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Portugal
pre-metric units of dry capacity

The law required all units to be striken.

									moio
								saio	10
							fanga	1½	15
					alqueire		4	6	60
					meios	2	8	12	120
				quarta	2	4	16	24	240
			oitava	2	4	8	32	48	480
maquia or meias-outava			2	4	8	16	64	96	960
	selamin	2	4	8	16	32	128	192	1920
17th c		848 mL	1.70 L	3.39 L	6.78 L	13.567 L	54.266 L	81.4 L	814 L
19th c- Lopes group A¹		821	1.64	3.29	6.57	13.141	52.56	78.85	788.46
Group B		872	1.74	3.49	6.97	13.948	55.79	83.69	836.88
Group C		933	1.87	3.73	7.465	14.929	59.72	89.57	895.74
Group D		982	1.96	3.93	7.86	15.717	62.87	94.30	943.02
Group E		1066	2.13	4.26	8.525	17.049	68.20	102.29	1022.94
Group F		1092	2.18	4.37	8.738	17.475	69.90	104.85	1048.50
Group G		1206	2.41	4.37	8.738	19.298	77.19	115.79	1157.88
Lisbon, Doursther (1840) ²	note 2	845	1.69	3.38	6.76	13.52	54.08	81.2	811.23
Nelkenbrecher (1890)	note 2	865	1.73	3.46	6.92	13.841	55.365	83.04	830.45

Notes

1. Luis Seabra Lopes did a statistical study of reported values for the alqueire in the 19th century, and found they fell into 7 groups. They are not necessarily province-specific; that is, in some provinces several different standards were in use. Group A includes the equivalence determined by the Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, 13.197 liters for the alqueire. According to Professor Seabra Lopes, the most frequently encountered values fell into groups B (24.3%) and D (24.9%).

Luis Seabra Lopes.
Medidas Portuguesas de Capacidade: Origem e Difusão dos Principais Alqueires usados até ao Século XIX.
Revista Portuguesa de História, vol 36, pages 345-360 (2002-2003).

2. The equivalences reported by Doursther and Nelkenbracher are provided as examples of 19th-century commercial values. Doursther (page 493) says the Portuguese “selamim” is also called “meia-outava” or “maquia”, half of an “outava” or a sixteenth of an alquiere. Nelkenbrecher (page 545) treats selamin as a synonym for oitava. Other sources differ, for example Botelho (page 185) says “a quarta = 2 oitavas = 4 maquias = 8 selamins”.

José Nicolau Raposo Botelho.
Diccionário das modedas, pesos, medidas e informações commerciaes de todos os paizes.
Lisbon: Antonio Maria Pereira, 1895.

Portugal pre-metric units of dry capacity

Notes

Portugal
pre-metric units of dry capacity