VOL. LXV.] PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. 587 



prohibited by statute in Henry vith's time, about 6o years before Henry vii, as 

 before remarked. If we divide the 2145 cubic inches contents of the bushel, by 

 9, the number of gallons it contained, it shows the gallon measure to be 238-J- 

 cubic inches contents, which is -^V part larger than the old Saxon gallon of 224 

 cubic inches, just in the proportion as the Troy pound is -^V part heavier than 

 the old Saxon pound. The statute limits the gallon to hold 8 pounds Troy of 

 wheat; and so we find the gallon of 238-^ cubic inches will do; for as 2145 

 cubic inches : 238-1- cubic inches :: 72 pounds Troy : 8 pounds Troy. But if it 

 be said, that the statute limits the bushel to 8 gallons, not Q, then the gallon 

 measure must have be^n 268-j- cubic inches contents, and would hold 9 pounds 

 Troy of wheat, though the statute says it was to hold only 8 pounds Troy. 

 Take it either way, it shows that the bushel was not made according to the sta- 

 tute; it held 72 pounds instead of 64 pounds. And on the whole it clearly 

 proves, that Henry vii altered both the weights and the measures; that he in- 

 troduced the Troy pound, which was heavier by ^ of an ounce than the Saxon or 

 old English pound; and that his bushel measure was about -^ part larger than the 

 ancient Saxon or old English bushel measure. The first statute that directs the 

 use of the Avoirdupois weight, is that of the 24th of Henry viii ; which plainly 

 implies it was no legal weight, till that statute gave it a legal sanction, and the 

 particular use to which the said weight is there directed, is simply for weighing 

 butchers meat in the market. And it is note-worthy, that in all the old statutes 

 of assize prior to Henry vii, the legal gallon measure of capacity is founded on 

 8 pounds, raised from the weight of 32 grains of wheat, and by that statute of 

 lith Henry vii, the gallon is to contain 8 pounds Troy: therefore these 2 sorts 

 of weight were the only ones established as legal by the statutes; and both are a 

 lighter weight than Avoirdupois. How, or when, the Avoirdupois weight came 

 first into private use, is not clearly known to us; but this seems clear, that no 

 statute before the 24th Henry viii has given it any legal sanction. 



//''. Of an apparatus for Impregnating Water with Fixed Air; and of the 

 Manner of Conducting that Process. By John Mervin Nooth, M.D., F.R.S. 

 p. 59. 



The possibility, says Dr. N., of impregnating water with fixed air was no 

 sooner ascertained, by experiment, than various methods were contrived to effect 

 the impregnation. Dr. Priestley, however, is the only one that has published 

 any description of an apparatus, calculated entirely for this purpose. This appa- 

 ratus was communicated to the public, with the view of promoting the discovery 

 of the medical effects of fixed" air united with water; and, in consequence of this 

 communication, some very successful attempts have been made in the cure of 

 diseases. The experiments however, have not ti^ejj,.s,o. numerous as one could 



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