[144] Unciæ pollicis.
[145] Some of the MSS. record, in a note or appendix written by a later hand, that king Alfred died on the 26th of October, a.d. 900, in the thirtieth of his reign. "The different dates assigned to the death of Alfred," says Sir Francis Palgrave, "afford a singular proof of the uncertainty arising from various modes of computation. The Saxon Chronicle and Florence of Worcester agree in placing the event in 901. The first 'six nights before All Saints;' the last, with more precision, 'Indictione quarta, et Feria quarta, 5 Cal. Nov.' Simon of Durham, in 889, and the Saxon Chronicle, in another passage, in 900. The concurrents of Florence of Worcester seem to afford the greatest certainty, and the date of 901 has therefore been preferred."