"WE STILL LIVE!" ...John Carter
Copyright © 1982, 1996-2005 All Rights Reserved.

WEIGHTS & MEASURES

LINEAR

sofad -- 11.17 earth inches. (On map 11.69 earth inches)
safad -- martian inch
ad -- 9.75 earth feet. Various conversions between Barsoomian and earth measure can be found. 300 ads is described as approximately 3000 feet and 50 ads converts to 490 feet. (Synthetic)
haad - 1,949.05 earth feet (listed as 1,949.0592 feet, Fighting Man)
10 sofads -- 1 ad
200 ads -- 1 haad
100 haads -- 1 karad
1 karad -- 1 degree of latitude (36.914 earth miles)
360 karads -- circumference of Barsoom at the equator.
circumference of Mars, 13,289 miles
1 mile -- 2.709 haads

Speed of fast fliers is 166.1 earth miles per hour, or 450 haads per hour; calculated from distance/time description in Thuvia and supported by Barsoom map reference (see Technological Developments, AIRSHIPS for more information)

TIME

Tal -- 1 second
Xat -- 1 minute
Zode -- 1 hour

4 tals = 1 xat, or 200 to a zode
5 xats = 15 earth minutes
50 xats = three hours
zode = 2.5 earth hours (listed as 2.462 earth hours, Fighting Man). ERB occasionally offered exact conversions between Barsoomian and earth measures, for example: Martian time 8:25 is 12:13 AM Earth time. (Synthetic)
25 xats past 8th zode is midnight (Swords).
10 zodes daily
martian day, little over 24 1/2 earth hours (Princess 112)
martian year, 684 earth days

Barsoomian Month = They remain on this duty for one month, which is equivalent to about seventy days of Earth time; then they are relieved and return to Gathol city. LLANA

NUMBERS

There appears to be little logic to the numbers listed in the books, though some aspects seem to hold together. bar -- 8
dur -- 1,000,000
ov -- 7
tan -- 100
tee -- 10
teeay -- 11
tor -- 4

CURRENCY

pi -- 1 cent
teepi -- 10 cents
tanpi -- 1 dollar

hard coinage is oval shaped in bronze, silver and gold.

paper currency--a form of check issued by the payee and redeemed twice a year. If the payee is unable to fulfil his obligation, the government pays the debt and requires the debtor to serve time on a farm or in the military until the debt is paid.

WEIGHTS

pound -- John Carter's observations of the Barsoomian methods of weight measurement have never been translated. Apparently a Barsoomian pound is similiar in relation to an Earthly pound, but is correspondingly less based on the reduced gravity of Mars.
ton -- without terrestrial referrent, many airships and construction techniques are described in terms of tons.