London:Measures

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|valign="top"|1 mile |valign="top"|1 mile
|valign="top"|= |valign="top"|=
-|valign="top"|8 furlongs = 320 poles = 880 fathoms = 1056 paces = 1408 ells = 1760 yards = 3520 cubits = 5280 feet = 1609.34717 m.+|valign="top"|8 furlongs = 320 poles = 880 fathoms = 1056 paces = 1408 ells = 1760 yards = 3520 cubits = 5280 feet = 1609.347 m.
|- |-
|valign="top"|1 league |valign="top"|1 league

Revision as of 14:41, 10 July 2006

1 foot = 1 1/3 span = 3 hands = 4 palms = 12'' [inches] = 120''' [lines] = 30.48006 cm (exact U.S. survey measure)/ regular modern equivalent: 30.48 cm.
1 mile = 8 furlongs = 320 poles = 880 fathoms = 1056 paces = 1408 ells = 1760 yards = 3520 cubits = 5280 feet = 1609.347 m.
1 league = 3 miles = 4.828 km.
1 wine gallon (1706) = 4 quarts = 8 pints = 231 cubic inches, i.e. 3.785 liters
1 hogshead = 63 wine gallons = 238.455 liters
1 quarter (dry quantities, 1696) = 2 combs = 4 strickes = 8 bushels = 32 pecks = 64 gallons = 128 pottles = 256 quarts = 516 pints = 281.9 dm³
1 pound [medical] = 12 ounces = 240 pennyweight = 373.24 g. [used for noble metals, and medicine]


The wine gallon, which some sources relate to the volume occupied by eight medieval merchant pounds of wine, was at one time defined as the volume of a cylinder six inches deep and seven inches in diameter, i.e. 6·3½²·π = 230.90706 in³. It had been redefined during the reign of Queen Anne, in 1706, as 231 in³ exactly (3 × 7 × 11 in³), which is the result of the earlier definition with π approximated to 227. Although the wine gallon had been used for centuries for import duty purposes there was no legal standard of it in the Exchequer and a smaller gallon (224 in³) was actually in use, so this statute became necessary. It remains the U.S. definition today.

The original ratio between corn and wine gallon is 9¼²:6·3½² = 1369:1176, but 268.8:231 is exactly 64:55 or ca. 13:11. This approximation is still applicable, although the ratio of 1.164 115 646 slightly changed to 1.163 647 186 with current definitions (268.8025:231 = 107521:92400 ~= 1344:1165).




Weights and Measures, 1650-1750