Re: [NTLK] [OT] Exact Measurement of King Henry

>Doug Denby writes:
>
>> A yard ... Coincidently this is the distance for normally
>> proportioned males from the tip of their fingers to the nose when arms
>> are outstretched. Standardized to King Henry I's (1068-1135) personal
> > measurements.

A perfectly logical basis for measurement. The yard is the standard
basis for measuring cloth. A hand-driven loom cannot weave cloth
wider than a yard because a normally-proportioned male cannot "throw"
a shuttle more than the stretch of his arm. Hence we speak of
"yardage" and (at least still in the ancient US of A) still sell
cloth in fractions or multiples of the yard. That it also happens to
match three feet is coincidental to the fact that human proportions
tend to match the length of feet and reach of arms in a ratio of one
to three.
The yard has not other use except in land measurement where
historically it was sometimes used, although the rod (or perch) was
the standard there. And, the rod has nothing to do with a certain
number of men leaving church, it has to do with the width of a
right-of-way. Standard right-of-way here is still 33 feet, or two
rods, although the piggy municipalities now demand 50 or 75 feet.
Trivia for the day. Cheers, WES

-- 
Michael Wescott Loder
Campus Librarian
Ciletti Memorial Library, Penn State Schuylkill
E-mail: MWL2@psu.edu
570-385-6238
FAX: 570-385-6232
240 University Drive
Schuylkill Haven, PA 17972-2210
"Cave id esse fas"
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