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The Writer's Desk Book / Being a Reference Volume upon Questions of Punctuation, Capitalization, Spelling, Division of Words, Indention, Spacing, Italics, Abbreviations, Accents, Numerals, Faulty Diction, Letter Writing, Postal Regulations, Etc. cover

The Writer's Desk Book / Being a Reference Volume upon Questions of Punctuation, Capitalization, Spelling, Division of Words, Indention, Spacing, Italics, Abbreviations, Accents, Numerals, Faulty Diction, Letter Writing, Postal Regulations, Etc.

Chapter 117: MISCELLANEOUS
By William Dana Orcutt
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About This Book

This reference guides writers, editors, and printers through practical rules and examples for punctuation (comma, semicolon, colon, period, dash, quotation marks, parentheses, apostrophe), capitalization, spelling and variant forms, compound words, word division, indention and paragraphing, spacing and italics, abbreviations, numerals, faulty diction, letter writing, and postal regulations. Each section offers definitions, usage guidelines, and illustrative examples, with appendices on standard time, weights and measures, and foreign coin values, designed as a compact desk companion for drafting, editing, and preparing printed correspondence.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

THE METRIC SYSTEM

  • Multiples which are used equally with all the principal units
    • M (myria = 10000)
    • K (kilo = 1000)
    • H (hekto = 100)
    • D (deka = 10)

(NOTE. These are Greek numerals)

  • Divisions which are used equally with all the principle units
    • d (deci = .1)
    • c (centi = .01)
    • m (milli = .001)

(NOTE. These are Latin numerals)

Kinds of Quantities Measured Principal Units Definitions
Length m (meter)
Area sq. m (square meter)
a (Ar) 1 sq. Dm.
Volume cu m (cubic meter)
s (ster) 1 cu. m.
l (liter) 1 cu. d m
Weight g (gram) Weight of 1 cu. cm. of pure water at 4° centigrade

NOTE. 1000 kg. is called t. (a metric ton.)

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LINEAR MEASURE

  •   12 in. = 1 foot
  •    3 ft. = 1 yd.
  •    5 1⁄2 yds. = 1 rod
  •  320 rds. = 1 mile
  • 5280 ft. = 1 mile
  •    3 miles = 1 league

The hand (4 in.) is used to measure the height of horses. The nautical mile is 6086.44 ft. 1 knot is 1.1528 statute miles. 1 degree is 67.168 statute miles.

SQUARE MEASURE

  •  144 sq. in. = 1 sq. ft.
  •    9 sq. ft. = 1 sq. yd.
  •   30 1⁄4 sq. yds. = 1 sq. rod
  •  160 sq. rods = 1 acre
  •  640 acres = 1 sq. mile

The side of a square having an area of an acre is approximately 208 3⁄4 feet.

DRY MEASURE

  •  2 pints = 1 quart
  •  8 quarts = 1 peck
  •  4 pecks = 1 bushel

LIQUID MEASURE

  •  4 gills = 1 pt.
  •  2 pts. = 1 qt.
  •  4 qts. = 1 gall.
  • 31 1⁄2 gall. = 1 barrel
  •  2 barrels = 1 hogshead

APOTHECARIES’ WEIGHT

  • 20 grains = 1 scruple
  •  3 scruples = 1 dram
  •  8 drams = 1 ounce
  • 12 ounces = 1 pound

AVOIRDUPOIS WEIGHT

  •  16 drams = 1 ounce
  •  16 ounces = 1 pound
  • 100 pounds = 1 hundredweight
  •  20 hundredweights = 1 ton

  • Long ton = 2240 pounds, used mostly in Great Britain.

TROY WEIGHT

  • 24 grains = 1 pennyweight
  • 20 pennyweights = 1 ounce
  • 12 ounces = 1 pound

  •  1 carat in diamond, measure = 3.2 Troy grains.

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PAPER MEASURE

  • 24 sheets = 1 quire
  • 20 quires = 1 ream
  •  2 reams = 1 bundle
  •  5 bundles = 1 bale

TIME MEASURE

  •  60 seconds = 1 minute
  •  60 minutes = 1 hour
  •  24 hours = 1 day
  •   7 days = 1 week

  •  28, 29, 30, or 31 days = 1 calendar month
    (30 days = 1 month in computing interest)

  • 365 days = 1 year
  • 366 days = 1 leap year

CIRCULAR MEASURE

  • 60 seconds = 1 minute
  • 60 minutes = 1 degree
  • 30 degrees = 1 sign
  • 90 degrees = 1 quadrant

  •  4 quadrants = 12 signs, or 360 degrees = 1 circle

CLOTH MEASURE

  •  2 1⁄4 inches = 1 nail
  •  4 nails = 1 quarter
  •  4 quarters = 1 yard

MARINERS’ MEASURE

  •    6 feet = 1 fathom
  •  120 fathoms = 1 cab. le’th.
  •    7 1⁄2 cable lengths = 1 mile
  • 5280 feet = 1 stat. mile
  • 6085 feet = 1 naut. mile

MISCELLANEOUS

  •  3 inches = 1 palm
  •  4 inches = 1 hand
  •  6 inches = 1 span
  • 18 inches = 1 cubit
  • 21.8 in. = 1 Bible cubit
  •  2 1⁄2 ft. = 1 military pace

SURVEYORS’ 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 sq. mile
  •  36 sq. miles (6 miles sq.) = 1 township