Brine questions

I want to try brine curing olives. I have found the directions I want to use. They're by a guy named Basil Papahronis, and were printed in a Seattle newspaper in 2005. Those directions are linked from this sight somewhere.

The directions seem clear enough, until I reach the part that says to use a 10% solution of salt (1 pound of salt in 1 gallon of water.) Now, that might seem clear enough, but not to me. Something didn't seem right.

You see my concern is this: Is this a 10% salt/water solution weight/weight, or weight/volume or maybe by degree of saturation, or even some other method. All are reasonable measures of salt content in brine and all are used here and there in the context of lactic acid fermenting . Given the 1 lb of salt in 1 gallon of water given in the article I can't resolve that this represents a 10% solution by any measure.

And therefore I am confused.

I considered writing the reporter for the newspaper that authored the article, but considering the only option of contact was snail mail, and I don't know how to contact Basil Papahronis at all, I figured I would ask here. The olives I'm targeting will probably be ready in just a short time.

As I understand lactic acid ferments a 12.5% minimum by degree of saturation should be maintained to control the little critters properly as they fight it out.

As a side note, I've found that float an egg to measure 10% salt solution thing to be very inaccurate. It's highly dependent on the freshness of the egg and other things.

I can measure specific gravity and temperature in degrees Fahrenheit accurately enough, so if someone can relate it that way, fine and good. I'll certainly settle for a absolutely defining description of this 10%.