MEA
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MEA
Cubic Meajhtes, or Meafures of Capacity for Things Liquid.
Englijh Liquid Meafures, were originally raifed from Troy-Weight ; it being enafled by feveral Statutes, That eight Pound Troy of Wheat, gather'd from the middle of the Eat, and well dried, mould weigh a Gallon, of Wine- Meafure ; the Divifions and Multiples whereof were to form the other Meafures : At the fame time it was or- der'd, That there ihould be but one Liquid Meafure in the Kingdom: yet Cuftom has prevailed, and there having been introduced a new Weighr, viz, the Avoirdupois, we have now a fecond Standard Gallon adjufted thereto, and therefore exceeding the former, in the proportion of the Avoirdupois Weight to Troy Weight. From this latter Standard are raifed two feveral Meafures, the one for Ale, the other for Beer. The fealed Gallon at Guildhall, which is the Standard for Wines, Spirits, Oils, He. is fuppofed to contain 231 Cubic Inches ; on which Supposition, the o- ther Meafures raifed therefrom, will contain as in the fol- lowing Tables ; yet, by actual Experiment made in 1S88, before the Lord Mayor and the Commiffioners of Excife, it was only found to contain 224 Cubic Inches: It was however agreed to continue the common fuppofed Con- tents of 231 Cubic Inches; fo that all Computations ftand on their old footing. Hence, as 12 is to 231,. fo is 14U to 281J, the Cubic Inches in the Ale Gallon: but in effect the Ale Quart contains 7ci Cubic Inches; on which principle, the Ale and Beer Gallon will be 282 Cubic Inches. The feveral Divifions and Multiples of thefe "Meafures, and their Proportions, are exhibired in the Ta- bles underneath.
French Meafures. At Tarts, and in a great part of the Kingdom, the Meafures, to begin with the fmalleft, are, the Poffon, which contains fix Cubic Inches ; two Pof- fons male the Demi-feptier ; two Demi-feptiers, the Septier or Chopine ; two Chopines, a Pint; two Pints, the Quart or Pot ; four Quarts, the Gallon, or Septier of Eftimation ; and thirty-fix Septiers, the Muid, whicii is fub-divided into two Demi-Muids, four Quarter-Muids, and eight Half-Quatter-Muids. See Moid, Septier, Quart, Chopine, £-?c. From the Quart are like- wife raifed the Meafures ufed in other Parts, as the Queue ufed in Orleans, Blois, l$c. containing a Paris Muid and a half, or 420 Pints ; the Tun ufed at Bayonne and Bourdeaiix, confifting of four Bariques, and equal to three Taris Muids ; at Orleans, to two : fo that the firft Tun contains 864 Pints, and the fecond 575. See Tun. The Demi-Queue, ufed in Champagne, 96 Quarts ; the Pipe, ufed in Arijou and Poitlou, containing two Buffards, equal to two Demi-Queues of Orleans, ££jc. or a Muid and a half of Paris, or 432 Pints. See Pipe. The Millerolle ufed in Provence, containing 66 Paris Pints; and the Poin- eon ufed at Nantes, in Touraine and the BleJJois, equal to half the Orleans Tun. The Poincon ufed at Paris, is the fame with the Demi-Queue. See Queue.
Dutch Liquid Meajures. At Jmjlerdam, their Meafures, to begin with the Diminutions, are, Mingles, Mingeebles, or Bottles, equal to French Quarts, and containing two Pounds, four Ounces, Marc, of an ordinary Liquor. The Mingle is divided into two Pints, four half Pints, eight Muflies, fixteen half Muffles, ci?c. Seven hundred and feventy Mingles make their Tun. The Viertel, or Verge, confifts of five Mingles, and one Sixth of a Mingle. The Wine Viertel is juft fix Mingles. The Stekan, or Ste- kamen, contains fixteen Mingles. The Anker contains two Stekans ; and four Ankers, the Aem. For Oils they ufe the Tun, which contains fix Acms, or Ams ; equal to l6"GC Paris Pints. See Tun.
Spanijh Liquid Meafures, are the Botte, containing be- tween thirty-fix and thirty-feven Dutch Steekans, holding about a thoufand Weight. The Botte confifts of thirty Robes, each weighing twenty-eight Pounds. Each Robe is again divided into eight Sommes, and the Somme into
four Quarts. The Pipe confifts of eighteen Robes.
PonugueJ'e Liquid Meajures, are Bottes, Almudes, Cava, das, Quatas ; and for Oil, AlguierS or Cantars. The Por- tugueje Botte, is fotnewhat fmaller than the Sfanijbj the latter being equal to thirty-fix or thirty-feven Steekans, and the former only to twenty-five or twenty-fix. The Quatas is one Fourth of the Cavadas. The Cavadas, or Cavado, is the fame with the Dutch Mingle. Six Cava- vadas make an A'quier, and two Alquiers one Almude, or Almoud ; twenty-fin Almouds, a Botte,
Italian Liquid Meajures. At Rome are the Boccale, or Bottle, containing a little more than a Pans Pint. Seven Boccales and a half make the Rublra, and thirteen Rub- bia and a half, the Brante ; fo that the Brante contains
ninety-fix Boccales At Florence, the Staro or Staioj-
containing three Barrils, and the Barril twenty Fiafco's or
Flasks, nearly equal to Paris Pints. At Verona, they ufe
the Baffee, fixteen wheteof make a Brente ; the Brente contains ninety-fix Boccales, or thirteen Rubbias and a
half. At Venice, the Amphora, containing two Bottes ;
the Botte, four Bigots ; the Bigot, or Bigour.four Quarts ; the Quart, four Tifchaufferas. The Venetian Botte is a- gain divided into Mullaches, feventy-lix whereof make
the Amphora. At Ferrara, the Maflilly, containing
eight Sechys. In IJlria, Sechys ; fix whereof make
the Urna. In Calabria, and the Pouille, Pignatoli's,
equal to French Pints ; thirty-two Pignatoli's make the Staro, or Staio ; and ten Stato's, the Salma.
German Liquid Meafures. The Feeder is ufed almoft throughout all Germany, but with fome difference in its Length, as well as its Sub-divifions. The Feoder is fup- pofed the Load of a Waggon with two Horfes. Two Feoders and a half make the Reoder ; fix Ames, the Feoder; twenty Fertels, the A me; and four Maffems, or Mafles, the Fertel : fo that the Roder contains 1200 Maffes, the Feoder 480, the Ame 80, and the Fertel 41,
At Nuremberg, the Divifion of the Feoder, is into
twelve Heemers, and the Heemer into fixty-four Maffes.
At Vienna, they divide the Feoder into thirty-two
Heemers, the Heemer into thirty-two Achtelings, and the Achteling into four Sciltins. The Ame, there, is eighty Maffes; the Fertel, call'd alfo Schreve, four Maffes ;
and the Driolinck twenty-four Heemers. Ar Jusbourg,
the Feoder is divided into eight Jez ; the Je into two Muids, or twelve Befons ; the Befon into eight Maffes which makes 7J8 Maffes in the Feoder, as in that of Nu.
remherg. At Heidelberg, the Feoder is divided into ten
Ames ; the Ame into twelve Vertels; and the Vertel into
four Maffes. In Wirtemberg, the Feoder is divided
into fix Ames ; the Ame into fixteen lunes; the Yune into ten Maffes.
Liquid Meafures on the Coqjis of Barbary. At Tripoli, !gc. they ufe the Rotolo, or Rotoli ; thirty-two whereof make
the Matuli. At Tunis, torty-two of the Rotoli of
Tripoli, make a Matara, or Mataro ; and the other Places
on the fameCoaft ufe nearly the fame Meafures.-
It may be here obferved, that molt, if not all the E.ijiern Nations, with whom the Europeans traffic, have nor any fuch thing as Meafures of Capacity, whether for Things li- quid or dry ; but that they fell every thing, even Liqiors, by the Weight. We may, however, rank among the Number of Liquid Meafures, the Cocoa and Canan ofSiam. The firft are the Cocoa- /hells cleared of their Kernel. And fince thefe are not all of the fame Capacity, they meafure them with Cauris, or little Shells found in the Maldives; which alfo fcrve for Money in fome States of the Indies. Some Cocoa's hold a thoufand Cauris, and fome only five hundred. Above the Cocoa's is the Canan, a little Meafure ufed in the fame Country, and called by the Portuguefe, Choup ; holding about a Paris Quart.
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Englifh
