Note 13 — Chapter LXX
Reading edition
Whether it be true as some maintain (amongst others M. Prax, “Commerce de l’Algérie, 1849,” p. 13.), that the name mithkál is a corruption of “medical,” a term used to denote the small weight used for medical purposes, I am not able to decide. I always thought that it was derived from ثَقَلَ.