This section is from "The Domestic Encyclopaedia Vol1", by A. F. M. Willich. Amazon: The Domestic Encyclopaedia.
Box, generally implies a small coffer, or chest, to contain articles of any kind.
The term is also employed to express an uncertain quantity or measure : a box of quicksilver, for instance, contains from one to two hundred weight; a box of prunella only fourteen pounds ; and among ironmongers, a box of rings for keys, two gross, etc.
 
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