»vlv AGRICULTURAL WEIGHTS \M> MEASURER 



, gallon 1 1 be the measure oj capacity — The standard measure of capacity, at well for liquids 



»s for dry goods noi measured i» heaped measure, shall be rni usjxon, containing ten pounds aymrdu. 



ttilled water weighed In air, at the temperature of sixty-two degrees ol Fahrenheit's tnermo- 



, the barometer being .it thirty Inches . and it measure shall he forthwith made <>j brass, qf such am- 



i, under the dire turns of the commissioners ol his majesty's treasury; ana such lirass 



tall be the imperial lUndard gallon, and shall be the unit and ■>nl> standard measure ol capacity, 



from which all "Hut measures "t c ipacit) to be us id, as w« II for wine, beer, ale, spirits, and all torts of 



iv goods, n.it measured in heap measure, shall be derived, computed, and ascertained: 



.,H measures shall be taken in part- <ir multiples or certain proportions of the said impenal standard. 



gallon, and the q lart shall be tin- fourth part ol «uch standard gallon, ana the pint shall be one eighth of 



standard gallon, and two such gallons shall be a peck, and eight such gallons shall be a bushel, and 



■uch bushels a quarter ol corn or other dry goods not measured by heaped measure s. 6. 



Standard for heaped measure. — The standard measure of capacity for coals, culm, lime,fi$h l potatoes, 



■nt, and all other good* and things commonly told by heaped measure, shall be the aforesaid bushel, 



containing eightj pounds avoirdupois ol water ai aforesaid, the same being made round with a plain and 



even bottom, and being eteen inches and a half from outside to outside of such standard measure as 



aforesaid .... ,,,,,, 



In making use of such bushel, all coals and other goods and things commonly sold by heaped measure, 

 I be dull heaped up in such bushel, in the form of a cone, such cone to be of the height of at least six 

 i„,.| outside of the bushel to be the extremitj ol the base of such cone; and that three bushels 



shall be a sack, and that twelve such sacks shall be a chaldron, s. 8. 



• weight, or heaped measure, to be used for wheat. — Provided always that any contracts. 

 bargains, sales and dealings, made or had for or with respect to any coals, culm, lime, fish, potatoes, or 

 fruit and all other goods and things commonly sold by heaped measure, sold, delivered, done, or agreed 

 for iir to be sold, delivered, done, or agreed for by weight or measure, shall and may he either 

 according to the said standard of weight, or the said standard for heaped measure; but all con. 

 tracts bargains, Bales, ami dealings, made or had for any other goods, wares, or merchandise, or 

 other thing done or agreed for, or to be sola, delivered, done, or agreed for by weight or measure, shall 

 be made and had according to the said standard of weight, or to the said gallon, or the parts, multiples, 

 or proportions thereof; and in using the same the measures shall not be heaped, but shall be stricken 

 with a round stick or roller, straight, and of the same diameter from end to end. s. 9. 



Weight ni Inland. — Hut nothing herein shall authorise the selling in Ireland, by measure, of any ar- 

 ticles, "matters, or things, which by any law in force in Ireland are required to be sold by weight only. 



Contracts fur sale, \c. bi, weight or measure. — All contracts, bargains, sales, and dealings, which shall 

 be made or had within any part of the United Kingdom, for any work to be done, or for any goods, wares, 

 merchandise, or other thing to be sold, delivered, done, or agreed for by weight or measure, where no spe- 

 cial agreement shall be made to the contrary, shall be deemed to be made and had according to the standard 

 freights and measures, ascertained by this act; ami in all cases where any special agreement shall be made, 

 with reference to any weight or measure established by local custom, the ratio or proportion which 

 every such local weight or measure shall bear to any of the said standard weights or measures, shall be 

 expressed, declared, and specified in such agreement, or otherwise such agreement shall be null and 

 void. s. 15. . . , . , 



Kristin: weights and measures may he used, being marked. — And as it is expedient that persons should 

 be allowed to use the several weights ana measures which they may have in their possession, although 

 such weights and measures may not be in conformity with the standard weights and measures established 

 by this act ; it is therefore enacted, that it shall be lawful for anv person or persons to buy and sell goods 

 and merchandise by any weights or measures establ shed either by local custom, or founded on special 

 agreement : provided that in order that the ratio or proportion which all such measures and weights shall 

 bear to the standard weights and measures established by this act, shall be and become a matter of com- 

 mon notoriety, the ratio or proportion which all such customary measures and weights shall bear 

 to the said standard weights and measures shall be painted or marked upon all such customary 

 weights and measures respectively; but nothing herein contained shall extend to permit any maker of 

 weights or measures, or any person or persons whomsoever, to make any weight or measure at any time 

 after the 1st day of May, 1825, except in conformity with the standard weights and measures established 

 under this act S. 16. . . 



American />'. ights. — The several F.uropean colonies make use of the weights of the states or kingdoms 

 of Europe they belong to. For, as to the aroue of Peru, which weighs twenty-seven pounds, it is evi- 

 dentlv no other than the Spanish arroba, with a little difference in the name. 



African Weights— As to the weights of Africa, there are few places that have any, except Egypt, and 

 the countries bordering on the Mediterranean, whose weights have been already enumerated among 

 those ..i the ports of the Levant. The island of Madagascar, indeed, has weights, but none that exceed 

 the drachm, nor are they used for any thing but gold and silver. 



The above information is taken from an elaborate quarto volumes of Dr. Kelly, and the very use- 

 ful Commercial Dictionary of Mortimer It is impossible to turn over the leaves of such a book as 

 Kelly's, without lamenting the time which every commercial man must lose in acquiring, and in 



Eractising, the art of overcoming the obstacles which not only impede the intercourse of nations, 

 ut open a fertile source for deception and chicanery. How easy it would be for one nation to 

 become acquainted with another, even it they spoke different languages, provided their weights, mea- 

 sures, monies, and all that was done by figure's, were the same! How easy for the three leading powers 

 Of the world, France, Britain, and America, to effect this ! Naturalists in every part of the world js e 

 the same language, and the same names for natural objects, and they accordingly form but one lamily, 

 every member of which, however remotely situated, holds ready communication with all the others 

 How easy for the gnat powers alluded to, "by prospective measures, which would occasion no inconve- 

 nience to anv one, not only to render one description of weights, measures, and monies, universal, but 

 one langu tge ! The establishment in one nation after another of Parochial Institutions, such as those al- 

 ready existing in Wirtemberg and Bavaria, and obliging some one language to be taught to every one in 

 addition to that which was the native tongue, would have the complete effect in two generations. But 

 legislators, al least in Europe, have hitherto been too much occupied with the concerns of their own day 

 and generation to think of futurity; and the policy has too generally been to devise measures which 

 should isolate nations, and separate their interests, "rather than unite "them in one common intercourse, 

 commercial and intellectual. 



