WEIGHT WEIMAR. 



long time weighed (probably derived from avoirs 

 (averia), the ancient name for goods or chattels, 

 and /ifi</s, weight), to be universally used through- 

 out the kingdom. This weight, however, seems 

 not to have been preserved with such scrupulous 

 accuracy as troy weight, by which more precious 

 articles have been weighed ; but we have reason to 

 believe that the pound cannot differ by more than 

 one, two or three grains, from 7000 grains troy. 

 It, therefore, occurred to us, that we should be 

 offering no violence to this system of weights, if we 

 declared that 7000 grains troy should be hereafter 

 considered as the pound avoirdupois." It was ac- 

 cordingly enacted that, from January 1st, 1826, the 

 standard brass weight of one pound troy weight, 

 made in 1758, should be the genuine standard mea- 

 sure of weight, and be denominated the imperial 

 standard troy pound, containing 5760 grains, and 

 that 7000 such grains should be a pound avoirdu- 

 pois. 



DIVISION I. Avoirdupois Weight. 



97U grains 

 16 drams 

 16 ounces 

 38 pounds 

 4 quarters 

 SO hundred weight 



: 1 dram 

 > 1 ounce 

 1 pound (Ib.) 



1 quarter (qr.) 



1 hundred weight (cwt. ) 

 1 ton 



mj 

 or] 



7000 



grains 



This weight is used in almost all commercial trans- 

 actions, and in the common dealings of life. 



Particular Weights belonging to this Division. 



8 pounds 

 7 pounds 



14 pounds 

 2 stone 

 6) tod 

 2 weys 



iSlMB 



= 1 stone 

 = 1 clove 

 = 1 stone 

 = 1 tod 

 = 1 wey 

 = 1 sack 

 = 1 last 



used for meat and fish. 



14| 



71 



14 f 





 OJ 



used in the 

 wool trade. 



A pack of wool contains 240 Ibs. A truss of hay 

 weighs 56 Ibs., and of straw 36. A stone of glass 

 is 5 Ibs. ; a seam 24 stone. 



8 pounds 

 32 cloves 

 42 .. 

 86 pounds 



1 clove, 

 : 1 wey in Essex, 

 in Suffolk, 



1 firkin, 



used for cheese 

 and butter. 



DIVISION II Troy Weight. 



24 grains 



20 pennyweights 



12 ounces 



I pennyweight 

 : 1 ounce 

 = 1 pound 



= 24 grains. 

 = 480 .. 

 = 5760 .. 



These are the denominations of troy weight when 

 used for weighing gold, silver, and precious stones, 

 except diamonds. But troy weight is also used by 

 apothecaries in compounding medicines, and by them 

 the ounce is divided into eight drams, and the dram 

 into three scruples, so that the latter is equal to 

 twenty grains. For scientific purposes, the grain 

 only is used ; and sets of weights are constructed 

 in decimal progression, from 10,000 grains down- 

 wards to one hundredth of a grain. By comparing 

 the number of grains in the avoirdupois and troy 

 pound and ounce respectively, it appears that the 

 troy pound is less than the avoirdupois, in the pro- 

 portion of fourteen to seventeen nearly ; but the 

 troy ounce is greater than the avoirdupois, in the 

 proportion of seventy-nine to seventy-two nearly. 

 The carat, used for weighing diamonds, is 3 grains. 

 The term, however, when used to express the fine- 

 ness of gold, has a relative meaning only. Every 

 mass of alloyed gold is supposed to be divided into 

 twenty-four equal parts ; thus the standard for coin 



is twenty-two carats fine, that if, it consists of 

 twenty-two parts of pure gold, arid two parts of 

 alloy. What is called the new standard, used for 

 watch-cases, &c., is eighteen carats fine. 



3. Ancient Weights It is well known that this 

 subject is involved in considerable difficulty. The 

 following table gives the estimates of different 

 authors, in regard to some of the ancient weights. 



Attic obolus 



Attic drachma, 

 Lesser mina . . 

 Greater raina .. 



Medical mina 



Talent = 60 mines. 



Old Greek drachm 



Old Greek raina 



Egyptian mina 



Ptolemaic mina of CleoO 



patra J 



Alexandrian mini of) 



Dioscorides J 



Roman denarius 

 Denarius of Nero . . . 



Ounce. 



Enillth Tny Grain, 



{ft-2 Christian!. 

 91 Arbutlmtit. 

 {51 -9 Chr. 

 5-6 Arb. 

 iiirtiin. 

 Chr. 



{6,189 Clir. 

 5,464 Arb. 

 6,900 P.IIJI-. 



6,904 Arb. 



{ cwt. Engl.bh. 



Gr-Jn. 



146-5 Arb. 

 6,425 .. 

 8,326 .. 



8,985 .. 



9,9&2 .. 



( 51 -9 = } Roman oz. Chr. 

 \ G2 '5 = ; Roman oz . Arb . 



54 Pane. 

 ( 415-1 Chr. 

 { 437-2 Arb. 

 I 431-2 Pauc. 



Pound = 12 Roman ounces. 



WEIMAR, SAXE (in German, Sachsen-Wci- 

 mar) ; a sovereign grand-duchy of Germany, lying 

 on the south of the Prussian government of Erfurt, 

 and bordering on Gotha. It is composed of two 

 parts or provinces, separated from each other the 

 principality of Weimar, and the principality of 

 Eisenach, with a population of 226,628 souls, on 

 1400 square miles. The province of Weimar com- 

 prehends the duchies of Weimar and Jena, with a 

 part of the principality of Altenburg, the chief part 

 of the circle of Neustadt, and the petty districts of 

 Ilmenau, Oldisleben, and Alstadt, which lie scat- 

 tered in Thuringia. The province of Eisenach lies 

 on the west side of Gotha, and to the east of Hesse- 

 Cassel. (See Eisenach.') The surface of the pro- 

 vince of Weimar is agreeably diversified ; the soil 

 fertile, producing corn sufficient for consumption ; 

 and it has good pastures, which feed numerous 

 flocks of sheep ;. but large cattle are less attended 

 to. The province of Eisenach is more mountainous 

 and less fertile. The revenue is about 180,000. 

 The government is a limited monarchy, administered 

 by the grand-duke, with a representative constitu- 

 tion, granted by the duke May 5, 1816, which 

 established a diet composed of deputies from the 

 nobles, citizens and peasants, and guarantied the 

 freedom of the press. The grand-duke of Saxe- 

 Weimar-Eisenach has the twelfth vote in the Ger- 

 man diet, in conjunction with the other princes of 

 the Ernestine line (see Saxons'), and one vote by 

 himself in the plenum. The grand-duchy has one 

 university, that of Jena, with (in 1829) 619 

 students, two gymnasia, and numerous inferior in- 

 stitutions for education. The religion is Lutheran. 



WEIMAR ; capital of the grand duchy, on the 

 Urn; 94 miles west of Dresden; Ion. 11 21' E. ; 

 lat. 50 59' N. ; population, 9917. It is situated 

 in a pleasant valley, with a woody mountain to the 

 north, and hills of little elevation to the south and 



