Fathoms to meters in different languages

[Andreas Gminder]

-----Urspr=FCngliche Nachricht-----
Von: Petersen, Mary Elizabeth (MSX) <MEPetersen at ZMUC.KU.DK>
An: Multiple recipients of list TAXACOM <TAXACOM at CMSA.BERKELEY.EDU>
Datum: Montag, 22. M=E4rz 1999 20:15
Betreff: Fathoms to meters in different languages


>Monday, 22 March 1999
>
>Are conversion tables from fathoms to meters (or linear nonmetric to
metric)
>for different countries available anywhere on the WWW? For example, a
Danish
>fathom is 1.883 m whereas the Imperial (British or American) fathom is o=
nly
>1.829 m, but if there are web sites with this kind of information, I am
>asking the wrong questions as I have not been able to find them. Are the=
re
>similar differences for other European countries? For example, what syst=
em
>does France follow? Germany? - Would this be the Bavarian system?
>
>At the smaller end of the scale, a Danish inch is (still) 26.112 mm and =
a
>Danish line (1/12 of a Danish inch) is 2.176 mm, whereas an Imperial inc=
h
is
>25.4 mm and the line is 2.116 mm.
>
>These nonmetric measurements, especially fathoms ("orgyiar" in the Latin=
 of
>Malmgren, 1867) and lines, occur in many older descriptions and station
>lists from the 1800s. While there is a good chance that the error inhere=
nt
>in the method of measuring may be greater than the difference caused by =
the
>conversion system used, when one knows that such differences did (do)
exist,
>it is unsatisfactory to use a conversion factor that one knows is incorr=
ect
>to start with.
>
>De Vries (1959) gives some miscellaneous measurements (p. 558) and point=
s
>out that there are differences between Swiss, Bavarian, English and Fren=
ch
>linear measures, e.g., 1 Swiss ligne (line) =3D 0.082 English inch; Bava=
ria,
>0.080 inch (as compared to French Ligne, 0.089 inch).
>
>De Vries, L. 1959. German-English Science Dictionary (3rd ed.). McGraw H=
ill
>Book Company, Inc. 592 pp. (At least one later edition of this excellent
>book is available, but I have not seen it.)
>
>Thanks in advance for any input.
>
>Mary E. Petersen
>Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen
>Mepetersen at zmuc.ku.dk
>


Some month ago a somewhat similar question occured,  about how much an
"inch" is today. Here is the answer I kept from these days:

> (...) Here are many possibilities for your first question, compiled by =
the
diatomist Dr. Charles W. Reimer, Academy of Natural Sciences of
Philadelphia:

>Pariser Zoll (German), same as "pouce"(French) 27.07 mm
>Zoll (English)   1.030 inch   26.16 mm
>Zoll (old Paris)  1.030 inch   26.16 mm
>Zoll (Swiss)   1.181 inch   30.00 mm


best wishes,
Andreas Gminder - Stuttgart - Germany