Over Proof (O.P.)—each degree means 1 per cent. of water required to be added to bring the spirit down to proof.

The scale of Tralles’s alcoholometer only differs from Gay-Lussac’s by water being taken at 39·2° and pure alcohol as of sp. gr. 7939 at 60°.

AlcoholSykes°Baumé°
Sp. Gr.Vol. per cent.(Excise)(French)
1·000 0 100 U.P.10
0·920 57·05 Proof22
0·848 85·2 49·6 O.P.36Fr. Rect. Spirit Troix-six.
0·838 88·8 55·8 „38·2Rect. Spirit, Brit. Pharm.
0·821 93·75 64·3 „41·8Strongest Rect. Spirit.
0·794 100 48Absolute Alcohol.

The approximate relation of the five usual scales for proof and French rectified spirit are as follows:

Proof 0·920Fr. Rect. Sp. 0·848
Gay-Lussac 58° 86°
Tralles 56·3° 85°
Cartier 21·6° 34°
Baumé 22·6° 36° Trois-six
Sykes Proof 49·6°

Compound Industrial Units

Units of Power, of Electricity, of Caloric, &c., are abstract compound units based on units of time, weight, length, &c., combined for industrial convenience, e.g. a certain weight moved a certain distance in a certain time.

The H.P., engine horse-power, is 550 lb. raised one foot in one second. In France this becomes 75·9 kilos, raised one metre in one second, = about 3/4 of the kilo-watt unit of electric power.


[43]. Normal body-temperature is taken in France as 37° C. In Germany it is taken as 29·3° Réaumur = 97·9° F.