(in Russian, bezmen), the simplest beam balance. The so-called Russian bismar is a metal beam with a fixed weight at one end and a hook or cup on the other for the substance being weighed. The bismar is balanced by shifting up and down the beam the second hook, iron ring, or wire loop serving as the fulcrum of the bismar’s beam. On the Roman bismar (steelyard) the weight is moved and the position of the fulcrum point and the additional weight remain constant. The reading is taken on a scale marked on the beam. In view of the imperfection of the bismar and the possibility of its misuse, the use of the bismar is forbidden in the USSR. Sometimes hand-held spring scales are also called bismars.