Address Delivered at the Opening of the Session of 1862-63

 

By John Langton

 

[Originally published by the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec in Transactions, New Series, No. 1 (1863)]

 

[Read before the Society, 18th March, 1863.]

 

There is a branch of Political Economy which, although one of the most important in its application to the dealings between man and man in the prosecution of foreign or domestic commerce, seems, nevertheless, to have, in a great measure, baffled all attempts hitherto made to give it that fixity and uniformity in practice which are, theoretically, its essential elements.—I refer, as you have no doubt already anticipated, to the subject of weights and measures, which you have kindly permitted, that I should examine and discuss before the Society this evening. I have not the pretension to believe that, in treating a question upon which philosophers and statesmen have differed, I am going to relieve it of its difficulties, and throw any new light on the subject ; but having, in the course of my reading in connection with a branch of my official duties, collected some facts and opinions in reference to weights and measures, in Great Britain, in France, and in other countries, I thought the Society might not deem it wholly uninteresting to have those facts and opinions brought under its consideration, in the manner in which I am about to submit them, and I beseech the indulgence of the Society, for the imperfect manner in which I may perform the task I hare undertaken.

 

The terms weights and measures, in their familiar import, narrow down our ideas to the daily business transactions of life, in which respect, however, from the multitude and variety of those transactions, the subject assumes a vast practical importance. But its scope is not confined to the operations of the mart; it bears upon far loftier objects, and embraces the arts and sciences. The dimensions of the globe we inhabit, those of the spheres which form part of our solar system, their distances and their density, are all computed by the same general rules by which we measure the distance between Quebec and Toronto, the cubic contents of a cylinder, or weigh an ounce of bread.

 

My present purpose aims at no higher ambition than simply to explain the system of weights and measures,, as it prevails in each of those countries with which we are most intimately connected by commerce ; and therefore, to consider those systems as they are found in France, in England, and in the United States, with the second of which, our metropolitan country, and with the United States, an aggregate trade in imports and exports is carried on by this Province, amounting annually to about $80,000,000.

I will also point out what is our own position with regard to the subject under consideration, and will offer a few general remarks upon existing systems of weights and measures, in relation to their bearing and influence on domestic trade, and on foreign or international commerce.

 

In France, before the Revolution of 1789, which was one of those upheavings of the social fabric, the vibrations of which were felt in almost every civilized nation of the world, the weights and measures were found to be in the greatest confusion. Reform seemed indispensably necessary; but the bit by bit reform which is characteristic of the wisdom of modern legislation, did not suit that period of bold and sweeping innovations, and the whole system of weights and measures, then existing in France, was suppressed, to give place to a new metrology established by the law of the 7th April 1795.

 

This, however, was not done lightly. The subject underwent the gravest examination, and the decision appears to have been based upon very enlarged views and philosophical considerations.

 

With the Bishop of Autun, better known as Prince de Talleyrand, originated the idea of a new system of weights and measures, founded upon the principle of a single and universal standard, and it was he, it appears, who first submitted to the National Assembly in 1790, the project of a decree upon the subject. Foreign nations, and especially the British Government, were invited to co-operate in the measure, and it was suggested that commissioners, chosen from the Royal Society in England, and from the Academy of Sciences in France, should meet to confer together on the subject, and carry out the design of fixing a common international standard for the weights and measures of both countries. To this invitation, however, the Government of England did not respond, and the National Assembly of France was left to prosecute alone a scheme which seems to have originally aimed at the establishment of an international as well as a domestic system.

 

The adoption of a unit, which would at once furnish a standard for measures of length, weight, and capacity, suggested itself as the great desideratum, and the mètre was chosen as that unit, with its decimal parts, the mètre itself being the standard of measure of length, surface, and

solidity; the cubic decimètre or tenth part of the mètre, of distilled water, weighed in vacuo, at the temperature of its greatest density, being the kilogramme or standard of weight, whilst the space occupied by the cubic decimètre of water became the litre or standard of capacity.

 

The momentous question, however, the key-stone of the whole fabric, was to fix the length of the mètre upon some more philosophical basis than that upon which some parts of the old system rested, in which, the standard of length, for instance was, it is stated, taken from the length of Charlemagne's foot, as the Greeks had before them adopted as their standard of that measure the length of the foot of Hercules.

 

Opinions were divided as to the best mode of obtaining the mètre—some advocated as the most accurate test, the length of the pendulum vibrating seconds in a given latitude, or at the equator; others preferred the fractional part of a terrestrial meridian.

 

To examine into this important question, a commission was appointed by the National Assembly, composed of some of the most eminent members of the Academy of Sciences of France. Borda, La Grange—who has been designated as the Newton of France,—La Flace, Monge and Condorcet, composed this commission, which, on the 19th March, 1791, reported in favor of selecting the fractional part of the meridian, i. e. the 10-millionth part of the quarter of the meridian, instead of the length of the pendulum, as the standard unit sought for.

 

The thrilling events which immediately followed 1791, a period historically known as the Reign of Terror, for a time eclipsed this learned Commission, several of the members of which were dismissed by the Committee of Public Safety, as not being thorough Republicans.—lis étaient soupçonnés d’être suspects—but in 1795 all the operations which had been commenced under the direction of the Academy of Sciences, in reference to the standard of weights and measures, were resumed, and the National Convention which had succeeded to the National Assembly, prosecuted the original plan to its final accomplishment. The admeasurement of the arc of the meridian was at once resumed, and eventually completed by Delambre and Méchain. The accuracy of their respective operations will readily be conceived, when it is stated that, after a series of triangulations and levels, over a country upwards of 600 miles in extent between Dunkirk and Barcelona, upon two bases, the one of 6075.90 toises, the other of 6006.25, the latter base, though at a distance of 400 miles from the former, when calculated by inference from the chain of triangles between them, differed from its actual measurement less than one foot.

 

Such were the means by which the length of the mètre, the fundamental unit of the French metrical system, was established ; and if I have dwelt upon this branch of the subject longer than is consistent with the humble practical view which, at the outset, I professed to take of the question, I shall perhaps be forgiven on account of the deep interest we must all feel in the triumphs of science, and in the contemplation of those large and ennobling conceptions which are so well calculated to impress us with the vast resources and elevation of the human mind.

 

The standard mètre thus definitively adopted is equal to 433 296/1000 lines or 36 94/100 inches of the old French measure, and corresponds nearly to 39 37/100 inches English measure. The length of the pendulum vibrating seconds at Pari, that is 86,400 oscillations in 24 hours, is 440 560/1000 lines old French measure, or 99,383/100,000 of the mètre, and therefore 617/100,000 shorter than the mètre as deduced from the meridian. The attempt to regulate the length of the pendulum by a given number of decimal oscillations, that is 100,000 in 24 hours reduced its length in the same latitude to 74,193/100,000 of the mètre.

The mètre is the centre of the French system of weights and measures. From it are formed in decimal ratios two scales, the one ascending, the other descending, and it furnishes the standard not only for linear, superficial, and solid measure, but it also, with its decimal parts, becomes the standard of weight and capacity, as I have had already occasion to mention.

 

This ascending and descending scale has its application to all the forms of measurement, and by means of Latin and Greek prefixes you at once know whether you are dealing with multiples or divisions of the standard, the Latin prefixes being indicative of the descending scale, whilst the Greek are applied to the ascending scale. Thus we have, with reference to measures of length, capacity, and weight, the following nomenclature.

 

The Millimètre or .001 of the Mètre

The Centimètre or .01 of the Mètre

The Decimètre or .1 of the Mètre

The METRE or 1 = 39.37 Eng. Inches

The Decamètre or 10 of the Mètre

The Hectomètre or 100 of the Mètre

The Kilomètre or 1,000 of the Mètre

The Myriamètre or 10,000 of the Mètre

 

CAPACITY.

The Millilitre or .001 of the Litre

The Centilitre or .01 of the Litre

The Décilitre or .1 of the Litre

The LITRE 1 = .26418 gallon of wine, rather more than a quart

The Decalitre or 10 of the Litre

The Hectolitre or 100 of the Litre

The Kilolitre or 1,000 of the Litre

The Myrialitre or 10,000 of the Litre

 

WEIGHT.

The Milligramme or .001 part of the Gramme

The Centigramme or .01 part of the Gramme 

The Decigramme or .1 part of the Gramme

The Gramme or 1 = 15.43 grains

The Decagramme or 10 part of the Gramme

The Hectogramme or 100 part of the Gramme

The Kilogramme or 1,000 part of the Gramme = about 2.5 lbs

The Myriagramme or        10,000 part of the Gramme

 

And then, with respect to solidity and surface, the following, viz :—

 

SOLIDITY.

The Decistère .l of a Cubic Mètre.

35.3166 cub. ft. = The Stère l of a Cubic Mètre.

The Decastère or 10 Cubic Mètres.

 

LAND MEASURE.

The Centiare .01 of the are or square mètre

4 sq. perches nearly = The Are 1, one hundred square mètres.

2.5 acres nearly = The Hectare 100, 10,000 square mètres.

 

It would be impossible to devise a decimal system more perfect and harmonious in its parts, coupled with a nomenclature so expressive of the multiple or division of the unit of weight or measure it represents: as remarked by Mr. Adams in his admirable report to Congress on this subject, in 1821; "no two words express the same thing; and no two things are signified by the same word."

 

Beautiful, however, as this system is admitted to be in theory, it was, from its inception, met with the most overwhelming difficulties in practice. A population of millions, accustomed for ages to a particular mode of domestic trade, could not readily give up the use of the weights and measures with which they were familiar, and they so pertinaciously clung to their old system, that the Government of France was forced to make, at different times, such concessions to popular usages, and so to modify the laws, that the result, for nearly forty years, was to produce enhanced confusion in reference to the weights and measures of the country.

 

It was not until the reign of Louis Philip that this great metrical system may be said to have been, as a whole, imposed upon France. The law of the 4th July 1837, which abrogated the decree of the 12th February 1812, permitting under certain restrictions the use of old weights and measures with their former designations, utterly swept away the old system, so far as a legal enactment could do it, and bodily substituted in its place the decimal metric system, which I have just described. The use, however, of the old weights and measures was tolerated until the 1st January 1840, after which date heavy penalties were attached, not only to the use of such old weights and measures, but even a reference to them in contracts was prohibited, and a notary who should in any deed of conveyance describe lands by the abrogated terms of measurement instead of using the language of the new metrology, was not only fined, but the deed itself was declared to be null and void. Such is the present stringency of the law upon this subject in France.

 

Measures were, however, immediately taken to facilitate as far as possible the dissemination of the system. On the 17th August, 1839, was promulgated the "Ordonnance du Roi sur la vérification des poids et mesures." The surveillance of the vérification is by it assigned to the préfets and sous préfets of Departments into which France is divided, but the vérificateurs or Inspectors are appointed by the Minister of Public Works, Agriculture and Commerce. It is provided that each Department should be put in possession of a complete assortment of standard weights and measures, duly stamped in the Department of the Prototypes, and these standards are to be verified every ten years.

 

Great pains were evidently taken in the framing of this ordinance, the details of which appear amply to provide for the effectual administration of this important branch of domestic national economy. Whether the law of 1837 and the ordinance first referred to, have wholly succeeded in the establishment of the new system throughout Prance, may yet be problematical. It has unquestionably triumphed in all the great centres of commerce of the Empire, but I have heard it stated that some deviations from it still exist in other parts of the country, notwithstanding the stringency of the law, so much is the vis inertice of the human mind opposed to change.

 

It would appear from evidence given before the Committee of a, British House of Commons last year, that the French metrical system prevails or is about being adopted,, in the following countries, viz: France, Holland, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Greece, And part of South America.

 

Having thus given you a brief account of the decimal system of the French metrology from its origin in the days of the Revolution to its final establishment under Louis Philip, as the only legal system recognised or tolerated in France, I shall now cross the British Channel and inquire into the system of weights and measures which prevails among a people so famed in the annals of the world, not only for their indomitable courage in war, and their profound knowledge of the science of government, but for their pre-eminent skill in the industrial arts and the world-wide scope of their commerce, the result at once of the wisdom of their commercial laws and of that enterprise which has in all directions extended the boundaries of the British Empire.

 

The policy of all communities that have grown sufficiently large to have commercial dealings, whether it be in the sale or barter of commodities, or of lands, will naturally be to adopt some uniform weight or measure by which quantities may be ascertained. The wisdom of this policy appears to have been felt at an early period of the history of the British people, and the records of Parliament of the remotest dates bear evidence of the attempts made through legislation to establish uniformity in weights and measures ; but whether the defects were in the legislation itself, or whether there are any inherent obstacles in the nature of things to baffle the attainment of this uniformity, certain it is that later enactments on the same subject do not appear to have been more successful in reaching the goal than the primitive laws, framed ages-ago for the accomplishment of that momentous object.

 

We find in the great Charter of Henry III, which was a confirmation of the famous Magna Oharta of King John; his predecessor, an express enactment having for its object the establishment of uniformity in weights and measures. This was in 1266. Avoirdupois and Troy weights do not at this time appear to have been the standards of weight in England. The first mention of avoirdupois weight in the English statutes is to be found in a statute of Edward III, anno 1335.

 

The weight of the silver penny sterling, was it seems, the basis of the whole fabric of the system of 1266. This penny was the 1/240^th part of the Tower pound, and was equal in weight to 32 kernels of wheat. (51 Henry III.) But the language of the law itself is so singularly precise, and the system of uniformity as to coins, weights and measures, which it prescribes, is so ingenious, that I must quote the words themselves.

 

"By the consent of the whole realm of England, the measure of the King was made; that is to say ; that an English penny called a sterling round, and without " any clipping, shall weigh 32 wheat corns in the midst of the ear, and 20 pence do make an ounce, and twelve ounces one pound, and eight pounds do make a gallon of wine, and eight gallons of wine do make a London bushel which is the eighth part of a quarter."

 

It would, perhaps, be impossible to lay down in fewer words so complete and congruous a system as that here defined, and it shows how much in all ages, and we might say in all countries, the tendency was to borrow standards of weight and value from the cereal products of the earth, and how wheat especially was considered as the basis of values.

 

It would involve a lengthy enquiry, and exceed the legitimate limits of the present paper, if I were to trace the various phases of the English system of weights and measures, as found in the statutes at large. I can only invite those whose curiosity may tempt them fully to investigate the subject, to consult the report of Mr. Adams, which I have already referred to, a report full of profound research and of most philosophical views on this important question.

 

It will suffice for me to state that, despite of the efforts of statesmen and legislators to impart uniformity and permanency to the system of weights and measures within the British realm, that system at this day would appear to be in a state of imperfection and confusion, which modern enactments have in vain endeavoured to remedy.

 

The fundamental law of weight and measures in England at this day is the statute 5 Geo. IV cap. 74, which is in a great measure a declaratory act, but of which the provisions are so important, that at the risk of appearing to you somewhat tedious, I would solicit your permission to dwell upon it with some particularity.

 

5 GEO. IV, CAP. 74

 

1.—From and after the 1st May, 1825, the straight line or distance between the centres of the two points in the gold studs in the straight brass rod now in the custody of the Cleric of the House of Commons, whereon the words and figures "Standard Yard 1760" are engraved, shall be, and the same is hereby declared to be, the original and genuine standard of that measure of length or lineal extension called a yard ; and that the same straight line or distance between the centres of the said two points in the said gold studs in the said brass rod, the brass being at the temperature of 62 ° of Fahrenheit's thermometer, shall be and is hereby denominated the "Imperial Standard yard," and shall be, and is hereby declared to be, the unit or only standard measure of extension wherefrom or whereby all other measures of extension whatsoever, whether the same be lineal, superficial, or solid, shall be derived, computed and ascertained ; and all measures of length shall be taken in parts or multiples, or certain proportion, of the said standard yard, and that one third part of such yard shall be a foot, and the 12th part of such foot shall be an inch, and that the pole or perch shall contain five such yards and a half, the furlong 220 such yards, and the mile 1760.

 

3.—This section provides that the yard, if lost, &c, may be restored by reference to the length of a pendulum vibrating seconds of mean time in the latitude of London, in a vacuum at the level of the sea, in the proportion of 36 inches to 39 inches and 1393/10000 part of an inch.

 

4.—Standard brass weight of one pound Troy weight made in the year 1758, shall be the Imperial standard Troy pound, and is declared to be the unit or only standard measure of weight, from which all other weights shall be derived, computed and ascertained; ½ part an ounce, 1/20 of the ounce 1 pennyweight, and ^1/24 of such pennyweight shall be 1 grain, so that 5760 such grains shall be a Troy pound, and 7000 such grains shall be a pound avoirdupois, 1/16 of the said avoirdupois pound shall be 1 ounce, and 1/16 of the said avoirdupois ounce 1 dram.

 

5.—Standard pound Troy if lost, &c, to be restored by reference to a cubic inch of distilled water weighed in air, by brass weights at the temperature of 62° Fahrenheit's thermometer, the barometer being at 30 inches, the weight of which is equal to 252 grains 458/1000 of a grain, of which the Imperial Troy pound contains 5760.

 

6. The measure of capacity as well for liquids as for dry goods, not measured by heaped measure, shall be the gallon containing 10 pounds avoirdupois weight of distilled water weighed in air, temperature 62° Fahrenheit's thermometer, barometer 30 inches—unit of all standard measures of capacity the Imperial standard gallon, as well for wine, ale, beer, spirits, and all sorts of liquids, as for dry good not measured by heaped measure—and parts and multiples —quart 1/4, pint 1/8—2 such gallons a peck, 8 such gallons a bushel, and 8 such bushels a quarter of corn or other dry goods, not sold by heaped measure.

 

11.—Copies and models of the said standards to be deposited in the office of the Chamberlain of the Exchequer at "Westminster, and to be sent to the Lord Mayor of London, &c.

 

12.—Magistrates in Counties, Cities and Towns, etc., in England, Scotland and Ireland, to purchase models, etc., for their respective Counties, etc.

 

14.—Bulk of 10 lbs. avoirdupois weight of water equal to 277 cubic inches, and 274/1000 ths of an inch, constituting the capacity of a gallon, and so forth for parts and multiples.

 

23.—56 Acts or parts of Acts relating to divers weights and measures in Great Britain repealed.

 

This act was followed by the 4th and 5 th William IV. Cap. 49,[1] which appears chiefly to have been intended to provide for the means of distributing standard weights and measures; but its provisions seem to have been insufficient or imperfect, since it was repealed the following year by the 5th and 6th William IV. Cap. 63, (1835.) This last act renders unnecessary identity of shape or form in standards, and provides for their adjustment. One of its most important features is that it abolishes, the Winchester bushel,[2] the Scotch ell, AND ALL LOCAL AND CUSTOMARY measures. Imperial measures as established by the 5th George IV, are the only legal measures recognized or “parts and multiples thereof." The binary division is affirmed, and the 1/2 1/4 1/8 1/16 and 1/32 are specifically designated as the only legal aliquot parts. But there is a somewhat singular proviso attached to the 6th clause, it 19

this:—" Provided always that nothing herein contained "shall prevent the sale of any articles in any vessel where such vessel is not represented as containing any amount of Imperial measure, or of any fixed local or customary measure heretofore in use.

 

Whether this proviso was artfully introduced with a view of rendering the act in some degree nugatory, or whether the bearing of the proviso was not weighed or understood, certain it is that it opens a wide door for the evasion of the otherwise stringent provisions of the law, and it appears in fact to have had that effect.

 

The evidence given before the Committee of the House of Commons, the report of which Committee was presented to the House so recently as the 15th July last, (1862,) would tend to the inference that notwithstanding the strenuous efforts of all legislation to reduce weights and measures to positive and practical uniformity, extreme irregularity and disorder still prevail upon this subject in Great Britain. It is stated, for instance, by one of the witnesses examined before the Committee, that wheat is sold by the bushel of…168 lbs.73 lbs. 80 lbs. 70 lbs. 63 lbs.

 

It is sold also by the bushel of 8 gallons at Saltash, and of 20 stones at Dundalk.   

 

The load consists in some places of 5 quarters, in others of 5 bushels, in others of 3 bushels.

 

At Roystone, or Stowemarket, it is composed of 488 quarts, and at Ulverstone of 144 quarts. And so it is with weights and land measures.

17

The cwt. may contain 100 lbs. 11.2 lbs. 130 lbs.

 

As to superficial measure, it is stated that at Falmouth an acre of land consists of 4,840 square yards.[3] At Preston of... 10,240 square yards. And ……9,000 square yards.

 

The instances here mentioned are simply given as illustrations of the diversity of weights and measures stated to exist in England ; but if the extent of that diversity be estimated by the fact stated by Dr. Kelly, before a Committee of the House of Lords in 1823, that 200 laws had been enacted to secure uniformity in weights and measures without success, and that 500 various measures have been adopted in defiance of those laws,[4] one would almost be led to the inference that the subject matter is one which naturally eludes legislative subjection. With these alleged facts before us how idle, however wise, seems to have been the injunction of Magna Charta, nearly six centuries ago, that there should be but one weight and one measure throughout the realm.

 

There is reason, however, to believe that this statement of the extraordinary variety of weights and measures in use in Great Britain, is in some degree, if not greatly, exaggerated. It is not at all improbable that many of the alleged differences in weights and measures are more apparent than real, and result more from the modes of expressing, and perhaps of combining them, than from any difference in the weights and measures themselves. Their basis or fundamental value as a weight or a measure might still be referable to some recognized legal standard, and the difference of expression would probably, as remarked by Mr. Franklin before the Committee, be analogous to a difference of dialect between two counties.

 

I have now given you a brief, and I am afraid but a very imperfect, outline of the history of weights and measures in England, and have specially drawn your attention to the Imperial acts which define what are at the present .day the standards of weights and measures in the United Kingdom. We have seen that the standard yard of 1760, "the Imperial standard Yard" is declared to be the unit or only standard measure of extension, and here it may be observed that, although the act declared that "one third part" of the said standard yard shall be a foot, and the "twelfth part of such foot shall be an inch," the yard itself is the only standard, the foot and the inches being but a designation of the parts into which the yard may be legally divided. Then as to weight, The Imperial standard Troy pound is declared to be the unit of weight, 1/12 part of which is an ounce, 1/20 of the ounce one pennyweight, and 1/24 of such pennyweight one grain—5760 such grains being a pound Troy, and 7000 a pound avoirdupois.

 

The standard unit of all measures of capacity is the Imperial standard gallon containing 10 pounds avoirdupois weight of distilled water, weighed in air at the temperature of 62° Fahrenheit's thermometer. This is equal to 277 1/4 cubic inches, or about 1/5 more than the old wine gallon.

 

To those who, like ourselves, are familiar with the English system of weights and measures, the act cited of 5 Geo. IV, will appear simply declaratory of pre-existing standards, but it has theoretically, nay legally, done away with distinctions which had for ages, I may say, existed between the Winchester bushel and the Imperial bushel, the wine gallon and the ale gallon, the scotch ell and English yard, and abolished all local weights and measures.

 

It may be questioned, however, how far the uniformity aimed at by this law is perfectly consistent in all its relations with the nature of things. The Imperial gallon, for instance, is made a common standard measure for liquid and dry substances—for wine or for wheat. But in these are found an inherent difference of specific gravity, and the metallic weight which would be equiponderant to a gallon of wine, would not be equiponderant to a gallon of corn. Thusin the difference between the specific gravities of the wheat and -the wine, nature seems to have indicated two standard measures of capacity.

 

It is not, however, my province to dismiss just now the merits of particular systems. My purpose is chiefly to state what those systems actually are, and consistently with that view of the task J, have assumed, I now pass from the consideration of weights and measures in Great Britain, of which I have given but a very general idea, to the few remarks I have to make upon the same subject in reference to the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

 

When British settlers colonized Virginia in the reign of Elizabeth, and the Pilgrims emigrated to New England in 1620, they carried with them the laws and institutions of England, so far as those laws and institutions were applicable to their new condition, and among these the weights and measures of the' parent state were naturally imported by them.

 

The Weights and measures thus introduced were afterwards universally adopted in the then North American Colonies, and although partial modifications appear to

have been from time to time made by the local legislatures, or to have been introduced by usage, yet the standards of British AV eights and measures were, in general, the only legal standards recognized in the Colonies, most of which had procured duly stamped and authenticated copies of those British standards from the English Exchequer or from Guildhall, in the City of London.

 

Deriving their system from such a source, it is scarcely to be expected that any wide differences should exist between the British and the American systems of weights and measures—indeed both countries have a common standard of extension, the yard, and a common standard of weight, the pound Troy of 5760 grains, and the pound avoirdupois of 7000 such grains, the parts and multiples of such standards being the same in the two countries.

 

They had also a common standard of capacity until 1826, when an act of the British Parliament, excluding all other measures of this order, adopted as the standard unit of capacity the "Imperial standard gallon," equal to 277 274/1000 cubic inches, both for liquid and dry substances, thus doing away with the wine gallon of 231 cubic inches, the ale gallon of 282 cubic inches, and the corn gallon of 272 cubic inches.

 

The old English wine gallon is the only recognized standard of liquid measure in the United States. It contains 8,339 pounds avoirdupois of distilled water, at the temperature of about

39°. Fahrenheit, its capacity being as before stated, 231 cubic inches, which is almost exactly equal to a cylinder of 7 inches in diameter and 6 inches deep.

 

The dry measure is the Winchester bushel. It contains 2,150.42 cubic inches, and holds 77.6274 pounds avoirdupois of distilled water at the temperature of its greatest density, and with the barometer at 30 inches. Its capacity is represented by a cylinder 18.5 inches in diameter and 8 inches deep.