In the gold coinage, 22 parts (commonly called carats) = 11 oz. of fine gold, and 2 parts (carats) 1 oz. of copper are melted together, and 40 troy pounds of this mixture are coined into 1869 sovereigns. The weight of a sovereign is 123 grains.

In the silver coinage, 11 oz. 2 dwt. of fine silver are melted with an alloy of 18 dwt. of copper, and 66 shillings are coined from a troy pound of this mixture. The weight of a shilling is 87 grains.

In the copper coinage, 24 pence are made from an avoirdupois pound of copper.

All accounts are kept and reckoned by pounds, shillings, pence, and farthings. L. or £ is the initial letter of the Latin word libra, a pound, and is used to denote pounds; 8., from the Latin word solidus, stands for shillings; and d., from denarius, for pence: £ 8. d. are therefore respectively placed over columns of pounds, shillings, and pence. The mark for a half-penny is ; for a farthing, or fourth of a penny, and for three farthings,.

The old Scottish pound was equal to 18. 8d. sterling: hence £100 Scots was £8, 68. 8d. of our present money.

NOTE-For an account of a new system of reckoning money deci mally, that has been proposed as a substitute for the present mode of reckoning, see Appendix.

The ounce and pound are the same as in the troy w weight is used only in preparing medicines.

1 = 20 = 80 = 2240 = 35840 All ordinary articles are weighed by this weight, the imperial standard, and is in universal use in this A standard imperial pound avoirdupois is 27-727 cubic inches of distilled water (or the tenta temperature of 62° Fahrenheit, and when the inches.

For smaller lengths than an inch, eighths and sixteenths of an inch, also tenths, are used.

This is the ordinary measure for dimensions of all kinds. Distances are measured by miles: depth, by fathoms: the height of horses, by hands. The chain used for measuring land = 66 feet, and consists of 100 links, each of them 7.92 inches.

The yard is the imperial standard measure of length. A pendulum vibrating seconds of mean time in the latitude of London, in a vacuum, at the sea-level, and at 62° Fahrenheit, is equal to 39-1393 inches; and a yard is to the length of the seconds pendulum, in the proportion of 36 to 39-1393 inches.

The yard in this measure is of the same length as that in Lineal Measure.

36 square yards are 1 rood of building: 100 square feet, 1 square of flooring: 2724 square feet, 1 rood of bricklayer's work. The chain with which land is measured is 22 yards long, and 1 square chain = 10,000 square links, contains 22 × 22=484 square yards: 10 square chains = 1 acre.

Superficial measure refers to breadth as well as length. For instance, a superficial foot, usually called a square foot, is either a square of a foot in length and a foot in breadth-in other words, a foot each way -or it is any dimension in which the length multiplied by the breadth will form a foot, or 12 inches, each way: thus, 12 times 12 inches =

144 inches, is a square foot; or 6 times 24 inches: 144, is also a square foot. Sometimes the term square feet is confounded with that of feet square, which is quite a different thing. A piece of cloth said to measure six square feet, consists of six squares of a foot each; but a piece said to measure six feet square would be six feet along each side, and comprise thirty-six squares of a foot each.

It will now be understood, that the square of any number is that number multiplied by itself; thus-the square of 3 is 3 times 3, or nine; the square of 4 is 16; and so on. On this principle is formed the table of square measure, for the measurement of breadth and length; it is commonly used for measuring land, walls, &c.

The lower denominations, inches, feet, and yards, are used in the measurement of surfaces of small extent; poles, roods, and acres, in the measurement of land. In measuring land, the chain is generally employed; hence the square chain and square link may be very properly introduced as subdivisions of an acre. By an easy calculation, it will appear that 100,000 square links are equal to an acre.

40 Cubic feet of rough timber, or 50 of hewn timber, is a load.

Solid measure is computed by multiplying the length by the breadth, and the product by the thickness. This measure is used in calculating the solid contents of masses of earth, &c.; in measuring the holds of vessels, to ascertain the tonnage; and in all cases where length, breadth, and thickness are reckoned; hence, a solid inch, solid foot, and solid yard, are sometimes used for cubic inch, cubic foot, and cubic yard respectively.

A hogshead (hhd.) contains 63 gallons. A pipe is 2 hogsheads, and 2 pipes form a tun. But in trade, these measurements are not rigidly adhered to, as casks differ in capacity. 1 gill = 5 oz. avoirdupois of water, or about 8 cubic inches. All liquids are measured by this table.

The imperial gallon is the standard measure of capacity, both for liquids and dry goods; it contains 277-274 cubic inches, being equal to a volume of distilled water weighing 10 lb. avoirdupois, at 62° Fahrenheit, and the barometer being at 30 inches of mercury.

APOTHECARIES use the following liquid measure

Marked.

=

1 ounce.

=

1 pint.

EMMO

The pint is the same as the ordinary pint measure.

5 Bushels are a Sack: 5 Quarters, a Load. The gallon is the same as in Liquid Measure. By this table, grain, seeds, flour, &c., are measured.

The imperial bushel contains 2218·192 cubic inches, and weighs 80 lb. avoirdupois of distilled water.

The year is also divided into 12 Calendar Months; namely

The number of days in each month may be easily remembered from the following well-known lines

Thirty days have September,
April, June, and November;
All the rest have thirty-one,
Excepting February alone,

Which hath but twenty-eight days clear,
And twenty-nine in each leap-year.

As the true solar year is nearly 6 hours more than 365 days, every fourth year, termed leap-year, is reckoned as consisting of 366 days, in order to make allowance for the excess; the additional day being given to February.

To ascertain if a given year is leap-year, divide it by 4, and if there is no remainder, it is leap-year ;* if there be a remainder, the number over indicates how many years it is after leap-year. Thus, 1852 is leap-year, because divisible by 4 without a remainder; and 1854 is two years after leap-year, because there is a remainder of 2, after dividing it.

* The years 1700, 1800, and 1900 are exceptions, but 2000 will be a leap-year.