On 2008/08/23, at 12:21 PM, Bill Potts wrote:
And, although they're metric (as required, anyway, by law), they're
non-standard sizes (as opposed to the 187.5 mL, 375 mL, 750 mL, and
1.5 L
sizes).
Bill
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf
Of Harry Wyeth
Sent: Friday, August 22, 2008 17:26
To: U.S. Metric Association
Subject: [USMA:41614] French Rabbit wine
Something new for me: wine imported from France in 1 L and 500 mL
sort-of-plastic containers.
HARRY WYETH
Dear Bill, Harry, and All,
You might be interested in the origin of the 'standard sizes' that you
refer to in your email.
They arise because the Imperial gallon of 1824 was defined as:
The imperial (UK) gallon is defined as 10 pounds of pure water at 62
degrees Fahrenheit at a barometric pressure of 30 inches of mercury.
The measure must be taken on scales, with the water suspended in the
air and measured with brass weights. In the imperial system, with 8
pints in a gallon, a pint is 20 fluid ounces, so a fluid ounce of
water does weigh one ounce (exactly, under the prescribed conditions).
This definition was made — in 1824 — in response to the then radical
idea of using decimal numbers for currency and measurements that had
been recently adopted — thirty years earlier in the 1790s — by the
French Republican government. Following the idea that 1 litre of water
has a mass of 1 kilogram, the new UK gallon had 10 pounds of water to
an 'Imperial' gallon (The UK government also defined the decimal UK
Florin, now 10 pence, which was coined to be one tenth of a pound
Sterling).
Beer makers, who have always been sensitive to measurement
opportunities, soon realised that the old 'ale gallon', at 282 cubic
inches (about 4 620 millilitres), was bigger than the new Imperial
gallon (about 4 546 millilitres) so they were quick to change to the
new gallon for commercial reasons. A lot of their beer was then packed
in boxes that contained a dozen bottles that collectively held two
gallons (Imperial) of beer. It follows that each bottle held 26 2/3
fluid ounces (Imp.) of beer.
When the UK went metric in 1965, the gallon (Imp.) was redefined as 4
656.09 millilitres so a bottle was firstly redefined as one sixth of
that at 757.681 667 millilitres (say 758 millilitres).
Again, the British beer makers sensitivity to commercial opportunities
came to the fore and they soon rounded 758 millilitres to 750
millilitres. The sizes that you quote as standard (187.5 mL, 375 mL,
750 mL, and 1.5 L) are multiples and sub-multiples of this figure
derived by halving and doubling. You possibly didn't notice this
connection as the sizes you list have no relationship the the Queen
Anne wine gallon used in the USA (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallon#History
).
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
PO Box 305 Belmont 3216,
Geelong, Australia
Phone: 61 3 5241 2008
Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has
helped thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the
modern metric system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that they
now save thousands each year when buying, processing, or selling for
their businesses. Pat provides services and resources for many
different trades, crafts, and professions for commercial, industrial
and government metrication leaders in Asia, Europe, and in the USA.
Pat's clients include the Australian Government, Google, NASA, NIST,
and the metric associations of Canada, the UK, and the USA. See http://www.metricationmatters.com/
for more metrication information, contact Pat at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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