THE CAPACITY OF DOMESTIC UTENSILS 735 



PHARMACOPOEIA MEASURES OF MASS 



1 grain, gr.j. = 0'064S gramme, or 64'8 milligrammes. 



1 ounce, oz.j. 5]. =437 '5 grains = 28'35 grammes. 



1 pound, Ibj. =16 ounces = 7000 grains = 453 -5825 grammes. 



MEASURES OF CAPACITY 



minim, min., T7|J. 



fluid drachm, foj. =60 minims. 



fluid ounce, fj. = 8 fluid drachms = 480 minims. 



pint (octarius), O.j. =20 fluid ounces = 9600 



gallon (congius), C.j. = 8 pints =76800 



It is often useful to recollect the weight of different 

 measures. Of water, one minim (T1\j.) weighs nine-tenths 

 of a grain ; a fluid ounce at 62 Fahr. weighs exactly 437' 5 

 grains, or an ounce avoirdupois ; hence a pint is equal to 

 a pound and a quarter, and a gallon to ten pounds imperial 

 weight. 



To prevent mistakes, medicines for external and internal 

 use should be sent out in differently shaped and differently 

 coloured bottles, properly labelled ; while all potent pre- 

 parations should further be labelled ' Poison.' 



When standard measures cannot be obtained, the practi- 

 tioner has often occasion to use some of the ordinary 

 domestic utensils, with the capacity of which he ought 

 therefore to be familiar. Common tumblers contain from 

 eight to ten fluid ounces ; teacups, five to seven fluid 

 ounces ; breakfast cups, about eight to ten fluid ounces ; 

 wine-glasses, two to two and a half fluid ounces ; tablespoons, 

 half a fluid ounce ; dessertspoons, two fluid drachms ; and 

 teaspoons, one fluid drachm of sixty minims. Such measure- 

 ments, however, are merely approximate. The common 

 teaspoon often holds one and a half to two drachms, so that 

 its use for potent and toxic agents is dangerous. The pint 

 and quart bottles, subdivisions of the old wine measure, 

 contain respectively about 13 and 27 fluid ounces, and not, 

 as their names might indicate, 20 and 40 fluid ounces. A 

 Scotch pint contains 60 fluid ounces. Medicines are some- 

 times measured by the drop, which varies, however, ex- 

 ceedingly with the density and viscidity of the fluid, and 

 the form and size of the vessel from which it falls. 



