WEIGHT. 



doits, the doit into 20 periots, and the periot into 24 blanks. 

 Thefe divifions are imaginary, but there arc real weights of 

 decimal divifions to the thoufandth part of a grain. 



Table VI Of Troy Weight, as ufed by the Apo- 

 thecaries. 



I Grains. 



Pound. 



This weight is efTentially the fame as troy weight, but 

 differently divided. It is chiefly ufed for medical prefcrip- 

 tions : but drugs are moftly bought and fold by avoirdu- 

 pois weight. 



I Table VII — Diamond Weight. 



; Diamonds and other precious ftones are weighed by carats, 

 'the carat being divided into 4 grains, and the grain into 16 

 jparts. The diamond carat weighs 3^ grains troy: thus, 



Diamond Weight. Troy Weight. 



16 Parts = I Grain = OtV Grain. 



4 Grains =r i Carat = 3^ Grains. 



!] Table VIII.— Of Avoirdupois Weight. 



Drachms. 



16 



256 



7168 



28672 



573440 



Ounce. 



16 



448 



1792 



35840 



Pound. 



112 



2240 



Quarter. 



80 



Hundred. 



20 Ton. 



I The drachm is fubdivided into three fcruples, and each 

 Tcruple into ten grains ; the pound or 7680 grains avoir- 

 idupois = 7000 grains troy, and hence 1 grain troy = 

 11097 grains avoirdupois. 



I Hence alfo 



I And 



1441b. avoirdupois := 

 192 oz. ditto 



175 lb. troy. 

 175 oz. do. 



! The ftone is generally 14 lb. avoirdupois weight, but for 

 ibutcher's meat or fifh it is 8 lb. Hence the hundred equals 

 18 ftone of 14 lb. or 14 ftone of 8 lb. 



I A ftone of glafs is 5 lb. A feam of glafs 24 ftone, or 

 j 1 20 lb. 



1 The fother of lead is generally 195 cwt. 



I at Newcaftle, 21 cwt. 



at Stockton, 22 cwt. 



Ilay and ftraw are fold by the load of 36 trufles. 



The trufs of hay weighs 561b. and of'ftraw 361b. The 

 trufs of new Iiay is 60 lb. until the ift of September. 



A view of local varieties of Englifh weights will follow 

 the prcfent article. 



Table IX — Wool Weight. 

 Wool, like other common articles, is weighed by the 

 avoirdupois, but the divifions diff'er from the above table : 

 thus, 



7 Pounds - - = I Clove 



2 Cloves - . . I Stone 



2 Stone ... I Tod 



6i Tods ... I Wey 



2 Weys . . . , Sack 



12 Sacks ... I Laft. 



The Weights of Ireland are the fame as thofe of England ; 

 and they are ufed for corn inftead of meafures, which feems 

 to be the moft corredl method of dealing. 



Weights of Scotland. — By the aft of union pafled in 1707, 

 the weights and meafures of England vvere to be adopted in 

 Scotland, but their introduftion there is by no means 

 general. 



The Englifh troy weight and apothecaries' weight, how- 

 ever, are ufed throughout Scotland, in the fame manner as in 

 England, with the exception that the Scotch jewellers 

 divide the troy ounce into 1 6 drops, each drop being 30 

 troy grains ; whereas the Englifh divide it into 20 penny, 

 weights, and a penny-weight into 24 grains, as before ftated. 



The Englifl^ avoirdupois weight is ufed for the fale of lea- 

 ther, foap, fugar, tea, flour, candles, and other groceries ; 

 alfo for feUing rofm, wax, pitch, wrought metals, fome 

 Baltic goods, and all goods brought from England. 



Scotch troy weight, alfo called Amjlerdam and French 

 Weight, is ufed for weighing iron, hemp, flax, Baltic and 

 Dutch goods, meal, butcher's meat, unwrought pewter and 

 lead, and likewife for fome more articles. The pound, 1 6 

 of which compofe a ftone, contains 7616 troy grains : it is 

 confequently nearly 9 per cent, heavier than avoirdupois, or 

 100 lbs. are equal to 1084 lbs. avoirdupois. 



Trone Weight. — This weight was aboliftied by aft in 

 1618. Its name is ftill retained in felling butter, cheefe, 

 tallow, wool, lint, hemp, hay, and fome other home com- 

 modities ; but the trone ftone and pound are generally deno- 

 minated by avoirdupois pounds and ounces. The trone 

 pound always contains the fame number of ounces avoirdu. 

 pois, as the ftone contains pounds. The weight of the 

 ftone, however, is variable. It appears from a recent pub- 

 lication (Kelly's Metrology), that there are about thirty 

 different fyftems of weights and meafures in Scotland. 



Weights of France. — In order fully to explain this important 

 part of our article, three different weights muft be noticed ; 

 ■vi-z.. the ancient fyftem, called the " Poids de Marc ;" the 

 "Metrical Syftem," begun in 1795; and the " Syfteme 

 Ufuel," fanftioned by an Imperial decree of 1812. 



The old French weight (poids de marc), the pound or 

 livre, contains 2 marcs, 16 ounces, 128 gros, 384 deniers, 

 and 9216 grains, and equals 7556 grains troy. The new 

 or metrical fyftem, alfo called the decimal fyftem, has been 

 already explained under our article Standard. The fol- 

 lowing are its divifions, with its proportion to the poids de 

 marc and Englifli troy weight. The gramme is the element 

 of all weights, and it is multiplied and divided by tens in 

 the following terms : 



The word Deca prefixed means - 10 timet, 



HeBo - . - 100 times. 



Kilo - . . 1000 times. 



Myria . . - loooo times. 



On the contrary, for divifors, 

 the word Deci expreiTes the loth part, 



CtnXi - - 1 00th part, and 



MiUi - 1000th part. 



L I 2 Table 



