Elementary arithmetic, with brief notices of its history... by Robert Potts.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 15
of custom with respect to the' contents of a measuro of a certain
denomination as with respect to the signification of a word of any
other nature; and even the terms of numbers, precise as they
necessarily are in their strict meaning, have become liable to perpetua[
variations, according to the objects to which they are applied; and
these variations, however inconvenient they may appear upon a
general view of the subject, have been repeatedly sanctioned by their
adoption in the Acts of the legislature." The Commissioners also
observe, "With respect to the actual magnitude of the standards of
length, there did not appear to be any sufficient reason for altering
those which were in general use." They further remark that " there
is no practical adcvantage in having a quantity commensurable to any
original quantity existing, or which may be imagined to exist in
nature, except as affording some little encouragement to its common
adoption by neighbouring nations. But it is scarcely possible that the
departure from a standard once universally established in a great country,,should not produce mnuch more lacbour and inconvenience in its internal
relations, than ever it could even be expected to save in the operations of
foreign commerce and correspondence. The subdivision of weights and
measures, at present employed in this country, appears to be far more
convenient for practical purposes than the decimal scale, which might
perhaps be performed by some persons for making calculations
with quantities already determined. But the power of expressing
a third, a fourth, and a sixth of a foot in inches, without a fraction,
is a peculiar advantage in the duodecimal scale; and for the operations
of weighing and measuring capacities, the continual division by two
renders it practicable to make up any given quantity with the smallest
number of standard weights and measures, and is far preferable in
this respect to any decimal scale."
In the appendix to the second report, made in 1820, is an account
of the variations of weights and measures then in use in different
parts of the kingdom. A few of them are noted. The pound Avoirdupois of 16 ounces was found in some places to be reckoned at 24
ounces. It is noted that in the time of 31 Edward I., the stone was
reckoned to be one-eighth of 100 pounds, or 12~ pounds. In later times
the stone was reckoned at 8 pounds in some places, in others 14 or
16. A hundredweight was originally 100 pounds, but the meaning of
the word hundred had varied in its use. At one time it meant 108
pounds, and at length became fixed to 112.
In reckoning articles of nierchandise, a score numerically meant
twenty articles, so that 5 score made 100. In some articles of commerce 6 score is reckoned to the hundred, which has been named "a
long hundred." And. "a great hundred" contained 24 long hundreds
of 120 each. The word dozen was the same as 12, but in some articles
of commerce 13 were taken to the dozen. Twelve dozen was called
the small gross, and the great gross consisted of 12 small gross.
The oldest measure for wine is a gallon preserved in the Guildhall,
London, and said to contain 224 cubic inches; in 1818 its exact
capacity was 224-4 cubic inches. The Exchequer wine gallon, dated
1707, was found to contain 133-4 ounces, answering to 230-9 cubic
inches; while the measurement of 1758 made it 231-2 cubic inches.
A duplicate of this measure, and of the same date, was preserved at
the Guildhall, London.
The ale gallon containedl 41- per cent. more than the corn gallon.