The minim (abbreviated min) is a unit of volume in both the imperial and U.S. customary systems of measurement. Specifically, in the imperial system, it is of an imperial fluid drachmalso spelled fluidramPage 40, The Book of Household Management (1861) or of an imperial fluid ounce; in the U.S. customary system, it is of a US customary fluid dram or of a US customary fluid ounce.CIA World Factbook
The minim was introduced in the 1809 edition of The Pharmacopœia of the Royal College of Physicians of London as a replacement for the drop, which had previously been the smallest unit of the apothecaries' system. It was observed that the size of a drop can vary considerably depending upon the viscosity and specific gravity of the liquid. (At the time, the phenomenon of surface tension was not well understood.) The minim, on the other hand, was measured with a graduated glass tube known as a "minimometer", later known as the minim-tube. The minim-tube was a type of graduated pipette, a device invented in 1791 by François-Antoine-Henri Descroizilles.
Apothecaries' measures are fully defined in the United Kingdom's Weights and Measures Act 1878, but the UK's Weights and Measures Act 1963 provided for the abolition of the minim, fluid scruple, and fluid drachm, all already obsolete. Actual delegalization occurred on 1 February 1971.
The use of the minim, along with other such measures, has been reduced by the adoption of the metric system, and even in the least metricated countries, pharmacy is largely metricated and the apothecaries' system is deprecated. The unit may rarely persist in some countries in the measurement of dosages of medicine.
Definitions Imperial minim US customary minim imperial fluid ounce US fluid ounce UK teaspoon US teaspoon imperial fluid drachm US fluid dram59.193880208 microlitres (exactly) microlitres (exactly)≃ 0.0036122322 cubic inchesThis assumes the international inch of exactly 25.4 millimetres. cubic inch (exactly)This assumes the international inch of exactly 25.4 millimetres. The US gallon, of 231 cubic inches, is the same as the English wine gallon.≃ 0.002001583 US fluid ounces≃ 0.002168422 imperial fluid ounces≈ 0.96076 US fluid minims≈ 1.0408427 imperial minims
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