How many furrows can a horse make in a day

At 05:12 28/12/00 +0000, you wrote:

>A wonderful article on mensuration in (I believe) Model Engineer
>or Model Engineers Workshop a few years ago, by Tubal Cain
>(sadly, now deceased) explained the origins of many of today's
>and past standard measures.
>
>He pronounced that the Pilgrims were wine drinkers, based on the
>size of the gallon jugs (132 oz) they brought with them; a gallon
>of beer comprised 160 oz. - this is, he claimed, the origin of the
>US gallon...... A "real" gallon (Imperial) is, of course, 160.
>
>The furlong, I think, was the length of furrow a horse pulling a single
>plowshear could make in a day. My memory could be faulty, but
>the article is definitely worth a read.... /mark

I came across a very amusing article a while back that traces the standard
gauge of rail track back to the width of track of Roman chariots - which in
turn is related to the width of a horse's ass...

Regards,
Tony