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English-speaking countries also used a system of units of fluid measure, or in modern terminology volume units, based on the apothecaries' system. Originally, the terms and symbols used to describe the volume measurements of liquids were the same as or similar to those used to describe weight measurements of solids [33] (for example, the pound by weight and the fluid pint were both referred to ...
Apothecaries used their own measurement system, the apothecaries' system, to provide precise weighing of small quantities. [37] Apothecaries dispensed vials of poisons as well as medicines, and as is still the case, medicines could be either beneficial or harmful if inappropriately used.
In the apothecaries' system, which was widely used in the United States until the middle of the 20th century, [15] the dram is the mass of 1 ⁄ 96 pounds apothecaries (lb ap), or 1 ⁄ 8 ounces apothecaries (oz ap or ℥) [5]: C-7 (the pound apothecaries and ounce apothecaries are equal to the troy pound (lb t), and troy ounce (oz t ...
The first "drugstores" in North America "appeared in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia," [11] with likely proto-drugstores—for example Gysbert van Imbroch ran a "general store" that sold drugs from 1663 to 1665 in Wildwyck, New Netherland, [12] today's Kingston, New York—preceding the dedicated apothecary shops of the 1700s, and providing a model.
However, apothecaries' weight has now been superseded by the metric system. One important difference is the widespread use in Britain of the stone of 14 pounds ( 6.350 293 18 kg ) for body weight; this unit is not used in the United States, although flour was sold by a barrel of 196 pounds (14 stone) until World War II.
The grain was the legal foundation of traditional English weight systems, [5] and is the only unit that is equal throughout the troy, avoirdupois, and apothecaries' systems of mass. [6]: C-6 The unit was based on the weight of a single grain of barley which was equal to about + 4 ⁄ 3 the weight of a single grain of wheat.
The imperial system of measure does not have an equivalent to the US customary system of "dry measure". In the international commodities markets, the barrel ( 42 US gallons , ≈159 litres) is used in both London and New York/Chicago for trading in crude oil and the troy ounce (≈31.10 grams) for trading in precious metals, except the London ...
English: One of the symbols used for the minim, a unit of volume in the apothecaries' system. A capital M, elongated on the right, and crossed through. A capital M, elongated on the right, and crossed through.