BARREL

An English measure of capacity, varying with the nature of the liquid measured. In the old measures, a barrel denoted 31^ gallons of wine, 32 gallons of ale, or 36 gallons of beer. By a statute of 1 W. & M., the ale and beer barrels were equalized for every part of England except London, and ordered to contain 34 gallons. The term Barrel was formerly in use to denote, in a rough way, other sorts of goods. Thus, a barrel of salmon, 42 gallons; a barrel of soap, 256 pounds. In common language any hollow cylinder is called a barrel. [s. 148]