The minim (abbreviated min) is a unit of

volume Volume is a measure of regions in three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch) ...

in both the imperial and U.S. customary systems of measurement. Specifically, in the imperial system, it is of an imperial fluid drachm or of an

imperial fluid ounce A fluid ounce (abbreviated fl oz, fl. oz. or oz. fl., old forms ℥, fl ℥, f℥, ƒ ℥) is a unit of volume (also called ''capacity'') typically used for measuring Liquid, liquids. The imperial units, British Imperial, the United States custo ...

; in the U.S. customary system, it is of a US customary fluid dram or of a US customary fluid ounce.CIA World Factbook
/ref> 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 The apothecaries' system, or apothecaries' weights and measures, is a historical system of mass and volume units that were used by physicians and apothecaries for medical prescriptions and also sometimes by scientists."Medicinal-Gewicht, Apotheke ...

. It was observed that the size of a drop can vary considerably depending upon the

viscosity Viscosity is a measure of a fluid's rate-dependent drag (physics), resistance to a change in shape or to movement of its neighboring portions relative to one another. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of ''thickness''; for e ...

and

specific gravity Relative density, also called specific gravity, is a dimensionless quantity defined as the ratio of the density (mass of a unit volume) of a substance to the density of a given reference material. Specific gravity for solids and liquids is nea ...

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 pipette (sometimes spelled as pipet) is a type of laboratory tool commonly used in chemistry and biology to transport a measured volume of liquid, often as a media dispenser. Pipettes come in several designs for various purposes with differing ...

, a device invented in 1791 by

François-Antoine-Henri Descroizilles Titration (also known as titrimetry and volumetric analysis) is a common laboratory method of quantitative chemical analysis to determine the concentration of an identified analyte (a substance to be analyzed). A reagent, termed the ''titrant ...

. Apothecaries' measures are fully defined in the United Kingdom's Weights and Measures Act 1878, but the UK's

Weights and Measures Act 1963 Weights and Measures Acts are acts of the British Parliament determining the regulation of weights and measures. It also refers to similar royal and parliamentary acts of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland and the medieval Welsh states. ...

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 The metric system is a system of measurement that standardization, standardizes a set of base units and a nomenclature for describing relatively large and small quantities via decimal-based multiplicative unit prefixes. Though the rules gover ...

, and even in the least metricated countries, pharmacy is largely metricated and the

is deprecated. The unit may rarely persist in some countries in the measurement of dosages of medicine.

Definitions

References and notes

External links

Unicode Miscellaneous Symbols
{{United States Customary Units Units of volume Customary units of measurement in the United States Imperial units