in length and breadth. This 22 yards is the length which land-surveyors’ chains are made to have, and the chain is divided into 100 links, each ·22 of a yard or 7·92 inches. An acre is then 10 square chains. It may also be noticed that a square whose side is 69⁴/₇ yards is nearly an acre, not exceeding it by ⅕ of a square foot.
- MEASURES OF SOLIDITY OR CAPACITY.7
Cubes are solids having the figure of dice. A cubic inch is a cube each of whose sides is an inch, and so on.
| 1728 | cubic inches are | 1 cubic foot | 1 c. ft. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | cubic feet | 1 cubic yard | 1 c. yd. |
This measure is not much used, except in purely mathematical questions. In the measurements of different commodities various measures were used, which are now reduced, by act of parliament, to one. This is commonly called the imperial measure, and is as follows:
MEASURE OF LIQUIDS AND OF ALL DRY GOODS.
| 4 | gills are | 1 pint | 1 pt. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | pints | 1 quart | 1 qt. |
| 4 | quarts | 1 gallon | 1 gall. |
| 2 | gallons | 1 peck [38] | 1 pk. |
| 4 | pecks | 1 bushel | 1 bu. |
| 8 | bushels | 1 quarter | 1 qr. |
| 5 | quarters | 1 load | 1 ld. |
The gallon in this measure is about 277·274 cubic inches; that is, very nearly 277¼ cubic inches.8
- The smallest weight in use is the grain, which is thus determined. A vessel whose interior is a cubic inch, when filled with water,9