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(Toubt the mod proper material for the bottoms ; and brick, 

 when properly made for the piirpofe, anfwers very well, 

 efp'-eiallv if proner care be taken in the laying of it. Slate 

 is alfo another material, where it can be had at a reafonable 

 expence, that may be a ver\' good fubllance for this 

 life. Likewife flag-ilones would anfwer extremely well ; 

 bnt neithe- dates nor flag-ltones are neceflary, if the 

 foundations be laid fufficiently deep to prevent the vermin 

 burrowing under them. The celebrated Mr. Bakewell made 

 ufe of (ta^ds of this kind with much advantage ; and other 

 farmers, in the fame dillrift, probably employed them be- 

 fore his time. 



Sevral d.fferent forms of (lands of this fort are employed 

 en the farms of the duke of Bedford, at Woburn, and in 

 other places. See Stack. 



Stand, Hay, «iay be formed in fomewhat the fame 

 manner as that for grain or corn, only it is feldom neceiTary 

 to have it made of fuch expenfive materials. A fimple 

 frame of wood is moftly fufficient, with proper hearers laid 

 acrofs for the fupport of the Hack. See St.'VCK and 

 Stacking of Hay. 



STANDARD, in Commerce, is a weight, meafurc, or 

 coin, of acknowledged authority, by which others of the 

 f.tme denomination are li-^ed, compared, or adjufted. (See 

 Coin, Measure, and Weight.) We Ihall begin this im- 

 portant article with Meafures, and conclude with Co'im, in- 

 chiding the new ilandard weight for filver, of 1816. 



When a Itandard for Iniear meafure is once eftablillied, that 

 for meafures of capacity is eafily deduced, by determining 

 their cubic or folid contents ; and from the latter, Itandard 

 weights may be derived, as a velfel of any certain dimen- 

 fions filled with pure water, at a given temperature, will 

 always weigh the fame in the fame latitude. 



It is, however, to be remarked, that this fyftematic mode 

 of obtaining flandards has been feldom adopted, as they 

 feem to have been generally eltabliflied at the will of indivi- 

 duals, or by the agreement of governments. Such are 

 therefore called arbitrary Jlandards, to diflinguifh them from 

 invariable fiandards jrom nature ; that is, meafures obtained 

 from fome unalterable property of nature ; as the dimenfions 

 of the earth, the motions of the heavenly bodies, or the 

 laws of arravitation. Thefe Itandirds have been anxioufly 

 fought after by the firlt mathematicians of modern times ; 

 but before their labours and refearches are defcribed, it will 

 be proper to give an account of the palt and prefent ilate of 

 arbitrary Itandards, which are thofe univerfally adopted, ex- 

 cept in France. 



The Ilandard meafures of linear extenfion of all countries 

 appear, from their names, to have been originally taken from 

 fome part of the human body, as the foot, the fathom, 

 &c. But as fuch mull conllantly vary with the different 

 fizes of men, (tandards of fome durable fubllance became 

 neceflary ; and it may be obferved, that in country places 

 where fuch are not at hand, natural meafures are flill occa- 

 Conally ufed, as the arm, the pace, &c. Hence fome 

 account of their proportions to each other cannot be unin- 

 lerefling or foreign to our fubjecl. The fathom is reckoned 

 to equal the height or ftature of a well-proportioned man : 

 the pace is fuppofed to equal half of the flature, the cubit 

 one-fourth, the foot one-fixth, and the fpan one-eighth. 

 The breadth of the hand is reckoned one-third of the 

 foot, that of the thumb one-twelfth, and of the finger one- 

 eighteenth. Other proportions are occafionally uftd, which, 

 however, are not confidered fo regular as the above ; 

 fnch are the head, the arm, and the girth, &c. The 

 Lead is particularly noticed by painteis and ftatuaries, who 



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reckon the fymmetry good when the whole height equals 

 feven heads : but it has been made to equal more than feven 

 and a half heads in ancient figures intended to reprefent 

 dignity or llrength. The proportion, however, varies con- 

 fiderably among different races of men, and in different 

 countries. The average of the European flature is from 

 fix to feven heads ; but that of the Kalmucks, Samoyedes, 

 Laplanders, Sec. is feldom more than five heads, and fre- 

 quently lefs. 



From fuch an extraordinary variety may be traced the 

 diverfity of flandard meafures throughout the world. It has, 

 however, been the endeavour of all regular governments to 

 correct this inconvenience ; and hence ellablifhed llandards 

 have been, from the earliefl period of hidory, objedls of pe- 

 culiar care. They have been depofited in the fandluary of 

 the Jews, the temples of the heathens, and the churches of 

 the primitive Chriltians ; and diflinguilhed officers were 

 always appointed to diflribute copies of the fame, to exa- 

 mine thofe in ufe, and to correft or condemn fuch as were 

 found erroneous. 



The Jews called their original lidindird fcahac, and thofe 

 copied from it, mejfurah haddin, or judged meafures. We 

 frequently read in fcripture of " the weight of the fanc- 

 tuary," " the meafore of the fanduary," and " the Ihekel 

 of the fanftuary." Numerous texts and precepts likewife 

 occur in the facred volume to command uniformity. 



The Greeks called their flandards archetype, prototype, and 

 metreon tropos ; and it is laid, that at a very remote period 

 they had but two ftandards, namely, the Pythic and the 

 Olympic meafures. At Athens, fifteen officers were con- 

 llantly employed for the regulation of their flandards. The 

 ancient Romans likewife paid If ritl attention to the fame ob- 

 ject, and are faid to have ellablifhed one Itandard, called 

 menjura, in every city throughout their vaft dominions ; and 

 each of thofe meafures was an accurate copy of the original, 

 kept ia the temple of Jupiter in the Capitol, which flandard 

 was therefore called rapitolina. 



It is flated by feveral good authorities, that the Egyp- 

 tians gave flandards at a very early period to the neigh- 

 bouring countries of Afia and Greece, from meafurementi 

 made of an arc of the meridian. It is obferved by Paudlon, 

 in his " Metrologie," that the bafe of their largefl pyramid 

 was made the principal flandard, which was thejoodth Dart of 

 a degree of the meridian, previoufly meafured for that pur- 

 pofe ; and Bailly, in his " Allronomie Ancienne," afierts that 

 the Egyptian computation of the degree nearly correfponds 

 with the modern meaturement of the fame arc. However 

 this may be, there is little doubt but that uniformity of 

 flandard meafures was more flri£tly eltabhfhed among the 

 ancients than among the moderns. The extenfive and arbi- 

 trary power pnfTefled by many ancient fovereigns mufl have 

 greatly contributed to this. Even the Chriflian emperors 

 were very llriil in promoting uniformity, infomuch that in the 

 time of Charlemagne there was but one weight and one mea- 

 fure throughout his empire. In fucceeding ages, however, a 

 great diverfity was introduced in France by the abufes of 

 manorial rights and feudal tenures ; and to fimilar caufes 

 may be afcribed much of that variety which Hill prevails in 

 the different flates of Italy, Germany, Spain, and moil other 

 countries of Europe. 



Thefe remarks naturally lead us to the confideration of 

 the flandards of our own country. 



Standards of Englifh Weights and Meafures. — The fland- 

 ards of Englifh weights and meafures are fuppofed to 

 be chiefly of Saxon origin, but their early hillory is 

 very imperfectly known. 



Bifhop 



