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PAPERS ON TIME-RECKONING AKD THE SELECTION OF A PRIME MERIDIAN TO BK COMMON TO ALL. NATIONS. I TRANSMITTED TO THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT BY HIS EXCELLENCY THE OOVERNOR-GENERAL OP CANADA. ■^^^^^^K/S^' BY SANDFORD FLEMING, C. M. G., Etc. TORONTO: COJfP, CLARK k CO., PRINTERS, (57 & 6& COLBORNE STREET. 187 9. mSS J 7 \ ^ ' ■nf I /' t<^ > L (.t-^^ ■- / f ^ / f. , >c c ..-• ^ y^V*^-* -^^ ^^-^^--^^ PAPERS ON TIME-RECKONING AMD THE SELECTION OF A PRIME MERIDIAN TO HE COMMON TO ALL NATIONS. Transmitted to tne British Government by His Excellency (he Governor-General, Canada. (■ c t The I'lcsitlciit ;iml Council of the CANADIAN iNSTITUTl-: (Toronto), having incnioriali/ecl His I'.xccllciicy the (lovcnior- Gcneral of Canada, rcspcctin^,^ the accompanyin*^ papers, with the special object of ileterminini; a FiRST OK PRIMi: MERI- DIAN TO w. Common to ai.i. Nations, and jjromotinj,' the adoption of a UNIVERSAL SYSTEM OF TiME-RKCKON I NC. adapted to tlu' rec|uirenients of modern profjjress : His Excellency the (iovernor-Cieneral, in view of the im- portant international interests involved, has been ^raciousl)' pleased to brin^ the subject under the notice of the Imperial Government, in order that the attention of the official and stientific authorities of (ireat Britain and of foreign countries may be directeil to it. The <^eoi;raphical circumstances of thi>. country insest the cjuestion with sj)ecial interest to the people of Canada, ami the peculiar political status of the Dominion may in some respects enable the representatives of Canadian science to mediate, especially between their scientific brethren, in the various countries more immediatel)' interested in the questions at issue. The Council of the Canadian Institute will be ^lad to leceive, and to transmit to all the scientific bodies with which they interchange publications, an)- communications which may be made to them, and with the view of promoting the objects aimed at, will be happy to collate all comments, suggestions, or expressions of opinion vlth which they ma>' be favoured. R. RAMSAY WRIGHT, Canadian Instititk, Toronto, May, 1^7. To /fix E.rcoffenri/, the l\i(jht /fononrah/c SiH .loilN I)oit(»las ScTTHKRi.AND, Mart/uia of Lome, one of Her MajeMy« Prhy Council, Ktiujht of the Mdst Ancient ami Mo8t Noble Order of tfte Thistle, and Kniffht (irdud Cross of the }fost DiHtintjnisheil Order of Saint Michael and tSaint (ieorge, Covernor-O'eneral of Canada, and Vice-Admiral of the same. The memorial of the Council of the Canadian Institute Hespectfillv Shkwktu : That the Canadian Institute, established in Toronto for a period of thirty years, has specially aimed at promotinj^ scientific study and research ; and by means of its Journal of Proceedings has maintained communication with men of science in Europe and America. At meetings of the Institute, during the present session, communications have been submitted to it by one of its mem- bers, Mr. Sandford Fleming, C. M. G.. with the special object of determining a First or Prime Meridian, common to all nations; and promoting the adoption of a universal system of Time- reckoning, adapted alike to the requirements of an uniform historical record, and to the novel requirements of civilization" consequent on the rapid extension of railway and telegraphic lines over the globe. While the geographical circumstances of Canada invest this subject with peculiar interest to the Dominion, its importance is not limited to Canada. In every civilized country, cir- cumstances have tended in recent years to demonstrate the desireablcness of adopting some uniform system of notation of time and space ; and, as your Excellency will see by the papers herewith transmitted to you, the attention of various scientific bodies, both in lunopc antl America, as well as of your nicinorialists, has been cHrected to this important subject. \'()ur Memoriahsts have accordin^^ly welcomed, with s|)ecial satisfaction, the su^j^estion by one of their own members whose practical experience, especially in his trans-contiiuntal surveys as Chief luigineer of the Canada Pacific Railway, peculiarly fits him for the task : tli< su^jjjestion of a prime meridian, free from the objections itherto ur^ed against other propositions, and so offering an acceptable solution of a problem of international importance, which has lon^f en^aj^ed the attention of leadin<,r [feoi,naphers and astronomers both of Europe and America. As the determininj^ one initial Meridian for computinj^^ longitude, common to all nations, is an object of special interest to Great Britain, as the foremost maritime nation of the world, as well as to Canada and all the colonies of the empire : the Council of the Canadian Institute have hoped that the subject will not seem unwortln- of vour lC.\cellenc\-'s consideration. They respectfully invite your attention to the matter as set forth in accompanyinj; papers; and in view of the impor- tant international interests involved, they be^ leave, vcr\' respectfully, to ask your Excellency to bring the subject under the notice of the Imperial Government, and to use your hi^di influence to direct the attention of official and scientific authorities in Great Britain, and of those of foreign Govern- ments, to it. The peculiarly favorable position which your Excellenc}' occupies as the Governor-General, under Her Majesty, of a Dominion commanding both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the Continent of North America, appears to your Memorialists to furnish special facilities for promoting the simplification of a complex system, admittedly open to well- founded objections ; and substituting for it one which not onh' offers a solution of the evils, but is also extremely simple in its application, and free from the sources of international jealousy which have hitherto neutralized the efforts of scien- tific men t(. remedy practical evils which are universally recognized. And your Memorialists, as in duty bound, will ever pray. (Sit;nceriencod. On a journey from Paris to Vienna or to St. Petersburg, the standard time employed by the railways cluuiges fre(picntly, ami the; extreme difference in time l>etvveen the first and last city is nearly two hours. As railways and telegraphs are extended in Uu.s.sia, t\u^ inconveniences will beconur of serious imjtortance in that country. Within the limits of liussia 111 I'jurope and Asia, the extreme variations of time is al)Out twelve hours. Suppost3 we take the case of a person travelling from London to iudia. He starts with (^I'ecnwifli time, but he scarcely leaves the shores of England, when he finds his watch no longer right. Paris time is used for the journey, until that of Rome becomes the staiulard. At Brindisi there is another change. U[> the Mediterranean, ships' time is us^d. At Alexandria, Egyptian time is the standard. At Suez, ships' time is resumed, and continues, with daily changes, until India is reticheopulation of 5,000,000. They were colonized, as well as discovered, by Spaniards coming from the east ; and as a consequence the reckoning of the inhabitants has for more than three centuries remained a day behind the day in British India and the neighbouring countries in Asia. Travellers who arrive at New Zealand or the Australian colonies, by the San Francisco route, meet the same diffej-ence, owing to the fact that the countries in the South Pacific were colonized from the west. The day of the week and of the month carried from San Francisco, never agrees with the day and date reckoned by the in- habitants at the destination of the steamer. All travellers who have made the voyage between America and Asia have experienced the difficulty in reckoning referred to. Those who have proceeded westward have lost, while those who have travelled eastward have gained a day. In Mrs. Bnissey's " Around the World in the Yacht * Sunbeam,' " this experience is recorded. The journal of that lady passes from Wednesday, January lOth, directly to Friday, January 12th — Thursday, January 11th, having no existence with the travellers. In sailing across the Pacific from west to east, one day has to be repeated before landing on the American coast. If, for exam))!e, the correction be made on Wednesday, Ist July, there will be two Wednesdays in the one week, and two days of the month dated July 1st. in TIMR-REfKOMNO. A journoy i'onniirr(>r can be lu^ld to be an imaginary contingency, since steam com- iiiuuication by land and water is now allbrding extraordinary facilities for making the tour of tin; globe. To illustrate the diiliculty more jtarticularly. Fir.st, let ns select points in four quartei-s of the globe, each about ninety degrees apart — Mty in Japan, Arabia, Newfoundhmd aftd Alaska. If we assume it to be Sunday midnight at the tij-st mentioned place, it must Ik^ noon at the opposite point, Newfoundland, but on what day is it noon ( Aral )ia being to the west of .Japan, tlm local tinier there will l)e G p.m. on Sunday ; and Alaska, lying to the east of Japan, the time there will be () a.m. on Monday. Again, when the clock indicates 6 p.ni. on Sunday in Arabia, it nuist be Sunday nn at a point ninety flegrees further west, or at Newfoundlaiid ; when it is (> a.m. on Monday at Alaska, it must be noon on Monday ninety degr(M>s further east, also at Newfoundland. Thus, by tracing local time east and west from a given point to its antipodes, the clock on the one liaml liticomes twelve hours slower, on the other hand twelve hours faster. In the case in point, while it is midnight on SunIuto tim« wliicli is part of Satunluy in ono place, ih orpially part of Friday himI «)f Sunday in some (>tln'r placoH eimt and w«>Ht. It iH a preconceived idea with many that there in a HinniitnneoiiH Sunday over ti»e eartli, and that ('hristians in eveiy meridian keep the Ijt)rd'n d'ly at one and the 8anu) time. Facts, however, cHtiihlish that this in a nuHtakt!. From its first commencement to its final endin<^, the; Sunday extends o\rr 48 hours. Indeed, if we take into account the remarkahle circumstance mentioned with rej^ard to Alaska and the Piiilippinc Islands, Sunn> el.s«? it will be inaccurate. Indeed, if the fact of the (x;cuiTence l»e tninsmitted .eriod which elapses when one century merges into another. In one pait of the globe the same event way transpire in the nineteenth century, while in another it falls within the twentieth century. These explanations set forth the inconveniences and the ambiguity inseparable from the ordinary mode of reckoning. Tlie system, besides being unscientific and inconvenient, must, a.s time i-olls on, inevitably lead to countless mistakes. In fact, unless the geographical • Time and the Telegraph. —A message dated SiniTa, 1.5,5 a.m. Wedne.silny. was repcived in Lond.m at 11 47 p.m. im Tuesday. As the clerk said, with pardonable coufusion, " Why, tbi» message was sent off to-morrow. "--Tmes. I IJ DIAG : THE PR OF .YS OB' 'I Aromici tl hirdoLU ^ . E BURLAND OESBARMS LIT H. CO. MONTREAL. DIAGRJ TO ILLUSTRATE THE PROG — or THl Gc?=DAYS OF THI Around the DIAGRAM ATE THE PROGRESS AND DURATION — OP THI — DAYS OF tHE 'Wfc:EK^i<:> Around the Globe. Second Map. R N I Fii'Hf. Map. R N PHOTO LITHBrTHE BURIANO DESBARATS UTH CO MONTREAL ( *. t , '''■^ j^-'^g->ifi' ,,W»f; ;.;,,! fmini-nMt,_uiSm-^S^ TIME-RECKONING. 19 position be specified as an important element of the date, there can be no absohifce certainty with regard to time, as we at present note it in ordinary civil affairs. The day is a pui-cly local phenomenon. It begins and ends at every spot on the circumference of the globe at different instants in absolute time. From its very nature, there are as many different local days as there are points differing in longitude ; and in order to make any comparison of the dates of different countries with each other, it is necessary, as in astronomical calculations, to make addi- tions '^r deductions for the longitude of the places of observation. It need scarcely be argued that this process must become an exceed- ingly troublesome matter in the ordinary business of the world, especially when rapid and frequent intercourse between remote sections becomes general. I need not further refer to the objections urged against the modes of keeping time, handed down to us from bygone centuries. It is clear from all experience that the customs which we still cling to, are indifferently ada[)ted to the circumstances of the age, and that some better means of reckoning and verifying dates will soon be, if they are not already, urgently demanded. A remedy for the evils to which your attention is directed may not generally be felt to be a pressing necessity; but the problem is obviously of no limited importance to the generation which is to succeed us, and it is not now too soon to seek for its solution. The minor inconveniences alluded to may be overcome in independent localities, as necessity dictates .some arbitrary compromise; but if each country spontaneously adopted its own remedy, a want of uni- formity of system, it is to bo feared, will result, and increase the confusion. The major difficulties to which I have referred are more general in their cliaracter, and in seeking for a remedy, uniformity of system is held to be of fii*st impoi'tanco, and consequently the broadest cos- mopolitan view should be taken. It is to be feared that no immediate solution to the problem may be possible ; but a general inquiry into the science of chronometry may suggest means by which the difficulties may in some degree be met. NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL DIVISIONS OF TIME. Time is determined in nature by the motions of the heavenly bodies. The great natural divisions are three in number : the year, 20 TIME HECKONJNG. <^'ie Juuar n.onti,, and tho d,v ah . «ivil moiitli, the week th. I , ''^'''''" ^'i^'i^ion.s of timo .7 ^e e.pIo,,,en; 7^^:^: TT''^''^ ^^^ -tiS.:'"'^"^^^ ■.nrf ,r , ""' » I'lw cl„.o„„|„,,^ j„ ,, ^'"k^ Jews a,ul Chinese T," «^^^^^^ »■"""' •»- i-lSu J' '""'" "- * of ".e „,„o,; "'- !'«"«' nieasiired bv the ,1,- °TO axis constituted the fi 7 "' "'"""wnt of the e-.rth „ : • -f -tion. It i„,,'.^ 3 ;n,.o,.unt t„ „,„n i./j ;::::; '''"■k"es,, a„,l emh,„ee, the e^ " ""' !''""'»>>.e..a of li„| t '•'ly IS tne iiitei-vil ^<^a' , ^"-«'. «.. ^-.lerd:-::, r-^"""- '-'-S r"""""^ ■hy, m,if„,,„ i„ ,e ,1 ™;"'™'»'. ">«eforo, to „st„h,i„, TIME-ltECKONINO. 21 " ^imo, as the >»f wakefiil- ire. It i,s motion of li vai"yin->- »i of the "1 of t]io ution of 'inifonu ^>Iicate(l tsiire of ij'tieity 1 as it IN not al (lay comes iticial t/i of to be llio natural solar day is at one season of the year 14 minutes 32 Heconds shorter, and at another 16 minutes 17 seconds longer than the metin. Thus the extreme variation is half an hour and 49 seconds. The earth revolves in its orbit in about 365 1 days. To avoid fractions of days, it hsis been found convenient to establish three yeai"S in succession of 365 days, and each fourth year 366 days. The latter are designated leap years. While an ordinary solar year has but 365 days, it has 366 sidereal days. A solar day, therefore, exceeds the length of a sidereal by about Tfjnjth part of a day, or nearly four minutes (3 minutes 55,9094 seconds). The mean solar day, according as it is em])loyed for civil or astro- nomical purposes, is designated the civil day, or the asti-onomical day. The former begins and ends at midnight ; the latttn* commences and ends at noon. The astronomical day is understood to commence twelve hours before the civil day, but its date does not appear until its completion, twelve houi's after the corresponding civil date. The two dates, therefore, coincide only during the later half of the civil and the earlier half of the astronomical day. ANCIENT AND MODEEN BECKONING OF TIME. It has been stated that all short^er periods of time than a chiy are conventional and arbitrary*, there being no mesi-sure less than a day tleuoted by nature. The only exception is the interval nmrked by the rising and setting of the sun ; a period of time varying with the latitude and changing from day to day with the seasons. The sub-divisio.i of the day into parts has prevailed from the remotest ages ; tljough different nations have not agreed, either with respect to the epoch of its cornmencemeut, the number of the sub- divisions, or the distribution of the several parts. Tl»e division of the day with which we are most familiar is that which separates the wliole space of time occupied by a diurnal revo- lution of the earth into two equal parts ; one part extending from midnight to noon, the otlier part from noon to midnight. These half days are sub-divided into twelve portions or hours, and these a^ain into minutes and seconds. Astronomers do not divide the day into two sets of twelve hours. Tlie astronomical day, extending fi-om noon to noon, is reckoned by liours running from one to twenty-four. TIMR-RECKONINQ. In China and some other parts of the world, no half days are used. The Italians, the Bohemians and the Poles have a division of the day into twenty-four parts, numbered from the first to the twenty- fourth, from one o'clock to twenty-four o'clock. The Ciiinese divide the day into twelve parts, each being equal to two hours of our time ; these they again divide into eight pai-ts, thus sjib-dividing the whole day into ninety-six equal j):irts. The Chinese astronomers, according to some authorities, divide the day into 100 jmrts, and each of these into 100 minutes, so that the whole contains 10,000 minutes. The inhabitants of Malabar have divided the day into six parts, each of these again into 60 parts. The ancient Tartara, Indians and Persians divided the day into eight ^^firts, they had also a division of sixty parts. In Japan there are four principal points of division — at noon, mid- night, sunset and sunrise, dividing the natural day into four variable parts. The.se four parts are divided each into three equal iK)rtions, together making twelve hours. Ikch hour is again divided into twelve part-s, thus making in all one hundred and forty-four sub- divisions of the day. The six hours between sunrise and sunset differ in length, day by day, from the six hours between sunset and sunrise. During the summer the hours of the day are nuicli longer than those of the night, and shorter, on the contrary, in the winter. The division of that portion of the day durii\g which the sun is above the horizon, ii to jmrts, belongs to the remotest ages of antiquity. The division of the other portion, which embraces the jHjriod of dark- ness, is of more recent date. It was not inti'oduced at Rome until the time of the Punic Ware. In early times the only divisions recognized were simrise and sun- set. Afterwards the division of the interval of dayliglit into two parts was made to denote mid-day. For many ages the Komans took no public notice of any point in the diurnal revolution of the earth, excepting midefore and terminated six houi-s after midnight ; the day began six bom's before noon and lasted twelve houi-s, oi- until six hours after noon. It is probable that the Egyptians bad different modes of couipiiting the day in dilfei-eiit pi-ovinces. Accord- ing to Pliny, they reckoned it fjom one midnight to another. The astronomers of Cathay and the East Indies reckoned it in the same manner. The Mohatnmedans from one twilight to another. The day is reckoned to begin in China Ixifore midnight, the first hour extending from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. of our mode of reckoning. The Jews, Turks, Austrians and others, witli some of the Itiilians, have begun their day at sunset. The Ai'abians begin theii* day at noon, and in this i"es[)ect they I'esemble the astronomers and navi- gatoi's of modern nations. In Jaj^Jin it has been customiuy to iulhere to the 2)ractice of the tmcient Biibylonians in beginning their day at. sunrise. The above are some of the customs, gleaned from history, which hav«* prevailed at various times iu different countiies with respect to the day and its sub-division. To these may be added the custom prac- tised at sea by navigatoi's. Marinei-s of different nations have had TIME-RECKON INC. 25 (lifFei"ent customs, but the most common practice on shipboard is to t to introduce the decimal division of the day would be unwise; that it would be futile to propase a change which could only succeed by serioxisly interfering with the present notations. The px'ogress of the world may indeed before long demand a radical change in our chronometry ; but the present method of com- . puting tin\e in the more civilized pai-ts of the earth is so interwoven with every day life, that it cannot in the meantime be disregarded. It will be evident that the considei-ation of any change should be based on the full recognition of established customs. Instead of attempting to uproot and suj)ersede the pi'esent system, it is con- sidered that any new scheme to meet the requirements of the age should rather be engrafted on and be in as complete harmony as possible with the old one. In this view thte following suggestions are offered : Our first effort should be to find a suitable unit measure of time, wniform in length, and for obvious reasons, the shortest to be found in nature. TIME-RECKONING. 27 Tlie sidereal tlay fulfila these conditions, and therefore suggests itself as being suited for the standard required. The sidereal day is not, however, sufficiently marked for the ordi- nary purposes of life. The generality of mankind could not easily note the culmination of a star. On the other hand, the diurnal return of the sun in the heavens is a more striking and easier <*bserved phenomenon. Accordingly, there is everything to suggest the adoption for the unit meiisure, not the solar day on account of its variable length, but the mean period occupied by a revolution of tlie earth on its axis, in relation to the sun. That period would be precisely equal in length to the artificial day, known as the mean solar day. The unit measure proposed should not, however, be considered in the light of an ordinary day, hut rather as a known period of abstract time — " day " l>eing the name given to denote certain local phenomena .successively and continuously occurring at the earth's surface. It is projKtsed to divide the unit measure into twenty-four equal parts, and these again into minutes and seconds, by a standard time- keeper or chronometer, hypothetically stationed at the centre of the globe. Fig. 1. It is proposed that, in relation to the whole globe, the dial plate of the central chronometer shall be a fixture, as in Fig. 1 ; that each lit' li 2S TIME-HKCKONINO. ii of tlu) twenty-four (livisionH into which the imit of time is divided, shall be aHsuiiMul to corrcspouJ with certain known meridians of h)ngitude, and that the machinery of the instrument shall be arranged and regulated so that the index or hour hand shall point in succession to ea<;h of the twenty-four di\isions as it became noon at the corres- ponding meridian. In fact, the hour hand shall revolve from east to west with precisely tlie sjvme H[)eed as the earth on its axis, and shall therefore point dirtictly and constantly towards the sun, while tho earth moves round from west to east. Each of the twenty-four parts into which the time- unit is proj>osed, as above, to be divided, would be exactly equal in length to an hour ; but they ought not to l)e considered hours in the ordinary sense, but siniply twenty-fourth jjarts of the mean time occupied in the diurnal revolution of the earth. Hours, as we usually reft;r to them, have a distinct relation to noon or to midnight at some particular place on the earth's surface, while the time indicated by the standard chronometer would have no special relation to any particular locality or longitude. It would be common and equally related to all places, and the twenty- four sub-divisions of the imit-nieaaure would be simply portions ol abstract time. The stjindard time-keeper is I'eferred to the centre of the earth, in oi'der clearly to bring out the idea that it is ecpially related to every point on the sux'faee of the globe. The standard might be stationed anywhere — at Yokohama, at Cairo, at St. Petersburg, at Greenwich, or at Washington. Indeed, the propo.ied system, if carried into force, would result in establishing many keepers of standard time, perhaps in every country, the electric telegraph affording the means of securing perfect synchronism all over the earth. In order properly to distinguish the new unit measure and its sub- divisions from ordinary days and ordinary hours, a new nomenclature might be advisable. The employment of the letters of the alphabet for the twenty-four divisions woiild in most civilized countries com- pletely distinguish them from local hours, and the twenty-four meridians, which on the surface of the globe woidd cwrespond with the sub-divisions, might also be so known. It would farther be expedient to distinguish the proposed new system from sidereal, astronomical, civil or local time. For this purpose either of the designations, "common," "universal," " non-local," "uniform," "abso- lute," "all worldj" "terrestrial," or "cosmopolitan," might be employed. For the present it may be convenient to use the latter term. TIME IIKCKONIMO. S9 BesMoR tlie Htnndarcl kwcperH of "co»tnopolitan" time, eatabliHljod iit many j»laceH possibly in every civilized country, it is Hugj^eatetl that «very clock and watch shoiiUl, a« far as practicable, move synchit)- uically, all indicating the same time. A« a theory, it is proposed that when the Iiauds of any one time- |nece point to X or to (4, the hands of each and every other horo- logicai intttrument in use througlioiit the globe should point to A or to a at tlw samo niometit. It is jwoposed that, in iistabliRhing the lero of the Rub-dtvisionB and its coiTesj)onding meridian in relation to the surface of the earth, regard l>e had to the general convenience, and that the views and interests of aU ua'tions («hoaId, as far as practicable, bo equally couHutted, Under the system of cosmopolitan time, the meridian which corres- l^onds with zero would practically become the initial or jiriuie meridian of the globe. The establishment of this meridian must necessarily he arbitrary. It affects uU countries, more esi^scially maritinie countries, and in eonseijuence of prejudice and national sentiment, it is possible that delicacy |»OHed can Ix) genenilly ttilai>teil to tlie urdiiuuy requiremontM of life. Tl»o diunml retui*n of tho piinte inorion urvit-inojvHire of tiiiwt thi-oughoiit tho world. Itn boginning >umI eliding, its twenty four diviHionH imd itR sulvdivisions, woiild wich in tunn ]>revail every whero ut thesanio moment of ahsohirte time. T\i\n common nuntRiire wtMitd. however, completely coincide with the local day of only one ineiidtan. Tlie loojil day» of countle8» o*hiH' longitud(.^ woiild have as little coinci- dence with the unit-nKSksui-o as with ead» other. At tl»o sjMue mon>ent they would all differ ; while it would be noon with one, it would be luidmght with anotlmr, sunriMc with a thiitl ; and so on. Men and nationa may agree to estalilislt for cwvvemence a common imit-measure of time ; but dawn juid diLsk, light and darkness, will sweep round the globe, foil' .ring e«ich otlier in »ilent yet cei'taiu tiuccessuon, as long as tlie woHd lasts. — i^inenomenft to prescribe in every land when men shall sleep, slsuX when retwrn to active life.. The jxjsition of the san in every local sky will always control domestic usages and continue to govejrn social ciistooiK Do wlwit we aiay , th(r e-ver changing local day, as it comtinully pi'ogresses tro*n longitmle to longitiKle, will evoiy whei-e assei't itself and exact recognition. How then are we to tlerive any practical good from the advantages which, as a theoty, tlie ayst^u of cosmo^iolitaui time appeai-s ta (tromisel (1) All old citstoms may be retained for local purposes asat pt-esent, the new system being introduced as the means of more accurately reckoning time in connectiou with telegraphs and steam communi- cation by land and water, an renty four vervwJiero lire W(Mil(), iiieindian. ttle coinci- de inonteiit ; woiikl be a common tness*, will rot cei-tiuu escribe in active life.. >1 domentitt e aiay, th(r ngitmle ti> an. id vantages kp][>eai-s to at fx'eseiit, accurately comaanni- wbich nil ine extent \g local aa oiild itave dates and ards, each biioe. It ia obvious that to retain this old custoin of ruckonin;^ lioiirn, and lit the Haiut! time Hectire the advaiita^eH of the cosui(»|K»litiiii or non- local HYHteni, dual time-keeperH, but not nen-hHarily two diHtinct HetM t»f tinie-keepers, would be re<|uired. This object Ih attained Ity having two dials to the one time-kee|»er, placed, in the case of a watch, back to back, or iii the citse of a stationary clock, side by uide, ati in Fig. 2 ; Fiu. 2. Local Time. CcMUoniLii'AN Time. the instruments being constructed so that the same wheel-work woidd move the hands of both dials. The tigure No, 2 is suggested for a stationary clock ; the night half of the dials are shaded. The dial with the Roman numer.ils is designed for local time, while the lettered dial is for cosmopolitan or non-local time, to be used in connection with railways, steamboats luid telegraphs, and as a record of passing historical events. It is obvious that if clocks and watches were constructed on these principles, the ditUculties and inconveniences which have been alluded tu, and which seem inseparable from the present system, would be fully met. Assuming the scheme to be in general use : while lociil time would be em[)loyed for all domestic and ordimuy j>ur[)oses, cosmopolitan time would be used for all purposes not local ; every telegraph, every steam line, indeed every communication on the face of the earth, would be worked by the same standard. Every traveller having a good watch, would carry with him the precise tinje that he would find observed elsewhere. Post meridian could never be mis- taken for ante Titer idian. Railway and steamboat time-taldes wouKl be simplified and rendered intelligible, and uo one caa claim that Bucb now is the rule. 32 TIMK-RKCKOXINO. i j i As an illustration, I present condensed time-tablos of the givat rail -"ay route now being established from London to the Pacific through CWiada. Table A is jirepared in accordance with the present system. Tables B and C ai'e two different modes of applying the system of cosmopolitan tin>e, and illustmte the simplicity of that system for such purposes. {Vide Api)endix, No. 1.) It has been ssiid that the 24 .sub-divisions of the imit-measui'e may be known by letters, in oi-der to l)e diatinguislied fi-om local houre. But why use numenils for local hours] Numerals have no special advantage over letters ; habit has undoubtedly rendei-etl the former familiar to the mind of this generation in connection with the hour of the day ; but if the 24 divisions had to be again named, and letters instead of numerals were adopted, tlie time of day could l)e as well expressed and as easily com[)reheuded as at present. Ou the other hand, letters when ai'ranged in a circle, as (tn the dial of a clock, have at least this advanfaige over numenils : they ai-e all symbols of equal imj>ortance, and any one letter could be taken to repi'esent the beginning of the series of the 24 which make up the tl ly ; while in the case of numends, the lowest number can only i-epresent the fii'st of the series. Let us take an illustration of the ad\'untages of letters in connection with the scheme. Su[)pos6 6' to be the noon letter at a particular place, how easy it would bo for a resident to compixJiend that it was always noon when the hour hands of the clock pointeil to G ; that it was always midnight when they pointe ilial plate opposite to G ; or, in speaking of any jiarticular time of day, say four hours before mid-day, it would be as easy to comprehend the time refeiTed to by the use of the letter as by the numeral 8. Peraons living in that locality would soon become familiar with the relation which the several lettoi's had to the time of day. Again, if we pass to a locality whei'e another letter becomes the meridian or noon letter, there could be no misunderstanding the meaning of the expi'ession, Time J\ 22. It could have but one meaning, viz., 1 hour and 22 minutes after mid day, while L22 has a double meaning, undeterminetl without tlie addition of "aw^o merlJinn" or ^^ ])ost meridian." Thiis it may be shown, if we could entirely ignore old praotioefj and begin de noim, the nomeuol iture pi'oposed for casjnopolitau tiiuo might very readily be employed for local purposes. TIME-RECKONING. 33 if the giv:xt the PiiciHc the present pplying tlie ity of tlmt nit-measiim fix>m local ils have no ^ndei-eJ the action with iin named, ■ day could esent. On the dial of ley ai-e all )e taken ti> ake up tlie I" can oulv connection . pai'ticulai' ;hat it was ■jO G ; that ter on tlu^ ar time of imprehend lumeral 8. r with the 9 becomes finding the 9 but one e 1.22 has of '^anti) I praotioes litau time To render the dial plates of time-])iece3 perfectly intelligible in each place when used for local time, the expedient shown in Fig. 3 might be adopted. Fig. 3. Local and Cosmopolitan Time. Here the noon and midnight letters are easily distinguished, and that portion of the day which includes the hours of darkness cannot be mistaken. These or similar expedients could be employed with the same eifect in the clocks and watches used in every place on the surface of the earth. It would, however, be vain to assume that the present system could be at once abolished and disregarded. It becomes expedient, therefore, to consider how the advantages of the scheme of cosmopolitan time could be secured in everyday life. It is {)erfectly o})vious that the present system cannot be overlooked ; and that, although it may not be always maintained, it must for some time be continued. We must therefore look for some means by which the new notation Jiay be employed in conjunction with the old, until the latter would fall into disuse. It may be said that local time is almost always more or less arbitrai'ily established. Our clocks but rarely indicate true local time, and the most perfect time-j'ieces are for the gi-eater j)ortiou of the year either faster or slower than the sun. In fact, correct ordinary time-keepers must necessarily at certain seasons be about 15 minutes faster or slower than true solar time, and no inconveni- ence whatever is found to result. The adoption of Irish time in England, or English time in Ireland, conld not be fel"-. in civil affairs. The difference between English and Irish time, as arbitrarily estab- lished, is twenty-five minutes ; but in the west of Ireland local mean time is forty minutes, and solar time som*. "mes fifty-five minutes behind English time (Greenwich). Greenwich time is used 34 TIME-RECKONING. ■I I throughout England and Scotland, although it is half an hour faster than local mean .time, and sometimes forty-five minutes faster than solar time on the west cosist of the latter country. In every country, local time is more or less arbitrarily established ; it could not be otherwise, without causing great confusion, as no two places, unlerss in the same meridian, have the same true local time. In considering the whole subject, it is felt that if some simple rule could be agreed upon for defining looil time everywhere, it would materially add to general convenience. It is suggested that each of the twenty-four lettered meridians (Fig. 1) should be taken as standards for establishing approximate local time, and that as a general rule all places should adopt the local time of the nearest of these meridians. This would divide the surface of the globe into twenty-four " lunes," forming distinct local sections. Although the twenty-four fixed meridians would be at one hoiu*'s distance from each other, only in extreme cases would the difference between the true and approximate local time be as much as half an hour. In many cases there would be no difference, and in no case could the difference be of the slightest moment in the ordinary business of civil life. Whenever exact time was required for any purpose, cosmoi)olitan time, assuming it to be in general use, would be available, or a third hand, such as shown by the dotted line in the figure, might in certain cases be used. Pig. 4. CoaMOPOLiTAN Watch Dial. Fig. No. 4 repi-esents a compound dial designed to indicate non- local as well as local time, on the same face of a clock or watch, bv means of one set of hands. In this arrangement it is proposed to have the Roman numeiula for local time inscribed on a movable disc, TIME-RECKONINO. 96 hoin- faster faster than tablished ; as no two local time, iniple rule , it would meridians iproximate adopt the divide the tinct local be at one would the e as much i*ence, and Bnt in the 3 requii-ed !neral use, lotted line !ate non- i^atcli, by )posed to ible disc, adjustable for each separate hour, and may thus be set for any one of the twenty-four fixed meridians referred to. The adjustment would be eflfected without in the least disturbing the machinery of the in- strument, or interfering with the index hands. Church clocks and other stationary time-pieces would have the local time disc permanently secured in the proper position. Only in the case of persons travelling beyond any particiilar local time section would the local time disc of their watch i-equire to be changed. Its adj\xstment tinder such circumstances would be simple ; it would only be necessary to move the disc round until 12 o'clock noon coincided with the meridional letter of the new locality. Suppose, for example, the letter G represented the longitude of the new position of the watch : 12 noon placed in conjunction with G would com]>lete the adjustment of the instrument. For every other new position the same operation would be repeated. Notwithstanding every change that may be made for local time, the machinery of the watch need not be interfered with, and the hands would continue to indicate connect cosmopolitan time. The distinction between cosmopolitan time and local time would always be perfect ; the former would invariably be known by lettera ; the latter, as at ])resent, by the Roman numerals. As in the diagrams, it is proposed to denote that portion of the day which includes the hours of darkness by a black or dark ground, in order that the night hours could never be mistaken for the houi"s in the middle of the day, which have the same numerals. The several " watches " into which the day is divided on shipboard might be distinguished. The local time disc exhibits a light portion be- tween 8 a.m, and 4 p.m. ; this includes and represents the forenoon and afternoon watches, noon being the dividing point. The dark portion, extending four hours befoi-e and four hours after midnight, eudiraces the two night watches ; while the shaded portions, fi-om 4 p.m. to 8 j).m., and from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m., i*epresent the dog watches and the moi'ning watch. This arrangement would |)erhaps prove useful, in view of the hundreds of thousands who navigate the ocean, and the yearly increasing number of ships that adopt and constantly use this division of the day into "watches," finding it, as they appear to do, the most convenient scheme of division for daily routine at sea. Other modes of carrying into execution the i)ri)iciples of construc- tion proposed will readily suggest themselves to practical men. ( Vide Appendix No. 2.) It seems only here necessary to allude to one point. It may be objected that the change of system would render 36 TIME-RECKONING. the clocks and watches in use valueless. But the remedy is simple, as local time may be retained and indicated side by side with cosmo- politan time by altering the dial plates or substituting new ones. The establishment of twenty-four fixed meridians, as proposed, at one hour's distance from each other, as standards for local time, would secure complete uniformity in the indication of the minutes in all the clocks uf the world ; the hours of local time only differing. Appendix No. 3 illustrates this feature ; it shows simultaneous tim»; at each of the twenty-four standard meridians ; local time varying one hour in each case ; cosmopolitan time remaining constant. In this communication I have endeavoured to submit the incon- veniences and difficulties inseparable from our present mode of reckoning dates, and from our system of keeping and noting smaller divisions of time. I have referred to the various usages and customs which prevail, and I have drawn special attention to the fact that the application of steam to locomotion by land and sea, and of electricity to the telegraph, literally without limit, has rendered the present practice of reckoning time ill suited to modern life. It cannot be supfxtsed that these agents of progress have com- jtleted their mission. We may rafclier assume that these extraor- dinary powers have but commenced their wonderful career, and that they will achieve further triumphs in civilization. It is in America these agtuits have been introduced to the greatest relative extent, as the subjoined estimate of the length of railways constructed will show : Popi'LATioy. Miles of Railway. Asia 824,548,500 7,643 Europe 309,178,300 88,748 Africa 199,921,600 1,451 N. and S. America 85,519,800 83,655 Australasia 4,748,600 1,752 Totals 1 , 423, 9 1 7, 800 1 83, 248 It has been suggested, that the difficulties already met in portions of America threaten to become increased as the railway system is extended. It may therefoi-e be assumed, that any practicable scheme to effect a remedy would be favourably received. The importance of the subject is not confined to America, for the other quarters of the globe are now or will be similarly interested. Australia and Africii will before long be pierced, i)erhaps girdled, by railways. Asia, with, more than half the population of the n jrld, must in due time follo*v in the genei-al progi-ess.' In ]S ">rth and South America, there is room TIME-RECKONINO. 37 ^ is simple, ith cosmo- V ones. I'oposed, at ocal time, e mimiteK ^ differing, leons tiinF Railway. r,643 J, 748 1,451 1,055 ,752 1,248 portions system is e scheme rtance of rs of tlie id Africa sia, with le fol!o.v a IS room for a great increase of railways ; Init taking the pre.sent mileage and pupulfition of that continent as a basis, the pro]X)rtion would give to Europe and Asia together more than one million miles of lines. These two great continents liave as yet only 96,000 miles of raiilway, and it wbuld probably be taking too sanguine a view to suppose that so great an increase will speedily be rejilized. No one, however, can doubt that the network of railways in Western and Central Europe will before long be greatly enlarged; that branches will exten»l to Asia ; and that otf-shoots will ultimately be prolonged to the farthest shores of the Chinese and Russian Empires. A compai-atively few years may indeed witness extraordinary pi-ogress in this direction, to l>riug into prominence the difficulties alluded to, and which cannot fail to make themselves felt. The subject which we are now considering, in diffei'ent degi'ees clearly concerns all countries ; it is especially important to the United Ktate.s, fiiazil, Canada, indeed to the whole of America. It is important to France, Germany, Austriii, and to every nation in EHroi>e. It is of jtecnliar interest to the gigantic empire of Russia, extending over nearly 180 degrees of longitude, and with a total variation in local time of alx)ut twelve hours. It is of still greater importance to the (.•olonial Empire of Great Britain, with its settlements and stations in nearly every meridian around the entii-e globe, and «vith vast terri- tories to be occupied in both hemispheres. Before the introduction of railways in England, every town and A'illage kept its own time. The traveller found his watch consttintly at variance with the local clocks. On the establishment of the railway system this sUite of things could not be tolerated, as local time could «)nly lead to con\plication and confusion. The railways demanded uniform time, and Gi'eenwich time c;vme to be used. This was looked upon as an innovation, and was for a considerable ]>eriod vigorously opposed. At last the advantages of uniform tin»e became so manifest, that Greenwich time came into general u.se throughout Great Britain. But for the employment of uniform time in England, Scotland and Ireland, it would be an extremely difficult task to regulate safely the great number of daily trains. The Siife working of the railways in the United Kingdom is indeed a problem sufficiently difficult even with uniform time ; ai^d we can scarcely conceive how much the problem would be complicated if in Great Britain they were to revert to the system of local time as it prevailed in the days of stage coaches, when every town and luimlet kept its own time. ■ . , TT 38 TIME-RECKONINO. i^ Among the several objects which the scheme of cosmopolitan time has in view, not the least imi)oi*tant is to extend to the world similar advantages to those which have been conferred on Great Britain by the genei'al adoption of uniform time since the commencement of the railway era. Meteorologists have felt the necessity of some general heme of reckoning by non-local time, such as that now proposed. The enoi'- mous number of meteorological observations recorded in every part of the world are of but little value until accurate allowances are made for the difFei'ences in local time. The immense labour involved will be undei-stootl when the number of stations and the numbet* of daily and hourly observations are considered. Accordingly, it will be seen that meteorological science would derive great advantages from the general adoption of uniform time. Navigators are required to employ a standard time to enable them from day to day, when on long voyages, to compute their longitude. For this purpose it is a practice with ships to carry the local time of the national observatory of the country to which they respectively belong. For example : French ships reckon their longitude by Paris time ; British ships by Greenwich time. Cosmopolitan time would serve precisely the same purpose as a standard for geographical reckoning, and it woiild be some advantage to the marine of the world to have a uniform standard established — the common property of all nations, and in common use by land and water everywhere. It has already been said that the telegraph provides the means of securing perfect accuracy at all stations, however remote ; indeed, through this agency, time-keepers may be made to beat time synchi-o- nously all over the globe. Already the length of telegraph lines in o[>eration approaches 400,000 miles; and we are warranted in believ- ing that ultimately the means of instantaneous communication will ramify through every habitable country, and find its way to every port of commercial importance. I take the ground that we have entered ^ipon a remarkable period in the history of the human race. Discoveries and inventions con- tinue to crowd upon each other in almost magical succession, and who can tell what progress will be made witliiu the coming fifty years ] Steam and electricity are really narrowing the limits of the world. Lines of telegraph and steam communications, the creationH of hat yesterday, are girdling^the earth and bringing the most distant countries into close neighbourhood. In a few years the wire and the mummm TIME-RECKOSINO. 39 itan time d similar ritain by nt of the heme of .'he enor- ^eiy part -nces are involved imbef of it will vantages jle them mgitude. I time of )ectively by Paris le would raphical ^ of tlie jroperty y where, leans of indeed, lynchi-o- lines in . believ- ion will ) every period ns con- Jn, and ig fifty of the Bation« iistant nd the rail will have brought men of all races face to face to intercommunicate knowledge and dispel prejudices. Sooner or later the barbarous custom of dividing the day into two sets of twelve hours, as if 12 was the limit of arithuietical knowledge, will be judged at its right value. The hands of time-keepers pointing in all conceivable directions at the same instant of absolute time will be held as an extraordinary anomaly, and steps will be taken to avoid the spectacle of men at the one moment nominally living in different hours, in different days, and in some extreme cases in different months and yeara. The system of chronometry which we have inherited may have been well suited to the purpose for which it was designed long centuries ago, when the known world was confined within the pillars of Hercules, or it may even have answered all the requirements of man a few generations back, before the great modern civilizers, steam and electricity, began their work. Now we realize the fact that the system is awkward and inconvenient. In a few years — and who can count them — may we not find a radical change imperatively demanded by the new conditions of the human race. It is probably not now unseasonable to discuss the subject. It would be a vain task to attempt at once to abolish a custom so hoary with age, and so generally practised as our system of com- puting time. But the necessity of change once admitted, the })ublic mind will gradually become familiar with the idea, and will learn to welcome any modification in the system when its expediency is established. But it will be important first to determine the extent of the required modification. The scheme should be well considered so as to be free from the imperfections which result from haste. It should be rendered generally acceptable, so that wlienever the necessity arises in any country or community for its introduction, it may be spontane- ously adopted ; the inhabitants feeling assured that they were selecting a system eventually to become univei-sal. The suggestions I have ventured to offer are presented with the view of drawing attention to the subject. They point to the establish- ment of a common prime meridian as the first important step, and as the key to any cosmopolitan scheme of reckoning. This step taken, the more progi-essive nations would probably promote the establish- ment of a comprehensive syst-em of chronometry suitable to every condition of civilization, and advantageous to the inhabitants of the globe on every line of longitude and on every parallel of latitude. 40. TIME-RECKONIXO. APPZNDIX No. 1. Condensed time tables, illustrative of the application of the cosmo- politan system of time-reckoning, to railway and stcanvboat com- nuuiications. The great mail and pas.senger route now being (istablished through Canada in selected as an example. Table A i» arranged according to the j)re.sent system. Table B is arranged for cosmopolitan time. Table C is arranged for local time standards, established by lettered meiidians If)" of longitude apart, each vary- ing one hour. The hours of the day are numbered from 1 to 2'!: instead of two sets from 1 to 12. TABLE A. — Arranged accordiitg to tlie present system. Principal Stations. London Dublin (en route) \V. Coast Ireland (at sea) (at sea) (at sea) (at sea) St. John, Newfoundland . (en route) .St. Georci E.Newfoundland ^ IIIPPIGAN (en route) Riv. Du Loup Quebec Montreal (en route) OrrAW.*. NlPPISINO L. SuPERir F (en ro.,te) Fort William Keewatin Selkirk (en route) Livingston Sa-skatchewan Battlbford Edmonton (en route) Montbrun Yellow Head Pa.ss . . . . Tete Jaune Cacue (en route) Pacific Ocean Local Time. 8.00 p.m. . 8.00 a.m. , Ist 1.00 p.m. . . . 2nd . . 3rd 4th . . oth 9.00 a.m. . Oth 6.00 p.m. . 10.00 a.m.. 7th 10.00 p.m. . 2.(M)a.m. . 8.00 a.m. . .. 8th 1.00 p.m. . 8.30 p.m. . 10.00 a.m.. . . !»th 3.30 p.m. . 1.30 a.m. . 6.00 a.m. . . . 10th 3.00 p. m, . 9.30 p.m. . 1.00 a.m. . 9.20 a.m. . .. nth 2.15 p.m. . 7.00 p.m. . 8.15 p.m. . . . 12th 11.30 p.m.. noon noon noon noon noon noon noon noon noon noon noon noon Slowkr THAN Gbkkn- WICH. Greenwich time Irish time Irish time Irish time Ship's time Ship's time Ship's time Ship's time Newfoundland time Newfoundland time Newfoundland time New Brunswick . . New Brunswick . . Quebec time Quebec time Quebec time Quebec time Quebec time Huron time Superior time . . . Superior time .... Superior time .... Manitobah time . . Mantiobah time Mantiobah time Saskatchewan time. Saskatchewan time. Athabasca time . . . Athabasca time .... Athabasca time . . . Athabasca time .... Ivocky Mount'n time Kocky Mount'n time Rocky Mount'n time B. Columbia time . . 0.00 I 0.25 1.00 1.40 2.20 3.00 3.30 4.30 5.00 (t I 5.30 6.00 6 30 7.00 7.30 it if 8.00 t( H 8.30 TIME-RECKONING. II TABLE B. Arranged /or CosmopUtan TiiM. TABLE C. Local Time Stiindnrds, estahlished oft« huur apart. Principal Stations. Cosmo- politan Time. London P. 00 C. 25 G. 25 H. 25 H. 00 H. 40 I. 20 K. 00 G. 30 K. 39 R. 00 L 30 L. .30 W. 00 B. 00 H. (M) M. 00 N. 00 V. 00 L. 00 N. 00 Q. 30 C. 00 G. 30 0. 00 R. 00 X. 30 C. .30 M. 00 P. 00 1 Q. 45 W. 00 X. 15 P. 30 VV.30 1 Dublin Ist Noon (en route) .... W. Coast Ireland 2ud Noon (at sea) .... 3rd Noon (at sea) .... 4th Noon (at sea) 5th Noon (at sea) .... St. John, Newfoundland . 6th Noon (en route) . . St. Geo RGB, Newfoundland SUIPPIOAX 7th Noon (en route) . . Riv. Du Loup Quebec Montreal 8th Noon (en route) . . Ottawa NiPPISINO L. Superior 9th Noon (en route) . . Fort William Keewatin Selkirk. . . 10th Noon (en route) . . Livingston Saskatchewan Battleford Edmonton 11th Noon (en route) . . Montbrun Yellow Head Pass .... Tete Jaune Cache 12th Noon (en route) . , Pacific Ocean Principal Stations. St. St. London Dublin 1st Noon (en route) . W. Coast Ireland . . 2nd Noon (at nea) . . 3rd Noon (at sea) . . 4th Noon (at sea) . . 5th Nuon (at sea) . . John, Newf'dland . 6tli Noon (en route) GKORGE,Newf'dland Shippioan 7th Noon (en route) Riv. du Loup Quebec I Montreal I 8tli Noon (en route) I Ottawa I NiPPlSINO i L. Superior i 9th Noon (en route) Fort William Keewatin Selkirk 10th Noon (en route Livingston Saskatchewan Battleford Edmonton 11th Noon (en route) Montbrun Yellow Head Pass . . Tete Jaune Cache 12th Noon (en route) Pacific Ocean Local Time. ! By Houra. Stand urd. 20.00 8.25 12.00 13.25 12.00 12.00 12.00 12.00 8.30 12.00 17.30 9.30 12.00 22.00 2.00 8.00 12.00 13.00 20.30 10.00 12.00 15.30 1.00 5.30 12.00 15.00 21.30 1.30 10.00 12.00 13.45 19.00 20.15 12.00 11.00 M. N. O. O. P. Q. R. S. T. , t 42 TIME-RECKONINO. 4 APPENDIX No. 2. T/te application of the proposed Scheme of Time-reckoning to the practice of Daily Life. Reference lias beon made to the means by which cosmopolitan time may be indicated by ordinary time-pieces. This may be accomplished by inscribing the proper letters on the dials of clocks and watches now in use. A still better expedient would be to substitute new dials, such as Fig. 5. In this, the letters which represent the night hours in any particular locality are on a dark ground. Fio. 6. By a simple expedient of this description it could be practicable, without superceding the old time-keepens, to secure the advantages of the new scheme, in any country of comparatively limited extent. Clocks and watches in use might thus be utilized and made to •show cosmopolitan, in addition to local time. It would be only necessary to prepare railway and steam-boat time-tables in accordance with the new system, to bring its advantages into common use. But this would apply only to stationaiy clocks, or to watches in use in countries limited in extent. The imprjoveraent would not be general until time-keepers for ordinary purposes, and especially watches, were constructed on new principles. A general change could only be gradually effected ; but as there are hundreds of thousands of watches and chronometers made eveiy year, in the event of the subject being deemed worthy of attention, it would be well for manufacturers to consider the expediency of introducing some change in the construction of them. There are various methods by which the principles set forth may be applied, and these will readily suggest themselves to prac- TIME-RECKONINO. 43 tical men. Simply to illustrate ono mode, Figures 6 and 7 are supplied. Fid. 6. Pio. 7. The object is to indicate cosmopolitan and local time by the same watch. Fig. 6 shows the watch case open, with the dial for cosmo- politan time exposed. Fig. 7 shows the watch ca.se closed, with the local time numerals engraved on the face of the case, the latter being pierced in order that the hands may be seen. The local time disc is designed to be adjustable for any one of the 24 lettered meridians. By this arrangement only the local hours would vary ; there would be a complete coincidence in the minutes of cosmopolitan and local time at every station. The application of double dials to a watch may be effected in another manner. The watch may have two faces kick to back; one for for cosmopolitan time, the reverse for local time, the hands in both instances being moved by the same wheel- work, and those for local time suj^plied with the means of adjustment for change of longitude. The latter plan has advantages peculiar to itself. Other methods of construction may be proposed, but it is unnecessary ; the present object is simply to show that there is no practical difficulty in the way of carrying the scheme of time reckoning set forth in the accom- (mnying paper into the practice of daily life. I * I 44 TIME-RECKONINa. y APPENDIX No. 3. Illmtrating Simultanrom Time at each of the tmnly-fotir Uttered merldlnm jn-o- jHmd fM Local 8tanhy uni- form, ordered, by an express declai-ation, that the first meridian should be placed ui the Isle of Ferro, the most western of the Canaries. Delisle, one of the first who endeavoured to give precision to geo- graphical determinations, fixed the longitude of Paris 20 degrees east of that meridian. When, by more rigorous observations, it was known that the difference of longitude between Paris and the principal town of the Isle of FeiTO was 20° 5' 50", it was necessary to advance the first meridian 5' 50" to the east of that point, so that it is now a circle of mere convention, which passes through no remarkable point. Geographers at one time established the first meridian at the island of St. Nicholas, near Cape Verd ; others at the isle of St. James. Gerard Mercator, who lived in the sixteenth century, selected the meridian passing through the Island del Corvo, one of the Azores, on account, it is said, of the magnetic needle pointing due north at that time. It was not then known that the needle itself was subject to variations. The Dutch placed their first meridian at the Peak of Teneriffe. The Spaniards have chosen Cadiz. The British formerly used Cape Lizard, but subsequently selected Greenwich Observatory, neai* London. The Russians, Pul- iH 54 LONGITUDE AND TIME-RKCKONINO. kova, near St. Petersburg. Washington was adopted by the United States, and the cliarts of that country are still constructed with Washington as a ftrst meridian, although Greenwich is now used for reckoning longitude by all sea-going ships carrying the United States flag. The Italians selected Naples ; and ships of the empire of Brazil i-eckon in part from Rio de Janeiro. An earnest desire has frequently been expressed for the determi- nation of one prime meridian common to all nations, but all attempts for its establishment have failed. On all sides there has been an adherence, with more or less tenacity, to the arbitrary zeros adopted or suggested by the national na\'igator3. Recommendations have however from time to time been made in the general interests of science, which is unconfined by national boundaries and unprejudiced by national vanity. Some astronomers have proposed Alexandria, from its being the place to which Ptolemy's observations and compu- tations were reduced. The Great Pyramid has also been proposed as the point through which the world's prime meridian should be drawn; it has found an earnest advocate in Professor Piazzi Smyth, Astro- nomer Royjil for Scotland. Other astronomers have proposed that a meridian should be established from celestial phenomena, so that national sensitiveness shall in no way be hurt. Laplace recommended the adoption of a universal first meridian, upon which it was 12 o'clock when the sun entered the point of the vernal equinox in the year 1250, in which the apogee of the earth's orbit coincided with the solsticial point in Cancer. According to Maury, such a univei-sal meridian would pass about 8 miles west of Cape Mesurada, on the coast of Africa. This initial meridian was favoured by Herachel. It is certainly suggested by no local circumstances such as noon or midnight, or by the observatory or metropolis of any nation. Its determination is made solely by the motion of the sun among the stars, in which all the nations of the earth have a common interest, Herschel designated the time reckoned by this meridian " Equinoctial time." But this meridian possesses no one advantage not common to all other meridians, beyond being perfectly free from national relationships. The initial meridian for the world should be chosen for other reasons than any of those which, as far as I know, have yet been advanced. In another place I have shown that it would be the separating line on the surface of the earth, between two consecutive LONGITUDE AND TIME-RECKONING. 55 diurnal revolutions; that is to say, between one cosmopolitan date (or day) and another. It would be, therefore, inexpwliont to have it passing through London or Washington, or Paris, or St. Petensburg, or indeed through tlie heart of any populous or even inliabited country. We must seek for a position free from this characteristic. We should look for a meridian, if possible, to pass through no great extent of habitable land, so that hereafter the whole population of the world would follow a common time-reckoning ; and simul- taneous human events would be chronicled by concurrent dates. If we examine the terrestrial globe, we shall find that two, and only two, limited sections of the sphere present themselves with these qualifications. A meridian may be drawn through the Atlantic Ocean, so as to pass Africa on the one side and South America on the other without touching any portion of either continent, avoiding all islands and all land except a portion of eastern Greenland. The configuration of the continents will also admit of a meridian being similarly drawn in the opposite hemisphere so as to pass through Behring's Strait, and through the whole extent of the Pacific Ocean without touching dry land. Either of these meridians would serve the desired purpose, but a meridian in close proximity to Behring's Strait suggests itself as the most eligible. It must be admitted that the establishment of a common prime meridian should be so determined that, if at all practicable, one of the several systems of the divisions of longitude now employed might be maintained. It would be a still greater advantage if the new initial meridian could harmonize with the longitudinal divisions most in use in the navigation of the high seas. If we refer to the map of the world, we find that the anti or nether meridians of some of the capitals of Europe pass at no great distance from Behring's Strait, and the addition or subtraction of 180® would, in any one case, be a ready means of harmonizing the pro- posed new zero with the old reckoning of longitude. Six of these places are at present employed as prime meridians, viz. : 1. Christiania. 4. Naples. 2. Copenhagen. 5. Paris. 3. Greenwich. 6. Stockhohn. The following table, prepared from the latest authorities within reach, gives an estimate of the number and tonnage of steamers and 56 LONGITUDE AND TIME-RECKONINO. sailing ships belonging to the several nations of the world ; likewise the first meridians which they use in ascertaining their longitude : Ships or all Sorts. Numl)cr. Toiinagu. < British ( Jolonies ) linited States . . Norway 1 taly 20,938 6,935 4,257 4,520 3,380 3,625 2,908 1,970 2,151 1,385 2,030 740 1,300 491 348 507 50 78 57,697 8,690,532 2, 739, .348 1,391,877 1,430,895 1,142,040 1,118,145 000,043 577,282 402,541 470,193 424,418 363,622 245,664 164,050 140,130 194,091 38,631 39,391 Greenwich. (Greenwich. Christiania and Greenwich. Naples and Greenwich. Ferro, Greenwich and Faria. Paris. Cadiz. TIME-RSCKONINCJ. 1752 — the year whon popular prejiuUco wiw mot. and the calendar refonned. The following tahlc will show all the chango that would be callep for in notating the dogrecs of longitud*!. It will be observed that the table is limited to the twenty-four lettered meridians elsewhere alluded to: LONO(TL'Di;. Hour Mekidian. New Stylo. Old Style. Prime Meridian Zero 180' E. &W of Greenwich A 15° 105^ E. of Greenwich. B 30" 150° E. C 46" 135' E. D E 60" 76' 120' E. 105° E. P 90* 00' E. O 105» 75' E. H 120' ()()' E. I 186' 45' E. K 180« •.W E. L 166" hV E. M 180" 0° Greenwich N 195" 15' W. of( Jreenwich. 210^ 30' \V. P 226° 45' W. Q 240' (50° ^V. R 255^ 75' W. S 270' J)0' W. T 285' 105' W. u 300' 1*20' W. ^ V 315' 135' W. w 330' 150' W. X 345' 165° W. Prime Meridian 360 or Zero 180° W. But a pi-oposal of this character cannot be effected without much di.scussion. Such a change must be the work of time, for it is to be feared that much passive if not active opposition would have to be overcome before general concurrence be obtained. Whatever benefits a measiire may promise, there will always be those who fail to recoo'- nize the anticipated advantages ; and there are generally not a few who consider it a duty to combat the least innovation on existing practices. The object of these remarks, however, is to show that there is no impediment to the establishment of a prime meridian for the world unmarked by national pre-eminence, a meridian in itself admirably adapted for the important purposes i-eferred to in connection LONGITUDE AND TIMK-RECKONINO. 59 with tho notation of time, iind tlio accunito reckoning of chronological dates in every country on the surface of the earth. Tho advantiigns to bo derived, with the com plications and confusion to be avoided, have been elsewhere set forth. SutHco it to say here, the object to be attained is tho establishment of a more accurate and more convenient system of time- reckoning than now obtains. It is not propo.sed to interfere in the least with the local divisions — tlio weeks and tho days of tho wet^k. The wcn^k is an arbitrary division, but it has been recognized by man from remote anti(Hiity, and it is a period recorded in the earliest teachings of religion and- history. Amongst the many changes which were violently enforced by tlu? French Revolution, there was perhai)S none that more shocked public; sentiment than tho alteration of the ancient calendar by the substi- tution of a ten-day period foi a seven day period. The week, as well as the week day, has become an integral part of our civilization, and wo must acce|)t both as unalterable. As regards the earth as a whole, both are governed by local and superficial phenomena occur- ring in perpetual succession arouiul the circumference of the sphere ; yet this is no barrier to the establishment of a mode of scientific reckoning determined in harmony with them, and cosmopolitan in its character. The aim is to introduce a scheme whereby years and months, hours, nxinutes and seconds, at all the meridians of the globe, shall be |)ractically as well as theoretically concurrent ; for the divi- sion will be based on the one unit measure, an esta})lished i)eriod in absolute time. However variable may be the ordinary weeks and week days as they occur in different localities around the globe, the effort is to secure to mankind, by a simple uniform system of uni- versal application, the means of truly notating dates, and recording events as they transpire. To accomplish this end, the first requisite is that each revolution of the globe on its axis be defined by a line of demarcation on the earth's surface acceptable to all nations. The interval of time be- tween two consecutive passages of the sun over this line would denote tho unit measui'e. By whatever name they may be known, the number of these units, from the commencement of a month or of a year, would indicate any particular date, common to all. The unit measure would be divided into twenty-four. These divisions reprtv 60 LONGITUDE AND TIME-RECKONING. sented on the surface of the globe by twenty-four fixed meridional lines, at one hour's distance from each other, would establish the standards for local time everywhere. Perfect uniformity would thus be secured in all the clocks in the world. The minutes, and indeed all the sub-divisions of time, would be concurrent ; the local numbers of the hours only would differ.* The position of the twenty-four secondary meridians is governed by the selection of a primary meridian ; and hence the first stejj to the consummation of the scheme is the establishment of an initial meridian as a common starting point. Is it too much to aftirm that the meridian suggested will fully meet every requirement 1 To the writer it seems, that with the concurrence of those nations acknowledged as the fountain heads of civilization, it might at once lake the place of all other initial meridians whicli have hitherto been employed. It could be established without any clashing with existing customs, or any violent departure from tlu' rules and practices and traditions of the great majority of mariners. By its adoption the expression so familiar to us, '' the longitude of Greenwich," would simT>ly pass out of usage, and some other name take its place. There would be no favoured nation, no gratification of any geographical vanity. A new prime meridian so estaljlished woidd be essentially cosuiopolitan, and would tend towards the general benefit of humanity. As the line of demarcation between one date and another it would be of univei'sal interest, and a property common to the hundreds of millions who live on the land, and the hundreds of thousands who sail on the sea. Since the foregoing was written, I have seen the weekly edition of the Times of the 1 7th ultimo. (Jan. '79). The following extract * One of the unavoidable, results might be liuld to be objectionable, but, it may jirovt- less disadv, *ageims than anticipated. Only on one meridian would the ordinary local day eorrespond with the unit of time. 15^ west of that meridian it would be one hour later, 30° west it would be two hours later ; and for each IS- degrees of wesling one hour later still. Thus the epoch of change from one cosmopolitan date to anuthcr would occur at midnight in one locality, at noon in another, at six a.m. at a tliird, ami at every hour of the 24, as the longitude wouhl determine. This jieculiarity would doubtless be felt to be an inconvenience during a brief interval of transition from the present to the new system. The accompanying plate illustrates the variation of changes, and shows that, while cosmopolitan time would be absolutely identical in every locality, local time would vary one hour at each fixed local standard aruuud the circuaiferouco of the globo. N OT F. This Ottgr*m ihtwt tK« potition of tht Common Prime Mtridiin propoisJ to b« eitabliihsd n»tf Bahring Stoit. and it furnithai «n illustration of " ttmultineoui ttma " «t each of tKe 34 ScconrJary Maridians pfOpoitd in conntction with the tchama of Coamopolittn Tim*. PHOTO UTHBYTHE BURLAND DESBARATS UTH. CO MONTREAL. '1^ ■ '■.Tv-;/' ■■' LONOITUDK AND TIME-RECKONINO. 61 which it contains shows that the subject we liave l)een considering is engaging the attention of eminent geograi)hers in Europe : "A Nkw Fikst Meridian. — It is admitted by geographers that the present variety of ' first meridians ' is extremely embarrassini^ and not conducive to accuracy. A good many proposals have been made recently for the establish- ment of a common first meridian for all coiuitries, but, as one might expect, there is a want of agreement as to what line should be chosen. The cjiiestion was taken up at the last International Congress of (ieography at Paris, and among the contributions to the subject was a paper by M. Bouthillier de Beaumont, President of the Geographical Society of (xeneva. The subject was brought on a former occasion before the Antwerp Geographical Congress, where it was very thoroughly discussed l)y competent geographers. The proposal, however, did not receive more than exi)ressions of sympathy and encouragement. To propose, as M. de Beaumont says, to take the meridian of Greenwich or any other national meridian as the initial one, is not to advance the question ; rather, it leaves it in alatu niio. Nor wouhl it be a happy solution to take the old meridian of Ferro, abandoned by the cliief maritime nations and presenting peculiar difficulties in its actual position. At the Congress of Paris of 1875 Jerusalem was proposed, a proposal more creditable to the heart than the head of the professor. Xow M. de Beaumont asks: ' Does there exist and can we lind a meridian which, by its position on the earth, is sufficiently determined to be taken as the initial meridian, solely on account of its natural and individual character?' In reply he draws attention to the meridian passing through Behring's Strait, as satisfying Ijeyond any other this demand. It is now the 150th meridian west of the island of Ferro, or 30 deg. \i., or 10 deg. E. of Paris. This meridian, M. de Beaumont main- tains, can be very easily connected with works based on the princijial meridians of Ferro, Paris, Greenwich, &c. It touches the extremity of the American continent at Cape Prince of Wales ; traverses, on the one hand, the whole length of the Pacific without touching any land, and, on the other, all Europe, through its centre, from the top of Spitzbergen, passing Copenhagen, Leipsic, Venice and Home ; then cuts the African continent from Tripoli to t'ape Frio, about 18 deg. S. lat. M. de Beaumont urges several advantages on behalf of this new meridian. It would cut Europe into east and west, thus giving em- phasis to a division which has been tacitly recognized for ages ; it presents about the largest possible terrestrial arc, from 79 deg. N. to 18 deg. S. lat., 97 degrees altogether, thus giving to science the longest continuous line of land as a basis for astronomical, geodetic, and meteorological observations, and other important scientific researches. Passing as it would through a great immber of States, it would become a really international meridian, as each nation might establish a station or observatory on the line of its circumference. Such a meridian M. de Beaumont proposes to call mediator, on the analogy of equator. This proposal of M. de Beaumont is strongly approved by the eminent French geographer, M. E. Cortambert, and has received considerable support from other continental geographers. Whether M. de Beaumont's par' I alar proposivl be generally accepted or not, there can be no doubt of the 62 LONGITUDE AND TIME-RECKONINO. advantage of having some common international arrangement as to a common meridian for geographical iiurpoaes at least." It is somewhat remarkable that the important query of M. de Beaumont is one which, without the slightest idea that it had been asked by him, I have anticipated by my reply. The coincidence, how- ever, is less strange, that we have arrived substantially at the same conclusions. A Behring's Strait meridian is almost the only one which, by its position, may be taken as the initial meridian, on account of its natural and individual character. It is not a little satisfactory to discover that the views which I have expressed are confirmed in the main by so distinguished an authority. What difference exists is in matters of detail. M. de Beaumont i)roposes that the common meridian should be established 150° west of Ferro, or nearly 180" from a meridian passing through or at no great distance from Copenhagen, Leipsic, Venice and Rome, This would throw the initial meridian a little to the east of Behring's Strait ; while the one suggested by the writer is to the west in the same locality. Either would perfectly serve the desired purpose. The only question remaining is, which of the two would least interfere with present [)ractices ; least disarrange charts, tables and nautical nomenclature ; which would most accommodate and best satisfy the greatest number of those who use and are governed by the maps and forms and astronomical almanacs now in use ; — in fact, which of the two lines would most readily meet with general concurrence 1 I think the answer is conclusive. The anti-meridian of the one pro- posed by M. de Beaumont, passes through Copenhagen — a meridian recognized probably by less than one per cent, of ocean-going vessels ; while the anti-meridian of the line advocated in this paper is in use for reckoning longitude by at least 72 per cent, of the floating tonnage of the v/orld. The proposal of the President of the Geographical Society of Geneva, supported as it is by M. E. Cortambert and other con- tinental geographers, advances the settlement of an extremely em- barrassing (juestion, and encourages the hope that at no distant day there may be an international arrangement, through which mankind may secure the advantages of a common first meridian for geographical, chronometrical and all other general purposes ; one that in its actual and in its astronomical sense will be indeed cosmopolitan. LONGITUDE AND TIME-RECKONING. 63 Two coininunications on the subject have lately appeared in the "Bulletin de la Sooic'te Geographie, Paris, (5th Series, Vol. 9." The Hrst, originally submitted to tlie Imperial Geographical Society of Russia by M. Otto Struve, Director of the Pulkova Observatory, was subsequently read before the Geographical Society, Paris, by M. le Comte (jtuidoboni Visconte. The second, was communicated to the same society by M. A. Germain, Inge- nieur Hydrographie. The recommendation of M. Germain is that the meridian of Paris should be maintained. He takes an essentially national and non-cosmopolitan view of the subject. The line of argument adopted by him does not call for refutation, even if controversy in this instance fell within the province of the writer. M. Germain seems to think, for his opinions are not positively expressed, that if England would adopt the metrical measurement of France, it would be a gracious act for France to accept the prime meridian of England. The communication of M. Otto Struve is of a different character. He argues for the necessity of a common Hrst meridian, in the general interests of navi- gation, of geography and of astronomy. He points out that national vanity seems to have been the sole cause that up to the ])respnt time, to the great detriment of scientific advancement, different first meridians are in use. He very correctly writes: " La question de I'unitication des mt5ridiens ne depend d'aucune consideration d'economie politique, elle intt^resse uniquement le monde savant. Sa ri5alisation n 'exige pas certains sacrifices de la part du public ; elle demande seulement