No. 43. — 1892.] WEIGHTS AND measures. 



173 



5. The following Paper was read by the author : — 

 SINHALESE WEIGHTS AND MEASURES* 



By Frank Modder. 



The Sinhalese were not very advanced in their acquain- 

 tance with mathematics, and the extent of their knowledge of 

 arithmetic was limited. In consequence they borrowed 

 largely from India to supply these deficiencies, and their 

 weights and measures are of Indian origin.! 



The first attempt by the British towards establishing 

 weights and measures according to a fixed standard was made 

 in 1816, when by Regulation No. 3 of that year the metal 

 standard parrah employed by the Dutch was adopted in its 

 several proportions and subdivisions as the legal standard 

 measure. By Regulation No. 19 of 1822 the standard weight 

 for weighing all goods whatsoever was declared to be the 

 English pound avoirdupois, for liquids the English wine 

 gallon, for lineal measurement the English foot of 12 inches, 

 and their multiples and subdivisions. The provisions of 

 this enactment were suspended by Regulation No. 1 of 1823. 

 By Ordinance No. 2 of 1836 the Imperial standard troy 

 pound containing 5,760 grains troy, and 7,000 such grains 

 were declared equal to a pound avoirdupois ; the Imperial 

 standard yard and the Imperial standard gallon, with their 

 multiples and subdivisions, were established as the standard 

 measures of weight of extension, whether lineal, superficial, or 

 solid, and of capacity, from which all other measures were to 

 be derived and computed. Ordinance No. 8 of 1876, which is 



* My special thanks are due to Mr. H. M. Ekanayaka, Principal of the 

 Kurunegala Buddhist School, for the invaluable aid he has rendered me in 

 the preparation of this Paper. With his superior knowledge of Sinhalese 

 literature he was able to refer me to many of the standard authorities I 

 have quoted, while his vast experience was the means of supplying - me 

 with information which I could not gather from any books. My sincere 

 thanks I offer to Mudaliyar S. H. Jayawickreme and to Kotuwewatta 

 Sonuthera Unnanse, for whose kind assistance and valuable suggestions 

 with regard to this Paper I am greatly indebted. 



f Davy's Ceylon, p. 242. 



