The Handy Cyclopedia of Things Worth Knowing Part 74

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

Troy Weight.--24 grains make 1 pennyweight, 20 pennyweights make 1 ounce. By this weight, gold, silver and jewels only are weighed. The ounce and pound in this are same as in Apothecaries' weight.

Apothecaries' Weight.--20 grains make one scruple. 3 scruples make 1 dram. 8 drams make 1 ounce, l2 ounces make 1 pound.

Avoirdupois Weight.--6 drams make 1 ounce, 16 ounces make 1 pound, 25 pounds make 1 quarter, 4 quarters make 1 hundredweight, 2,000 pounds make 1 ton.

Dry Measure.--2 pints make 1 quart, 8 quarts make 1 peck, 4 pecks make 1 bushel, 36 bushels make 1 chaldron.

Liquid or Wine Measure.--4 gills make 1 pint, 2 pints make 1 quart, 4 quarts make 1 gallon. 31-1/2 gallons make 1 barrel, 2 barrels make 1 hogshead.

Time Measure.--60 seconds make 1 minute, 60 minutes make 1 hour, 24 hours make 1 day, 7 days make 1 week, 4 weeks make 1 lunar month, 28, 29, 30 or 31 days make 1 calendar month (30 days make 1 month in computing interest). 52 weeks and 1 day, or 12 calendar months make a year; 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 49 seconds make 1 solar year.

Circular Measure.--60 seconds make 1 minute, 60 minutes make 1 degree, 30 degrees make 1 sign, 90 degrees make 1 quadrant, 4 quadrants or 360 degrees make 1 circle.

Long Measure.--Distance--3 barleycorns 1 inch, 12 inches 1 foot. 3 feet 1 yard. 5-1/2 yards 1 rod, 40 rods 1 furlong, 8 furlongs 1 mile.

Cloth Measure.--2-1/2 inches 1 nail, 4 nails 1 quarter, 4 quarters 1 yard.

Miscellaneous.--3 inches 1 palm, 4 inches 1 hand, 9 inches 1 span, 18 inches 1 cubit, 21.8 inches 1 Bible cubit. 2-1/2 feet 1 military pace.

Square Measure.--144 square inches 1 square foot, 9 square feet 1 square yard, 30-1/4 square yards 1 square rod, 40 square rods 1 rood, 4 roods 1 acre.

Surveyors' Measure.--7.92 inches 1 link, 25 links 1 rod, 4 rods 1 chain, 10 square chains or 160 square rods 1 acre, 640 acres 1 square mile.

Cubic Measure.--l,728 cubic inches 1 cubic foot. 27 cubic feet 1 cubic yard, 128 cubic feet 1 cord (wood), 40 cubic feet 1 ton (shipping), 2,150.42 cubic inches 1 standard bushel, 268.8 cubic inches 1 standard gallon, 1 cubic foot four-fifths of a bushel.

Metric Weights.--10 milligrams 1 centigram, 10 centigrams 1 decigram, 10 decigrams 1 gram, 10 grams 1 dekagram, 10 dekagrams 1 hektogram, 10 hektograms 1 kilogram.

Metric Measure.--(One milliliter--Cubic centimeter).--10 milliliters 1 centiliter, 10 centiliters 1 deciliter, 10 deciliters 1 liter, 10 liters 1 dekaliter, 10 dekaliters 1 hektoliter, 10 hektoliters 1 kiloliter.

Metric Lengths.--10 millimeters 1 centimeter, 10 centimeters 1 decimeter, 10 decimeters 1 meter, 10 meters 1 dekameter, 10 dekameters 1 hektometer, 10 hektometers 1 kilometer.

Relative Value of Apothecaries' and Imperial Measure.

Apothecaries'. Imperial.

pints ounces drams minims

1 gallon equals 6 13 2 23 1 pint equals 16 5 18 1 fluid ounce equals 1 0 20 1 fluid dram equals 1 2-1/2

Handy Metric Table.

The following table gives the equivalents of both the metric and common systems, and will be found convenient for reference:

Approximate Accurate Equivalent. Equivalent.

1 inch [length] 2-1/2 cubic centimeters 2.539 1 centimeter 0.4 inch 0.393 1 yard 1 meter 0.914 1 meter (39.37 inches) l yard 1.093 1 foot 30 centimeters 30.479 1 kilometer (1,000 meters) 5/8 mile 0.621 1 mile 1-1/2 kilometers 1.600 1 gramme [weight] 15-1/2 grains 15.432 1 grain 0.064 gramme 0.064 1 kilogramme (1,000 grammes) 2.2 pounds avoirdupois. 2.204 1 pound avoirdupois 1/2 kilogramme 0.453 1 ounce avoirdupois (437-1/2 grains) 28-1/3 grammes 28.349 1 ounce troy, or apothecary (480 grains) 31 grammes 31.103 1 cubic centimeter [bulk] 1.06 cubic inch. 0.060 1 cubic inch 16-1/3 cubic centimeters 16.386 1 liter (1,000 cubic centimeters). 1 United States standard quart 0.946 1 United States quart. 1 liter 1.057 1 fluid ounce 29-1/2 cubic centimeters 29.570 1 hectare (10,000 square meters) [surface] 2-1/2 acres 2.471 1 acre 0.4 hectare 0.40

[Transcriber's noted: 1 inch is about 2-1/2 centimeters, not cubic centimeters. 1 cubic centimeter is about 0.06102 cubic inch (not 1.06).]

HANDY WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

One quart of wheat flour is one pound. One quart of corn meal weighs eighteen ounces. One quart of b.u.t.ter, soft, weighs 14 to 16 ounces. One quart of brown sugar weighs from a pound to a pound and a quarter, according to dampness. One quart of white sugar weighs 2 pounds. Ten medium-sized eggs weigh one pound. A tablespoonful of salt is one ounce.

Eight tablespoonfuls make 1 gill. Two gills, or 16 tablespoonfuls, are half a pint. Sixty drops are one teaspoonful. Four tablespoonfuls are one winegla.s.sful. Twelve tablespoonfuls are one teacupful. Sixteen tablespoonfuls or half a pint, are one tumblerful.

The Meaning of Measures.--A square mile is equal to 640 acres. A square acre is 208.71 feet on one side. An acre is 43,560 square feet. A league, 3 miles. A span, 10-7/8 inches. A hand, 4 inches. A palm, 3 inches. A great cubit, 11 inches. A fathom, 6 feet. A mile, 5,280 feet.

Domestic and Drop Measures Approximated.--A teaspoonful, one fluid dram 4 grams; a dessertspoonful, two fluid drams 3 grams; a tablespoonful, half fluid ounce 16 grams; a winegla.s.sful, two fluid ounces 64 grams; a tumblerful, half pint 256 grams.

TO TELL THE AGE OF ANY PERSON.

Hand this table to a young lady, and request her to tell you in which column or columns her age is contained, and add together the figures at the top of the columns in which her age is found, and you have the secret. Thus, suppose her age to be seventeen, you will find that number in the first and fifth columns: add the first figures of these two columns.

1 2 4 8 16 32 3 3 5 9 17 33 5 6 6 10 18 34 7 7 7 11 l9 35 9 10 12 12 20 36 11 11 13 13 21 37 13 14 14 14 22 38 15 15 15 15 23 39 17 18 20 24 24 40 19 19 21 25 25 41 21 22 22 26 26 41 23 23 23 27 27 43 25 26 28 28 28 44 27 27 29 29 29 45 29 30 30 30 30 46 31 31 31 31 31 47 33 34 36 40 48 48 35 35 37 41 49 49 37 38 38 42 50 50 39 39 39 43 51 51 41 42 44 44 52 52 43 43 45 45 53 53 45 46 46 46 54 54 47 47 47 47 55 55 49 50 52 56 56 56 51 51 53 57 57 57 53 54 54 58 58 58 55 55 55 59 59 59 57 58 60 60 60 60 59 59 61 61 61 61 61 62 62 62 62 62 63 63 63 63 63 63

DR. SPURZHEIM'S PHRENOLOGY.

The first claim put forth by the teachers and professional demonstrators of phrenology makes it a system of mental philosophy, besides at the same time presenting a much more popular aspect as a method whereby the disposition, character and natural apt.i.tude of the individual may be ascertained.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Side and front view of a head, with several numbered areas above the eyes and ears.]

These two features of the subject are quite distinct from each other, for, while it can serve as a reliable guide for reading character only on the a.s.sumption of its truth as a philosophic system, yet the possibility of its practical application does not necessarily follow from the establishment of the truth of its theoretical side.

Two of the earliest founders of the science of anatomy, Erasistratus and Herophilus, who lived in the age of Ptolemy Soter, taught that the brain was the seat of sensation and intellect, and that there was therein a certain degree of localization of function. Galen later taught that the brain is the seat of the soul and intellect. From these facts of history the system of phrenology, though formulated by Dr. Gall, Dr. Spurzheim, the Fowler Brothers and others, rests upon deductions derived from the teachings of the demonstrators of anatomy and students of philosophy.

The formulated system of phrenology is very generally believed to be a modern expansion of an old empirical philosophy, but, according to Dr.

Gall's account, it arose with him as the result of independent observations. The popularity of phrenology has waned in the public mind, and cultivation of the system is confined to a few enthusiasts, such as pose as teachers of it as a vocation. These claim that phrenology is a practical and important science and that it rests upon the following principles:

First--That the human brain is the organ of the mind.

Second--That the mental powers of man can be a.n.a.lyzed into a definite number of measurably independent faculties.

Third--That these faculties are innate, and each has its seat in a definite region of the brain.

Fourth--That the size of each of these regions is the measure of the power of manifesting the faculty a.s.sociated with it.

The faculties and their localities, as originally constructed by Dr.

Gall, were for the most part identified on slender grounds. His procedure was as follows: Having selected the place of a faculty, he examined the heads of his friends and casts of persons with that peculiarity in common, and in them sought for the distinctive feature of their characteristic trait. Some of his earlier studies were among low a.s.sociates in jails and lunatic asylums, and some of the qualities located by him were such as tend to perversion to crime. These he named after their excessive manifestations, and thus mapped out organs of theft, murder, etc. This, however, caused the system to be discredited.