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gas unit of measure

In the United Kingdom, 19ᵗʰ century, a legal unit used in billing for gas used for illumination and other purposes. The gas used for lighting was not the natural gas piped into homes today; it was manufactured from coal. Measuring the quantity delivered and maintaining its quality was a major concern.

sources

The Gas Unit of measure is the cubic foot decimally divided, and containing 62.321 Avoir. lbs. weight of water at 62° Fahr. (Sale of Gas Act, 1859, sec. 33)

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This unit is confirmed by W[eights] and M[easures] Acts of 1878 (sec. 66) and 1889 (sec. 15); but the number of lbs. to the cu. foot is not now considered accurate.

Alfred J. Martin.
Up-to-date Tables of Imperial, Metric, Indian and Colonial Weights and Measures…
London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1904.
Page 189.

photograph of standards office