British, French, and Dutch Weights. 73 



weight, which, with different modifications, has been adopted 

 both in Holland and England. 



In the fifteenth century, troy weight was used in Amster- 

 dam ; and in 1520, the Emperor Charles V., then sovereign 

 of the Low Countries, ordered that the mint-masters in the 

 several provinces should adjust their weights to the standard 

 of troy weight kept in the offices of the several courts of ac- 

 counts (cours des comptes} in the different provinces. The old 

 standard of this weight, even now existing in the Hague, has 

 been adjusted in 1554 to the standard of the court of accounts 

 of Brabant at Brussels. The same regulations as to the use 

 of troy weight have been reinforced by the statute of the Earl 

 of Leycester in 1586, and by that of the States-General of 

 1606. However, the troy weight in use in the Seven United 

 Provinces for upwards of a century down to the time of its 

 being abolished in 1819, was somewhat different from the old 

 standards ; but these matters, being of a local nature, do not 

 require to be stated here in all their particulars. 



Mr. Van Swinden, before he set out for Paris in 1798, to 

 attend the meetings of the great commission of weights and 

 measures, procured a copy of the Dutch troy weight, as it had 

 been used for more than a century, and had it adjusted with 

 great care. This duplicate Dutch troy weight he took to Paris, 

 and by its means, he, M. Aeneae, the second commissioner, 

 and M. Lefevre Gineau investigated and determined, with all 

 the accuracy which they could, the relative proportion between 

 the Dutch troy weight and the kilogramme. This standard, 

 religiously preserved, came also into my possession, and I 

 have several times weighed it against Mr. Robinson's British 

 troy grains, with all the attention which I could master. Ac- 

 cordingly the weight of 



One brass pound of Dutch troy weight is 7594.975 grains of Mr. Robinson. 

 = 15 oz. 16 dwt. 10.975 grs. 

 15 oz. 6 drachms, 1 scruple, 14.975 grs. 

 And one pound Dutch troy = 0.7583961764193 Ib. British troy. 

 One ounce Dutch troy . . . .rr 474.6856 grs. British troy. 



One grain Dutch troy = 0.989 gr. British troy. 



One grain British troy. . . .r= 1.0112 Dutch troy. 



And finally, assuming the kilogramme to be equal to 

 15432.265 of Mr. Robinson's grains, we have one pound 

 Dutch troy weight equal to 492. 14907857 grammes. 



