The term Setier is the L. _sextuarius_, but it had lost its original meaning and become a general-utility term in measures. The Setier = the Marseilles Cargo of 4 Sestié, must not be confused with this sestié. It was divided into 12 boisseaux of variable standard, but usually estimated to hold 20 French pounds of wheat. As 1/12 setier, the boisseau was = 2·86 gallons, and it was divided into 16 litrons = 1·43 pint.
There were intermediate divisions of the Setier; it was of 2 mines (a term taken from the Southern _eimino_), 4 minots, 12 boisseaux.
There was also a Muid for corn and salt. The corn-muid was 12 setiers.
There are still in France traces of an older system of corn-measures derived from the cubic foot. I found, in the Rouen Museum, the standard bushel of the town of Bolbec. It measures 16 inches diameter by 12·6 inches deep = 2533 cubic inches or 9·14 gallons. It appears to be the French cubic foot = 2091 cubic inches increased in water-wheat ratio to 2533 × 1·22 = 2551 cubic inches, a difference probably to be ascribed to the difficulty in measuring at all accurately.
There are also many local standards of capacity, well deserving of study. Some, as the bushel of La Rochelle, indeed of the west of France generally, = 56 lb. of wheat, are much larger than the Paris Bushel. There was a general rejection of the duodecimal division of the Setier.
Length Land Aune = 46·77 inches. Square Toise = 4·54 sq. yards. Toise = 76·73 „ Square Perche = 2 sq. rods. Pied = 12·789 „ Arpent (× 100) = 1·26 acre. Perche = 23·446 feet.
Wine-measure Corn-measure Bushels Muid = 63·5 galls. Muid = 51·6 4 Quartaut = 15·8 „ 12 Setier = 34·32 gall. = 4·29 9 Velte = 1·76 „ 12 Boisseau = 2·86 „ 8 Pinte = 1·76 pint. 16 Litron = 1·43 pint. 2 Chopine = 0·88 „
Weights Quintal = 107·7 lb. 100 Livre = 7554 grains. 16 Once = 472·1 „ 24 Deniers (dwt.) = 3 to a ‘gros.’ 24 Grains.
_Remarks on the French Measures of Capacity_
The fault of the Paris system was that there was little or no concordance between the different series.
In length, 6 aunes approximately coincided with 22 feet or 3-2/3 toises.
The measures of length had no concordance with those of capacity, and in the latter, wine-measure and corn-measure had lost their original concordance when they were brought from the south. They lost it by two faults: