But in later Times it was thought sufficient to divide the aforesaid Penny Weight into 24 equal Parts, called Grains, being the least Weight now in common Use; and from thence the rest are computed as in this Table. Besides the common Divisions of Troy Weight, I find in Anglice Notitia, or, The Present State of England, Printed in the Year 1699 that the Moneyers (as that Author calls them) do fubdivide the Grain. Thus { 24 Blanks = 1 Periot. 20 Periots = I Droite. 24 Droites = I Mite. 20 Mites = 1 Grain, &c. as before. 3. Apothecaries Weights. The Apothecaries divide a Pound Troy, as in this Table. Gr. Grain. 20- 1 Scruple 60= 3= 13 Dram 480= 24=8= 13 Ounce : 5760-288-96-12=1 to Troy, the fame as before. By these Weights the Apothecaries compound their Medicines : but buy and fell their Drugs by Averdupois Weight. 4. Averdupois Weight. When Averdupois Weight became first in Ufe, or by what Law it was at first settled, I cannot find out in the Statute Books; but on the contrary, I find that there should be but one Weight (and one Measure) used 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 settled by Custom, viz. from giving good or large Weight to those Commodities usually weighed by it, which are such as are either very Coarse and Droffy, or very subject to waste; as all kind of Grocery Wares. And Pitch, Tar, Rosin, Wax, Tallow, Flax, Hemp, &c. Copper, Tin, Steel, Iron, Lead, &c. Also Flesh, Butter, Cheese, Salt, &c. To these and the like (I presume) 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, II Penny Weight, and 15 Grains Troy. And it is now computed as in the following Table. As the leaft part of Weight came at first from Wheat Corn, so (it is generally said) 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 rest, as in this Table. 3-1 23760 198= 16= 5=1 P.Poles. 7920= 660= 220= 40=1 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 4840 Square Yards are a Statute Acre. And according to the Transactions of the French Academy, Anno 1687, a Paris Foot Royal is 12,8 Inches English; Six of those Feet make a Toife; and 57060 Toises 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 Degree. F Degree. And not 60 Miles, according to the common received Opinion and Practice of the Navigators of 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 Measures. 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, should 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 Custom hath altered Measures, as they have done Weights (and perhaps for one and the same Reason) for now we have three different Measures, viz. one for Wine, one for Ale or Beer, and one for Corn. I have inserted Tables of each, as they are now computed by Cubick Inches, and practised in the Art of Gauging, &c. The common Wine Gallon sealed at Guild-Hall in London; by which all Wines, Brandies, Spirits, Strong-waters, Mead, Perry, Cyder, Vinegar, Oil, and Honey, &c. are measured and fold; is supposed to contain 231 Cubick Inches, and from thence the rest are computed, as in this Table. Gall. 18=1 Rundlet, and Vinegar Barrel. But Dr Wybard in his Tectometry, Page 289, doth suppose the Wine Gallon to contain but 224, or 225 Cubick Inches at the most, and pursuant to this Account an Experiment was made by Mr Richard Walker and Mr Philip Shales, two General Officers in the Excife. They caused a Vessel to be very exactly made of Brass, in Form of a Parallellopipedon, each Side of it's Base was 4 Inches, and it's Depth 14 Inches; so that it's just Content was 224 Cubick Inches. This Vesiel was produced at GuildHall in London (May 25, 1688.) before the Lord-Mayor, the Commissioners of Excise, the Reverend Mr Flamstead, Aftr. Reg. Mr Halley, and several other ingenious Gentlemen, in whose Presence Mr Shales did exactly fill the aforesaid Brazen Vessel with clear Water, and very carefully emptied it into the old Standard Wine Gallon kept in Guild-Hall, which did so exactly fill it, that all then present were fully fatisfied the Wine Gallon doth contain but 224 Cubick Inches. (This notable Experiment I faw tried.) However, for several Reasons, it was at that time thought convenient to continue the former supposed Content of 231 Cubick Inches to be the Wine Gallon, and that all Computations in Gauging should 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 presume) made at first to correspond 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, so is one Pound Averdupois to the Cubick Inches in an Ale Gallon. That is, 12:231 :: 1416:281, very near the Cubick Inches contained an in Ale Gallon, as appears from an Experiment made by one Nicolas Gunton, General Gauger in the Excise, about 41 Years ago, who, by such a Vessel mentioned before in the last Page, did find the Standard Ale-Quart (kept in the Exchequer, Vid. 12 Car. II.) to contain just 70 Cubick Inches, confequently the Ale-Gallon must contain 282 Cubick Inches, and from thence the following Tables are computed. N.B. This Distinction or Difference betwixt Ale and Beer Measure, is now only used in London. But in all other Places of England the following Table of Beer or Ale, whether it be strong or small, is to be observed, according to a Statute of Excise made in the Year 1689. Cub. Inches 2821 Gallon. 2397-81 Firkin. 4794=17=2-1 Kilderkin. 14382=51=6=3=1=1 Hogsbead. 7. Of Dry Measure. Dry Measure 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 aforesaid old Standard Wine Gallon, as Averdupois Weight is to Troy Weight; That is, As one Pound Troy is to one Pound Averdupois, so is the Cubick Inches contained in the old Wine Gallon: To the Cubick Inches contained in the Dry or Corn Gallon. Viz. 12: 1420 :: 224: 272, which is very near to 272, the common received Content of a Corn Gallon: Altho' now it is otherwise settled by an Act of Parliament made in April 1697, the Words of that Act are these : Every round Bushel with a plain and even Bottom, being made eighteen Inches and a half wide throughout, and eight Inches deep, should be esteemed a Legal Winchester Bushel, according to the Standardin his Majesty's Exchequer. Now a Vessel being thus made will contain 2150,42 Cubick Inches, consequently the Corn Gallon doth contain but 268 Cubick Incbes. I observed amongst the Lead-Mines in Derbyshire, (Anno 1692) that the Miners bought and fold their Lead Ore, by a Measure which they called an Ore Dish; whose Dimensions I carefully took, and found it Thus Length 21.3. 8.4. Confe |