00 found to be exactly half a meridian mile , or 5

Egyptian , 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 . ’ ’ a ll Astron omie 1 B i y (author of Histoire de l , 775 1 787) wrote The measurement of the earth was undertaken a vast number of ages ago in the times of primitive astronomy . We pass con temptuously by the results of an cient m we astrono ical observations ; substitute others and, as we we a perfect these , find the s me 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 of the meridian a that were made on the plains of Chald ea , 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 1 000 of a , is exactly Egyptian fathoms , or 000 4 Egyptian meridian cubits , and the Great Pyramid was built with a base measuring exactly 500 of these B 2 4 MEN AND MEASURES 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

- hi many everyday measurements . It was two t rds

- S of the cubit , one ixth of the fathom , and was called a Foot from its being roughly about the length of a long

m ~ hu an foot . Apparently one of the primitive limb l ‘ measures , it is real y an outcome of the cubit , foot n bei g merely a convenient name for it . The foot of the meridian cubit was of 4 palms or 1 6 digits and was

English inches . i u The Egyptian standards of l near measure , th s l adjusted to the meridian mi e , 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

B C . is seen in Hesiod (ninth century . )

Hew h tri odin a mortar t ree feet ( p )in diameter , and a tri icktén an d an pestle three cubits ( p ), axletree seven feet (keptapodin ) an d hew a wheel of three span s (tri

' spztk amon)for the plough- carriage of ten palms (dekadéro) length .

Besides the original division of the foot into 1 6

fin er- al g breadths or digits , there arose an ternative

- division into 1 2 thumb breadths or inches . So for

S the Roman foot , of horter standard than the Egyptian or Olympic foot from which it was derived

e alrnos iv n x i di itos xvi Pes hab t p , u cias j , g ,

m di itos il . Pal us habet g iv, uncias j

6 MEN AND MEASURES

earliest times ; but he has always rejected decimal e 1 measur s . 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 , the

, 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 b e police compulsion , and every trick will used to evade it . Such are the ways of the human mind . i Systems that are suited to popular conven ence , both in wholesale and retail trade systems that admit of — modification and improvement these will live . Sys tems imposed by police - in which the people must — n fit themselves to the system these are bou d to fail . The convenient foot being taken as subsidiary to the cubit , it afforded , for long measurements , larger hi i units w ch harmon sed with the cubit , and with its i half, the span . The most usual long un t has been the Fathom and its double The Fathom 4 cubits or 6 feet or 8 spans The Reed or Rod 8 1 2 1 6 i i This Rod , vary ng accord ng to the local standard of the foot or the span , is that nearly always used in countries round the Mediterranean . In northern

e n in n umeration he o te n re ers to count the r Ev f p f by sco e . ’ Th e els m an sa s de a- da uzu 1 0 an d 2 - score the re W h y g g ( ), B ton

uarante atdix oter Fren chme n uatre - vin t- dix score an d 1 0 g , h q g (4 ) GENERAL VIEW 7 countries where the mothas superseded the span for 1 6 1 6 measures of any length , feet instead of 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 kept to the meridian cubit and the measures i based on it . Wh le it survived in Greece , it was f abandoned , o ficially at least , in Egypt , Assyria , and

Persia . Influences in which science was mixed with astrolatry caused a 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 Six and other cubits , not many , five or at the most , arose through analogous influences . From these East ern cubits , and from the Roman linear measures based

i - on a m le 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 . 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, 1 00 0 often about fathoms or 5 rods , was convenient

- for himself and his plough cattle . A strip of land of in this length , and of one or more rods breadth , would

field- a become a unit of me surement , and in time this superficial extent , in some shape or other, would become { geometrical standard . 8 MEN AND MEASURES

m Commerce , even of the most pri itive kind , led to — a two other forms of measure to Weight and Cap . two The capacity of the hands , that of a customary i ai e basket or pot , that of the bottomed cyl nder obt n d

- o u from a segment of well grown bamb o , wo ld 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 weigh

al ing the precious met s , would soon be supplemented by a larger standard for heavier weighing an d the weight of a cubic span or a cubic foot of water would afford a suitable unit . A vessel containing a cubic t f a r foot of water hus a forded a standard , the E ste n

Talent , both for weight and for capacity . The cubic foot would become a standard for the measure of oil i al 22 or w ne , while this measure increased , usu ly by 2 t ai l — i or 5per cen , so as to cont n a ta ent we ght of corn , u s l generally of wheat , wo ld become the Bu he or other

- m n wise na ed standard of capacity , for the pe asa t and

- for corn dealers . The peasan t would use his not only to his a measure corn , but lso to estimate his land accord

S - c i ing to the measure of eed orn it requ red . He would ’ also take a day s ploughing on a customary length r an d the of furrow, as a rough measure of su face , landlord would estimate the extent of his property by the number of yoke of plough—cattle required to work

e d - an - it . These se units d plough un its would in time b fix ed b e e the b s . , and thus come asis of agrarian meas ure the a i In me nt me coinage would have arisen . A GENERAL VIE\V 9 subdivision of the talent would become the pound

’ we ht i or common unit of g in the reta l market , and a subdivision of the pound would be fixed as the weight il r ra its of s ve which , impressed with signs gua nteeing a u b e rr fineness , if not its actu l weight , wo ld the cu ency of the merchants . s m Then aro e , by involution , another syste of weights in which the pound was usually of 1 2 or 1 6 i , and the was the we ght of so many was standard coins . Every modern pound based on

o this system . But again , the p und of silver would l yie d a certain number of coins , giving rise to a new monetary system under which the coin - origi n of the i pound would in t me be forgotten .

The necessary state- privilege of coining money sometimes led to differences b etwee n 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 ri commercial weight . In many count es , ancient and e modern , the mint has kept up syst ms of weight con secrated a all by tr dition but obsolete for 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 in struments and the standard measures of capacity and weight must have observed that the water con tained in the standard measure of capacity weighed 1 0 MEN AND MEASURES more when it was as cold as possible than when at the 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

i un fer oil was lighter than water, strong w ne than

- men ted . , and spring water than brine or sweet juices a an Some means of ar eometry , by immersed rod or head , 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 scien tific system of weights and meas ures 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 forma tion of a system of weights and measures from a linear measure . A modification of the original linear standard may

n ew . lead to the evolution of a system Thus , when 1 the Romans took as their foot 37563 of a short mile of 8 l Olympic stadia instead of s aon of the meridian mile 1 0 n ew of stadia , this foot was the starting of a new system .

in v olu Another process of evolution , or rather of tion , may occur from an imported standard of capacity . Supposing that trade has carried a certain measure to GENERAL VIEW 1 1

a country which it supplies with corn , and that this measure has been adopted , with divisions convenient to the people from this com - measure another n measure , about g of it , may be constructed , contai ing the same weight of wine or water that the former i conta ns 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 con Ven ient foreign unit of capacity or of weight , a new an d 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 u circ mstantial ; it is by the study of , founded on research into the systems of different countries , that the student is able to weigh circum stan tial evidence , to use it prudently , to guard him self against mere coincidence , to clear away legend , to examine documentary evidence carefully , to read i between the l nes of records , often very deceptive if he come to them unprepared . The various systems which have developed by these 1 2 MEN AND MEASURES

e process s , generally of evolution , but sometimes of

- involution , lose the appearance of Babel confusion they had before their development could be expl ained 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 ffi it evolves , in its way of meeting di culties , 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 n conve ient .

1 4 MEN AND MEASURES

1 THE GY I Y I Ow n . E PT AN COMMON , OR OL MP C A certain record of this cubit remains in the Great a 00 Pyramid . It is known to have me sured 5 cubits 2000 00 along each side of the base , cubits or 5 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

6 . Petrie , is not quite inches longer Taking the Ord 760 x 1 2 nance Survey figure we have 1 8 24 inches 500 as - the length of the common cubit , and two thirds of this gives 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

6 0 8 - inches or feet , is exactly one thousandth of the 6080 feet length of the Meridian or Nautical Mile . m This cubit , co mon to the three great ancient kingdoms , Babylonia , Egypt , and afterwards Assyria , a originated probably in Chald ea , 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 u of nat re , nothing moves in the world which ’ n we was not Greek in its origin , is not exact u less include as Greek the great kingdoms conquered by THE STORY OF THE CUBITS 1 5

Al hi the exander , and w ch , under Roman empire and afterwards under the Saracen caliphates , continued to have great influence over the civilisation of the West .

The M eridian M ile

At least sixty centuries ago the Chalda an astro n omers had divided the circumference of the earth , s 60 6 60 and of circle generally, into 3 degrees (that is X ) each of 60 parts . There is good reason to believe that they , before the , who had the same scientific ideas , had already measured the terrestrial meridian and determined the length of the mean degree and of m its sixtieth part , the meridian ile . Owin g to the flattening of the globe towards its al poles , meridian degrees are not of equ lengths they so increase in length from the equator , that their sixtieth parts are

At 1 68 0 1 60 6 degrees to 3 7 4 statute 3 5 4 ft . 88 0 6 1 61 8 to 9 9 4 09 3 0 0 ft .

° a The me n length is at about 4 9 N . where the degree and mile are

i 6080 statute m les (36 feet . The perimeter of the base of the Great Pyramid is f h i . e . 0 0 exactly hal of t at length , 3 4 feet . l 1 000 The length of the meridian mi e , Olympic 000 m fathoms 4 Oly pic feet , was divided by the Greek geometers (and probably by the Egyptians and a 1 0 di Chald eans long before them) into sta a , each of 1 00 600 60 8 i fathoms Olympic feet feet , wh ch is a bout our present cable length . And the meridian or 1 6 MEN AND MEASURES

i nautical mile , used by seamen of all nations , is th s same Egypto - Greek mile of 6080 feet 20 26§ yards 1 1 0 3 fathoms statute miles . It is some 6 82 times put at 0 5 feet . French geometers estimate

1 8 2 2 2 60 6 - it at 5 7 7 % feet , one ten millionth

- ri 1 of the quarter me dian being 0 002 metre . The nautical mile is sometimes called a knot , in the sense of a Ship going so many nautical miles in an as

- i ascertained by the number of knots of the log l ne ,

w 0 each Tig of a nautical mile or 5 % feet , run out in half — 1 a , 1 55 of an hour . The meridian mile must not be confounded with the geographical or equatorial mile , 796 degree along the 608 equatorial circumference 7§ feet .

Greek Itinerary M easures

1 0 Though a length of stadia is a meridian mile , neither the Egyptians nor the Greeks appear to have used this mile as an itinerary measure . says :

All men who are short of land measure it by Fathoms who are S di s but those less hort of it , by Sta a ; and tho e who h n an d ave much , by Parasa gs such as have a very

n Schoin oi. Now n great exte t , by a Parasa g is equal to 0 Schoin os hi 3 stadia , and each , w ch is an Egyptian 60 measure, is equal to stadia .

The of 30 stadia was then 3 meridian 1 a . miles , the modern marine le gue , 9 5 of a degree The Schoin os was probably common to Egypt and

al e to Chaldaea . The Ch da ans venerated the numbers 6 60 600 &c. m in , , , , and their sexagesimal scale , ak g the THE STORY OF THE CUBITS 1 7 year 6 X 60 5 days and the circle 6 x 60 degrees

60 . each of , has prevailed The Olympic or

Egyptian - Greek measures of distance were on this

- ffi scale , though land measures were , o cially 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 schoin os 60 schoinoi 6 meridian degrees

60 x 6 degrees circumference of the globe .

Between the Stadion and the Schoin os there is a al long gap , but the Greeks , for whose sm l country the

the Stadion was a convenient unit , used , when abroad ,

Persian Parasang of 3 meridian miles , who of the meridian circumference . The rise of other cubits obscured the Olympic Schoin os series of measures . The 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 1 00 of fathoms , but these might be fathoms systems i vary ng from the Olympic . The slightly different

Schoin ion term , meaning a or , was applied 1 to a measure of 0 fathoms .

The Roman M ile The Romans took for their itinerary unit a length 8 1 000 Olympic stadia and , dividing it into paces l ll double steps , ca led it a mi e (mille passus)

mile . The Roman mile and pace are therefore c 1 8 MEN AND MEASURES respectively four- fifths of the meridian mile and the Olympic fathom

5 6 8 f = 86 ft= 1 621 {3 of 0 0 t. 4 4 . % yards .

The pace was divided into 5 feet .

1 . 8 8 68 1 1 6 6 . 75 of 4 4 ft (or 5 3 inches) 73 inches . There was in course of time some slight variation in the length of the Roman foot . It has been calculated at between 1 1 65 and inches . The best value 1 1 6 6 appears to be that of Greaves at 4 inches , but 1 1 6 f 7 seems to me su ficiently accurate , and correspond ing better to other Roman measures . The pace was also divided into quarters (palmipes) of a foot and a . The foot was divided into 1 6 digits or into 1 2 inches

(pollices). Roman dominion over Greece and Egyp t led to some modifications , probably local , in measures of distance . There was a Roman of 4 miles , i 1 0 m and the mile was divided , sometimes nto Oly pic i 8 00 stadia , somet mes into Pythic stadia of 5 feet 1 or 00 paces . It will be seen that the English mile was originally 000 000 5 Roman feet , and then 5 English feet , before bein g fixed at its present length of 5280 feet or 1 760 yards .

THE EG YPrIAN B c 0 B C . . Y C IT 2 . 00 RO AL U ( 4 . )

The possession of a geodesic cubit , of the fathom hi w ch was r m, of the meridian mile , did not satisfy s olatric the a tr priesthood of Egypt . Under their THE STORY OF THE CUBITS 1 9 i al 20 6 nfluence another cubit , of 7 p ms 4 inches , fi al became the of ci measure of Egypt , and it was used

n in the planning of the monuments , always excepti g the outside plan of the Great Pyramid . W hat 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 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 28 ul week of seven days , and the digits to the v gar 1 n . lu ar month of four weeks of seven days Among us ,

n at the present day , astrology is far from bei g dead the days still bear the names of the seven planets ruling successively the first hour of the days named

un o respectively after them we call , however c n

’ sciousl n y , men s temperaments or characters accordi g 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 kin g to institute a sacred standard of linear measure with div isions corresponding in number to the seven planets which

Plutarch s peaks of the mystic con n e x ion assumed by the Egyptian s be tw ee n the 2 8 cubits m ax im um rise o f the an d the same n umbe r of days in the lun ar m on th. 20 MEN AND MEASURES

e man ruled the d stinies of , whose influence ruled h them through the C ristian , 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 l kingdoms , the common or meridian cubit being a so l used , not on y for ordinary purposes , but sometimes wi along th it . Thus , the external dimensions of the

Great Pyramid are in common cubits , while the unit al di of its intern mensions is the royal cubit , perhaps th 1 recently established at the time of e building . And i centuries after the nstitution of the royal cubit , the meridian cubit became the standard of the Greeks . The question naturally arises— Why was the royal cubit not formed by simply adding a seventh palm to 0 the common cubit , a palm of the same length , 3 4 l inches , as the six others This wou d have given a new 1 8 2 2 1 2 8 20 6 cubit of 4 inches , instead of 4 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 M am iin .

The answer I venture to give is , that the royal l cubit was intended to be , not on y by its division a homage to the seven planets , but also , by its increase to of length , a symbol of the proportion of latitude longitude at some Egyptian observatory .

The royal cub itis sometim es calle d the Philiterian cubit: ‘ this n ame (appare n tly meanin g royal is use d by the later H ero ‘ of Ale x an dria who wrote a out 0 . ButH ero otu s sa s e , b 4 3 d y , Th y call th e pyramids afte r a he rdsman Philition w ho atthattim e graze d his he rds aboutthatplace so itis probable thatthe n ame came from some legen d .

2 2 MEN AND MEASURES

AS - i in the case of the common cubit , two th rds of the royal cubit were taken for the royal foot 1 37 6 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

two- when thirds of it are taken for the foot this foot , 1 8 being palms or § digits , was possibly divided for

1 6 l . popular use into digits , if it were ever in popu ar use For scientific and probably for popular use it appears to di have been vided into 2 feet 1 0 32 inches . This may be inferred from the division of the degrees , attributed to Eratosthenes (third century into

00 di 600 . 00 7 sta a , each of these feet Probably 7 is a round number , for , on the basis of this foot , the 6 8 degree would be 70 stadia . Three centuries later Pliny gave the base of the

Great Pyramid a length of 883 feet . The modern 60 1 20 measurement being 7 feet 9 inches , we have 9 1 2 ’ 3 3 ? 1 0 328 as the length of the foot in Pliny s — account , a length differing by less than 1 33 inch from

- that of the half cubit .

Fréret om ard Letronn e The investigations of , J , and other mathematicians led them to the conclus ion 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 THE STORY OF THE CUBITS 23

S theology , to how that the base of the Great Pyramid 220 2 was double cubits (of x inches), the same number as the yards in an Elizabethan , 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 .

THE R 3. GREAT ASSYRIAN O PERSIAN CUBIT

c. 0 B C ( 7 0 . . ) The Egyptian idea of increasing the cubit appears to have also seized the Assyrian many 8 centuries later . It was increased to palms , as different from those of the Egyptian royal cubit as these were from those of the meridian cubit .

6 Egyptian common cubit palms of in . 24 digits n 8 i . 2 royal 7 of . 8 Assyrian of in . 32

s is Thi new measure the cubit of Ezekiel , the ’ ’ great cubit , the cubit and a handbreadth , inches . The same question as that presented by the in creased 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 2 u into feet of 4 palms , co ld have been obtained far more simply and conveniently by adding an 2 6 eighth palm equal to the others , making it 3 inches , with a half giving a foot 1 1 8 inches . Or two palms n might have been added to the common cubit , maki g 24 MEN AND MEASURES

a new cubit inches , with the Olympic foot l as its ha f .

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 i 1 N. . e . 1 2 2 latitude in , 4

1

This position was only 30 meridian miles from the °

6 N. parallel of 3 , a line which , passing through al Rhodes and to the Straits of Gibr tar , was con sidered by the ancient geographers as the first parallel

- al and was the base line of their maps . It was c led by ’ 1 the Greek geographers the diaphragm of the world . al This line passing so a few miles south of Nineveh , it is poss ible that some observatory near that capital

few city , a miles south of 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 2 24 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 and the former be ing the usual ratio with the heavier wheat of Southern countries . Supposing a cubical vessel measuring a

1 ' A ui a i a " ( tx ov v . 0 c 9 e r g n stitute b Dicaaarchus 1 B. C . pp yp 7 p j I d y 3 , correcte ratoste n es 2 - d by E h 76 1 96 . THE STORY OF THE CUBITS 25

royal cubit of inches in each side , therefore containing 8792 cubic inches 31 7 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 inches . This might have been taken for a new cubit . n ew This would not prevent the cubit , the Great n Assyrian cubit , bei g itself in course of time cubed to was form the Den measure , as its half, the foot , cubed for its weight of water to make the Greek- Asiatic

al t ent .

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

two- a good 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 ‘ Qasab . This is the full reed of six great cubits

(Ezek . the of six cubits by the

- cubit and a handbreadth , that is the old seven palm al 1 1 ° 1 cubit with a p m added . The Qasab 5 6 inches 1 2 is Assyrian feet . m Yet , for the co mon purposes of life , a foot inches was too long to be popular everywhere S the people like a hort foot , especially in the South and the East . Moreover the cubit was a departure from the simple geodesic standard of the meridian cubit . Accordin gly there was devised in Persia a cubit satis i factory both to the scient fic class and to the people , with a simple geodesic standard for scientific purposes and a convenient short foot for the common purposes 26 MEN AND MEASURES

w as Beladi . of life . This the cubit It is perhaps the best of the cubits .

H B LAD B c T E E I I . 00 B. C . 4 . CU T ( 3 )

n ew Beladi The Persian cubit , known as the (from belad , country), had the advantage , first , of a simple relation to the Parasang or meridian league of 30 1 stadia 9 3 degree secondly , of it being divisible into two feet of convenient length . The meridian mile being 60 80 feet or inches the parasang is therefore 3 x inches Beladi — and the cubit , 1 4533 3 of the parasang , was there fore inches . This is the length that John Greaves gave in 1 64 5 as his measurement of what he called the Cairo cubit , one of the different standards that have accumulated in Egypt during sixty centuries . The Beladi cubit is still to be found in the

Beladi i East . A half cubit nches , a con v enien t 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

- Covado di dominion . But the Spanish shore cubit ( ribera)still exists at the standard of inches . The Belédi cubit is that used by Posidonius ( 1 31 53 He gave the circumference of the globe as 666 66 stadia , which to the degree , or

O f 60 80 to the meridian mile feet or inches ,

6 66 1 0 5 inches or fathoms of inches ,

l i 6 - exactly 3 Be ad cubits or half cubits .

It is interesting to find this Greek philosopher , THE STORY OF THE CUBITS 2 7

in settled in Rome , reckon g the circumference of the globe accurately on the basis of the Beladi cubit of

Persia . Coupling this with the use by the Hebrews of the Bereh equatorial cubit brought back from the Beladi al Captivity , the date of the meridion cubit is

e ev idently at some centuri s before the Christian era .

The B r h or E uatorial Lan d- m e e q ile . The Jews brought back from the Captivity a was measure known as the Cubit of the . It l was a of a mile , cal ed the Bereh , which s id to be — N w erate e of the circumference of the earth . o this latter fraction corresponds to one - thousandth of an n 1 hour of lo gitude , or of 5 degrees on the equator , and thus points to the Bereh being an equatorial , not a ll meridian mile . It is sti extant in the Turkis h

ni . domi ons in Asia While the modern , as the ancient , l Persian Parasang is fi m; of the meridian the Turkish

Farsang Of 3 Bereh ShOllld be 5 1 3- 7 53 Of the equatorial circumference

— 202 1 1 60 60 g ihm of 9 yards x x 3 yards .

This corresponds very closely to the length of the 8 The ul farsang , which is 54 3 9 yards . Bereh , by calc a 1 826 a m —1 tion , is yards and the T l udic cubit , 336 55 of it , 2 1 1 9 4 inches .

Each then was one 72 - millionth of the terrestrial circumference , but the Talmudic cubit was measured

Beladi . on the equator , the cubit on the meridian

l Talmudic cubit of a league fi m; of the equator . 1 l Beladi “ 07 ; s aes meridian . MENL AND MEASURES

THE K C BI I C Y 5. BLAC U T (N NTH E NTUR ) Many centuries after the institution of the Assyrian

Beladi great cubit and of the Persian cubit , another important cubit became a standard of measure in the Moslem caliphate which reigned over the lands of the

Eastern great kingdoms .

Al- M amfin son u al- Under , of Har n Rashid , science hi was flouris ng in the East , while the West was in the nl dark ages , at least in all the countries une ightened by the civilisation of the Moors of Spain . Of Christian Occitan ian Europe , Provence and the other countries alone had that , 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 eleva tion of the pole of the equator, they measured the quantity of the degree upon the globe of the earth , and 6 found it to be 5 3 miles , every mile containing 000 2 4 cubits , and each cubit 4 digits , and every digit 6 6 barleycorns , and every barleycorn hairs of a camel ’ A Discourse of the Romane Foot and , by John Greaves , Professor of Astronomy in the e Univ rsity of Oxford , From this determination of 56§ meridian miles to the 1 degree of longitude it would appear , ( )that the measure was 2 ment made at about south of Mecca, ( )that the meridian mile was still of 4 000 Egyptian common 1 cubits or 000 Egyptian fathoms . It was then probably after this measurement that

Al- u Mam n instituted his new Cubit , sometimes known

30 M EN AND MEASURES

i in has shown that they were all derived , d rectly or u directly , from the meridian meas rement of the earth, some of them bein g 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 i one of these cubits and thus , more or less d rectly , 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 , iw3w, of the quarter meridian , 1 i l Of instead of the Egyptian merid an mi e , the 90 X 60

- quarter meridian . There were some other cubits of minor importance one of them is the Hashimi cubit described in X Chapter VII .

COMPARATIVE LENGTHS OF THE FIVE ANCIENT CUBITS m in . Egyptian co mon cubit ; its foot in . royal Great Assyrian 252 6 Q Beladi 2 1 8 88 }1 Black 5 CHAPTER III

TH E STO RY OF THE TALENT S

IT has been seen that throughout the ancient Eastern

0 00 B . C . Kingdoms , from soon after 5 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 civ ilisation .

00 S The 4 hekels of silver , of the merchants ,

1 00 B . C that Abraham weighed to Ephron about 9 years . were probably of about the same weight as 4 0 0 half

Crowns of the present day . W 1 00 1 S hen Moses levied talents and 775 hekels , at the rate of half a Shekel on each of the men who were numbered (Exod . the weight of the l S si ver hekels can be precisely ascertained .

M m a Shekels 1 00 talents and 1 775Shekels .

The Talent was the weight of an Egyptian royal 00 S cubic foot of water and was divided into 30 hekels . 31 32 MEN AND;MEASURES

The royal foot , 3of the cubit, inches . 2 60 5 The foot cubed 2605 cubic inches ; 2 77 3

93 9 lb . as the calculated weight of the standard after 1 wards known as the Alexandrian talent .

The actual weight was lb . grains 1 1 — 1 2 1 8 S 338? 5 grains was the weight of the hekel ,

- — nearly our half ounce exactly the half- ounce of

Plantagenet times , and very near to the weight of our

- half crown , which weighs grains . The difference between calculated weight and the al actu 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 fi t; 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

1 000 1 00 - S in , of 4 5of the 5 ounces or double hekels of water it contained . And we do not know the tempera ture 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

The m e rial oun 2 2 cu ic in c es of w ate r 0 0 0 I p p d 7 7 7 b h , 7

or . i. grain s the gallon 1 0 lb . c THE STORY OF THE TALENTS 33

1 THE X I T . ALE ANDR AN TALEN

The standard of this talent has been already given 000 as lb which x 7 grains . It was divided on different systems 1 a 60 . By the Chald eans and Egyptians into minas , div ided (a) On the Chaldaean system into 60 Shekels of

1 82 - S grains , with a quarter hekel 4 5}

grains .

b o ( ) On the Ph enician , and Hebrew , system into 0 S 2 1 8 t 5 hekels of g grains , wi h a quarter

shekel grain s .

2 - 1 20 a . By the Greek Egyptians into min s (or the half or lesser talent into 60 min és) of 1 00

a drachm e grains . 1 2 a 1 2 a 3. By the Romans into 5 libr e of unci e ( 1 500 ounces) further divided by the Greeks 8 a into drachm e grains . Three of these modes of division give a drachma of

. o n S grains So a Ph e ician or Hebrew hekel , a

i - Ptolema c tetradrachm and a Roman half ounce , are f n of the same weight , di fering by o ly grain from

- our half ounce , and by only i grain from our half crown . The Alexandrian talent was the Hebrew Kikk ar or

a talent of the sanctuary . In the Chald ean kingdom the

standard measure was the Egyptian royal cubit , and the standard weight was the talent derived from its foot but the mina appears to have been divided into 60 0 S instead of 5 hekels . 34 MEN AND MEASURES

The words which Belshazzar saw written on the

S wall referred to the mina and hekel , or tekel , of this

talent . Their meaning may be thus rendered — Nab u alasur Mene , a mina the great King p , founder

of the new Chaldaean Kingdom . — Nab uk udurusur Mene , a mina the great King , son

of the preceding . S — Nab un ahid Tekel , a hekel (of 4 quarters) (Bel shazzar ) and his three predecessors , all of small

account .

2 - S Upharsin , a division , perhaps half hekels , the

Medes and Persians . Or it may simply be the

i . Pars s or Persians , the enemies at the gate This talent is still extant at Bassora (in Chaldaea) as m ’ the and sofi lb .

h M imno T e ed s . This was the measure made to hold an Alexandrian al talent of wheat . The cubed Egyptian roy foot (pro bably used as a fluid measure) was increased in the

- 1 260 i Southern water wheat ratio of Thus 5 C . 31 76

1 6 . al 3 7 c i . and g lons as the 277 ° 4 irn contents of the M e d n os .

This measure was adopted by the Romans , as

well as by the Greeks , as the basis of their corn

com - measures , doubtless in consequence of the trade from Egypt . A sixth part of it was the Roman Modius . The M e dirn n os was divided by the Greeks in to 8 Choin ix 6 Xestes sextarius 4 , or into 9 (L . ) 1 Imperial pint or 9 fluid ounces . THE STORY OF THE TALENTS 35

THE X I OR I 2 . LESSER ALE ANDR AN PTOLEMA C TALENT

This was half of the ordinary or greater talent . Half the calculated weight of the greater talent the gives lb . for lesser . But the actual weight was somewhat less , lb . It was divided into 60 Ptolemaic mina 54 62

a 1 00 . grains , and the min into drachms The drachm grains and the tetradrachm 2 1 8 5 grains coincide as coin - weights with the quarter - Shekel and

S hekel of the greater talent . The mina was divided also on the Roman uncial system

an ounce grs . of this

- a double scruple grs . of this

a carat of grs .

The carat Th ounce , is exactly , to The grain , the ’ - j eweller s carat of to day in European countries . What could be the reason for this talent Its mina was half an Alexandrian mina its drachm was - a quarter Shekel .

1 al Beladi Don V . V . Queipo considered that the h f n cubit had been produced from it by involution , taki g the side of a cubical vessel containing half an Alexan drian talent of water and then doubling this new foot

- i C . . to make a new cubit . Its water volume gives as cube root inches , almost exactly half Beladi 8 88 Beladi the cubit 2 1 inches . But the cubit being who of a Parasang is suflicien tevidence of its

Essai sur les System s M étriques 36 MEN AND MEASURES

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 to i institute th s smaller talent , as if it had been evolved from the Beladi foot in the same way that the Greek Asiatic talent had been evolved from the Persian foot

- or half cubit .

THE K- 3 . GREE ASIATIC TALENT

After the in stitution of the great Assyrian or Persian cubit a new talent was necessarily evolved from it . the The Persian foot , half of cubit , was cubed , and the weight of this cubic foot of water was the Persian or Greek- As iatic talent

s 3 1 inche 1 2 63 20 4 c . i . lb . 2 The actual weight of this talent (as in the case of the Alexandrian talent) was somewhat less . It

2000 . . corresponded to a cubic foot of c i , giving b 60 1 . grains . This was divided into minas

1 000 lb . x 84 1 5 grains 1 2 lb . 60

The mina was divided by the Persians into 1 00 al S darics grains . The actu weight of ilver x darics found , grains , corresponds almost e actly to this weight .

3s MEN AND MEASURES

u fig re , pint , is usually taken as the common

Xestes capacity of the two . two The Greeks had thus standards of capacity , the Metretes and the , both cubic feet increased in water - wheat ratio to make them com i measures . It is very l kely that , having these two 2 measures from different sources , the one of 7 Xestes 6 us e , the other of 9 , they would the smaller as a fluid measure . In modern measures there are several instances of corn - measures having

- al become wine measures . Our Imperi gallon use d 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 .

W IG A ND C ITY 4 . ROMAN E HTS MEASURE S OF APAC

Used by the Greek colonies in Asia , the Greek Asiatic talent passed to the Greek or Trojan colonies u in South Italy , and became the so rce of the old Roman

A s libralis 0 pound , the 5 4 9 grains , fin; of the talent 2 1 000 7 3 x 7 1 504 9 grains . 1 00

Aes As The or , the bronze or copper pound of the

Roman republic in its earlier times , was divided into

1 2 20 s . ounces , each 4 7 5 grain

It remained the mint - pound of both Republic and

Empire . 1 e ul 1 2 Th Aurei of J ius Caesar , 3 3 As , weigh 7 grains , those of Augustus 1 25 grains . The mean weight

— ’ — S mit s D iet. o A nti uities. 0 rs . Daremb e r 50 50 grs . h f q 5 4 7 g g ’ A nti uities . an d Scaglio s Diet. of q THE STORY OF THE TALENTS 39

1 26 appears to be about grains , which gives 504 0 grains for the As . The Aurei of the later Empire were struck at 1 0 7 3 As , and weigh 7 grains , giving the same

0 0 . 0 1 weight , 5 4 grains , for the As At 7 grains 0 they would give 5 4 9 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 . 1 It has been seen that the Roman foot , 33 33 of the l 8 Roman mi e , Olympic stadia , was inches . This foot being cubed , the weight of the cubic foot of water was made the basis of the Roman measures of capacity = 1 8 . . inches 5 9 c i lb . water

grains .

. 2 This calculated measure , lb 57 3

was , the Amphora Quadrantal , supposed u d 80 AS . a to weigh , of wine , or primitive pounds Q n da i ran tal vin ei octoginta pa s t. The correspondence i was only approx mate . The Quadrantal should have = 1 0 been 577 lb . for its 3 3 part 5 4 9 grains) to correspond with the AS . Its capacity was probably adjusted so as to make it half a Medimnos and 3 i Mod i . of There are specimens extant of the Quadrantal , al cubic shape , showing that it was named from its being a cubic foot in measure . 8 The Quadrantal , being equal to 4 5 pints , was 4 0 MEN AND MEASURES

almost exactly half the Greek Medimnos , equal to d 8 pints ; so that , ivided into congii , each of

6 rac sextarii , the Sextarius , Quadrantal , was p 1 l Xestes tica ly the same as the , 3 3 of the Medimnos . And the Quadrantal being also very nearly two 0 thirds of the Greek Metretes , equal to 7 4 pints , the

was Xestes Sextarius also nearly the same as the other , 1 7 4: of the Metretes . 1 1 So the Sextarius was 3 3 Quadrantal , 7 ; Metretes , 1 and 9 3 Medimnos . The relation of the Roman Modius to the Alexan

- drian 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 P ound

Trade with Egypt led the Romans , not only to use al the Alexandrian medimnos , but so to put aside the As for commercial purposes and adopt a standard 1 00 taken from the Alexandrian talent . Its 5 double a 1 2 a shekels made 1 25 libr e each of unci 4 37 grains . The libra was thus 524 4 grains as compared with the As 504 9 grains . A further uncial division of the libra made the Uncia

6 sex tulae 2 8 1 a either of , 4 scrupuli , 4 oboli , 4 4 siliqu e, or

- 1 2 m se x tulae 1 a . of se i , 44 siliqu e

The siliqua was a little less than the Eastern qirat , being grains instead of the grain carat of the Ptolemaic series of weights . THE STORY OF THE TALENTS 4 1

TABLE OF ROMAN WEIGHTS AND MEASURES OF CAPACITY

WEIGHTS

O L D WEI G H TS (M I NT SERI ES) NE W WE I G H TS (M E D I C I NAL SERI ES) 1 2 a As 504 0 grs . unci Libra 524 4 grs . Deunx 1 1 Uncia 4 37 De x tan s 1 0 Sextula 72 8 3uncia

Dodrans Denarius} grs . 1 } uncia h r Bessis Drac ma g s. l uncia

Septun x Scrupulus grs . l; drachma

grs .

1

}3 siliqua Quadrans Lens (Sitarion) 2gr siliqua Sextans 2 1 Uncia 4 20 grs .

MEASURES

W I NE C O RN

r mn G . . Metretes ( ) gall Medi os gall . Quadran tal 80 As 2 quadrantal 0 Urna 4 Modius gall . quadrantal Congius 1 0 Sextarius 20 uncim Hemin a 8 Acetabulum 2 Cyathus 1 Ligula 4 2 MEN AND MEASURE S

THE 5. OLYMPIC TALENT

two- r From the Olympic foot , thi ds of that most ancient linear standard the common cubit of Egypt and t the other Eastern monarchies , a alent was also con structed

1 8 in . 79 c . i . lb . water grs . and in practice its actual weight was the same as that calculated . It was divided in two ways

Bos horic i 1 . On the p system , wh ch prevailed in i Asia Minor, in the Phoenician colon es , and in some t di 80 p ar s of Greece , it was vided into mina , each

6 0 i 1 00 6 i . 5 7 gra ns , and these into drachms of 5 7 gra ns Or the Bosphoric mina was divided uncially into

1 2 ounces of 4 72 5 grains .

2 . On the Euboic system , frequently used in Greek is was di 0 commerce , th talent vided into 5 minas of

1 00 drachms .

The drachm grains . There was also a Euboic talent which coincided na with the weight of the Roman Quadrantal , nomi lly ' l 80 AS b . of weight 577 , and in transactions with the East the Romans appear to have called their

- Quadrantal weight of water a Euboic talent . But it will presen tly be se en that this was the Attic monetary talent . The volume of an Olympic talent of water was 8 dr times the Hebrew Bath or, for y goods ,

Epha . THE STORY OF THE TALENTS 4 3

COMPARISON OF OLYMPIC AND IMPERIAL MEASURES

O L YM PI C IM P ERI AL

1 2 . Foot in . in

u 8 1 8 . 2 . C bic foot 1 79 c . in. 7 c in 6 ° n . Tale t lb . 2 3 lb l r5 fi mof talent 4 536 grs . g

ll . Orig . Wine ga on lb k Bath 8 1 lb . water Modern Imperial 1 0

K - 6. GREE COI N WE IGHTS

al In ancient Greece as in medieval Europe , financi difficulties led ru lers to lower the weight of the coinage . i But wh le in Europe , in for instance , more

- S were coined from the mint pound of ilver, x this remaining fi ed , although nominally based on the weight of the sterling , the weights of Greece were a actu lly based on that of the drachma . was When the drachma diminished in weight , the

a the min and talent both dropped proportionately .

Thus the standard of the Alexandrian talent , carefully e pres rved in Egypt , dropped in Greece .

of 1 00 drachm

1 r . Egypt 091 grs . g s iE in a 1 0 g , early 5 before 700 1 037 after 700

n 600 B. C . Athe s,

s ZE in a So in Athen , where the g standard was in use ,

ai B . C . the drachma stood at gr ns when , in 594 , 4 4 MEN AND MEASURES

’ s Seisachthia law unburdened the State and other debtors by decreeing that 73 (or more accurately 2 ae 1 00 ae 7 3) drachm should now be equal to drachm , and alterin g the coinage accordingly .

This reduced the coin - weights of Athens to

Drachma Tfl ent m 1 2 6 m ° 1 b a 57 4 grs . 737 g 57 75 .

al But commerci weight remained the same . The a em oriki 1 8 min p , the trade mina , was fixed at 3 of n ew a n 1 00 the drachm e , so that it conti ued to be of the a 1 8 old drachm e : 3 x 1 00 x grains . The commercial mina thus remained at the 60 0 8 standard of 930 grains lb . and the talent at lb 1 .

In settling the reduction of the Attic money- weight 1 00 c a a at new dra hm e 73 old drachm e, Solon pro bably fixed on the latter figure in order to make the = lb new talent , . , have approximately the simple ratio of 4 5 with the Greek- Asiatic talent

0 . lb . 577 4 lb

AS 0 i Thus the Roman being 5 4 9 gra ns , r im of

- 80 the Greek Asiatic talent , As , grains 577 lb came to coincide with the Attic monetary talent .

THE B 7 . ARA IC TALENT To the talents and measures of capacity evolved

ere was a custom of rhé i turn of the scale or lon w ei t Th p , , g gh , w hich in crease d the le comm e rcial w eightto a customary w ei ght ten din g towards tha tof the Alex an drian talen tse ries .

4 6 MEN AND MEASURES

b ut have given rise to the Troy pounds , it is much more probable that their variable ounces were

1 0 dirhems of about 4 8 grains . 8 2 . From of its drachms came the Venetian pound and the German apothecaries ’ pound with an ounce of

8 x 4 61 grains . From the Greater Rotl came 1 0 . Eight of its ounces of 4 5 3 grains the Marc

of Cologne , its double being the German Imperial

pound 72 1 8 grains our royal Tower - pound of 1 Plantagenet times being 2 ounces 54 00 grains .

1 00 . The lb centner of North Germany lb . ’ was almost exactly the same weight as Al- M amfin s

Cantar .

2 . W EIGHTS OF EASTERN EUROPE (see Chap . XV)

The Polish poun d 1 6 x 8 dirhems of 4 8 9 grains Russian Austrian 50 6

From 8 dirhems of 50 to 4 7 grains came the oun ces of the pounds of Southern France . 1 0 8 From dirhems of 4 grains , more or less , came the ounces of the Troy pounds . The weight of the dirhem is n ow : Turkey 4 9 6 grains , Greece 4 9 4 grains , Morocco 4 9 grains , Egypt

grains , Tripoli grains . In Tripoli there is a small weight grains called a dirhem , which seems to be i of an original weight dirhem grains .

The fall of the dirhem weight , and consequently of the weights which are multiples of it , accounts for the THE STORY OF THE TALENTS 4 7

Egyptian Cantar having fallen from its original weight 8 to somewhat over 9 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

A1 rouba . . . , four ; cf Rubaiyat , quatrain)

M easures of Cap acity derived from A rabic Lin ear M easures

’ Al- Mamfin s cubit cubed became the medieval standard of grain measure on the Mediterranean coasts 6 in . cubed 9 39 c . i . lb . water, which is equal to gallons or . This measure subsists in Egypt as the Rebe k eh l bushels . It passed to Marseil es 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 S how systems . They are sketched in order to 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 I NVOLU T ION O F NEAR MEASU RES FRO M WEIG H TS

THE SOURCE S OF THE ENGLISH AND OF THE RHINELAND FOOT

C h OMMERCE is the great conservator of standards . T ese

ill- may become altered by the advised action of , a al by municip l or parochi carelessness , even by the as desire of profit on short me ure , or occasionally , as l seen to a slight extent in our old Bushel , by the fau ty dimensions of a standard ; but wholesale trade , supported , in weights at least , by the goldsmith and r the apotheca y , preserved the integrity of many standards during the Middle Ages and up to modern W times . Commerce conveyed to the est 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 4 8 INVOLUTION OF LINEAR MEASURES 4 9

: i n West the Engl sh foot , and the Rhi eland foot, and also the Pan of Marseilles . These are quite i unconnected w th any ancient measures , and there is no nl record of their origin . The o y clue to it is found in the simple relation of each to the corresponding weights and measures of capacity, the origin of which i can be satisfactorily traced . Th s leads to the hypo ’ thesis 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 .

THE 1 . ENGLISH FOOT There seem three hypotheses for the origin of the

English foot . 1 t . i s That it was the Olympic foot inches , standard diminished by the accidents of time . But we know that the Romans established their 8 di measures in Britain , and our mile of sta a and of 000 5 feet (first Roman , then English)up to Tudor times , shows that it was originally 1 000 Roman paces of

- 5 feet and our early wine bushel , of which the wine h gallon was 5, is referable to the cube of the Englis foot , not to that of the Olympic foot . There is no trace of the Olympic foot in Northern Europe except the possibility (mentioned un der al Foreign Linear Measures)of the Amsterdam loc foot ,

n 1 1 . inches , bei g inches of the Olympic foot

2 . It happens that the mean of the Roman foot 1 2 6 inches , and of the Rhineland foot 3 5 inches , gives inches . But there is no instance 8 50 MEN AND MEASURES of a n ew 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 1 000 Roman ounces of water . It m seems likely that in early ti es , possibly under King Alfred by the advice of Italian moneyers or Jewish h merchants , t is measurement was effected in order to establish a foot and a cubic foot measure of capacity corresponding to a new talent of 1 000 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 Av erdepois or Roman weight to our measures of 1 68 capacity was utterly ignored until at , in 5, some Gentlemen at Oxford determined the weight 1 28 of a cubic foot of spring water, or 7 solid inches , to

’ a er be 1 000 ounces v depois . That the correct weight is ° not 1 000 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 de cirn e tre of 1 000 h water,supposed to weigh grammes , only weig s about 9983 grammes would disprove a connex ion

e irn r between the cubic d c ete and the gramme . f ‘ ’ 1 The di ficulty of making a quadrantal, a vessel al of exactly cubic form inside , is so great that the wardens of the Metric System abandoned the cubic

1 ua ran tal the oman stan ar of ca acit a cu ic essel Q d , R d d p y, b v measurin on e ooton eac of its insi e an el g f h d p s. INVOLUTION OF LINEAR MEASURES 51

as of water giving the standard , either of the 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 . 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 1 28 fi 7 in its capacity , the material dif culties of con al structing a vessel exactly cubic will be understood .

However , a quadrantal being constructed , perhaps after S as many trials of ides exactly equal as possible , and holding 1 000 ounces of Roman ounces 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 1 000 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 8 Captain Kater in 1 24 . i ll The div dend wi be the number of cubic inches , and its cube root will be the foot

cubic inches ,

1 2 00 2 of which the cube root is 4 inches , a length l differing by only fi m; from the actual Imperial foot . I took the idea of this hypothesis from that by which Don V . V . Queipo inferred the Beladi cubit to be the double measure of the Side of a cubical vessel i containing a Ptolema c talent of water . Certam it 3 2 52 MEN AND MEASURES

solves the question of the origin of our foot , and it happens that , applied to the equally obscure origin of hi the R neland foot , the results are equally satisfactory .

THE I 2 . RH NE LAND FOOT Let the same process of involution be applied to the side of a cubical vessel containing 1 000 Troy ounces of water .

The standard of varied very much , from the Danish value of a little over 4 81 grains in the ounce , to the French Troy value of grains . 6 0 The Scots Troy weight , 4 7 9 grains to the ounce , is nearly the same as the Amsterdam weight ,

4 76 68 grains . These Troy weights may be taken at three main r b ° standa ds , high , medium, and low, represented y

li 80 ai Eng sh Troy, its ounce 4 gr ns Amsterdam French

1 000 Let us apply to ounces of water , at the medium 1 0 Amsterdam standard , Egyptian dirhems of n grains, the same measurement of a quadra tal made to contain them as exactly as possible .

1 8869 cubic inches 252 4 58 and the cube root of the dividend gives inches , 1 R i exactly , to in the h neland foot as established in Prussia 1 2 3564 inches . The Prussian standard of the Cologne pound (its ounce grains) was i g g of a Rhineland cubic foot of water at F and

34 MEN AND MEASURES

Al- M amfin cubit of , brought from Egypt by the corn Pan trade . The was the (pronounced a S the 0 al p ng), a word apparently imilar to palm of It y Palrno e and Spain , but really different . b comes

aume . an n us p in Provencal , while Pan is from L p , a S 1 ide , pane or panel and the Marseilles Pan 9 9 inches is exactly the measure of the side or pan of an filiatio Escan dau of cubical form . The n of the Escan dau i e is evident , wh le the Pan is not deriv d from Pan any antecedent measure . That the was the measure of the pan or panel of a cubical Escan dau is

com - supported by the name of the standard , the d Panau , correspon ing to the fluid standard of the

- Es can dau . P aualata , and of the land measure , L , the

- i l peck land , orig na ly the extent usually sown with a W Panau of heat .

a Escan dau 1 6 0 96 g llons . 81 60 6 e 9 , the Pan 9 9 inch s. 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 . ’ S The meaning of Pan as ide , panel is conclusive , especially when supported by the Panau measure and by other Provencal derivatives : P an ard im as , a l ping man , leaning to one side he walks . L ou P an ard , the star Antares which , rising late and setting early , not appearing much above the l i n . hor zon , is Visible o y on one side of it

Th e Fr n c w or an has the sam em an e e meanin w ile Fr. h d p g , h p , a s an is co tio of cs au. p , a rrup n p INVOLUTION OF LINEAR MEASURES 55

THE I I I THE I T OF TH 4 . F L AT ON OF ENGL SH FOO , E I T AND THE I S PAN RH NELAND FOO , OF MARSE LLE In the description of the ancient cubits and talents the and of the Roman system derived from them , 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 q uarter preserved in u the dimensions of an Egyptian sarcophag s , not even

a pint from the Roman sextarius legend disappears , the course of evolution , and , at one point , of involution , as is clear , and as thoroughly scientific 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 .

- al . 3. The royal foot , two thirds of the roy cubit

The . 4 . cubic royal foot al 5. The Alexandrian talent , the weight of a roy cubic foot of water .

6 ’ - . The Roman ounce , rs oo of the Alexandrian l ta ent .

1 000 . 7 . The English talent , Roman ounces 8 1 000 . The volume of Roman ounces of water, the

- original wine bushel .

1 000 - 9 . The ounce Quadrantal becomes the cubic foot , its side giving the English foot . 56 MEN AND MEASURES

For the Rhineland and Scots system we have

1 . . The Egyptian meridian cubit 2 . The Arabic or Black cubit , 7 palms of the ’ 6 meridian cubit s palms .

- 3. The Arabic foot , two thirds of the Arabic cubit . r al 4 . The A abic t ent or Cantar , the weight of an

Arabic cubic foot of water . 1 coin cid 5. The Troy ounce , 3 3 03 of the Cantar, and 8 ing with 1 0 lesser dirhems of about 4 grains . 6 n 1 000 . The Rhi eland talent of Troy ounces d Amsterdam stan ard . The 1 000 7 . Quadrantal containing Troy ounces of h water becomes the cubic R ineland foot , its side giving the measure of the Rhineland foot . For the Provencal system we have

1 . The Egyptian meridian cubit .

2 . The Arabic cubit , 7 palms of the meridian ’ cubit s 6 palms .

com - 3. The Arabic cubit cubed , in the measure of l medieval Egypt , the Cargo of Marseil es , the Setier of

- - 4 . The half cargo reduced to wine measure in whe at - water ratio becomes the Mieirolo of which one ' fourth is Es an a the c d u or Standard measure .

. Escan dau 5 The Quadrantal containing an gives , l as the measure of its side or panel , the Pan of Marsei les .

the The evolution of English foot , of the Rhineland il n ow or Scots foot , of the Pan of Marse l es , being made clear, we can proceed to English and other lin ear measures . The origin of the Ounce , the foot , the INVOLUTION OF LINEAR MEASURES 57

- 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 civilise d world will be found in the stories of the ancient cubits and talents . CHAPTER V

ENG L ISH LINEAR MEASU RES

TH THE TH 1 . E T E YARD , FOO , INCH

’ THE erde term Yard , the Old English gerde or y , a al wand or rod , became speci ly applied to a wand of Of di 3 feet , or 4 spans from this double mode vision 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 sex de cimall into feet and inches , but also y into units which are familiar as limb - lengths of the cubit and S a p n system .

- The half yard corresponds to the Cubit .

- l The quarter yard is a Span . The eighth is a Finger women constantly measure linen approximately by the length of the bent middle n fi ger . The sixteenth is a Nail ; this is the length of the

- fin er l fin erfi2 half g , the last two j oints of the midd e g i al Wh le the yard is lawft divided into h ves , i quarters , eighths , and na ls , it may also , as a measure

The usual im en sion s of ric s are a s an a al - S an d b k p by h f p , by

3 stor the Nail will b e oun in a XX. The y of f d Ch p . 58 ENGLISH LINEAR MEASURES 59

6 - of 3 feet , be divided into 3 inches . Yard measures l are usua ly divided in both ways , on one side into

1 6 n . ails , on the other into inches u It is customary to say either a yard and a q arter, i or 4 5 inches , or 3 feet 9 nches . Or to say either 58 inches or 4 feet 1 0 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 sex decimally . The Foot is lawfully divided into 1 2 inches ; but v there is nothing to prevent it being di ided decimally, or otherwise , as convenient .

The Inch is divided according to convenience , either

Sex decirn all &c. y , into halves , quarters , , down

- is di . to Sixty fourths . This the usual vision

1 2 . Duodecimally , into lines

a l . Decim l y , into tenths and hundredths

Steel foot - rules usually Show all three of these al sc es .

Some trades may have Special scales . Thus type 6 2 founders divide the Inch into picas each lines , 1 2 l k and the pica into points each 3 ine or 7 ; inch . is 6 t 8 Nonpareil type poin s Brevier is points .

2 OF THE E R S . STANDARDS LIN A MEASURE

1 00 Tables of measures , from the earliest , about 5 , i down to quite recent t mes , usually began by stating that Three barley- corns make an inch or that

Geographical measures begin at a barley- com an d ’

a &c. incre se upward to a league , 60 MEN AND MEASURES

0 1 1 0 King David I of Scotland ( . 5 ) is credited with the pronouncement that the Scots inch was to be the thowm s ii mean measure of the y of j men , that is to say an mekill man and a man of messurab il statur and thoum s m essurit of a lytell man . The are to be at the ’ rut of the n ayll. But no more in Scotland than in thi England , or elsewhere , has the inch ever been any ng but a division of the foot . i A standard of the Engl sh foot was fixed in Old St . ’ ’ l was Pau s Church , London , and known as Paul s foot , all measures bein g referred to the standard qui in sculpitur super b asirn columpn ae in ecclesia Sancti ’ 1 2 Pauli . In 73 a deed gave the measurement of ’ land according to the iron !yard! of the King s ’ palace . The present standard yard is a bronze kept hi in London , the length of w ch 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 al 1 wall of Traf gar Square , and another set is in the l al flooring of the Gui dhall . Sets are so fixed to public l i m bui dings in several chief towns of the United K ngdo . As metal rods vary in length according to tempera ul ture , comparisons with a standard measure sho d be made at the normal temperature of But there is

The Stan dards Commission in 1 870 advise d thatthe public stan dards of len gth should b e place d so as to b e readily access ible to the public W i thouttheir u se bein g disturbe d by passe rs or ’ n on w ho has tri to tose idle gazers . A y e ed to getaccess h in Trafalgar Square may re gretthatthere se ems to b e n o provision made again sttheir site bein g m ade the us ual loun ge of often ver y

62 MEN AND MEASURES

In the Laws of ZEthelstan (1 000) a measurement is as Shaftm en ts i. e given 9 feet , 9 , and 9 barleycorns , .

a - 9 feet 9 h lf feet 3 inches .

THE ELL 4 .

b was The yard , eing 4 spans , formerly one of the E1 1 3 , measures of 3, 4 , 5 or more spans , related to the

2 . cubit of spans The Scots yard , of 37 inches , was was al always known as an Ell , and it only gradu ly that u our yard took the place , for cloth meas re of the Ell e hi i of 5 spans 4 5 inch s , w ch was long ma ntained by l statute . The yard and the ell were usual y distin uished vir a uln a g as g and in statutes , but sometimes uln a a me nt a yard . i al Both yard and ell were div ded into h ves , quarters , and nails (sixteenths).

. E11 5 a . See Chap XVI (The ), and Ch p XX (section on the Nail and the Clove).

. THE ROD G I E AND G 5 , FURLON , M L , LEA UE

The earliest table of English lin ear measures is ’ ’ probably that in Arnold s Customs of London ,

The lengith of a barly corne iij tymes make an yuche and x ij yn ches make a fote and iij fote make a yerde and v q uatirs of the yarde make an elle v fote make a pace cxxv pace make a furlong vii f r E le and j u long make an nglish my . ENGLISH LINEAR MEASURES 63

1 00 1 2 62 Thus , In 5 , the furlong was 5 x 5 5 feet , and the mile 5000 feet 1 666 6 yards . i l a The mile was or gina ly the Rom n mile , 5000 x 1 000 000 paces or 5 Roman feet , and 3 x 1 2 6 1 1 . i in . 2 5 yards So in course of time our m le had become 5000 English feet .

But the linear unit for land measurement was not , ertica 1 0 1 2 as in the Roman system , a p or rod of or feet it became very early , on the Teutonic system , a rod 1 6 n of feet , with varieties , under French i fluence later

1 8 2 1 2 . on , of , of and 4 feet

In early Plantagenet times , not later than Edward I , 1 6 the statute rod was fixed at 5% yards or 5 feet .

field- Thus , while the rood , that is the furlong , was 0 1 6 660 4 rods or perches of 3feet feet , the itinerary ai 62 x x x vii furlong , 3 mile , rem ned 5 feet , j perchis sauf ij fote (Arnold ’ s Chronicle This clashing of the n e w field statute rod , and its multiple the rood or u 0 f rlong of 4 rods , with the ancient itinerary furlong n now o ly rods , was rectified in Tudor times , n probably temp . He ry VII , but definitely by a statute of Elizabeth which raised the furlong to i coincide with the rood . The m le thus became of its 8 0 present length , of 4 rods of 55 yards 1 60 s 280 7 yard 5 feet . The mile has then successively been

— 1 000 . . Roman mile of 5 Roman feet yards — l 0 2 . Old English mi e 50 0 English

- ew 80 1 60 3. N 52 7

For long measurements chains came into use, and 64 MEN AND MEASURES

1 600 shortly after Edward Gunter introduced , for i o survey ng purp ses , measurement by a chain of 4 rods , ’ - i e . . a brede or acre brede , the breadth of an acre

0 1 00 . of 4 X 4 rods , divided into links So the multiples of the yard are n ow

55yards 1 rod 22 1 00 1 n or 4 rods , or links chai 220 4 0 1 0 chains 1 furlong (rood) 1 760 320 80 or 8 furlongs 1 mile The Scots mile and the Irish mile were equally 8 0 furlongs of 4 rods , but Scots and Irish rods (see XI Chap . V).

Scots mile 320 rods of 6 ells yards) 1 976 yards Irish 7 yards 2 24 0

The term Yard has been used for certain large

- a . l nd measures These , with the evolution of the Rod , will be given in the next chapter .

The L eague It has been seen that the Persian Parasang was

000 . three meridian miles , or 3 Olympic fathoms Fran Ce retains this as the lieue marin e of 20 to the degree , and Southern France long retained a league 1 0 a of 3 miles each of 0 0 or can nes . But in Rom n times the Leuca or Leuga of Gaul was 1 5Roman miles . It passed to medieval England at about the same

duodecim uarantein is 1 2 length , being defined as g , furlongs or roods of 4 0 rods . CHAPTER VI

LAND - MEASU RES

1 I . INTRODUCT ON

- 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 his concrete idea of the extent of fields . Then came the estimation of land by the amount of

hi - u ploug ng , or sometimes of hand digging , that co ld b e be done in a day , and by the extent that could 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

fin ally the abstract idea of superficial area . These different systems have s ucceeded one another every all where and in time .

- — 1 ni . t . Seed u ts The land that could be sown wi h

- com a certain measure of seed , wheat being the usual

’ teré e tre i i se e s e bo sselée &c. . mo o standard Fr . , , , It gg

h - . an e a . se e l u e tn n land . Sp f g ; G fi ; Nor . Thes e

C - names correspond to orn measures . 65 66 MEN AND MEASURES

’ - s — 2 . Day s hand labour unit The land that could

’ S Daie swork be tilled with pade or hoe in a day the ,

’ ’ h mme u e 1 0 . o e o vr e 20 about square rods Fr , square rods of vineyard . ’ — L u m . s . ru iar 3 Day s ploughing unit f ge ; It . g mo n u l ar en t . r e och ac n ata . o rn a ker Fr j , p G g , f , ; Du . i ha ddan da h u . b . e . ar bo w Hind g Ar f ; Ir g . All about an English acre more or less . s — 4 . Oxgang unit The land that a boor with a yoke of oxen could keep in husbandry about 7 a 0 i of arable , bout 3 acres includ ng wood and pasture

- ho v e e . Yard land Du . A group of oxgangs , un generally of four yoke , made a Ploughland ; Prov . ma d uat u - s e re co ble . q , a four yoke farm s — S 5. Geometric unit First , units of a certain hape : based on the customary length of the furrow Rood , é i llon . 0 1 . ver e se 4 rods by rod broad Fr g , Then small units of a square rod , the rod being of customary length with large units , usually groups of roods ,

&c. S vergées , Four roods side by ide make the English or the Norman acre . A rood square or square furlong

acrem - is the e or 1 0 acre field .

Legal units of land were usually abstract , of so many square rods or fathoms , independently of any customary shape .

2 I O F I - . EVOLUT ON GEOMETR C LAND MEASURE S

r While smaller units , such as the supe ficial rod , can easily be conceived as square , the larger arable n i u its have , or have had , a peculiar form which st ll ’ e e attaches to them . The peasant , whose mind s y LAND - MEASURES 67

can perceive the square rod or or verge , refers the rood or the acre , the vergée or the , 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 i pitch . These lengths and breadths w ll long be his

field- essentially concrete standards of measurement . While some legal units of surface have recognised the customary furrow- length as an element of this al as form , others have ways been undefined to form . In ancient Egypt the land was surveyed by the nl state , not o y for revenue purposes , but because of the Nile overflow effacing the land - marks usual in other countries . 0 Hence land - measuring appears to me to have had its beginning , and to have passed over to Greece ni (Herodotus). The agrarian u t of Egypt , called by

aroura - . the Greeks , a plough land , was a square , each 1 00 1 side being a Khet or cord , of royal cubits 72 feet or 575yards . The square khet is represented by the present Egyptian feddan al risach of 20 lesser qasab (each 20 X 4 Hashimi cubits) 1 70 4 feet square § acre .

al - Ten square khet made the usu land holding . 1 0 This unit , acres , corresponds closely to modern V éli feddan , to the 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

1 0 n was khets in a line , givi g if required a furrow of

573 yards easy in muddy alluvial soil , seems certain , ll for its hieroglyphic is a line of ten sma squares .

F 2 68 MEN AND MEASURES

This is exactly the primitive form of the English

1 0 1 . acre , x chains

In ancient Greece the unit of land - measure was the 1 0 k alamoi 1 0 of rods ( ) each of Olympic feet ,

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

- w t r n i. i as eta o e . u but the larger un t the gy , a fo r rood

lethra - on - field , and with the four square p end end , this Greek acre afforded a furrow- length of 1 35 tetra on 1 yards . So it is probable that the gy , 35 X was 335yards , acre , the usual concrete agrarian

A common size of land - holding was 1 2 x 1 2 1 4 4

lethra = p , about 34 acres , a size corresponding to our medieval oxgang . In ancient Italy land was measured by the Roman

1 0 - decempeda or pertica , the foot perch or rod ,

5 feet . 1 20 A strip of land X 4 Roman feet made an Actus , probably the breadth of a double furrow, up and down . dr 0 The square actus , actus qua atus , 3 acti

1 20 0 . 1 20 5< feet , about 5 square rods

’ Two square acti made a Jugerum , the day s work for a yoke of oxen , acre . d Four square acti , bina jugera, made the Here ium ,

acre . How were the four square acti arranged ? Were they in a square 24 0 x 24 0 feet ? No doubt that would be the official form of the heredium but it is

tetr probable that , as I have assumed for the Greek ag

70 MEN AND MEASURES

al - by the people , the princip unit of land measure was il i , and is st l , the Acre de Normand e , containing

1 60 perches of 24 feet square . The standard of the foot varies sometimes it is the royal foot , sometimes 1 1 the Roman foot , retained by the device of taking royal inches for a foot . The ancient standard of this acre is thus expressed in law- Latin : Pertica terrm fecit 24 passus seu soleas pedis ; 4 0 perticae faciun t virgatam duse virgatae faciun tarpe n tum 4 virgatae f aciun tacram . Passus is here a foot ; but some times it meant a pace , half of the Roman pace which is here represented by the brasse of 5 royal feet 1 6 24

- metre . So in land measure the pas 32 inches and the Caux peasant reckons his vergée as 1 88 8 00 X 20 paces X yards . These concrete

- n forms of land u it 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

- Saum ado 1 60 0 of land measure . The Provencal of 1 60 square cano or toises , the Normandy acre of square 1 60 rods of 4 toises , the English acre of square rods of ar 1 60 6 55y ds , the Scots acre of square rods of ells all feet , are connected by a common tradition of concrete form , and are all made up of four minor

tira i : ses e do & c. units , vergées , roods , Look ng back to the land- measures of Greece and Rome we find this same group of four lesser units in the a law ni tetr gyon and heredium . The may only recog se abstract superficial standards , but the peasant holds to the concrete units of form convenient for cultivation . LAND - MEASURES

G I A - S 3. EN L SH L ND MEA URE S Notwithstanding Homer ’ s recommendation of mules ’ as better far than kine to drag the j ointed plough , oxen are still used in the greater part of the world . In u fi light soils one yoke of oxen is s f cient , but in heavy

l - two fal ows , with deep working ploughs , , three or more yoke were used ; and in feudal times it would appear that the four tenants of a hide or ploughland co- 0 operated with their oxen . A furrow of 4 rods could i as i thus be made eas ly in one breath , and th s length of a rood coincided approxim ately 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 ,

l hi - Scottice by the fal of it , and t s rod breadth down

hi torn atura . w ch the oxen turned , the of Italy , was a rood Sometimes between the roods a narrow unploughed strip , a balk of land , was left , marking the roods or ’ selion s hi , four of w ch , side by side , made an acre ,

- and forty of which made the square furlong , the ten acre

field .

hi selion s Ploug ng in roods , , square furlongs , is still far from extinct . In Brittany land is still reckoned

seillon s by of so many furrows wide , or of so many

aule 1 - g s or 2 foot rods . In Southern France fields are

s destre 1 2 - estimated in breadth of a , of the foot rod corresponding roughly to the width cleared by a couple

Ax holme of mowers . In our Isle of , in North Lincoln 72 MEN AND MEASURES

i selions sh re , land is reckoned in of a rod wide and usually of a furlong in length ; these selion s or roods being

grouped into furlongs , that is , actually or originally, into

greater units of a square furlong 4 0 roods or 1 0 acres .

- l Simple country fo k , 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 a in acres n d 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 e length , then it shall be in breadth sixteen perch s ;

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 f of any figure , however di ferent from a square or a concrete rectangle . Thus measures , always at first a and t from some known object of comparison , ’ became abstractin men s minds for purposes of cal

- culation . Then came the land surveyor introducing i r art as ar thmetic and geomet y into the of me urement , and using the cord or chain ins tead of the measurin g 0 d ; and it was also found that decimal calculation

would be an improvement in this art . For purposes of accurate measurement and calcula

tion , Edward Gunter introduced , nearly three centuries LAND - MEASURES 37

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 . ’ ’ Surv e ior s a 1 61 0 Norden Di logue , ) mentions the ’ 1 6 standard chaine , that is by the chaine of 5foote . It was soon after this that the chain was increased to 66 was feet or 4 rods , which length 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

LI NEAL ME ASU RE S SU P ERFI CI AL MEASU RES

oot. 1 4 4 square in ches 1 sq . f

a 1 s . a r 9 squ re feet q y d .

rod . 30 } square yard s 1 sq . 4 0 square rods 1 rood 1 urlon 0 ar a r f g (4 roods or 1 6 squ e rods 1 c e).

0 urlon . 4 0 rood s ( 1 acres) 1 sq . f g 8 url n mil o s 1 mile . f g e 64 square furlon gs (64 0 acre s) 1 sq .

’ S U RV E YO R S MEAS U RE

1 lin 8 in c es ° 2 2 ar 1 s uare lin ° 0 8 k (7 h ) y ds . q k 4 1 0 lin s 1 0 0 s u are lin s k q k .

s . q lin ks ( 1 sq . 1 00 lin ks ( 1 chain) 2 2 chain ) 4 84 1 0 c ain s 1 urlon 2 2 0 1 0 c ain s acre 8 0 h ( f g) sq . h ( 1 )4 4

It must be remembered that the length of the rod determin ed the len th o the mile an d the area o the acr g f f e . S l This is hown in the table on the fo lowing page . 74 MEN AND MEASURES

9 0 0 0 8 2 0 0 8 s . 0 w 0 0 a 0 -n 0 8 B 0 o 6 w 9 5 0 0 8 a m 0 3 . 8 0 5 a 2 v 8 5 6 ? 0 » 0 0 A

. 8 8 g E 0 s 4 2 . a 0 0 m 5 £ 0 a E m H H 8 “ 0 0 0

o 5. 5 o m m 0 m 0 N 0 am 5 8 0 m 0 M 0 3 0 =1 0 0m 0 8 5 0 0 0 > 0 . 8. 8 5 . 0 0 w 0 8 o 0 8 0 o 0 u s a 9 0 i m 8 : t a c o a fi mo 8 3 0 0 2 m1 0 8 : 5 0 m 0 0 m0 5 0 0 5 E 9 0 3 E 0 m m 0 0 a 5 8 LAND - MEASURES 75

A SQUARE FURLONG OR TEN- ACRE

2 3 7 8 9 1 0

A . . 1 cre No is divided , according to the 0 ancient custom , into 4 roods , each 4 1 rods long and rod broad . 1 0 i Acre No . is d vided , according to ’ 1 0 Gunter s decimal system , into square

n . chai s , each 4 rods square

- 4 . FEUDAL LAND MEASURE S In ancient Egypt land was surveyed by a State department , but other Eastern Kingdoms , even of the 76 MEN AND MEASURES

i . present t me , are less advanced There is a simple was a rox i system of taxing each plough . This pp as mately the medieval system , we see in the

- Domesday revenue survey , the great record of the

- plough lands and rental of England . Estates are thus described : 1 2 5hides ; land for I I ploughs . There is plough o with 4 bordars and 4 serfs . Worth 3 s .

2 2 0 . hides , land for ploughs , 3 acres meadow

Worth 6os .

hi 1 1 0 . 4 des , 5 virgates ; land for ploughs Now

1 IL 1 . worth 4 , formerly at 7 li In some parts the knight ’ s fee was reckoned at 0 i l 4 80 acres (4 hides) worth 4 sh l ings a year . On this valuation

- a 2 0 . The pound land , librata terr e, was 4 acres

- ta a 1 S i n solida 2 . The h lli g land , terr e, was acres

- iata a w 1 den ar as . The land , terr e , acre

- terrm 1 . The farthing land , 5obolata , was rood

’ ’ Centlivrees de terre a l esterlin (Froissart) a hundred

- al al pound lands , reckoned of the annu v ue of

1 00 pounds sterling . This is sometimes taken as the ’ amount of relief, another feudal estimate , often taken ’ at one year s value . ’ I In Edward I s time a son and heir paid £1 8 for 1 8 relief of his land which was worth £ a year . In ’ Henry Il 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 (1 0 to 4 0 knight s ’ fees) was fixed at 1 00 marks ; in Henry III s time it w as £1 00 .

78 MEN AND MEASURES

’ 0 rod . Thus the rood is forty yard ground and ’ ’ the acre is eight score yard 0 ground . — A i f ROOD . d f erentiated form of rod applied in al 0 a line sense to 4 rods , and also to the area of a

- 1 quarter acre 4 0 X rods . In Normandy and the our rod and as r rood are verge and vergée , and the fi st sense of verge was yard so vergée became in English a yard ’ i of lande . So here we have a th rd sense of the triple

- - form word virga verge yard .

A rodde of land which some call a roode , some a farthen dale yarde lande , and some a (Recorde , ’ The latter term , meaning a fourth part , as in the i al farth ng to the penny , may so have referred to the

- rood as being a farthing land in rental . It appears as

urendellus arun del erlin L . f , f , f g.

’ - The rood was also divided into 4 day s work , each of 1 0 square rods . — AS al ACRE . the rood was sometimes line , though usually superficial , so also the acre was sometimes

a - a rough line l measure , generally an acre breadth , or

- 4 rods (a cricket pitch). But it might also be an

- 1 acre length a rood length . The verse in Samuel ‘ xiv . And that first slaughter which Jonathan and his armour be arer made was about twenty men within as it were an half- acre of land which a yoke of oxen ’ ’ Cov erdale s 1 n might plow, is in version ( 535) withi ’ the length of halve an aker of londe , that is , 20 in a length of rods . In French arpent was

- likewise used for a French acre length , reckoned ,

Oflicial not of the square arpent , but of the furrow LAND - MEASURES 79

long arpent , nearly a furlong . Thus in the Chanson de Roland

’ Einz qu hum alastun sul arpentde camp (Before one (he)went a single acre of ground)

x evidently means about a furlong , just as in Iliad . , when he was as far off as the length of the furrow h made by mules as the same meaning . Similarly the sesteirado of Provence was used as 1 00 an itinerary measure , probably of cano about

the cen t é 220 eni . yards , the same as

sesteirado The , the rood of Southern France , ’ boisselee - corresponding to the , the bushel land of Mid

- France , was , like the latter , originally a seed unit , the ’ estie - extent sown with a s of seed corn . Its extent is

0 . 4 acre , our rood Now if this were square , each 0 side would measure 4 yards , a length too small for itinerary measure . Neither Northern nor Southern France had any official itinerary measure under the

field- league , so units were necessarily used ; in the

- sesteirado north the arpent length , in the south the

di - length both correspon ng to our rood length , furrow length or furlong . There seems little doubt that the centen ié , the popular itinerary measure of the south , 1 00 sesteirado cano or fathoms , was the same as the

. sesteirado 00 length And the being 4 square cano , it 1 seems that its dimensions were 00 X 4 cano . It was

- moreover the rood , or quarter of the greater land unit , saumado the , the seam of land , which would thus 1 00 x 1 6 0 X 1 be cano just as our rood was 4 , rods ,

0 irado- n . seste and our acre 4 x 4 rods Ten le gths , 80 MEN AND MEASURES

1 0 cen ten ié mile 1 000 , made the , a mile of local fathoms ,

- one third of the league of Southern France .

— tron a terra vir na ta. . L . a bouve YARDLAND a , g Fr . e . 0 Bovate , Oxgang . About 3 acres more or less , includ l ing pasture and perhaps some wood and . 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 hu/e about 20 hoeve acres , and to the Netherlands , the unit of

. 6 small holding Almost everywhere and always , 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 1 6 feet the acre is 4 0 perches long and 4 broad and pays a penny a year 3 shillings for the virgate or wist , the price of which was about 8 20 i l . sh l ings In this case 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 some ’ l i - - times ca led a yard of land , so v rga verge yard acquired the general sense of quarter — e ither of an LAND - MEASURES 81

acre or of a ploughland or carucate . Thus in Quant une homme est feffe dune verge de terre e tdun n u du autre de carne terre (Statute of Wards ,

v er e ’ b ut the term verge de terre means not a rod , a g , a yardland or virgate . Farthing or ferling as a quarter was used in the

: - - same double sense a quarter acre or a quarter hide ,

i - indeed , as w ll presently be seen , a quarter virgate .

A REM — - 1 G E . This old law term for 0 acres of land points to a tradition that our original unit of land

wa measurement s a rood or furlong square , that is lh 4 0 X 4 0 rods it was called a Ferlingata or Ferde . E w A document temp . d . II describes the virgate (of ’ which 4 made a hide ; 5 hides being a knight s fee)

as 1 0 . of 4 (square)furlongs , each of acres

r X ac ae terrae faciuntunam fardellam . Decem acrae faciuntferlingatam ; quatuor ferlingatae faciunt v ir atam et vir atae faciun thidam g , quatuor g ; u hidae fa u q inque ci ntfeodum militis .

So it appears conclusive (1 ) that the hide was 1 6 square furlongs , a quarter of a square mile the quarter section of America ; (2) that the acre was ff originally a slice of land O the square furlong , a rood , or furlong in length , a tenth of this in breadth .

NG A D I G — The n FURLO N FERL N . square furlo g is the same as the Acreme 1 0 acres . The square furlong or furrow- long tends to become confused with farthen l . vierlin viertel fer ing , G g, with fardel , G . , with

a i . . v erendeel n d le , Du , all meani g a fourth This confusion arises from the square furlong , similar in G 82 MEN AND MEASURES

sound to ferling , being approximately the fourth , or hi l Ferlin us fart ng , of the virgate or yardland , itse f g

terrm l . , a fourth of the hide or plough and So a ferling may be a fourth of an acre , or of a virgate , or of a fa h ale faren del i . i rten d h de Sim larly it may be , as or ,

- a quarter bushel .

Another cause of confusion in feudal land - measures

- is the money estimation of land . Bishop Fleetwood

’ 1 0 ar - Chronicon , 7 7)thought the acre was a m e land of

1 60 - den ariatus a pence and the rod a penny land , terr e,

- i - so that the quarter rod was a farth ng land . He was deceived by the coincidence of the 1 60 rods of the acre 8 1 60 1 s . d with the pence , 3 4 ounces of silver , of the i Farthin dale monetary marc , and he m stook the g or

- - Faren del . , a quarter acre or rood , for a quarter rod

- i The acre was distinctly a penny land , and the h de

1 60 - 1 60 . of acres was a marc land , paying pence — D . r . carucata HI E Ploughland , ca ucate , L , Fr . ar é c u e . 1 6 1 60 Normally square furlongs acres , 1 20 r but sometimes acres or less , va ying 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 coin wi ’ cided th the knight s fee (see Customs of Lancaster). D D — HUN RE . 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 A N . YARD D THE VERGE These cognate terms have many developments of

a meaning , running almost par llel both in English and LAND - MEASURES 83

’

al . . rd eard French . Yard , the equiv ent of A S gy , g , a is and perhaps g ed (gad), cognate to Rod and to

Fr . Verge . It may mean

1 vir a . ver e . . A rod from a tree L . g , Fr g

r 6 . ver e. 2 . A sho t measure of 4 to spans Fr g

3. A pole of indefinite length , in various senses ,

&c. . ver e ver u e. naval , Fr g , g

. 2 4 A long measure of 9 to 4 feet rod , pole , erche perch . In France the p may be from 95 feet 2 (Burgundy) to 2 feet (French). f . o 2 5 A measure surface 9 to 4 feet square . Yard ,

ver . Fr . ge

6. A larger measure of surface 4 0 x 1 rod a

- - . é . ver e . quarter acre Yard land , rood , Fr g

. a . 7 A quarter of a still l rger unit Virgata ,

- yard land . 8 . A holding of a rood when enclosed became a yard or garth , then a cultivated enclosure of any size

- boom- aar - - . d tree yard (Du g ), apple garth , win gaard 1 (vineyard). ver Here the Fr . ge parts company with yard is u curti erum its place taken by co r (L . f ) and

. ho G f.

9 . Any enclosed land attached to a hous e Palace

- - - . cour. . basse cour. yard , Fr Farm yard , Fr Court yard , ho G . f. Court farmyard in Somerset . v Fr . erge reappears in the English form of verge ’

e i . . rd in the s nse of a circle or ring , AS gy , now g rth

The gyrd was a geard or yard bent into a hoop . Fr .

r a te O thodox ly A . S . ga rd is con side re d to b e un con n ec d with

aard a ar or rod . g , y d 84 MEN AND MEASURES verge rin g was a verge or rod bent into a hoop or

n . . . ba ue ri g Cf Fr g , ring made by bending a rod or baguette into a hoop . The English sense of verge circle is seen in

0 would to God that the inclusive verge

Of golden metal that must round my brow. h II Ric . I . 1 . , iv To the furthest verge ’ s r That ever was u v ey d by English eye . i h R c III . 1 . , i .

’ The verge of the King s palace or court , sometimes

1 C al stated as twelve leagues (of 5miles), a ircuit equ to about 3 miles in radius .

Ho THE R D T B 7 . w O CAME o E 55 YARDS

The Roman pertica was 1 0 feet though it seems probable that there was also a customary rod of

1 2 feet . w 6 The French perche as ells of 4 Roman feet ,

double the presumed customary perch of Rome .

The Scots rod was 6 ells of 3 Rhineland feet . The German an d Norse ruthen are nearly always

either of 1 2 or of 1 6 feet . w H o came it that the English rod was fixed, about 1 6 P the time of Edward I , at 55yards 5feet There is reason to believe that it was originally

hi . 5 yards , at first in Roman feet , then in R neland feet

A length of 5 yards and 1 or 2 inches

86 MEN AND MEASURES

e nl from that of the medieval lance . C rtai y in France there is some evidence of the spear- length being used

- n u hanst un e han stée as a rough land measure , or ’ H a te . n s ham e de terre , in modern French p , a ha ta . s . shaft , is from L Doubtless very long lances have been used by infantry . The Macedonian phalanx

8 fiv e had lances of yards , so that rows of spear points 6 projected from its front . The Scots lance was ells ,

six Elns the Scots rod , That in all , Spears be in ’ length , under the pain of etc . (James III) but this =1 8 length , 5 feet , was ordered two centuries later than Edward I , at a time when infantry were brought to resist the onslaught of cavalry . Two centuries 1 later still , it was ordered by 3 Chas . II that a pikeman 1 6 was to be armed with a pike not under feet in length . It is improbable that in Edward I ’ s time foot soldiers a were armed with pikes anything like th t length , while the knights ’ spears could not have been longer than

1 0 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

s . length of the Cornish goad , not more than 3 yard long Inclined myself to this second hypothesis— for was

’ 1 1 22 not Hector s spear of cubits spans , and are not 22 spans 1 65 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 1 6 Norse or

Rhineland feet brought over by Saxons or Danes , and LAND - MEASURES

as that , established is seen by the Roll of Battel Abbey ’ pertica vero xvi pedes , it was afterwards adjusted ’ 1 6 to the standard of the King s foot . Thus Rhine land feet 1 6 feet 57 inches which would make the 1 6 6 statute rod practically feet inches . In North 1 6 a Germany the Ruthe is usually of local feet , origin lly , u it may be pres med , Rhineland feet , displaced by the

local foot to 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 , some

roede 1 times , as in Holland , by making the 3 Amsterdam 1 1 1 short feet (of inches) instead of 2 Rhineland feet . It seems likely that the North German acker of 1 60 square ruthen came to Northern France with the

Franks and the Normans , that it became the Acre de 1 60 Normandie of square rods , the length of the rod becoming changed by the influence of the French 6 aun e 2 standard of s 4 Roman feet . This length 2 of 4 feet passed , under Norman influence , to Cheshire , 8 2 becoming the local rod of yards or 4 English feet .

6 aun es l The rod of , French e ls , passed to Scotland 6 6 1 8 as ells , but Scots ells Rhineland feet .

8 How THE To BE 1 60 . ACRE CAME RODS

1 6 The North German acker or morgen is 0 ruthen . ? sex decimal Why It may be presumed that , on the system dear to the bucolic mind throughout the world , 1 6 a 1 0 it was times an origin l unit of square ruthen , of 1 6 feet square , analogous to the Greek plethron of 1 0 square k alamoi and to the Provencal cosso of 88 MEN AND MEASURES

- ll 1 0 square fathom rods . There is sti extant , in North sn ees 20 Holland , the , snick, or score , of land , square roede . The Austrian j och is 1 600 square klafter of

6 feet acre . 1 600 There are square rods in our square furlong , the original square unit of which the acre is a one - tenth slice . in In Provence , the people , long under Roman

fluen ce , 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 saumado 1 600 6 unit is the of square cano of feet . It 1 sex de cimal l is divided in two ways ( )on the system , 6 1 0 2 1 0 . ( ) into cosso , each of square cano It seems as if the 1 600 small units in our square f a saumado urlong , in the Austrian joch , in the Provenc l , come from an extension of the sex decimal multiple 6 6 1 6 0 1 to 1 0 and 0 .

C 9 . USTOMS OF LANCASTER Customs of places doe differ for in the Dutchy of Lancaster a kn ightes fee containeth foure hides of l ll land , every hide foure plough ands ca ed in latine carucata a aratrum terr e, and that is quantum arare aestiv o potest in tempore , and that is (as I take it) l Ox e an e which is in the North parts cal ed an g g . And every ploughland or carue is foure yard land which

1 Con cordan tly with the sex decim al system of corn - measure s

- tir do or 8 imin ado. See See measure s in Section 1 0 into ses e a e . 4 , d

90 MEN AND MEASURES

1 - 0 . SEED MEASURE S OF LAND

When men , emerging from the pastoral stage , took l u to agriculture , land was p entif l 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 .

x x vi . It was ordered in Israel (Lev . j ) that land should be estimated according to the seed thereof , an homer of barley- seed shall be valued at fifty Shekels ’ 8 i . of s lver Taking the homer at bushels , a homer of 0 S land 3 or 4 acres , was worth 5 hekels , or half crowns , of silver . w The Romans had the modius of land , sown ith a modius , about 5bushel , of corn . In Northern France there is still the bon nier of

boune bonn ie land , about 4 acres , sown with a or of

8 . seed , about bushels Throughout the greater part of France the land is seterées sesteirado n ow reckoned in or , units fixed but

’ etier - m originally named after the variable s of seed co .

’ mine eimin ado boisselee Smaller units are the or , and ,

- all seed units . f In North Germany the Schef el , or Schepel 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 G ermany and Norway there is the Tuun or Tonde , a of about 4 bushels , corresponding to the Tonde land of about 1 5 acre (roughly equal to the French

’ tree es ). LAND - MEASURES 91

l Saumado - ass To the Sa ma of Italy , to the (she ) of Provence , corresponds the old English Seam , the Quarter of corn . The word seam hence got the

al general mean ing of a quarter . So though the Seam sow of Corn would 4 acres , a seam of an acre meant

- a quarter acre . A Sester or Sextarius was what we call a Quarter ni 8 or a seam contai ng bushels (Sauma , quod unius i e . equi fit sauma , . sarcina) (Bishop Fleetwood ,

There are still traces of seed- measures to be found in some parts of England . But in A pek of londe an d n a le Half a pek a y of londe (Rolls of Parliament , it is doubtful whether the peck of land was

- - really a seed measure or a quarter acre , as the peck

- ul is a quarter bushel . A nail of land wo d be 1 5 acre .

- t There were seed measures of land in Sco land . b r m l A e d . AIS ekill Thus : 1 5th Cy . Chart and as a h ’ i l sc awe . e . ce dr of aits will , a Chalder of land , as C 6 firlots sow much as a halder 4 55 bushels , will ,

2 . about 5 acres There was also the Lippy of land , 1 firlot was that which took a lippy , 1 5 of seed . It

usually about 1 00 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

al s r - mediev times , the whole serie of co n measures

- and land measures have names in common .

1 uote in the New En lish D iction ar a tre asur of uotation s Q d g y , y q , w ic has o ten utm on e a l in orm ation h h f p e th gtrack of valu b e f . 92 MEN AND MEASURES

Lan - measures can d Sq . o Saumado 1 Saumado bushel . acre 600 Ses tié Sesteirado 4 00 Eimin ado 0 Eimin o 4 4 gallon . 2 200 Quartiero Qu arteirado 50 Pougn adeiro Pougn eirado 1 2 5 1 Cosso (Sc . Luggie) 5 Cosso (Sc . Lug . ) 0

These land- measures would correspond to Coomb

- - &c. land , Bushel land , Peck land , The Cosso of Saumado as land is 5 55 of the , our square rod is 555 acre . In Italy and Spain there are Similar series of land

- measures named after corn measures .

94 MEN AND MEASURES

as Av erde ois pound , afterwards known p , and now the

Imperial pound . When the Romans took the Alexandrian talent as

- the standard of their new libra system , they divided 1 2 a i 1 00 it into 5 libr e, wh ch were 5 ounces or double shekels , each ounce 4 37 grains . When the Arab Caliphs conquered the southern di and eastern Me terranean countries , they found in

- 1 Egypt the Egy pto Roman pound , 1 53 of the Alexan drian talent ; they adopted it , and divided it for

- 2 mithk als coin weight purposes into 7 , j ust as the Roman Emperors had divided the old As pound into

72 aurei ; so 6 mithk als the libra- ounce of 4 37

- 6 i . grains , j ust as aurei the As ounce of gra ns 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 a of Spain . King Offa of Merci struck a gold coin with

1 A . D . . an Arabic inscription , dated 57 of the Hej ira 774

However this may have been , there seems no doubt 1 6 that the Roman pound , raised to ounces , was the standard of England before as after the Norman in conquest , and there is no evidence of it hav g ever been in abeyance . In early Plantagenet times there was a sex decimal se ries of weights

The of 1 6 lb . 1 6 1 The of stone 256 b . al 20 There was so the Hundredweight , of which 0 made a ton of 2000 lb . and 2 weys made a Las t of 1 20 2 approximately 5 lb . or % tons . n 1 6 The pou d was divided into ounces , each 4 37 ENGLISH COMMERCIAL WEIGHTS 95

1 6 2 grains , and the ounce into drams or drops 7 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 al pound and , in statutes where a commerci pound had was to be mentioned , by pretending that this equal

- to 25 shillings weight or 1 5 ounces of the mint pound . hi so T s deception led to others , that , to make out the meaning of a statute of weights and measures , one b e must be able to read between the lines , and to prepared for misleading and contradictory statements . ll 1 1 26 I wi take as an instance , Act 5 Henry III ( 7)

An English peny called a Sterling round and without n a 2 n i n clippi g , sh ll weigh 3 wheat cor s the midst of the a d 1 2 n on e an d 20 ( 1 . an n n ear do make Ou ce , Ou ces 8 n a n w Pound , and Pou ds do make a g llo of ine and 8 gallons of wine do make a London Bushel which is the a eighth part of a Qu rter . 96 MEN AND MEASURES

This declaration may be thus interpreted

In the Tower there is a standard pound . An

English silver penny should weigh g h; of this pound and

1 - 9 5 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 8 these pounds weight of wine or of water, that larger s 8 gallon each containing pounds , not of wine , but of 8 wheat , make a Bushel ; and that 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 l of the Quarter, which was the a 20 quarter of a chaldron , the me sure of a ton of true

00 . hundredweight . The quarter was 5 lb of average 62 av erde ois wheat , and the bushel weighed § p

- 8 lb . of wheat or, in wheat water ratio , 7 lb . of wine or of

f . water, the specific gravity of which di fers but little 8 8 54 00 grs . x X - But 8 X 8 Tower lb . of wine 7000

° av erde ois . . 4 9 4 p lb or, to be quite accurate , 4 9 5lb of av erde ois c early Plantagenet p weight , when the oun e r l was of Roman standard , 4 37 g ains how then cou d

8 . the bushel 7 lb . of wine , be the measure of 4 9 5 lb of wine P two di f That there were f erent gallons , the one for in wine , the other for corn , is shown the Ordinance 8 1 w . 3 Ed . III , where it is ordered that lb of wheat

98 MEN AND MEASURES

the 60 r - S 57 g ain pound of ilver , so that these were

’ III s little more than half the weight of Henry pennies ,

l 2 - yet they were stil of the weight of 3 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

- m weighing of wheat cor s , surmounted by a picture of two entwin ed wheat—ears with the inscription

THE CONAG E THE YN OF M TE .

“ w e Tw r n h te eare . o a es k The g y ma eth the xvi p . of “ n ffower ra n es vii n a pen y, g y maketh the j p . of a pe ny.

After this irn puden tassertion one is not surprised to read that it was the same tym e ordeire d that xvi uncs of Troie maketh the H ab erty poie a poun de for to 1 ’ buy spice by , nor by the statement that the C is

ff v e true at this daye , y score for the hundred as ’ e app areth in Magna Carta . Comment on these ingenious statements seems hardly necessary . The only changes in English weights Since the time l of Henry III , or indeed much ear ier times , have been

1 1 2 . 1 . The raising of the hundredweight to lb

6 1 . 2 1 . . The lowering of the stone from lb to 4 lb

- to make it one eighth of the new hundredweight .

av erde ois 1 6 3. The rise of the p pound from Roman ounces of 4 37 grains to 1 6 oun ces of 4 37§ grains ; a

i 8 So 000 d fference of grains , as to make it 7 grains of the

Tudor Troy pound .

Pro a l in th meanin of h Du s i s oo . b b y e g te tch p i , f d ENGLISH COMMERCIAL WEIGHTS 99

- re 1 00 . 4 . The legalising of the lb or cental weight 8 in 1 79 . I may observe that the octonary series of measures 1 1 b n w . e v t. of capacity , also of the 4 stone and , is sex decim al quite in harmony with the system , however obj ectionable be those units .

The Recogn ition of A verdepois Weight 8 1 . It is not until 4 5 (Ripon Ch Acts , quoted in the New English Dictionary ’ ) that we find mention of av erde ois p , though there had been standard weights E w d . n derib u . o s of it from temp III , per balance cum p ’ hab erde ase de p , and those standards were extant in the time of Elizabeth . The document embodying 1 2 Henry VII (1 4 96) H ab ert oie mentions , as has been seen , the yp pound , 1 6 n with the assertion that it was Troy ou ces , an

n assertion causi g confusion for centuries afterwards .

’ ’ 0 1 00 In Arnold s Customs of London , . 5 , there is

L n e We ht b ou hte mentioned the yggy g yg , by which is g m archaun dise and solde all maner of as tynne , ledde and al maner of spe cery and such other as is used to be solde by weyght; and of this weyght i x v un cis x . j make a pound , and C and j li is an C , and x C make a M of all suche marchaun dises ’ except wulle .

This lying weight was by the balance , the weight S lying in one scale , and not hanging or liding on the

il ard Aun ll stil ar st ce . d beam of a y as in weight The y , very portable , as not requiring heavy weights , yet dm a itted of fraud . Arnold says this weight is

8 2 1 00 MEN AND MEASURES forb oden in England by statute of , and also holy church hath cursed in England all that beyon ’ we ht or sellen by that auncel yg . In 1 532 it was ordered by 24 Henry VIII that meat

’ - du - shall be sold by weight called Haver pois , and in

1 commenl 54 3 Recorde Ground of Artes says , But y there is used an other weyghtcalled hab erdyepoyse ’ 1 6 in which onces make a poundo.

In 1 54 5 the Custom - House notified that thys ’ H ab ard lyinge and y peyse is all one . a Having cleared way , as I hope , the obscurity which so long hung over the commercial weight ignored by the statutes , it may be well to mention that Av erdepois is the best Spelling of this word so New and is accepted by the English Dictionary .

’ - Aver is an old established English word for goods , and the earlier form H ab erdepase shows the original pronunciation . The spelling of the last syllable in Av erdepois 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 ‘ Edw b l dz a oir i t 2 . e v de o s spel , as in 5 III , , p , chars , ’ esson s p (corn , heavy goods , meat , fish), it does not follow that the oi diphthong was pronounced as in

’ esson s oisson s boy . The word p , now written p ,

- shows the sound value of the diphthong . The sound now given to it in modern French is a corruption . Up i 1 00 o é wé. till 7 , even in Paris , was pronounced or

erde ez . Av p is the true pronunciation However, the influence of prevents any improvement

1 02 MEN AND MEASURES

1 6 1 8 The Proclamation for Weights of December , 5 7 , i av e rde ois establ shed p weight , and ordered that no person Shall use any Troy weight but only for weighin g of ’ S i bread , gold, ilver and electuaries and for no other th ng .

It seems probable that , in the two centuries before

Elizabeth , the standard of the commercial pound had 8 risen by about grains . This may have occurred when the Troy pound superseded the Tower pound . the In adjustment , which I assume as probable , of the Troy and Av erdepois pounds so as to obtain a ratio 60 000 of 57 to 7 , the latter standard , raising the ounce 8 from 4 37 to 4 37§ grains , and the pound by grains , may have been adopted so as to avoid or diminish the cutting down of the n ew 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 . i And yet , well into the n neteenth century , even into i the twentieth , went on the puzzledom of our we ghts t and measures , left to ari hmetic book and almanack makers blinded by the glamour of the royal pound .

’ No ofiicial t ut erance came to clear the darkness , was l 1 8 for it not til 55 that the pound , then established

fi . as an Imperial standard , was really de ned

TH M ND 2 . E I PERIAL POU It is the weight in vacuo of a certain piece of plati 1 6 n num kept in London . It is divided into ou ces , approximately Roman ounces . The ounce may be divi ded into 1 6 drams . ENGLISH COMMERCIAL WEIGHTS 1 03

000 r The pound is also divided into 7 g ains , the ounce being 4 37} grains . It may be well to anticipate or remove any un cer av e rde ois tainty about the grain . The p pound was only divided into ounces and drams (j ust as the yard l di is on y vided , as a yard , into quarters and nails), but on its adjustment with the troy poun d as 000 60 7 grains of which the latter 57 , it became n divisible into grains . These were lo g 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 Cyclopaedia (1 81 9) informed its readers that the pound or 7680 0 00 e grains avoirdupois equals 7 grains troy , and henc ’ 1 grain troy equals avoirdupois . The weight of the standard pound in a vacuum

(that is , its weight not diminished by the buoyancy ooo of the air) being 7 grains , a commercial brass pound exactly equal to the platinum standard when weighed against it in air at would weigh grains in a vacuum .

The

1 2 This, 3 3 of an ounce 7§ grains , is principally used as a unit for powder in the cartridges of sporting

’ guns . In Scotland it was called a drop .

1 6 ue ch 73. A q weighing 1 8 unce and 1 0 drop .

1 805. An arrow of from 20 to 24 drop weight

The dram was possibly so called from its correspond 1 04 MEN AND MEASURES

oi - ing to the quentchen , & the German Loth or half ounce 1 (1 g of a marc) as the drachm was é of a medicinal l ounce . 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 .

C N C A ND D C N S S H 3. S IE TIFI ME I I AL DIVI ION OF T E POUND

For scientific purposes the pound is considered as f o 000 . 7 grains It may be divided into tenths , h undredths , thousandths this last division being

c . alled a Septem , as 7 grains The tenth of this m ul 0 ight be called a Sept a 7 grain , and the hun

r h S i en l d e dt a eptc t grain . This sma l weight 1 00 000th would be one , of the gallon , the same pro portion as the centigramme to the litre . In analyses of water the solid constituents are usually stated in centigrammes to the litre , or parts in and as grains to the gallon or parts in they have to be

Se ti n divided by 0 7 to get that ratio . p ce ts 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 Pharmacopoeia only recognising Imperial weight , the ounce and the grain . For convenience , a

1 The dram of spirits is a measure probably so calle d from its bein of a in ti. e . hal a uarterm g i p , f q j

1 06 MEN AND MEASURES

6 . n sixteenth } lb as its ail or clove . In his Acts 1 00 1 000 there is mention of the weight , the weight , the 2000 weight . But by the Ordinance of Measures E w 1 02 1 d . 3 I , 3 , a distractingly obscure statute , no less than three different weights are ordered for the stone 1 A stone for lead of 2 lb .

A London stone of 1 2 g lb one - eighth of the true

t .

8 lb 1 A stone for groceries of . ; and 35 stone to 8 t . 1 make a of 0 lb . 6 1 1 b And the fotmal of lead is to be stones of 2 . lb ’ 2 . 0 . . but less , which are 7 lb making 5 stones

1 2 . Here then we see , besides a lb stone for lead ,

a 1 0 . ( ) The true t . of 0 lb divided into quarters

and nails . b 1 8 . 1 ( ) A transitional t . of 0 lb in 3; old half 8 stones of lb . 8 c 1 1 1 . ( ) A new t . of 2 lb . in stones of 4 lb 8 1 0 . The t . (centena) of lb seems to have been 1 1 i preparatory to the t . of 2 lb . mentioned in th s Ordinance (if it be not a later interpolation) and established later by Edward III . It preserved , for

- 8 l b . a time , the ancient half stone of , but by the inconvenient process of making 1 3 of these as the n ew t . probably to prepare the merchant for a 8 1 1 . 1 . t . of 2 lb first in 4 stones of lb and then in 8 1 stones of 4 lb .

This is the t . which has come down from Edward

III to the present day , against which trade has had to s l hi struggle more or less succes ful y ever since , and w ch ENGLISH COMMERCIAL WEIGHTS 1 07

torments the schoolboy with sums in tons , cwts . , qrs . and lb . 1 6 To this day the old Stone of lb . or its half, the

’

8 lb ll . Clove of . , sti continues in use The butcher s fi ’ 8 b shmon er s l . and g stone is , and cheese is sold , in 1 6 most parts of England , by the lb . stone , as it was

Six . 1 five or centuries ago In 4 34 , by 9 Henry VI , it was ordered that the Wey of cheese should contain 32 1 00 cloves , yet we learn from Arnold ( 5 )that the weight b x i x v l . of Suffolk Cheese is j score and j , the same weight as the wey (1 6 x 1 6 256 and Recorde (1 54 3) says that for butter and cheese a clove con h 8 ’ tain et . 2 2 6 lb and a wey 3 cloves which is 5 lb . By

1 0 1 1 2 2 6 lb . Anne ( 7 ) a barrel of soap is to contain 5 , i e . . a Wey . 1 The Plantagenet 4 lb . stone is used for flour and &c potatoes , but the load , the modern form of the 8 1 1 b . . 2 2 l wey , is stone of 4 lb 5 , evidently an approximately near substitute for the 1 6 x 1 6 lb .

2 6 . 5 lb of the Wey, there being until quite recently no l lawfu weights allowed above 7 lb . but in multiples of

. we that weight The load , like the y , has the advantage 6 l b . of being equal to 4 bushels of heavy corn at 3 , 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 t . for the inconvenient unit , rightly rej ected by our brethren in North America , and in several colonies I’ S 1 08 . Edward intermediate t . of lb seems to

Show that it was intended to bring our t . up to that

n 1 0 8 . of foreign cou tries using Troy pounds , lb being 1 08 MEN AND MEASURES very close to the French and Flemish quintal (Arabic

- 1 00 . cantar)of Troy lb The wool trade with Flanders , the dominion of the Plantagenets in France , may have been the motives for this increase .

1 1 . The hypothesis that the t . was made 2 lb so as 6 1 00 . 1 to be equal to long Troy lb of Troy ounces , is excluded by the ratio of av erdepois to long troy being

1 00 to 1 097 and also by the new t . dating at least from the time of Edward III , when the royal lb . was av e rde ois 1 00 still Tower , not Troy, with a ratio to p of 1 8 1 6 to 2 and it was certainly not of ounces . The only lawful multiples of the Imperial pound were , until quite recently , those of the stone series

7 lb . a clove .

1 . 4 lb . a stone

- a . 2 8 lb . a qu rter t

- 1 b t . 56 . a half b t . 1 1 2 1 . a

ton . 2 24 0 lb . a

nl f 6 28 And the o y law ul weights were those of 5 , ,

1 2 1 . 4 , 7 , 4 , , and lb I have had some personal experience of the in con v enien ce of these weights . For years I had to weigh di recruits and other soldiers , recor ng their weights in poun ds with this inconvenient set of weights . To get the weight of a man of 1 52 lb . I had to reckon 2 X 1 8 1 b . l 56 lb . 2 7 4 Errors were necessari y i frequent when many weigh ngs had to be rapidly done , — 20 1 0 lb . so I had a set of decimal weights made , , 5 and all trouble ceased . But these weights were not

o . lawful , at least for trade purp ses

1 1 0 MEN AND MEASURES

0 . B 1 Edw 35 lb v 4 . III the sack shall contain ’

d 1 . 6 lb 6 an . i 2 . e . 2 stone each stone 4 lb 3 4 , weys of 1 u 3 stone . This reg lation was supported by other

1 8 1 6 ha statutes , in 3 9 and 4 9 , and appears to have d f due e fect , for it is the standard at the present time ’ 2 6 stone or 1 3 tods . Why was this particular weight ordered Possibly because the sack thus corresponded

nearly to the skippund (Ship- pound) of the Baltic 2 0 d trade and of Scotland , a weight of lispun each of 1 6 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 2 h 26 l 4 stone , w ich was equivalent to Eng ish stone , in proportion to the heavier weight of the Scots pound . The Plantagenet domin ation in France caused the stone to pass there , though not always at English weight and there being n o regular weight in France

e al b tween the pound and the quint , local stones came et into use . Les laines vend on par sacs par pois , ’ ar e t p pierres , par claus par livres , the French terms the an d for sack , the wey , the stone , the clove the 1 l n . pou d Sometimes the stone was cal ed gal (stone ,

aletS - g , hingle) and the clove demi gal (Livre blanc ’ ’ de l hotel de ville d Ab b e ville). The French stone was of variable weight . One record gives the sack of wool 2 Montpellier light quintals) as of 5 pierres , which would make them 9 lb . each . Another record gives it 1 0 as 36 stone of 9 standard pounds English pounds).

1 See section on the Nail an d the love a . XX . C , Ch p ENGLISH COMM ERCIAL WEIGHTS 1 1 1

The stone appears to be extinct now in France I find thatas late as 1 579 wool was sold in Burgundy by the wool- stone (la pierre de lain e) 1 2 French or about 1 3 English poun ds . While the old English wey or load was 1 6 X 1 6 6 l l 2 b . 5 , the wey ordered for woo was half a sack ’

1 82 . n lb It would seem that , once the Ki g s dues paid , the shipper was free to make up his sacks or sarplers i of wool as most convenient to h m . The customary wey or weigh (Sc . waugh or wall) seems to have been

2 . 32 cloves or nails of 7 lb . cwt A poke of wool ’

i e . . 1 0 . wean d . 1 . 4 C 5 nallis , 4 cwt and 5 lb A sack ’

6 2 i. e . 1 wt. 1 2 c . might be wall and 5 naill , and 75 lb we oids The y or weigh became , in statute French , p , pois but the scribes took the wrong pois and thinking

isa it meant pease made it p in their Latin , just as claw s they took the wrong nail and made it L . , and ’

lm clavis . e e . in French , through L , meaning a key

Lead Weight

1 i 1 . 1 . Wh le the fother is 72; cwt for coal , it is 9% cwt

2 1 8 . . 4 lb for lead This peculiar unit , also called 1 the char or load , is the consequence of a statute 3 E w d . I , perhaps the most confused and bewildering of the many confused medieval statutes on weights and h measures, and one in w ich subsequent interpolations 1 2 may be suspected . It ordered two stones , one of lb . lb 1 2 . and another of 5 , and to keep up the pretence of there being no weight other than of Tower standard , ai h it declared that a pound shall cont n 25 s illings . li This shil ng standard may bep utaside . 1 1 2 MEN AND MEASURES

The 1 2 lb . stone is ordered apparently either as

- 6 a double of a customary lead pound of lb . or to 0 make the customary fotmal or pig of lead , 7 lb . ’

6 1 . 2 2 . weight , contain stones (of lb )less lb It also

0 . says that the deduction of 2 lb . leaves 7 lb making ’ 5 stones . This passage appears to be a subsequent

’ interpolation after the institution of Edward III s

1 . 4 lb . stone

0 fotmals The fother of lead , of 3 , would thus be lb 2 1 00 . . lb But the stone of , evidently intended

» of to be 5 the true hundredweight , and to pave the 1 way for the coming 4 lb . stone , is also applied to lead . = 8 2 1 . How it is not said but the present fother , 4 lb 0 is almost exactly equal to 3 fotmal , each of 73 lb . 1 6 2 90 lb and 73 lb . is just stone of m g lb . less 1 2 b .

The 70 lb . fotmal seems to have disappeared by the the un seventeenth century , but in the meantime

n - certai ty of the fother led to the use of Boole weight , meaning the weight used at the lead- boles or natural

in . bowls which lead ore was smelted The fother ,

- 0 fotmals 6 1 . boole weight , was 3 of stone of 4 lb = 6 l 1 8 e 2 fotm als 20 1 b . Som times it was of 4 , that is cwt .

The meaning of Fother is given in Chapter XX .

D - N G H 6. TRA E U ITS OF WEI T

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

CHAPTER VIII

ENGLI SH MEASURES OF CAPACITY

1 THE O LD N S S . WI E MEA URE IT has been seen that a cubic foot of water is very 1 approximately 000 Roman ounces 62 5 lb . of

av er e o water at the early d p is standard . There is reason to believe that this cubic foot was our original

- - of 2 1 6 wine unit , the wine bushel , g it cubic inches ,

- ll being the wine ga on and that the cubic foot ,

- 1 28 1 2 2 1 60 . . increased in water wheat ratio 7 x 5 c i , 2— fl - - com . 2 0 . . was the bushel The corn gallon , % 7 c i ,

hi . . remained at t s standard for centuries , c i

2 2 . . W being the London measure , and 7 } c i the inchester i f fi measure , the sl ght di ferences being due to dif culties s in ca ting and gauging shallow metal pans .

That the wine - gallon was originally é cubic foot is rendered very probable by the existence in Ireland a alrn o t of a g llon of s exactly that capacity . This ale S gallon was legalised for , beer and pirits by George II 1 1 6 ( 735)at a capacity of 2 7 c . i .

- l 2 1 . . The rise of the wine ga lon in England to 9 c i ,

2 2 2 1 . . to 4 c . i . , and finally to 3 c i under Henry VIII , seems due to two influences 1 1 4 ENGLISH MEASURES OF CAPACITY 1 1 5

8 1 . The desire to make it hold lb . of wine

2 22 . . about 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 i Rhine land cubic foot c . i . So our gallon tended to 8 i s 2 . . ncrea e towards the measure of 35 c i , the half l . u 2 1 velte It co d not increase further than 3 c . i . without derangin g its water - wheat ratio with the

- corn gallon , already increased , temporarily at least , 8 2 2 . under Henry VIII to c . i But the principal wa reason for 231 c . i . was that this s 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

2 1 . . 3 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 .

- was alon The half velte the French g , a word

' ' alloie allaie alle arre connected with g , y , y , j , with our ‘ ’

. au e . jar and with gauge, Fr j g It may be mentioned that velte sometimes meant a gauging

- rod for wine casks .

- di 2 The wine gallon was vided into pots , or 4 quarts

8 - or pints . The wine pint fluid ounces g

Imperial pint . 1 1 6 MEN AND MEASURES

Cask M easures

By 2 Henry VI (1 4 23)

The wine - Hogshead was 63 gallons The Pipe 1 26 The Tun (tonnel) 252 (1 2 score and

i okshoo d ox - Thus the hogshead (Flem sh f , head) was approximately 1 of the tun or fluid ton .

- 8 lb = 1 2 20 6 . 52 wine gallons of . lb

— The customary beer barrel contained , and still 6 ll . contains , 3 gallons (now Imperial ga ons) It is probable that it was originally a half - hogshead

1 » 2 3 5 or 3 gallons, and that it rose as an indirect consequence of the statutory rise of the t . and Ton . (This will be explained under Corn a Me sure . )

- 1 8 ll The half barrel of gallons was ca ed a Kilderkin ,

kin derkin . from the old Flemish word , a little child

To it corresponded the Run let of 1 8% wine - gallons e the G rman Eimer or double Anker .

- The quarter barrel of 9 gallons is a Firkin , a word vierde r kin der SO in which , a fou th , replaces ; that u in the fifteenth cent ry it was a Ferdekyn .

- l 2 l But the ale barrel remained nominal y at 3 gal ons ,

il 1 6 firkin 8 l its k derkin at , its at ga lons . This counter

- l 8 . ba anced the increase of the ale gallon to 2 2 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 e it remain d for ale .

1 1 8 MEN AND MEASURES

1 1 - 28 In 53 the corn gallon was increased to 2 c . i .

But under Elizabeth the corn - gallon was restored to

6 . . 2 88 its old standard of 5 bushel c i c . i .

- d 1 2 . and the wine gallon fixe at 3 c i . At these standards 1 82 both gallons stood until their unification in 4 .

Confirmed by Queen Anne , they are known by her

name .

- a 282 . . But the corn g llon of Henry VIII , c i ,

- l remained as the Ale gallon , probab y because it had become the standard measure for malt .

The Quartand P int

While the wine - pint was an eighth of a wine - gallon

- the common pint of England was the Ale pint, an

Ale - 2 80 eighth of the Tudor gallon , which was or 2 82 cubic inches and differed little from the Imperi al h gallon 2 77 2 7 cubic inc es . So the pint of ale in f l Tudor times di fered little from an Imperia pint . The Quart and Pin t of Elizabeth preserved at the f Standards O fice are larger than Imperial measure , the

l n u Quart ! ho di g o nces as compared with the

4 0 ounces of the Imperial quart it is one - fourth of a

- 80 . gallon of 2 cubic inches , the Tudor ale gallon

N S 3. COR MEA URE

’ It has been seen that Henry III S statute defined ’

8 . the gallon as containing lb of wine , and Edward I s as contain in g 8 1 b . of wheat . It is probable that the

Magna Charta principle of one weight , one measure of a as prevented the mention two different g llons , it ENGLISH MEASURES OF CAPACITY 1 1 9

two f prevented the mention of di ferent pounds . But n we k ow 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

in - 8 ratio so our cubic foot , taken as a w e bushel of wine

l - com - ga lons , and increased one fourth , gave the bushel

8 c m - of o gallons .

1 3 1 —3 6 l - 2 1 . . i 3 c . i . c i , the or gina wine gallon,

8 1 6 - 1 2 . . 2 0 . . 7 c i c i , the corn bushel ,

- of which 270 c . i . was the corn gallon .

It has been seen that the wine - gallon increased to

- 2 1 . . r 3 c i , but the co n 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 b rass pan 1 8§ inches in diameter and only 8 inches deep ; and this is probably the cause of the slightdifference between the two standards of com W measure , the London bushel and the inchester bushel . These were simply variants , inevitable in making standard measures of the calculated capacity of the bushel 2 1 60 cubic inches 1 } cubic feet . 1 0 The London bushel 2 5 4 2 c . i . ; the gallon

c . i . 1 The Winchester bushel 2 78 c . i . the gallon

272} c . i .

The latter standard was so called , it is said , because its standard had been kept at Winchester Since the 6 22 . 1 0 time of King Edgar it was , by Chas II ( 7 )and 1 0 an d Geo . III the standard measure for corn other dry goods . 1 20 MEN AND MEASURES

1 m 1 02 an d A 1 0 But by 3 W . III ( 7 ) by 5 nne ( 7 7) hi the London bushel was the standard , and t s is the

- ni . present corn bushel of the U ted States It is,

nl a Win however, commo y c lled , but inaccurately , a chester bushel .

THE A ND THE HA D N 4 . QUARTER C L RO

1 1 2 . When the t . was raised to lb and the Ton

l - to 2 24 0 lb . the Cha dron or ton measure of wheat was increased by statute from 4 x 8 32 bushels 6 to 3 bushels . One would think it would follow that

ai 8 . the Quarter would be r sed from to 9 bushels No ,

was law com — it not raised, by at least so the trade raised it themselves , thinking that evidently if a al n ow 6 ch dron is 3 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 begin ning with the 32 wheat - com weight of the penny and ending with the bushel which is the eighth part ’ W of the Quarter . hile one statute raised the Chaldron

6 an to 3 bushels , other declared that its quarter was

8 . 1 R 1 1 to remain at bushels In 5 ich . II ( 39 ) 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 1 4 36 and 1 4 96 repeated this prohib i tion of any increase of the quarter one may presume n that the forbidden practice co tinued , the increased ll was an quarter being ca ed a Vat . But there other way of evading these statutes the old story with bad

1 22 MEN AND MEASURES

- - s 0 its long lost father . The freight ton of ship , 4 cubic 2 1 feet of cargo , contains 3 bushels (at } cubic feet to

2000 . the bushel), that is 4 Quarters or lb of average wheat 20 centals .

S 5. COAL MEA URE

The Chaldron of 36 bushels is used for the sale of coke and in Northumberland for coal . i l e . A keel of coal , . the load of the Tyneside ighter ’ known as a keel , was , up till the fifteenth century ,

’ 20 chaldres 20 , the measure of old tons = 62 1 b 2ooo . 2 . The old chaldron of wheat , 3 bushels of % lb 8 = 2 0 2 . coal , 5 lb . ooo lb When the old Chaldron became illegal it gradually gave

n ew place to the ton and to the new chaldron . The New castle chaldron was 2 statute chaldrons 72 bushels . The modern keel of coal is tons 1 6 statute 6 8 chaldrons of 3 bushels Newcastle chaldrons . al 2 This double ch dron is then 7 bushels , or , as i of the

cwt. keel , tons , it is 53 , and it is divided into 3 1 = 1 66 Fother of 73cwt . 9 lb . or nearly the old ton of lb 2000 . Thus the Newcastle fother is nearly the old 2 ton , and the keel of 4 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 .

1 2 1 1 al - s Anne ( 7 4 ) ordered a speci coal bu hel . It was fi W de ned as containing a inchester bushel and a quart , 2 22 1 8 33 instead of 3 quarts cubic inches , and coal

was 6 s . to be sold by the chalder of 3 such bushel , heaped ENGLISH MEASURES OF CAPACITY 1 23

This new bushel was 1, inch more in diameter and in depth than the old standard it arose probably from

u . a fa lty 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

- so coked at the gas works it swells , that a ton of coal , about chaldron , yields about a chaldron of coke .

H eaped M easure

It has been seen that in 1 392 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 so striked measure would be about an eighth , that a bushel of wheat would weigh about 70 lb . instead of l 1 8 62 lb . Heaped measure was made i legal in 35.

It is possible that some long - bushels (as that of

0 . Chester 7 lb ) were originally , or actually , heaped bushels .

6 THE M N . I PERIAL GALLO

1 82 In 4 some of our measures were reorganised , and among the changes was the unification of wine and corn measure . The better concordance of capacity 1 24 MEN AND MEASURES with weight by a single gallon containing exactly

1 0 lb . of water at ordinary temperature has been a

a b i great advantage . It has enlarged the decimal c pa lities 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 6 n ow . gives a weight of 4 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 l United States , not usua ly deemed unprogressive , get on ’ - - all very well with Queen Anne s wine gallon and corn g on . 1 The new gallon holds exactly 0 lb . of pure water ° at 62 or cubic inches . The bushel is of the capacity of 2 2 1 8 1 9 cubic 8 0 . . inches . It holds lb of pure water

The change from the old corn - gallon was very 8 8 i . 26 sl ght , increasing it by only 3 per cent , from to

. W c . i (and rather less from the inchester gallon 2 0 so i 62 of 7 that the bushel formerly hold ng } lb . 6 of wheat n ow holds 4 lb .

Wine - measure was increased by almost exactly 20

t 2 1 . . . . per cen , from 3 c i to c i , so that a gallon of 6 wine is contained in customary bottles , instead of 5

U I ite d as formerly , or as at present in the States . Bushel measures are of two Shapes the drum

S 1 1 2 L hape , 5inches diameter by } inches deep , and the

S - 1 8 standard hape (that of the old corn measure), } 8 inches diameter by } inches deep . Nothing has been changed in the excellent octonary i ser es of measures , pint , gallon , bushel , quarter (eight

1 26 MEN AND MEASURES or spirit measures . Jug is the feminine of Jack , with which name Gill is familiarly associated . Pint or Jug 20 ounces 1 35 Gill (in the north) 1 0 Jack (or Noggin) 5 Jock (a dram) 2 } f ar Joey I f

The customary capacity of wine - bottles is gallon l 26 . Six a } ounces So customary bottles go to the g lon ,

r l and a customary dozen of wine or Spi its 2 ga lons .

l - r In India the ga lon of canteen spirit , rum or a rack , 8 r d . is eckone as 4 drams , each bottle or 3} fluid ounces

D C N D S S 7 . ME I I AL FLUI MEA URE

60 The 1 0 . 1 Imperial gallon , as lb of water fluid ai ounces , each of 4 37} gr ns of water at standard temperature . 20 Its eighth part , the Pint , contains ounces

- weight or 20 fluid ounces measure . It is so divided on ’ druggists glass measures . The fluid ounce is divided 8 h 60 n into fluid drac ms , each of mi ims , approximately

fluid grains .

- In the United States , where the old wine gallon of

2 1 - Of 3 cubic inches is retained , the old wine pint

2 1 . . 1 6 fluid ounces is used . 3 c i (grains of water in 1 c . i . ) gives

grains for the gallon pin t 4 556 ounce The fluid ounce is divided as in England into 8 fluid

of 60 rmn ims . drachms , CHAPTER IX

THE MINT - POUND S

1 THE XON O ND . SA OR T WER POU AT some time before the Norman Conquest the Marc of l l Cologne was brought to Eng and , probably on y as the

- l 1 6 mint standard of the later Eng ish kings , for the

ounce Roman pound was already long - established

as the commercial weight . The standard of the Cologne marc has n ever varied

much . Its mean weight 3608 grain s ; when doubled it 2 1 6 1 made a pound 7 grains , with an ounce 4 5 n grains . This pound is almost ide tical with the

Al- u the greater rotl of Mam n , rho of cantar lb and the old Prussian pound of Cologne

standard was fi x; of the Prussian centner 1 03 1 1 lb . The Norman Conquest made no change the Saxon ’

pound became the Tower pound , the King s treasury th or mint being in e Tower of London . The Tower pound of standard Silver was coined into 24 0 Silver 22 pennies , which , at } grains , their weight down to the m 00 the ti e of Edward III , gives 54 grains for pound 0 and 4 5 grains for the ounce . An actual weight 1 2 7 1 28 MEN AND MEASURES

54 04 grains was foun d in the Pyx chamber in

1 84 2 . Shi i 1 2 The ll ng , of pence , was until Tudor times only money of account . But it was also a weight of 1 2 2 0 account , the pound being either ounces of

20 i 1 2 . pennyweight , or shill ngs of pennyweight W 1 2 hen a quarter of wheat is sold for pence , the

- 1 6 all 6 5 . wastel bread of a farthing Sh weigh li . and But bread cocket of a farthing Shall weigh more by ’

2 1 . s . (Assize of Bread, 5 Henry III ) That is , the lb av e rde ois farthing loaf shall weigh Tower . 5} p 1 lb and the second sort 24 dwt. or } Tower ounce more . Here is an instance of the confusion caused by al making bread , like gold , silver and medicines , s eable only by the royal poun d . This system of a peculiar pound for bread lasted till the eighteenth century .

al 0 s . Under Edward I the h fpenny loaf weighed 4 ,

h is . . 1 av er e o that is 2 lb Tower a little more t an } lb . d p

Moneyers and goldsmiths divided the dwt . or i al i orig n weight of the silver penny , for fine weigh ng ,

2 ma le s ferlin s on the Dutch system , that is into y , 4 g 8 k 6 hi l trois en 1 deuske n 2 . , , 3 azen (aces) T s wou d 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 . maille elin The mayle and ferling (Fr . and f ) 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 .

1 30 MEN AND MEASURES

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 establish

ment of the coinage on an honest basis . Comparing

the declaration of weights , measures, and coinage by Henry III in 1 266 with that of 1 2 Henry VII 1 6 in 4 9 , the latter does not show to advantage . It orders

That every Pound contain 1 2 oun ces 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 accordin g to the Old law of the

said land .

Meanwhile the Troy ounce of silver was being

20 0 n . coined , not into , but into 4 sterlings or pen ies But each of these was supposed to weigh 32 wheat com s just as they did when they were really 20 to the

ounce , albeit a Tower ounce .

When ce came the Troy P ound P It is probable that the name of the King ’ s Troy C pound ame from the marc of Troyes , but it is certain that the English Troy pound no more came from T were Troyes than the pound o s came from Tours . There were four principal marcs in France

1 ai Marc de Troyes its oz . 4 72 gr ns La Rochelle 4 4 3 °4 Limoges Tours 4 30 9 THE MINT- POUND S 1 31

The marc of Troyes doubled made the livre poids de marc , the Paris standard 7554 grains . ’ d An leterre That of La Rochelle , the marc g , would l appear from its name to have been , origina ly 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 av erdepois 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

1 6- 8 00 heavy ounce pound of nearly 5 grains , possibly related , through the Russian pound , with the mina of

- 8 1 the Greek Asiatic talent 4 5 grains . This was probably the heavy pound which survived in Guernsey up till the eighteenth century ; and perhaps other 1 8 pounds said to be of ounces , such as that of Cumber u l al land p to a generation ago , were real y surviv s of this heavy northern pound . Whether this pound n dwi dled spontaneously , or whether it was superseded i by the pound derived , either d rectly from the lesser 80 r Arabic rotl with an ounce 4 } grains , or indi ectly K 2 1 32 MEN AND MEASURES

1 0 8 from an ounce of dirhems , of about 4 grains , is difficult to say . All that is known is that there is a family of pounds usually known as Troy with an ounce varyin g between 4 83 and 4 72 grains that the pennies of averaging 25 grains correspond to an o 00 ounce of ab ut 5 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

- un d n 8 Swedish mark weight p , its ou ce 4 33 grains Dan ish solv pun d Scots Tron pound Bremen poun d Norwegian skaalpun d 4 77 ' 4 Amsterdam poun d Scots Trois 4 755 Dutch Troy 4 74 7 Fren ch Troy 4 72 1

The variation in these Troy pounds seems due to 1 0 r 8 their ounces being di hems of 4 grains , more or

e less ; the lightest ounce , that of French Troy , b ing 1 1 0 dirhems of 4 7 grains , the same as the dirhem of al n 8 which the Provenc ou ce , 377 grains , contained . i i Our Troy pound , wh le tak ng its name , like the

Scots and Dutch pound , from the Troyes marc , took its l standard from some pound of ful weight , possibly from the Bremen pound , introduced by the Hanse mer in chants . Its exact standard appears due to the av erde ois hi fluen ce of the p pound , and t s would explain

1 34 MEN AND MEASURES

- pound . The mint pound being necessarily divided into 1 2 ounces of 20 pennyweight of 24 parts or grains

60 av erde ois 57 parts , the ratio of the Tower and p 00 000 60 pounds was 54 to nearly 7 , or 57 74 53, the latter figure being about the number of Tower grains av erde ois grain , contained in the original p pound . The introduction of a new pound , which by Slight modification in either it or the av erdepois pound S 60 000 would give the impler ratio of 57 to 7 , would probably be most welcome to the mercantile com munity . In Teutonic countries the usual system of dividing the pounds was as follows

- t. e 8 . 0 dw . . Mint mar of oz x 2 x 24 grs (or 32 azen) 02 . of

4 80 grains .

n 1 2 0 2 . 2 20 . 02 . Medici al lb . of X 4 scruples x grs of r 4 80 g ains .

Marc of 1 6 loth x 1 6 ort (German). Commercial 1 6 02 . 1 6 En sh {lb . of x drams ( gli ). The Latin nations followed the ancient Roman system of dividing the ounce :

- 1 0 6 sex tulae 1 Mint pound of 2 2 . x x 24 siliquae 728 l a n 6 2 1 a: si iqu , the ounce bei g of x 4 4 4 siliqu or an d r 6 in carats , the ca at of 4 grains , giving 57 grains

an ounce . X 8 drachma X 3 scrupuli ranae x 24 g , 1 02 Medi cinal lb . of 2 . X 8 drachmae X 3 scrupuli

X 2 oboli x 1 2 gran ae . In Southern France

1 6 02 . 8 ternau Pound of x X 3 denie x 24 gran . THE MINT- POUND S 1 35

There we see the scruple becomes a pennyweight ,

- and the obolus or half scruple becomes a halfpenny . In Northern France

- 8 2 8 2 r . Mint marc 0 . x gros X 3 deniers x 4 g ains

1 02 . 8 ul Medicinal lb. of 2 x drachmes x 3 scrup es

x 24 grains .

0 8 ai . m l 1 6 2 . 2 Co mercia lb . of x gros x 7 gr ns

al In this system , common to France , Spain , Portug , di 6 Florence , and Rome , the ounce is vided into 57 parts

or grains , while the Troy ounce of the rest of Europe

is of 4 80 grains . This makes the Latin grain

lighter . n In the medicinal pound , more or less i ternational W 2 throughout the est , the 4 Scruples of the ounce are 8 h grouped into drac ms of 3 scruples . It may be concluded that the English Troy pound was a Northern weight with its ounce of 4 80 instead di of 576 parts . It has no rect 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 2 20 latter , the Latin factors 4 scruples x grains were transposed for mint purposes so as to preserve the 1 ancient pennyweight 9 5 ounce of the Tower pound . ’ But in the apothecary s Troy pound the ounce re mained divided into 24 scruples (8 drachms of 3 scruples) each of 20 grains as in other countries except

&c. France , ’ The story of the goldsmiths Carat and Grain will

be found in Chapter XX , that of the Provencal weights , i from wh ch the French Troy was derived , in

Chapter XVIII . 1 36 MEN AND MEASURES

H D A ND 3. T E PRI E FALL OF TROY

The myth of the 32 wheat - corns which formed the 00 basis of the Tower pound 54 grains , passed to the 60 ai Troy pound 57 gr ns , and this deliberate fiction lasted till the time of Elizabeth and perhaps later .

- It did little harm as regards these mint pounds , but Av erde ois its application to the p pound , alleged to be d 2 S an offshoot of the royal poun , either as 5 hillings ,

00 2 - that is 3 pennyweights of 3 wheat corns , or as 1 1 6 5 ounces Troy, or at a later period as ounces al hi Troy , produced a ment obliquity w ch is most lamentable . The jury of merchants and goldsmiths appointed 1 n in 574 to exami e the ancient standards , and con struct a new set , declared that the one sorte of weight nowe in use is common lie called the troie weight and that other sorte thereof is also common lie called the oiz avoir de p weight , and further they say that both the saide consiste compounded frome thaun cien t En glishe penye named a sterling rounde and unclipped which pe nny is limeted to waie twoo and thirtie grain s of wheate in the midestof the e are an d twen tie s 0 2 twelf o of tho e pence make an . and of those onn ’ 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 poun de oun de weight , for the p weight troie doth consiste lie oiz on of xii oz . troie and the lb . weight of avoir de p ’ fiftn e weight dothe consiste of e oun c troie .

H lles Arithmetick e Thomas y , in his Arte of Vulgar

1 38 MEN AND MEASURES

680 all n 7 grains, by this are weighed ki ds of grocery ware an d al n an d base met s , as iro , copper brass , as also hemp, & flax n c. , rosi , pitch, tar A century later we find not much improvement in

Av er the idea of the pounds Troy and dep ois . Th e pound or 7680 grains avoirdupois equals 7000 grains troy and hence 1 grain troy equals ’ ’ a a avoirdupois (Rees Encyclop edi , This is an example of the utter muddle the Troy poun d had h made in the minds of ot erwise intelligent people . e f Similar p dantic ef orts were continued , well into the nineteenth century , to represent the Troy pound as the sole standard of England and the av erdepois pound only respectable as an offshoot of the royal poun d used for vulgar purposes .

The A ssize of Bread Such fictions were helped by the old statutes which l compe led the sale , first by Tower and then by Troy

i . weight , of bread as well as of gold , silver , and med cines And confusion was made worse by the use for a long of hi period a t rd weight for bread , the Amsterdam or

Scotch troy pound .

The peck loaf, supposed to be that produced from a 1 6 1 6 peck of flour ( pints), was to weigh of these pounds i n . a rde s 1 6 . v e o 7 lbs oz p , the quarter loaf 4 e 4 lb . 5 oz and the pint loaf (to be sold at a p nny

23 . when wheat was 4 3 . a bushel or 3 a quarter) was 6 av e rde ois to weigh one pound 1 7 oz . drams p The pe riodical Assize of Bread fixed the price of the

peck loaf. THE MINT- POUNDS 1 39

It appears then that the pound of bread was 600 7 grains , its ounce 4 75 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 AS be sold by troy weight . some persons in authority did not share the stupidity of those who considered the av erde ois 1 6 p pound to be troy ounces , the Scottish

1 6- ounce pound of troy standard was imported for the purpose . This weight was abolished by 8 Anne (1 71 0) and the sliding scale was put in the av erdepois al equiv ent .

was 1 81 The Assize of Bread abolished in 5, but ’ traces of it remain in the name quartern loaf ,

although this n ow means a loaf of 4 imperial pounds . It may also mean a loaf weighing the quarter of a

1 6- l b . stone .

The Disapp earan ce of the Troy P ound

In 1 84 1 a Royal Commission recommended the abolition of the Troy poun d ’ 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 1 8 8 out until 7 , 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 1 4 0 MEN AND MEASURES

al Medic Council . Troy weight was abolished by the 1 86 Pharmacopoeia Committee in 4 , Imperial weight being alone recognised yet the Board of Trade keeps

’ up the Apothecaries ounce of 4 80 grains . Troy weight has fallen but , like many other superstitions , it dies hard .

1 4 2 MEN AND MEASURES water or conversely to determine the weight of water 1 in a standard measure . The statute definition of the cubic inch of water ° 2 2 8 62 62 26 lb as 5 4 5 grains at corresponds to 3 . ,

2 1 . or 997 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 ai gr n , and of the cubic foot by ounce , making 8 it 62 4 lb . or 99 3 ounces . An Order in Council of 1 889 gives grains as the weight of the cubic inch of water . But the exact weight is uncertain , and the 1 824 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

° at62 in air ounces ° at 39 2 in air 998 3 0 9 ounce) ° at 39 2 in vacuo 999 6 2 4

And 1 000 ounces of water at the original weight of

av erde ois the p ounce , of Roman standard 4 37 grains , ° ° 62 would weigh 999 5 of such ounces , at in air . Practically measures of capacity need only approxi mate coincidence with standards ; they are used for

1 For this reas on the custodians O f the m etric syste m have aban don e d the cubic decim etre of w ater as the basis of m eas ures eite r of ca acit or of w ei t. Th e ilo ramm e is n ow lik e our h p y gh k g , oun a certain m etal stan dar an d the litre is a measure con p d , d , tl a ilo tainin m ore or less e xac ramme of w ater. er ect g , y , k g A p f litre stan dard con tain s 1 00 0 gramm es of w ater at b ut1 1 gramm e less at 2 grammes less at an d 33 grammes less uen ts ummer tem r r For e x actcorre at a very freq pe atu e . s on den of m easure wit w ei tcorrecti ons are alwa s re uire p ce h gh , y q d rial r on the me tric s m whether on th e impe o yste . CUBIC FOOT AND TON REGISTER 1 4 3

e convenience in order to avoid weighing , esp cially 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 1 000 between 39 and 61 and another ° 1 per 1 000 between 61 and other fluids have n their peculiar coefficients of expa sion .

- Allowing then for small temperature corrections , the cubic foot may be taken as equal to 62} lb . or 1 000 fi a rox i ounces of water , and at this suf ciently pp mate standard itbecomes 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

- l and other wine ports , to take as the unit of cargo bu k

tun the 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 .

’ - ton n eau d en combrement This cargo ton , the , was equal to 4 2 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 1 4 4 MEN AND MEASURES trade it was usually reckoned at 1 1 } quarters of wheat

90 bushels or 54 00 lb . In England it was usually 80 000 1 0 quarters bushels 5 lb . Now this bulk 1 00 1 00 of wheat measures about cubic feet , so English cubic feet has become the unit adopted in all maritime

n countries , as the Ton Register . In Fra ce it is called the ton n eau de faugage and is taken as cubic metres . A ship of 200 0 tons register is of a capacity

cubic feet below decks . The register tonnage is thus obtained Mean length x of maximum beam depth n from upper deck to keel , the measure bei g taken inside , and in feet . The product is cubic feet , which 1 00 i divided by gives reg ster tonnage . In France these measurements have to be made in metres ; the product in cubic metres is divided by

to get tonnage .

n Net to nage , as distinguished from gross tonnage , is the latter less the space occupied by cabins below i an d all deck , by eng nes bunkers , in short that is not

i This deduction g ves the space available for cargo ,

i - i a very large proportion in a sa ling sh p , a very small

- proportion in a steam yacht or tug . The Cargo Ton is usually reckoned at 4 0 cubic feet ; the space occupied by 20 centals 4 quarters

2 . of wheat , or 5 centals of water A steams hip of 4 500 tons register may be 3000 tons net as each of these net tons will contain 2} tons

of cargo of about the same weight as wheat , after

MEN AND MEASURES

TABLE OF VOLUM E AND WEIG HT OF WATER AT DIFFERENT TEM PERATURES

Temperature rom 1 000 025. Fa r Q f h . in 1 Cu bic Foot.

I OOO ' I

1 00 0 7 5 999 7 5

1 000 55 2 3

1 000 9 2 6

2 8

1 00 1 5 3 1

1 002

1 002 6

l oo3' s CHAPTER XI

S O S I S AND W LS AS S AND C T , RI H , E H ME URE W EIGHTS

1 C ND . S OTLA

THE Scots system was distinctly North German ,

influenced by English measures .

Lin ear M easures The standard of length was the Scots Ell hi English inches . Originally three R neland feet at

inches , it was always described as containing 1 37 inches . The inch , at 3 ; of the ell , was slightly 2 1 000 longer , by less than in , than the English inch . The penalty e dicted in 1 685 against the use of any 1 2 h other foot but that of inches , while t ree foot S and an inch were a Scots ell , seems to how that a

- h ll foot equal to one t ird of an e may have been used . ‘ The rod or fall was 6 ells ; the acre was 1 60 l square rods acre , and very nearly equa 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 Jiick (yoke) of Oldenburg this field- measure is 1 60 square ruthen 1 4 7 L 2 1 4 8 MEN AND MEASURES

1 8 1 8 each ruthe is feet square , presumably Rhineland 6 ls l feet Scots el , original y though now of a lower standard which makes the Juck only acre instead of the acre of Rhineland stan dard .

Weights

There was an ancient weight , the Tron pound , of

20 . variable standard , about Scots ounces But its 622 hi actual weight appears to have been 9 grains , w ch is exactly 20 ounces of the original Arabic ounce 6 8 . i i 1 1 grains Th s was abol shed by the Act of , an which ordered that the st dards be kept , two

firlots i by Linl thgow , the stone weight by Lanark , i the ell by Ed nburgh , and the pint by Stirling , as ’ of old .

was 6 . The Lanark stone 1 lb . of Scots Trois weight An inscription on the standard still extant states that

1 . 1 0 2 . it was equal to 5 lb 4 English Troy , that is to the

fictive long Troy pound of 7680 grains . The Scots 60 n 1 6 pound , 7 9 grai s , was divided into ounces

° 6 di 1 . 4 75 5 grains , vided into drops The stone was blunderingly described (1 61 8) as ‘ the ‘ French Trois Stone containing sixteen Trois ’ n ounces . But it had nothi g to do with French weight (in which the ounce 4 72 1 2 grains) its standard Trooisch din was of the Dutch Troy ( ) class , coinci g very closely with that of the Amsterdam pound

2 n n 6 . 79 5 grai s , the ou ce 4 7 5 grains

600 - When the 7 grains lb . came to England as the n standard of the Assize of Bread , it was k own as the

Scots or Dutch pound .

1 59 MEN AND MEASURES

as above . But another and previous Act of the same king (1 61 8) 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 as Pint , Jug or Stoup , so there were two pints , as well several firlots . l Of the two pints , the standard of one is stil extant , which we will call the Stirling Jug or larger pint . It 1 0 2 contains 4 cubic inches 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 firlots part of any of the , but was itself a standard

firlot 1 8 1 basis of measure , of which the might be , 9 ,

&c. There is little doubt that it was one of too the Kanne of North Germany (Du . s p); these kanne vary at the present day between pints in Bremen and pints in Hamburg There was in Prussia until quite recently the Metze of 6 pints 1 20 8 al or ounces , most exactly twice the larger

Stirling Jug . 1 The other pint , of 4 Scots ounces 4 4 } English 2 ounces or } pints , was not a standard measure . It was - merely a divisional unit , one sixteenth of the — l fir ot 1 . above described wine containing 4 lb Scots ,

firlot or 4 4 } English pounds , of water . This was l 2 20 . 2 2 divided into gallons } lb Scots , or } Eng ish pounds ; and the gallon into 8 pints of 4 1 ounces

Scots . t firlot What was the origin of his , or rather of the B01 1 ? nl , of which it was a fourth There is o y one measure with which it has any affinity : the half SCOTS MEASURES AND WEIGHTS 1 51

1 C il di sex decimall . argo of Marse l es , vided like it , y The two series run thus

SCOTLAND M ARSEILLES (origin al Standard)

Imp . G all.

1 - ar Boll 64 lb . Scots Half C go r 1 n Eimin o Fi lot 4 Pa au , Gallon 20 } Half- Eimin o Pechié 1 . Pint, Jug 4 oz (Pitcher)

1 0 In the next reign , that of James II , about 4 5 , another Firlot appeared . It was to be a general n Mett , accordi g to the Pint and Quart formerly given to the Burgh of Stirling for an universal standard , whereof each Firlot to contain eighteen Pints ’ a and that none use nother measure . Which of the Stirling pints was the Standard ?

e 1 The small r pint of 4 Scots ounces of water , or the

Jug , the larger pint , of 55 ounces In this case it was certainly the larger pint ; for 1 8 pints of this standard are very nearly equal to a

firlotcontaining a Rhineland cubic foot of water , 1 886 1 000 Troy ounces cubic inches . Except the slight difference between Amsterdam and Scots Troy

firlot 62 . weight , this was } lb Scots , just as the English

6 av erde ois 1 8 cubic foot was 2} lb . p . It was pints of 1 04 2 cubic inches 1 8756 cubic inches 54 Imperial 6 6 i pints or 7 Imperial gallons . Th s corresponds very

1 There was con siderable intercourse between Marseilles an d ’ The Scots custom of eati n e eas wit 0 1 1 on arlin Scotlan d . g gr y p h C Sunday is taken from the Proven cal custom of ea tin g chick - pea s on alm Sun a a n d th e tra itional reason the arri al on tat P d y ; d , v h

da in amin e - ti me of a s i la e n wit ulse is the same at e it y , f , h p d h p , L h as at arseilles M , 1 52 MEN AND MEASURES closely to the Himtor cubic Rhineland - foot measure of

e l 6 8 . North G rmany, actua ly 5 gallons

i wa - firlot ni Th s s a corn , and I recog se in it the

firlotmixed up with the wine - firlotand 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 1 80 di 9 cubic inches , a considerable vergence , 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

firlots Scotland reveals to us more , with the same anxiety which has been seen in English statutes for d unity of stan ards , 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 an d firlotof Linlithgow ’ ’ S l firlot all li hould be the on y for his Majesty s e dges . It was therefore ordered that the Pint of Stirling

2 . . be lb 9 oz Trois of clear water , and the Firlot of li 1 Lin thgow 9 pints . It has been seen that the Act of James I which

- firlot 1 2 ordered the wine to be 4 lb . in gallons of 0 2 lb . 8 oz . also stated that it was to contain 2 gallons and a pint ; thus maki n g it in one line 1 6 pints (of 1 1 4 ounces), in another 7 pints . The Act of James II ordered the firlot(presumably a corn - firlot) to be 1 8 pints , of 55 ounces . And then the Act of James VI firlot1 8 1 . made the 9 pints , of 4 ounces 4 } lb Scots or

1 54 MEN AND MEASURES latter it was clearly an independent measure imported by trade . Its series was quaternary

firlots Boll (of 4 ) 4 Imperial bushels . Firlot Peck 2 Lippy (or forpit) 4

The lippy , as its sixteenth , came to mean a sixteenth generally . The word is a diminutive of the C E . ‘ ’ ’ - e . leap , a basket , . g seed lip . The barley and oats firlotof 31 pints 3230

firlo was cubic inches is the real Linlithgow t. It the Edinburgh firlotincreased to contain the same weight of malt , bear (barley)and oats as that contained 1 1 1 6 of wheat . Its capacity was gallons , and its Boll i 6 8 conta ned 4 } gallons or 5 bushels . It was probably i a Boll of about th s capacity the dimensions of which , i giv ng a capacity of about 4 3 gallons , were roughly

0 - stated in the Act of 1 4 1 as those of the wine boll . l 1 6 The Chalder (of Cu ross) was Edinburgh bolls . I need scarcely do more than mention the ho ine e : . C smaller measur s to the Choppin (Fr p ), half

- maate Wi . a ne pint to the Mutchkin (Du j ), 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 .

1 Itwa s a common custom formerly to mea sure corn by the s l e for w The s allow u e stri ea t ea e for li ter corn . h b h , k d h , h p d gh oats firlotof 31 pin ts was ordere d to e n d the practice of givin g three straike d for two heape d m easures !w hi ch! do e x cee d an d ’ a o t re n tj us . SCOTS MEASURES AND WEIGHTS 1 55

was The Ell a length of 3 Rhineland feet , divided into 37 inches , approximately of English standard . was 1 60 The Acre a North German acker of rods ,

each 6 Rhineland feet square . The Pound was the Amsterdam standard of Troy d se x decim all 60 ai a . 7 9 gr ns , multiplied n divided y

The old wine - boll 1 7 8 gallons was the half 1 6 n 1 o Cargo of Marseilles , divided into pi ts of 4 Sc ts ounces . The larger Stirling Jug was a North German kanne of 1 04 2 cubic inches = 55 Scots ounces or

- 3 Imperial pints . It was the standard of corn measure

- firlots the corn were multiples of it .

The common com - firlotwas a Rhineland cubic 1 8 foot 1 000 Troy ounces or Stirling Jugs . It was im the North German H t.

rl 1 8 1 h . Another fi otwas 9 lesser pints 4 } Scots . The Edinburgh Firlot of 2 1 } Stirling Jugs or 22 1 4 i cubic nches 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 .

D 2 . IRELAN

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 e centuries , has b en the English system introduced in

early Plantagenet times . 1 56 MEN AND MEASURES

Some of these measures relics of that time , long I overlaid in England , are of nterest for instance , the

is - - gallon of 2 1 7 c . i . one eighth of the early wine bushel

1 cubic foot . the The Irish road and field measures , multiples of

- seven yard rod , have been noticed .

S 3. WALE

The general unit is the Cib yn (kib b in) 4 gallons or

- 2 . . 3 lb of wheat , the English half bushel or tuffet It

1 6 cib n s is divided into 4 quarts , and y make a Peg

8 bushels or 1 quarter . Measures on the English stone system are also used

fi 1 1 F ol . The stone, 4 lb Peck 3 e 1 Hobb t 2 about 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 rl as the Hi ath .

1 58 MEN AND MEASURES

- 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 ,

etestla mesure 1 6 ies la er ue p p q ,

20 22 2 probably Rhineland feet , but perches of , and 4

Paris feet , often of reduced Paris feet , superseded it . al The Acre was always 4 Vergées or roods , nearly ways di 0 . of 4 square perches , and vided into quarters

Charuée caruée The , or ploughland was usually 60 1 2 b ouv ées ox Normandy acres , divided into or

oi 20 . gangs , each 5 acres or Vergées

Com - al n measure had for princip u it 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 diver gen cies according to the number of pots taken ; yet s it seem probable that the Pot was itself a fraction , t an eighth , a tenth , a twelf h , or a sixteenth of some

- - bushel either wine measure or corn measure . While the weights and measures of Paris had estab lished themselves in Rouen and Caen , local measures more in ag reement with Norman customs were in general use . Thus the Paris bushel 793 cubic al inches was scarcely used . A typ ic Norman measure

’ ’ Boisseau etalon de l abba e de umie es was the y j g , con MEASURES AND WEIGHTS 1 59

1 6 8 . taining , as nearly as I could measure , 4 cubic inches Now this is very approximately a cubic foot of the

1 - al reduced Paris 1 inch standard usu in Normandy ,

- akin to the 1 1 inch foot of . This cubic foot was very nearly the Roman cubic foot or Quadrantal for the reduced Paris foot , English inches , was very nearly the same as the quarter of the aune , which was 4 Roma n feet very approximately . There was another standard Bushel— the Boisseau

’ etalon de la Ville de Bolbec— containing , as nearly as

2 . I could measure , 534 cubic inches

There is also a peculiar measure for apples , the

’ baratte e 2 . or churnful , usually of 5 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 . v Some hea y 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 av erdepois 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 i a s mply v riants 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 , 1 60 MEN AND MEASURES

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 .

Lin ear and Land M easures

1 erse — . j y For ordinary linear measures the English

. du standards are used , the yard and the pied roi ; that is the English foot . There is also an ancient ell of 4 feet . For land measure the Jersey foot is 1 1 English inches (but divided into 1 2 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 2 1 1 4 short feet of either a quarter aune , or pouces , the erche perch or verge , which became officially the p

’ d o do n an e r n c of 22 French feet . The Jersey Vergée or rood is 4 0 square perches

acre . — G e e . 2 ! u rn s . y The linear measures are based on 1 61 1 the English standards . They were , in

Cloth yard 38} inches half a toise). Sail Cloth yard 4 4 English ell 4 5} ’ le rre English yard 36 (Verge d Ang te ).

The perch or verge is 2 1 feet probably an approx i mate adaptation oi the common perch of 20 French 1 ri feet 2 3 English feet . It is the same as the I sh

and Lancashire rod .

1 62 MEN AND MEASURES division of the Paris Se tier and the division (in the corresponding wheat - water series) of the Quartant e t into 9 velt s , preven the relations of the Jersey e measur s with those of Paris being clearly seen . But the relations with the Marseilles standards , corn and r wine , from which the Pa is standards were taken , are evident . It will be seen in the chapter on the Old a Measures of Fr nce that the Paris Setier was derived , e through the Marseill s Cargo , from the Egyptian

‘ k Al- Mam rm Reb e eh . , which is the cubed cubit of

The Cabot has been stated (Ansted , Channel ’ 86 1 2 . . . On Islands , ) to contain 4 3 lb 7 oz of water l this estimate 4 3 4 4 gal ons , it is exactly the Mar seilles Elmino .

MARS EILLES JERS EY

Cargo Quarter (8 Cabots) Sestié Bushel Eimin o n , Pa au Cabot Sixtonnier

Escan dau Gallon POt Cab O t) Quarte Pinte

— Escan dau i B. N. The is the Panau dim nished in

- wheat water ratio . The Jersey potis the fluid measure

- in wheat water ratio with cabot . There seems no doubt that the cabot is the eighth MEASURES AND WEIGHTS 1 63

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 bushels or 30 gallons . The ordinary barattée (churnful) of 2 1 0 apples in Normandy is 5 pots gallons . The larger Cabot for barley and other grains 1 except wheat was to be } of the wheat cabot , that 1 is 3} pots ; it was therefore 5 933 gallons , very 1 6 nearly an imperial bushel 4 7 c . i . Was it fixed at this size to hold approximately the same weight of &c barley , as the smaller cabot held of wheat , or was e 1 8 it the Boisseau de Jumi ges 64 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 . Guern se — In 1 8 2 . 2 l 1 61 1 y 5 , a so in , the Guernsey bushel was ordered to be 1 6 inches diameter and 8 inches 1 deep ; it was to hold 3 pots and a quart . The pot was not defined at the end of the seventeenth century it 1 2 1 is recorded to be equal to cubic inches . On this 1 6 basis the bushel should be 33 cubic inches , but according to the dimensions ordered it contains only 1 8 60 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 1 3} pots of approximately 1 2 1 ul cubic inches , it wo d seem that this was considered as M 2 1 64 MEN AND MEASURES

ui 1 1 2 roughly eq valent to the 3} pots , each 3} cubic

- r 1 6 . inches , of the Je sey barley bushel 4 7 c i .

The bushel is divided , on its calculated capacity of

1 1 6 1 . 3} pots , 3 c i . , into

2 Cab otels

Den erels six tonniers 6 . (Jersey ) 272 c . i 30 Quin tee 54 }

The Den erel is thus , probably by mere coincidence ,

the - 6 exactly old corn gallon , and the bushel is corn gallons . The word Demerel means standard in the sense

Den erial of the standard coin or pattern piece , the or

Deneral , to which the French moneyers had to We i deniers or silver pence . may confer with th s ’ ll Escan dau i term the Marsei es , mean ng 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— ou a standard still extant in f ’ fi the Sheri f s Of ce , the

’ uinte rande mesure da marche de Guernese 1 61 Q , g y 5,

ul . it wo d be of larger capacity For the Quinte , 1 88 I found when I measured it in 5, is approximately

54 7 cubic inches , and it is stated to contain fully AS 32 ounces of water . it happens to b e equal to a m l Den erel S fifth of the i perial gal on , the hould be

6 l . equal to an imperial gallon , and the bushel to gal ons There are two other bushels

- u 1 61 1 1 8 The Coal b shel ( ) of } inches diameter , by 8 al 1 6 deep , then stated to be equ to } pots (an evident

1 66 MEN AND MEASURES

afterwards 1 6 ounces were taken for the pound . In the seventeenth century it is recorded as being 1 8 ounces 1 of 4 7 grains , which is approximately the Paris 1 rai 1 0 standard 4 72 g ns . In 73 it was ordered to 1 6 be of ounces , but of what standard there is no n 1 6 evidence . And in the ni eteenth century it is ounces

6 6 r al of 4 7 g ains , most exactly the Amsterdam 1 0 standard . It looks as if the change in 73 was to 1 6 ounces of another standard , Amsterdam Troy , instead of French Troy . I have given some space to these Channel Island al measures , so interesting as a surviv 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 .

H IC N 2 . SOUT AFR A (CAPE COLO Y)

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 1 6 is Rhineland ; the foot 2 35 inches . The rod is 1 2 Rhineland feet ; the English mile is reckoned as 6 4 2 rods .

- i The land un t is the Morgen acres , of 0 6 0 square rods .

Weights are now Imperial with a cental - cwt 20 and a ton of centals or 2000 lb . al For corn measures , Imperi and Dutch measures l are combined in the Mud of 3 bushels or 4 Schepe s . For fluid measure the unit is the Anker MEASURES AND WEIGHTS 1 67

gallons , a lower standard than the Amsterdam anker 8 ° 5 gallons , probably through the influence of 1 6 6 English measure . The Legger (leaguer) is 2 6 80 elts 1 V . gallons , in 4 Aam , Anker and This gives the Velt somewhat a lower standard than in Java , where the legger gallons , and the velt l ga lons .

ND 3. I IA

Of the measures and weights of India , a country

- fifth l containing one of the popu ation of the world , S divided into many nationalities , only a light sketch

can be given , and that chiefly of the measures used in British India as distinguished from the tributary ul states . The measures of the Aryan pop ation of

Hindustan , and those of the Dravidian peoples of f in peninsular India , are di ferent ; moreover the fluen ce of the Moslem conquerors , Moghul 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 kastha hath 2 usually a cubit , the or , divided into 4 di gits . Traces of the Egyptian increased cubit are

n . to be fou d In a classical work on architecture , the M an asara Hastha 2 , the , of 4 digits for timber, is 2 2 6 2 increased to 5 for temples , to for houses , to 7 for

municipal buildings and land . The addition of 3 digits to the 24 of the Egyptian common cubit would give 2 al 28 7 digits , approximately equ to the smaller

digits of the royal cubit . 1 68 MEN AND MEASURES

In Southern India the cubit is sometimes the

mu an dl mil am kal t y g ( y , cubit , leg), the leng h from the

knee to the ankle . In Malabar the unit is the K01 28} 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

inches . = A guz brought by the Moslems , 33 inches , has

established itself in Bengal . It was probably 3 Beladi

feet of inches .

The Portuguese Covado of 3 spans inches , 2 usually taken as 7 inches , has established itself in di 8 W di . estern In a It is vided into 4 digits , of which

- 8 hi i. e . 2 1 two t rds , 3 digits inches , are the usual cubit of this the English nail . All these measures appear to have b een modified by the English foot and inch . Native itinerary measures are rough and variable 1 00 the Koss of fathoms is the usual standard .

- ri Land measures are of course very va able . 1 2 guz , usually 33 feet , make a cord or chain , ! 1 0 and 5 cords make a Jarib rods . A square j arib 1 0 0 square rods , is the usual Bigha of Northern India

0 6 25 acre . Another unit is the Mah of 1 00 rods 1 2 x 1 2 feet

1 600 square yards , about half the above bigha .

d~ units Lan , like most other units , can be divided

1 6 200 into annas , so that the anna of the bigha is ,

1 00 . that of the Mah is , square yards In Madras the unit of land measure is the Kan i

1 79 MEN AND MEASURES the man d of 4 0 sers is 1 200 Troy ounces or 1 00

Troy poun ds . About 1 870—7 2 the metric propaganda was epi demic among Indian Government Engineers ; light

i - ra lways were made on metre gauge , and a nearly successful attempt was made to get the Sér fixed at one hi kilogramme . An Act was about to be passed to t s f ef ect when the death of Lord Mayo stopped it , and the Act fell through . The Bengal ser and mand 1 are the usual weights

ffi . e for o cial purposes Some other s rs are used , often of

e - low standard known as Kucha s rs (unripe , half baked)

k - sér 80 in regard to the pu ka (ripe , full measure) of tolas . The Madras mand was lb 20 mand

1 an di . k , 4 93 7 lb but English trade considered the

00 . mand as 25 lb . and the candy as 5 lb ish m Madras had also a weight called the V a (Ang . e 0 6 1 20 8 . di Viss) of tolas 5 of its s rs , or 3 lb vided into 4 0 pollams .

Capacity

s Adan ali To this Madra weight corresponds the g , uddi Visham dangali or p , or measure containing a of

n - grain , and therefore a pou d pint measure about 3

al - e pints . It is the usu measure of the daily grain wag of agricultural labourers .

1 The i ficult in re rese n tin the soun a ah in n lis d f y p g d , , E g h en eral n f a en c w n maun letters led to a su stitu ti o o w . H e ca g b y, d , aut stee awn i water cawn &c all tese wor s gh ( p), p ( ), h d

- a sa f r t a in an a or ah ow el. The An lo n ian lso s seer o se h v g , , v g I d y . MEASURES AND WEIGHTS 1 71

m di ser Si ilarly in other parts of In a , the measure ser contains a weight of the usual food grain . l er The measure is usua ly heaped , and whether s or dangali it delivers approximately either a ser or a Visham l of the usual grains , rice , wheat , mil et , pulse ,

- &c. It is a pound pint measure , avoiding the use of the balance . The Madras Government wanted to fix the dangali at 1 00 cubic inches but this would have n h been useless as not deliveri g a Vis am . The necessary capacity to deliver a Visham of water is found by 08 2 2 . 3 6 lb . x 7 7 5 to be cubic inches Increased in the Southern water- wheat ratio of 1 we have cubic inches as the true dangali measure . ll 1 0 So Government a owed 4 } cubic inches , and this was about the capacity of a dan gali 8 inches high by 4 inches diameter , often a section of bamboo cut down to the proper capacity . d a uddi r In Ma ras , the dang li , p or measu e is then 8 ollock s 8 1 04 } c . i . divided into and dangali 1 al 2 mercals 1 20 Merc 4 4 , Bengal mands , made al a Garce , which is a Government measure for s t

tons . The cubic measure used in Southern India for dry is mercals x 8 goods , such as lime , the Parah 5 5 l 000 ali 1 00 . . danga i , or 4 cubic inches at c i to the dang 1 8 but 4 4 c . i . at the customary capacity of that measure ; 1 so the parah is 5 gallons . al The Bombay parah 4 } g lons . The Ceylon parah 5 6 gallons ; 8 parah 1 amOmam 6 u 5 b shels . To the amOmam of grain corresponds the amOmam 1 72 MEN AND MEASURES

l 2 of and , which , at bushels seed to the acre ,

acres . By measurement it is acres .

M A ND THE S 4 . BUR A STRAIT

In Burma , as in the ancient Eastern Kingdoms ,

there was a common cubit and a royal cubit. The 1 2 di former , 9} inches , was of 4 gits , in 3 taim or h an dshafts ; the latter 22 inches . Here we have repeated the two Hindu kastha of 24 and 27 digits the royal cubit being almost exactly of the common

cubit . S 2 2 The basis of weight is the Tikal ( hekel), 5 1 grains cubic inch of water), divided into 4 moo , 1 6 1 63 grains , and gyi of 5} grains (corresponding 8 to the Indian masha), of rati .

- 6 1 00 1 lb . tikal piet tha 3 , corresponding to h m the Indian Vis a . The principal measure of capacity is the teng or 1 6 basket , somewhat less than a bushel ; it contains

6 - piet of rice 57 pound pints . The tikal of Siam 234 grains 80 tikal 1

1 ik al 1 l 2 . 0 b . catty } lb 5 catty p , 33} , or about 2 bushels of rice . ’

k al i e . The Pi ( . man s load) of Singapore (and of l b . 1 1 1 00 . China) 33} , is of catty the catty } lb 1 of 1 6 taels } oz . The tael is of 1 0 mace the mace

- 8 ai is a Chinese coin weight 5 } gr n , the representative of the Greek and Asiatic drachma in the Far East . ik al 1 6 The p of Java 35 3 lb similarly divided .

- ik l The hyak kin or p a of Japan 1 32} lb . It is 6 1 0 1 00 1 2 . 1 also of catty or kin 3 5 lb of X momme ,

CHAPTER XIII

MEASURES OF VA LUE

N SH N 1 . E GLI MO EY

IN all times money has been the weight of a certain S amount of copper , ilver 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 ni change in course of time , but the nominal u t of i o &c. weights often continues , the p und , or l vre , or marc ,

AS i - Thus , the original Roman unit , the , or m nt pound ’ of copper or bronze , reduced gradually to g } 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 1 0 As ; hence its name

- deni aris , ten of copper . ’ d estelins The French livre , or livre , reduced 1 1 2 - oz gradually to a coin about 7 } of a . livre , retains its name as a synonym of the franc . q The English pound of silver, once a Tower po 00 a o 1 20 54 grains , reduced long g to 74 5 grains , in shillings , persists as a money of account , though the silver is superseded in payments over 4 0 shillings by I 74 MEASURES OF VALUE 1 75

1 i 2 . r 0 a gold coin weighing 3} grains P ces over 4 3 . are still often stated in shillings . ri 60 The Roman dena us originally weighed grains , afterwards reduced to 52 } 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

1 2 enin s or sols , each equal to silver p g or pennies of 2 about 5 grains which , assimilated to the Roman estelin s l denarii , were called deniers , also or ster ings . The appears to have corresponded to a Teutonic monetary unit , the shilling , equal to a variable number e n in s of p g , 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 s — the old Norse and Saxon system the Norse , in which the Ore was of 20 silver penings : marc or 1 1 ; lb Sceatta 0 . , and the Saxon of 4 Styca , usually equi 1 l 1 valent to pence . The shil ing , 2 3 pound of silver ’ sc llin e en e a pence , became established xxx y g p g , ’ i hr th rty shillings of pence Saxon C onicle , The Norman Conquest made no appreciable change in the English customary coinage . The Tower pound of Silver which the Normans found established was ’ 2 0 a l coined into 4 of the English peny c l ed a sterling , each weighing 22 } grains instead of the 25 grains of 1 76 MEN AND MEASURES

’ hil Charlemagne s sterlings . Twelve pence made a s ling 20 of to the pound , and twenty pence or pennyweights

1 2 - made an ounce of to the mint pound .

England soon followed France , but much more slowly, in the usual dwindling of the weight of coins , his as the king , pushed for money, ordered moneyers to melt down the silver pennies and recoin them of i 2 2 lower weight . They rema ned at } grains down to II ’ the time of Edward I . Edward I s first pennies 2 2 1 8th his were of } grains , but in the year of reign 20 ai 20th 20 they weighed } gr ns , in the year grains , and after the 27th year he made the pound of silver 00 1 8 n yield 3 pennies at grai s . He also coined groats

s e ma les (great sterlings or gro s s). Silver halfpence ( y ) ferl n es and farthings ( y g ) 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 . i At this time , if we may bel eve the Statute of was Labourers , one penny the usual daily pay of the

- fiv e en ce farm labourer , but mowers were to have p by

‘

- the acre or the day . Prices of farm produce were hi Six fix ed . A penny would buy a c cken or pounds of

2 . bread , pence a fowl , 4 pence a goose The diminution in the weight of the penny was slow and did not affect wholes ale dealings in which 1 payment was usually made by weight .

1 li in the e nn ies a ain stw ic crime re ue n tstatutes C pp g p , g h h f q treaten e u ni s m e n tafi ected th e oor who ai an d w ere ai h d p h , p p d p d e i t f r siona ll rai in tale n ot w t. Ita for e a re ex to occa by , by gh f d d p y d g the ews an d lun erin teir store of coin alwa s oun of course J p d g h , y f d to a e ee n cli e h v b pp d .

1 78 MEN AND MEASURES

i disdained the ev dent profit of a copper coinage . Penalties were repeatedly threatened by statute against the copper coins which necessity of change caused ul to be made or imported . These were unlawf coins a al hal en s sask n s dodek n s dotkin s c lled g y p , y , y and (probably Scottish doits James I granted a patent hi for the making of copper fart ngs . Halfpennies were

’ Il s first coined in Charles 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

2 - the silver penny weighing 3 wheat corns , albeit b e shrunken , was against the penny n other than silver .

Two The penny was at first a full ounce of copper . penny pieces were also struck weighing two ounces . The present bronze coinage was made in 1 860 after the example of the bronze coinage of III , the reform er of the French currency ; it was he who s e tablished a gold standard in France , hitherto a

’ silver country .

oz . A bronze penny not much worn weighs , the halfpenny oz . The latter is one inch in diameter . The silver penny of early Plantagenet times was the S S hi ize of the present ixpence but t nner, so that , at the full weight of 22 } grains it was slightly heavier than our threepenny piece 2 1 8 grains . It bore the effigy of the king with Henricus Rex or suchlike inscription ; on the reverse was a cross , with pellets

al or other ornaments in the interv s , and the name of the moneyer and city , as Edmund on The cross gave rise to the idea that it indicated where MEASURES OF VALUE 1 79

the penny could be broken or cut into halfpence or i farth ngs . Doubtless it was so cut where change was scarce ; and the first silver farthing was coined by 1 2 hi Edward I , 79 , to prevent t s cutting up of the pence ,

but equally with a cross . At present silver pence and twopences are only

coined for Maundy money . rossus sterlin us The groat of four pence , g g , first 1 2 di coined about 79 , scontinued from the time of

Elizabeth , who first coined sixpences and threepences , 1 8 6 was revived in 3 at the instance , or insistence , of M P Joseph Hume , an . who , it is said , found it con 8d v enien tfor the exact payment of an . London cab fare not exceeding a mile in the days when copper pennies weighing an ounce were inconvenient to carry 1 8 1 8 6 in the pocket . He died in 55, and in 5 the Joey

was discontinued .

The threepenny piece was revived in 1 84 5.

florin 1 8 - The was first issued in 4 9, an ill advised attempt at decimalising the pound it bore the ’ inscription one tenth of a pound , but it has utterly

i - fa led to take the place of the convenient half crown ,

an important un it in the b . uary division of the pound . Public convenience appreciates the gold sovereign and

- al - S half sovereign , the silver h f crown , shilling , ixpence fl and threepence . The orin is a disturbing coin offering no advantage over two separate shillings ; and the florin double is worse . No one wants the pound decimalised except a few al decimal unpractic persons . A properly taught school boy adds up sums of money duodecimally for the pence , N 2 1 80 MEN AND MEASURES

l i decimally for the shi l ngs , converting these by twenties into pounds . It is quite easy to add up a column of : 8 1 d d an d s . . 1 0 zs . 1 pence thus and 5, 3 and , d d 8 2 s . . s . 2 . i , 9 and 5, 3 With the sh llings column the units are put down and the tens carried to the column of tens ; an odd 1 is put down and half the ri remainder car ed to the column of pounds . i i e . 1 1 . 0 2 . Engl sh silver coins are 9 5 fine , oz

- 2 . 1 dwt of the now obsolete 2 oz . mint pound .

fiv e - 0 00 pieces are at 9 , other silver 0 8 coins are 35 fine .

Gold Coin s

al Of the two precious met s , only one can be the

al - standard of v ue . In a gold standard country , as has S 1 81 6 England been ince , the golden sovereign

of lawful weight is the standard of value . As the price di ri of silver , like that of every other commo ty , va es

with demand and supply , it would be futile to attempt to make silver coins correspond in actual metal value n ll to gold coi s especia y as , since the great fall in the price Of Silver from its demonetisation in many countries ll and its large production , silver coins are rea y tokens n l al toke s of value , but sti l tokens , not leg tender above l a certain amount . A shilling melted down is on y worth fiv e pen ce 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

. s in price Thu in India , where for centuries the standard of value has been the silver now weigh

1 82 MEN AND MEASURES

6s . 8d. i the that at present , the equ valence of noble

then is that of the sovereign n ow . 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 th e money

market and to the condition of the silver coinage . ’ Edward IV S noble was called a Rial ; and the 80 Angel , of its weight or about grains, was also

coined . Henry VII coined a double Rial of half a i Troy ounce . Under Henry VIII th s was called a

Sovereign . ri i 2 The fineness of gold coins , o g nally of 3 carats 1 000 22 3} grains 994 7 gold in , was reduced to carats under Henry VIII and , after some variations , this 1 6 6 1 000 l 1 standard 9 gold in was final y adopted . Sovereigns or Unites were coined under James I i 1 1 1 2 a . at 7 gr ns , under Charles I at 4 grains Their value in silver varied of course according to market 1 0 rates for gold . Coined under Charles II at 3 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 2 1 3 . standard at

1 Twen ty - four carat was taken as the stan dard of pure gold

n ol soli us w ei twen t- ur because the Roma g d d ghed y fo carats (each ’ The assa er 5 caratis ar i i of an oun ce). y z p td v ded in to four ' - e ie al ol coins suc as war 3 n o le assay grains . M d v g d h Ed d III b V an zec in alw a s of th e same uain an d the e n e ti , tpatte r h y q n, en erall twen t- tree carat rains fin e arts in were g y y h 3} g , 99 5 p 000 Buttis n ea rl ure ol ein er so t it ecame 1 . h y p g d b g v y f , b to allo the m e tal wit a certain am oun tof CO customary y h pper to give itthe hardn ess n ecessary for trade purposes in mod ern MEASURES OF VALUE 1 83

which the guinea is still reckoned as a polite coin . In 1 81 6 , on the adoption of a gold standard , the name of Sovereign was revived for the coin which is its basis .

The sovereign weighs grains , of which 1 1 ° o 3 o 6 are pure gold . It is light if it weighs less than

1 22 1 d. . } grains , that is if it has lost more than } in value Its life of current weight is about 20 years in ordinary

circumstances of circulation . d 1 s . 1 o The mint value of gold is £3 7 } . an ounce 2 1 2 1 2 1 6 6 Troy ; that is pence a grain pure , or 7 7 penny at the standard fineness of 22 carats 9 1 6 6 1 0 0 in 0 . France adopted a gold standard in 1 855 ; other

countries followed . ni The U ted States adopted it in 1 900 . The sovereign is coined at full value without

’

- seigniorage . In France and other gold standard

countries a charge is made for coining . In France 6 0 . this charge is fr . 7 c on the kilo of standard gold , 0 ° oo 1 00 0 2 1 6 9 fine , value 3 francs this is equal to 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

2 S 1 of 4 francs ; the Sol or sou is a hilling, 9 5 of the 1 livre the Denier is a penny , 7 g of the shilling , and it is 1 84 MEN AND MEASURES

v 8 l to di ided into doub es , each equal the old French liard - i or quarter sou of 3 den ers , not to the old French 2 l double of deniers . The on y Guernsey coins are the 8 2 1 8 bronze pieces of , 4 , , doubles that of doubles being the penny . 1 0 to The silver coins are French , counted pence the franc so that the fiv e - franc piece passes for d 2 . . 4 s . Guernsey

The is either a bank - note for this 2 2 0 amount , or 4 francs in French silver , equal to 4

Guernsey pence . Sovereigns are current , taken at the usual rate of 25 francs and 2 pence 252 pence 1 ll or 2 shi ings 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 li advantageous to the Eng sh resident in the island .

ND N N 3. I IA MO EY The East India Company made little change in the ul monetary system of the Mog Empire . In the greater u part of India the silver r pee was the standard of value ,

I C ikkah B. . . s and the struck Sicca ( , coined) in the name of Shah Alam , the Great Mogul reigning at the end of the eighteenth century . These weighed 1 2 1 8 6 9 grains , but they were superseded in 3 by the 1 80 1 6 present standard of rupee , grains , of which 5 ’

fine , bearing the English sovereign s head . The di 1 6 rupee is vided for account into annas , each of

1 2 copper pies , though the coin so called bore until recen tl he salas ai - i y t Persian inscription p , one th rd of i

1 86 MEN AND MEASURES

n replaced by silver , the change taking the followi g order :

1 2 fan ams 8 a . . The of 4 of pysa of 4 k sh n m The Rupee of 1 2 fa a s .

2 - . Then the two anna piece replaced the fanam , taking its name .

8 fan ams 6 a . The Rupee of , of pysa , of 4 k sh

1 6 . 3. The Rupee of annas , of 3 pysa , of 4 kash

1 6 - 4 . The Rupee of annas of 4 quarter annas (called pysa by the natives)or of 1 2 kash improperly ’ called pies . The division of the rupee into 8 fan ams of 24 kash survives , or did survive till quite recent years , in the

&c. French settlements of Pondichery , 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 hi with the rupee . For in Southern India t rty years ago, and perhaps at the present day , the pysa was

- J anna and the half pysa G anna , but these were always 1 1 reckoned among the people as 3 3 and fig} rupee . To the people of the South the rupee is divided into

f n ams 1 5 a each of 0 pysa each of 3 kas h . But the term kash (kas su) is merely a name for the lowes t 1 8 coin . The pysa of 80 bears the Persian

’ Bis kas chhar eus ast 20 as inscription fl (It is k h , 4

1 This obvious decimal s ystem of a rupe e divided in to 1 0 lesse r

fanams an d 1 00 pysa w ould n otha ve appea led to Fren ch offi cials . Itis n ota ecimal s stem b utthe etric s stem ta tthe Fren c d y , M y , h h scien tistre quires ; th e decimal seri es of m easures is only a stalkin g r e ren c s s Th r n as a rule ho se for th F h y tem abroad . e F e ch do n ot care a outusin ittem selves b g h , MEASURES OF VALUE 1 87

’

filus . ), followed by XX So this coin , so dear to the people of Southern India that they cannot look ’ on the modern quarter- anna (the Anglo - Indians mookal pice otherwise than as a , a pysa , is really 200 film 1 000 20 kash and the rupee is or kash . Here

decrrn al al is a division ready for the rupee , for the h f l 1 1 pysa , nomina ly 9 1; rupee (in 797 coins it is so inscribed 6 9 to one rupee but fin; rupee in the bazaar, is ’ 1 0 filfis similarly inscribed as of kash 2 . So the i 1 0 fanams 1 00 rupee could eas ly be made of , lesser 1 000 sex decimal pysa , kash . But the division into annas , and the duodecimal division into pies , are too convenient to be given up for a decimal system

' The 2 filIIs of the half- pysa Show that the pysa was once divided into 4 of a small coin (the present ts n pie), the fi , an Arabic word probably representi g the 1 L . follis .

Indian Gold Coinage im Northern and Central India , the parts more

i - mediately under the Mogul empire , were s lver standard

. S 1 2 r countries The silver rupee ( icca , 9 g ains) was the standard and the golden rupee of the same weight , Ashrafi 1 6 called an , or gold mohur, was valued at rupees , though generally more , according to the

- . E I market value of gold The . . C. continued to strike i gold mohurs , with halves , th rds and quarters . Other

gold coins were current , notably the Venetian zechin ,

1 1 6 8 . Fluces are 1 0 to a coz In 3 b e g (on e halfpe nn y). tis uotation itsee m s as if Sir H er e had mista en the filus h q T . b rt k for the 1 0 as of the al - sa k h h f py . 1 88 MEN AND MEASURES

and the approximate correspondence -of this coin to

the quarter- mohur caused the latter to be commonly ’ 1 known as a chick . 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 ul u Ti currency . The beautif Far ki pagoda of ppoo 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

Shah Alam Mogul coinage , continued by the is ,

’ badshah hazi sikkah mubdrak i g , (Shah Alam , k ng 9 victorious , coin auspicious).

C M NC 4 . DE I AL CURRE Y

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 i counterbalan cing defects of all decimal series . Div sion of the dollar stops at a quarter then there is a drop

1 0 . to cents , and that coin has no quarter Any thirding can only be approximate .

1 Atw ist i la was for u ee oin ts an d a c ic on h , h gh p y R p p h k b ’ th e ru .

2 n tin ue th e custom E I C . co of inscri tion s on coins The . . d p b ein in ersian the olite lan ua e of M oslem n ia g P , p g g I d .

1 90 MEN AND MEASURES

nation . The names of the months are those given by the Romans their year originally began with March did (as indeed ours , on Lady Day, down to and the original names were

r M a tins from Mars . A rili 1 p s from Aphrodite (Venus). M ai a i r s us d ma o e . from , the elder gods u i un ius m d un ores o . j fro j , the younger g ds th n f l Quintilis the s mo th, a terwards Ju ius . Sextilis the 6th Septemb ris the 7th Octob ris the 8th Nov emb ris the 9th Decemb ris the roth

i us - D an . Januarius from Janus or , the sun god eb ruarius f feb ruum n F rom , the expiation mo th.

The week is of astrological origin . Even in Europe there are still many people who believe that the seven

- ru planets of the pre Copernican system le , each in its turn , the successive hours of each day ; the planet ruling the first hour gives its name to the day , and u influences it astrologically . Th s the week is the se ries 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

1 In the it n ian ca len ar were a cou le of mon ts A reias B hy d p h , an d A hrodzsios on ce A rtemisias the ree orms corres on in p ( ), G k f p d g to Martins d A rrlis an p . MEASURES OF TIME

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

1 - series , Venus ; the twenty fourth by Mercury , and

the first hour of the next day by the Moon , hence this

i un a will be Monday (d es L ). The Moon ruling the

- first , eighth , fifteenth , twenty second hours of Monday ,

the twenty- third hour will be ruled by Saturn (begin

- ning the series again), the twenty fourth by Jupiter, and the first hour of the next day by Mars hence this

dies M artis day will be 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 Saturn i Sun Sunday Solis Moon Monday Luna Mars (Tiw) Tuesday M artis Mercury (Woden) Wednesday M ercurn Jupiter (Thor) Thursday j ovis Venus (Frigu) Friday Veneris

r d Latin Ch istianity made only two changes : . domin icus d abbati for Sunday, and . s for Saturday ;

1 In the K n ighles Tale (Chaucer) Pale mon visits the temple of Ve nus ather our ten the tem le of iana the oon and h , h p s D ( M ) of ars atthe ir res ecti e ours M p v h . 1 92 MEN AND MEASURES but the latter still retains its old name in se veral ri : count es , thus

els W h . Dydd Sul Llyn M awrth

M ercher Jau G iv en er (Wener) Sadwrn

n m - The u it of ti e 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 i the local meridian , corrected by the equation of t me 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 dividing the year into

- 2 6 mean solar days of 4 hours ; there being 3 5 days , 8 6 i 5 hours , 4 minutes , 4 , in the astronom cal year .

It is probable that everywhere , in primitive times , both day and night would be divided , in southern u co ntries at least , or at the equinoxes into three ai : m ormn watches of f rly equal length the g , midday , afternoon ; and the evening , midnight and dawn . a E ch of these would become divided , with the rise

- i of astronomical observations and the use of sun d als , u into fourths , making twelve ho rs for either day or night ; twelve hours corresponding to the twelve months of the year or to the uncial divisions of other

u - measures . The civil day wo ld thus be of twenty four

1 94 MEN AND MEASURES

The hour was also divided similarly into 60 scruples 6 0 . or minutes , each of second scruples or seconds The ounce and scruple division of time is shown

’ ’ d Amor in the following passage from Le Breviari ,

- u Erm en aud a thirteenth cent ry poem by g , 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 i i po nt , the tenth part of wh ch is a moment ; the

1 2 n moment is divided into parts called ou ces , and each l of the ounces yields 4 7 atoms , which time cal ed an ’ atom cannot be further divided . It seems almost certain that atomus x lv ij is either a mistake for xlviii or deliberately put for set to rime with rot i = (y elds). The ounce of time , 7g seconds , would be 2 8 l divided into 4 scruples and 4 oboli , cal ed 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 Lun ar Year

the In 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 2 of 9; days , so that the year is 354 days , less than the

1 1 1 2 . solar year by days , or in leap years Hence Moslem feasts or fasts , such as the Ramadan and the times of l pi grimage , are that number of days earlier each year .

a e The g of the Moon is found by the Epact , its age on the first day of the year . It is about the same 1 1 on March as on January , owing to January and MEASURES or TIME 1 95

February being together equal to two lunar months .

So the increase of the epact during the year , at the 1 rate of about one day in the month , begins March and September is , for this purpose , the seventh month . To the day of the month add the Epact and the i 1 number of the month , beginn ng March . The total ,

0 0 . over or over 3 , is the age of the moon

le — 1 0 1 1 0 th x am . E p September , 9 (7 Month), Epact for 1 9 1 0 being xix .

6 6 . 1 0 1 9 7 3 . The Moon was days old W i u hat w ll be the date of f ll moon , its fifteenth day , in November 1 9 1 2 ? November is the ninth month 1 1 and the Epact for 9 2 is xi .

1 1 20 . 0 1 20 2 A n s . 9 4 5 3 5) 5. 1 November 7 . Agriculturists who believe that certain seeds should

n be sow , trees planted , and pigs converted into bacon during the waxing of the moon , while trees are felled ni l during the wa ng , find the Epact usefu in reckoning

’ the moon s age . It is also useful in calculating whether

r - l count y roads wi l be moonlit during certain nights . 1 1 : 1 1 1 0 The Epact increases days annually 9 , ; 1 1 2 1 1 o 1 9 , xi 9 3, xxii coming back to in 3 years .

The Compass Can d

While the circle of the horizon is divided into 360

degrees for astronomy and for accurate navigation ,

has ex ima the steersman always divided it s de c lly . 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 O 2 1 96 MEN AND MEASURES

time of . The Romans tried in vain to sub stitute an uncial division ; their 1 2 winds and points could not supersede the 8 Winds and points of the

Greeks . And to this day in the Mediterranean there 8 t are principal poin s , named after the sun and winds

Tramontano , Levant , Mezzodi , Ponente .

E . . S . N. W Greco , Scirocco , S E Libeccio , N W . tralo . M aes , Amerigo Vespucci sailed for the P on ente m mquarto ’ W di Libeccio W S . , est , one point and afterwards for

m uarto d l M zzo z Libeccio m e o d S . W. . the q , one point S

I G M INDIC ING THE PLANET ING CH H D A RA AT RUL EA OUR ,

FRO M

DE M M COM PU TATIONE D I ISI N TE PORU ATQUE V O E ,

Padov an ii as 1 . Joannis , Veron , 577

1 98 MEN AND MEASURES

r Centigrade . This is the scale of inte national physical and chemical reports and is generally used in labora

- tory work . t ° The maximum dens . 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 as in the Centigrade i and Reaumur scales . For med cal purposes it is also more convenient to have the normal body 3 ° ° e 6 . temperature at 9 4 F . (clos to than at 3 9 C ° R I or at 29 5 . To convert Centigrade degrees into Fahrenheit ° 3 ° Double the degrees deduct 1 3 add 32 ° = 6 C . 20 2 o 0 E . . 20 x g , ; 4 ; 4 3 + 8 ° 32 6 F . To convert Fahrenheit degrees into Centigrade Deduct double the degrees ; add A (roughly

TMor a little more). ° 68 = F. E . . 1 00 g , ; } 34 ; 37 4 1 377 5 correct)

S S or NS 2 . MEA URE DE ITY Specific gravity and the density of fluids at different temperatures were known in very ancient times . The Eureka experiments of Archimedes

Al- n are well known . Khazini determi ed the

1 ° l- tem r ture is en in nce In Norma body pe a tak Fra as 37 C . ° German y itis taken as R eaumur 9 7 9 F . 2 Book a the Balance 0 Wisdom arrin ton Bolton . t 1 (H . C g ) MEASURES OF HEAT 1 99 specific gravity of metals and of fluids atdifferent temperatures as accurately as modern physicists have done . 2 irats was The hydrometer, divided into 4 q , well k nown in the East, even before the time of the Cali hates p . The density or specific gravity of solids and fluids 6 ° is usually referred to that of distilled water at 2 F . ° 1 6 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 , 6 ° the indoor standard of 2 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 . &c The density of solutions of salts , sugar, acids ,

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 l ( ) A sca e 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 Spiri t sufficiently i strong to take l ght , and which , if poured on gunpowder

and lighted , would cause the powder to explode . This 200 MEN AND MEASURES

’ - 8 was the Holland proof . By a statute of 1 1 6 it was defined as of specific gravity $3 that oi water at ° 51 F which is 0 9 23 but at the present standard °

0 20 . temperature of 60 1 55 C . it is 9 ’ With Sykes s hydrometer , used in England U nder P roof — e ach degree means 1 per

cent . of water , the rest being proof spirit . v oo — e 1 O er P r f ach degree means 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 392 ° s 60 and pure alcohol as of p . gr . 7939 at

° ° Alcohol Syk es Baume (Ex cise) (Fren ch)

0 1 00 U P . 1 0 57 ‘ 05 Proof 22

. . ‘ Fr Rect Spirit , 85 2 4 9 6 O R - Trois six .

Rect . Spirit ,

Brit . Pharm.

° Strongest O 8Z I 937 5 4 1 8 { Rect . Spirit . 0 1 00 8 7 94 4 Absolute Alcohol .

The approximate relation of the fiv e usual scales for proof and French rectified spirit are as follows :

Proo o' o " e tS z E R c . . f g . p 58° 86° ° ° 563 85

. 0 0 2 1 6 34

' ° ° 22 6 36 Trois - Six ° Proof 4 9 6

CHAPTER XVI

THE ELLS

THE Ells are the Cubits of the modern West . They

i : - are of two k nds the Foot Ells , of which the Persian Beladi 2 cubit and the cubit , divisible into feet , were

- 6 . the types , and the Span Ells , of 3, 4 , 5 or spans

1 THE - . FOOT ELLS

In France the Aune was 4 Roman feet . In the Italian states the Braccio was usually f

2 . local eet , but sometimes an Eastern cubit In the German and Norse states the Eln was 2 local feet . 2 In Spain the Covado , of Burgos feet , was the

Beladi cubit .

THE - 2 . SPAN ELLS

- W The Span Ells of estern Europe are of two types , derived either from the English foot , or from a Nether lands foot which has disappeared and which was probably the Olympic foot . (See Holland , in the next chapter . ) THE ELLS 203

The Netherlands Ell appears then to be 3 spans of an Olympic cubit 3 X which is equivalent 2 to 2 } Olympic feet : 2 } x both was 2 6 inches . The Antwerp Ell formerly 7 39

2 2 1 6 . inches , and that of Amsterdam 7 inches ih There has been shrinkage , probably through the fluen ce Ell of the English standard of the Flemish , we

own = 2 having taken 3 of our spans , 7 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 inches . This is ik drd also the standard in Portugal . The lesser p or n 2 26 8 of Consta tinople , 7 inches , was probably inches as in Egypt it may have increased under the Ell influence of the English or Flemish . The Venetian 26 braccio , 9 inches , probably comes from this

Turkish pik . In Northern France there was an Aun e 27 1 inches and another of 27 Amsterdam inches

inches (the Amsterdam foot being of 1 1 inches).

was 2 62 . In Prussia there is , or , an Ell 57 inches It was described as of 2 § Rhineland feet but it was almost certainly 3 Roman spans 2} Roman feet 1 1 6 2 262 ( 7 x } 57 inches), brought into the Rhine land system by representing itas 2§ Rhineland feet which it is only approximately 2 § 1 2 ° 3563 being

inches . Nowhere out of England and Scotland is there

- found any Span ell other than of 3 spans . The 204 MEN AND MEASU RES Q L

apparent exceptions are in Spain, where the Vara of

= 1 1 Beladi - e ll i 3 feet , } cubit , is a 4 span , l ke our Yard , and in Occitania (Southern France), where the Cano

- is an 8 span fathom . ’ l Ell , formerly Elne , meant at first the natura

uln cubit or length of the forearm (L . a)from the finger ’ arm l- tips to the bend of the or e 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 span s 27 inches English Yard 4 36 Scots Ell 4 36 English Ell 5 4 5 Long English Ell or Cloth- goad 6 54

was The Flemish Ell 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 370 58 inches corresponded to the

i. e . English yard ; it was 3 feet Scots , of Rhineland

1 2 . standard , 3 53 inches ’ The Common English Ell , the tailor s yard , taylors ’ erde cissoris y , virga , was probably the French aune 66 4 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

CHAPTER XVII

FO REIGN LINEA R MEA SURES

N O LY 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 .

THE TEU TO NIc N S 1 . COU TRIE

Sweden

1 1 6 The Roman foot 7 inches . This is , or was , a lso used in Oldenburg and in some parts of Holland .

D en mark and Norway

1 2 6 The Rhineland foot 35 inches , divided into

1 2 1 2 I . Tomme (thumbs), feet rode (rod)

North Germany

The principal type s are :

1 &c. . The Rhineland foot , in Prussia, 2 1 1 . The Hanoverian foot 5 inches more or less , used in Hanover , Pomerania , part of Holland and ri Belgium , Bava a , Mecklenburg, and Geneva .

. The s more 3 Han eatic foot , inches or less , 206 FOREIGN LINEAR MEASURES 207

used in Lubeck , Bremen Hamburg

- e . Dantzig , also in Hess , Saxe Coburg , and Poland The length of inches points to the probability of the Hanseatic foot being a reduced Rhineland foot ,

H of inches 1 1 3 264 inches . There are several instances of the popular obj ection to a long foot and of the artifice which reduces it to a more convenient 1 1 length by taking inches of the government standard , and making from them a foot of 1 2 short inches . al 4 . The Amsterdam foot inches , so used in the Dutch parts of New England . This foot is 1 1 an divided into inches , evident instance of a reduced

1 2 . foot , unconcealed by any division into new inches

The practice of making a reduced foot stands revealed , and is confirmed by the Amsterdam rod (roede) being 1 3 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 n ow used in English agricultural weights where , to compensate for the statute reduction of the 1 6 1 6 ancient lb . stone , of which made a wey or load 6 lb 2 . 1 8 of 5 , the custom arose of taking statute

1 . a rox i stones of 4 lb to make a load of 252 lb . pp mately the same as the old load . The question now arises : What was the foot of inches which the Hollanders reduced to {l inches Was it the Olympic foot

The seafaring Netherlanders , to whom the nautical l l r mi e and its fi m; pa t the Olympic fathom , were m ul fa iliar, wo d very possibly take its sixth part as n k their foot , just as the seafari g Greeks had ta en it . 208 MEN AND MEASURES

But landfolk accustomed to the short Roman foot ,

which is still to be found in the land - measures of 1 1 Holland , would reduce the longer foot to inches for

popular use . Yet the longer foot has left traces in the Nether 1 lands . The Amsterdam roede of 3 Amsterdam

i. e . 1 2 feet is feet , feet of inches . The

Amsterdam Ell , inches at present 3 spans 02 1 6 of 9 3 inches), was , in 4 7, according to John 2 2 1 6 Greaves , 7 inches , giving a foot of inches , 2 6 and he gives the Antwerp Ell as 7 39 inches , which gives an Antwerp foot inches , a length very close to that of the Olympic foot of inches . There appears to have been a Slight shrinkage in the

Amsterdam ell .

A ustria

There are two standards of foot . While the

r ordina y foot , of the Klafter or fathom , is i 2 1 2 2 inches , that of the ell (wh ch is 5feet) 4 5 inches .

It looks as if the one were increased , and the other hi equally decreased , from the R neland foot , inches .

THE N N S 2 . LATI COU TRIE

Italy f Here every state , almost every city , had a di ferent a standard of leng th . The foot was gener lly of Roman type inches , or of a very short type , 1 0 E about 3 inches , referable possibly to half an gyp = tian royal cubit , inches , a measure still extant in

2 1 0 MEN AND MEASURES

decimal chain - units and of lengths derived from seed

measures of land . 22 8 In Tuscany the standard was the braccio , 9

was 0 . inches , half of which the palm , inches

- The braccio was divided , as if it were a money pound ,

20 1 2 . into soldi , of denari

In the kingdom of Naples , with its population of ri Greek origin , the standard of length was the me dian l 1 0 v 00 . mi e , di ided into Olympic fathoms or passi

But the passo was divided , not into six long feet , but , i 1 0 like the Egyptian royal cubit , into 7 palm , 4 was a 8 lm inches . The usual standard the C nna of pa i , a reversion to the common Mediterranean measure 8 n of the reed of spa s .

ll alrn o In Genoa there was , and perhaps is sti , a p

inches , a length exactly that of the pan in has several of Provence . It changed but little

’ Since the time of Recorde s Pawn of Geans (1 54 3) 1 6 8 l or since John Greaves ( 4 7)gave it as 9 7 inches . di Genoa , the language of which strict is a dialect

of Provencal , has measures of the Provencal type . The measures of Provence will be described at length in Chap . XXI .

Sp ain

The standard is the Burgos foot inches ,

3 feet making a Vara . This foot was origin ally

1 ‘ In this pawn (th e spellin g of w hich Show s thatEnglish had already lostthe a soun d of th e firstvow el an d ha d to represe n t it aw se e th e usion of two w or s etm olo icall difleren t by ) I f d y g y , th ’ e talian alm0 . almus an d the ro e n l an Si e an a el. I p , L p , P v c p , d , p ’ See in a s V an d XXI The Pan of r ill . a se es . , Ch p I , M FOREIGN LINEAR MEASURES 21 1

in h 1 B l i i. e ad c es e . , half the cubit , brought by r the Moors . This original standa d has been preserved

- Covado di ribera very nearly in the two foot , the shore 8 2 1 1 1 0 . cubit , 9 57 inches , its half 957 inches l That the Burgos foot has deviated , ike most

Spanish weights and measures , from the accurate standards of the Moors , is shown by the length of

Le ua maritima ri the Spanish g , the league of 3 me dian 66 6 . miles , or 53 3 varas At the modern standard of the Burgos foot this is

66 6 X 53 3 3 X inches inches , while 3 meridian miles are

X 1 2 yards x 3 inches inches , 8 showing an error of 207 inches 577 yards . Taking the original standard of the Burgos foot at

inches , 66 53 varas x 3 x inches ,

Beladi exactly corresponding to the Parasang , 2 1 8 88 cubits of inches , or to 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 , the 1 8 approved by French government in 79 , give the 0 2 8 Burgos foot as 7 33 metre inches . That Spain also once had the Roman foot is shown by

DraAn dalussi n the survival in Tunis of the , the Spa ish Ell 8 , of 3 Roman spans of 753 inches inches .

A s oin te out Don V V p d by . . Queipo (Essai sur les Systemes M étn ues b utn ot uite accuratel H is alues are o t q , q y . v f en con use or o scure b uthis wor is mos u ul f d b , k t sef . 2 1 2 MEN AND MEASURES

P ortugal Here the Roman standard is seen in the Palmo or 8 6 1 1 6 . span 74 9 inches , }5 of a foot 5 inches 0 di 8 ole adas 1 2 The palm is vided into p g , inches , of

1 2 dedo 8 lines , or into , digits , of lines .

The Vara , 4 3 7 inches , is of 5 spans the Braca , 2 1 0 000 or fathom , is varas or spans ; 3 fathoms

8 milhas make a league , 3 9 miles , divided into 3 of

8 tado - 8 0 es s . , stadia or furlongs In land measure 4 4 eira square varas make a g acre) exactly , as 8 4 4 0 square yards make our acre . One may infer that the form and division of the geira was similar to 220 22 that of our acre ; that it is , or was , X varas , 1 a a 1 5 strip of some creme measure . This view is

- supported by the use in Brazil of a land unit , the uadro f 1 0 I q , o ficially 5 x metres ; a strip of an original square quadro corresponding to the I o- geira

. cuadra 1 0 field In Argentina the is 5 varas , and the

cuadra cuadrada . , acres , is that measure squared

’ al alm0 avante ado Portug has another span , the p y

inches , of which 3 make a covado or cubit 2 0 8 7 7 , inches , virtually the Flemish ell of English standard .

SS AND TH S 3. RU IA E EA T

Russia

l The standard of length is the Eng ish foot , intro duced by Peter the Great . There is another and older

i 2 8 i. e . measure , the Arsh n inches , the Turkish arshin of 27 9 inches varied to a Simple relation with the

2 1 4 MEN AND MEASURES

Rouman ia The measures differ little from those of 2 6 The Halebi pik 7 inches . The Hen dazi

Greece

Hen dazi ickus The p , of Hashimi standard is

the usual measure .

Tun is Tri oli Al eria , p , g

The Moorish dra to 1 9 2 inches (2of the

i . Hash mi cubit), the usual standard The multiples by 8 show the influence of the Cano of 8 spans from l Southern France and Ita y . n The ancient Roman mile still exists in Tu is , 1 61 0 with a length } yards .

THE HASH fM I 4 . CUBIT After the Moslem conquest of the countries of the

Eastern great monarchies , the inch standard of e the Persian cubit was rais d to inches . This H ashemic i is the Hashimi , or cubit , named after Hash m , the chief of the Arab tribe to which the prophet

Mahomed belonged . It is the cubit mentioned in the 2 h Arabian Nights (5 4 t night). But the cubit or l the foot of the Nights , when not specified , is usual y ’ Al- M am fin s either of the Olympic or of standard . The increase of the Persian cubit was probably to bring Be ladi hi it , together with the cubit and the Ars n (to be described presently), into simple relation with a i Qasab of length sl ghtly increased so that this should , FOREIGN LINEAR MEASURES 2 1 5

for building and land measurement , be a common

u . a m ltiple of the three cubits This is the Turkish qas b , ab 1 the qasab q an i 53 4 5 inches .

Beladi 2 1 8 88 1 2 1 6 7 cubits at inches 53 inches . 6 Hashimi stArshins 27 9 1 534 5

By taking the 7 Beladi cubits at the equatorial standard of the Jewish cubit , inches , they would 1 ° i give 53 34 inches , and taking 5) arsh ns at the slightly n dimi ished length of inches , the qasab would 1 6 be an exact common multiple of them at 53 3 inches . a 6 This q sab can be divided into Hashimi cubits , 1 2 2 kub dehs han dshafts sex decimall or feet , or 4 ( ), or y 8 2 1 6 . into fathoms , 4 guz , cubits , spans It is a mere coincidence that the old French foot , inches , was very approximately half a Hashimi cubit .

THE Pix ARSH iN 5. HALEBI OR

The date of this measure is as uncertain as its source . 2 It is a Turkish measure 7 9 inches or thereabouts , divided into 1 6 qirat . This division points to it being g of a Persian guz of 24 qirat . Among the guz of Persia there is one 1 §

m 2 28 . Hashi i cubits 4 inches , of which H inches

If this length were taken , it might have been somewhat lessened to make it an aliquot part of the Turkish

6 1 6 . reed or qasab , Hashimi cubits 53 3 inches At 2 i 1 the length of 7 9 inches , 5) arsh n 53 4 5 inches 1 or within 1 6 inch of the qasab . 21 6 MEN AND MEASURES

ul in as It is curious that the Reed sho d be 5§ arsh s , our Rod is 5% yards . While the Turkish qasab is

Beladi 6 i 7 cubits , Hashimi cubits 55 arsh ns , the Egyptian qasab , somewhat less , is

6 ri 1 1 6 Assy an cubits of inches 5 5 inches ,

al 1 1 6 or 5% double roy feet of 5 3 inches , and

1 5 divided into 1 0 b elen di feet of 1 5 1 56 inches . There is a lesser Egyp tian qasab of 5 arshins ll inches and a third sti less , of 4 Assyrian 1 1 cubits 0 inches . With each of these qasab 20 20 X make a Feddan of land .

u . The word Pik is the Greek pich s , a cubit

Note of A cknowledgment 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

’ ’ ‘ 1 81 6 Kelly s Cambist , .

’ ‘ Woolhouse s all Measures , Weights and Moneys of ’ 8 1 0 . Nations , 9

’ et 1 8 De Malarce , Poids Mesures , 79 . ’ t’ ’ 1 8 . Browne s Merchan s Handbook , 99 The information in the last of these is excellently compiled and very trustworthy .

My object is to give , not tabulated series of measures hi but their story and rationale , to apprehend the ways

CHAPTER XVIII

FOREIGN WEIGHTS

1 TE U TONIc S M S H . SY TE OF WEIG T

THE German and Norse pounds are of three types 1 . The pound of the Cologne mark , the double hi 2 1 6 u 1 . marc , 7 grains , its o nce 4 5 grains T s was the standard of the old Tower weight of the English mints . It coincides with the Arabic lesser rotl , r im of the Cantar of Al- M amfin

Its modern type is , or was , the pound of Prussia 2 1 8 and Hanover 7 grains , fin; of the Centner 1 lb . It was defined as 3 5 of the weight of a i Rh neland cubic foot of water (see next chapter).

2 . The Troy pound , of variable standard , from 81 0 . 77 5 grains (ounce 4 5 grs ) in Denmark , and as 8 high as 4 3 grains in Sweden , to 7595 grains (ounce l 4 74 7 grs . ) in Holland . Even in Hol and there is another standard , that of the Amsterdam pound , 7625 grains (ounce 4 767 the medium standard

1 0 . of Troy weight , Egyptian dirhems of grains

. 0 3 The Nuremburg pound 739 grains , its

- h 6 i . A a ote ounce 4 2 gra ns S the 1 2 02 . pound of p ’ 22 ai 60 2 caries weight , it is 55 gr ns , its ounce 4 2 1 8 FOREIGN WEIGHTS 21 9

i 8- grains . Th s pound is derived from the ounce p eso d a i m rco 6 . of Venice 3 95 grains The Venice ounce , 1 1 60 grains , was divided into 4 4 carats of 3 9 9 8 al a grains . This ounce was centesim drachm of the Ar 6 abic lesser rotl 57 3 grains , when divided on 1 00 a the Greek system into drachm of grains , 8 instead of on the uncial system , so that X

grains . This is the apparent basis of the

- Venetian marc ounce and the Nuremburg ounce .

- 1 2 oz . As the Marc was of the classic pound , the word came to mean g of a pound , either weight or coin it probably came from San Marco of Venice . German and Scandinavian ounces were usually

2 loths - 8 divided into or half ounces , quentchen and 6 1 Pfenning .

- 20 In Holland the mint ounce was of Engels , each of

2 z . 3 A en Engel is the English sterling or dwt. the Aas is an ace , a light grain grain .

The Balti ki un d S - c S pp . This hip pound was 20 20 1 6 lispund , of either light or heavy pounds

— 20 i 1 6 n 2 Denmark Norway l spund of skaalpu d 35 lb. — 2 0 n 20 s n Sweden lispu d of kaalpu d 375lb. — 1 0 iid 0 ifi 61 . Russia the berkowitz , p of 4 nt 3 lb

S - 2 . EA T EUROPEAN SYSTEM S 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 . o 1 6 8 8 The Polish p und , x dirhems of 4 9 220 MEN AND MEASURES

6 62 8 rs . 1 grains , 5 g It is divided into ounces

1 . . the oz . 39 grs . (Cf the lb of Sardinia and of

2 . Languedoc the oz . 39 grs )

ffin t 1 2 . 2 . The Russian pound or , of ounces The ounce (lana) 5266 grains is almost exactly

1 0 greater dirhems of 52 6 grains . This ounce is exactly that of the rottolo attari or

Assyrian rotl of 84 26 grains (the Greek- Asiatic mina) ri still extant in Bassora (Chaldaea)and in Alge a . The hi the l relations p is evident , since Roman As was fi m of

- the Greek Asiatic talent , and the greater dirhem was

- 5 of the As ounce 4 20 7 5 grains .

- 3. The Austro Hungarian pound , also used in

1 6 8 0 6 6 82 . Bavaria , is x dirhems of 5 grains 4 3 grs

di - 4 . The Swe sh mint pound . 6 0 This pound , 5 3 grains , was divided into

2 - e i 8 06 mint mar s , divided aga n into ounces of 4 3 the grains . Of the same type is commercial skaal 6 6 un d . 08 . p 53 grs its oz 4 5 grs , a weight exactly the same as that of the ounce of Genoa , which

the - n 8 di belongs to dirhem system , bei g rhems of

51 grains . The Swedish medicinal weight is Nuremburg . ’ There are two miner s pounds showing the extremes 8 1 of Troy weight the ounces being 4 3 and 4 7 grains .

THE D N N S M S H 3. ME ITERRA EA SY TE OF WEIG T

In Egypt the dirhem - system gives rise to two series of weights that of the Oka and that of the Rottolo . l In the atter word the Arabic rotl is Italianised ,

222 MEN AND MEASURES

0 . there are two standards , 4 7 75 and grains The

’ U k é 1 0 y or ounce is goldsmith s weight , dirhems of 4 7 0 75grains but in commercial weight it is in dirhems

of grains , so it is made the same weight by reckon ing it as 1 50 kharfib or qirat in stead of 1 60 of these as

’ 1 in the goldsmith s oun ce of 1 0 dirhems of 6 qirat . So there are variations in the weight of the dirhem basis of the Mediterranean pounds

In Egypt the dirhem 4 7 66 grains 4 7

In Tunis In Morocco 4 9 In Turkey 1 qirat , 3 3 of the dirhem , varies with it .

Egyi ”

2 2 lb . 00 dir rs . The Oka , 7 3 , is 4 hems of g

8 1 lb . The Rottolo , 9 , is 4 4

The Oka is a centesimal multiple of the dirhem .

The Rottolo is an uncial multiple of it . 1 Is 00 Rottoli 1 Cantar 98 lb . this the modern t Al Egyptian . which has succeeded the Cantar of

‘ M am rm lb .

Turkey

There is a double series as in Egyp t , but the Turkish e series are bas d , one on the Dirhem and the other on the Egypto - Roman ounce at the standard of 4 36 4 5

° 6 . r 6 2 grains In mode n Rome it is 4 3 grains , in

6° Tuscany 4 3 66 grains . FOREIGN WEIGHTS 223

is 1 6 1 . The Dirhem , 4 9 5 grains , qirat of 3 grains

The Cheke is of 1 00 dirhems 4 950 grains .

The Oka is of 4 00 dirhems lb .

The Cantar is 2000 ounces 1 24 7 lb . or 4 4 Oke .

1 ottoli 1 2 lb . The Cantar is divided into 00 R of 4 7 , 20 ounces .

The Libbra an d the Rottolo

Rottoli of over 1 6 ounces are not uncommon in

. Mediterranean countries , whether Moslem or Christian

They form an alternate series with the libbra series .

ro toli 1 6 1 8 2 Thus in Algiers there are 3 t of , and 4 oz 26 6 1 0 each ounce , 5 grains , being greater dirhems , and coinciding with the Russian ounce . There are

- - i z. n 1 2 oz 8 . o o a . libbra , 4 97 grs , and a 3 rottolo grs

- - oz. 8 . o 1 2 02 . 86 in Malta a libbra , 4 grs , and a 3

rottolo grs .

- 8 02 . 1 2 oz. 8 a 1 in Genoa a libbra , 4 93 grs . , and n 8 rottolo 737 grs .

- 1 2 oz. 0 . in Naples a libbra , 4 95 grs , and a rottolo

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

. 1 2 Rome Though divided into ounces , these libbre

e a 1 6 0 2 b long to the s me class as the . pounds of Southern

France ; all having ounces of 8 dirhems . But in North Africa the Oka and the rottolo have an ounce 1 0 of dirhems . 224 MEN AND MEASURES

OUNCES AND DIRHEM S OF THE MEDITERRANEAN SYSTEM

Dirhem of I H 3 ” Genoa U “ S RH Sicily W L ‘ - Malta lw MH - Sardinia bm Ae H — r i l O Majorca O Ao ‘- r l Lan guedoc 1 6 oz . w Mc fi G n O asco y A\

1 Provence l A\ H

i l O Turkey A\ u x s I Egypt A\ d a

Morocco Rotl I A© Tripoli Oka I I “C I Aw Algiers Rotl

o i 0 t I Tunis Rotl S I Ac u0

Everywhere there is a Cantar or Quintal , a hundred

ruba 1 00 weight , divided into 4 and into pounds or rotl . In Tunis the Cantar 1 1 1 lb divided into 1 00 rotl 1 6 uk é 1 of y or oun ces of 0 dirhems . I 6 k é n 1 0 6 lb . 1 00 1 u Tripoli it is 7 , in rotl of y , 8 of dirhems of 4 7 075 grains .

1 1 2 . 1 00 20 In Morocco it is lb of rotl , each of ukyé of 8 dirhems ; the ukyé or ounce 392 grains trn a 8 e u . as in Gascony (Foix , Albi , where it was

S UMM ARY

However differently the Mediterranean poun d or uk é the rotl may be divided , its y or ounce is always

226 MEN AND MEASURES

6 mithk als coinciding with the ounce of or 9 dirhems . The oun ce was

8 dirhems in the light Mediterranean pounds .

9 dirhems in the medium pounds of Spain and Cologne . 1 0 dirhems in the Troy pounds . 1 0 greater dirhems in the Russian pound . 1 2 drachmes in the Venetian pound .

ORIG INAL WEIG HTS OF THE DIRHEM S

1 - . Coin weights

u - n 0 1 A reus , of As ou ce 7 i greater dirhem

' Mithk al - n n 2 , of Egypto Roma ou ce 7 74 5 lesser dirhem 4 8 5

- 2 . Rotl weights 7 37 5 lesser rotl drachma Ti ; greater rotl medium dirhem CHAPTER XIX

FOREIGN MEASURES OF CA PA CITY

THE TE U TONIc S M 1 . SY TE

MEASURES of capacity are always either (a) based on a certain cubed linear measure

(6)made to hold a certain weight of water or of com . 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 1 000 measure of 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 S measures often how 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 n com for wine and corn , and sometimes the i creased 2 27 9 2 2 28 MEN AND MEASURES measure may have come to be used for fluids while the

- l corn measure actual y in use has been imported . s Taking three repre entative German feet , and evolving from them their cubic measure , we have

Foot. G allons . x

(a) Amsterdam in . (b) Hamburg 64 (c) Rhineland 8 5

(a) In Holland there seems to be no measure of di capacity correspon ng to the cubic foot , but this ,

w . w . increased in ratio , g ives the Schepel gallons , the Skipple of New England .

6 - ( )In Hamburg the cubic foot measure is also absent , w a but the w . . increased measure appe rs as the Eimer

gallons , now used for wine , and this measure ,

again increased , appears as the Anker gallons , both being now fluid measures .

6 n In Bremen and Lubeck , the Eimer 4 gallo s , 8 and the Anker gallons , the one of 4 and the other

- of 5 viertels , are both wine measures while the corn f 6 measure , the Sche fel , 7 gallons , is very nearly

- the old English com bushel . (c) Prussia and Hanover both had the Rhineland foot , but Prussia , while recognising the cubic foot of

66 . had water as lb weight , Cologne standard , no corresponding measure of capacity . In Hanover and in Brunswick the Rhineland cubic foot of water,

- gallons , was represented , not by a wine measure ,

- u Himt 6 8 2 a but by a corn meas re , the 5 g llons .

And the increased measure , hi S e gallons , w ch hould prop rly have been the corn

230 MEN AND MEASURES

exactly the Arabic cubic cubit , which became the Cargo of Marseilles , or the Setier of Paris . Now this standard of gallons or thereabouts is not uncommon in

- Germany . In Hanover and Hesse Cassel the

i - gallons is a w ne measure , in Saxony the Malter

- 1 2 . 34 7 gallons is a corn measure , divided into scheffels Corresponding to this in England was an ancient H amb erb oun e H m a b e rb arrel . measure , the Amber ( , ) In other parts of Germany where the cubic foot is ri smaller, being de ved , as in Hamburg , from a foot i inches (or at least correspond ng to this foot), the cubic foot there gives a measure gallons , w w l . . hi and when increased in ratio 6 4 gal ons . T s X 2 l latter measure 5 gives 3 gal ons , and this number

- 8 of gallons , either as an Ohm , wine measure , or x

2 - 3 bushels as a Malter , or corn measure , is common throughout Germany . There seems in many places e to have b en 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 . 1 1 The Viertel , 7 3 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 wide

- spread wine measure .

It passed to France , there becoming the Velte l al gal ons at Bordeaux , g lons 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 2 1 6 cubic inches (5of the FOREIGN MEASURES OF CAPACITY 231

- 1 000 2 1 cubic foot , or wine bushel of ounces)to 3 cubic inches . At the latter capacity it became just half of the Bordeaux velte . The shrinkage of the Bordeaux velte to gallons may have been the effect of adaptation to an

- English double wine gallon , or it may have been from l the velte , when passing to Hol and , having to adapt

- itself to the other wine measures of that country . The W Dutch Velt or elt took a place between the Stoop , 0 Steek an 8 stoo en 5 337 gallons , and the , of p and it thus became a measure of 3 stoopen 1 6 0 1 gallon .

80 v elts . It gave rise to the Legger , of This passed to English trade as the Leaguer , but failed to

n establish itself , bei g soon only known as a long cask of about 1 50 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 a 1 2 ° now or formerly Dutch . The Legg r in Java 7 34 gallons .

The Velt 1 6 gallons at the Cape Java (approximately).

Mauritius .

Ceylon .

1 6 n . 7 in France , ear La Rochelle )

But the Viertel maintained , even increased , its standard of 1 7 1 3 gallons when entering the Mar seilles - Paris systems of wine - measures as the Velte rising to gallons in order to become half of the Escan dau of Marseilles , and taking a place at

gallons in the Paris seri es of wine - measures (see 232 MEN AND MEASURES

Chapter XXI). Coming from the North , it was yet an

i Escan dau evolution of the Arabic foot , wh le the was

of the Marseilles Cargo reduced in wheat - water ratio , and this cargo was the Arabic cubic cubit .

THE D N N S M 2 . ME ITERRA EA SY TE The Moslem conquest of the greater part of the n Mediterranean countries , with the i fluence of Arab li i trade and of Moorish civi sation , d splaced the Roman system of weights and measures , already modified by i’ the influence of Ptolema c Egypt , and caused changes even in the weights and measures of Italy . Not only the North of Africa , but Spain , Provence (and the Occitan ian other lands), the dominions of the three

i republ cs of Venice , Genoa and Arles , with the countries

i i form ng the Turk sh Empire , all these took more or less the Arab system of weights and measures , and I W this system penetrated deep nto estern Europe . The principal Arab measures which form the basis of the Mediterranean measures of capacity were 1 8 . The cubed Persian cubit Persian cubic feet (the Persian foot being half the cubit of inches). The Persian cubic foot of water being the

- al Persian or Greek Asiatic talent , at its calculated v ue b 8 8 l . 80 8 of , the cubed cubit is x 5 8 88 al 0 . lb . 5 g lons Thi s was the Arab (and Hebrew) Den 582

ll di I ga ons , vided nto 4 Artaba of gallons each of 4 Wueb e of 3 6375 each of 6 Saa of 0 6064

234 MEN AND MEASURES

- Reduced in inverse water wheat ratio , it gives

gallons .

This fluid measure , apparently not extant at the present time , is yet found in its double , the Moyo of

a d l M ezzaruola Spain gallons , n its ha f , the of

Mieirolo l Italy , the of Marsei les . The Mieirolo is the basis of other important

measures ; its standard , gallons , is 2 found in Tunis gallons in Tripoli

in Spain Moyo). A quarter of this measure is the A rroba mayor of

al- rfib a Escan dau Spain (arroba , the fourth), the ° l of Marseilles 3 54 gal ons . Escan dau The half of the Arroba , or of the , corre s on ds l p to the Velte , gallon at Paris , gal on

&c. in Hanover , It is the meeting point of Northern

and Southern measures , which are derived quite ’ ar Al- M amfin s sep ately from cubit , the former by

weight , the latter by measure . The measures of Portugal differ little from those of

- m . . co n an e a Ar Spain The u it is the Fanga (Sp . f g , an f iga sack) gallons . There appears to have 6 been a larger unit of fangas , as the name of the

Alqueire , k fanga , implies that this smaller unit was

1 “ 6 a qirat , 9 1 of a large measure fangas .

The alqueire varies in capacity . In Brazil it is our

Imperial bushel . FOREIGN MEASURES OF CAPACITY 235

In Spain the fanega is the usual seed - measure of land ; it is 1 6 acre (exactly the saum ado seed measure of Provence), though probably that amount of

- m land requires fully 2 fanegas of seed co . The cubed Black cubit appears also as a com

measure , its original purpose . Original standard gallons bushels Reb ek eh of Egyp t Cargo of Marseilles Setier of Paris 1 0 2 2 3. The cubed Black foot , 9 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 X

gallons , is represented by the Cairo Ardeb of 0 the present time , 4 gallons or 5 bushels , generally 6 Wueb e somewhat more . It is divided into , each of 1 Rfib a irats 7 . 4 or quarters , which are q , 3 ; of the Ardeb

The standard of the Cairo Ardeb varies . It is some

times put at as much as bushels gallons . The official standard of the Ardeb of wheat is 297

° lb . 8 60 . . , 3 5 gallons at 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 di weights , but once scovered , it gives the clue to the

maze , and the system is then seen to be really simple . 236 MEN AND MEASURES

It has already been seen that the weights are in a d ouble series giving the Oka of 4 00 dirhems and the

2000 - 1 lb 2 . Cantar of Egypto Roman ounces , 4 7 , li 1 00 rotto . divided into The weight of the dirhem ,

’ ° Chek é 4 9 5 grains in the goldsmith s weight , becomes 6 4 9 in the Oka , of the Cantar . Flu id — A nn easure . 2 1 2 . double cantar, x 4 7 lb

lb - 2 . 2 4 9 4 , was increased in water wheat ratio , 4 9 4

1 1 . a al 3 7 5 lb g llons . The actu

- capacity of this water Cantar is gallons .

This measure is divided into 1 00 rottoli- measure

ttoli . 2 ro 0 lb of water), each of ; weight 5 ounces .

Corn - m easure — . The Cantar measure becomes , for corn , the Fortin , at a standard of gallons . This measure being 2 X 2 % times the Cantar weight 2000 000 000 of ounces , contains 5 ounces of water or 4

di Killows ounces of wheat . It is vided into 4 of

77 75 gallons . This measure is evidently named from chilioi 1 0 the Greek (Fr . kilo) as holding 0 0 ounces of wheat . It is divided again into 4 Saa . di 88 rottoli The Fortin is also vided into , the rottolo containing 500 dirhems of water or 4 00 dirhems of corn .

fluid- Ok a- 8 Ok a In measure there is an measure ,

rottoli- l 3§ measure , make an Almud ga lon . I only mention this intrusive measure to con fer it with

Alm uda the Spanish or Celemin gallon .

r f These Tu kish measures , fluid and corn , a ford another instance of the practice of increasin g a fluid — n measure in water wheat ratio , and then of usi g this

238 MEN AND MEASURES

1 . The Great Assyrian cubit , which is the cubit ’ - and an hand breadth . i 2 . S x A measuring Reed of cubits long , by the

cubit and an hand - breadth the modern qasab of

Egypt . 2 1 1 3. The Cubit of the Talmud 9 4 inches , the 1 3 3 1 75 of the Bereh , which was w ho of an hour on the equator (see page For weights they used the Alexandrian talent or Kikk ar divided in the Phoenician manner into 50 minas

of 60 Shekels 2 1 8% grains . This Shekel was some times called the Shekel of the Sanctuary and was then di 8 vided , not into Gerahs of grains (our dram , 1 1 3 of the Egypto - Roman ounce) but into 2 Bekah or

20 1 0 . 4 Reba or Gerah 9 grains The Reba , 3; Shekel , was the drachma of the Phoenician weights , grains . Wh x x vu en , as recorded in Exodus , men contribute each a Bekah or half- Shekel of silver the amount of Shekels is stated to be 1 00

1 S S talents and 775 hekels , after the hekel of the Sanc

tuar . 000 S y In this statement the talent is of 3 hekels , according to the Phoenician reckoning . S 20 In Ezekiel xlvi , the hekel is given as of gerahs and the mina is stated to be 20 25 1 5 60

Shekels , confirming the Phoenician mode of dividing the

Alexandrian talent as that used by the Hebrews , viz .

50 minas of 60 Shekels . The measures of capacity had for principal unit the m Oly pic talent , the weight of water of the common

Egyptian foot cubed , gallons . It was called FOREIGN MEASURES OF CAPACITY 239

the Bath for fluid measure , the Epha for corn and other 6 dry measure . The Bath was divided into Hin gallon (this being about the same capacity as the alrn uda 2 Spanish and Turkish ) and into 7 Log , a 2 pint . The Epha was likewise of 7 log , and 4 log made a Cab . The Cor or Homer was a measure of 1 0 Epha or 8 1 6 8 . n Bath , 4 gallons or bushels It coi cided 2 approximately with great Artaba , this measure being the cubed Royal cubit 31 6 95 gallons X 2 gallons .

field- - The Hebrew units were at first seed measures , afterwards fixed geometrically .

n Bathse a The u it was the , sown with a Bath of 8 8 grain it was qasab , or 4 great cubits , square , a rood . Betheoron 1 0 The , sown with a Cor , Bath , of grain ,

3 was 1 0 of the les ser unit and therefore 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 , a however interesting , would lack the more import nt

S general View . I hall therefore con fine myself to the an d full description , in Chapters XXI XXII , of the in measures and weights of France which , both 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 f o some names of measures . CHAPTER XX

TH E D EVELO PM ENT O F MEANING IN THE NAMES O F WEIGHTS A ND MEASURES

N M 1 . GE ERAL RE ARKS

IN the various names of weights and measures there are many general - utility words which offer no dith culty 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 . ’ r Some te ms 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 conces sion 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

n se x decimal them . They are very commo in the

e n series , repr senti g a fourth of one unit and four of a lower unit .

24 2 MEN AND MEASURES

1 0 i an obolus was grains but th s 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 half

da lio medaio i me . n . pe ny , being It g , Prov , ak n 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

n weight of 2} ounce , perhaps from bei g half of the loth

- lin lin o e . er or half ounce . And the Fr . f , It f , probably h corruptions of vierling or fart ing , on becoming 21 of i l 1 ma l e . the , was 1 3 of the ounce In the section on terms used in old land - measures I have Shown the equivocal ’ sense of words related to ferling . e uiv a Our Yard , from the influence of its French q

— ver e ver ée — lents g , rod , and g , rood became a quarter

- acre , and then a quarter hide .

The Drachm as a part of the Troy ounce , became

d ois av er e . the dram as a part of the p ounce , fig As a measure it became of a Spirit pint . 1 1 1 The terms signifying 1 g , 3 6, 9 7 and some smaller S fractions of weights or measures , how a development of meaning which will be given in the followin g sections .

THE AND THE TH NCH AND THE 2 . NAIL CLOVE E I OUNCE

The yard is law q y divided (as was also the ell)into

4 quarters and 1 6 nails . i 8 The hundredweight is d vided into 4 quarters , 1 6 stones and cloves or nails . DEVELOPMENT OF MEANING IN NAMES 24 3

How did Nail come to mean a sixteenth of a ni u t , length or weight The New English Dictionary throws no light on nl the origin of this peculiarly English term . The o y other general name I know for a sixteenth is the

’ Indian anna , the sixteenth of a rupee , of a crop , of a

&c. venture , 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 s am p , the common handy measure in most parts of the 1 2 1 6 world , is of digits , while the foot is digits and ll is sti so divided in Italy and other southern countries .

l - fin er The digit is not only a midd e g breadth , it is also a thumb - nail breadth ; as the former it was in Greek dactlos on x oukia y , as the latter y , which became in un uis Southern Italy and gave rise to two Latin words , g

fin er- un cia - for the actual g nail , for the thumb nail breadth equal to the digit and generally for a twelfth part . Hence a differentiation of meaning in the

Romance languages .

K on x oukia GREE y ,

- un uis . uncia Latin g , thumb nail breadth, ounce

n un hia on cia - n Italia g . , last thumb joint , ou ce

n l - oun o . oun o fin er n Prove cal g c , g joi t , knuckle , ounce

on le once fin er- n French g . , g joi t ounce unce n ch English (nail) . , y

When the Romans adopted the duodecimal or

uncial system they applied it to the foot , which was divided into either 1 2 or 1 6 parts both called uncias R 2 24 4

i in ui w but to d st g sh these they used two other ords , di itus ollex the g for the sixteenth and p , thumb , for

b - l h . twe ft , the thum breadth

In n n ch a E glish unce , y always me nt the thumb ’ ’ - a breadth i s of a foot , Nail , the thumb n il breadth i 1 al i o . equ to the d git , be ng kept for the 1 5 f ot Thence nail came to have the general sense of Sixteenth

- a and to be applied to that fraction of a 4 span y rd ,

- a ll u n e . of a 5 sp , of a bushel , of a h ndredweight In Latin the analogous general se nse of twelfth uncia o the belonged to , whether of the fo t , of land

The al unit , of the pound . gener sense of twenty 1 r t r fou th at ached to the sc uple as 3 ; ounce , passed to e the qirat , or carat , in the countries influenc d by Arab 1 mithkal customs , as being 9 3 of the , the Arab successor of the Roman solidus . l al 0 l In modern Ita y the p m or span , and the ibbra 1 2 ancic i or pound , were both divided into , mean ng inches or ounces .

With the general substitution of the 1 6- ounce o 1 2 n p und for that of ou ces , the word ounce lost its

meaning of twelfth . In some of the Romance languages its sense of leng th extended to the length of any fin ger l n j oint , especial y to the le gth of the proximal joint

of the thumb . Thus in Southern France the ma ngo do“ ouc once de oulce p e (Fr . p ) was taken as 3 of the span

or nearly 2 in ches .

- t . 1 1 6 lb . When our was raised to 2 lb . and the 1

stone replaced by that of 1 4 lb . the term Nail was i the appl ed to half of the new stone , and it was perhaps t 1 the divisibili y of the new cm . into 6 parts of

24 6 MEN AND MEASURES

Rome in the French Sol , the brass halfpenny with the effigy of Louis XVI , current within my memory , or in the bronze Son by which sums under three francs are still reckoned in France . u Ex a ium was so The Solid s , Aureus , or g solidi , i called because , represent ng 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 ! - 20 ai l of the Roman mint ounce 4 § gr ns , or 7 ; of

lib ralis . 2 a the As Its weight was equal to 4 siliqu e, al 2 21 afterwards c led Carats 9 grains , and its third , tremissis 2 i the , weighed nearly 4 gra ns , the troy pennyweight . Hence pure gold was considered as 2 solidus or entire of 4 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

- ai carat of fineness was divided into 4 assay gr ns , 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}3 grains 4 1 000 fine; that is H; nearly 995 in . 1 1 Thus the carat was 3 ; Solidus or 1 41 ounce . When the Arab caliphs had conquered Egypt and the greater part of the Mediterranean countries , they followed Roman imperial customs and replaced the

Ex a ium mithk al gold g solidi , f; of the As , by the gold , 1 - Mi hk al 7 7 of the Libra or Egypto Roman pound . The t

- was then 3 of the Egypto Roman ounce 4 37 grains , 2 l so that it weighed 7 7 grains . It was divided ike the 2 0 ai Roman coin into 4 qirat , each 3 35 gr ns and DEVELOPMENT OF MEANING IN NAMES 24 7

i com divided into 4 hubba or l ght grains , meaning grains . The Ptolemai c or lesser Alexandrian talent had been divided into 60 minas of 1 2 ounces these either 1 00 1 1 2 1 61 6 drachmae or 2 X carats of 3 grains . The a carat was n ancient Eastern weight , originally the

caroub - Ceraton ia sili ua flat seed of the or locust tree , q , ion and in Greek kerat . Throughout North Africa and in other Moslem countries there are two usual lesser un its of weight :

h The Mithk al 72 7 grs . of 24 K arub or qirat The Dirhem 4 8} 1 6

’ - 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

i . 2 Roman s liqua grs 1 7 9 gr .

° Roman - Egyptian carat 758 Ptolemaic ° 790 Ven etian ° 799 Egyptian (modern) ° 772 Spanish (Moorish) 7 70 Amsterdam (diamond)carat

° 1 6 e Hamburg 3 7 fi g Cologn oz . English 3 1 77 French metric ° 2 gramme

Th e Eastern qirat has retained all the derived 1 W - senses seen in the estern carat , 3 1 of a pure gold unit . 24 8 MEN AND MEASURES

A cubit of 28 digits has an alternative division into kharfib 1 6 24 qirat . The of Egypt , to a dirhem and

mithk al - 24 to a , is the weight counterpart of the digit ,

1 6 to the foot and 24 to the cubit . The density of brine is on a scale of 24 qirat . Poin ts in a com

S petition , hares in a business or ship are reckon ed h similarly . At Marseilles the owners ip of a vessel is divided into 24 qirat as it is in England into sixty fourths . ueira un i alend u Ai un q tsus nav re C a v . (by

Mistral). Sometimes the 24 qirat are grouped into 4 rob of b ba ub Ro . al ra a r ai at 6 . . qirat is from Ar , fourth cf y

ai . quatr n In Spain and Portugal the arroba , in

ub rubbio - Provence the r (It . ) is the quarter hundred

’ The Refin er s Carat

t n e There is ano her use of the term Carat , confi d to goldsmiths and refiners of the precious metals . The old troy pound was regarded as 24 carats the carat

60 . was 4 grains , each of 4 quarters or of grains This system was used in the refinery of the Royal Mint 1 88 up to 2 . In Germany the Cologn e marc (8 ounces) was divided by refiners ( 1 ) for gold into 24 carats of 1 2 grains ; (2) for silver into 1 6 loth (half- oun ces) of 1 8 grains . It is probable that this system came to England with the Tower pound (1 2 ounces of the Cologn e marc) e and was continu d with the Troy pound .

250 MEN AND MEASURES adviseth such as will examine measures an d weights to e r n ot e b gin with the g eater and the l sser . The most curious man alive with the exactest scale that the most l can n n n ski ful artisan i ve t , shall ever be able , out of the n n sta dard of one grai , 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 l get at an u timate atom as the term of the series . wh o ri The Hindus began , or ended , a se es of weights with one of the motes or fine particles of dust visible in a sunbeam , were imitated by the English moneyers

0 - d 2 - i who continued the 2 wt. and 4 grain ser es by 20 2 dividing the grains into Mites , each of 4 Droits , 20 Periots 2 each of , each of 4 Blanks , the blank being — fl ax 63 of a grain . So our mint expressed the weight of a Stuart silver penny , not as 7§ grains (all the silver coins having then a fraction of 31 sts) that would have been too — 1 20 2 eriots simple but as 7 grains , 4 mites , droits , p ,

1 2 blanks . Even then the statement was not exact one or two more infin itesimal units would have had to be added to the series .

4 It may be noted that 73} grains is Simpler than the 8 1 &c. modern decimal equivalent 77 4 9354 ,

The origin of these mint - terms is obscure ; the u casts no light on it . I consider their so rce to b e — mi t n Mite j , a small Dutch coi . — i ’ a du t . Droit corruption of the Dutch , Sc doit , a DEVELOPMENT OF MEANING IN NAMES 251

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 1 The heavy grain m ounce as In Enghsh 20 x 24

Troy .

The light grain 3 h ounce as in French

Troy . 6 The ounce of 57 light grains was used in France , w some Italian states , Spain and Portugal . Else here , throughout Europe , the mint and medicinal ounce was 8 0 20 . 4 heavy grains , the scruple being grains The heavy and light grains have been connected

- - com respectively with the barley corn and the wheat .

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 . 2 a 8 troisk en dwt or Engels , each of m il , 4 vierling , , 1 6 deusken 2 , 3 azen or aces . The Aas was the wheat

- corn of our mint legend . In the Spanish Netherlands 2 52 MEN AND MEASURES the Engel was increased to make the ounce 24 X 24 1 80 grains . The Engel thus became (Antwerp 5 ) 28 8 I grains % English dwt . The word Engel means ’ 1 0 angel , not the angel coin weighing 3 engel azen , l ’ but Angle Angli , non Ange i .

TH E TU N A ND THE H 4 . FOT ER

These words belong to an on omatopaeic class ’ 1 — bon bon n e . Bung akin to bomb , to Fr . , a more or less globular vessel givin g 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 u globular cake . B ng was probably a cask the word is applied to a portly publican fancifully resembling on e of his casks . Bumboat probably meant a boat carrying bums or casks to ships . — 2 . a . Ton , tun large cask giving a thundering sound

ton itru on n tonn . t erre . e L , Fr . , whence Fr , our ton for weight , tun for capacity . F u at dr v . . . o e 3 Fr . , a thundering big cask or L ul ur ouldre oudre - f g , Fr . f f , a thunder bolt , in German ’ uder f , whence our fudder and fother, about a ton of coal or of lead , a cartload of about a ton .

2 54 MEN AND MEASURES

i cubed Arabic cubit , and comparable with the Engl sh

- Coomb or half Quarter . Just as the English Quarter 8 Saumado of corn is bushels , so the Cargo (load , or ,

- i 8 E min o. ass load , Seam) is And j ust as we had a

- - wine bushel , originally a cubic foot in water wheat

com - nia ratio with the bushel , so Occita had its

Escan dau i for wine correspond ng , in the Southern

water- wheat ratio of 1 to to the Eimin o or l i hi Panau . The on y d fference in t s 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 pro

duced - from the corn measure as a basis . The word Escan dau means standard (like the Den erel of a Guernsey), and j ust as the cubic measure , the quadr ntal , 1 000 of Roman ounces of water, is the standard of our v foot and irtually of all our other measures , so the

Escan dau - quadrantal is the standard of the Pan all ll and of the other measures of Marsei es . 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 hi Burgundy, afterwards the republic of Arles . T s was o so considerable a seap rt , connected as it was with the sea both by the Rhone and by a canal passage , the ossae as F Marian , 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 Pain of Marseilles was derived from the side of an Escan dau of quadrantal form has been described in Chapter IV. MEASURES AND WEIGHTS OF FRANCE 255

8 The Cano or fathom , inches , was pan or spans each 9 904 inches ; the span was of 8 men ut 8 1 or inches , also divided into parts .

The basis of the Southern system , typically that of

- Marseilles , was then the Cargo , a corn measure 1 l gallons (the equivalent of 54 7 9 litres , the officia

al Al- M amfin metric v ue), which was the cubic cubit of 6 inches cubed 9 39 c . i . gallons .

Now what water or wine measure would be pro duced - from the Cargo , decreased in wheat water ratio Dividing the measure of the cargo by we have

28 6 4 gallons .

A fluid measure of this capacity is not in use at Mar fin d seilles , but we its half , almost exactly , in the

Mieirolo gallons , a wine and oil measure used extensively in Mediterranean ports .

’ Mieirolo mie al The word , in which means h f, corre spon ds to the name of the first in an Italian series of wine - measures M ezzaruola Terzaruola uartaruola , , Q , fractions of 8— a a 2 g llon measure now apparently obsolete . The standard of the Mieirolo is n ow at

Marseilles , litres gallons . l Tripo i , 6 Tunis , 3 34 7

Spain ,

1 In ro e n al the rin ci al i iom of th e O ccitan ian lan ua e P v c , p p d g g , n n ta e n l al a ou s tc an e . o ur orm so n can o & c. do n o The k p f p , , , h g ro e n al wor s in tis c a ter are ron ou n ce — an can n P v c d h h p p d p g, , saomadd e minn an dao an a l esc o carr mi e . , y , , p , g , y e 256 MEN AND MEASURES

- Mieirolo - One fourth of the , or one eighth of the

wi - Es ca dau obsolete ne cargo , is the n , equal to the Spanish arroba (a word meaning quarter and containing , at the present Marseilles standard , i Es n l tres gallons . To this ca dau or standard

- corresponds , in water wheat ratio , the Panau gallons , of the Cargo bushels or 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 Escan dau Eimin o century . The and the Panau or correspond then to about 4 wine - gallons and 4 corn al g lons . The Escan dau has always been understood to be a Escan dau 1 P cubic pan . means a standard an means r a side , pane or panel , and it is the measu e of the side al Escan dau of a quadrant containing an of water , as our foot is the measure of one containing an English al 1 000 t ent of Roman ounces of water . The cube root 1 6 0 6 of 9 litres is centimetres , a length differing by less than a from the standard of the

Marseilles pan centimetres or 9 9 inches .

L and- measures

- eom e The ancient system of seed measures , fixed g tricall y , survives to this day in Southern France , ll indeed throughout most of France . I sha make no apology for dwelling on it , for the linear land and

1 is E scan dau is to au e to soun e ts to stan ar ise . g g , d d p h , d d Th w or is rom e sam e rootas scan dalrse a he d to m oral tri in d f th pp pp g, ’ an d ten to the use of the sti li ard the le er- alan ce tattri s h , v b h p wit an in e ualit of wei t h y q y gh .

258 MEN AND MEASURES

0 1 An d our Acre of 4 roods , of 4 square rods . the 1 Cosso r ho acre or 3 3 sq . chain . B — r oo N . o . 1 . sq cano acre . m Sau ado 1 600 s . 1 6 . The , of q cano acre s Such is the typical system of Southern measure , in best preserved the neighbourhood of Marseilles ,

n an but prevaili g throughout the Southern half of Fr ce , though with local variations in the length of the cano

- and the names of the land units .

M easures of Capacity

These have mostly been given in the story of the pan and in the seed - measures corresponding to the

- land measures . Throughout the system the divisions in each series 1 sex decimal Eimin ado are , even the Cosso , 9 0 , being Thy m do Sau a .

Weights

There were three types of pounds in South France , i local variations from these be ng very slight . The pound 1 6 8 Tern au was always ounces , each of ternan . The , so v was called from its being di ided into 3 pennyweights , e the Arab dirhem . The three typ s of pound were

b =6 oo un e = n n = n l . . O c oo . 0 La guedoc 4 grs 4 grs Ter a 5 grs . Gascony =6280 392 4 9 = Proven ce 603o =377 4 7

(See Chapter XVIII . )

was 1 00 The Quintal of these pounds , but long hundredweights were common . Its quarter was the

’ The cosso is a woo en owl Sc. lu ie sed b she er s . d b , gg , u y ph d ‘ ’ r r d is in some istri cts a lu ou o d g . MEASURES AND WEIGHTS OF FRANCE 259

rouba . Rub (Ar . , 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 : the pan becomes a quarter metre ; groceries are often ticketed by the hecto C gramme , as this is known to coincide very losely with

- the old Southern quarter pound . a We now p ss to the Northern or Paris system ,

mostly taken from the South , and bearing evident

traces of this origin .

THE H N S M 2 . NORT ER SY TE

M easures of Length The Roman foot survived in North France as the 6 quarter of the Aune or ell , a measure 4 77 inches .

(Cf . the passetto or double braccio of Tuscany , of 4

- palrn i inches . ) As a cloth measure the Aune

i - was d vided , like our cloth yard and ell , into eighths

and sixteenths . l But there was a so the pied de roi , the royal foot , one S 1 ixth of the Toise, which inches 9 4 9 metre .

The royal foot , inches , was divided into

1 2 1 2 . inches (pouces) of lines , each of points Its standard was traditionally referred to Charlemagne , either to the length of his foot , or to a standard brought

' - al- to him by the envoys of Harli n Rashid . It coincides 25 °

2 H . with half ashimi cubit , 2 inches 260 MEN AND MEASURES

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 1 668 its standard is that , about , 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

1 2 . was , according to the plans , feet in breadth This was 5 standard , however, considered to be 3 5 inch short of the customary toise . 1 6 The Louvre standard , taking it at 9 5 metre

(which I find it by actual measurement), corresponds C losely 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 1 on to Paris as the standard of the French troy pound .

" 1 lan The There w ere relation s b etween Burgun dy an d E n g d . orm er w as u to the all of its ow er ul u es in the six te en t f , p f p f d k h cen tur a state e n o in ros erit an d in e en en ce w ile Fran ce y, j y g p p y d p d , h m ostl in a con ition of mis e Ithad an d retain e ti ll was r . y d y , d uite rece n tl its s ste m of m easures an d wei ts eri e rom q y, y gh , d v d f the southern system atth e tim e when Arles was the capital of f r n I oise s on e Fren c the in om o u u . thad two t k gd B g dy , 75 h N w the first ee tthe oter for fiel m ea sure ren c ee t. o f , h , d , 9 3 F h f seem s to a e asse to n la n for a time atleastfor the Liber h v p d E g d , , A lbus 1 1 con tain s an or er for the it of on on , 4 9 , d C y L d The oise of a emen tto b e ee tin len t an d the oot T p v 7; f g h, f ’ i r t of St. aul n ea P b d h .

- The E n hsh w ool w ei ts the w e ston e 1 2 re n c lb . an d g gh , y , ( F h ) clo e were curren tin ur un an d in Soutern ran ce v , B g dy h F .

262 MEN AND MEASURES

Land- measures

The units are the square toise sq . yards ,

the perche and the arpent , with other units in local

usage . There were three different perches officially recog

n ised . , and still in common use ’ 1 P erche d ordon n ance Eaux etForéts . or of the n 22 2 66 administratio , royal feet 3 4 English feet ;

8 . the square perch of 4 4 sq feet sq . toises

2 sq . rods .

The approximate coincidence of the quarter - aune i . e . 1 2 with the reduced royal foot , of Roman inches 1 1 with 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 1 00 square perches

00 a . 1 34 4 sq . toises 2 rods or cre P he commun e 0 1 2 . erc 2 2 , royal feet 3 English

00 . feet , the square perch of 4 sq feet sq .

toises sq . yards . The arpen tcommun was 1 00 of these square perches

1 1 1 1 sq . toises acre . P erche de P aris 1 8 3. , royal feet English

2 . feet , the square perch of 3 4 sq feet 9 sq . toises

4 0 9 sq . yards . The arpen tde P aris was 1 00 of these square perches 0 8 900 sq . toises 4 4 acre .

The arpent . commun is that of Quebec .

The arpent de Paris is that of Mauritius . The acre de Normandie varies according to its MEASURES AND WEIGHTS OF FRANCE 263

1 60 . perch , but it is always sq perches , and if these be standard it is equal to 2 acres . But the usual unit

0 . is the vergée or rood , of 4 perches 5 acre It has been seen that the Jersey vergée is 4 0 perches 22 1 1 of reduced English feet square , the foot being is inches . This an adaptation of a very general

a 22 1 1 . Norm ndy perch , feet of French inches It is

acre .

- Local French land measures varied considerably , from different standards of perch , from different

S lengths taken for the foot of the perch . But the ize

e &c. c & . of the unit , Journal , Estr e , , , is very generally 1 4 00 to 1 600 square perches or roughly about 1 5» 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 Estree or Seterée (Setier seed - land) might be

- divided into 1 2 Boisselées (small bushel lands).

Weight

livre oids de mare The royal pound , p , 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 o 2 by his silver pennies , nearly always much ab ve 4 1 grains , 5 5 of some ounce heavier than that of the Troyes marc , was probably altered later on . The royal 0 pound , 557 grains , was raised for commercial 1 0 1 6 1 purposes (about 35 ) to ounces 7554 grains , the ounce 4 72 1 3 grains . 264 MEN AND MEASURES

The weight of the 1 2 - ounce pound coincides very Bos horic 1 00 a closely with that of the p mina, drachm e of 566 6 grains this is perhaps the origin of the story H r l that it was sent to Charlemagne by a fin a Rashid . Its ounce is also approximately the Tripoli ukyé 1 0 0 i 1 of dirhems x 4 7 }5 gra ns , and nearer still to 4 7 1 0 8 grains , the weight of of the dirhems of which made the Provencal ounce . It is probable that the French pound was one of the lighter pounds of the variable Northern Troy 1 0 8 series , all with an ounce of dirhems of 4 grains more or less . i 8 The ounce was d vided into gros , groats or

dwt. 2 . drachms , of 3 deniers or , each of 4 grains So the livre was 1 6 X 24 X 24 92 1 6 French

n . grai s These were light grains , not the heavy grains , 20 2 n X 4 to the ounce , of E glish and other mint weights .

was a There Quintal of 1 00 livres 1 07 7 lb . 2 2 1 The or tonneau was 000 livres 54 lb .

Value

- The French coinage system , probably instituted by Charlemagne , was the same as ours . The original

estelin unit was the silver penny , (sterling) or denier d n ariu (L . e s) of 24 French grains ; 1 2 deniers made a

olidus n . s 20 sol or sou (L , shilli g) and sols made the

’ d estelins 1 2 - livre or pound , originally a livre , a ounce hr pound of sterlings . But the silver coinage s ank and was debased, until , by the eighteenth century , the r was e pound , liv e or franc a silver coin worth tenp nce ,

266 MEN AND MEASURES

ul sex de cimall increased in this ratio , been m tiplied y , concordance would have been preserved . But there 6 was a customary Muid 33 gallons , our hogshead , 1 8 with its quarter, our kilderkin , the Quartant 5 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 multi a plied duodecirn lly . So the concordance was entirely deranged .

in - m a ur — 1 . W e e s es . The Velte (the origin of which is given in Chapter XIX)was divided into 2 gallons

- l 8 (our wine gal on), 4 pots (our pottle), pintes . The 1 6 last of these , 7 pint , was about our old wine

2 oz . n quart , 3 , its half was a chopi e or setier , our

- - wine pint , and the half of this was the demi setier, a ll name sti current , the French equivalent of our ’ - popular half pint . — Co n - mea u 2 . r s re s . The standard unit was the Setier l ga lons , or bushels , differing very slightly l from the Marsei les Cargo bushels . As the

Setier was an isolated measure , while the Cargo was from early medieval times the basis of the complete fi system of Southern measures , it may con dently be inferred that the Paris unit of corn - measure was taken ll from that of Marsei es , which was the Egyptian

Reb ek eh , the cubed Arabic cubit .

sex tuarius The term Setier is the L . , but it had lost its original meaning and become a general - utility term ll in measures . The Setier the Marsei es Cargo of i Se stié sesté . 4 , must not be confused with this It was 1 2 divided into boisseaux of variable standard , but MEASURES AND WEIGHTS OF FRANCE 267

i 20 usually est mated to hold French pounds of wheat . AS 4 1 5 setier , the boisseau was gallons , and 1 6 it was divided into litrons pint . There were intermediate divisions of the Setier it was of 2 mines (a term taken from the Southern imino 1 e 2 . ), 4 minots , boisseaux

There was also a Muid for corn and salt . The corn 1 muid was 2 setiers . There are still in France traces of an older system

- of corn measures derived from the cubic foot . I un fo d , in the Rouen Museum , the standard bushel of 1 6 di the town of Bolbec . It measures inches ameter by 1 2 6 inches deep 2533 cubic inches or gallons . It appears to be the French cubic foot

209 1 cubic inches increased in water - wheat ratio to 2 2 1 533 X 55 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 ,

6 . 5 lb . of wheat , are much larger than the Paris Bushel There was a general rej ection of the duodecimal division of the Setier .

TABLE or OLD FRENCH MEASURE S

Le ngth

inches . Square Toise sq . yards .

767 3 Square Perche 2 sq . rods . = Arpent ( x 1 00) acre .

234 4 6 feet . 268 MEN AND MEASURES

Win e- measure Corn - meas ure Bushels Muid

4 Quartaut gall . 9 Velte

n 8 Pin te pi t . 2 Chopine

Weights

1 07 7 lb .

Livre 7554 grains . Once ’ r s Deniers (dwt. ) 3 to a g o .

Grains .

Remarks on the French M easures 0/ Cap acity

The fault of the Paris system was that there was little or no concordance between the different series . 6 n In length , au es approximately coincided with

2 2 feet or 3§ toises . The measures of length had no concordance with

w - those of capacity , and in the latter , ine measure and corn—measure had lost their original concordance when they were brought from the south . They lost it by two faults in 1 . By mak g the quartaut of 9 veltes instead of 8 1 2 . By dividing the setier into 2 boisseaux instead 8 of .

270 MEN AND MEASURES

ffi were su ciently concordant , the measures of capacity would have been

Wine - measure

gallons . Muid bushels

qrs . i (8)Setier 34 9 gallons

n c . Quarta t 8000 . p (8) Boisseau 4 3 6 gallon s

(8)Velte 1 000 c. p . 1 6 (8)Pinte pint . Litron pint .

A water- wheat ratio of 1 would have been preserved between the two series , and their connection with linear measures through a cubic boisseau of 1 0 pouces each Side (or a cylindrical one of 1 0 pouces diameter and pouces in height) would have been most advan tageous . It may seem futile to make these proportions 1 20 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 f in di ferent 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 f chapter would have answered the purpose su ficiently . The ostensible plan of the n ew system of weights 8 1 0 and measures was (May , 79 ) to create them anew commercral on invariable bases , and to establish in calculations the uniformity which Reason has vainly l u ca led for d ring so many centuries , and which must ’ form a n ew bond between men . 2 71 272 MEN AND MEASURES

al Even this scientific and fratern plan , at first on

- the basis of a normal length , 3 inch longer than the half- toise (as proposed by James in 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 i basis . Th s , taken afresh and not accurately , for the al al metre , was ready at hand in a toise equ to the

Olympic fathom , 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 al i system , decim ised from the merid an mile down to a digit , fin; of the fathom . hi de cirn alisation a Without t s , at least in the popul r — series of measures , there was a geodesic basis for this was resolved as necessary— already at hand in the ul Olympic system , and the Olympic foot cubed wo d have given a unit of capacity and the Olympic talent l one of weight , all the more suitable inasmuch as fi m 6 of it would have been an ounce 4 53 grains , closely approximating to the Cologne ounce and therefore B likely to be acceptable in other countries . utthe real obj ect 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 pe ople . The division of all measures must be on an obligatory

274 MEN AND MEASURES

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

- ni limb u ts of fathom , cubit , foot , span , palm , finger or

- f thumb breadth . The di ferent series admit only the 1 2 0 factors , , , 5 so each decimal unit has a half ( 5 )

fix . re es and a double , but no quarter or third The p in l ISlon S deci cen ti milli Latin for , , , ; in Greek for

deca hecto kilo m ria— multiples , , , , y give the only names allowed . Length

0 1 1 di The Metre , 39 37 3 inches , is vided into

1 0 1 00 1 000 . , centimetres , 1 yard 0 9 1 4 4 metre 1 foot metre

1 0 02 . inch 54 metre , or centimetres 1 0 1 00 It is multiplied by for the , by for 1 000 the , by for the kilometre , by for the myriametre . Practically the kilometre , 1 0 6 mile or 93 yards , is the only larger unit used the other units are useless . And though it be interest 1 ing to know that the kilometre is approximately

- is . of the quarter meridian , it a useless fact

S urface

The square metre square yard . The

- lower units are little used . For land measurement 1 0 1 0 l the square decametre , x metres , is ca led an THE METRIC SYSTEM 275

1 00 1 00 1 00 Are ares X metres , make a

acres and the square metre is a Centiare .

1 acre hectare .

The cubic metre cubic feet (nearly the volume of a ton of water cubic feet) contains 1 000 1 000 cubic decimetres , each of cubic centimetres 6 1 cubic inches).

1 cubic foot cubic metre .

l— The cubic is strictly speaking m oG as cubic decimetre , but used in chemistry for fluid

measure it is considered as T73U 3 of the litre , which is

only approximately a cubic decimetre .

Capacity

was The Litre 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 Fahrenheit . At ordinary temperatures a litre of water weighs about 9988 grammes or 0 9 988 kilogramme (see Table

at end of Chap . X). The only minor unit practically used (and only in is scientific work) the millilitre , under the name of cubic centimetre , grains of water . 1 Litre lb . water , or pint .

1 Pint 0 5 68 litre 1 gallon 4 54 6 litres. The principal larger unit is the Hectolitre gallons or bushels . The Decalitre gallons . T 2 276 MEN AND MEASURES

1 Bushel litres Quarter 291 litres or nearly 3 hectolitres . 1 O Bushel to the acre 9 hectolitre to the hectare . 1 (Deduct 3 5 on English . ) 1 Hectolitre to the hectare bushel to the 1 acre . (Add 7 5 to French . )

Weight

al The origin unit was the Gramme , defined as the ° weight of a cubic centimetre of water at 4 Centigrade di 1 . 0 grains It is vided into decigrammes , ll am 1 00 1 000 . centigrammes , mi igr mes Of its mul tiples the decagramme is useless the hectogramme is merely the name inscribed on a 1 00 - gramme weight the kilogramme of 1 000 grammes is used when its use cannot be avoided . But the present legal unit is not the gramme but 6 1 am 2 20 . the kilogr me 4 lb or grains . Intended to be the weight of a cubic decimetre of ° as water at 4 C . ( the gramme was that of a cubic centimetre) this definition has been abandoned as Is n ow inexact it , like our pound , the mass of a certain 2 platinum standard , in a vacuum .

1 The This is a partial return to the original arran gement. ilo ramme w as ori inall name the ra e witits deci rav e an d k g g y d G v , h g e nn e f 1 00 0 ilo am w a ri nall calle cen trgrav e . Th to o k gr mes s o gi y d w t a Bar wit its eci ar an d centi ar. The ramme as a ra e , h d b b g G v , v v Similarl e hectohtre with its decigra etan d ce n tigra et. y th was ori ginally named th e Decicade of the Ca de 1 0 00 litres) 0 n d The litre was a il of 1 ce tica es . Ge d . 2 w ei a ill i w ul In the latitude of Pari s . If ghe d atM rse es t o d b e equal to about gramm e s if in Lo n don to 9 9 9 7 5 gramm es . Itn ecessaril aries witlatitu e as oes the len t of th e en ulum y v h d , d g h p d n Buttis ariation oes n otim air its relati e bea tin g seco ds . h v d p v accurac as w ate er itis wei e a ain stis similarl a ecte y, h v gh d g y ff d .

27s MEN AND MEASURES

- Sou called a 20 piece , and the other silver coins , 2 nominally of 5, , and &franc , are called in the same way

centsous uarante sous dix sous . pieces de , q and The centime is so rarely seen as to be practically non

an d existent , the decimal system not allowing the half

- in con or quarter of the 5 centime piece or sou , great i n e l m v en e c is felt by the poor , yet the sy metry of the system has been marred by the issue of nickel quarter

francs , of a size which makes them often undistinguish 2 i able from francs . But this is 5 centimes , wh le the

- ul 2 half sou wo d be written 5 centimes , marring the symmetry of the centime column in accounts

where practically it would never appear . Since the adoption of a gold standard under the

20 - second Empire , the gold franc piece is the standard

of exchange , and of payments in trade . It weighs grammes 99 ° 5635 grains it is of 0 9 00 fineness 22 1 86° 6o 1 3 carats) and thus contains 7 grains of

1 s . 1 0 d. pure gold . Its exchange value is usually 5 % , 2 20 our sovereign being equal to 5 francs 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 cur

or fiv e - rent , taking for francs the nickel sou pieces scarcely distinguishable from them except in a good light .

1 us if rea is 2 cen times or sous the ilo a sin le oun Th b d 5 5 k , g p d or al - ilo of rea cann otb e ou tatthis rice h f k b d b gh p . THE METRIC SYSTEM 279

Temperature

The French , called Centigrade (the ’ cen tesirn al proper term would have been ), is on s a 1 00 sc le , of degrees between the freezing and boiling points of water , under the normal atmospheric pres 60 sure , which for France is 7 millimetres inches .

M etric M easures of Time f These are dropped , o ficially , at present but they e may be r established , for they were the essential part of the Republican system . Ardent republicans con stan tl re - re y claim their establishment , and sound publican newspapers , dated according to the republican al S c endar, take care that this hall not be forgotten .

Scientific journals demand the re - e stab lishrn en tof decimal time and decimal degrees ; for even to sell

Sin eggs or handkerchiefs by the dozen is a , 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 san sculottide these years were therefore sextile , and the period of four years ending with leap ran iad year was to be called a F c e .

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 2 80 MEN AND MEASURES work carried out by the Weights and Measures Com

mittee . 1 of the Académie des Sciences On August ,

1 . . 793, it thanked the W and M Committee for their 6th s work , on the it closed all the Academies , and oon after sent the great chemist Lavoisier , the principal ul member of the Committee , to prison and timately to the scaffold . Among the small number of real repub licans 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 l al measures , than for the ca endar , the essenti part of which was a new era and the sweeping away of past ri superstitions , whether Pagan or Ch stian . In both cases one can see the of a very small but

l- enthusiastic , wel organised and , Violent minority of i against the large , but unorgan sed and terrorised , maj ority of the French people . In both

’ cases we see the truth of G uizots saying : Blind aversion for the past is full of falsehood and of ign or ’ 1 ance . The decree institutin g the complete Republican ri system began by these words , characte stic of the times :

The Fren ch era begins with the foundation of the w as 2 2n d e m 1 2 the Republic , which on S pte ber 79 of vu sun r lgar era , the day when the a rived at the true n n n S autum al equinox , e teri g the ign of the Balance , at

m . m . 5. a h. 1 8 0 9 3 , Paris Observatory time Thus (it contin ued) the heaven s marked the equality

Ithad bee n proposed in 1 789 to divide Fran ce in to e qual l an a a d epartme n ts or districts by ru e d comp ss . E ch d istrictwas r Itw as onl the re ractri to b e half a de gree squa e . y f o n ess of the is eo ra ic oma e t coastlin e thatpre ven ted th g g ph h g o equality .

282 MEN AND MEASURES

The republican division of the day was not gener fi al ally put into practice except in of ci documents , probably because the leaders found it person ally inconvenient . Decreed as obligatory in Frimaire , a an II , it was suspended in Germin l , an III , yet that 1 800 it was extant , if not in force , up to is shown by a police - report of an occurrence on 2 1 Brumaire an ’

1 0 i. e . A . M . VIII a 2 heures minutes decimales , at 5 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 Bon ald (1 81 7)

m m I believe that the sa e fir ness , rigour , and lavish n expe diture , used to establish , or rather to try and s n an d establi h, u iformity of weights measures would have n r li r n been sufficien t to establish u iformity of e g o .

’ 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 i republ can measures , and the good he effected in this way had doubtless much to do with his popularity .

1 From the time of his Consulate , at the end of 799 , 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 THE METRIC SYSTEM 283

business , was probably brought to a climax by the l fol owing event .

The ordnance survey- maps of France were on

’ 1

i. 1 0 Cassini s scale of e . line to 1 0 toises (which

a is the proportion of the second to the me n day). A new map having been made on the metric scale of 1

Napoleon soon found this out , and ordered

the map to be restored to the old scale .

’ e e e t Jla veux sur l chelle de Cassini , j e me moque des divisions décimales (letter to the Minister of

War, The republican calendar and era were used until 1 80 the end of 5, when Napoleon restored the Gregorian

1 1 was calendar and its era ; thus Nivose , an XIV, the last day of the republican system . But the republican idea of a n e w calendar and a n e w era is not dead ; it has so little died out that a calendar and era devised by a French mathematician 1 8 2 n and sociologist in 5 is now actually used , not o ly in France , but in England , and also in Brazil , by the re form I followers of this er.

1 In this PositivistCalen dar the sain ts of the old calen dar an d the a gricultural produce of th e re volutionary calen dars are re lace rea tm en an d w om e n t ical rea tm e n rom oses p d by g ; yp g , f M an d H omer to D escarte s an d ic at i in teir names to the B h , g v g h 1 mon th s ea c of 2 8 a s e re i an ex tra da atthe e n d of 3 , h d y . Th s y th e ear an d tw o e x tra a in - r is s stem has the ea . y , d ys leap y Th y a a n ta e of the th 1 th z rstan d 2 8th of the m on t alwa s dv g 7 , 4 , h y alli n on the sam e da of th e wee f g y k . The Positrv istera dates from 1 789 an d th e follow ers of Augus te omte in n lan ran ce an d elsew ere tus ate 1 1 1 as th e C , E g d , F h , h d 9 ’ ear 1 2 of the reatCris is y 3 G . CHAPTER XXIII

H OW THE METRIC SYSTEM WO RK S IN FRANCE

N NAPOLEO , who had witnessed the rigorous measures of the Republican government to enforce its metric system , said of it

It violen tly broke up the customs and habits of the people as might have been don e by some Greek or Tartar n who t l tyra t , with uplif ed rod, wi ls to be obeyed in all l i n his decrees , regu ated by his prejud ces or his i terests , without any regard for those of the conqueror . It was n 1 torme ting the people for trifles .

But he was too wise to disturb trade ag ain by any change in the material standards , however objection able ; he kept these , while abolishing the unpopular decimal series . 1 2 1 81 2 The decree of February , , 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 .

1 ’ The ull ren c tex tof Na f F h poleon s opinion is given in Against the M etric S stem H er ertS en cer illiams an r te y , by b p (W d No ga , price

2 86 MEN AND MEASURES

1 8 o 59 it t ok the French system , partly perhaps from

the apparent difficulty of co- ordinating the measures

of the different states , but probably as part considera

tion for French help against Austria . 1 86 Portugal adopted it , on paper at least , in 3. 1 868 The worst was when , in , it was adopted by the 1 8 2 North German Confederated States , and when in 7

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 b e as imposed on the British empire . After this dis trous r surrender to international science , the gove nments of other countries , large and small , civilised and semi barbarous , were easily induced by skilful diplomacy to impose the French republican measures on their e all p oples , heedless of the fact that 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 was France the metric system made compulsory, it was not because those who had to measure out commodities over the the counter wished to use it , but because government m n and in co ma ded them to do so , when it was adopted Germany under the Bismarckian regime we may be sure

n S - m ar that the opi ions of hop keepers were not asked . Si il ly s n ul OEIcial ll el ewhere , its adoptio has res ted from the wi and not from the popular will. THE METRIC SYSTEM IN FRANCE 2 87

The gradual adoption of the metric system by countries of all degrees of civilisation from Germany i and Italy to Venezuela or Ha ti , 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 al convenient in internation 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 is its whole manufactures and trade , the danger most serious . The favour which the metric system has found amongst a small proportion of English people is largely

own due to their ignorance of their 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 2 88 MEN AND MEASURES

- 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 1 government . It may therefore be interesting to see

h M ti m H ow far the Fren ch have adopted te e r c Syste .

f - A century of o ficial pressure , of state education , and of police proceedings against any public selling , marking or crying of goods otherwise than in metric r measu es and coins , cannot be without some effect , n especially in large towns , but even there , while accou ts are kept and bills made according to the legal system , f al the people , as distinguished from the o fici classes , have never taken to it , and in the country it is nearly ffi n entirely ignored , out of o cial transactio s , both in weight and measures and in money .

The sizes of baskets and flowe r- pots are in p ouces lamp - chimneys have their size marked on them in

’ li n es . g The size of printer s type is in points , each 1 ’ 3line or 7 5 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 . The port barometer on the l quay of the great naval port of Tou on , in front of

1 i e reatl the llian ce Fran aise an association A d d g y by A c , orme un er o ern m en t atron a e to e x ten the olitica l an d f d , d g v p g , d p mo ral pow er of Fran ce an d make pacific con qu es ts abroad ’ its su erior civ 1 h sa tio er by p n. Ev y m em ber of itabroad is boun d to ro ote p m this cause .

200 MEN AND MEASURES

can be halved and quartered down to an ounce . He finds that his customers are thus better pleased than if the ticket had é 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 2 sons potatoes are less than , say , a pound , the green ’ 1 le 2 grocer has to ticket them 5 kilo , pounds for

- 3 sous . The practical non existence of the centime , and the refusal of government to coin half- sous or 2 farthings of 5centimes , obliges him thus exceptionally ’ to use the word kilo .

- lb W uart . hen a q , a quarter , say of coffee , is asked al for, the grocer has to put into the sc e three weights ,

1 00 20 - two of , and 5 grammes , for a demi livre weights 200 0 n of and 5 grammes , instead of bei g able to use a single half or quarter - pound weight as under the

Napoleonic compromise . For an ounce he gives 0 3 grammes . In country towns goods are often openly ticketed ’ six - in sous I have even seen six liards , half farthings ,

r - two for th ee halfpence , as the marked price . In the South books and newspapers sometimes have the

’

20 &c. price boldly printed in sous , sous , 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 1 0 francs ; wages of farm THE METRIC SYSTEM IN FRANCE 29 1

labourers are still often in écus . Land is reckoned in i the old measures accord ng to local custom , and tables al of these measures , with their metric equiv ents , are given in the Usages Locaux published for the a es de air l use of { g p and other officia s . Farms to let and land for sale are frequently advertised in these local measures . If the extent is given in , al terées & se c . the local equiv ent in vergées , , 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 1 06 advertisement (in a newspaper of 9 , now before me) gave the weight of the hay as 5000 kilos He knew that the fathers of his pupils as as l be 2 understood , well he did , a ki o to pounds , but he also kn ew that they would be much readier to was bid if the weight stated in pounds .

Market - prices of ag ricultural produce are frequently stated by newspapers in the old measures ; that of is a a apples const ntly recorded by the barattée , liter lly the churnful , about equal to our bushel . The old agrarian measures are used quite close to ri Paris . I ask a farmer , not six miles from Pa s , how ’ much land he has , and he , knowing me to be safe , 1 says so many estrees . How much is an estree 600 square toises is his answer . I take up a Paris daily paper and see several adv er tisements h of mus room farms for sale , in the old quarries near Paris the area of thes e is always given in toises . Direct inquiries will always be answered most U 2 292 MEN AND MEASURES

’ favourably to the metric system . The peasant s caution will rarely let the inquirer detect his love of

him . the old weights and measures , quite convenient to

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 , table n spoons , drachms , scruples and grai s ; drops (which are actually dropped , not measured) are prescribed , and the mixture is always made up to a total of so 0 harrn acien many ounces of 3 grammes . And the p , 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

1 - of 5 grammes , that is half ounces ’ The druggists price lists give quantities in units 0 1 2 2 0 00 of 3 , 5, 5 , 5 grammes or cubic centimetres , a 1 8 1 6 that is in qu ntities of , 4 , , 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

294 MEN AND MEASURES needed something more than the transcendent mathe metical faculties of its designers to make it suitable for textile measurements . The eminent scientists who design ed that system were able to solve the most diffit problems in higher mathe matics n , but failed to comprehe d what system of weights was i and measures best suited for the carder, sp nner, n s i n weaver and fi i her of wool , cotton , l ne and silk . The glamor of their fame failed to make the centimetre suitable ’ for counting picks . Their system had to stand or fall an d li s on its merits , fal ng has proved that the highe t of mathematical abilities is n otinconsisten t with a dense — i ignorance of the practical affairs of every day l fe .

’ 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 O F 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 juris diction or deems it prudent not to prosecute . The one makes men fit the measures however ln convenient ; 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 N . GE ERAL VIEW OF THE IM PERIAL SYSTEM

The Imperial system of Weights and Measures rests on principles quite as rational and scientific as 2 9 5 296 MEN AND MEASURES

is those of the Metric system , and it much more al practic . al All its series are derived from the English t ent , 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 L ength — The foot was the measure of the side of a cubic vessel containing 1 000 Roman oun ces of water . The furlong became at a very early period a length of 4 0 rods 2 20 yards . l 000 The mile , origina ly 5 Roman feet , became

8 - 000 . 5 English feet , divided into road furlongs

S urface — The acre was one - tenth of the square furlong . — it - Ca ac . p y The wine bushel was the cubic foot , the 1 measure of 000 ounces of wine or water . 5 of it

1 1 213 - 6 was the wine gallon 3 or 2 1 cubic inches .

- 1 The corn bushel was } cubic feet , the measure of 1 00 62 com 0 oz . 5 lb . of wheat ; g of it was the l 0 . ga lon 27 c i . Weight— The pound was 1 6 Roman ounces

6 - 2 . 1 6 lb 99 grains Its multiples were the . stone , the 1 6 1 0 wey of stones , and the true cwt . of 0 lb . i Th s excellent system has become , after many f disturbances , the Imperial system , only dif ering from the old English system in the following points : 1 . The slight rise of the pound (by 8 grains) to 000 7 grains .

298 MEN AND MEASURES

— Volume The cubic foot is approximately 1 000

» - 0 62 . 1 0 ounces of water, 5 lb The Ton register is cubic feet . i h — 000 We g t The pound , of 7 grains , is divided into

1 6 ounces of 4 37% grains .

The Gallon of water weighs 1 0 lb .

The Cental is 1 00 lb .

1 1 2 . The Ton is 20 long t . of lb — Ca acit 2 . . p y . The Imperial gallon 77} c i con

8 . 1 0 . tains exactly lb of water , or approximately lb

8 20 . of wheat . It is divided into pints containing oz 8 al 1 6 . . of water or oz of wheat The Bushel , of g lons , 1 8 6 . . contains 4 lb of wheat The Quarter is bushels , which is approximately the quarter , either of a

S 20 - hort ton , centals , of wheat , or of a freight ton 0 of 4 cubic feet . ni The principal u ts , foot , pound , gallon , are connected by their common origin in the talent of 1 000 ounces of water . Corrections are needed for accuracy since the pound was increased in Elizabethan times by a little more than 1 per 1 000 from its original S Roman standard , and ince the bushel and gallon were

- increased by 3 per cent . from the origin al corn measure ri to the Impe al standard .

co- The 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

1 The system of the U nited States only differs from the Imperial s stem in its rete n tion of the win e - all n an d of the y g o 2 31 c. i. corn - all on c. i. an d in its re l n for g j ecti on of the o g cwt. th e cen tal . THE CONFLICT OF SYSTEMS 299

people . When no other influence determines the a al 8 second ry units , the usu factor is , or its double , its half , its quarter . Any unit may be decimalised for purposes of al al c culation , and sever series have alterative decimal series . Thus Itinerary and Land measures were decimalised

- three centuries ago by the chain series .

- 1 00 The Ton register of cubic feet , used throughout has the world , a complete decimal series of

divisions .

- - The pound gallon cental series are fully decimalised , 1 1 0 - lb 0 . from the cental down to the septem , 1 061 7

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

r . fourteenth centu y, and fought against ever since ’ di Apothecaries weight , abolished by the Me cal

Council half a century ago , still lingers in the Board of

- l Trade list of standards . Mint weight is stil on the

h - Troy system . The alf crown is one grain less than

l - an Imperia 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

- hi is one t rd of the Imperial ounce . ad Further improvements will be made . Some

- j ustment of the inconvenient 1 1 2 lb . hundredweight a n with the cent l series , that of our ancient hu dred i weight, returned to us from America , w ll probably be 300 MEN AND MEASURES

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 prao tically as much unity as the metric system and it is an d convenient . Let us distinguish between science pedantry .

THE G ND THE C S M 2 . PROPA A A OF METRI SY TE I have read many books and many articles and letters in newspapers and scientific periodicals advocating the compulsory use of the metric system , optional 1 8 amongst us since 97, but which no trade , industry or profession will adopt , and I have almost invariably found that the writers knew the metric system im own perfectly , and always that they knew their 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 cypher ing and supported by statements which were misleading and only to be chan tab ly excused on the ground of n 1 ig orance . Too often opponents of their propaganda are sneered at as wanting in scientific knowledge , business experience , and common sense .

1 For in stan ce in The om n rnol C i o the Kilo ram H . 0 . , g f g ( A d ‘ Forster) the problem H ow ma n y tim es is 1 grain con tain e d in 1 ’ ton ? is wor e outin a al - e f fi e Itcan b e k d h f pag o gur s . on e in 1 secon s almostme n tall i a ton is t. 1 2 lb . . cw s 1 d 5 d , y A ;

2 2 0 lb . multi l 000 w r r ti ce Ans e rains o . 4 p y by 7 . g ( w )

302 MEN AND MEASURES to the metric system after a century of education in it

- and of police constraint .

1 0 . Urging us to follow the example of other m countries that have adopted it , but o itting to find out whether the peoples of these countries , from i it— so civilised Germany to barbarous Ha ti , use 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

l - and the day po ice pressure were taken off, the old system would return , or , at the least , the decimal series would disappear . 1 1 . 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 k market , and are so well nown that many foreign manufacturers find it impossible to use metric stand ards , those of England being alone accepted in most of the markets to which British manufactures are exported . l 1 2 . Cal ing opponents prejudiced , unprogressive , i n unscient fic , wanti g in business experience and common sense . Such are the arguments used in the propaganda of a system which would make much of the past life li of our country unintel gible , send most of its manu facturin hi - di g mac nery to the scrap heap , slocate trade for years an d brin g about in our country the same struggle that is still to be seen in France between the law and the people . THE CONFLICT OF SYSTEMS 303

The claims of the metric system are exactly on the same basis as those of the Esperanto language . If the u metric system were made comp lsory , 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 al an d option , then , when it was found that no one would use it , compulsory , while the use of the anti q uated 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 n fl siege rather tha a con ict , for the attack is entirely from France and though it has the inherent weakn ess 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 l the invasion , and have even a lowed 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 304 MEN AND MEASURES

i and measures . If these were conven ent 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 , 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

e p ople 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 n contagion of opi ions , even the wildest . England has been fascinated by its presentation as scientific

and international . This is a scientific age , and every n ew 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

ul e - comp sory ; the few memb rs , not one tenth of the

whole , who dared to oppose the resolution being called i r & c unscient fic , unprog essive , . dl Repeate y repulsed , the French siege will not a al cease its attacks Engl nd , and America so , must be prepared to meet them . Although the English- speaking pe oples have a

30 0 MEN AND MEASURES

Our system has been carried to all countries ; it is decimal wherever decimalisation is convenient ; its

international unit is the Ton - register of 1 00 cubic i feet , or ounces , as old as the first civ lisation

of the world , as the civilisation which established the e Meridian mile used by your seamen as by ours . W reject an artificial system founded in hatred of the l past , and on y 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 ul own people will not use . It sho d be enough for you that we have given your system a denizenship by the i abuse of wh ch we have been greatly annoyed .

THE M THE C M 3 . REFOR OF METRI SYSTE

The defence must be active ; then the attack l wou d 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

al decimal system would be option , left principally for scientific purposes . The divisions and multiples would

be in harmony with the customs of each people , usually sex de cimal in series .

‘ ’ s steme u u For France , the y s el of Napoleon s com promise would be revived . Incomplete a century THE CONFLICT OF SYSTEMS 307

be ago , it could 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 1 2 1 2 feet of inches , or into 4 spans of 9 inches or digits 2 metres to be a toise and 1 0 toises a perch 1 00 toises or 1 0 perches to be a cen ten ié (furlong) and 800 toises 8 1 1 or furlongs a mile 74 % yards . The meridian ul 26 mile wo d be 9 toises or gi cables . 1 2 . Land to be measured by the square toise , 5 3 of an are ; 1 600 square toises to be an arpent of 1 6 metri ues b oisse lées 1 0 vergées q or , each toises square ,

4 ares .

. 00 3 The livre , 5 grammes , to be divided com mercially into 1 6 ounces of 8 drachm s ; and for al 8 medicin purposes , the drachm to be oboles of 8 grains . Grammes and decimal fractions of a gramme could be used for scientific purposes . i . sex dec mall 4 The hectolitre would be divided y ,

o 6 » into 4 b isseaux , of 4 gallons 1 litres . The litre l 2 wou d be divided into setiers or chopines , 4 half

e 2 . s tiers , and 3 ounces The equivalence with imperial measures would be approximately

1 1 Metre 1 3 6 yard .

1 Mille 1 mile . 1 1 Vergée 1 7; acre . n 1 Arpe t 1 6 acre . I 1 1 Livre 1 5 lb . 9 1 Litre 3 3 quart .

Similar arrangements could be 308 MEN AND MEASURES

u co ntries , the units being made in accordance with the al old custom of the people , but ways on a metric basis so that international conversion of measures would be easy and accurate .

ENVOI

W en ten te ith this suggestion of compromise , of 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 e ob ser field b yond . A renewal of life for study , travel , u vation , wo ld 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

. ali woman The rise of measurement , the natur sation of weights and measures brought by commerce , even by conquest , when they are found convenient , the

defle c varieties caused by changes of circumstance , the

ill- ru tions under the constraint of advised lers , the

31 0 MEN AND MEASURES

CONVERSION TABLES OF METRIC AND IM PERIAL MEASURE S

tim nc ramm rains to 1 0 lb allons Cen etres to I es G es to G . . . h . g

IM PERIAL To METRIC MEASURE im I cent . . 1 . inch sq yd 0 8 36 sq. metre . 1 1 foot sq. rod 253 1 1 yard sq . rood 1 0 1 1

° 1 1 60 . 1 mile 9 metres acre 0 4 o4 hectare .

» 1 2 2 rs . cubic inch water 5 1 g c . c . or grammes . 1 6 2 . 8 d im . 2 . ec il foot 5lb c . or k os

ti cen r. 1 g hectolitre 2 § bushels .

am . gr mes 3 quarter . 4 536 9 I to the hectare

1 5bushel to 1 acre . 1 l n gal o litres . 1 000 kilos to the hectare

ton to 1 acre . 1 bushel 36} 1 franc a hectolitre

36 pen ce a bushel . 1 a hectol qu rter . 1 franc 1 00 kilos 22 n } pe ce a quarter . 1 1 1 6 0 . ton kilos 98 pence a ton . IND E X

A 0 2 2 2 8 8 tian ro al 1 8 rea t , 7 , 74 , 7 . 7 Egyp y , ; G A cre me 8 1 Ass rian or e rsian 2 Be , y P , 3 ;

Ale - allon 1 1 ladr 2 alm u ic 2 2 8 g , 7 , 5 ; T d , 7 , 3 ' ’ otecaries w e i t1 0 lac Al- M amfin s 2 8 H as Ap h gh , 4 B k , , rs in 2 1 imi 2 1 A h , 5 h , 4 As 8 ustoms of an caste r 88 , 3 . 9 4 C L ,

M . 0 8 0 stria . 2 2 2 A u , W , , A v erde ois D ECIM s ste m 1 82 1 88 p , 9 3, 9 9 AL y , 5, , D e nm ar M . . 2 2 1 k, W , TH 2 De n sit measures of 1 8 BA , 39 y , , 9 ; ere 2 2 8 wate r 1 6 B h , 7 , 3 , 4 Bo ate 8 0 8 Di it1 v , , 9 g , , 4

rea - wei t1 2 8 1 8 D ir e m 2 2 2 B d gh , , 3 h , 4 5,

urm a an d the Straits . M . D rac m 1 0 1 B , W , h , 5, 35 1 D rachma 1 2 2 1 73 , 4 , 4 3, Bus el old an d of U S 6 D ram 1 0 h , , 9 ; , 3 in c es ter 1 1 m e rial D uo ecimal s ste m W h , 9 ; I p , d y , 5 1 24 T m G YP o ern . M . 6 E , d , W , 7 ,

N D an d auritius . M . CA A A M , W , I Ell 62 2 0 2 73 , , t n lan lin m r arat 2 . ira ear easu es 8 C , 35, 4 5 ; v Q E g d , , 5 arucate 8 2 8 lan - meas ures 6 win e C , , 9 d , 5

as - measures 1 1 6 me as u res 1 1 corn - m eas ures C k , , 4 , en tal 1 0 1 1 8 comm e rcial we i ts C , 4 5, 9 gh ,

ain 6 min t- w ei ts 1 2 2 0 Ch , 4 . 73 9 3 ; gh , 7, 5 ; hal ron 1 2 0 1 2 2 m on e 1 C d , , y, 74

C an n el slan s . M . 1 a 2 h I d , W , 57 Eph . 39 lo e 1 0 1 1 0 2 2 C v , 7 , , 4

Coal- measu re 1 2 2 F TH O M Ol m ic 6 1 , A , y p , , 5

rn - measure 1 2 2 ir in 1 1 6 Co , F k , u it n atural 1 tian Footori in of l m ic C b , , Egyp , g , 4 ; O y p , 4 common or Ol m ic 2 1 tian ro al 1 2 Ass rian , y p , , 4 ; Egyp y , y , 31 2 INDEX

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N D- M E SU RES tian 6 Scots 1 mster am 2 1 8 LA A , Egyp , 7 , 39 A d ,

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s d With a New re ace b art ISth hou an . P le Withers T f y H y .

l- Fmanczal Times . This wel known work re prese nts a standard man ual of the Mone M ar etand the new ed ition rou tu to date Will be a reciated tose y k , , b gh p , pp by h ’ who have derived he lp from the earlier ed ih ons.

Fmanc News . T ere is no Citman owe er ri e his ex erience who could h y , h v p p , notadd to his knowledge from its pages!

a n o one The M e ni g f M y.

to housand. 3rd Edi i n 9th T .

’ n ou Mr. FinancialNews . There can be o d btthat Withers book Will supersede all other introductions to mone tary smence re aders Will find ita safe an d in ’ dis pensable guide through the maze: of the Money M arke t.

h a an . l 0 0i M ail. A book for te aver ge m Vo umes upon have been written to ex plain an d discuss our monetary system. Now we hav e a work worth all ’ l l a the restp uttogether in c earness of ex position an d e eg nce of diction . l M anchester Guardian ( eadin g article). No common measure of literary ecoe m lishmenta lucid orce ul and omted stle an d a reats tore of material for a t p , , f f , p y , g p and often amusin g illustration have lentboth grace an d charm to a work of q uite ' exce ptional utility .

Stocks and Share s.

rld. Wo Stocks and Shares is attracting a lotof notice in the City . Itis full of in ormation for ot s eculator an d in ves tor and is wri tte n Wita ri tness an d f b h p , h b gh humour thatprove the poss ibility of dealin g Wi th the dries tof subjects in an attractive man ner.

M ornin Posf. Itis a ood boo itis sure of its ublic and if the la men who g g k , p , y ' read itWill n l l - ll be o y fo low Mr. Withers advice more than one bucke tshop Wi ’ closed till further noDoe .

Daily News . Should be of the greatestvalue to inves tors an d all who take an in ter tin es Cit matters. Itis e minentl reada le and the descri tion of a y y b , p " ’ t ical fl p otation H ienic oot owder Ltd is a literar em. y , yg T hp , , y g Atall Booksellers an d Booksfallr. l ’ mith E der o. s S , C

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W o a M oor ea o dl nd, , and Str m .

The T l of G a M a e the re t utiny . tc e Dr. H . i tt. W. F h Ye the W il . Sir H en uc . Sixty ars in derness ryW. L y f o . Lo w A Vision India Sidney .

The D f of e . a . v H er e t. t . on r e ence Pl vna C p ”F W. b it an Intro uction b Ge neral Sir l i OHN F u d? G e m e tc. W h d y J “ ,

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