The minim (abbreviated min, ♏︎ or ♍︎) is a unit of volume in both the imperial and US customary systems of measurement. Specifically it is 1⁄60 of a fluid drachm or 1⁄480 of a fluid ounce. The minim was introduced in the 1809 edition of The Pharmacopœia of the Royal College of Physicians of London as a replacement for the drop, which had previously been the smallest unit of the apothecaries' system. It was observed that the size of a drop can vary considerably depending upon the viscosity and specific gravity of the liquid. (At the time, the phenomenon of surface tension was not well understood.) The minim, on the other hand, was measured with a graduated glass tube known as a "minimometer", later known as the minim-tube. The minim-tube was a type of graduated pipette, a device invented in