Notes and queries on anthropology / edited for the Council of the Anthropological Institute by John George Garson, M.D. and Charles Hercules Read, F.S.A.

Date:
1892
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Notes and queries on anthropology / edited for the Council of the Anthropological Institute by John George Garson, M.D. and Charles Hercules Read, F.S.A. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by University of Bristol Library. The original may be consulted at University of Bristol Library.

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    815 other materials recognized as money ? 14. Any marks or stamps upon objects used for this purpose 1 if so, give draw- ings of them. 15. Are any such mai-ks copied from European or Asiatic coins? 16. Any penalties for forging stamps, &c. 1 17. Give both the local and foreign names for all objects used as money. 18. Does the money actually pass into the possession of the person entitled to it, or is it stored in a common bank and the owner credited with its possession ? 19. Is money hoarded, for dowries, &c. ] No. LXIv.—MEASURES AND WEIGHTS. Measures are universally based on the parts of the human body, natural objects, or on units determined by natural con- ditions. Weights are similarly based upon natural objects, which are of a genei-ally uniform specific gravity, such as seeds of plants. Standards of weight are fixed in certain cases by taking the amount of gold which is equivalent in value to the chief unit of barter, e.g., ox or slave. The mul- tiples and mutual relations are partly conditioned by the system of numeration derived from the fingers and other parts of the body, and the system of weights is closely con- nected with the practice of employing seeds or pebbles as counters. Measures of Length.—Is there any measure corresponding : 1. To the breadth of finger or thumb 1 2. To the length of finger or thumb ? 3. To the distance between finger joints ? 4. To the nail ? 5. To the hand breadth ? 6. To'the length of hand ? 7. The palm ? 8. The greater span (from tip of thumb to tip of little finger) ? 9. To the lesser span (from tip of thumb to tip of forefinger) ? 10. The cubit (from elbow-point to tip of middle finger) ? to the smaller cubit (from elbow-tip to the knuckles?) 11. To the length of the arm ? 12. To the fathom (from finger-tips to finger-tips