A Treatise of Gauging: Or, the Modern Practical Gauger. Containing Besides all the principal Rules usually given on the Subject, a great Variety of new and interesting Improvements: Particularly of gauging All Sorts of curvilineal Vessels, by the most Easy, Concise, and Certain Method; which is now practised, and highly approved of, in and about this Metropolis. with the Demonstrations of several very useful and remarkable Properties of Vessels and Instruments, relative to this Art. Illustrated with necessary Examples, and adapted both to the speculative and practical Reader. - Thomas Moss 1779 - Printed for G. Robinson, London - The Third Edition, Greatly Enlarged and Improved by the Author Illustrated with large folding plate to the rear, and numerous in-text diagrams and tables. All editions of this work are scarce.

The complexities of measuring the amount of a liquid when in a cask led to many advancements in practical mathematics including the use of the slide-rule.

Obviously without accurate measurements an excise officer would have found life rather difficult having to rely on the distilleries creative measurements...

A "gauger" was an officer whose business it was to ascertain the contents of casks, mainly to assist in the prevention of illicit shipments of alcohol. In so doing it was necessary to apply and in some cases adapt mathematical formulae which were considered extremely advanced at the time.

Thomas Moss, an exciseman and gauger, was also a well known mathematician, publishing the ‘
Mathematical Magazine’ together with George Witchell (1738-85), and being referenced for his clear and concise early descriptions of a number of geometrical properties.
  Provenance: Thomas Wyman, who purchased from Californian book dealer ‘Krown & Spellman’ in 2011.

References: ESTC, n53387 (3 copies). OCLC, 1600354.

Octavo (binding size 21.5 x 13.7 cm), pp. [half-title] [1] [title] [1] [dedication] [1] [4 (preface)] [2 (contents)] [1 (publisher’s advertisement)] [1 (errata)] 303 [1].
  In period full glazed calf, later matching spine, lettered in gilt, new endpapers, restoration to corners.   Condition: Very good, generally clean through the text, title page with repair to tear, abrasion and faint foxing to a number of pages, in very good binding.   Ref: 109489   Price: HK$ 4,000