Medieval Apothecary Weights and Measures: The Principal Units of England and France

Author(s): Ronald Edward Zupko

Source: Pharmacy in History, Vol. 32, No. 2 (1990), pp. 57-62
Published by: American Institute of the History of Pharmacy
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41111300
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 Weightsand
MedievalApothecary
Measures:
The Principal
UnitsofEnglandand France

byRonaldEdwardZupko*

-LVJLedieval apothecaries,alchemists,and InexactUnits

physiciansemployed widelydiversified
systems In manypharmaceutical before
operations
ofweightsandmeasuresinperforming various moderntimes,absoluteprecisionwas unnec-
operations intheirprofessions. Althoughsome
unitswerecreatedspecifically forpharmaceu- essary.In herbalrecipes,forexample,onlyap-
tical,chemical, and medicalpurposes,thevast proximateamountsof variousleaves, seeds,
grains,roots,bulbs,flowers,andotheragricul-
majority of themeitherwereadoptedwithout
andmineralproducts
tural,horticultural, were
modification fromexistingsystemsor wereal-
teredto satisfyuniqueor unusualneeds.Con- considerednecessaryto prevent,remedy,or
curea hostof discomforts, ailments,and dis-
sistingof weights,and measuresof capacity, eases. Based on theirformulas and extensive
volume, andquantity, apothecaryunitsmaybe
dividedintotwocategories: antidotaries,roughestimates oftheamounts or
inexactand exact. of itemsrecommended
Mostoftheformer wereindigenous numbers couldprevent
totheabove fetalmiscarriages, sustaininfantand adoles-
groupsand usedbyfewothers,whilemostof cent growth,protectagainstthe ravagesof
thelatterhadprolific usagethroughout thesci-
entific,
technological mercantile,business,ag- plague, leprosy,sciatica,localizedillnesses,
andindustrial bladderstones,carbuncles, abscesses,tumors,
ricultural, sectors.Thefollowing
examination ulcers,and dentaldecay,aid in thetreatment
onlyon the apothe-
concentrates
of wounds,fractures,and dislocations, and
caryweightsand measuresof Englandand and
FrancefromtheearlyMiddleAgesto theearly guarantee propereyesight,speech,hearing,
modernworld.They were oftenused inter- overallmentaland physicalhealth.Among
inbothcountries, alchemists,ofcourse,moreattention was paid
changeably after
particularly to metals,whilephysicians
theNorman takeoverofEnglandin 1066.They reliedonalmostany
havebeendrawnfromthemajorWesternEu- substance, especiallypreciousmetalsand pul-
verizedgems.
ropeanapothecary manuals,herbáis,and re- Theprincipal inexactunitsusedbythese
lated materials,and fromthe metrological
sourceslistedin the bibliography.1 medieval tradesmen maybegrouped infourcat-
Whereap-
propriate,mention of unitsin otherEuropean egories.Amongthe smallestwerethe barley-
cornin Englandandthegouttein France.The
systemswill be made to demonstrate cross- a derivativeoftheLatinordeum(bar-
fertilizationsandcommon roots. former,
leycorn),was an artificial
standardwhichrep-
♦Marquette Milwaukee,WI.
University, resented 1/5760ofan apothecary pound.It was

Vol.32 (1990)No. 2 57

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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Twodifferent
imagesfrom
thethirteenth-century
French
surgerymanuscript
ofRoger
ofSalernoshowthe
preparation
ofdrugs,
theweighing
including of
in
(Original
ingredients.
Trinity Cambridge,
College,
MSO.I.20,fol.265r.,246v.)

synonymous withthegrainand threeofthem fasciculus,a bundle,whichoriginally signified

laidendto endwerebelievedbymedievalman
to approximate thelengthoftheinch.Thelat-
ter,drawnfrom Latinguttaorglobule,denoted
a dropofanyliquidsubstanceandwas consid-
eredtheequivalent byweightto 1 grainorbar-
leycorn.Pharmaceutical and medicalformulas
thatdealtwithseedquantities wereusuallyde-
finedin oneofthesetwounits.
Forlargerquantitiestherewerefivemajor
units.Anysmallindefinite quantity ofdryma-
terialsuchas powder, seed,orgrainthatcould
be pinched upwithtwoorthreefingers andthe
thumb was a pincéeorpugille.2Bothwereused
forprescriptions whichdidnotrenderthepa-
tientor drug-taker precariousto harmfulside-
effects.A complete handfulofordinary medic-
inalor cookingingredients was eithera fasci-
cule,manipule, or poignée,althoughthe last
usuallycarried thatthematerial
thestipulation
be heldin a closedratherthanan openhand.
Thefasciculewas a borrowing fromtheLatin
the amountof anymaterialthata mancould
holdor carrywithbotharms.The manipule
camefromtheLatinmanus,a hand,whilethe
poignéewas a derivative oftheFrenchpoing,
a fist.3
Thelargestapothecary inexactunitswere
the Frenchjointéeand the Englishbox. The
jointéewas anyquantity of grainthata man
couldscoopupandholdwithbothhandsclasped
together.Theboxwas originally anysmallre-
ceptacleusedfordrugsandothervaluablema-
terials.Laterit was borrowed by merchants,
enlargedconsiderablyin size,and employed in
andinternational
local,regional, tradeforship-
mentsof aloes, almonds,camphor,coal, key
and salmon.4
rings,quicksilver,
Finally, specialgroupconsistedof the
a
peson,palette,and verre.Although theywere
standardized
neverofficially byanyFrenchgov-
ernment, theyweregenerally reckoned accord-
ing to French
established or Parisiannational

58 inHistory
Pharmacy

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standards.The peson,for instance,was ex- generallywas reservedforrecord-keeping or
pressedas anysmallweightthatvariedfrom2 statisticalpurposes.In Francethe fourunit
to 4 oncespoidsde marc(ca. 61.2 to 122.4g).5 nameswerescrupule, once,andlivre.
drachme,
A paletteorpellettewas a measureofcapacity Bothcountries sharedincommon thefollowing
(a smallvase,bowl,orvial)usedbyphysicians paléographie manuscriptandbooksymbols for
to storebloodfora shortperiodfollowing a theindividualunits:
blood-letting;itscontentswere to
thought vary scrupleS
between 3 and4 fluid
onces(ca. l dl).6Theverre dram3
(a glass)was anygobletlargeenoughtocontain ounce3
at least6 fluidonces(ca. 1.5 dl). poundîb

Exact Units Thescruplewasthesmallest unitandwas

Theoverwhelming number ofpharmaceu-
ticaloperations,
however, especiallythosere-
latingto thepreparationanddispensing ofex-
pensiveor rare drugs,metals,and minerals,
employed fourmajorapothecary units:thefa-
mous scruple-dram-ounce-and pound series.
They were dominantthroughout the Middle
AgesinbothEnglandandFrancealthough their
interunit
definitions, and relation-
proportions,
shipsto thenationalweightsystems in
differed
bothcountries.The firstthreeunitswereem-
ployedthemostofteninactualpharmaceutical,
alchemical,andmedicalformulas,whilethelast
derivedultimatelyfromLatin scrupulus,a
smallweight,a smallstoneor pebble.7In the
Englishapothecarysystemit contained20
grains(1.296 g) equalto 1/3apothecary dram
of60 grains(3.888g) or 1/24apothecaryounce
of480 grains(31.103g). In theFrenchsystem
itwas 24 grains(1.275g) equalto 1/3drachme
of72 grainsor 1/24onceor 1/384livre.Even
thoughit was synonymous in Francein name
and dimension withthedenier,the latterunit
was reservedalmostexclusively forweighing
gold, silver,and otherpreciousmetalsand
gems.8Theycameto be used interchangeably
becauseof the delicateweighings in
inherent

Thepharmacist is shown
using a hand-held balancein
thisminiature froma
Germanastronomical-
medicalmanuscript fromthe
fifteenth
century.(Originalin
Universitätsbibliothek,
Salzburg,M II 180,fol.1 v.)

Vol. 32 (1990) No. 2 59

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all of the above operations.
The dram,the second unit in this series,
came fromthe Greekdrachme,a handfulof dry
substances.9Identicalin France to the treseau,
a pharmaceuticalweightusually expressed as
3 deniers,and to the gros, a weightused prin-
cipallyfor gold, silver,otherpreciousmetals,
and gems, it consisted of 3 scrupules or 72
grains(3.824 g) equal to 1/8 once. In England
it was 3 scruples(3.888 g) of 20 grains each
and equal to 1/8 apothecaryounce.10
Thethirdunitwas theounce,derivedfrom
the Latin uncia, a twelfth,a twelfthpart of
diversemeasures,an ounce, and an inch.11In
England the apothecaryounce contained 24
scruplesor 8 dramsor 480 troygrains (31.103
g); it was equal to 1/12 apothecarypound of
5760 grains.12The Frenchonce poids de marc
contained8 drachmes(gros) or 24 scrupules
(deniers) or 576 grains (30.594 g) or 13,824
primesor 1/2 demi-quarteron or 2 demi-onces;
it was equal to 1/8 mark and 1/16 livre. Al-
thoughtheFrenchdidnothave a specificapoth-
ecary systemof weights as did the English,
priorto the establishmentof the livrepoids de
marcor the livrede Paris bythe government of
KingJohnthe Good in the mid-fourteenth cen-
tury,the Frenchounceused forpharmaceutical
and alchemicalpurposesconformed to the sys-
tem establishedby Charlemagnein the late
eighth century-the ounce employed by all
professionswas knownas the once esterlin.It
contained20 deniersesterlinor 480 grains es-
terlin(30.59 g) equal to 1/12 livrede Charle-
magneof 5760 grains (367.1 g).
The final,and mostimportantapothecary
unitforaccountand receiptpurposes,was the
pound. Althoughthe English pound derived
etymologically from Old English pund, a
weight,and Latinpondo,originally"in weight,"
and was akinto Latinpondus, a weight,it was
parallelto the abbreviationio., derivedfromthe
MedievalLatin libra, pound,fromLatin libra,
a Romanpoundof 12 ounces.The Frenchlivre,
of course,derivedfromthe Latin forms.13 The
English apothecary pound contained 5760
grains(373.242 g), or 288 scruplesof 20 grains
each (1.296 g) or 96 drams of 60 grains each
(3.888 g) or 12 troyounces of 480 grains each
(31.103 g). Fromthe late eighthto the middle
of the fourteenth centuryin France, the livre
esterlin of Charlemagne that was used for
60
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apothecaryand all otherofficialbusiness was
5760 grains(367.1 g), equal to 12 onces or 240
deniers.Withthe reformof King Johnin the
1350s, the livrepoids de marcwas increasedto
9216 grains(489.506 g), equal to 128 drachmes
or 384 scrupules.Finally,until1732 Francehad
a physician'sor medical livre of 5760 grains
(367.1 g), similarto the livreesterlin,but sub-
dividedinto 12 onces, 96 drachmes,288 scru-
pules, or 576 oboles. The latterpoundwas re-
placed in 1732 by the livrepoids de marc. The
metricrevolutionof the late 1700s and early
1800s rendered all of these earlier French
apothecaryweightsand measures invalid;the
same situationtook place in England withthe
less significant
imperialmetrologicallegislation
of 1824, 1878, and 1963.
Beforethe metricrevolution,France,un-
likeEngland,employedan intermediate unitfor
apothecary and other uses known as the marc.
Fromthe MiddleHigh Germanmarc, marke,a
half-poundof gold or silver,it consistedof 8
onces or 64 gros or 160 estelinsor 192 deniers
or 320 mailles or 640 félins or 4608 grains
(244.753 g) and equaled 1/2livrepoidsde marc.
Sometimesused forpharmaceutical, alchemical,
and medicalneeds,it was the principalunitfor
goldand silverweighingswhereitwas reckoned
at 24 carats of 32 grainseach or 768 grainsin
all forgold, while for silverit was 12 deniers
of 24 grains each or 288 grains in all.14
For extremelysensitivemeasurementsin
medicineand pharmacy,apothecariesresorted
to weighing substances either in primes or
grains.The latterconstituted1/480apothecary
ounce (ca. 0.06 g) in England,while in France
it was definedas 1/24denier,1/72gros, 1/576
once, 1/4608 marc, or 1/9216 livre poids de
marc (0.053 g).15As can be seen in any of the
aboveweightcalculations,theFrenchgrainwas
lighterthan its English prototypeand this af-
fected all of the multiplesand submultiples
described.
Lastly,in rareinstances,apothecaryunits
were expressed in subdivisionsof other units
withfourthsand halvesbeingthemostcommon.
Unlike other European nations, England and
France rarelyused otherdiminutives.Confined
almost exclusivelyto France, one findssuch
unitsas the quarteron(one-fourth of any unit)
and particularly the establishedunits of demi-
gros, demi-livre, demi-once,demi-quarteron (a
Pharmacyin History
In theRecetario
de Galieno[Venice,1516] a vignette
on thetitlepageshowstheactivitiesinsidea
pharmacy.(Photograph fromtheNationalLibrary ofMedicine,Bethesda.)

diminutiveof a diminutive),and demi-scru- Greek,andArabiclanguagesintheirrespective

pule.16 In most instances, such diminutives
servedforactual formulasor dosages employ-
ing extremelyrare substances.
Conclusion
Apothecaryweightsand measures in
otherEuropeannations,in the Arab Middle
East,andinvariouscivilizationsoftheancient
worldhad applications,multiplesand submul-
and interrelationships
tiples,diminutives, sim-
ilar to thosefoundin medievalEnglishand
Frenchsocieties.The latterwerestructuredin
someinstanceson thoseoftheirpredecessors.
Therealwayswas a commonsharingamong
ofthepharmaceutical,
practitioners alchemical,
andmedicalartsduetotheinternationalism de-
rivingfromtheircommon literarybackground
and frequenttravelsacross great distances.
Apothecary unitsperhapsmirrored the Latin,
interregionalcommingling of ideas and tech-
niquesthroughout the Western European,By-
zantine,and NearEasternfrontiers. TheMed-
iterraneanSea certainly servedas a cohesive
front.Presentedhereis a microcosm ofa much
largermetrologicalformat. Names,places,and
timesmaybe different, but thoseindividuals
whoselivesdepended on accuratereckoning in
apothecaryweightsand measuresfromthe
mostancientto relativelymodern timestended
to operatein similarways.
References
1. Amongthe mostimportant medievalWesternEuropeansources
and writersdealingwithpharmaceuticalsubjectswerethe Her-
barumApuleii Platonici,Hortulus,Leech Book of Bald, and
Lacnungainthetenthcentury; NicholasofSalernointhetwelfth;
GilbertusAnglicus,Roger Bacon, AlbertusMagnus,Raymond
Lully,ArnoldofVillanova,Vincentof Beauvais,and PetrusHis-
panus in the thirteenth;
Johnof Gaddesden,Bernardde Gordon

Vol. 32 (1990) No. 2 61

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 of Montpellier, Guy de Chauliac,and JohnMirfield in the four-
teenth;and BartholomewGlanvilin the fifteenth. Important
schoolsofmedicinethattaughtvariousaspectsofpharmacy were
located at Bologna, Cambridge,Montpellier, Naples, Oxford,
Padua, Paris,and Salerno.
2. The pincéewas derivedfromthe Frenchverbpincer,to pinchor
nip,whilethe pupille(Latinpugillus) denoteda similarorigin.
3. Variantformsofthemanipuleinmedievalmanuscripts wereman-
iplusand manipulus,whileforthe poignéetherewerethe poig-
neia,poignie,poingnie,pougnieul,and puigneia.
4. The box usuallyappearedin medievalEnglishsourcesas boxe
or boxse; thejointée,fromMiddleFrenchjoint,jointe,joined,
united,had renderings ofjoinctee,jonteia,juncta,andjuneta.
5. Peson comesfromthe verbpeser,to weigh.
6. A diminutive ofpala, pelle,a smallshovelor scoop.
7. Variantspellingswerescriple,scriplum, scriptulum, scripule,scri-
pulum,scripulus,scrupul,and scrypule.
8. The denierappearedas deneror denierin the Provence,dinero
in Spain,denaroin Italy,and dinheiroin Portugal.
9. CompareLatindrachma,dragme,GermanDrachme,Provençal
dragma,Spanishdracma,and Italiandramma.Othermedieval
Englishand Frenchvariantspellingswere drachime,drachm,
drachme,dragm,dragme,and dramme.
10. For the gros compareItalian grosso,Spanishgrueso,and Old
Provençalgros. Beforethe sixteenthcenturythe treseau had
variantsof ternal,treiseau,treseil,tresel,tresiau,tresseau,tre-
zeau, and trezel.
11. CompareLatinonca, onsa, Italianoncia, Spanishonza, and Old
Provençalonsa. Englishmanuscripts includedsuchwidelydiver-
gentvariantsas oince,once,oonce,ounc,ouns,ownce,ownche,
owns,oyns,une,unce,unch,vunce,and wnce.
12. By comparison, in theEnglishImperialsystemestablishedby an
act in 1824, an apothecaryfluidounce contained8 apothecary
fluiddramsor 1.733875cubicinches(2.84123 cl) or 480 minims
or the volumeof 437.5 grains(28.350 g) of distilledwater at
62 °F; it equaled 1/20apothecary pintof 34.6775 cubicinches.
13. In bothcountries, manuscripts frequentlyused the Latinvariant
formsliberand libre.In France,thelivreoftenappearedas liure,
live,liver,andlivere,whileinEnglandthepoundwas pond,ponde,
pounde,pownd,pownde,and punde.
14. In medievalFrenchdocumentsthe marcappearedeitherin the
LatinmarcaandmarchaorintheMiddleFrenchmarandmarka.
CompareSpanishand Italianmarcoand GermanMark.
15. Ultimately derivedfromLatin granum,a grain or seed, other
spellingsweregraine,grane,grayn,grayne,grein,greine,grene,
greyn,and greyne.CompareOld Provençalgran, Spanishand
Italiangrano,and Portuguesegrão.
16. Similardiminutives were commonplacein Italy whereone en-
countered thecentesimo,centimillesimo,danapeso,decimillesimo,
decimo,granottino, libbretta,millesimo,minuto,octavo,ottavo,
and sedicesimo.
Select Bibliography
The followingare the most important metrological sourcesfor
medievalEnglishand Frenchpharmaceutical weightsand measures.
Manyofthemextendthiscoverageto otherEuropeanstatesand con-
tainadditionalbibliographicinformation.
Alexander,J.H. Dictionaryof Weightsand Measures. Baltimore,
1850.
Bailly,F. "Noticesur les anciennesmesuresde Bourgogne."Société
d'histoired'archéologieet de littératurede l'arrondissementde
62
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Beaune. (1902), 173-223, (1903), 156-210, (1904), 177-265,
(1905), 223-306.
Barnyde Romanet,Leon B. A. Traité historiquedes poids et me-
sures Paris, 1863.
Benoit,Auguste.Anciennesmesuresd'Eure-et-Loir.Chartres,1843.
Chamberlayne, John.Magna Britannia Notitia:or, thePresentState
of Great-BritainwithDivers Remarksupon theAncientState
Thereof.London,1708.
Chambers, Ephraim.Cyclopaedia:or,An UniversalDictionaryofArts
and Sciences.Vol. 2. London,1728.
Chomel,M. Noel.DictionnaireOeconomique.Vol. 2. Paris, 1740.
Denis-Papin,Maurice.Métrologiegénérale.Paris, 1946.
Dictionariumrusticum,urbanicumet botanicum:or, A Dictionary
ofHusbandry,Gardening,Trade, Commerce London,1717.
DictionnaireuniverselFrançais et Latin. Paris, 1752.
Doursther,Horace.Dictionnaireuniverseldes poids et mesuresan-
ciens et modernes Anvers,1840.
Du Cange,Charlesdu Fresne.Glossariummediae et infimaeLatin-
itatis. 10 vols.Paris, 1937. (Reprint)
Encyclopédieou dictionnaireraisonné des sciences,des arts et des
métiers,par une sociétéde gens de lettres,éd. M. Diderot.Vols.
21 and 26. Geneva,1778.
Encyclopédieméthodique:Commerce.Vol. 3. Paris, 1784.
Franklin, Alfred.Dictionnairehistoriquedes arts, métierset profes-
sions . . . dans Paris depuis le treizièmesiècle.Paris, 1906.
Gaillardie,Louis.Poids anciens des villes de France. Paris, 1898.
Geoffroy, M. Dictionnairedes poids et mesures.Baugé, 1907.
Godefroy, Frederic.Lexique de l'ancienFrançais. Paris, 1901.
La GrandeEncyclopédie: Inventaireraisonnédes sciences,des lettres
et des arts,ed. MM. Berthelotand Laurent.Vol. 26. Paris,1886-
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Grivel,M. A. Les anciennesMesuresde France. . . . Remiremont, 1914.
Guilhiermoz, P. "Note sur les poids du moyenage," Bibliothèquede
l'Ecole des Chartres,67 (1906), 161-233 and 402-50.
. "Remarquesdiversessur les poidset mesuresdu moyenage."
Ibid., 80 (1919), 5-100.
Hall, Hubert,and Nicholas,FriedaJ. "Select Tractsand Table Books
Relatingto EnglishWeightsand Measures(1100-1742)." Cam-
den ThirdSeries, 41 (1929), 1-53.
Harris,John.Lexicontechnicum, or,An UniversalEnglishDictionary
ofArts and Sciences.London,1716.
Hopton,Arthur. A Concordancy of Yeares. London,1616.
Jesse,Wilhelm.Quellenbuchzur Münz-undGeldgeschichte des Mit-
telalters.Halle, 1924.
Kelly,P. Metrology. . . . an Exposition of Weightsand Measures,
ChieflyThoseof GreatBritain and France London,1816.
Kisch,B. Scales and Weights: A HistoricalOutline.NewHaven,1965.
Lejeune,Alphonse.Monnaies,poids et mesuresdes principauxpays
du monde.Paris, 1894.
Martini,Angelo.Manuale di metrologia.Turin,1883.
Stevens,A.B. ArithmeticofPharmacy.4th ed. New York,1920.
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328-406.
Wilkinson,RobertO. The Druggist'sPrice-Book London,1832.
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. A Dictionaryof Weightsand Measuresfor theBritishIsles:
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. Revolutionin Measurement:WesternEuropean Weightsand
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Pharmacyin History