WEIGHTS, FOREIGN.

_Binary Weights._ (Système usuel.) _French._

+-------+--------+-----+-----+------+-------+ | | | | | | | |French | | | | | Kilo- | |Grain. |Scruple.|Gros.|Once.|Livre.|gramme.| +-------+--------+-----+-----+------+-------+ | | | | | | | | 1·| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | | 24·| 1· | ... | ... | ... | ... | | 72·| 3· | 1·| ... | ... | ... | | 576·| 24· | 8·| 1· | ... | ... | | 9216·| 384· | 128·| 16· | 1· | ... | | 18432·| 768· | 256·| 32· | 2· | 1· | +-------+--------+-----+-----+------+-------+

+-------+---------+------------+-------------------+ | |Equiv. in|Round number| Equiv. in | |French | grammes |of the Codex| Avoirdupois | |Grain. |metrique.| in grammes.| weight. | +-------+---------+------------+-------------------+ | | | |_lb._ _oz._ _gr._ | | 1·| ·0542| ·05 | ... ... 0·837| | 24·| 1·30 | 1·30 | ... ... 20·1 | | 72·| 3·906 | 4· | ... ... 60·284| | 576·| 81·25 | 32· | ... 1 45· | | 9216·| 500· | 500· | 1 1-1/2 61· | | 18432·|1000· | 1000· | 2 3-1/4 13· | +-------+---------+------------+-------------------+

⁂ The old French grain is equal to ·820 of an imperial troy grain; hence 1 troy grain is equal to 1·21 old French grains. The gros, once, and other multiples of the grain, are, of course, proportionate. The new French grain (of 1812) is equal to ·0542 gramme, or ·8365228 gr. troy. It is said, in some works, to be equal to ·878 gr. troy, or, in round numbers, ·9, but this is much too high.

CONTINENTAL MEDICINAL WEIGHTS, _in Troy Grains_. (From Dr Christison’s ‘Dispensatory.’)

+-----------+------+------+-------+---------------------+-------+ | | | | |Scruple consisting of| | | Country. |Pound.|Ounce.|Drachm.+----------+----------+ Grain.| | | | | | 24 med. | 20 med. | | | | | | | grs. | grs. | | +-----------+------+------+-------+----------+----------+-------+ |French |5670·5|470·50| 59·10 | 19·7 | ... | 0·820 | |Spanish |5326·3|443·49| 55·14 | 18·47 | ... | 0·769 | |Tuscan |5240·3|436·67| 54·58 | 18·19 | ... | 0·758 | |Roman |5235·0|436·25| 54·58 | 18·17 | ... | 0·757 | |Austrian |6495·1|541·25| 67·65 | ... | 22·5 | 1·127 | |German |5524·8|460·40| 57·55 | ... | 19·18 | 0·960 | |Russian |5524·8|460·40| 57·55 | ... | 19·18 | 0·960 | |Prussian |5415·1|451·26| 56·40 | ... | 18·80 | 0·940 | |Dutch |5695·8|474·64| 59·33 | ... | 19·78 | 0·988 | |Belgian |5695·8|474·64| 59·33 | ... | 19·78 | 0·988 | |Swedish |5500·2|458·34| 57·29 | ... | 19·09 | 0·954 | |Piedmontese|4744·7|395·39| 49·45 | ... | 16·48 | 0·824 | |Venetian |4661·4|388·45| 48·55 | ... | 16·18 | 0·809 | +-----------+------+------+-------+----------+----------+-------+

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES ACT, 1878.= On the 1st of January, 1879, there came into force an act to consolidate throughout the United Kingdom the law relating to weights and measures. Legislation on this subject had been long rendered necessary from the extreme inconvenience and friction to commerce of all kinds arising from the adherence to local standards of weight or measurements; and from the divergent values in different parts of the kingdom, and in places more or less contiguous to each other, of weights and measures often bearing the same name. Thus, previous to the passing of the above Act, there were twelve different markets in this country in which when corn was sold by the bushel, the weight of the bushel varied in each; and six different localities in which the same thing occurred when vended by the quarter and the load. In some places a score of grain would imply 20 lbs. but often less, whilst in others it was not an infrequent transaction for wheat to be sold by one measure, delivered by another, and eventually paid for by weight. And the same perplexing and arbitrary conditions attached to the sale of numberless other commodities.

We give below the most important sections of the Weights and Measures Act of 1878: