Old weights and measures (France)
In France, numerous weights and measures were used in favor of the metric system before it was finally abolished . The early development of the metric system itself is also closely linked to the development of the system of units in France. Before the French Revolution , a large number of measures and weights were used in France, which shared many similarities to the historical units of measurement of the neighboring countries and which still exist today in the units of the Anglo-American system of measurement . The introduction of the metric system of measurement represented a radical break with the previously used units, so that it proceeded slowly and against great resistance. Numerous traditional units were redefined based on the metric system and thus the history of the specifically French units did not end with the invention of the metric units. The development of the units used in France was then closely linked to that of the metric system.
Before the metrization
Unlike Great Britain , the French government never managed to standardize the weights and measures used in the country before the French Revolution.
Many of the units and their relationships were originally derived from the Roman units of measurement , but have been modified over time and supplemented by numerous other units. This led to a situation in which each city and in some cases also different trades used their own systems of measurement and very different definitions were to be found for common units. The lieue was between 3.268 km in Beauce and 5.849 km in Provence .
Nonetheless, there were also certain standards, such as pied du roi (royal foot), which were widely used by scientists all over Europe. So used Coulomb the pied du roi in his manuscripts. Isaac Newton used the Parisian foot in his Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica . The Paris line was used as a reference unit across Europe in the 17th to 19th centuries . This standard is therefore described below.
Since the metric units were also defined for practical purposes in reference to the previously used standard, the conversion can usually be specified exactly without resorting to the empirical determination of the length standards. In practice, however, the standards were not as precisely defined as the tables suggest.
Lengths
Values from 1799 after the meter was defined to be exactly 443.296 Parisian lines .
Previously, all dimensions were subject to significant variations.
| ligne | line | 1/12 pouce | 31,250 ⁄ 13,853 mm | ≈ 2.256 mm |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| pouce | inch | 1/12 pied | 375 ⁄ 13,853 m | ≈ 2.707 cm (Paris inches) |
| pied | foot | 4500 ⁄ 13.853 m | ≈ 32.48 cm (Parisian pied de roi : king's foot ) | |
| toise | Fathoms | 6 pieds | 27,000 ⁄ 13,853 m | ≈ 1,949 m, Charlemagne (around 790) |
| perche | rod | 22 pieds | 99,000 ⁄ 13,853 m | ≈ 7.146 m |
| lieue de poste | Postleuge | 2000 toises | 54,000 ⁄ 13,853 km | ≈ 3.898 km |
| lieue métrique | metric league | 4 km | ||
| lieue commune | Landleuge | 1/25 equatorial degree | ≈ 4.452 km | |
| lieue marine |
Surfaces
| 1 pouce carré | = 375 × 375 ⁄ 13,853 × 13,853 m² | = 140,625 ⁄ 191,905,609 m² | ≈ 7.3278 cm² | |
| 1 pied carré | = 144 pouces carré | = 4500 × 4500 ⁄ 13.853 × 13.853 m² | = 20,250,000 ⁄ 191,905,609 m² | ≈ 10.5521 dm² |
| 1 toise carré | = 36 pieds carré | = 27,000 × 27,000 ⁄ 13,853 × 13,853 m² | = 729,000,000 ⁄ 191,905,609 m² | ≈ 3.7987 m² |
| 1 perche carré | = 484 pieds carré | = 99,000 × 99,000 ⁄ 13,853 × 13,853 m² | = 9,801,000,000 ⁄ 191,905,609 m² | ≈ 51.0720 m² |
| 1 verge | = 25 perches carré | = 495,000 × 495,000 ⁄ 13,853 × 13,853 m² | = 245,025,000,000 ⁄ 191,905,609 m² | ≈ 12.7680 ares |
| 1 acre | = 100 perches carré | = 990,000 × 990,000 ⁄ 13,853 × 13,853 m² | = 98,010,000,000,000 ⁄ 191,905,609 m² | ≈ 0.510720 hectares |
volume
| 1 pouce cube ( Parisian cubic inches ) | = 375 × 375 × 375 ⁄ 13.853 × 13.853 × 13.853 m³ | = 52,734,375 ⁄ 2,658,468,401,477 m³ | ≈ 19.837 cm³ | |
| 1 liter | = 40 pouces cube | = 40 × 375 × 375 × 375 ⁄ 13.853 × 13.853 × 13.853 m³ | = 2,109,375,000 ⁄ 2,658,468,401,477 m³ | ≈ 0.793 liters |
| 1 quart | = 4 litrons | = 160 × 375 × 375 × 375 ⁄ 13.853 × 13.853 × 13.853 m³ | = 8,437,500,000 ⁄ 2,658,468,401,477 m³ | ≈ 3.174 liters |
| 1 boisseau | = 4 quarts = 16 litrons | = 640 × 375 × 375 × 375 ⁄ 13.853 × 13.853 × 13.853 m³ | = 33,750,000,000 ⁄ 2,658,468,401,477 m³ | ≈ 12.695 liters |
| 1 setier | = 12 boisseaux = 192 litrons; = 16 pognous (with wine) | = 7680 × 375 × 375 × 375 ⁄ 13.853 × 13.853 × 13.853 m³ | = 405,000,000,000 ⁄ 2,658,468,401,477 m³ | ≈ 152.343 liters |
| 1 pint | = 48 pouces cube = 1 ⁄ 36 pied cube | = 48 × 375 × 375 × 375 ⁄ 13.853 × 13.853 × 13.853 m³ | = 2,531,250,000 ⁄ 2,658,468,401,477 m³ | ≈ 0.952 liters |
| 1 pied cube ( Parisian cubic feet ) | = 1728 pouces cube | = 4500 × 4500 × 4500 ⁄ 13.853 × 13.853 × 13.853 m³ | = 91,125,000,000 ⁄ 2,658,468,401,477 m³ | ≈ 34.277 liters |
| 1 pipe | = 12 pieds cube | = 12 × 4500 × 4500 × 4500 ⁄ 13.853 × 13.853 × 13.853 m³ | = 1,093,500,000,000 ⁄ 2,658,468,401,477 m³ | ≈ 411.327 liters |
| 1 toise cube | = 18 pipes = 216 pieds cube | = 27,000 × 27,000 × 27,000 ⁄ 13,853 × 13,853 × 13,853 m³ | = 19,683,000,000,000 ⁄ 2,658,468,401,477 m³ | ≈ 7.403887 cubic meters |
Weight
The French pound probably goes back to the Carolingian pound . Actually it should be exactly twelve tenths of a Karl pound.
| Unit name (French name) |
Relationship to the pound |
Ratio to the ounce |
Relationship to the denarius |
Relationship to Prime |
in grams (rounded) |
| Prime | 24 -2 × 384 -1 | 24 -3 | 24 -2 | 1 | 2.213 1 mg |
| Gran (grain) | 24 -1 × 384 -1 | 24 -2 | 24 -1 | 24 | 53.114 8 mg |
| Denarius ( denier ) | 384 -1 | 24 -1 | 1 | 576 | 1.274 8 g |
| Large | 128 -1 | 8 -1 | 3 | 1728 | 3.824 3 g |
| Ounce (once) | 16 -1 | 1 | 24 | 8 × 1728 | 30.594 1 g |
| Mark (marc) | 2 -1 | 8th | 8 × 24 | 64 × 1728 | 244,752 9 g |
| Pound (livre) | 1 | 16 | 16 × 24 | 128 × 1728 | 489.505 8 g |
| Hundredweight (quintal) | 100 | 100 × 16 | 100 × 16 × 24 | 100 × 128 × 1728 | 48.950 6 kg |
| Ton ( tonneau ) | 20 × 100 | 20 × 100 × 16 | 20 × 100 × 16 × 24 | 20 × 100 × 128 × 1728 | 979.011 7 kg |
The pounds of poids-de-marc, as its official name, was at his replacement by the decimal late 18th century 921,600 / 1,882,715 kilograms or about 489.5058466 g.
Counting measure
- 1 douzaine = 12 pieces ( dozen )
- 1 (petite) size = 12 douzaines = 144 pieces ( gros )
- 1 grande size = 12 large size = 1728 pieces (large size)
- 1 quinzaine = 15 pieces ( almond )
- 1 Cinquantaine = 50 pieces
After the introduction of the metric system
By Jean-Antoine Chaptal was after the Revolution in France from 1791 , the metric system developed on 15. November 1800 as système légal introduced. The length of the original meter was defined with exactly 443.296 Parisian lines . In order to increase popular acceptance, Napoleon's decree also allowed the use of old names with metric values of the same order of magnitude.
The prefix Myria for 10,000 was later abolished; It should be similar one day hecto (100), deca (10), deci (0.1) and centi (0.01). Likewise, a cubic meter was regularly called stère ( ster ) and for larger areas the base unit was the are ( ar ) and not the square meter .
1800
| French | German | metric | |
|---|---|---|---|
| trait | 1 mm | = 0.001 m | |
| doigt | 1 cm | = 0.01 m | |
| Palm tree | A hand's breadth | 1 dm | = 0.1 m |
| perche | rod | 1 dam | = 10 m |
| mille | mile | 1 km | = 1000 m |
| lieue | 1 mam | = 10,000 m | |
| French | German | metric | |
|---|---|---|---|
| meter carré | square meters | 1 approx | = 1 m² |
| perche carré | Square rod | 1 a | = 100 m² |
| arpent | 1 ha | = 10,000 m² | |
| French | German | metric | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| liquids | ||||
| verre | 1 dl | = 0.1 l | ||
| pint | 1 l | = 1 dm³ | ||
| velte | 1 dal | = 10 l | ||
| Solids, space | ||||
| boisseau | bushel | 1 cst | = 1 dal | = 0.01 m³ |
| setier, solive | 1 dst | = 1 hl | = 0.1 m³ | |
| muid | 1 st | = 1 kl | = 1 m³ | |
| French | German | metric | |
|---|---|---|---|
| grain | Gran | 1 dg | = 0.1 g |
| denier | 1 g | = 1 g | |
| gross | 1 dag | = 10 g | |
| once | ounce | 1 ed | = 100 g |
| livre | lb | 1 kg | = 1000 g |
| quintal | (Double) quintals | 1 German | = 100 kg |
| millier | ton | 1 t | = 1 mg |
System Usuel
On February 12, 1812, the decimal units of use were supplemented by further units that are closer to the earlier sizes, but still have somewhat round metric values. This système usuel was abolished on July 8, 1837 at the turn of the year 1840.
| French | German | metric |
|---|---|---|
| ligne | line | 1/432 m |
| pouce | inch | 1/36 m |
| pied usuel | foot | 1/3 m |
| aune usuelle | 1.2 m | |
| toise usuelle | 2 m |
| French | German | metric |
|---|---|---|
| chopine | 500 ml | |
| litron usuel | liter | 1 l |
| pint usuelle | 1 l | |
| boisseau usuel | bushel | 12.5 l |
| setier | 1 hl |
| French | German | metric | |
|---|---|---|---|
| scrupule | Scruples | ≈ 1.302 g | |
| once | ounce | 24 scrupules | 31.25 g |
| quarteron | quarter | 96 scrupules = 4 onces | 125 g |
| livre usuelle (poids de marc) | lb | 384 scrupules = 4 quarterons | 500 g |
credentials
- ↑ History of measurement ( en ) Métrologie française. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
- ↑ The Toise table gives an impression of the variety of dimensions.
- ^ Johann Friedrich Benzenberg : The height measurement with the mercury scales for Paris, Rhinelander and London lines. Wolf, Düsseldorf 1831, p. 10; limited preview in Google Book search
- ↑ French Ministry of Industry: 2.4 The definitive standards In the same way: "One kilogram weighs 18,827.15 grams of the market weight." (The old pound was 9216 grän.)
- ↑ a b Helmut Kahnt, Bernd Knorr: Old measures, coins and weights: a lexicon . Licensed edition of the Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig. Bibliographisches Institut, Mannheim / Vienna / Zurich 1986, ISBN 3-411-02148-9 , p. 54 .