WEIGHT. 
these ought to be universally the same 
throughout the nation, the better to reduce 
the prices of articles to equivalent values. 
But as weight and measure arc things in 
their nature arbitrary and uncertain, it is 
necessary that they are reduced to some 
fixed rule or standard. It is, however, im- 
possible to fix such a standard by any writ- 
ten law or oral proclamation : as no person 
can, by words only, give to another an ade- 
quate idea of a pound weight, or foot rule. 
It is therefore expedient to have recourse 
to some visible, palpable, material standard, 
by forming a comparison with which all 
weights and measures may be reduced to 
one uniform size. Such a standard was an- 
ciently kept at Winchester ; and we find in 
the laws of King Edgar, nearly a century be- 
fore the conquest, an injunction that this 
measure should be observed throughout the 
realm. 
Most nations have regulated the standard 
of measures of length trora some parts of 
the human body : as the palm, the hand, 
the span, the foot, the cubit, the eU, (ulna 
or arm) the pace, and the fathom. But as 
these are of different dimensions in men of 
different proportions, ancient historians in- 
form ns, that a new standard of length was 
fixed by our King Henry the First; who 
commanded that the ulna, or ancient ell, 
which answers to the modern yard, should 
be made of the exact length of his own 
arm. See Measure. 
The standard of weights was originally 
taken from grains or corns of wheat, whence 
our lowest denomination of weights is still 
called a grain ; thirty-two of which are di- 
rected, by the statute called “ compositio 
mensurarnm,” to compose a penny-weight, 
twenty of which make an ounce, and twelve 
ounces a pound, &c. Under King Richard 
the First it was ordained, that there should 
be only one weightand one measure through- 
out the nation ; and that the custody of the 
assize, or standard of weights and mea- 
sures, should be committed to certain per- 
sons in every city and borough ; from whence 
the ancient office of the king’s ulnager seems 
to have been derived. These original stand- 
ards were called pondus regis, and mensura 
domini regis, and are directed by a variety 
of subsequent statutes to be kept in the ex- 
chequer chamber, by an officer called the 
clerk of the market, except the wine gallon, 
which is committed to the city of London, 
and kept in Guildhall. The Scottish stand- 
ards are distributed among the oldest bo- 
roughs. The elward is kept at Edinburgh, 
the pint at Stirling, the pound at Lanark, 
and the firlot at Linlithgow. 
The two principal weights, established in 
Great Britain, are troy weight and avoirdu- 
pois weight, as before mentioned. Under 
the head of the former it may further be 
added, that a carat is a weight of four 
grains ; but when the term is applied to 
gold, it denotes the degree of fineness. Any 
quantity of gold is supposed divided into 
tw’enty-four parts. If the whole mass is 
pure gold, it is said to be twenty-four ca- 
rats fine ; if there are twenty-three parts of 
pure gold, and one part of alloy or base 
metal, it is said to be twenty-three carats 
fine, and so on. Pure gold is too soft to 
be used for coin. The standard coin of this 
kingdom is 22 carats fine. A pound of 
standard gold is coined into 44^ guineas, 
and therefore every guinea should weigh 
5 dwts. 9|| grains. A pound of silver for 
coin contains 11 oz. 2 dwts. pure silver, 
and 18 dwts, alloy ; and standard silver 
plate 11 ounces pure silver, with one ounce 
alloy. A pound of standard silver is coined 
into 62 shillings, and therefore the weight 
of a shilling should be 3 dwts. 20|f grains. 
Under the words avoirdupoise and troy 
will be found an account of those weights ; 
here we may add a small table from Mr. 
Ferguson, which gives a more enlarged com- 
parison between these two weights. 
175 Troy pounds are equal to 144 avoirdu- 
pois pounds. 
175 Troy ounces are equal to 192 avoirdu- 
pois ounces. 
1 Troy pound contains 5760 grains. 
1 Avoirdupois pound contains 7000 grains. 
1 Avoirdupois ounce contains 4371 grains. 
1 Avoirdupois dram contains 27.34375 
grains. 
1 Troy pound contains 13 or. 2.651428575 
drams avoirdupois, 
1 Avoirdupois lb. contains 1 lb. 2 oz. 11 
dwts. 16 grs. troy. 
Therefore the avoirdupois lb. is to the lb. 
troy as 175 to 144, and the avoirdupois or. 
is to the troy or. as 437 1 is to 480. 
The moneyers, jewellers, &c. have a par- 
ticular class of weights for gold and preci- 
ous stones, viz. carat and grain ; and for 
silver, the penny- weight and grain. The 
moneyers have also a peculiar subdivision 
of the troy grain : thus, dividing 
The grain into 20 n\ites. 
The mite into 24 droits. 
The droit into 20 periots. 
The periot into 24 blanks. 
