Tara wrote:
> On Wed, 21 Nov 2007 16:56:19 -0500, Goomba38 >
> wrote:
>
>> Tara wrote:
>>
>>> One of my old cookbooks -- I think it is the original Fannie Farmer --
>>> is always calling for "a few grains" of cayenne. I just love that
>>> phrase.
>>>
>>> Tara
>> But there is a measurement called "grains" in the old apothecary system.
>> You know you've probably seen it but never thought about it since it is
>> rarely used today except for aspirin (standard 5 grain tablet is aprox
>> 325 mg)
>> Could old Fannie have been using it??
>
> Oh, that's interesting! I had no idea. How is it measured -- a
> weight or a volume? I'm not sure whether or not that's what Fannie
> Farmer was asking for. Was it a standard of household measurement at
> the time? Was cayenne sold by the grain?
>
> I just like the picture of a nineteenth century housewife carefully
> sifting out a few grains of spice. So, a few grains measured by the
> apothecary would be about half the size of an aspirin tablet.
>
> It's all fascinating to me. I love historical cookbooks.
>
> Tara

Weight.
I try a lot of odd hobbies, and for a while I tried hand-loading pistol
cartridges for target shooting. Powder scales still use "grains" as a
measure of weight.
So a mild-but-accurate target load of say, 3.2 grains of Winchester 231
powder would drive a 148 grain hollow-based lead bullet to 800 feet per
second from a 38 special revolver. That'd be the HARD way to get your
Thanksgiving turkey...