English Units:

1 chain (Gunter's or Surveyor's) = 100 links = 66 feet

1 rod or pole or perch = 1/4 of a chain = 16.5 feet = enough room for 2 carts to pass = usual width for "ways" (access roads) between farm fields or "lanes" (ways that come to a dead end)

1 statue mile = 80 chains = 5,280 feet

1 acre = 1 chain in width by 10 chains in length = 66 feet x 660 feet = the area that could be ploughed in one day

1 furlong (furrow long) = 660 feet = 1 side of a square containing 10 acres = 1/8 of a statute mile = 1 Roman Stadium = 1/8 of a Roman mile

1 league = 3 statute miles = the distance you could walk in 1 hour

1 nautical league = 3.45234 miles = the distance a cannon shot could be fired at threatening ships offshore

1 nautical mile = 6,080 feet

1 international nautical mile = 6,076.11549 feet

1 cable = 1/10 of a nautical mile, generally accepted as 600 feet

1 fathom  = 6 feet

 

English Map Scales:

1 inch to a mile = 1:63,360

1 inch to 4 miles = 1:253,440

 

French Units:

1 pied or Paris Foot = 1.06575 feet = 12.789 inches

1 pouce = 1/12 pied = 1.066 inches

1 ligne = 1/144 pied 

1 toise = 6 pieds = 6.3945 English feet

1 chain = 45 links = 45 pieds = 47.95875 English feet

1 arpent (North America) = 180 pieds = 191.835 English feet

1 arpent (Paris) = 220 pieds = 234.465 English feet

1 perche d'arpent (related to English perch/pole/rod) = 22 pieds = 23.4465 English feet

4 chains = 180 links = 1 side of a square arpent (North American)

 

French Map Scales:

Field Surveys for Relief Maps: 12 pouces = 100 toises or 1:600 cm

Field Surveys for Constructing Fortifications: 3 pouces = 100 toises or 1:2,400 cm

Geodetic Field Surveys: 8 lignes = 100 toises or 1:10,800 cm

Military Reconaissance Maps: 4 lignes = 100 toises or 1:21,600 cm

The Cassini Map Surveys: 1 ligne = 100 toises or 1:86,400 cm

Standard Printed Map of a Province: 1 pouce = 3 leagues or 1:493,000 cm

Standard Printed Map of a Nation: 1 pouce = 15 leagues or 1:2,465,000 cm

 

References:

Britannica.com

McNiff, Patrick. Surveyor's Letters, Reel 1, Book 3, p.24

Rennie, P. J. (1968). Measure for Measure. Ottawa: Minister of Forestry and Rural Development.

Stilgoe, R. John (2015). What is Landscape? Cambridge: The MIT Press.