Fw: Ancient Measurements => Lines

Tue Jan 11 20:59:32 CST 2005

 all about line is available on:
 www.coleoptera.org/p1826.htm

 Regards
 Ricardo

 ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Michael A. Ivie" <mivie at MONTANA.EDU>
> To: <TAXACOM at LISTSERV.NHM.KU.EDU>
> Sent: Tuesday, January 11, 2005 5:57 AM
> Subject: Re: Ancient Measurements => Lines
>
>
> > Through the courtesy of Max Barkley at the Natural History Museum, I
have
> > finally found the following data on the various "lines" used in early
> taxonomic
> > literature.  On Page 11 of  C. M. F. von Hayek's 1973 "Reclassification
of
> the
> > subfamily Agrypninae (Coleoptera: Elateridae)" [published in  Bulletin
of
> the
> > British Museum (Natural History) Entomology Supplement 20: 1-309] she
> states: "A
> > six inch ivory ruler produced by Janson of Russell Street London, shows
> that the
> > English, French and German lines differ in length."  She then lists:
> > 1 English line = 2.117 mm
> > 1 German line = 2.191 mm
> > 1 French line = 2.250 mm
> >
> > Mike
> >
> > "Michael A. Ivie" wrote:
> >
> > > Dear Chris,
> > >
> > > Christine von Hayek at the then-British Museum (Natural History) had a
> > > fantastic little scale with English, French and German lines on it.
They
> > > were all different.  She included the various sizes of each in her
1973
> > > paper "Reclassification of the subfamily Agrypninae (Coleoptera:
> > > Elateridae)" published in  Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural
> History)
> > > Entomology Supplement 20: 1-309.  Unfortunately, my copy walked
several
> > > years ago, and I have not been able to replace it, but it had all
kinds
> of
> > > wonderful information.  If I remember correctly, it was in the back in
> an
> > > appendix.  It could also have been in the 1979 Additions and
> Corrections,
> > > published in the Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History)
> Entomology
> > > 38: 183-261, as my copy had them bound together.
> > >
> > > Mike
> > >
> > > christian thompson wrote:
> > >
> > > > In the early literature, at least for insects (Entomology), many
> > > > european authors gave measurements in LINES (lignes in French), but
> > > > there seems to be confuse about whether this was a uniform standard
> > > > across European countries and what a line is equal to.
> > > >
> > > > Some earlier workers, Scopoli (1763, Entomologia Carniolica) printed
a
> > > > scale in the front of his work. His line was equal to 2.14 mm.
> Fairchild
> > > > (1967, Pacific Insects 9: 75) wrote that the line of Wiedemann
> (another
> > > > earlier worker from 1810-30) used a line equal to 2.18.  Once I
copied
> > > > information from an "Webster's Unabridged Dictionary" which had a
> table
> > > > indicating that a line from France was equal to 2.256 mm, 2.12 for
> > > > England, 1.9 mm for Chile. Unfortunately I copied that information
> when
> > > > I was a graduate student back in the mid 1960's and didn't note the
> > > > edition of the Webster's.
> > > >
> > > > If any one have better information or citations on lines as a unit
of
> > > > measurement in taxonomy, I would appreciate them..
> > > >
> > > > F. Christian Thompson
> > > > Systematic Entomology Lab., USDA
> > > > c/o Smithsonian Institution
> > > > MRC-0169 NHB
> > > > PO Box 37012
> > > > Washington, DC 20013-7012
> > > > (202) 382-1800 voice
> > > > (202) 786-9422 FAX
> > > > cthompso at sel.barc.usda.gov e-mail
> > > > www.diptera.org  web site
> > >
> > > --
> > > __________________________________________________
> > >
> > > Michael A. Ivie, Ph.D.
> > > Department of Entomology
> > > Montana State University
> > > Bozeman, MT 59717
> > > USA
> > >
> > > (406) 994-4610 (voice)
> > > (406) 994-6029 (FAX)
> > > mivie at montana.edu
> >
> > --
> > __________________________________________________
> >
> > Michael A. Ivie, Ph.D.
> > Department of Entomology
> > Montana State University
> > Bozeman, MT 59717
> > USA
> >
> > (406) 994-4610 (voice)
> > (406) 994-6029 (FAX)
> > mivie at montana.edu
>