president's address. 19 



another which they originally possessed ; the earliest records show 

 that the unit of length (or a multiple or a fraction of it) cubed, 

 formed the unit of volume, and the weight of water held by this 

 oube formed the unit of weight. 



The measures of length have been derived from the body, e.g., 

 the yard or stick in the time of Henry I. was said to be the 

 length of his arm. Originally it seems to have been the ancient 

 double cubit, but the yard has varied in length at different 

 periods ; the fathom is taken from the length of the outstretched 

 arms ; the foot speaks for itself ; for smaller measures the width 

 of the middle joint of the first finger was taken, and four of these 

 digits made the palm or hand, still used in the measurements of 

 horses. The width of the thumb was also taken as one of the 

 smaller measures, equivalent to an inch. The pole or rod was a 

 longer stick used for measuring greater lengths than the yard, 

 and it varied from five to six yards in length ; afterwards it was 

 defined as five and a half yards, or sixteen and a half feet. The 

 furlong was a furrow long, or the length ploughed by a yoke of 

 oxen before turning. The mile, as is well known, was of Roman 

 origin, and signified 1000 (mille) paces ; its length varied con- 

 siderably ; in Scotland it was 1976 yards, in Ireland 2240 yards, 

 and in Wales it was nearly four miles in length. On the Continent 

 it was of even of greater lengths. 



The term pound (pondus) simply means a weight, and this 

 meant almost any weight between twelve and twenty eight ounces, 

 the ounce being also of variable weight. The stone was originally 

 simply a suitably big stone from a brook or river bed, used for 

 weighing articles usually sold in large quantities ; afterwards the 

 stone itself was replaced by weights, but the term was retained ; 

 even then the weight varied, e.g., the stone used for weighing 

 glass weighed five pounds, that for meat weighed eight pounds, 

 another weighed fourteen pounds, and that used for weighing 

 cheese was sixteen pounds, while the stone for hemp weighed 

 thirty-two pounds. Although some of these curious weights 

 and measures have been got rid of, and there are many others 



