A cubit was a Roman measure of length, supposed to equal the length of the fore-arm from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. It was 11⁄2 Roman feet (171⁄2 English inches). The English cubit is 11⁄2 English feet. The cubit of Scripture is generally estimated at twenty two inches. It is a big job to count a trillion. Had Adam counted continuously from his creation to the present day, he would not have reached that number, for it would take him over 9,512 years. At the rate of 200 a minute, there could be counted 12,000 an hour, 288,000 a day, and 105,120,000 a year. It The scudo (Ital., “shield"), is an Italian silver coin corresponding to the Spanish piastre, the American dollar and the English crown. was so called from its bearing the heraldic shield of the prince by whose authority it was struck, and differed slightly in value in the different states of Italy, the usual value being about one dollar. The tael is a money of account in China, and is equivalent to 1 tael weight of pure silver, or to about twelve hundred and fifty of the copper coin known as "cash." The value of the Haikwan tael or customs tael is 4s. 9d., about $1.14, varying with the price of silver. In 1890 it was superseded by the new dollar, equal in value to our dollar. Gunter's chain is a chain used for land measuring. It is twenty-two yards long, the square of which is 484. Now an acre is 4,840 square yards, and therefore a square chain is a tenth of an acre, or 10=1 acre. Again a chain contains 10,000 square links, and as 10 chains: = an acre, it follows that 100,000 square links an acre. So that, in measuring a field by a Gunter's chain, all that is required is to divide the result by 100,000, or (which is the same thing) to cut off the last five figures, to obtain the area in acres. The real is a silver coin and money of account in Spain, Mexico and other old Spanish possessions, and is the oth part of the piastre, or th of the peseta, the franc of the new Spanish decimal system, and has a value, varying with the exchange, of about five cents. The real was first coined in Spain in 1497. It is also a money of account in Portugal, being the equivalent of forty reis. In Java it is the name of a weight for gold and silver articles, corresponding to seventeen penny weights and fourteen grains troy weight. The "foot" is named from the length of that member in a fullgrown man. Some say that it was so called from the length of the foot of a certain English king, but it is believed to have been a standard of measurement among the ancient Egyptians. The cubit is from the Latin cubitus, an elbow, and is the distance from the elbow to the end of the middle finger. Fathom is from the Aryan fat, to extend, and denotes the distance from tip to tip of the fingers when the arms of an average-sized man are fully extended. The decimal system is that by which weights and measures are calculated by tens and multiples of ten. The basis of this system is the mètre 39.37 in.; of liquid capacity the litre, one-tenth of the mètre; of solid measure the stère, the cube of the mètre; of weight the gramme = one cubic centimètre of distilled water at 39.2° Fahr. The decimal system for money is used in France, where the franc (twenty cents) is the unit of value. The system also obtains in the United States, Italy, Spain, and other countries in Europe and elsewhere. Counterfeiting is the making of false money. In the United States the crime of counterfeiting coin or money is punishable with fine and imprisonment at hard labor for a term of from two to ten years; and includes falsely making, forging or counterfeiting coins or notes, postal money orders, postal cards, government stamps of all kinds, and government securities, as also importing, possessing, uttering, or passing false coins or notes with fraudulent intent. Mutilating and debasing the coin is also counterfeiting, but is not so severely punished. The talent was the heaviest unit of weight among the Greeks. The word is used by Homer to signify indifferently a balance and a definite weight of some monetary currency. Silver coin was first struck in Hellas proper in the island of Ægina, and the Æginetan standard was apparently adapted to the Babylonian gold standard. The Babylonian commercial talent seems to have been either 65 pound, 5 ounces, or 66 pound, 5%1⁄2 ounces, and its value in silver from $1,700 to $2,000. Derivatives of this (containing 3,000 shekels) were in use in Phoenicia and Palestine; but there was another silver talent, and a gold talent worth ths of the commercial talent. The Euboic talent was of smaller monetary measure and weight than the Æginetan. ALL ABOUT AN ACRE. An acre is a measure of ground approximately adopted by most nations, which in America and England is 4,840 square yards. The chain with which land is measured is 22 yards long, and a square chain will contain 22x22, or 484 yards; so that 10 square chains make an acre. The acre is divided into 4 roods, a rood into 40 perches, and a perch con tains 304 square yards. The old Scotch acre is larger than the English, and the Irish than the Scotch. Twenty-three Scotch acres = 29 imperial acres; 304 Irish acres = 49 imperial acres. The hectare of the French metric system has on the Continent superseded almost all the ancient local measures corresponding to the acre-such as the Prussian morgen. English acre...... 1.00 ...1.27 .1.62 .2.47 ..0.99 ..0.63 ...1.40 ...1.00 CAPACITY OF A TEN-TON FREIGHT CAR. 60 barrels. | Lumber, green. 70 Lumber, dry 70 Barley. 90 Wheat. 130 to 160 200 sacks. Apples Hogs.. MONEY OF THE WORLD. 680 64 1,000" Brass money is spoken of by Homer as early as 1184 B. C. Gold and silver were coined by Pheidon, of Argos, 862 B. C. Coins were made sterling in 1216. New silver coinage struck, 1816; Jubilee coins struck, 1887; first gold coin on record struck, 1257; sovereigns first coined, 1489; In shillings first coined, 1503; crowns and half-crowns struck, 1553; copper coined by Government, 1672; guineas, 1663; fourpenny-pieces, 1836; threepenny-pieces, 1843; silver florins, 1849; bronze coinage, 1860. In the reign of Elizabeth the amount of money coined was £5,832,000. 1890 (Victoria) it reached a total of £9,465,129. In the United States the first coinage was made for Virginia Company, 1612; first colonial coinage, 1652 (Mass); copper coined in Vermont and Connecticut, 1785; New Jersey and Massachusetts, 1786. Decimal coinage adopted by Congress, 1786, when following coins were issued: gold, eagle ($10), and half-eagle; silver, dollar and divisions of dollar; copper, cent and halfcent. The appended table shows the WEIGHTS OF METALS WITHOUT WEIGHING. Wrought Iron.-Find the number of cubic inches in the piece; multiply them by .2816. The product will be in pounds. Cast Iron.-Multiply the number of cubic inches by .2607. DOMESTIC WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. One quart of wheat flour is one pound. One quart of corn meal weighs eighteen ounces. One quart of butter, soft, weights fourteen to sixteen ounces. One quart of brown sugar weighs from a pound to a pound and a quarter, according to dampness. One quart of white sugar weighs two pounds. Ten medium sized eggs weigh one pound. A tablespoonful of salt is one ounce. Eight tablespoonfuls make a gill. Two gills or sixteen tablespoonfuls are half a pint. Sixty drops are one teaspoonful. Four tablespoonfuls are one wineglassful. Twelve tablespoonfuls are one teacupful. Sixteen tablespoonfuls, or half a pint, are one tumblerful. THE MEANING OF MEASURES.-A square mile is equal to 640 acres. A square acre is 208.71 feet on one side. An acre is 43,560 square feet. A league, 3 miles. A span, 10% inches. A hand, 4 inches. A palm, 3 inches. A great cubit, 11 inches. A fathom, 6 feet. A mile, 5,280 feet. DOMESTIC AND DROP MEASURES APPROXIMATED-A teaspoonful, one fluid dram, 4 grams; a dessertspoonful, two fluid drams, 3 grams; a tablespoonful, half fluid ounce, 16 grams; a wineglassful, two fluid ounces, 64 grams; a tumblerful, half pint, 256 grams. WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. TROY WEIGHT-24 grains make 1 pennyweight, 20 pennyweights make 1 ounce. By this weight, gold, silver and jewels only are weighed. The ounce and pound in this are same as in Apothecaries' weight. APOTHECARIES' WEIGHT-20 grains make 1 scruple, 3 scruples make 1 dram, 8 drams make 1 ounce, 12 ounces make 1 pound. AVOIRDUPOIS WEIGHT-16 drams make 1 ounce, 16 ounces make 1 pound, 25 pounds make 1 quarter, 4 quarters make 1 hundredweight, 2000 pounds make 1 ton. DRY MEASURE-2 pints make 1 quart, 8 quarts make 1 peck, 4 pecks make 1 bushel, 36 bushels make 1 chaldron. LIQUID OR WINE MEASURE-4 gills make 1 pint, 2 pints make 1 quart, 4 quarts make I gallon, 311⁄2 gallons make 1 barrel, 2 barrels make 1 hogshead. TIME MEASURE-60 seconds make 1 minute, 60 minutes make 1 hour, 24 hours make 1 day, 7 days make 1 week, 4 weeks make 1 lunar month, 28, 29, 30 or 31 days make 1 calendar month (30 days make 1 month in computing interest,) 52 weeks and 1 day, or 12 calendar months make 1 year; 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 49 seconds make 1 solar year. CIRCULAR MEASURE-60 seconds make 1 minute, 60 minutes make 1 degree, 30 degrees make 1 sign, 90 degrees make 1 quadrant, 4 quadrants or 360 degrees make 1 circle. LONG MEASURE-DISTANCE-3 barleycorns 1 inch, 12 inches 1 foot, 3 feet 1 yard, 51⁄2 yards 1 rod, 40 rods 1 furlong, 8 furlongs i mile. CLOTH MEASURE-2 inches 1 nail, 4 nails 1 quarter, 4 quarters 1 yard. MISCELLANEOUS-3 inches 1 palm, 4 inches 1 hand, 6 inches 1 span, 18 inches 1 cubit, 21.8 inches 1 Bible cubit, 21⁄2 feet, 1 military pace. SQUARE MEASURE-144 square inches square foot, 9 square feet 1 square yard, 30 square yards 1 square rod, 40 square rods, I rood, 4 roods I acre. SURVEYOR'S MEASURE-7.92 inches 1 link, 25 links 1 rod, 4 rods 1 chain, 10 square chains or 160 square rods 1 acre, 640 acres 1 square mile. CUBIC MEASURE-1,728 cubic inches 1 cubic foot, 27 cubic feet 1 cubic yard, 128 cubic feet 1 cord (wood) 40 cubic feet 1 ton (shipping), 2,150.42 cubic inches 1 standard bushel, 268.8 cubic inches 1 standard gallon, 1 cubic foot four fifths of a bushel. METRIC WEIGHTS-10 milligrams 1 centigram, 10 centigrams 1 decigram, 10 decigrams 1 gram, 10 grams 1 dekagram, 10 dekagrams 1 hektogram, 10 hektograms 1 kilogram. METRIC MEASURES-(One milliliter-Cubic centimeter.) -10 milliliters 1 centiliter. 10 centiliters 1 deciliter, 10 deciliters 1 liter, 10 liters 1 dekaliter, 10 dekaliters 1 hektoliter, 10 hektoliters 1 kiloliter. METRIC LENGTHS-10 millimeters 1 centimeter, 10 centimeters 1 decimeter, 10 decimeters 1 meter, 10 meters 1 dekameter, 10 dekameters 1 hektometer, 10 hektometers 1 kilometer. RATIO OF APOTHECARIES' AND IMPERIAL MEASURE. 1 gallon equals.. 1 pint 1 fluid ounce equals.. 1 fluid dram Imperial. 6 pints, 13 ounces, 2 drams, 23 minims. 16 HANDY METRIC TABLES. The following tables give the equivalents of both the metric and common systems, and will be found convenient for reference: It may not be generally known that we have in the nickel five-cent piece of our coinage a key to the tables of linear measures and weights. The diameter of this coin is two centimeters, and its weight is five grammes. Five of them placed in a row will, of course, give the length of the decimeter; and two of them will weigh a decagram. As the kiloliter is a cubic meter, the key to the measure of length is also the key to the measure of capacity. Any person, therefore, who is fortunate enough to own a five-cent nickle, may carry in his pocket the entire metric system of weights and measures. SUNDRY WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. To find the number of bushels of apples, potatoes, etc., in a bin, multiply the length, breadth and thickness together; then multiply by eight and point off one figure in the answer for decimals. Three and one-half barrels of lime will do one hundred yards of plastering, two coats. Two barrels will do one coat. One barrel will Îay one thousand bricks. To every barrel of lime estimate about fiveeighths yards of good sand for plastering and brick work. Wheat from the time it is threshed will shrink two quarts to the bushel, or six per cent in six months. One hundred bushels of corn husked in November will shrink to eighty by March. Potatoes will rot and shrink thirty-three per cent of value from October to June. Shekel (Heb., from shakal, "to weigh"), was originally a certain standard weight in use among the ancient Hebrews, by which the value of metals, metal vessels and other things was fixed. Gradually it became a normal piece of money, both in gold and silver, marked in some way or other as a coin, although not stamped. The gifts to the sanctuary, the fines, the taxes, the prices of merchandise are all reckoned in the Old Testament by the shekel, not counted, but weighed. Troy-weight seems to have taken its name from a weight used at the fair of Troyes, an important center of commerce during the middle ages. Like Cologne, Toulouse and other towns, Troyes may have had its own |