MODERN EUROPEAN WEIGHTS

MODERN EUROPEAN WEIGHTS, 1. English weights: by the 27th chapter of magna carta, the weights all over England are to be the same; but for different commodities there are two different sorts, viz. Troy weight and averdupois weight. The origin from which they are both raised, is a grain of wheat gathered in the middle of the ear.

In Troy weight, 24 of these grains make a penny-weight sterling; 20 penny-weights make 1 ounce; and 12 ounces 1 pound. See TROY.

By this weight we weigh gold, silver, jewels, grains, and liquors. The apothecaries also use the Troy pound, ounce,

Weight. ounce, and grain; but they differ from the rest in the intermediate divisions. They divide the ounce into 8 drachms, the drachm into 3 scruples, and the scruple into 28 grains. See ARITHMETIC, p. 655.

In averdupois weight, the pound contains 16 ounces, but the ounce is less by near one-twelfth than the Troy ounce; this latter containing 490 grains, and the former only 448. The ounce contains 16 drachms. Eighty ounces averdupois are only equal to 73 ounces Troy; and 17 pounds Troy equal to 14 pounds averdupois. See AVERDUPOIS.

By this weight are weighed mercury and grocery wares, base metals, wool, tallow, hemp, drugs, bread, &c. See ARITHMETIC, p. 655.

The moneyers, jewellers, &c. have a particular class of weights for gold and precious stones, viz. carat and grain; and for silver, the penny-weight and grain. See the article CARACT.

The moneyers have also a peculiar subdivision of the grain Troy: Thus,

The dealers in wool have likewise a particular set of weights, viz. the sack, weigh, tod, stone, and clove.

2. French weights: The common or Paris pound is 16 ounces; which they divide two ways: the first division is into 2 marcs; the marc into 8 ounces; the ounce into 8 gros; the gros into 3 penny-weights; the penny-weight into 24 grains; the grain equivalent to a grain of wheat. The second division of the pound is into 2 half-pounds; the half-pound into 2 quarters; the quarter into 2 half-quarters; the half-quarter into 2 ounces; and the ounce into 2 half-ounces.

The weights of the first division are used to weigh gold, silver, and the richer commodities; and the weights of the second division for commodities of less value.

But the pound is not the same throughout France.

Weight. At Lyons, e. gr. the city pound is only 14 ounces: so that 100 Lyons pounds make only 88 Paris pounds. But beside the city pound, they have another at Lyons for silk, containing 16 ounces. At Toulouse, and throughout the Upper Languedoc, the pound is 13 ounces and a half of Paris weight. At Marcellies, and throughout Provence, the pound is 13 ounces of Paris weight. At Rouen, beside the common Paris pound and marc, they have the weight of the vicomte; which is 16 ounces, a half, and five-sixths of the Paris weight. The weights enumerated under the two articles of English and French weights, are the same that are used throughout the greatest part of Europe; only under somewhat different names, divisions, and proportions.

Particular nations have also certain weights peculiar to themselves: thus, Spain has its arrobas, containing 25 Spanish pounds, or one-fourth of the common quintal; its quintal macho, containing 150 pounds, or one-half common quintal, or 6 arrobas; its adarme, containing one-sixteenth of its ounce. And for gold, it has its castillan, or one-hundredth of a pound. Its tomín, containing 12 grains, or one-eighth of a castillan. The same are in use in the Spanish West Indies.

Portugal has also its arriba, containing 32 Lisbon arratels, or pounds: Savary also mentions its feratelle, containing 2 Lisbon pounds; and its rottoli, containing about 12 pounds. And for gold, its chego, containing 4 carats. The same are used in the Portuguese East Indies.

Italy, and particularly Venice, have their migliaro, containing 4 mirres; the mirre containing 30 Venice pounds: the saggio, containing a sixth part of an ounce. Genoa has five kinds of weights, viz. large weights, whereby all merchandises are weighed at the custom-house; cash weights, for piastres and other species; the cantara, or quintal, for the coarsest commodities; the large balance for raw silks; and the small balance for the finer commodities. Sicily has its rottoli, 32 and a half pounds of Messina.

Germany, Flanders, Holland, the Hanse towns, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, &c. have their schippont, which at Antwerp and Hamburg, is 300 pounds; at Lubeck, 320; and at Coningberg, 400 pounds. In Sweden, the schippont for copper is 320 pounds; and the schippont for provisions 400 pounds. At Riga and Revel, the schippont is 400 pounds; at Dantzic, 340 pounds; in Norway, 300 pounds; at Amsterdam, 300; containing 20 lysponts, each weighing 15 pounds.

In Muscovy, they weigh their large commodities by the bercherost, or berkewits, containing 400 of their pounds. They have also the poet, or poede, containing 40 pounds, or one-tenth of the bercherost.

In order to show the proportion of the several weights used throughout Europe, we shall add a reduction of them to one standard, viz. the London and Amsterdam pound.

I. Proportion of the weights of the principal places of Europe.

The 100 lb. of England, Scotland, and Ireland are equal to

88 0 of Rouen, the viscounty weight.
106 0 of Lyons, the city weight.
90 9 of Rochelle.
107 11 of Thoulouse and Upper Languedoc.
113 0 of Marlasses or Provence.
81 7 of Geneva.
93 5 of Hamburg.
89 7 of Francfort, &c.
96 1 of Leipzig, &c.
137 4 of Genoa.
132 11 of Leghorn.
153 11 of Milan.
152 0 of Venice.
154 10 of Naples.
97 0 of Seville, Cadiz, &c.
104 13 of Portugal.
96 5 of Leige.
112 $\backslash frac\{1\}\{2\}$ of Russia.
107 $\backslash frac\{1\}\{2\}$ of Sweden.
89 $\backslash frac\{1\}\{2\}$ of Denmark.

II. Proportion of the weights of the chief cities in Europe to those of Amsterdam.

An 100 pounds of Amsterdam are equal to

lb
108 of Alicant.
105 of Antwerp.
120 of Archangel, or 3 poedes.
105 of Arschor.
120 of Avignon.
98 of Basil in Switzerland.
100 of Bayonne in France.
166 of Bergamo.
97 of Bergen-op-zoom.
95$\backslash frac\{1\}\{2\}$ of Bergen in Norway.
111 of Bern.
100 of Besançon.
100 of Bilbao.
105 of Bois-le-duc.
151 of Bologna.
100 of Bourdeaux.
104 of Bourg en Bresse.
103 of Bremen.
125 of Breslaw.
105 of Bruges.
105 of Brussels.
105 of Cadiz.
105 of Cologne.
125 of Coningberg.
107$\backslash frac\{1\}\{2\}$ of Copenhagen.
87 rotto of Constantinople.
113$\backslash frac\{1\}\{2\}$ of Dantzic.
100 of Dort.
97 of Dublin.
97 of Edinburgh.
143 of Florence.
98 Francfort on the Maine.
105 of Gaunt.
89 of Geneva.
163 of Genoa, cash weight.
102 of Hamburg.
106 of Leyden.
105 of Leipzig.
105$\backslash frac\{1\}\{2\}$ of Liege.
114 of Lisse.

143 of Leghorn.
106$\backslash frac\{1\}\{2\}$ of Lisbon.
109 of London, averdupois weight.
105 of Lovane.
105 of Lubec.
141$\backslash frac\{1\}\{2\}$ of Lucca, light weight.
116 of Lyons, city weight.
114 of Madrid.
105 of Marlines.
123$\backslash frac\{1\}\{2\}$ of Marlasses.
154 of Messina, light weight.
168 of Milan.
120 of Montpellier.
125 bercherots of Muscovy.
100 of Nantes.
106 of Nancy.
169 of Naples.
98 of Nuremberg.
100 of Paris.
112$\backslash frac\{1\}\{2\}$ of Revel.
109 of Riga.
100 of Rochelle.
146 of Rome.
100 of Rotterdam.
96 of Rouen, viscounty weight.
100 of St Malo.
100 of St Sebastian.
158$\backslash frac\{1\}\{2\}$ of Saragosa.
106 of Seville.
114 of Smyrna.
110 of Stetin.
81 of Thoulouse and Upper Languedoc.
151 of Turin.
158$\backslash frac\{1\}\{2\}$ of Valencia.
182 of Venice, small weight.

WEIGHTS used in the several parts of Asia, the East Indies, China, Persia, &c. In Turkey, at Smyrna, &c. they use the batman, or battemant, containing six occos; the occo weighing 3 pounds four-fifths English. They have another batman much less, consisting, as the former, of six occos; but the occo only containing 15 ounces English: 44 occos of the first kind make the Turkish quintal. At Cairo, Alexandretta, Aleppo, and Alexandria, they use the rotto, rotton, or rottoli. The rottoli at Cairo, and other parts of Egypt, is 144 drachms; being somewhat over an English pound. At Aleppo there are three sorts of rottos: the first 720 drachms, making about 7 pounds English, and serving to weigh cottons, galls, and other large commodities; the second is 624 drachms, used for all silks but white ones, which are weighed by the third rotto of 700 drachms. At Seyda the rotto is 600 drachms.

The other ports of the Levant not named here, use some of these weights; particularly the occa, or ocqua, the rottoli, and rotto.

The Chinese weights are the piece, for large commodities; it is divided into 100 catis, or cattis; tho' some say into 125; the cati into 16 taels, or tales; each tael equivalent to $\backslash frac\{1\}\{12\}$ of an ounce English, or the weight of 1 rial and $\backslash frac\{1\}\{12\}$, and containing 12 mas, or masses, and each mas 10 condins. So that the Chinese piece amounts to 137 pounds English averdupois, and the cadi to 1 pound 8 ounces. The picol for silk

light. containing 66 catis and $\backslash frac\{1\}\{2\}$; the bahar, bakaire, or barr, containing 300 catis.

Tonquin has also the same weights, measures, &c. as China. Japan has only one weight, viz. the cati; which however is different from that of China, as containing 20 taels. At Surat, Agra, and throughout the states of the Great Mogul, they use the man, or maund, whereof they have two kinds; the king's man, or king's weight; and the man simply; the first used for the weighing of common provisions, containing 40 seers, or ferres; and each seer a just Paris pound. The common man, used in the weighing of merchandise, consists likewise of 40 seers, but each seer is only estimated at 12 Paris ounces, or $\backslash frac\{1\}\{2\}$ of the other seer.

The man may be looked on as the common weight of the East Indies, though under some difference of name, or rather of pronunciation; it being called mao at Cambaya, and in other places mein, and maun. The seer is properly the Indian pound, and of universal use; the like may be said of the bahar, tael, and catti, above-mentioned.

The weights of Siam, are the piece, containing two shans or cattis; but the Siamese catti is only half the Japonefe, the latter containing 20 taels, and the former only 10; though some make the Chinese catti only 16 taels, and the Siamese 8. The tael contains 4 baats or ticals, each about a Paris ounce; the baat 4 selings or mayons; the mayon 2 fouangs; the fouang 4 payes; the paye 2 clams; the fompaye half a fouang.

It is to be observed, that those are the names of their coins as well as weights; silver and gold being commodities there sold, as other things, by their weights.

In the isle of Java, and particularly at Bantam, they use the gantan, which amounts to near 3 Dutch pounds. In Golconda, at Visapour, and Goa, they have the furatelle, containing 1 pound 14 ounces English; the mangalis, or mangelin, for weighing diamonds and precious stones, weighing at Goa 5 grains, at Golconda, &c. 5 $\backslash frac\{1\}\{2\}$ grains. They have also the rotolo, containing 14 $\backslash frac\{1\}\{2\}$ ounces English; the meticol, containing the sixth part of an ounce; the wall for pialtres and ducats, containing the 73d part of a rial.

In Persia they use two kinds of batmans or mans; the one called cabi or cheray, which is the king's weight, and the other batman of Tauris. The first weighs 13 pounds 10 ounces English; the second 6 $\backslash frac\{1\}\{2\}$ pounds. Its divisions are the ratel, or a 16th; the derhem, or drachm, which is the 50th; the meschal, which is half the derhem; the dung, which is the 6th part of the meschal, being equivalent to 6 carat-grains; and, lastly, the grain, which is the fourth part of the dung. They have also the vakie, which exceeds a little our ounce; the fah-cheray, equal to the 1170th part of the derhem; and the toman, used to weigh out large payments of money without telling; its weight is that of 50 abasis.

African and American Weights. We have little to say as to the weights of America: the several European colonies there making use of the weights of the states or kingdoms of Europe they belong to. For as to the arone of Peru, which weighs 27 pounds, it is evidently no other than the Spanish arroba with a little difference in the name.

As to the weights of Africa, there are few places

that have any, except Egypt, and the countries bordering on the Mediterranean; whose weights have been already enumerated among those of the ports of the Levant. The island of Madagascar indeed has weights, but none that exceed the drachm; nor are they used for any thing but gold and silver.

Regulation of Weights and Measures, is a branch of the king's prerogative. See PREROGATIVE, (and MEASURE in the APPENDIX.)

These, for the advantage of the public, ought to be universally the same throughout the kingdom; being the general criterions which reduce all things to the same or an equivalent value. But as weight and measure are things in their nature arbitrary and uncertain, it is therefore expedient that they be reduced to some fixed rule or standard: which standard it is impossible to fix by any written law or oral proclamation; for no man can, by words only, give another an adequate idea of a foot-rule, or a pound weight. It is therefore necessary to have recourse to some visible, palpable, material standard; by forming a comparison with which, all weights and measures may be reduced to one uniform size; and the prerogative of fixing this standard, our ancient law vested in the crown, as in Normandy it belonged to the duke. This standard was originally kept at Winchester: and we find in the laws of king Edgar, near a century before the conquest, an injunction that the one measure, which was kept at Winchester, should be observed throughout the realm. Most nations have regulated the standard of measures of length by comparison with the parts of the human body; as the palm, the hand, the span, the foot, the cubit, the ell (ulna or arm), the pace, and the fathom. But as these are of different dimensions in men of different proportions, our ancient historians inform us, that a new standard of longitudinal measure was ascertained by king Henry the First; who commanded that the ulna or ancient ell, which answers to the modern yard, should be made of the exact length of his own arm. And one standard of measures of length being gained, all others are easily derived from thence; those of greater length by multiplying, those of less by dividing, that original standard. Thus, by the statute called compositio ulnarum et perticarum, five yards and an half make a perch; and the yard is subdivided into three feet, and each foot into 12 inches; which inches will be each of the length of three grains of barley. Superficial measures are derived by squaring those of length; and measures of capacity by cubing them. The standard of weights was originally taken from corns of wheat, whence the lowest denomination of weights we have is still called a grain; 32 of which are directed, by the statute called compositio mensurarum, to compose a penny-weight, whereof 20 make an ounce, 12 ounces a pound, and so upwards. And upon these principles the first standards were made; which, being originally so fixed by the crown, their subsequent regulations have been generally made by the king in parliament. Thus, under king Richard I. in his parliament holden at Westminster, A. D. 1197, it was ordained that there should be only one weight and one measure throughout the kingdom, and that the custody of the assize or standard of weights and measures should be committed to certain persons in every city and borough; from whence the ancient

Weight. office of the king's aulnager seems to have been derived; whose duty it was, for a certain fee, to measure all cloths made for sale, till the office was abolished by the statute 11th and 12th William III. c. 20. In King John's time this ordinance of king Richard was frequently dispensed with for money; which occasioned a provision to be made for enforcing it, in the great charters of king John and his son. These original standards were called pondus regis, and mensura domini regis, and are directed by a variety of subsequent statutes to be kept in the exchequer chamber, by an officer called the clerk of the market, except the wine gallon, which is committed to the city of London, and kept in Guildhall.

The Scottish standards are distributed among the oldest boroughs. The elwand is kept at Edinburgh, the pint at Stirling, the pound at Lanark, and the first lot at Linlithgow.

Various statutes have been enacted for regulating and enforcing an uniformity of weights and measures; and by the articles of union, the English standards are established by law over all Great Britain. But the force of custom is so strong, that these statutes have been ill observed. The Scottish standards are still universally retained for many purposes; and likewise a variety of local weights and measures are used in particular places of both countries, which differ from the general standards of either.

1. English Troy Weight is the most ancient of the different kinds used in Britain. See the article TROY. See also ARITHMETIC, p. 655, Tab. III. IV. the former exhibiting the divisions used by goldsmiths, the latter those used by apothecaries.—Goldsmiths in Scotland sometimes divide the ounce into 16 drops, and the drop into 30 grains; but in all these ways the ounce and grain is the same, and the ounce contains 480 grains.

A carat is a weight of 4 grains; but when the term is applied to gold, it denotes the degree of fineness. Any quantity of gold is supposed divided into 24 parts. If the whole mass be pure gold, it is said to be 24 carats fine; if there be 23 parts of pure gold, and 1 part of base metal or alloy, it is said to be 23 carats fine, and so on.

Pure gold is too soft to be used for coin. The standard coin of this kingdom is 22 carats fine. A pound of standard gold is coined into 44½ guineas, and therefore every guinea should weigh 5 dwt. 9½ grains; but as some allowance must be made for wearing, guineas not under 5 dwt. 8 gr. and half guineas not under 2 dwt. 16 gr. cannot be refused in payment.

A Joannes should weigh 9 dwt. 6 gr. Other Portugual pieces in proportion.

A pound of standard silver for coin contains 11 ounces 2 dwt. pure silver, and 18 dwt. alloy: standard silver-plate, 11 ounces pure silver, and 1 ounce alloy. A pound of silver is coined into 62 shillings; therefore the weight of a shilling should be 3 dwt. 20½ grains.

The value of a pound of gold, when coined at the mint-price, is L. 46: 14: 6, and the value of a pound of silver L. 3. 2s. : but the current price of bullion varies like that of other commodities, according to the scarcity or demand.

About the time of the Norman conquest, 1 lb. of silver was coined into 20 shillings, and made L. 1 of

the current money of the realm. The value of the coin was afterwards lessened by degrees; and at present a pound sterling in silver does not contain one third part of that quantity. The sums of money mentioned in the earlier part of the English history, must be understood according to the state of the coin which was current at the time. They may be reduced to money of our present standard by the help of the following table; which exhibits the number of shillings coined from 1 lb. of silver, and the value of 20 of these shillings in our present money.

This table will enable the reader to compare the old prices of provisions and other commodities with the present. He will find that the prices of corn about the time of the Norman conquest was only about one tenth of the present price, and cattle were still cheaper in proportion.

It appears, by a household-book composed by the earl of Northumberland in the year 1512, that wheat was about 6s. 2d. per quarter, malt 4s. oats 2s. a lean ox 8s. a fat ox 13s. 4d. a sheep 1s. 8d. a hog 2s. a hen 2d. a goose 3d. French wine L. 4: 13: 4 per ton, an ell of linen 8d. a chaldar of coals 4s. 2d. The weight of the coin was then one third more than at present.

The prices of commodities increased slowly before the discovery of America. In the 16th century, when great quantities of gold and silver were brought from the Spanish colonies in America, the value of these metals diminished of course, and prices rose quickly, and have since continued to increase. The price of corn was formerly much more unequal than at present. A scarcity in any particular country had worse effects, because commerce was not so regular. During a dearth in Queen Elizabeth's time, wheat rose to upwards of L. 4 per quarter.

2. Averduois Weight was afterwards brought into England. It owed its introduction to the practice of foreign merchants, but was afterwards established by law, and is now generally known by the name of English weight. The denominations used in this weight are contained in Table II. (ARITHMETIC, p. 655.) and are better adapted for bulky commodities, as those of Troy weight are for minute and valuable ones. The pound averduois contains 7000 grains Troy. The ounce was formerly divided into eight drachms, and the drachm into three scruples; but the present division of the ounce is into sixteen drops or drachms.

This weight is used in Scotland in collecting the revenue, and in selling leather, tallow, soap, flour, bread,

bread, candle, groceries, rosin, wax, pitch, wrought metals, some Baltic goods, and all goods brought from England. It is appointed by the articles of Union as the general weight through Great Britain; but has not been adopted in Scotland, except for the above mentioned commodities.

The following table is used for wool weight:

3. TRONE WEIGHT. See TRONE.