Cooley's Cyclopaedia of Practical Receipts Volume Ii Part 300

Small weights may be made of thin leaf bra.s.s, or, preferably, of platinum foil. Quant.i.ties below the 100th of a grain may be either estimated by the position of the index, or shown by actually counting rings of wire, the value of which has been previously determined. The readiest way to subdivide small weights consists in weighing a certain quant.i.ty of very fine wire, and afterwards cutting it into such parts, by measure, as are desired; or the wire may be wrapped close round two pins, and then cut asunder with a knife. By this means it will be divided into a great number of equal lengths, or small rings.[267]

[Footnote 267: An elaborate essay on the BALANCE, in Watt's 'Dict. of Chemistry,' gives minute directions for weighing, with rules for the elimination of errors. See BALANCE.]

The following tables represent the values of the weights legally employed in this country for the sale of gold, silver, and articles made thereof, as well as platinum, diamonds, and other precious metals and stones; also for drugs when sold by retail (See WEIGHTS AND MEASURES ACT, 1879; and MEASURES).

1. _Troy Weight._

+---------+---------------+----------+----------+ Grains. Pennyweights. Ounces. Pound. gr. dwt. oz. lb. or ? +---------+---------------+----------+----------+ 24 1 480 20 1 5760 240 12 1 +---------+---------------+----------+----------+

? The standard of the above measure is 1 cubic inch of distilled water, which, at 62 Fahr. and 30 inches of the barometer, weighs 252458 troy grains.

The carat used in weighing diamonds is 3-1/6 grains (nearly). Troy weight is employed in weighing gold, jewelry, &c., and, under a somewhat modified form, in prescribing and dispensing medicines. (See _below_.)

2. _Apothecaries' Weight._

(Modified Troy Weight.)

+---------+---------+--------+---------+---------+ Grains Scruples. Drachms. Ounces. Pounds. (_Troy_). ? ? ? ? gr. +---------+---------+--------+---------+---------+ 1 05 01666 002083 0001736 20 1 3333 0416 003472 60 3 1 1250 0104166 480 24 8 1 0833333 5760 288 96 12 1 +---------+---------+--------+---------+---------+

+---------+---------+---------+------------+------------+ Equiv. in Grains Eqiv. in Minims or Equiv. in Equiv. in (_Troy_). French measured cubic Avoirdupois. gr. grammes. drops. inches. weight. +---------+---------+---------+------------+------------+ 1 06475 109 003961055 1 gr. 20 1295 2194 07922109 20 gr. 60 3885 6582 23766329 60 gr. 480 3108 52662 190130635 1 oz 425 gr. 5760 37296 631954 2281567609 13 oz 725 gr. +---------+---------+---------+------------+------------+

? Apothecaries' weight is employed in prescribing and dispensing medicines according to the Ph. L., E., and U. S. But in the last Ph. D. and the new Brit. Ph. it has been superseded by avoirdupois weight.

Troy _Avoirdupois._

1 ? is equivalent to 0822857 lb.

1 oz. " 1097143 oz.

=WEIGHTS, FOREIGN.=

_Binary Weights._ (Systeme usuel.) _French._

+-------+--------+-----+-----+------+-------+ French Kilo- Grain. Scruple. Gros. Once. Livre. gramme. +-------+--------+-----+-----+------+-------+ 1 ... ... ... ... ... 24 1 ... ... ... ... 72 3 1 ... ... ... 576 24 8 1 ... ... 9216 384 128 16 1 ... 18432 768 256 32 2 1 +-------+--------+-----+-----+------+-------+

+-------+---------+------------+-------------------+ Equiv. in Round number Equiv. in French grammes of the Codex Avoirdupois Grain. metrique. in grammes. weight. +-------+---------+------------+-------------------+ _lb._ _oz._ _gr._ 1 0542 05 ... ... 0837 24 130 130 ... ... 201 72 3906 4 ... ... 60284 576 8125 32 ... 1 45 9216 500 500 1 1-1/2 61 18432 1000 1000 2 3-1/4 13 +-------+---------+------------+-------------------+

? The old French grain is equal to 820 of an imperial troy grain; hence 1 troy grain is equal to 121 old French grains. The gros, once, and other multiples of the grain, are, of course, proportionate. The new French grain (of 1812) is equal to 0542 gramme, or 8365228 gr. troy. It is said, in some works, to be equal to 878 gr. troy, or, in round numbers, 9, but this is much too high.

CONTINENTAL MEDICINAL WEIGHTS, _in Troy Grains_.

(From Dr Christison's 'Dispensatory.')

+-----------+------+------+-------+---------------------+-------+ Scruple consisting of Country. Pound. Ounce. Drachm.+----------+----------+ Grain. 24 med. 20 med. grs. grs. +-----------+------+------+-------+----------+----------+-------+ French 56705 47050 5910 197 ... 0820 Spanish 53263 44349 5514 1847 ... 0769 Tuscan 52403 43667 5458 1819 ... 0758 Roman 52350 43625 5458 1817 ... 0757 Austrian 64951 54125 6765 ... 225 1127 German 55248 46040 5755 ... 1918 0960 Russian 55248 46040 5755 ... 1918 0960 Prussian 54151 45126 5640 ... 1880 0940 Dutch 56958 47464 5933 ... 1978 0988 Belgian 56958 47464 5933 ... 1978 0988 Swedish 55002 45834 5729 ... 1909 0954 Piedmontese 47447 39539 4945 ... 1648 0824 Venetian 46614 38845 4855 ... 1618 0809 +-----------+------+------+-------+----------+----------+-------+

=WEIGHTS AND MEASURES ACT, 1878.= On the 1st of January, 1879, there came into force an act to consolidate throughout the United Kingdom the law relating to weights and measures. Legislation on this subject had been long rendered necessary from the extreme inconvenience and friction to commerce of all kinds arising from the adherence to local standards of weight or measurements; and from the divergent values in different parts of the kingdom, and in places more or less contiguous to each other, of weights and measures often bearing the same name. Thus, previous to the pa.s.sing of the above Act, there were twelve different markets in this country in which when corn was sold by the bushel, the weight of the bushel varied in each; and six different localities in which the same thing occurred when vended by the quarter and the load. In some places a score of grain would imply 20 lbs. but often less, whilst in others it was not an infrequent transaction for wheat to be sold by one measure, delivered by another, and eventually paid for by weight. And the same perplexing and arbitrary conditions attached to the sale of numberless other commodities.

We give below the most important sections of the Weights and Measures Act of 1878:

LAW OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

_Uniformity of Weights and Measures._

The same weights and measures shall be used throughout the United Kingdom.

_Standards of Measure and Weight._

The bronze bar and the platinum weight, more particularly described in the first part of the First Schedule of this Act, and at the pa.s.sing of this Act, deposited in the Standards Departments of the Board of Trade, in the custody of the Warden of the Standards, shall continue to be the imperial standard of measure and weight, and the said bronze bar shall continue to be the imperial standard for determining the imperial standard yard for the United Kingdom, and the said platinum weight shall continue to be the imperial standard for determining the imperial standard pound for the United Kingdom.

_Imperial Measures of Length._

The straight line or distance between the centres of the two gold plugs or pins (as mentioned in the First Schedule to this Act),[268] in the bronze bar by this Act declared to be the imperial standard for determining the imperial standard yard, measured when the bar is at the temperature of sixty-two degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer, and when it is supported on bronze rollers placed under it in such a manner as best to avoid flexure of the bar, and to facilitate its free expansion and contraction from variations of temperature, shall be the legal standard measure of length, and shall be called the imperial standard yard, and shall be the only unit or standard measure of extension from which all measures of extension, whether linear, superficial, or solid shall be ascertained.

[Footnote 268: See further on.]

One third part of the imperial standard yard shall be a foot, and the twelfth part of such foot shall be an inch, and the rod, pole, or perch in length shall contain five such yards and a half, and the chain shall contain twenty-two such yards, and the furlong two hundred and twenty such yards, and the mile one thousand seven hundred and sixty such yards.

The rood of land shall contain one thousand two hundred and ten square yards according to the imperial standard yard, and the acre of land shall contain four thousand eight hundred and forty such square yards, being one hundred and sixty square rods, poles or perches.

_Imperial Measures of Weight and Capacity._

The weight in vacuo of the platinum weight (mentioned in the First Schedule to this Act), and by this Act declared to be the imperial standard for determining the imperial standard pound, shall be the legal standard measure of weight, and of measure having reference to weight, and shall be called the imperial standard pound, and shall be the only unit or standard measure of weight from which all other weights and all measures having reference to weight shall be ascertained.

One sixteenth part of the imperial standard pound shall be an ounce, and one-sixteenth part of such ounce shall be a dram, and one seven thousandth part of the imperial standard pound shall be a grain.

A stone shall consist of fourteen imperial standard pounds, and a hundred weight shall consist of eight such stones, and a ton shall consist of twenty such hundredweights.

Four hundred and eighty grains shall be an ounce troy.

All the foregoing weights except the ounce troy shall be deemed to be avoirdupois weights.

The unit or standard measure of capacity from which all other measures of capacity, as well as for liquids as for dry goods, shall be derived, shall be the gallon containing ten imperial standard pounds weight of distilled water weighed in air against bra.s.s weights, with the water and air at the temperature of sixty-two degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer, and with the barometer at thirty inches.

The quart shall be one fourth part of the gallon, and the pint shall be one-eighth part of the gallon.

Two gallons shall be a peck, and eight gallons shall be a bushel, and eight such bushels shall be a quarter, and thirty-six such bushels shall be a chaldron.

A bushel for the sale of any of the following articles, namely, lime, fish, potatoes, fruit, or any other goods and things which before (the pa.s.sing of the Weights and Measures Act, 1835, that is to say) the ninth day of September, one thousand eight hundred and thirty five, were commonly sold by heaped measure, shall be a hollow cylinder having a plane base, the internal diameter of which shall be double the internal depth, and every measure used for the sale of any of the above-mentioned articles which is a multiple of a bushel, or is a half bushel or a peck, shall be made of the same shape and proportion as the above-mentioned bushel.

In using an imperial measure of capacity, the same shall not be heaped, but either shall be stricken with a round stick or roller, straight, and of the same diameter from end to end, or if the article sold cannot from its size or shape be conveniently stricken, shall be filled in all parts as nearly to the level of the brim as the size and shape of the article will admit.

_Metric Equivalents of Imperial Weights and Measures._

The table in the Third Schedule to this Act shall be deemed to set forth the equivalents of imperial weights and measures and of the weights and measures therein expressed in terms of the metric system, and such table may be lawfully used for computing and expressing, in weights and measures, weights and measures of the metric system.

_Use of Imperial Weights and Measures._

Every contract, bargain, sale, or dealing, made or had in the United Kingdom for any work, goods, wares, or merchandise, or other thing which has been or is to be done, sold, delivered, carried, or agreed for by weight or measure, shall be deemed to be made and had according to one of the imperial weights or measures ascertained by this Act, or to some multiple or part thereof, and if not so made or had shall be void; and all tolls and duties charged or collected according to weight or measure shall be charged and collected according to one of the imperial weights or measures ascertained by this Act, or to some multiple or part thereof.

Such contract, bargain, sale, dealing, and collection of tolls and duties as is in this section mentioned is in this Act referred to under the term 'trade.'