Your Pint’s Bigger than My Pint - useful conversions for herbalists
As herbalists, we employ a lot of skills from planting to dispensing, from calculating costs to refilling herbal formulas.
Frankly, I don’t get excited about math but as an herbalist, it’s unavoidable. And working with recipes from around the globe, things can sometimes feel overwhelming.
That’s why I work with the metric system. While it may be new to some, it offers advantages over the imperial system of measurement, the most notable for me is that it reduces the likelihood of my making an error. I can get away from inches, ounces, feet, pounds, cups, gallons, miles, and tons and think “relationally” in 10s, 100s, 1000s etc.
So whether or not I am working in solids or liquids, it simplifies the math associated with medicine making.
As herbal preparations originate from around the world, and systems of weights and measures vary globally, using the metric system provides uniformity and avoids confusion.
It’s very important, when collecting formulas to make a note of not only who created them and offer attribution but also location.
For example, when it comes to measuring liquid volumes, it would be logical to think that a gallon is a gallon and a tablespoon is a tablespoon. Actually, this is not the case.
In the UK, 1 gallon = 4,546.1 milliliters
(I record 1 gallon U.K. = 4,546.1 milliliters)
In the USA, 1 gallon = 3,785.4 milliliters
(I record 1 gallon U.S. = 3,785.4 milliliters)
The difference?
About 760.7 milliliters,
or more than a full bottle of wine!
What about other measurements? Well, for example, in the U.K., a tablespoon is equal to four teaspoons; in the U.S. it is equal to three.
As we collect herbal formulas from around the world, converting them into metric units avoids confusion and, most importantly, promotes safety.
Here are some useful conversions to begin to consider:
Weights
1 dram (Dr.) = 0.1 ounce (oz.)
1 grain (gr.) = 64.8 milligrams (mg)
1 gram (g) = 0.04 oz.
1 kilogram (kg) = 35.27 ounces = 2.2 pounds (lb.)
1 milligram = 0.015 grain = 0.000035 oz.
1 ounce = 28.4 g
1 pound = 16 ounces 453.6 g
1 scruple (s) = 1.3 g
Volumes
1 cubic centimeter (cc) = 1 milliliter (ml) = 20 drops (gtt)*
1 dram = 3.7 ml
1 fifth = 757.1 ml
1 fluid ounce U.K. = 28.4 ml
1 fluid ounce U.S. = 29.6 ml
1 fluid pint U.K. = 568.3 ml = 20 fluid oz. U.K.
1 fluid pint U.S. = 473.2 ml = 16.0 fluid oz. U.S.
1 gallon U.K. = 4546.1 ml
1 gallon U.S. 3= 785.4 ml
1 gill (gi.) U.K. = 142.1 ml
1 gill U.S. = 118.3 ml
1 liter (L) = 1000 ml
1 liter = 35.2 fluid oz. U.K.
1 liter = 33.8 fluid oz. U.S.
1 milliliter = 1 cc
1 minim (min.) = 0.1 ml
1 quart (qt.) U.K. = 1136.5 ml
1 quart (qt.) U.S. = 946.4 ml
1 shot = 29.6 ml
Length/Depth
1 centimeter (cm.) = 10.0 millimeters (mm)
1 foot (ft.) = 12 inches (in.)
1 inch = 2.54 cm
Common U.S. Household Measures
1 cup (c.) U.S. = 236.6 ml
1 cup (metric) = 250.0 ml
1 jigger = 44.4 ml
1 shot = 29.6 ml
1 tablespoon (T.) U.K. = 14.2 ml
1 tablespoon U.S. = 14.8 ml
1 tablespoon U.K. = 4.0 teaspoons U.K.
1 tablespoon U.S. = 3.0 teasp. U.S.
1 teaspoon (teasp. or t ) U.K. = 3.6 ml
1 teaspoon (teasp. or t ) U.S. = 4.9 ml
Temperature
98.6º Fahrenheit (°F) = 37.0º Celsius (°C)
100º F = 38º C
250º F = 121º C
350º F = 177º C
450º F = 232º C
