Avoirdupois Weight
The system of weights and measures for all goods except precious metals and gems, the grain being the foundation of this as in the case of Troy weight. The weight of one cubic inch of water is 252.458 grains, and 7000 of these grains make one pound avoirdupois, and 5.760 a pound troy. The pound is divided into 16 ounces, and the ounce into 16 drachms. The hundred-weight is, in most parts of the United States, simply 100 pounds avoirdupois, and the ton 20 of such hundredths, or 2000 pounds. Axis is the straight line about which a plane figure revolves so as to produce or generate a solid; or, it is a straight line drawn from the vertex of a figure to the middle of the base. The axis of a sphere or circle is a straight line passing through the centre and terminating at the circumference on the opposite sides.
In founding, the spindle is an axis around or upon which a sweep-board revolves to produce a solid, as a core by using the sweep's inner edge. When the outer edge of the sweep is used it forms an inclosing surface, or cope. See SPINDLE.