The ftatute of Magna Charta, cap. 25, ordains, that there fhall be but one measure throughout England, according to the standard of the Exchequer. By 17 Car. I. cap. 19, there is to be one weight and measure, and one yard; and whofoever fhall keep any other weight or measure, whereby any thing is bought or fold, fhall forfeit for every offence 5s. And by 22 Car. II. cap. 8, water measure, as to corn and grain, or falt, is declared to be within the ftatute 17 Car. I. And if any fell grain or falt, &c. by any other bufhel, or measure, than what is agreeable to the ftandard in the Exchequer, commonly called Winchester measure, he shall forfeit 40s. &c. Notwithftanding these ftatutes, in many parts of the kingdom there are different measures of corn and grain; and the bufhel in one place is larger than in another: but the lawfulness of it is not well to be accounted for, fince cuftom or prefcription is not allowed to be good against a statute. Selling by false measure being an offence by com. mon law, may be punished by fine, &c. upon an indictment at common law, as well as by ftatute. Measures are various, according to the various kinds and dimenfions of the things measured. Hence arife Measures, lineal or longitudinal, for lines or lengths; measures, fquare, for areas or fuperfices; and measures, folid or cubic, for bodies and their capacities. All which again are very different in different countries, and in different ages, and even many of them for different commodities. Cyclopædia. Scales and measures are faid to have been invented by Phidon 869 years before the birth of our Saviour. Chron. Tab. Ency. Brit. Phidon was king of Argos, an ancient kingdom in Greece, and brother to Caranus the first king of the Macedonians. An author, cited by Eufebius, attributes to this Phidon the invention of weights and measures. Dict. de Moreri. TABLES By this weight are weighed all coarfe and heavy goods, as pitch, tar, rofin, tallow, &c. copper, tin, &c. flesh, butter, &c. and alfo bread by 31 GEO. II. and all grocery wares: and Dr. Ward fuppofes, that, from this ufe of it, it was first introduced; as it was cuftomary to allow larger weight of fuch goods than the law had exprefsly enjoined; and this, he fays, happened to be about a fixth part more. N. R. An avoirdupois pound contains Ib. 2oz. 11dwts. 16 grs. troy. 5 quarters.. 6 quarters.. Measure. I nail 1 ell Flemish I ell English 1 ell French The yard is ufed in measuring all forts of woollen cloths, wrought filks, most linens, tapes, &c. The ell English is employed in measuring fome particular linens, called hollands; and the ell Flemish in measuring tapestry. LONG Measure. 3 barley corns in length make 4 inches.. 12 inches.. 3 feet..... 6 feet.. 5 yards.. 40 poles 8 furlongs 3 miles. 60 geographical miles, or 69 ftatute miles } I inch I hand's-bread th I foot 1 yard Jfathom I pole 1 furlong I mile I league 1 degree 360 degrees the circumference of the earth Long measure is ufed to measure the diftance of places, or any thing else where length is confidered without re gard to breadth. TIME. 60 feconds make. 52 weeks, 1 day. 12 calendar months. I minute I hour 1 day I week 1 month 1 year 1 year 13 lunar months, 1 day.. 1 year N. B. The calendar months, by which we reckon time, are unequally of 30 or 31 days, excepting February, which is of 28, and in leap-year of 29 days. The addition of a day in the month of February is made every fourth year, to recover the fix hours which the fua fpends in his courfe each year, beyond the 365 days ordinarily allowed for it. Cyclop. Art. Biffxtile. The year, in which the above-mentioned intercalation takes place, is called leap-year, becaufe a day of the week is miffed; as, if on one year the first of March be on Monday, it will on the next year be on Tuesday, but on leapyear it will leap to Wednesday. A lunar month contains 28 days, being the time which the moon takes in revolving round the earth. A folar month is the space of time in which the fun paffes through a fign of the zodiack. A folar year, according to the ufual computation, contains 365 days 6 hours: but the exact time, in which the earth performs its annual revolution round the fun, is 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 45 feconds. I quart I gallon I firkin of ale I firkin of beer I kilderkin I barrel A peck loaf weighs. I hogshead I butt A half peck loaf... A quartern loaf.... N. B. 48 gallons of ale, or $4 gallons of beer, make an hogshead. N. B. Avoirdupois. PRAC |