ON THE WEIGHTS AND MEASURES USED IN PHARMACY". 223 
would much regret the loss of the avoirdupois dram, or the troy pound, but 
no one is willing to part with the avoirdupois pound or the troy grain. So the 
two systems are pitted against one another; compromise is found impracticable, 
—the contest is a struggle for existence, a war of extermination which must 
end in the annihilation of one or both of the competitors. 
It is not likely that a scruple of 18 grains and a fraction, or a dram of 54 
grains and a fraction, would ever be willingly tolerated ; but had the grain been 
raised to exactly the of the new scruple, it would have been quite satisfactory 
for practical purposes. The new grain would be 1’01259 troy grains, and the 
addition of the fraction 0-01259 would be of no importance medicinally, though 
it would still have the objection of interfering with the certainty and accuracy 
which are pre-eminently important in scientific matters ; e. g. if the 1000 
grains sp. gr. bottle was constructed for one kind of grain and used with the 
other, its indications of course would be worthless. 
The table, if constructed upon this plan, would stand thus :— 
Tew grains. Troy grains. 
T = 1-01259 
18 grains = 1 scruple = 18 = 18-229 
3 9 =1 dram = 54 = 54-687 
85 =1 ounce = 432 = 437-5 
16 * =1 pound - 6912 = 7000-0 
This is probably the nearest approach to an amalgamation of the two systems 
which could be accomplished. It is not in reality an amalgamation, for the 
troy is totally sacrificed ; the only indication of it being the grain, which is al¬ 
tered. The apothecaries’ weight is also represented only in name, the scruple 
and dram being changed from their present English to their present Irish 
value; ambiguity in the value of these latter weights is less important than in 
the case of the grain, because of their not being used in occasions where scien¬ 
tific accuracy is important. The objection to the ambiguity of the grain is re¬ 
duced, in consequence of there being only an error of 0-012 instead of 0-089, 
or -f of the amount of deviation from the present standard. Even this is only 
to be tolerated as being a. less evil than the alteration of the ounce and all the 
weights above it. As a further protection against error when either grain was 
used for scientific purposes, the old one should be marked troy and the new one 
“ transition grain.” 
This table cannot be said to look very promising in appearance, yet it is not 
without its merits. For example, though 7000 is a much more attractive-look¬ 
ing number than 6912, it is not any better for practical purposes, but on the 
contrary, does not divide so usefully : the latter number divides without frac¬ 
tions by 2, 4, 8, 3, 6, and 9 ; while the former divides by 2, 4, and 8 ; but not 
by 3, 6, and 9,—to set against which 7000 is divisible by 4, an d 10, which is 
not the case with 6912 ; the convenience of being able to take a third and sixth, 
more than compensates for the loss of divisibility by 5 and 10. If we look to 
the division by higher numbers, the superiority of 6912 will be still more evi¬ 
dent, which, however, will be best shown by taking the ounce ; in one case it 
contains a fraction of a grain, and of course any fraction of it must do the 
same, adding however complexity at every step. On the other hand, 432 can 
be divided into a great number of useful fractions without involving fractions 
of a grain ; thus it is divisible by 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 12, 16,18, 24, 36, 48, 72, 144, 
etc. 
The dram of 54 grains, of course, has great advantages over the avoirdupois 
dram of 27 grains and a fraction, though it does not in the abstract possess any 
advantage, or scarcely an equality, with the apothecaries’ dram consisting of 60 
troy grains; thus, 54 is divisible by 2, 3, 6, 9, and 18, while 60 is divisible by 
