Knight's cyclopædia of the industry of all nations, 1851 / [edited by George Dodd].

Date:
[1851]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Knight's cyclopædia of the industry of all nations, 1851 / [edited by George Dodd]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    973/1000
    1773 WEIGHING-MACHINE. guineas each, that svun did not, it is said, repay him for his espendititre. He succeeded in producing the most delicate cameos, me- dallions, and miniature pieces of sculpture, in a substance so extremely hard, that they appear likely to exceed even the bronzes of antiquity in durability. Another important discovery made by him was that of painting on vases and similar ai-ticles, without the glossy appearance of ordinary painting on porcelain or earthenware; an art which appears to have been lost since the time of Pliny. The fame of his operations was such that his works at Burslem, and subsequently at Etruiia, a callage erected by him near Newcastle-tmder- Lyne, and to which he entirely removed in 1771, became a point of attraction to numerous \'isitors from all parts of Europe. The result of Wedgwood's talent and energy not only obtained for him extensive patronage and an ample fortune, but were of the highest import- ance to the commercial interests of his country. In addition to the attention bestowed by Wedgwood upon this manufactui-e, he deserves remembrance for the public spirit displayed by him in the encouragement of various useful schemes. Among these the Trent and Mersey Canal is conspicuous. Wedgwood's pyrometer is noticed elsewhere. [Pykometek.] He died at Etruria in 1795. WEIGHING-MACHINE, is any contriv- ance by which the weight of an object may be ascertained. Under the words Balance, Gold Weighing-Machine, SmiNG-BALANCE, and Steelyaud, the machines by which mate- rials of comparatively small magnitude are weighed are explained. The Weighing-Ma- chine, which is usually employed at the toll- gates on roads for the purpose of determining the weights of laden carriages, may be described as a platform sunk on a level with the road, and made to rest at four points on a double lever of the second land. [Leveb,] The extremities of the arms of these levers rest upon a third lever, which may be of the fli'st or second kind; and this last lever may either sers^e as a steelyard, or may be connected with one arm of an ordinary balance, or with the extremity of a steelyard. Mr. Elliott has sent to the Great Exhibition a new form of weighing-machine, somewhat on the principle of a steelyai'd, but with certain new features of construction. With one ball or weight of 4 lbs., the instriunent wUl deter- mine all weights from a quarter of a poimd to 56 lbs. It is also graduated with kilogrammes, to measure Erench weights. WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. Under APOTIIECAllIES'WEIGnT, AVERDUrOIsAVEIGnT, Standabd, and Teoy Weight, many details WEIGHTS AND MEASUllES. 1774 are given on this subject. We will here give a few brief notices concerning Foreign weiglits and measures, as they are often useful while reading industiial statistics of foreign countries. France.—The new Erench system is called vietncal, as derived from the measurement of the earth. Its first measure, the metre, iS presumed to he the ten-milUonth part of a line drawn from the pole to the equator, and is 39.37079 Enghsh inches. All the multiples and subdivisions of every measure are decimal, and are formed by the same prefixes. For 10, 100, 1000, and 10,000, the syllables JDeca, Hecto, Kilo, and Myria are prefixed; and for tenths, hundredths, thousandths, the syllables Deci, Centi, Milli. Latin prefixes indicate division, Greek prefixes multiplication. Thus the hectometre is 100 metres, and the centi- metre the hundredth part of a metre. The metre being thus settled, the other funda- mental measures are formed as follows:—^Eor surface or ai-ea, the Are, which is a deca- metre square, or 100 square metres, or .02471143 of an English acre, or 3.9538 EngUsh perches. Eor solidity, the stere, or cubic metre, 35.32 cubic feet English, or 220.09687 imperial gallons English. Eor liquid measures the Hire, or cubic decimetre, .22009687 of an imperial gallon, or a very little more than a pint and three quarters Enghsh. Eor weight, the gramme, a cubic centimetre of distilled water at the freezing point, .00220606 of an English pound aver- dupois, or 15.442 grains Enghsh. The Idlo- gramme is therefore 2.2 pounds averdupois, or, roughly, 50 kilogrammes make a hundred- weight. The franc, the unit of money, is divided into 10 decimes, and each decime into 10 centimes. The sous is 5 centimes. Austria. The metrical system is introduced in the Italian dominions. In Austria proper gold and sUver are weighed by the Vienna marc of 4333 gi'ains. The pfund is 1.235 lb. averdupois. The metzen is 1.691 of the English bushel. The eimer is 12.444 gallons. The foot is 12.45 inches; the ell, 30.06 inches. The joch is 1 acre, 1 rood, 28 perches. Bavaria. The Augsburg marc is 3643 grains; 24 lb. commercial weight is 25 lb. averdupois, and 24 lb. carriers' weight is 20 lb. averdupois, nearly. The metzen is 1.515 of the English bushel; the fuder is 31.24 bushels. The foot (half the short ell) is 11.607 inches. The long ell is 24 inches. The German geographical mile is 4.6 miles English. Belgium. The French metrical system. Oonstanlinoplc. Tlie chcquce is 4957 grains. The o/ce is 2.832 pounds averdupois. The fallow (dry) is 7.290 gallons. The «/'m»rfis 1.150 of the English gallon. The piVce is 27 inches.