Troy weight A grain is 20 mites, a mite is 24 droits, a droit is 20 perits, a perit is 24 blanks. In Scotland, the Incorporation of Goldsmiths of the City of Edinburgh used a system in multiples of sixteen. ("See Assay-Master's Accounts, 1681–1702, on loan from the Incorporation to the National Archives of Scotland".) Thus, there were 16 drops to the troy ounce, 16 ounces to the troy pound, and 16 pounds to the troy stone. The Scots had several other ways of measuring precious metals and gems, but this was the common usage for gold and silver. The Pound was
Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand (1984) is a science fiction novel by Samuel R. Delany. It was part of a planned duology ("diptych", in Delany's description) whose second half, "The Splendor and Misery of Bodies, of Cities", remains unfinished. The novel takes place in a distant future in which diverse human societies have developed on some 6,000 planets. Many of these worlds are shared with intelligent nonhumans, although only one alien species (the mysterious Xlv) also possesses faster-than-light travel. In an attempt to find a stable defense against the