French Weights and Measures.
The toise is commonly used in France for military purposes, and is divided into 6 feet: each foot 12 inches; each inch 12 lines; each line 12 points. The pace is usually reckoned at 2¹⁄₂ feet.
Poids de Marc, ou de Paris.
| 24 | Grains | make | 1 | Den’r. |
| 3 | Den’rs. | —— | 1 | Gros. |
| 8 | Gros | —— | 1 | Ounce. |
| 8 | Ounces | —— | 1 | Marc. |
| 2 | Marcs | —— | 1 | Pound. |
The French have lately formed an entire new system of weights and measures: the following short account of them, and their proportion to the old weights and measures of France, and those of English standard, is extracted from Nicholson’s Natural Philosophy.
| Proportions of the measures of each species to its principal measure or unity. | First part of the name which indicates the proportion to the principal measure or unity. | PRINCIPAL MEASURES, OR UNITIES. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Length. | Capacity. | Weight. | Agrarian. | For Firewood. | |||||
| 10,000 | Myria | - | Metre. | Litre. | Gramme. | Are. | Stere. | ||
| 1,000 | Kilo | ||||||||
| 100 | Hecto | ||||||||
| 10 | Deca | ||||||||
| 0 | —— | ||||||||
| 0 | .1 | Deci | |||||||
| 0 | .01 | Centi | |||||||
| 0 | .001 | Milli | |||||||
| Proportion of the principal measures between themselves, and the length of the Meridian. | 10,000,000th part of the dist. from the Pole to the Equator. | A Decimetre cube. | Weight of a centimetre cube of distilled Water. | 100 square metres. | One cubic metre. | ||||
| Value of the principal measures in the ancient French measures. | 3 feet 11 lines and ¹⁄₂ nearly. | 1 pint and ¹⁄₂₀ or 1 litron and ¹⁄₄ nearly. | 18 grains and 841,000 parts. | Two square perches des eaux et foret. | 1 demi voie or ¹⁄₄ of a cord des eaux et foret. | ||||
| Value in English measures. | Inches 39·383. | 61.083 inch, which is more than the wine and less than the beer quart. | 22·966 grains. | 11·968 square yards. | |||||
By the new metrical system of the French, the geometrical circle used in astronomical, geographical, and topographical calculations, is divided instead of 360, into 400 equal parts, which are called grades: each grade is divided into 100 equal parts which are called minutes of grades: and each minute into 100 seconds, of grades. The proportion of the new to the old degree is 0.9; and the next proportion or minute is 54′ of the old division; and the new second is 32″.4 of the ancient.
Reduction of the old French Weights and measures to English; and the contrary.
| 1st. To reduce English Avoirdupois to Paris weight: | ||||||
| The avoirdupois pound of 16 ounces, or 7000 troy grains | = | 8538 | - | Paris grains | ||
| The ounce | = | 533.6250 | ||||
| 2d. To reduce Paris running feet or inches into English, multiply by | - | 1.065977 | ||||
| —— English running feet or inches into Paris divide by | ||||||
| 3d. To reduce Paris cubic feet or inches into English, multiply by | - | 1.211278 | ||||
| —— English cubic feet or inches into Paris, divide by | ||||||
| 4th. To reduce the Paris pint to the English, multiply by | - | 2.0171082 | ||||
| —— To reduce the English pint to the Paris, divide by | ||||||
German Measures. The Rhinland rood is the measure commonly used in Germany and Holland, and in most of the northern states, for all military purposes.