Obsolete Russian units of measurement Peter the Great replace it with the Hindu-Arabic numeral system. The basic unit is the Russian cubit, called the "arshin", which has been in use since the 16th century. It was standardized by Peter the Great in the 18th century to measure exactly twenty-eight English inches (). Thus, 80 vershoks = 20 piads = 5 arshins = 140 English inches (). A "piad" (, “palm”, “five”) or "chetvert" (, “quarter”) is a hand span, the distance between ends of the spread thumb and index finger. Alternative units: As in many ancient systems of measurement the Russian distinguishes between dry and
Finger (unit) Finger (unit) A finger (sometimes fingerbreadth or finger's breadth) is any of several units of measurement that are approximately the width of an adult human finger, including: The digit, also known as digitus or digitus transversus (Latin), dactyl (Greek) or dactylus, or finger's breadth — of an inch or of a foot. In medicine and related disciplines (anatomy, radiology, etc.) the fingerbreadth (literally the width of a finger) is an informal but widely used unit of measure. In the measurement of distilled spirits, two fingers of whiskey refers to the amount of whiskey that would fill a glass to the