=3.= Nearly all cut nails used at the present time are made from sheet steel, a small percentage only being manufactured of iron, for which the makers charge a slightly higher price. The steel nail is undoubtedly the best for use in hardwoods, but the iron nail will outlast it where dampness exists, as, for instance, in shingling, etc. As shown in Fig. 1, cut nails are made in many styles and sizes, and for various purposes. They are also known by the same trade term for the various styles. Cut nails are heavier than wire nails, and as they count fewer to the pound, are more expensive at equivalent prices. All nails are sold at base prices per keg of 100 pounds, the “extras” for smaller and special nails being added to the base price. For special work, certain types of nails can be obtained in copper and brass. =4. Size and Gauge of Nails.=—Both cut and wire nails are designated by the trade term _penny_. The term penny as applied to nails is a relic of medieval England. This designation was due, it is said, to the fact that it defined the _cost per hundred nails_, so that _tenpenny nails_ would mean that 100 of such nails cost _ten pence_. A more likely interpretation of the term is that it implied the _weight_ and not the _cost_, and that the term penny is a corruption of the Old English word _pun’_ (for pound), so that _tenpunny_ or _tenpenny_ implied that 1,000 of such nails weighed 10 pounds. The smallest standard size of nail is known as _twopenny_ or _threepenny_, while the largest is designated as _sixtypenny_. These sizes range in length from 1 to 6 inches. In designating the size of the nail in list prices, the symbol “d” (for penny) is used, so that a nail about 2 inches long is designated as 6d. The thickness, or diameter, is indicated by the gauge number, the gauge of cut nails being an indication of the thickness of plate from which they are cut, while the gauge of wire nails is the size of the wire from which the nails are formed. The different wire gauges and their decimal equivalents of an inch are given in Table I. The special wire gauge commonly used to indicate the size of the nail is the Birmingham. In Table II is given a list of the stock sizes of standard, common, cut nails. This table, besides giving the thickness of the nail and its length, gives the number of nails to the pound. [Illustration: Fig. 1.] TABLE I STANDARD WIRE GAUGES AND THEIR DECIMAL EQUIVALENTS OF AN INCH