it contains 16 ounces, the ounce 8 drachms, the drachm 8 scruples, the scruple 20 grains. The second is called the apothecary's pound; it is divided into 12 ounces, or 24 loots. Three arnic pounds are equal to 4 apothecary's pounds.
The Dutch stone = 8 commercial lb. The Lifpound, or Ll. = 15 The hundred weight = 100 The Schippondt, or Sch. lb. = 300
4. Spanish Weights.—The marc of Castile, used for weighing gold and silver, is divided as follows:
| Grains (gold weight) | Grain (silver weight) | |----------------------|-----------------------| | 12 | 12 | | 12 | 12 | | 12 | 12 |
| Tomine (gold weight) | Tomine (silver weight) | |----------------------|------------------------| | 37½ | 36 | | 7½ | 6½ | | 9½ | 8 |
| Adarme | Ochara | |----------------------|------------------------| | 3 | 6 | | 3½ | 6½ |
| Castellano | Ounce | |----------------------|------------------------| | 7½ | 8 | | 16 | 8 |
| Marc | Marc | |----------------------|------------------------| | 4800 | 400 | | 400 | 384 | | 64 | 50 |
The marc, according to Tillet, is equal to 7 oz. 4 gros, 8 graies French, which is equal to 4785 as of Holland. One hundred marcs of Castile = about 935 marcs of Holland; 100 marcs of Holland = 107 marcs of Castile. Medicines are sold by the same marc; but it is divided differently, containing 8 ounces, 64 drachms, 192 scruples, 384 obolos, 1152 carateras, 4608 grains.
The Spanish commercial pound is divided into two marcs, called marcs of Tego, each of which is equal to the marc of Castile. This pound is divided into 16 ounces, 256 adarmes, 216 grains.
5. Weights of Portugal.—The Lisbon marc for assaying silver consists of 12 deniers, and the denier of 24 grains. The marc of Portugal for weighing gold and silver is equal, according to Tillet, to 7 ounces, 3½ gros, and 34 grains French, which makes 4776 as of Holland; so that it is exactly the same with the Lisbon pound. It is divided into 8 ounces, 64 outavas, 192 scruples, 4608 grains.
The pound consists of 2 marcs, 16 ounces, or 96 outavas. The arroba of 32 lb. the quintal of 4 arrobas, or 128 lb. 100 Oporto pounds make 87½ lbs pounds of commerce of Amsterdam.
6. Weights of Italy.—Genoa. Two kinds of weights are used at Genoa, the peso grofio (heavy weight), and the peso fottile (light weight); the latter is used for weighing gold and silver, the former for other things. The pound of the peso fottile is equal, according to Tillet, to 1 marc, 2 ounces, 2½ gros, 30 grains French. It is divided into 8 ounces, the ounce into 24 deniers, and the denier into 24 grains. The pound of the peso grofio is equal to 1 marc, 2 ounces, 3 gros, 5 grains, French. It is divided into 12 ounces:
The cantaro = 100 lbs. peso grofio, The rubbo = 25 lbs. The rotolo = 1½ lb. 100 lbs. peso grofio = 64½ lb. of commerce of Amsterdam. 100 lbs. peso fottile = 129 marcs troy of Holland.
Rome. The Roman pound consists of 12 ounces, the ounce of 24 deniers, the denier of 24 grains. The Roman pound, according to Tillet, is equal to 1 marc, 3 ounces, ¼ gros, 14 grains, French.
Venice. The marc for weighing gold and silver contains 8 ounces, 32 quarti, 1152 carati, or 4608 grani. An hundred marcs of Venice = 97½ marcs troy of Holland, 100 marcs of Holland = 103 of Venice. In Venice they also use a peso grofio and peso fottile. 100 lbs. peso grofio = 94½ commercial lbs. of Amsterdam. 100 lbs. peso fottile = 61½ ditto.
7. Swedish Weights.—The marc for weighing gold and silver is equal to 16 lbs, 64 quintins, or 4384 as. The pound of 32 lbs, used for weighing food, is equal, according to Tillet, to 1 marc, 5 ounces, 7 gros, 8 grains French, which makes 8848½ as troy of Holland. This answers exactly to the weight of the different pounds, as fixed in Sweden, viz., 8848½ as = the pound for weighing articles of food; 7821½ as = marc used in the mines; 7450½ as = marc used in towns and in the country; 7078½ as = marc used for weighing iron; 7416 as = pound used in medicine.
The skippund = 400 lbs. for weighing food. The centner = 120 lbs. The waag = 165 lbs. The sten = 32 lbs. The Swedish as = 1 as of Holland troy.
8. German Weights.—Vienna. The marc of Vienna for weighing gold and silver is divided into 16 loths, 64 quintals, or 256 deniers or pfennings; the loth into 4 quintals, or 16 pfennings. This marc, according to Tillet, is equal to 1 marc, 1 ounce, 1 gros, 16 grains, French, = 83½ as troy Holland. The pound of Vienna is divided into 2 marcs, or 4 quintals; the mark into 8 ounces, 16 loths, 64 quintals, or 266 pfennings.
Hamburg. The marc for assaying gold is divided into 24 carats; the carat into 12 grains. The marc for silver is divided into 16 loths, and the loth into 18 grains. These marcs consist each of 288 grains, and are therefore equal. This marc, used in Hamburg for gold and silver, is the marc of Cologne, which is equal, according to Tillet, to 7 ounces, 5 gros, 7½ grains, French, = 4866 as troy of Holland. It is divided into 8 ounces, 16 loths, 64 quintins, 256 pfennings, 4352 echtes, or 65356 richt pfennings thele. The apothecary pound used in Hamburg, and almost all Germany, is divided into 12 ounces, 96 drachms, 288 scruples, or 5760 grains; an ounce is equal to 62½ as of Holland. The pound of commerce is equal, according to Tillet, to 1008½ as of Holland; for half a pound is equal to 7 ounces, 7 gros, 23 grains, French. This pound is divided into 16 ounces, 32 loths, 128 quintins, or 512 pfennings.
9. Russian Weights.—The berckowitz = 400 lbs. The poud = 40 lbs.
The pound is divided into 32 loths, or 96 solotnuk. One hundred Russian lbs. = 166½ marcs, or 82½ lbs. of Amsterdam. One hundred lbs. of commerce of Amsterdam = 120½ lbs. of Russia.
10. Weights used in the several parts of Asia, the East Indies, China, Persia, &c.—In Turkey, at Smyrna, &c. they use the batman, or battement, containing 7½ oz.; the octo contains 4 chekys or pounds, each of which, according to Tillet, is equal to 1 marc 2 oz. 3 gros, 28 gr. French. The Turkish weights are divided as follows:
Cantaras, Batmans, Octo, Rutoos, Chekis, Meccas, Drachms. 1 = 7½ = 44 = 100 = 176 = 11733½ = 17000 1 = 6 = 13½ = 24 = 1600 = 2400 1 = 2½ = 4 = 266½ = 400 1 = 1½ = 117½ = 176 1 = 69½ = 100 1 = 1½ 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 680 drachms, used for all silks but white ones, which are weighed by the third roto of 700 drachms. At Seyda the roto is 600 drachms.
The other ports of the Levant not named here, use some of these weights; particularly the occa, or ocqua, the rotto, and roto.
The Chinese weights are the piece for large commodities; it is divided into 100 catis, or cattis; though some say into 125; the cati into 16 taels, or tales; each tael equivalent to 1/16 of an ounce English, or the weight of 1 rial and 1/2, and containing 12 mas, or mafes, and each mas 10 centins. So that the Chinese piece amounts to 137 pounds English avoirdupois, and the cati to 1 pound 8 ounces. The picol for silk containing 66 catis and 2½; the bahar, bai-kaire, 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 feers, or ferres; and each feer a just Paris pound. The common man, used in the weighing of merchandise, consists likewise of 40 feers, but each feer is only estimated at 12 Paris ounces, or ¼ of the other feer.
The man may be looked upon 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 munun. The feer is properly the Indian pound, and of universal use; the like may be said of the bahar, tael, and cati, above mentioned.
The weights of Siam are the piece, containing two shans or cattis; but the Siamese cati is only half the Japanese, the latter containing 20 taels, and the former only 10; though some make the Chinese cati only 16 taels, and the Siamese 8. The tael contains 4 baats or ticals, each about a Paris ounce; the baat 4 felings or mayons; the mayon 2 fouangs; the fouang 4 payes; the paye 2 clams; the fom-paye half a fouang.
It is to be observed, that these 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 gantam, which amounts to near 3 Dutch pounds. In Golconda, at Vizapour, and Goa, they have the turatelle, containing 1 pound 14 ounces English; the mangalis, or mangelin, for weighing diamonds and precious stones, weighing at Goa 5 grains, at Golconda, &c. 5½ grains. They have also the roto, containing 14½ ounces English; the metricol, containing the fifth part of an ounce; the wall for pictures and ducats, containing the 73rd part of a rial.
In Persia they use two kind's of batmans or mans; the one called abhi or choray which is the king's weight, and the other batman of Tauris. The first weighs 13 pounds 10 ounces English; the second 6½ pounds. Its divisions are the ratel, or a 16th; the derhem, or drachm, which is the 52nd; the melch, which is half the derhem; the dugh, which is the fifth part of the melch, being equivalent to 6 carat grains; and, lastly, the grain, which is the fourth part of the dugh. They have also the vakie, which exceeds a little our ounce; the fah-chery, equal to the 117th part of the derhem; and the toman, used to weigh our large payments of money without telling; its weight is that of 50 abaffs.
Weights at Cairo in Egypt.—Almost every kind of goods has its own weight; these are regulated by the cantaren or principal weight.
Rotels.
| Weight Description | Weight | |-------------------------------------|--------| | The ordinary cantaren, or hundred weight, weighs | 100 | | The cantaren of quicksilver and tin | 102 | | coffee, wine, and iron | 105 | | ivory | 100 | | almonds and other fruits | 115 | | woods for dying | 120 | | arienic and other drugs | 125 | | minium and cinnabar | 130 | | gum-arabics, aloes, and other aromatics | 133 |
The roto or rotoli is nearly equal to the pound of Marfeilles; 108 lbs. of Marfeilles are equal to 110 rotels. The Marfeilles pound consists of 13 ounces of Paris; so that 100 lbs. of Marfeilles are equal to 81 lbs. Paris, and 100 lbs. Paris = 123 lbs. of Marfeilles.
We shall subjoin here Mr. Ferguson's table for comparing the English avoirdupois pound with foreign pounds:
| Location | Weight | |--------------|--------| | London | 1.0000 | | Antwerp | 1.04 | | Amsterdam | 1.1111 | | Avebeville | 1.0989 | | Ancona | 0.78 | | Avignon | 0.8928 | | Bordeaux | 1.0989 | | Bologna | 0.8 | | Bruges | 1.0204 | | Calabria | 0.73 | | Calais | 0.9345 | | Dieppe | 1.0989 | | Danzig | 0.862 | | Ferrara | 0.75 | | Flanders | 0.9433 | | Geneva | 1.07 | | Genoa | 0.7 | | Hamburg | 1.0865 | | Lisbon | 1.135 | | Leghorn | 0.75 | | Norimberg | 1.1363 | | Naples | 0.71 | | Paris | 1.1235 | | Prague | 1.2048 | | Placentia | 0.72 | | Rochelle | 0.8928 | | Rome | 0.7874 | | Rouen | 1.1689 | | Seville | 0.9259 | | Thoulouse | 0.8928 | | Turin | 0.82 | | Venice | 1.06 | | Vienna | 1.23 |
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 pound.
The 100 lb. of England, Scotland, and Ireland are equal to:
- 1 lb. oz. - 91 8 of Amsterdam, Paris, &c. - 96 8 of Antwerp or Brabant. - 88 0 of Rouen, the vilcounty weight. - 106 0 of Lyons, the city weight. - 90 9 of Rechelle. - 107 11 of Thoulouse and Upper Laoguedoc. - 113 0 of Marfeilles or Provence. - 84 7 of Geneva. - 93 5 of Hamburgh. - 89 7 of Francfort, &c. - 96 1 of Leiplic, &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 3 of Ruffa. - 107 12 of Sweden. - 89 7 of Denmark.
A curious weighing machine was some time ago invented by M. Hanin of Paris, whereby the weights of the principal coun- countries in Europe, and the relative proportions they bear to each other, are shown at one view. For this he received a bounty of 20 guineas from the Society instituted at London for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce. We shall insert a description and figure of this ingenious machine.
Figure 1 represents the back of the machine, which being suspended by the ring A, and a weight hung to the hook B, the spring C, C, made fast by strong screws at g, is drawn downwards; and the bar D, having a rack thereon at e, turns the pinion f, in proportion to the weight of the body hanging thereto. Figure 2 shows the face of the machine, on which are a number of concentric circles, and the weights of several countries of Europe engraved thereon, as expressed by the words on a line with them. In the centre of this face is a ring fixed to the small plate, turned by the pinion f, shown at figure 1. From this ring a hand projects, which, by the turning of the pinion, points to such part of the circle as is marked with the weight, hung to the hook B; and thereby shows what weight of any of the countries mentioned, is equal to the pounds troy of London, which are engraved on the outer circle, or to the pounds avoirdupois, which are engraved on the second circle, and so of the rest. A slider moves on the hand, which may be brought to any of the circles at pleasure, in order to point out the relative weight with greater precision.
Many attempts have been made to introduce an uniformity of weights and measures into the commercial world; but hitherto they have all failed. The accomplishment of such an undertaking would be of infinite advantage to mankind, and certainly claims the most serious attention of those who by their situation can alone bring it about. The undertaking is indeed difficult, but surely not impossible. Something of this kind has lately been attempted in France; and if it succeed, as the method is simple, and exceedingly well adapted for calculation, it surely deserves to be imitated. See Revolution of France.
Weight of Air. See Pneumatics, no 14—19.
Regulation of Weights and Measures, is a branch of the king's prerogative. See Prerogative and Measure.
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 (ula 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 ulla, or ancient ell, which answers to the modern yard, should be made of the exact length of his own arm. And one standard of measure 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 ulnae 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 pennyweight, 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 affize, or standard of weights and measures, should be committed to certain persons in every city and borough; from whence the ancient office of the king's assayer 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 eland is kept at Edinburgh, the pint at Stirling, the pound at Lanark, and the furlot 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.