1836] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



633 



now furnish some nmuseinent, if nothing more, b}' 

 the Ptrong coiilrast displayed of" tlie condition ol 

 tilings, and ol'prospects, then and now. lithe rea- 

 der, at this lime, shouM condemn tiic scheme tlien 

 proposed li)r briniriiig these natural cantils into use, 

 as ahoirether absurd and ridiculous, (as it certainly 

 would have been, if" the present stale of improve- 

 ment could have been anticipated,) let it be re- 

 membered, that at that time no one had tliought ol 

 constructing rail roads in this region — nor estab- 

 lishinir the now pros])erous cotton and other lacto- 

 nes, which will be so increased in time, as to re- 

 quire^s much of the water of the Appomattox, as 

 then ran in waste down the falls. For these two 

 great improvements, the country ou'es much to 

 the enterprising spirit of Petersburg — and to the 

 i()rtunate results ol these bold but judicious adven- 

 tures, Petersburg owes her present and iiist grow- 

 ing prosperity, which stand is such markeil con- 

 trast to the state of decline which seemed progres- 

 sive as la'e as when this piece was published. But 

 the writer was not more in tlie dark then, as to the 

 near approaching revival of the prosperity of Pe- 

 tersburg, li'om the railway and the factories then 

 not plarmed, than he was in supposing that fi^irnish- 

 ing a proper outlet to the three rivers would bring 

 them into use. They have now better outlets than 

 he then supposed possible to obtain — being inter- 

 sected, in five different places, by rail roads furnish- 

 ing speedy and cheap conveyance to two different 

 market towns: and yet these rivers are almost as 

 little used now, as before the construction of these 

 great works. 



ON THE WANT OF UNIFORMITY IX THE STATED 

 VALUES OF FRENCH AND OTHER WEIGHTS 

 AND MEASURES. 



To the Editor of tli3 Fanners' Register. 



Columbia, South Carolina, Nov. 23, 1S36. 



Dear Sir, — I should have replied to your letter be- 

 fore, but have been confined by violent indisposition 

 and unable to work. I had mustered about twenty 

 books of authority, for the purpose of drawing up 

 a paper on the discrepancies of the system of 

 weights and measures, published in our elementary 

 books, deemeV of authority on the question: but 

 as you seemed to decline my offer, by taking no 

 notice of it, I took no further trouble, and distribu- 

 ted my authorities, which I (ear I shall not find lei- 

 sure to collect again and compare.* 



As a specimen, however, of the necessity of such 

 a paper, I send you the following memoranda. 



According to Dr. Redman Coxe, Dr. Gregory, 

 Mr. Renwick and others, the French gramme is 

 stated at 15444 troy grains, and the kilogramme 

 at 15444 grains, whereas, the true number is 

 15434 grains. See the mistake explained in 1 

 Kelly's Cambist, p. 140, (2nd edit. 1821.) I won- 

 der Mr. Renwick, whose useliil little book, '-Com- 

 pendium of Mechanics," was published in 1830, 

 should not have been aware of this mistake. 



* This seeming neglect or rejection of Dr. Cooper's 

 offer, was far from being designed, as a subsequent let- 

 ter has explained to him. Any contributions from his 

 pen, that his leisure and convenience may permit to be 

 offered, will always be highly acceptable.— Ed. 



None of these pofjular compilations give you 

 the barometrical and thermometrical di'grees, at 

 which the numbers are taken. 



Again — A cubic inch of water, l)arometerat29.5, 

 thermometer at (;0° of Fahrenheit, will weigh, ac- 

 cordinir to Dr. Geo. Shuckburgh, 252. 5CG "rs. 

 By Dr. nenr\-, of Manchester, 252.52 ° 



By Dr. Paris', 252.72 



By act of Parliament, 5, Geo. 4, ch. 



74, at 62=- Fahrenheit, 2-52.458 



By Mr. llasler, (Report, 1832,) at 40 



(Fahrenheit,) 252.7 



Average 



252.59 IG 



So, Mr. flasler, in his report to our Secretary of 

 State, 1832, makes the metre 39.380, instead of 

 39.371. I suspect this is a typographical mistake 

 lor 39.370, at 32 of Fahrenheit. 



Ey law (ol all the old thirteen states, New 

 York excepted,) the standard bushel is the Win- 

 chester bushel of IS.^- inches diameter, by 8 inches 

 deep, containing 2,150.42 cubic inches. The half 

 bushel will, therefore, be 18^ by 4 inches. The 

 model bushel kept in the Department of State, at 

 Washington, holds (accordingtoHasler) 467,681.6 

 grains at 39.83 of Fahrenheit by actual measure- 

 ment, and is therefore less than the legal Winches- 

 ter bushel, by 75,294.4 grains, or 15G.8 ounces, 

 neglecting allowance lor difference of temperature. 

 The Winchester bushel at 62 Fahrenheit, contains 

 1131.89 ounces. 



The present imperial bushel of England, con- 

 tains (5 Geo. 4, ch. 74,) 2218.192 cubic inches, 

 and holds exactly 80 lbs. avoirdupois of distilled 

 water: that is, 560,000 grains; the troy pound be- 

 ing 5,760 grains, and the avoirdupois pound, 7,000 

 grains. So that the present imperial bu.shel, is to 

 the Winchester, as 1.031 to 1. 



It appears from the reports of Mr. J. Q. Adams, 

 and Mr. Hasler, that the wholesystem of weights 

 and measures throughout the United States, is 

 irregular and inaccurate. The specimens kept at 

 the custom houses of the seaport towns, and in 

 the office of the Department of State, disagree with 

 each other, and with the legal weights and mea- 

 sures. By legal, meaning those in use in England, 

 belbre 5 Geo. 4, ch. 74, and adopted by the statu- 

 tory enactment in all the old states. The alteration 

 made by New York, has no merit of any kind. 

 Had New York adopted the present imperial 

 weights and measures of Great Britain, which 

 possess all necessary practical accuracy and con- 

 venience, (Gapt. Sabine's objections notwithstand- 

 ing,) the weights and measures of England and 

 America would coincide. Ttiis I recommended in 

 a tract distributed at Congress, in 1824. I have 

 now neither time nor the necessary collection of 

 authorities, to pursue this subject farther. I send 

 you a newspaper article on the subject, which 

 shows the inconvenience the public submit to, for 

 want of a regular system of weights and measures. 

 The two commercial nations of the world are 

 eminently Great Britain and the United States, 

 and the advantages arising from their adopting 

 one and the same system, would be very great in- 

 deed. 



I am, dear sir, 



Your obedient servant, 



THOMAS COOl'ER, M. D. 



