> Bill Hooper wrote: "Do I try to report this 456 mi. figure as 57 furlongs > ...?" > I certainly hope not, seeing as there are 8 furlongs to a mile. > > Perhaps you were thinking of leagues.
Dear Bill, Bill, and All, Whether there are eight furlongs to a mile depends on which bit of history you choose. According to the 11th Edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica there were 10 furlongs to a mile prior to the year 950. (Google for "Encyclopedia Britannica" +"weights and measures" and then search for the writer William Matthew Flinders Petrie or W. M. F. Petrie or W. M. F. P.) Apparently, it wasn't until the introduction of the French foot (the foot that is still used in England) in about 1066 that the measurement methods of England fell into almost complete disarray. The idea of 8 furlongs to a mile came about following the Assizes of 1304 after the then king of England through up his hands in horror at the complexity of the English measures (using the French foot) and handed over the control of measurement to the London merchants. To my mind this has always smacked of giving the keys of the hen house to a neighbourhood fox. By the way, if Petrie is right, the French foot has only been in use for about 700 years in England. Prior to that time the English apparently used a decimal system based on a wand that was about 1007�millimetres long � an interesting coincidence of length! Cheers, Pat Naughtin ASM (NSAA), LCAMS (USMA)* PO Box 305, Belmont, Geelong, Australia Phone 61 3 5241 2008 Pat Naughtin is the editor of the free online monthly newsletter, 'Metrication matters'. You can subscribe by going to http://www.metricationmatters.com and clicking on 'Newsletter'. * Pat is the editor of the 'Numbers and measurement' chapter of the Australian Government Publishing Service 'Style manual � for writers, editors and printers', he is an Accredited Speaking Member (ASM) with the National Speakers Association of Australia, and a Lifetime Certified Advanced Metrication Specialist (LCAMS) with the United States Metric Association. This email and its attachments are for the sole use of the addressee and may contain information that is confidential and/or legally privileged. This email and its attachments are subject to copyright and should not be partly or wholly reproduced without the consent of the copyright owner. Any unauthorised use of disclosure of this email or its attachments is prohibited. If you receive this email in error, please immediately delete it from your system and notify the sender by return email. on 2005-06-02 09.53, Bill Potts at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
