Editing Teaspoon (section)

=== Apothecary ===
{{See also|Apothecaries' system}}
As an unofficial but once widely used unit of [[Apothecaries' system|apothecaries' measure]], the teaspoon is equal to 1&nbsp;fluid dram (or drachm) and thus {{frac|4}} of a tablespoon or {{frac|8}} of a fluid ounce.<ref name="Ludy1907">{{cite book|author=Robert Borneman Ludy|title=Answers to questions prescribed by pharmaceutical state boards|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xMwRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA125|year=1907|publisher=J.J. McVey|page=125}}</ref><ref name="Collins1803">{{cite book|author=Dr. Collins|title=Practical rules for the management and medical treatment of Negro slaves in the sugar colonies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=clsSAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA465|year=1803|publisher=Printed by J. Barfield, for Vernor and Hood|page=465}}</ref> The apothecaries' teaspoon was formally known by the Latin ''cochleare minus'' (''cochl. min.'') to distinguish it from the tablespoon or ''cochleare majus'' (''cochl. maj.'').<ref name="encyclopedia1884">{{cite book|editor=Alexander Whitelaw|editor-link=Alexander Whitelaw (editor)|title=The popular encyclopedia; or, 'Conversations Lexicon'|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=68LpFwitupEC&pg=PA11|year=1884|page=11}}</ref><ref name="Milne-EdwardsVavasseur1831">{{cite book|author1=Henri Milne-Edwards|author2=Pierre Henri L.D. Vavasseur|title=A manual of materia medica and pharmacy, from the Fr. of H.M. Edwards and P. Vavasseur, corrected by J. Davies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M75Q-5iRUjwC&pg=PR12|year=1831|page=12}}</ref>

When tea-drinking was first introduced to England circa 1660, tea was rare and expensive, as a consequence of which teacups and teaspoons were smaller than today. This situation persisted until 1784, when the [[Commutation Act]] reduced the tax on tea from 119% to 12.5%.<ref>Tea.co.uk. (2020). UK Tea & Infusions Association{{Snd}} Illicit Tea Trades. [online] Available at: https://www.tea.co.uk/tea-smuggling [Accessed 1 February 2020].</ref> As the price of tea declined, the size of teacups and teaspoons increased. By the 1850s, the teaspoon as a unit of culinary measure had increased to <small>{{frac|3}}</small> of a tablespoon, but the apothecary unit of measure remained the same.<ref name="Griffith1859">{{cite book |author=Robert Eglesfeld Griffith |title=A universal formulary: containing the methods of preparing and administering officinal and other medicines. The whole adapted to physicians and pharmaceutists |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h-4jAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA25|year=1859 |publisher=H.C. Lea |page=25}}</ref> Nevertheless, the teaspoon, usually under its Latin name, continued to be used in apothecaries' measures for several more decades, with the original definition of one fluid dram.