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The  Grain  Weight. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\     October,  1894. 
Summary. — (i)  Accepting  that  the  standard  grain  weight  was 
created  from  grains  taken  from  the  middle  of  a  selected  head  of 
wheat,  it  is  shown  that  from  bulk  lots  of  wheat  that  appear  in  most 
of  the  markets  of  the  world,  an  average  of  the  heaviest  samples 
will  yield  a  grain  as  heavy  as  was  the  grain  of  the  original  standard. 
(2)  The  general  average  of  all  the  samples  is  below  the  standard 
grain  weight,  being  60-870,  when  it  should  be  75-000. 
(3)  With  two  exceptions  (England  and  New  Zealand),  white  wheat 
headed  the  list  as  far  as  size  of  grain  is  concerned. 
(4)  Warm  countries  seem  to  yield  the  largest  grain,  and  also  con- 
tributed the  greatest  proportion  of  white  wheat  according  to  these 
samples.  Thus,  India  furnished  but  one  specimen  of  red  wheat  out 
of  eight  considered,  and  supplied  three  specimens  to  head  the  list 
in  comparative  weight,  while  Russia  furnished  but  one  specimen  of 
white  wheat  (which,  however,  came  from  the  Baltic  Provinces)  out 
of  nine  samples,  and  averaged  last  in  the  list  (see  table  I) 
Standard  modern  dictionaries  and  other  authorities  inform  us  that 
the  grain  weight  was  established  in  England  600  years  ago,  from 
the  weight  of  carefully  selected  wheat  grains.    (Webster,  Pasley.) 
From  these  statements  an  inference  might  be  drawn,  as  though 
the  average  wheat  grain  should  equal  a  grain  in  weight.  Experi- 
ment shows,  however,  that  it  is  exceptional  for  a  grain  of  wheat  to 
weigh  as  much  as  a  grain. 
This  seeming  contradiction  is  readily  explained  by  the  historical 
fact,  viz.:  that  by  statute  of  King  Henry  III  (1266),  it  was  enacted 
that  32  grains  of  wheat,  from  the  middle  of  the  ear,  well  dried, 
should  weigh  a  pennyweight ;  and  that  in  1497,  by  statute  of  King 
Henry  VII,  this  standard  was  changed,  inasmuch  as  the  same  pen- 
nyweight was  then  subdivided  into  24  grains.  (See  Johnson's 
Cyclopaedia.) 
Thus,  until  1497,  32  average  grains  of  wheat  weighed  32  grains, 
providing  grain-weights  were  then  employed ;  but  after  the  enact- 
ment of  Henry  VII,  the  32  grains  of  wheat  weighed  but  24  recon- 
structed grains.  Since  then  the  grain  standard,  so  far  as  I  can 
determine,  has  suffered  no  further  change;  100  average  grains  of 
wheat  should  therefore  weigh  75  grains. 
In  comparing  with  one  another  the  weights  of  forty-two  separate 
lots,  each  of  100  grains,  from  specimens  of  wheat  from  different 
countries  (Australia,  England,  India,  Russia,  South  America,  United 
