But in later Times it was thought fufficient to divide the aforefaid Penny Weight into 24 equal Parts, called Grains, being the leaft Weight now in common Ufe; and from thence the reft are computed as in this Table. Gr. Grain. 480 24= 1 P. W. Penny Weight. 2010x.Ounce. 17560 240=12=1 lb Pound. Note, By Troy Weight are weighed Jewels, Gold, Silver, Corn, Bread, and all Liquors. Befides the common Divifions of Troy Weight, I find in Angliæ Notitia, or, The Prefent State of England, Printed in the Year 1699 that the Moneyers (as that Author calls them) do fubdivide the Grain. 24 Droites 1 Mite. 20 Mites 1 Grain, &c. as before. 3. Apothecartes Weights. The Apothecaries divide a Pound Troy, as in this Table. Gr. Grain. 20 13 Scruple 60 3 13 Dram 480 24= 8= 13 Ounce 5760=288-96=12=1 tb Troy, the fame as before. By thefe Weights the Apothecaries compound their Medicines : but buy and fell their Drugs by Averdupois Weight. 4. Averdupois Weight. When Averdupois Weight became firft in Ufe, or by what Law it was at firft fettled, I cannot find out in the Statute Books; but on the contrary, I find that there fhould be but one Weight (and one Measure) ufed throughout this Realm, viz. that of Troy, (Vide 14 Ed. III. and 17 Ed. III.) So that it seems (to me) to be first introduced by Chance, and fettled by Cuftom, viz. from giving good or large Weight to those Commodities ufually weighed by it, which are fuch as are either very Goarfe and Droffy, or very fubject to wafte; as all kind of Grocery Wares. And Pitch, Tar, Rofin, Wax, Tallow, Flax, Hemp, &c. Copper, Tin, Steel, Iron, Lead, &c. Allo Flefb, Butter, Cheefe, Salt, &c. To thefe and the like (I prefume) it was thought convenient to allow a greater Weight than the Laws had provided, which happened to be about a Sixth part more: For I found by a very nice Experiment, that one Pound Averdupois is equal to 14 Ounces, 11 Penny Weight, and 15 Grains Troy. And it is now computed as in the following Table. As the leaft part of Weight came at firft from Wheat Corn, fo (it is generally faid) the leaft Part of a Long Measure was at first a Barley Corn, taken out of the middle of the Ear, and being well dried, three of them in length were to make one Inch; and thence the reft, as in this Table. Barley Corns. 3=1 36: 108= 594 23760 36= 3=1 198 161⁄2= 5P.Poles. 7920= 660 220 401 Furlong. 190080-63360=5280-1760-320=8=1 Mile. Note, That forty Poles (or Perches) in Length, and four in Breadth, do make a Statute Acre of Land. That is, 220 Yards, multiplied into 22 Yards=4846 Square Yards are a Statute Acre. And according to the Tranfactions of the French Academy, Anno 1687, a Paris Foot Royal is 12,8 Inches English; Six of thofe Feet make a Toife; and 57060 Toifes=365184 English Feet, are the Measure of one Degree of a great Circle upon the Surface of the Earth. So that one Degree is 69 Miles and 288 Yards, which is very near to our Country-man Mr Norwood's Experiment made betwixt London and York, Anno 1635; who found that 367196 Feet 69 Miles, and 958 Yards do make a F Degree, Degree. And not 60 Miles, according to the common received Opinion and Practice of the Navigators or Seamen. Hence, according to the French Account, the Circumference of the Earth (fuppofing it to be a true Spherical Figure) is 24899 English Miles. 6. Of Liquid Meafures. All Measures of Capacity, both Liquid and Dry, were at first made from Troy Weight, Vide Statutes 9 H. III. 51 H. III. 12 H. VII. &c. wherein it is enacted, that eight Pound Troy Weight, of Wheat, gathered out of the middle of the Ear, and well dried, fhould make one Gallon of Wine Measure: And that there should be but one Measure for Wine, Ale and Corn, throughout this Realm, (Vid. Stat. 14 Ed. III. 15 Rich. II.) But Time and Cuftom hath altered Measures, as they have done Weights (and perhaps for one and the fame Reason) for now we have three different Measures, viz. one for Wine, one for Ale or Beer, and one for Corn. I have inferted Tables of each, as they are now computed by Cubick Inches, and practised in the Art of Gauging, &c. The common Wine Gallon fealed at Guild-Hall in London; by which all Wines, Brandies, Spirits, Strong waters, Mead, Perry, Cyder, Vinegar, Oil, and Honey, &c. are meafured and fold; is fuppofed to contain 231 Cubick Inches, and from thence the reft are computed, as in this Table. Gall. 181 Rundlet, and S314 makes a Wine or Vinegar Barrel. But Dr Vybard in his Tectometry, Page 289, doth suppose the Wine Gallon to contain but 224, or 225 Cubick Inches at the moft, and pursuant to this Account an Experiment was made by Mr Richard Walker and Mr Philip Shales, two General Officers in the Excife. They caufed a Veffel to be very exactly made of Brafs, in Form of a Parallellopipedon, each Side of it's Bafe was 4 Inches, and it's Depth 14 Inches; fo that it's just Content was 224 Cubick Inches. This Vefiel was produced at GuildHall in London (May 25, 1688.) before the Lord-Mayor, the Commiffioners of Excife, the Reverend Mr Flamstead, Aftr. Reg. Mr Halley, and feveral other ingenious Gentlemen, in whose Prefence Mr Shales did exactly fill the aforefaid Brazen Veffel with clear Water, and very carefully emptied it into the old Standard Wine Gallon kept in Guild-Hall, which did fo exactly fill it, that all then prefent were fully fatisfied the Wine Gallon doth contain but 224 Cubick Inches. (This notable Experiment I faw tried.) However, for several Reafons, it was at that time. thought convenient to continue the former fuppofed Content of 231 Cubick Inches to be the Wine Gallon, and that all Computations in Gauging fhould be made from thence, as above. The Beer or Ale Gallon (which are both one) is much larger than the Wine Gallon; it being (as I prefume) made at first to correfpond with Averdupois Weight, as the Wine Gallon did with Troy Weight: For (as I faid before, Page 33.) one Pound Averdupois is equal to 14 Ounces, 12 Penny Weight Troy, very near. And, as one Pound Troy is in proportion to the Cubick Inches in a Wine Gallon, fo is one Pound Averdupois to the Cubick Inches in an Ale Gallon. That is, 12: 231:: 14 281, very near the Cubick Inches contained an in Ale Gallon, as appears from an Experiment made by one Nicolas Gunton, General Gauger in the Excife, about 41 Years ago, who, by such a Veffel mentioned before in the laft Page, did find the Standard Ale-Quart (kept in the Exchequer, Vid. 12 Car. II.) to contain just 70ż Cubick Inches, confequently the Ale-Gallon muft contain 282 Cubick Inches, and from thence the following Tables are computed. N.B. This Diftinction or Difference betwixt Ale and BeerMeafure, is now only ufed in London. But in all other Places of England the following Table of Beer or Ale, whether it be ftrong or fmall, is to be obferved, according to a Statute of Excife made in the Year 1689. Cub. Inches 2821 Gallon. 239781 Firkin. 4794-17=2=1 Kilderkin. 958834421 Barrel. 14382-51=6=311 Hogfbead. 7. Of Dry Measure. Dry Meafure is different both from Wine and Ale Measure, being as it were a Mean betwixt both, tho' not exactly fo; which upon Examination I find to be in proportion to the aforefaid old Standard Wine Gallon, as Averdupois Weight is to Troy Weight; That is, As one Pound Troy is to one Pound Averdupois, fo is the Cubick Inches contained in the old Wine Gallon: To the Cubick Inches contained in the Dry or Corn Gallon. Viz. 12:14:: 224: 2724, which is very near to 2724, the common received Content of a Corn Gallon: Altho' now it is otherwife fettled by an Act of Parliament made in April 1697, the Words of that Act are these : Every round Bufhel with a plain and even Bottom, being made eighteen Inches and a half wide throughout, and eight Inches deep, fhould be efteemed a Legal Winchefter Bufhel, according to the Standard in his Majefty's Exchequer. Now a Veffel being thus made will contain 2150,42 Cubick Inches, confequently the Corn Gallon doth contain but 268 Cubick Incbes. I obferved amongst the Lead-Mines in Derbyshire, (Anno 1692) that the Miners bought and fold their Lead Ore, by a Measure which they called an Qre Dish; whofe Dimensions, I carefully took, and found it Length 21.3. Confe |