190  New  System  of  Weights  and  Measures.  {AmApm;f89oarm- 
grains,  thus  making  its  minim  5-33  per  cent,  short  in  weight  of  a 
grain.  The  British  Pharmacopoeia  has  made  the  weight  of  its  fluid 
ounce,  in  distilled  water,  at  a  standard  temperature  and  pressure, 
437-5  grains,  thus  making  its  minim  9-71  per  cent,  short  in  weight 
of  a  grain. 
It  is  to  be  regretted  that  these  two  authorities  of  English  speaking 
pharmacists  have  not  agreed  upon  a  uniform  standard,  both  for 
solids  and  liquids,  and,  it  is  doubly  to  be  regretted  that  in  neither 
of  their  systems  does  the  lowest  volume,  in  distilled  water  under 
standard  physical  conditions,  weigh  the  lowest  weight.  If  such  a 
relationship  was  established  between  minim  and  grain,  it  would 
hasten  the  adoption  of  the  metric  system,  because  that  peculiar 
relationship  is  one  of  its  vital  features,  and  if  a  further  advance  was 
made  and  percentage  formulas  adopted,  there  would  be  nothing 
whatever  to  prevent  our  "  foreign  cousins,"  here  resident,  from  using 
the  gram  and  the  cc,  by  substituting  them  in  the  formulas  for  the 
troy  ounce  and  the  fluid  ounce,  whilst  Americans  could  have  all  that 
they  have  ever  had.  For  instance,  if  a  tincture,  wine,  spirit,  or  liquor 
was  made  by  the  one  method,  we  could  have  10  troy  ounces  of  drug 
represented  in  100  fluid  ounces  (new  standard)  of  liquid,  or  10  per 
cent,  by  volume;  or,  if  made  by  the  other,  100  grams  in  1,000  cc, 
or  10  per  cent,  by  volume. 
In  short,  the  writer  would  advocate  (1)  The  use  of  weights,  grains 
and  troy  ounces  for  solids,  and  measures,  minims  and  fluid  ounces  for 
liquids ;  each  minim  in  distilled  water  at  its  maximum  density,  etc., 
to  weigh  exactly  one  grain  and  each  fluid  ounce  480  grains.  (2) 
The  use  of  a  percentage  plan  in  the  framing  of  formulas. 
The  changes  from  the  present  order  of  things  would  then  be  these  : 
Our  solids  would  be  weighed  by  the  old  grain  and  the  old  troy  ounce, 
but  our  liquids  would  be  measured  by  a  new  minim  and  a  new  fluid 
ounce,  which  latter  would  each  be  5-33  per  cent,  greater  in  volume 
than  before,  and  liquid  preparations  made  with  them,  therefore,  would 
be  5-33  per  cent,  weaker  in  strength  of  drug,  with  the  exception  of 
fluid  extracts.  These,  since  each  cubic  centimeter  is  now  made  to  rep- 
resent I  gram  of  the  drug,  or  100  per  cent,  by  volume,  would  remain 
unchanged  in  strength.  For  example,  if  each  fluid  ounce  (new 
standard)  was  made  to  represent  one  troy  ounce  of  the  drug,  it 
would  indicate  100  per  cent,  by  volume  just  the  same. 
So,  in  thus  reducing  the  strength  of  liquid  preparations  uni- 
