408 
ENGLISH WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 
foundation of this confusion, as mentioned in the Pharmacopoeia Reformata of 174-4 
and in Dr. Christison's Dispensatory of 1848,—that is to say, the two systems of 
pounds and ounces,-—still remained. 
What should have been done, it will be asked, to suppress these sources of error ? 
We answer, either to have taken the avoirdupois pound as originally established, 
with its subdivisions of 1G ounces, 128 drams, 384 scruples, and ( J21G grains, and to 
have regulated both weights and measures by this scale,—or, as we think would 
have been preferable, to have resolutely abolished the avoirdupois weights, and to have 
demanded for Great Britain either a single pound of 12 ounces troy, or a single 
pound of 1G ounces troy. There would then have been for all but one pound, one 
dram, one grain ; and the pound-measure divided as the pound-weight, would not 
given rise to the use in the same shop of two ounces, two drams, etc., of different 
values. 
Instead of this, what have the authors of the British Pharmacopoeia of 1864 
done ? They have, in the first place, admitted the impossibility of any alteration of 
the imperial pint and its subdivisions, as laid down by the Order in Council of 
1836 :—and then they have adopted as the medicinal pound, the avoirdupois pound 
of 7000 grains troy. But not being able to divide this pound into ounces, drams, 
and scruples, contfAiing exact numbers of grains, they have wished to be able to 
suppress the three intermediate denominations and to set up a ponderal system 
composed only of a pound and grains. But recoiling doubtless before the prac¬ 
tical impossibility of such an attempt, they have admitted an ounce of 437*5 grains. 
They have however suppressed in their scale of weights (though not in that of 
measures), the dram and the scruple, for a reason which ought to have caused the 
disappearance of the ounce likewise,—that is, because it is impossible for these 
unities to be at once exact multiples of the grain and integral parts of the pound. 
Even with this forced acceptation of the ounce, we find in the British Pharma¬ 
copoeia such formulas as these : 
Page 256. Infusion of Linseed. 
Take of 
Linseed.1G0 grains. 
Eresh Liquorice Root .... GO „ 
Boiling Distilled Water ... 10 fluid ounces. 
Page 291. Mucilage of Tragacanth. 
Take of 
Tragacanth.100 grains. 
Boiling Distilled Water ... 10 fluid ounces. 
Page 2G0. Compound Tincture of Lavender. 
Take of 
Oil of Lavender. 1| fluid drams. 
„ Rosemary.10 minims. 
Cinnamon.150 grains. 
Nutmeg.150 „ 
Red Sandal-wood. 300 „ 
Rectified Spirit. 2 pints. 
Page 237. Citrate of Iron and Quinia. 
Take of 
Solution of Persulphate of Iron . 3 fluid ounces. 
Sulphate of Iron. 1 ounce. 
Solution of Soda.3G fluid ounces. 
Citric Acid. 2£ ounces. 
Sulphate of Quinia. 380 grains, etc. etc. 
Attempt now, to weigh 1G0 grains of Linseed, 60 grains of Liquorice, 100 grains 
of Tragacanth, 1G0 grains of Cinnamon, 300 grains of Red Sandal-wood, and 380 
grains of Sulphate of Quinine, without using weights which are multiples of the 
