190 



i^ A R M E R S ' REGISTER. 



error. But many and various as are the authori- 

 ties to serve as guides, it does not appear, lo our 

 understanding, tliat the English translntor of 

 Dandolo has truly followed any one of them ; or 

 if he has followed one, no intinialion is given of 

 which, nor of tiie grounds of preference. 



It would be foreign to our direct purpose, though 

 serving to show more fully the general confusion 

 and difficulty of the subject, to state the various 

 values of the braccio and of the pound in different 

 towns of Italy. The braccio of Milan alone, (the 

 measure of course referred to by Dandolo,) is va- 

 lued as follows, by different high authorities: 

 According to Cavallo, in a table in Rees' Cyclo- 

 psedia, (art. '•' JVleasures,") and also in Edinburgh 

 Encyclopaedia, the Milanese braccio is equal to 

 1.725 English feet, or 20.700 inches. 



According lo Murray (in Brewster's Journal of 



Science, and Edin. Ency.) it is "about 22 inches." 



According to the table in Dandolo's 4lh edition 



(page 311,) it is equal to 5.95 decimetres, making 



23.4257 inches. 



There are two Milanese pm/nds u.sed in com- 

 merce. The heavy pound (pesn grosso) is of 28 

 ounces, (of which the value will be presently also 

 stated,) and the light pound, (joeso soUile,) of 12 

 oz. according to Dandolo, but of 8 or. accordinir 

 to Rees' CyclopoBdia. By the table of compara- 

 tive weights given in the original of Dandolo's 

 work, as well as other parts, (and as also stated in 

 the Florentine abridgment,) it is manifest that 

 the heavy pound is referred lo in a I the instruc- 

 tions, and statements of quantities. But this could 

 not be known from the English or any known 

 translation. For raw silk is one ol" ihc commodi- 

 ties, (and a very large and important one in Lom- 

 bardy,) which is always weighed and sold by the 

 light pound ; and therefore a reader who was in- 

 formed as to that fact, might have very reasona- 

 bly (though incorrectly) inferred, that the weights 

 of the kindred articles of cocoons, silk- worms, (heir 

 eggs, and perhaps all other weights named in con- 

 nexion, in the same treatise and by the same 

 writer, were also reckoned by the same weight, 

 the light pound. This difficulty would be still 

 more increased by the following attempt at expla- 

 nation in Rees' CyclopoRdia. "At Genoa, Flo- 

 rence, Leghorn and Milan, the pound for weigh- 

 ing gold and silver is divided into 8 oz., and the 

 ounce into 24 danari, or 576 grains. The com- 

 mercial weight in most of the above places is the 

 Bame for light goods as for gold and silver, and is 

 called pesosotiile; but a heavier weight is used 

 for coarse commodities, and is called peso grosso.''^ 

 Having decided, however, that the pound refer- 

 red to by Dandolo is the " libbra grossa Milanese " 

 of 28 ounces, let us see the authorities for its value. 



According to the tables in Rees' CycIopiEdia, 

 1 Milanese pound, peso grosso, is equal to 11592 

 English grains. 



According lo table of Dindolo, the same, or 1 

 " libbra grossa Milanese''' is 0.7625 kilogrammes, 

 [or 11768.425 English grains.] 



Tiie Milanese ounce is 2.7232 decagrammes, [or 

 420.2986 English grains.] 



Of the several and variant values of the com- 

 mon lineal measure and common weights of Mi- 

 lan, we receive as correct those which are accord- 

 ing lo the table in the 4th edition cf Dandolo'a 

 work, as quoted above. This table stands as a 

 part of the regular work, and may be inferred to 

 be from Dandolo's pen as much as any other 

 page. But should it be even an addition from 

 another hand, yet being published in Milan, and 

 designed particularly for this work, and the values 

 being all exactly stated iu the new French and 

 new Italian equivalents, it would be very strange 

 indeed if a table thus prepared, for such a pur- 

 pose, should not be correct.* Yet this table 

 gives different, and in some cases very different 

 values from any other authority. By adopting 

 these corrections, and applying ihem lo every 

 quantity staled by Dandolo, it will be seen that 

 his allowances both of food and space fur silk- 

 worms were considerably greater than as slated 

 in any knovvn version of his instructions. 



It is unnecessary lo extend these strictures and 

 corrections farther than these three great clasees 

 of errors, each and every particular quantity 

 named of each being incorrectly rendered by the 

 translator and his followers. Neither have we 

 extended our examination to every particular 

 quantity of other kinds named. But if a cursory 

 and partial glance and comparision may serve as 

 grounds for an opinion, we may venture lo affirm 

 that in all other quantities stated, whether of land, 

 or of money, or in the smaller measures of lines, 

 inches, or ounces, there is as much departure from 

 the author's meaning as in the more general errors 

 specified. In short, if there is even a single quan- 

 tity correctly staled, among all designed to be 

 given by the translators, we have not observed 

 such an exception to their general, if not univer- 

 sal rule of translation. 



A few particularcasesonly of grosserrors will be 

 staled which do not come under the above general 

 classes. 



* As this table purposes to give the values of Mila- 

 nese weights and measures in those of the " new Ita- 

 lian and French weigfits and measures," it may be in- 

 ferred that the admirable metrical system of France 

 was established also in the kingdom of Italy, when 

 the latter was under French rule. If so, it makes the 

 authority of this table indisputable. 



