JULY— SEPT. 1857.] 



for India. 



193 



already been stated that the " seer" weight varies in different lo- 

 calities, and to substitute a 77 J tola weight in these localities, 

 would not be more of an innovation, than substituting a " seer" of 

 eighty tolas. 



The " seer" of 77f tolas would be only 5 grains short of a 

 double pound, or two pounds avoirdupois ; that is, it would be 13995 

 grains, instead of 14000; which would only make a difference of 

 l*42lbs in the proposed new Ton of 20001bs, a difference within 

 the limits of error in weighing. It would be advisable perhaps, 

 to define the " seer" legally, as equivalent to two avoirdupois 

 pounds ; and it might at the same time be declared that a seer of 

 77f tolas weight would not be condemned as short. It is un- 

 doubtedly an advantage to have Weights which correspond with 

 the coins of the realm, but it never could be intended, that testing 

 by coins in use, should supersede testing by certified standards. 

 The assimilation to coin weight is desirable as a means of readily 

 checking irregularities, but in practice no one would be able by 

 coins, even if new, to state for certain whether a weight was 80 

 tolas, within 5 grains.* 1 The advantage therefore of a coinage equi- 

 valent would remain, if the " seer" weight were defined as two 

 pounds English. 



The only weak point in the adoption of this " seer," is that 

 its sub-multiples could not be so simply arranged as those of the 

 8,0 tola seer, which can so easily be resolved into 80 single tolas. 

 The 77| tolas could not be subdivided into single tolas, or even 

 into the favourite Native subdivision of 16ths, so as to give an even 

 number of tolas ; but this defect (and all systems that can be pro- 

 posed will have some) is more than counterbalanced by other ad- 

 vantages. 



I would propose that this " seer" be subdivided into 16ths, as 

 the present seer is. A division by 16 would be much more ac- 

 ceptable to the native community than a decimal one, and all clerks 



* The difference between 77| tolas, and 21bs., is only equivalent to 1-1 6th of a 

 grain in the rupee, an amount certainly too small to be taken into account when 

 testing weights by coin in circulation. 



