The United States beer barrel, under the Internal Revenue law,

as compared with other measures, is as follows:

For hot water as for cold, barrel of 31 gal. = 7161 cu. in. 4.14 cu. ft.; 1 cu. ft. 0.24 bbl. The contraction of volume of water or wort in cooling from boiling to greatest density is 4.5 per cent. To find the volume that boiling hot water or wort will occupy when so cooled, multiply the volume of the hot fluid by 951⁄2 and divide by 100, or multiply by 0.955.

United States standard barrel contains 311⁄2 gal. (in practice often figured roughly at 4.4 cu. ft.).

4.21 cu. ft.

To reduce cubic feet to United States standard barrels, divide by 4.21 (roughly 4.25); cu. ft. 4.21 = standard bbl.

To reduce United States standard barrels to cubic feet; multiply by 4.21 (roughly 4.25); standard bbl. X 4.21 cu. ft.

To reduce United States liquid measures to British, of the same denomination, divide by 1.2; or to reduce British to United States, multiply by 1.2. The British Imperial gallon contains 277.274 cubic inches, or is equal to 1.2 United States gallon.

MISCELLANEOUS FLUID MEASURES,

A hogshead is 1⁄2, à quarter 1⁄4, an octave % of a pipe, butt or puncheon.

DRY MEASURE.

United States bushel (bu.) = 2150.42 cu. in 1.2445 cu. ft. = 77.6274 pounds avoirdupois of pure water at 39.2° F.; 1 cu. ft. = 0.80356 struck bushel.

To reduce cubic feet to bushels, divide by 1.24; cu. ft. ÷ 1.24= bu. For practical purposes subtract from cubic feet one-fifth of their number to obtain bushels; cu. ft. — % cu. ft. = bu.

To reduce bushels to cubic feet, multiply by 1.24; bu. X 1.24 cu. ft. For practical purposes add to the number of bushels one-fourth of their number to obtain cubic feet; bu. + 1⁄4 bu. = cu. ft.

The half-peck or dry gallon

2 pints (pt.) = 1 quart, qt. 8 quarts I peck, pk.

4 pecks = 1 bushel, bu.

contains 268.8 cubic inches.

bu. pk. qt. pt.
I = 4 = 32 = 64
I = 8=16=

I = 2=

cu. in. 2150.42 537.6 67.2

A heaped bushel contains 2747.715 cubic inches. The dry flour barrel 3.75 cu. ft. 3 struck bushels. The dry barrel is not a fixed measure, however, and barrels vary considerably in size.

The imperial bushel of Great Britain contains 2216.192 cu. in., or 1.2837 cu. ft.

To reduce United States dry measures to British, of the same denomination, divide by 1.032; to reduce British into United States, multiply by 1.032.

COMPARATIVE TABLE OF MEASURES OF CAPACITY.

U. S. shipping ton 32.143 U. S. bu. 31.16 Imper. bu. = 40 cu. ft.

In measuring wood, a pile of wood cut 4 ft. long, piled 4 ft. high and 8 feet on the ground, is called a cord.

16 cubic feet I cord foot, cd. ft.

8 cord feet, or 128 cubic feet = I cord, cd.

In board measure, boards are assumed to be one inch in thickness. To obtain the number of feet board measure (B. M.) of a board, or piece of square timber, multiply length in feet, breadth in feet and thickness in inches.

I board ft. = 1 ft. long, 1 ft. wide, 1 inch thick. 12 board ft. I cu. ft.

Board feet

12 cu. ft.

Cu. ft. X 12 = board ft.

To find surface in square feet, all dimensions being in feet, multiply length by breadth. When either dimension is in inches, multiply as above, and divide the product by 12. When all dimenions are in inches, multiply as above and divide by 144.

To find volume of square cut timber, all dimensions being in feet, multiply length, breadth and depth, the result will be the volume in cubic feet. When one dimension is in inches, multiply as above, and divide by 12. When two dimensions are in inches, multiply as above and divide by 144. When all three dimensions are in inches, multiply as above and divide by 1728.

To find the volume of round timber.-When dimensions are in feet, multiply the mean girth by the diameter, divide by 4, and multiply by the length. The result gives the cubic feet. When the length is in feet, girth and diameter in inches, proceed as above, and divide the product by 144. When all dimensions are in inches, proceed as in the first case, and divide the product by 1728.

Masonry and stone are measured by the cubic foot and by the perch, or, superficially, by the square foot or square yard. A perch is 161⁄2 ft. long, 11⁄2 ft. wide, I ft. high, and contains 24.75 cu. ft. In measuring a stone wall a perch is often figured at 22 cu. ft. of stone, 2.75 being allowed for mortar, and in some of the New England states a perch is called 161⁄2 cu. ft. Excava

tions are measured by the cubic yard; 1 cu. yd. is called a load. Brickwork is figured by the thousand of bricks, or in cubic feet.

MEASURES OF WEIGHT.

AVOIRDUPOIS OR COMMERCIAL WEIGHT.

This is the measure used in all ordinary business transactions, and is understood to be taken for the standard, unless otherwise specified.

16 drams 1 ounce (oz.) = 437.5 grains, gr.
16 ounces

I pound (lb.) = 7000 grains.

28 pounds = 1 quarter, qr.

4 quarters

I hundredweight, cwt. 112 lbs.

20 hundredweights = 1 ton of 2240 lbs., or long ton. 2000 pounds = 1 net, or short ton.

2204.6 pounds = 1 metric ton.

I stone = 14 pounds; I quintal = 100 pounds.

The long, or gross ton, hundredweight and quarter were formerly in common use, but now are used almost exclusively by the United States custom houses, and in freighting coal and selling it by wholesale.

TROY WEIGHT.

lb.

Oz.

I = 12

24 grains (gr.) = I pennyweight, pwt., or dwt.

20 pennyweights I ounce, oz. 12 ounces I pound, lb.

Troy weight is used for gold and silver.

I = 20 =

A "carat" is used by jewelers in weighing precious stones. In

the United States it is =

3.2 grains = 0.205 gram. In London it is 3.17 grains, in Paris 3.18 grains, which is subdivided into 4 "jewelers' grains."

The term "carat" is also used to designate the fineness of gold, pure gold being 24 carat, and alloyed gold, according to the ratio of gold and alloy, 22, 20, 16, etc., carat.

The pound, ounce and grain of apothecaries' weight are the same as those of Troy weight, the ounce being differently divided.

MISCELLANEOUS WEIGHTS.

The following weights are in general use, either by virtue of

COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT WEIGHTS.

In computing weights given in different measures (Avoirdupois, Troy and Apothecaries') in any of the other measures, reduce all to grains, the grain being the same in the three standards.

Weight of horses ranges from 800 to 1,200 lbs.

THE METRIC SYSTEM.

The metric system employs the decimal notation, being based upon decimal calculation entirely. The primary unit is the. meter for the measure of length. Derivative units are: "Are" for surface, "liter" for capacity, "gram" for weight. Denominations of decimal fractional parts, or decimal multiples of the units are formed by prefixing Greek numerals for the higher denominations, as dekameter 10 meters, hektometer 100 meters, kilometer 1,000 meters, myriameter 10,000 meters; or Latin numerals for the lower denominations, as decimeter 0.1 meter, centimeter = 0.01 meter, millimeter = 0.001 meter.

=