SC - In need of a documented Rant on "highly spided spoiled food "

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

>Here's canned rant on the economics of spice consumption from a Canadian
>professor: http://www.economics.utoronto.ca/munro5/SPICES1.htm
>He compares modern Indian and medieval French recipes.

I have one question based on the article:

In his chart of the cost of units of commonly used items, he gives 
the price of cloth by the yard - that's certainly how i buy cloth - i 
need multiple yards to make a single garment.

But his unit for spices is a pound. I've only bought that amount of 
cinnamon and ginger for a feast. I know we're different here on this 
list, but most people in modern times buy spices by the ounce (or 
less - ever notice how much is in one of those containers at the 
supermarket?). Did most people actually buy spices primarily by the 
pound (or regional-temporal equivalent) in the Medieval and 
Renaissance periods, or did they buy ounces (or regional-temporal 
equivalent)?

Anahita