1844.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



39 



ON THE PREFERENCE DUE TO CUBICAL STANDARD 



MEASURES OF CAPACITY. 



By T. N. Parker, Esq. A.M. 



The pains which have been taken by Parliament, from time to time, 

 to establish a uniformity of measures of capacity throughout the 

 kingdom, have hitherto failed of producing the desired etfect, and the 

 greater the labour lost, the more unwillingness is shown for resuming 

 the subject. 



I have long entertained a belief, that a cubical standard measure 

 might be advantageously substituted for the cylindrical, as the test of 

 capacity; while cylindrical or vessels of any other form, should be 

 continued, as at present, for common use: but a difficulty occurs in 

 regard to the contents of a measure, which is to be multiplied and 

 divided, into quarts, gallons, &c., without having to deal with any 

 smaller parts than a cubical inch, and at the same time to preserve as 

 nearly as possible, the like quantity in a gallon, bushel, &c. which has 

 been customarily understood to be represented by such denominations. 

 I, at length, luckily hit upon a cube of 4 inches for a quart, which is 

 so near to the customary quantity as to be deserving of much con- 

 sideration; it is remarkable that it did not sooner present itself, being 

 so obvious, incapable of improvement or modiBcation, as it must be 

 entirely accepted, or entirely rejected. 



The Winchester measure, 13 Will. 3, c. 5. Gallon in cubical inches 



Ale .. .. .. ..282 



Wine .. .. .. ..231 



Grain, &c. .. .. .. 268 8 tenths. 



3) 781 8 tenths. 

 Average . . 260 6 tenths. 



Bv the 5 Geo. 4, c. 74, the imperial gallon is adopted, and described 

 as containing 277 cubic inches, and a fraction of 274 parts in 1,000: 

 but so repulsive is the task of approaching the mathematical impossi- 

 bility of squaring a circle, that the following inaccuracies were found 

 to exist in the Winchester standard measures in the Exchequer : — 



Cubic inches. 



The gallon contained .. .. 2704 



If deiived from the bushel .. .. 266-1 



If derived from the quart .. .. 2793 



If derived from the pint .. .. 276-9' 



4) 1092-7 



Average . . 273-1 tenth of an inch. 



I shall next examine the difference between the Winchester and the 

 Imperial measures, and I find that the Imperial bushel of 32 quarts 

 contains 33 quarts of the Winchester, and an insignificant fraction of a 

 cubical inch. 



The increase in the imperial measure, as compared with the Win- 

 chester measure, is equal to li farthing in every shilling, or 3J per 

 cent. And the decrease between the Winchester measure, and the 

 proposed cubical measure, is 2i farthings in every shilling, or 4-i-j per 

 cent. ; the cubical measure being that much smaller than the Win- 

 chester. But I contend, that the facility of ascertaining the accuracy 

 of the cubical measures by a common rule of a few inches in length 

 would be a very great advantage to all consumers, and more particu- 

 larly to the poorer and less educated classes. 



Lastly, I will endeavour further to explain the advantages of the 

 proposed cubical standard measures. 



sides. depths, contents, shapes, 



in. in. in. cub. in. 



Quarter pint ..2x2x2= 8 cube. 



Half pint ..4x2x2= 16 double cube. 



Pint .. ..4x4x2= 32 half cube. 



Quart .. ..4x4x4= 64 cube. 



Half gallon ..8x4x4= 128 double cube. 



Gallon .. ..8x8x4= 256 half cube. 



Peck .. ..8x8x8= 512 cube. 



Half bushel .. 16 x 8 x 8 = 1024 double cube. 



Bushel .. .. 16 X 16 X 8 = 2048 half cube. 



Double bushel ..16 x IG x 16 = 4096 cube. 

 If a cylindrical vessel be required, equal to a given cube or square 

 figure, multiply !• 1283791 by the side of the cube or square : take a 

 cubical quart for instance ; 



I-12837<llx4 (side of square) = 4-5135 164 diameter of cylinder 

 and the answer is 4-5 in. or 4^ in. for the diameter of the cylinder, so 



" This was taken a few years ago, from some document of good authority, 

 and I believe it was Irom a report of a committee of the House ot Commons, 



that a cylindrical vessel of 4 in. deep and 4i in. diameter, is equal to 

 a cub of 4 in., or sufficiently so for all practical uses, as a great mea- 

 sure. 



By this rule the quarter pint would be 2in. deep by 2-2 in. diameter 

 of cylinder, and the peck 8 in. deep by 9 in. diameter of cylinder. 

 The standard measure of extension would in this case furnish copies 

 in the shape of graduated rules, say of 8 in. or 9 in. in length, which 

 might be marked also, with perforated points for the diameters of 

 cylindrical vessels of the depths above mentioned. 



In the year 1838, 1 distributed a brief sketch of suggestions on this 

 subject, as an sronaut despatches his pilot baloon to see which way 

 the wind blows, but the current was opposed to my views. I then 

 published and distributed a pamphlet with little more success, ^ for 

 the members of Parliament recollected the tiresome business of legis- 

 lating on the imperial standard, and would not entertain the notion of 

 another change, although the scheme was generally thought well of. 



As a proof, that the introduction of the imperial measure does 

 not tend to the uniformity of measures of capacity, I wdl quote 

 the prices of grain from a respectable weekly provincial paper, 

 dated I5th November, 1843, relating to four markets in the same 

 county, and one market in the principal town of a neighbour- 

 ing oounty : the same paper having been taken up as the latest pub- 

 lished, and the only provincial paper which comes regularly to ray 

 hands. In this, wheat is taken at 75lbs. per bushel in all the five 

 cases ; oats at 2251bs. per bag in two cases, 501bs. per bushel in one 

 case, and not mentioned in the other two; beans 2351bs. per bag; peas 

 225 lbs. per bag, the two latter being mentioned only in one case each. 

 But the point best applying to my argument is, that barley is in the 

 five cases quoted at 38 quarts to the strike or bushel, and malt is only 

 once mentioned, and then for the imperial bushel. So that the malsters 

 buy barley at 38 quarts of Winchester measure, considerably greater 

 than the imperial bushel, at which malt is sold as quoted in the said 

 paper. There is therefore a disadvantage to the consumer in the pro- 

 portion of 38 to 32, besides the outcast in the malting process of about 

 10 per cent, minus the proportion of 32 to 33 being the difference 

 between the Winchester quart and the imperial quart. Taking the 

 whole of these quotations together we must arrive at the conclusion, 

 that the attempt to establish the imperial measure, is but a retrograde 

 movement towards the uniformity of measures of capacity ; which 

 might with more probability he accomplished by the very simple sys- 

 tem of cubical standard measuses of capacity, the advantages of which 

 I have endeavoured to describe. Malt is often sold, I believe, at the 

 old fashioned customary measure, the same as barley, of 38 quarts to 

 the bushel. 



20M November, Sneeney Hall. 



2 Sold by Richard Baynes, 28, Paternoster Row, prices 2d. and 6d. 



A FEW REMARKS ON DECORATIVE ARCHITECTURE. 



Much as architecture has been valued, studied, and understood in 

 this country, the application of the true principles of the art to in- 

 ternal ornament has been despised, or at least neglected. The 

 plumber, painter, paper-hanger have taken the place of artists, and 

 of architects — patterns and colours have vied with each other in ab- 

 surdity and ugliness; and even when beauty, either by skill or by 

 chance, has been obtained, it has been arrived at without reference to 

 the general character of the building, and however beautiful, pains, 

 because it is incongruous. When the mere shell of a building, whe- 

 ther public or private, has been erected, when the exterior has been 

 constructed and ornamented, the architect's task is far, very far, from 

 being finished. 



Buildings, of whatever character or nature, were meant to be inha- 

 bited, and the solemnity of a church, the grandeur of a hall, or the 

 ease and comfort of a private house, must be obtained by internal ar- 

 rangement, and the glory, the beauty of the edifice should be adapted 

 rather to the select few, the private circle, than meretriciously hung 

 ont to the indiscriminaling g.ize of the gaping multitude. 



Nothing can be worse than the present system — a house is finished 

 — Gothic windows or classical pilasters supplied ad libitum, and the 

 architect pockets his 5 per cent., and sends a neat paragraph round to 

 the papers to say that " it is to the skill and taste of our talented 

 townsman, Mr. Pecksniff, that we are indebted for this elegant orna- 

 ment to our rapidly improving town." Then in rush the tradesmen — 

 a marble chimney piece of the severe classic style, a fender of deci- 

 dedly Brummagem Gothic — and iudescribable paper — and unaccount- 

 able curtain fixtures— mar the architect's designs, auJ martyrize the 

 unhappy possessor, should he unfortunately possess an atom of artis- 

 tical knowledge or an atom of artistical feeling; of what avail is it 



