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Canadian Institute for Historical Microrsproductions

institut Canadian de microrsproductions historiquas

1980

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TERRESTRIAL TIME.

A Memoir, 6>'Sandford Fleming, C.M.G., M. Inst. C.E., F.G.S., F.R.G.S*
Engineer-in-Chief Canadian Pacific Railway, 6*^.

The question to whirh I propose to direct attention
is not purely English in its interests, or, indeed limited to
any particular country or continent. It is a question which
concerns all nations in common ; and is probably ot less
importance to the inhabitants of the British Isles than to
colonists and to those who live in continental countries.

Within a comparatively recent period, the human race
has acquired control over a power, which already has, in a
remarkable degree, changed the condition of human affairs.
The application of steam to locomotion by land and water
has given an enormous stimulus to progress throughout the
world, and with the electric telegraph as an auxiliary, has
somewhat rudely shaken customs and habits which have been
handed down to us from bygone centuries. We still cling,
however, to the system of Chronometry inherited from
a remote antiquity, notwithstanding difficulties and incon-
veniences which are constantly met in every part of
the world, but which are so familiar to us that they
are not regarded, or are silently endured.

I do not refer to the mechanism of our clocks and watches.
The art of watch making has by no means remained behind in
the general advancement. The horological instruments now

made are, indeed, of surprising accuracy and beauty ; and
simply as machines, for measuring time and dividing it into
minute portions, ihey undoubtedly are unrivalled amongst
the productions that come from the hand of man. The
difficulties to which I allude, are due primarily to the
principle of construction by which our clocks and watches
are made to indicate time only according to the longitude of
places on the earth's surface ; and, in a less degree, to the
fact, that we adhere to the custom of dividing the day into
halves of twelve hours each, one set of hours being described
as ante meridian, the other as pest meridian.

To illustrate the points of difficulty, let us first take the
case of a traveller in North America. He lands, let us say, at
Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and starts on a railway journey
through the eastern portions of Canada. His route is over
the Intercolonial and Grand Trunk Lines. He stops at St.
John, Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. At the begin-
ing of the journey he sets his watch by Halifax time. As he
reaches each place in succession, hefindsa considerable varia-
tion in the clocks by which the trains are run, and he discovers
that at no two places is the same time used. Between Halifax
and Toronto he finds the railways employing no less than five
different standards of time. If the traveller remained at any
one of the cities referred to he would be obliged to alter his
watch in order to avoid much inconvenience, and, perhaps, not
a few disappointments and annoyances to himself and others.
If, however, he should not alter his watch, he would discover,
on reaching Toronto, that it was an hour and five minutes
faster than the clocks and watches in that city.

In the United States the inconvenience is greater. Along
the great railway lines leading from Boston, New York,
Philadelphia, and other cities on the Atlantic seaboard, to the
west as far as San Francisco, the variation of time is of no
trifling importance. The difference between the time of New
York and that of San Francisco is nearly three hours and a-
half. Between these extreme points there are many standards

of time, each city of any importance having its own. The
railway companies have to conform to this state of things,
and, as in Canada, are obliged to adopt local standards
Hence the discrepancies in time which perplex the travr.I'cr
in moving from place to place.

On the Continent of Europe, and, indeed, wherever lines
of communication extend between points differing to any con-
siderable extent in longitude, the same difficulty is experienced.
On a journey from Paris to Vienna, or to St. Petersburg, the
standard time employed by the railways changes frequently,
and the extreme difference in time between the first and last
city is nearly two hours.

Suppose we take the case of a person travelling from
London to India. He starts with Greenwich time, but he
scarcely leaves the shorea of England, when he finds his watch
wrong. Paris time is used for the journey until that of
Rome becomes the standard. At Brindisi there is another
change. Up the Mediterranean ship's time is used, At
Alexandria Egyptian time is the standard. At Suez ship's
time is resumed, and continues with daily changes until India
is reached. Arriving at Bombay the traveller will find two
standards employed, local time and railway time, the latter
being that of Madras. If he has not altered his watc i since
he left England he will find it some five hours slow ; should
he continue his journey to China it will fall eigtit hours
behind. 'f

In the United Kingdom the difficulties due to longitude are
felt in a very modified form. The greater island, embracing
England and Scotland, is comparatively limited in
extent, particularly in width. One standard of time is
therefore used. It is only in respect to the smaller island,
Ireland, that the difference in longitude calls for a difference
in time ; in the whole United Kingdom, consequently, there
are practically only two standards, viz., Greenwich time and
Irish time, the difference being twenty-five minutes. No one,

therefore, whose experience has been confined to the United
Kingdom, can form an adequate idea of the extent of the
inconvenience arising from the causes alluded to in regions of
the world where geographical circumstances render the use of
a multiplicity of standards necessary.

The railway system is the principal agent in the develop,
ment of the difficulties referred to, and the still further
extension of steam communications in great continental lines,
now begins to force the subject on our attention. Canada
supplies a good illustration of what is occurring. The railways
built and projected there will extend from the eastern coast of
Newfoundland on the Atlantic to the western coast of British
Columbia on the Pacific, embracing about seventy-five degrees
of longitude. Every existing Canadian city has its own time.
Innumerable settlements are now being formed throughout the
country ultimately to be traversed by railways ; and in a few
years, scores of populous towns and cities will spring u^ in the
now uninhabited territories between the two oceans. Each of
these places will have its own local time ; and the
difference between the clocks at the two extremes of
Canada will be fully five hours. The difficulties which will
ultimately arise from this state of things are apparent;
they are already in some degree felt ; they are year by year
increasing, and will, at no distant day, become seriously
inconvenient. This is the case not in Canada alone, but all
the world over.

The other class of difficulties arises from the division of
the day into halves of twelve hours, each numbered from one
to twelve, from midnight to noon, and from noon to midnight
consecutively. Inconveniences resulting from this cause, may be
familiar to rr.any who have had occasion to consult " Bradshaw,"
or other railway and steamboat time tables. Simply as
an illustration, the experience of a stranger during the first
few days of his sojourn in the United Kingdom, may be
taken.

A few weeks ago he (the writer) landed at Londonderry by
the Allan line of steamers from North America. Circum-
stances call'.ig him to a place near Sligo, and having' two dayt
to spare, he determined, if it could be done within that period,
to visit the locality referred to. ♦' The Official Irish Travelling
Guide " was consulted, and the several routes were carefully
studied. Persons resident in Ireland, and accustomed to travel,
were also consulted, and a route was determined on, by which
the traveller could, with apparent comfort and certainty, leave
Londonderry any morning, and return the night of the day
following. The journey was by railway to Enniskillen sixty
miles ; thence by public car to Manor Hamilton, thirty miles ;
thence by private carriage to Killennumery, eight r whici jmilesl
completed the first day's journey. Next day, it was arranged
to leave in time to drive to Bandoran, forty-two miles,
in order to catch a train, which " The Official Travelling
Guide " indicated, would leave at 5.35 p.m., and enable the
traveller to reach Londonderry at ten o'clock the same
evening. There appeared to be no doubt, about accomplishing
the journey within the time and in the precise manner
described.

The traveller set out, reached the house of his friend near
Sligo on the first day, without difficulty, pnd, on the second
day, started in a conveyance specially engaged to take him to
Bandoran in time for the 5.35 p.m. train. The conveyance
actually reached Bandoran at 5.10 p.m., apparently affording
twenty minutes to spare. But the discovery was soon
made that no train would leave that evening. The station
master was appealed to for an explanation, and, comparing the
"Official Irish Travelling Guide," as it was termed, with the
time table hung up in the railway office, it was found that the
" Official Guide " should have read 5.35 a.m., instead of
5.35 p.m. Thus, owing to the system of dividing the day into
two sets of hours, a most trifling typographical error made a
morning train appear to be an afternoon train, twelve hours
later than intended.

There was no help for it but to remain at Bandoran until
next day, and, as the morning train on the Bandoran branch

did not, like the supposed afternoon train, run to meet an
express train on the main line, there was no regular means by
which the traveller could reach his destination before 1.30
o'clock in the afternoon of the third day, in place of 10 o'clock,
p.m., on the second day. An actual loss was thus entailed on
him of Bixteen and a-half hours, while several other persons
were subjected to needless inconvenience and disappointment.

This was the first few days' experience of a visitor from a
distant country to the United Kingdom, where untold wealth and
talent have, during many years, been expended in establishing,
developing, and perfectingthe railway system I

The question need not be asked, how many or how few
similar experiences could be related ? A single case like the
one described, is quite sufficient to establish that perfection of
system has not by any means been reached, and that the
present mode of measuring time and arranging railway time
tables, leads to errors which might any day prove serious in
their consequences. Such a case as the foregoing should be
rendered an impossibility in this age, more especially in the
British Islands, where the railway system was cradled, and
where it has been nurtured and maintained for half a century.

A remedy for the evils to which attention is directed, is
clearly of importance not only to this generation, but to those
who are to succeed us. No complete solution to the problems
presented may be possible ; but a general enquiry into the sub-
ject of Chronometry may suggest some means by which
the difficulties may in some degree be met.

Time is measured in nature by the motions of the heavenly
bodies. The great natural measures are three in number ;
the year ; the (lunar) month ;• and the day. All other divisions
of time, as the civil month, the week, the hour, the minute and

* The Chinese reckon by the lunar month. With them, the age of the
moon and the day of the month are identical.

i^^^t

the second, although long in general use, are arbitrary
and conventional.

Of the three great natural divisions of time, the period
measured by the diurnal movement of the earth on its own
axis, constituted the first space of time reckoned by the human
race ; and is undoubtedly the most important to man in all
stages of civilization. It involves the most familiar pheno-
mena of light and darkness, and embraces the constantly
recurring periods of wakefulness and sleep, of activity and
rest.

. A day is the shortest measure of time afforded by nature.
It is denoted by the revolution of the earth, and, although the
motion of the earth is perfectly uniform, indeed the only
strictly uniform motion that nature presents, we have three
kinds of natural days all varying in length ; the solar,
lunar and siderial.

A solar day is the period occupied by a single revolution of
the earth on its axis in relation to the sun.

A lunar day is the interval of time occupied by a revolu-
tion of the earth on its axis in relation to the moon.

A siderial day is the period required for a complete
revolution of the earth on its axis in relation to the fixed stars.

Of these three natural days, the siderial day is the only
one perfectly uniform in length. The lunar day, on account
of the irregular and complicated motion of the moon in the
heavens, is never employed as a measure of time. The solar
day is variable in length on account of the form of the earth's
orbit around the sun, and the obliquity of the ecliptic. Solar
time is that shown by a sun>dial.

Although the siderial day is uniform in length, being
perfectly independent of the sun, and having no relation to
the daily return of light and darkness, it is not employed for
civil purposes. The commencement of the siderial day is

constantly changing throughout the year; at one period it
comes Pt midnight, at anoth r period at high noon.

It has been found convenient, therefore, to establish an
artificial day, uniform in length, designated the mean solar
day.

The mean solar day, as its name implies, is the average
length of all the natural solar days in a year, and is the time
intended to be indicated by ordinary clocks and vatches.

In a year there are 366 siderial days and only 365 solar
days. A solar day, therefore, exceeds the length of a siderial
by about »h part of a day, or nearly four minutes (three
minutes 55*9094 seconds).

The mean solar day, according as it is employed for civil
or astronomical purposes, is designated the civil day, or the
astronomical day. The former begins and ends at midnight ;
the latter 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
hours after the corresponding civil date.

It has been stated that all shorter periods of time than a
day, are entirely conventional and arbitrary, there being
actually no smaller measure than a day denoted by nature.

^ The sub-division of the day into parts has prevailed from
the remotest ages ; though different nations have not agreed,
either with respect to the epoch of its co. -^encement, the
number of the sub-divisions, or the distribution of the several
parts. ■ '•'-'" '■■•■-.-?'■■'■■' ■'■■'! *■- ■■i-M-^ ■■''-■■ >■-''■'•:-*- ,.

The division of the day with which we are most familiar
is that which separates the whole space of time occupied by
a diurnal revolution of the earth into two equal parts ; one
part extending from midnight to noon, the other part from
noon to midnight. These half-days are sub-divided into
twelve portions or hours, and these again into minutes and
seconds.

In China and some other parts of the world, no hali-days
are used. The Chinese divide the day into twelv« parts, each,
being equal to two hours of our time ; these they again
divide into eight parts, thus subdividing the whole day into
ninety-six equal parts. 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.

In Japan there are four principal points of division, — at
noon, midnight, sunset and sunrise — dividing the natural day
into four variable parts. These four parts are divided each
into three equal portions, together making twelve hours.
£ach hour is again divided into twelve parts, 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 much longer than those
of the night, and sh er on the contrary in winter.

The division of that portion of the day during vhich the
81' n is above the horizon into twelve parts, belongs to the
iemotest ages of antiquity. The divisipn of the other
portion, which embraces the period of darkness, into the
same number of parts, was introduced at Rome in the time
of the Punic Wars.

The system of dividing the day by the rising and setting
of the sun, makes the hours indefinite periods, as they
continuously change with the seasons. Except at the
equinoxes, the hours of the night and day can never be of
equal length. Near the equator the variations are least ;
they increase with every degree of latitude until the Arctic and
Antarctic circles are reached, within which a maximum is
attained. Even in the latitude of Rome, the length of the hours
of daylight and darkness under this system have an extreme
difference of 75 minutes.

The day is reckoned to begin in China before midnight,
the first hour extending from ii'oop.m. to I'oo a.m. of our
mode ot reckoning. The Jews, Turks, Austrians and others,
with some of the Italians, have begun their day at sunset.
The Arabians begin their day at noon, and in this respect
they resemble the astronomers and navigators of modern
nations. It has been customary in Japan to adhere to the
practice of the ancient Babylonians in beginning their day
at nrise.

The Babylonians, Persians, Syrians, Greeks and other
ancient nations, began their day at sunrise, and had divisions
corresponding to mor iing, forenoon, mid-day, afternoon,
evening and night.

The ancient, like the modern, Arabians began their day at
noon.

The Chaldean astronomers divided the day into sixty parts ;
like the modern Chinese they also had a division of the day
into twelve hours.

The ancient Egyptians (probably B.C. looo) divided the
day equally into day and night, and again sub-divided each
half into twelve hours, numbered from i to 12 ; the night
with them commenced six hours before and terminated six
hours after midnight ; the day began six hours before noon
and lasted twelve hours, or until six hours after noon.

These are some of the customs, as gleaned from history,
which have prevailed at various times in different countries
with respect to the day and its sub-division. To these may be
added the customs practised at sea by navigators. The
shipping of different nations have had different customs, but
the most common practice on shipboard, is to divide
the 24 hours into six equal portions called " watches ;"
and these, again, into eight equal parts known as •* bells," and
numbered from one to eight. Thus the whole day is sub-
divided into 48 equal parts. The period of time called a

HKI

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•• watch " is four hours in length, the reckoning being as
follows : —

From noon to 4 p.m., the afternoon watch.

4 p.m. to 8 p.m., the dog watches (from 4 to 6 being
the first dog watch, from 6 to 8
being the last dog watch).

8 p.m. to midnight, the first (night) watch.

midnight to 4 a.m., the middle (or second night)
watch.

4 a.m. to 8 p.m., the morning watch.

8 a.m. to noon, the forenoon watch.
From what has been set forth it would appear that man
ha;s reckoned the day to begin at sunrise, at sunset, at noon,
at midnight, at one hour before midnight, at six hours before
midnight, and at six hours before noon, and that he has
divided it in a great variety of ways ; firstly, into two,
four, twelve, twenty-four and one hundred and forty-four
unequal parts ; secondly, into two, four, six, eight, twelve,
twenty-four, forty-eight, sixty, and into ninety-six equal parts,
without including the small subdivisions of minutes and seconds.
The common practice at present with most civilized nations
is to divide the day into two series of twelve hours each,
a custom which corresponds very closely with that followed
by the ancient Egyptians long before the Christian
era. Thus, while we have made extraordinary advances
in all the arts and sciences, and in their application to
every day life, we find ourselves clinging to a conventional and
inconvenient mode of computing time ; one not materially
different from that practised by the Egyptians, perhaps thirty
centuries ago.

The Chinese system would, without a doubt, suit the re.
quirements of this age much better than that which
we now follow. The halving of the day is one source of
difficulty which ought not to exist, and it would be an im-
portant step to imitate the custom of computing time, which
is followed by that old oriental civilization. The adoption of
the Chinese system, by which half days would be thrown out
of use, would rwt, however, obviate the very serious incon-

'it

veniences which have been referred to, resultip"j from differences
in longitude. * "

To overcome, at once, both difficulties, is the problem
which presents itself for solution.

It has been stated that a day is the shortest measure of
time which we find in nature. As a consequence, man is left
to sub-divide the day in any way best calculated to promote
his own convenience. There can be no doubi; whatever, that
all divisions, except that produced by the rising and setting
of the sun, are entirely artificial and arbitrary.

When the decimal system was adopted by the French, it
was proposed to divide the day into ten and a hundred parts :
a scheme which would probably be the best at this age of the
world had the whole system of horology to be established de
novo. In view of generally prevailing customs, however, it
will, doubtless, be felt that any attempt to introduce the decimal
division of the day would be ui>wise ; that it would be futile to
propose a change which could only succeed by seriously inter-
fering with the existing system.

The progress of the world may, indeed, before long, demand
a radical change in our Chronometry; but the present
method of computing time in the more civilized parts of the
earth, is so interwoven with human affairs, that it cannot in
the meantime be disregarded. It will be evident that the con-
sideration of any change shoold be entered on in the ill re-
cognition of established customs. Instead of attempting to
uproot and supersede the present system, it is considered that a
new scheme to meet the requirements of the age, should rather
be engrafted on, and be in complete harmony with the old one.

In this view the following suggestions are offered: —

It is proposed to take as the unit-measure of time,
the artificial day known as the mean solar day.* This unit

• The siderial day— the only natural day uniform in length — from its
uniformity would be well suited for the standard unit of measure
required. But it is not sufficiently marked for the ordinary purposes
of life. The diurnal return of the sun in the heavens is a phenomenon
much easier observed by the generality of man than the culmination of

to be divided into twenty-four equal parts, and these,
again, into minutes and seconds by a standard timekeeper or
chronometer, hypothetically stationed ?* the centre of the
earth.

It is proposed that, in relation to the whole globe, the
dial plate of the central Chronometer shall be a fixture, as in
Fig. I ; that each of the twenty-four divisions into which the day
is divided shall be assumed to correspond with certain known
meridians of longitude, and that the machinery of the instrument
shall be arranged and regulated so that the index or hour hand
shall point in succession to each of the twenty-four divisions
as it became noon at the corresponding meridian. In fact the
hour hand shall revolve from east to west, with precisely the
same speed as the earth on its axis, and shall therefore point
directly and constantly towards the (mean) sun, while the earth
moves round from west to east.

, It is proposed in order properly to distinguish these, as
well as the new time indicated by the Standard Chronometer,
that the twenty-four divisions shall be known by the letters of

a star. Hence the solar day reduced to a m«an is better suited for vivil
purposes.

the alphabet, and that the corresponding meridians shall also
be so known.

Each of the twenty-four parts into which the day is
proposed, as above, to be divided, would be exactly equal in
length to an hou'* ; but they ought not to be considered hours
in the ordinary sense, but simply twenty-fourth parts of the
mean tfme occupied in the diurnal revolution of the earth.
Hours as we usually refc: 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 nave 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 day would
be simply portions of abstract time.

The standard time-keeper is referred to the centre of the
earth in order clearly to bring out the idea, that it is equally
related to every point on the surface of the globe. The
standard might be stationed anywhere, at Yokohama, at
Cairo, at St. Petersburg, at Greenwich or at Washington.
Indeed, the proposed 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.

The time indicated by these instruments, it has been
stated, would be designated by letters. In order still further
to distinguish it from siderial, astronomical, civil or local
time, it is proposed, that, as it is common to the whole earth
it should be known as "common" or "terrestrial time;"
probably " universal time " would be a designation still more
appropriate, but for the present the term " terrestrial time" will
be used. i.

Besides the keepers of standard time established at many
places, possibly in every civilized country, it is suggested
that every clock and watch, should, as far as practicable,
move synchronically, all indicating " terrestrial time." As
a theory, it is proposed that when the hands of any one time-

1«

piece point to A or to G, the hands of each and every other
horological instrument in use throughout the globe, should
point to A or to G at the same moment. ■ .

V'v^'

It is obvious that if clocks and watches constructed on these
principles and the scheme of" terrestrial time" were in general
use, the difficulties and inconveniences which have been alluded
to and which seem inseparable from the present system, would
be fully met. Every connecting steam line, indeed every
communication on the face of the earth, would be worked by the
same standard, viz., " terrestrial time." Every traveller having
a good watch, would carry with him the precise time that he
would find employed everywhere. Postmeridian could never
be mistaken for ante meridian. Railway and steamboat time-
tables would be simplified, and rendered more intelligible, to
the generality of mankind than many of them are now.

Examples of time-tables placed side by side may be
presented. Table A. is an ordinary " through " time-table from
Cork to London, extracted from the published sheets of one
of the Railway Companies. Table B. shows the application of
terr strial time to the same route.

Table A.

Table B.

Cork

e-o a.m.

Irish time.

%^OKK ••• •«•

Y. 40.

Mallow

6*55 n

<«

Mallow

A. 35.

LiMBRICK

II'20 „

Limerick

E. 0.

TiPPBRARY

i2'40 p.m.

Tipperary

G. 20.

Waterford ...

430 „

Waterford ...

L. 10.

New Milford.

2-55 a.m.

Greenwich time.

New Milford.

V.55.

Swansea

5-20 „

Swansea

Y. 20.

Cardiff

6*33 M

»i

Cardiff

A. 33.

Exeter

2' 10 p.m.

»i

Exeter

L 10.

Plymouth

4-25 n

»»

Plymouth

L.25.

Gloucester ...

8*40 a.m.

Gloucester ...

P. 40.

Swindon

lO'lO „

Swindon

R. 10.

Oxford

i'25 p.m.

M ' ■• '"

Oxford

U.25.

Reading

ii'i3 a.m.

Reading

F. 13.

London (Pad.) .

i2'io p.m.

London (Pad.).

G. 10.

Condensed time-tables of the great mail and passenger

route now bemg established through Canada to the Pacific,

prepared in accordance with both systems, may also be

presented.

TABLE C,—The Present System.

Slower

Principal Stations.

Local Time.

than
Green-
wich.

London

8'oo p.m. ...

Greenwich time

O'OO

Dublin

S'oo a.m.

Irish time

0*25

(en route) .•.

ist noon

Irish time

W. Coast Ireland

I'oo p.m.

Irish time

)»

{at sea)

... and noon

Ship's time

I'OO

{at sea)

... 3rd noon

Ship's time

1*46

{at sea)

... 4th noon

Ship's time

2*20

{at sea)

5th noon

Ship's time

3-00

St. John, NTland

g.oo a.m.

Newfoundland time ..

3*30.

{en route) ...

6th noon

Newfoundland time ...

I«

St. George N'f.H-

6'0o p.m. •••

Newfoundland time ...

Shippigan

lo'oo a.m.

New Brunswiclc

4-30.

{en route) ...

... 7th noon

New Brunswick

»»

Riv. DC Loup

lo'oo p.m.

Montreal time

5-00.

Quebec

2*oo a.m.

Montreal time

f»

Montreal

8 a.m. .••

Montreal time

{en route) ...

... 8th noon

Montreal time

Ottawa

I'OO p.m.

Montreal time

NiPPISING

8*30 p.m.

Huron time

5-30.

L. Superior

lO'oo a.m.

Superior time

6*oo.

{en route) ...

... gth noon

Superior time ... .

»»

Fort William ...

3*30 p.m.

Superior time

Keewatin

Selkirk

1-30 a.m.

6'oo a.m. ...

Winnepeg time

6*30,
•>

j_, ,, {en route) ...

... loth noon

Winnepeg time

Livingston

3"Oo p.m.

Saskatchewan time ...

7.00.

Saskatchewan ...

9*30 p.m.

Saskatchewan time

Battleford

foo a.m.

Athabasca time

7*30.

Edmonton

9*30 a.m. ...

Athabasca time

{en route) ...

... nth noon

Athabasca time

Montbrun

2*i5 p.m.

Athabasca time

»»

Yellow HeadPass

7'oo p.m.

Yellow Head time

8-00.

TeteJaune Cache

8'i5 p.m.

Yellow Head time

»»

{en route) ...

... i2th noon

Yellow Head time

Pacific Terminus.

1130 p.m.

Pacific time

830.

,. ^/

k ^-''

System

CI-
TABLE D. i. .
of Terrestrial Time.

f.r:,(i.u:4,-r

London

P. 00.

Dublin

C. 25.

iBt Noon {en route)

G. 25.

W. Coast Ireland

H. 7.5.

2nd Noon {at sea)

H. 00.

3rd NooH {at sea)

H. 40.

4th Noon {at sea)

L 20.

5th NooH {at sea)

K. 00.

St. John, Newfoundland

G. 30.

6th Noon {en route) ..

K. 30.

St. George N'f'land ...

R. 00.

Shippigan

L 30.

7th Noon (t'M route) ...

L. 30.

Riv. Du Loup

W.oo.

Quebec

B. 00.

Montreal

H.oo.

8th Noon {en route) ...

M. 00.

Ottawa

N. 00.

Continued.

NiPPISINC

V. 00.

L. Superior

L. 00.

gth. Noon {en route) ...

N. 00.

Fort William

Q. 30.

Keewatin

C. 00.

oGI^KIRK ••• ■•• ••** •••

G. 30.

loth. Noon {en route) ...

0. 00.

Livingston

R. 00.

Saskatchewan

X. 30.

Battleford

C. 30.

Edmonton ...

M. 00.

nth. Noon {en route) ...

P. 00.

Montbrun

Q- 45-

Yellow Head Pass

W.oo.

TeteJaune Cache

X. 15.

1 2th. Noon {en route) ...

P. 30-

Pacific Terminus

W.30.

A comparison of these tables will illustrate the extreme
simplicity of Table D, the one prepared on the principle of
terrestrial time. The watch of every traveller would agree
with the times given opposite each station in this table,
an impossibility under the old system.

It is not proposed to do away with local time. It is
contemplated by this scheme that each time-piece, clock,
or watch should indicate terrestrial time, together with local
time. The various methods by which the object may be
accomplished, remain now to be considered. '}

■: ■ ■ ■■' . . . ^ -■ %,/:''■ ' ''■ .i .

If the practice of dividing the day into two series of hours,
each numbering from i to 12, could be wholly ignored,
the nomenclature proposed for terrestrial time, might very
readily be employed for local purposes. The time of day is now
known by numerals, but numerals have no special advantage over
letters. Habit has undoubtedly rendered the former familiar
to the mind in connection with the hour of the day, but if the

naming of the 24 divisions had to be done afresh, and letters
instead of numerals were adopted, there can be no doubt
whatever, that the time of day could be as well expressed, and
be as easily understood by the fonner as by the latter.

It hai been stated as part of the scheme, that each letter
has a corresponding meridian of longitude and that time-keepers
are to be so adjusted as to point to the meridional letter precisely
when it is noon in the particular longitude.

Suppose G to be the meridional letter of the British Islands.
How easy it would be for an inhabitant to comprehend that it
was noon, when the hands of the clock pointed to G, that it
was midnight when they pointed to the letter on the dial plate
o^ '^site G, viz., T. Or, in speaking of any particular time
of day, say four hours before mid-day, it would be just as easy
to understand what time was referred to by the use of the
letter C as by the use of the roman numeral VIII. It is
perfectly obvious that every person living in England, Ireland
and Scotland, would soon become familiar with the several
letters, and the precise relation which they had to the time
of day. If we pass to another part of the world, say where

Fig. 2.

O becomes the meridional or noon letter, as in Fig. 2, there
could be no misunderstanding the meaning of the expression,
" Time P. 22." It could have but one meaning viz., i hour and
22 minutes after mid-day, while the expression, ♦* 1.22
o'clock," has a double meaning undetermined without the
addition of •♦ ante -meridian " or '^post meridian"

To render the dial plates of time-pieces perfectly intelligible,
in each place when used for local tin?e, the expedient shown in
Fig. 2 might be adopted. Here the noon and midnight letters
are clearly 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 effect
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 wholly abolished or seriously disregarded. It
becomes expedient, therefore, to consider how the advantages
of the scheme of terrestrial time could be secured in every day
life. It is perfectly obvious that the present system cannot be
overlooked ; and that, although perhaps not perpetuated, it must
for some time be continued. We must therefore look for
some means b) which the new scheme may be employed in
conjunction with the old, until perhaps at some period in
the future, the latter may fall into disuse.

The first arrangement which suggests itself, is to have two
dial plates to each time-piece, the same wheel-work moving
the hands of both, one indicating terrestrial time, the other
indicating the local time of the place. Stationary clocks might
have the dial plates side by side as in Fig. 3.

Fig. 3.

Watches, or other portable instruments, on the other hand,
might more conveniently have the dial plates back to back. , In

the latter case, means would be provided for adjusting the
local time dial plate to correspond with any new longitude to
which the instrument might be moved. Terrestrial time on
the other dial plate would remain unaltered.

Another plan of construction may be suggested, by which
terrestrial and local time could be indicated on the same face
of the clock or watch as in Fig. 4. In this arrangement
it is proposed to have the Roman numerals for local time
inscribed on a movable disc, which would admit of adjustment
for any longitude without in the least disturbing the
machinery of the instrument or interfering with the index
hands.

Fig. 4.

Church and other stationary clocks, as well as watches, the
use of which would be confined to particular districts, would
have the local time disc permanently secured in the proper
position. Only in the case of persons travelling beyond any
particular local time district, would the local time disc require
to be changed. Its adjustment, under such circumstance,
would be simple ; it would only be necessary to move the
disc round until twelve 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, twelve noon placed in conjunction with G would com-
plete the adjustment of the instrument. For every other new
position, the same operation would be repeated, Notwith-

standing every change that may be made for local time, the
■ machinery of the watch need not be touched, and the hands
would continue to indicate correct terrestrial time. The
distinction between terrestrial time and local time would always
be perfect ; the former would invariably be known by letters, the
latter as at present by the Roman numerals. " --f n:^>

If the change in longitude were but slight — making a difference
in local time, of only a few minutes — and in any case it
became indispensible that precise theoretical local time should
be indicated by the watch, in that case, a third hand for the
odd minutes, as shown by the dotted lined (Fig. 4) would be
required. It is, however, hereafter suggested that for ordinary
purposes this would be quite unnecessary.

As in the diagrams, it is proposed to denote that portion
oi 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 hours in the middle of the day,
which have the same numerals. It is likewise proposed to
distinguish the several " watches " itito which the day
is divided on shipboard. The local time disc, exhibits a light
portion between 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 before, and
four hours after midnight, embraces the two night watches ;
while the shaded portions, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., and from
4 a.m. to 8 a.m. represent the dog-watches and the morning
watch. This arrangement, would, perhaps prove useful, in
view of the vast and yearly increasing number of ships
that adopt, and constantly use, the division of the day into
" watches," finding it, as they appear to do, the most convenient
scheme of division for daily routine at sea.

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. Terrestrial time
would serve precisely the same purpoti> as a standard for
geographical reckoning, and it would 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,
timekeepers may be made to beat time synchronously all over
the globe. Already the length of telegraph lines in operation
approaches 400,000 miles, and we are warranted in believing
that ultimately the means of instantaneous communication will
ramify through every habitable country and find its way to
every port of commercial importance.

It may be said, that with clocks moving synchronically
and indicating terrestrial time all over the globe, it would be
of little advantage to attempt to maintain precise local time
at every place on the earth's surface. Our clocks but
rarely indicate true local time ; even our most perfect time-
pieces are for the greater portion of the year either faster
or slower than the sun. In fact correct ordinary timekeepers
must necessarily at certain seasons be 15 or 16 minutes faster or
slower than true solar time, yet no inconvenience whatever
is found to result. It will be admitted, that the adoption
of Irish time in England or English time in Ireland, would
scarcely be felt in civil affairs. The difference between
English and Irish time as arbitrarily established, is twenty-five
minutes ; but in the west of Ireland the local mean time is
forty minutes behind English time (Greenwich.) Greenwich
time is used throughout England and Scotland, although it is
half an hour faster than correct local mean time on the west
coast of the latter country.*

In every country, local time is more or less arbitrarily
established ; it could not be otherwise, without causing great

* True Solar time is sometimes about 45 minutes in the Western coast
of Scotland, and 55 minutes in the west of Ireland, behind Greenwich time.

confVision, as no two places, unless 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 local time everywhere, it would materially add to
general convenience. '*>

It is suggested that each of the twenty-four lettered meri-
dians, (Fig. i) should be taken as standard longitudes 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 greatly reduce the number of local
time standards, and would divide the surface of the globe into
twenty-four "lunes," forming distinct local time sections
extending from pole to pole, within one or other, of which
every place would find its position. Only in extreme cases
would the difference between the true and approximate
local time be as much as halt* 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,
terrestrial time, assuming it to be in general uuse, would be
available. "'vi-,

In this view, if we assume one of the lettered meridians, G,
to pass through Greenwich,* and terrestrial time for the
moment to be G 45, then approximate local time at other
places around the globe would simult neously be as in the
plates v/hich follow. In each of the separate figures it will be
noticed that the hands and the dial for terrestrial time remain
constantly in the same relative position, while the moveable
disc on which is inscribed the roman numerals for local time
varies in each case. If each figure be examined it will be
found that 12 o'clock noon is successively brought in
conjunction with the letters which represent the 24 meridians,
as in Fig. i . With each separate figure is given simultaneous
time at a number of well known places around the globe —
approximate local time of course changing 1th the meridian ;
terrestrial time remaining constant.

• See Fig. G., Page 25.

' ', ". '■ *VV:V.. , :* ■ ' .'•^."'?i^'

Aembracine Yenisaisk, Tomsk (Si- T\ Archangel, Nizney Novgorod,

beria), Tibet, Calcutta, Bay ol 1/ Astrakhan, Bagdad, Arabia,

Bengal, Andaman Islands. Aden, Somali, Madagascar.

App. Local 6.45 /.w. ... Ttr. G. 45. App. Local 3.45 ^.m. ... Ter. G 45.

BGolph of Obi, Omsk (Siberia),
Kashmir, Lahore, Bombay, Coral-
line Islands, Chagos Islands.

E Lapland, St. Petersburg, Con-
stantinople, Alexandria, Nubia,
Ujiji, Transvaal, Natal.

App. Local 5-45 ^.w*. - '^er. G. 45. ^pp^i^cal 2.^5 p.m. ... Ter. G. 45.

CNova Zembla, The Ural Moun- "ri Spitzbergen, Sweden, Berlin,
tains, Orsk, Sea of Aral, Khiva, Jj Naples, Malta, Tripoli, Congo,

1- P

tains, Orsk, Sea of Aral, Khiva, Jj

Khcrassan, Mauritius. Cape of Good Hope.

App. Local 4.45 />.»». ... Ter. G. 45. App. Local 1.45 p.m. ... Ter. G. 45

G England, France, Spain, Algeria,
Timbucto, Ashantee, St, Helena

Island.

App. Local 12.43^ m.

KWest Greenland, The Banks of
Newfoundland, Maranhao, East-

ern Brazil, Rio de Janeiro.
Ter. G. 45. App. Local 9.45 a.m. ... Ttr. G. 45.

H Iceland, Madeira, Canary Islands,
Senegambia, Sierra Leone, As-
ension Islands.

App. Local 11,45 a.m. ... Ter. G.

I East Greenland, The Azores, Cape
Verde Islands, Fernando Island,
South Georgia Islands.

App. Local 10.45 a.m. ... Ter. G. 45.

L Baffin's Bay,Labradore, Barbadoes,
Trinidad, British Guiana, Buenos
Ayres, The Falkland Islands.
App. Local 8.45 rt.m. ... Ter. G. 45.

M Hudson Strait, Ottawa. Wash-
ington, Cuba, Jamaica, Equador,
Peru, Chili, Patagonia.
App. Local 7.45 a.m. ... Ter. G. 45.

N Hudson Bay, Lake Superior, St.
Louis, New Orleans, Yucatan,
Guatemala, Galapagos Islands.

App. Local 6.45 a.m. ... Tcr. G. 45.

OMfc.'ville Sound, Lake Athabasca,
Saskatchewan District, Colerado,
Mexico, Cape Corrienta.
App. Local 5.45 riJH. ... Ter. G. 45.

1) Banks Land, Great Bear Lake,
British Columbia, Oregon, Cali-
fornia, Sea Otter Islands.
App. Local 4.45 «JH. ... Tcr. G. 45.

QFort Good Hope, Sitka, Queen
Charlotte IsIands,Paxavo8 Islands,
vjrambia Islands, Pitcairn Island.
App. Local 3.45 a.m. ... Ter. G. 45.

p A1a8ka,0whyhee Sandwich Islands,
XL Maiden Islands, Starbuck Islands,
Society Islands, Tubuai Islands.
App. Local 2.45 a.tn. ... Tcr. G. 45.

SBehring Strait, Fox Inlands, Necker
Island, Palmyra Island, Fanning
Island, Palmerston Island.
App. Local 1.45 a.m. ... Ter. G. 45.

TWrangel Land, Aleutian Islands,
Gilbert Islands, Fiji Islands,
North Island New Zealand.

App, Local 12.45 a.m. ... Ttr. G. 45.

WVerkoansk, Nikolaevsk, Japan,
New Guinea, North Australia,

U Kamchatka, Marshall Islands,
New Hebrides, Norfolk Island,
Middle Island, New Zealand.
App. Local 11.45 />.w. ••• Tcr. G. 45.

VNew Siberia, Sea of Okotsh,
Queensland, New South Wales,
Victoria, Tasmania.
App, Local 10.45 /).m. ••• Ter. G. 45'

South Australia.
App. Local 9.45 /.w.

Ter. G. 45.

X Central Siberia, Eastern China,
Formosa, Philipine Islands, San-
dalwood Island, Western Australia.
App. Local S.i[$p.vi. ... Ter. G. 45.

YCape Sievero, Irkoutsh, Central
China, Cochin China, Singapore,
Sumatra, Java.

.4pp. Local 7.45 />.w. ... Ter. G. 45.

It will perhaps be allowed that the scheme of terrestrial time,
if put into practice, would, without seriously interfering with
the existing customs, completely obviate all the objections
to the present system w'^^ch have been set forth. It has
been shown that the use ^ocal time may be retained very
much as now, and that may be indicated along with
terrestrial time, by the same clocks and watches. Objections
may, however, be raised to the scheme, on account of the
apparent neccessity of abolishing all existing clocks and
watches, and substituting new ones. This indeed would be
an insuperable objection, if it held good, but the necessity of
this course is only apparent, as it is proposed to utilize existing
timepieces simply by furnishing them with new dial-plates.
If we take a watch or clock to be used in any particular
country, it would be a simple matter to inscribe on its dial the
letters which designate terrestrial time. A still better plan
would be to provide a new dial plate, such as Fig. 5.
■-; Fig. 5.

:Ki:''

^4 A V,/

In this design it will be noticed that G is assumed to be the
meridional or noon letter of the place and the letters on a dark
ground between 8 p.m. and 4 a.m. represent the hours in the
two " night watches." With such simple expedients as these it
would be perfectly practicable, without superseding existing
time-keepers, to secure in a large degree the advantages of
the new scheme in any country comparatively limited in
geographically extent.

Clocks and watches now in use might thus in a very
inexpensive way be so adapted as to show terrestrial in
addition to local time. It would only be necessary to have

\ „

railway and steamboat time-tables prepared in accordance with
the new system in order to bring its advantages into common
use. But this would apply only to localities or individual
countries limited in extent. Mankind, generally, throughout
the world, would not participate in the full advantages promised
by the scheme until time-keepers for common use were
constructed on new principles. A general change could only
be a gradual process ; but as there are some hundreds of
thousands of time-keepers made every year, it would be well,
in the event of the subject of this paper being deemed worthy
of attention, for the manufacturers of horological instruments
to consider the expediency of introducing such changes in
their construction as may seem to be advisable. This
suggestion applies more especially to the manufacture of
portable time-keepers, watches, chronometers, &c.

Figs. 6 and 7, represent one of a variety of arrangements by
which terrestrial and local time may conveniently be indicated.
Fig. 6, shows the watch open with the terrestrial time dial
Fig. 6. Fig. 7.

plate exposed. Fig. 7, shows the same watch 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 meridian.

- In this communication attention has been directed to the
various customs that have prevailed, and which now prevail
with respect to the measurement of time ; and attention has been
drawn to the fact, that of late years the telegraph, and more
especially the application of steam to locomotion, have rendered
the ordinary practice of reckoning time but ill suited to the
circumstances which now exist. It cannot be supposed
that these active agents in human progress have completed
their mission ; nay, we may rather assume, that these
extraordinary powers, but recently placed under the control
of man, have but commenced their career, and that they will
still achieve greater triumphs in the work of colonization and
civilization.

On the new continent, America, these wonderful agents
have been employed to the greatest relative extent, as the sub-
joined estimate from late returns will show : —

Population.
824,548,500

309.178,300

199,921,600

85.519300

4,748,600

ASIA ••• •••

Europe

Africa

N. & S. America
Australasia

* Totals ...

Miles of Railway.

7.643

88,748

1. 45 1

83.655

1.752

183,248

.. 1,423,917,800

It has been pointed out that difBculties already met in
portions of America threaten to become seriously inconvenient
as the Railway system continues to be extended. On that
continent, therefore, it may be assumed that a practicable scheme

A to meet the difficulties alluded to would be favourably received.

I The importance of the subject is not confined to America. It
requires no great foresight to see that all quarters of the globe
are now or will eventually be interested. Australia and Africa
will before long be pierced, perhaps girdled by raih ays. Asia,
with more than half the population of the world, must in due
time yield to the civilizing pressure of steam and participate
in the general progress. In North and South America there
is indeed room for many times the total length of existing

* Estimate of Behm and Wagner.

railways, but even taking the present mileage and population
as a basis, the proportion would give to Europe and Asia
together more than one million miles. These two great
continents have as yet only 96,000 miles of railway and it
would probably be taking too sanguine a view to suppose that
so great an increase as that due to the American ratio would
speedily be realised. No one, however, can doubt that the
network of railways in Western and Central Europe will before
long be greatly enlarged ; that its branches will extend to Asia,
and that offshoots will ultimately be prolonged to the farthest
shores of the Chinese and Russian Empires. A comparatively
few years may, indeed, witness extraordinary progress made in
the direction indicated, when difficulties will undoubtedly be
experienced such as those which I have described, on a scale
greater than in America.

The subject to which attention is directed clearly concerns
all countries. It is especially important to Canada, the United
States, Brazil, indeed, to the whole of America. It is important
to France, Germany, Austria, and to every nation in Europe.
It is of peculiar interest to the gigantic Empire of Russia,
extending over nearly 180 degrees of longitude and with a total
variation in local time of about twelve hours. It is of still
greater importance to the Colonial Empire of Great Britain
with its settlements and stations in nearly every meridian
around the entire globe, and with vast territories to be occupied
by*civiHzed inhabitants, in both hemispheres.

The system of Chronometry we have inherited, was
doubtless, well suited to the purpose for which it was designed
two or three thousand years ago ; or to the requirements of
man two generations back, before the great modern civilizers,
steam and electricity began their work. Now we begin to
realize the fact, that the system is awkward and inconvenient,
and in comparatively a few years, say, by the time the twentieth
century dawns, may we not find a radical change imperatively
demanded by the new conditions of the human race ?

It is probably not too soon, therefore, to discuss the
subject. It would indeed be a vain task to attempt to

abolish a custom less hoary with age, less generally practised,
and even more faulty than our system of computing time.
But the scheme submitted involves no great fundamental
change. The ancient custom needs not be discontinued. It
is merely suggested that it be improved, and that such
modifications be introduced as are rendered necessary by the
conditions of an age in which all portions of the habitable
globe are being occupied by civilized communities, and
brought into constant communication by steamboat, railway
and electric telegraph.

Before the introduction of Railways in England, every
town and village kept its own time. A person travelling in
those days would find his watch varying more and more from
the local clocks as he proceeded from place to place. On the
establishment of the railway system, this state of things could
not be tolerated ; any attempt to work them by local time
could only lead to needless complication and confusion. The
railways demanded a uniform time, and Greenwich time was
used. This was looked upon in many places as an innovation,
and was for a considerable period opposed ; but at last the
advantages of a uniform time became so manifest that
Greenwich time came into general use.

But for the employment of Greenwich time in England it
would be an extremely difficult task to regulate safely the great
number of trains which daily travel. The safe working of the
railways is indeed a problem sufficiently difficult even with
Greenwich time, and we can scarcely conceive how much the
problem would be complicated if we were to revert to the
system of local time as it prevailed in England in the days of
stage coaches when every town and hamlet kept its own time.

Among the several objects which the scheme of terrestrial
time has in view, not the least important is to extend to the
world similar advantages to those which have been conferred
on England by the general adoption of Greenwich time since the
commencement of the railway era.

The foregoing has reference to the subdivisions of the day.
I shall now briefly direct attention to the day itself, and con-
sider a difficulty with regard to the determination of the
precise date of any occurence, and point out the elements of
confusion which exist under our present system of reckoning.

First, let us select points in four quarters of the globe, each
about ninety degrees apart — say, in Japan, Arabia, Newfound-
land, and Alaska. If we assume it to be Sunday midnight at
the first mentioned place, it must be noon at the opposite
point, Newfoundland, but on what day is it noon ? Arabia
being to the west of Japan the local time there will be 6 p.m.
on Sunday, and Alaska, lying to the east of Japan, the time
there will be 6 a.m. on Monday. Again, when the clock
indicates 6 p.m. on Sunday in Arabia it must be Sunday
noon at a point ninety degrees further west, or at New-
foundland; when it is 6 a.m. on Monday at Alaska it
must be noon on Monday ninety degrees 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 hand
becomes twelve hours slower, on the other hand twelve hours
faster. In the case in point, while it is midnight on Sunday
in Japan, at precisely the same moment it is noon at New-
foundland on two .distinct days, viz., on Sunday and on
Monday.

Secondly, let us trace local time, only in one direction around
the earth. The day does not begin everywhere at the same
moment. Its beginning travels from east to west with the sun,
as the earth revolves in the opposite direction, and it takes an
entire revolution of the globe on its axis to begin the day every-
where. Immediately on the completion of one revolution the
beginning of the day ends and the end of the day begins, but
the globe must make another complete revolution before the
end of the day entirely finishes. The globe must in fact make
two entire revolutions before any one week-day runs out, con-
sequently each and every day of the week runs over 48 hours,
and taking the whole globe into account two civil days always

co-exist. The first 24 hours of one day co-exist with the
last 24 hours of its predecessor, while the remaining 24 hours
CO* exist with the first 24 hours of the day which follows.

The accompanying diagram is intended to show the manner
in wljich one day overlaps another ; eight equi-distant stations
round the globe are taken and the day begins three hours
later at each successive station.

1 India

2 Arabia

3 France

4 N'F'Land

5 Minn-ta

6 Alaska

7 Fiji

8 Japan
India

.24 hours ...,
Friday
Friday
Friday

24 heiirs ...^.
Saturday
Saturday
Saturday

24 hours ...,-
Sunday
Sunday
Sunday

24 hours ...
Monday
Monday
Monday

Friday
Friday
Friday
Friday

Saturday
Saturday
Saturday
Saturday

Sunday . Monda.
Sunday . Mond
Sunday . Mo
Sunday

Friday Saturday . Sunday

Friday . Saturday . Sunday

Friday 48 hotirs »

^, Saturday 48 hours ,

, Sunday 48 hours

It will thus be seen that if we take a general view of the
whole globe, on any given day, Saturday begins in the middle of
Friday, and does not end until the middle of Sunday. Friday on
the other hand runs into the middle of Saturday and Sunday
commences at the moment Friday ends. To state the case
differently, the same moment of absolute time which is
part of Saturday in one place, is equally part of Friday in some
place west, and of Sunday in some other place east.

From the fact that not only are the hours of the day
different in every meridian, but that two different days are
constantly running on the surface of the globe, it is a difficult
matter under our present system of reckoning to assign
properly the hour and day of occurrence on which any event
takes place. We may learn the local time of an occurrence,
but that time will be correct only in the meridian of the

locality, everywhere else it will be inaccurate, indeed, if the
fact of the occurrence be transmitted over the world by
telegraph, it may, in some places, be recorded on different
days. If the incident occurs at the close of a month
or a year, it may be announced in two different months or
in two distinct years. Under our present system it is quite
possible for two events to take place several hours apart, the
first and older occurring in the new year, the second,
although last in absolute time, falling within the old year^
The same may be said of events that occur during the twenty-
four hours which elapse when one century merges into
another.

Hence it may be supposed discrepancies in historical and
other important dates very readily arise.*

We have the telegraph to convey intelligence from one part
of the earth's surface to another. This instantaneous means of
communication is under the control of the highest scientific
direction, and there ought not to be the slightest difficulty in
determining and putting on record the precise day and hour
of the occurrence of any. event. It is nevertheless evident
from the foregoing explanations that we have not in common
use the means of doing so, and that there is still wanting in
civil life a proper system of reckoning time and verifying dates.

* (Note.) — Discrepancies in historical dates are by no means uncom-
mon. In one of the last books from the press, " Labillierfi's History of
Victoria," these discrepancies are frequently mentioned. One may be
instanced : Referring to the discovery of Port Phillip Bay, where Melbourne
now stands (p. io8, Vol. I.), although with the original log book before him,
the historian is unable to decide whether the event took place on the 26th
or 27th of April, 1802. The discoverer himself (Captain Flinders) appears
to be equally doubtful.

The co-existence of two distinct days of the week, and the uncertainty,
as to dates arising therefrom may possibly involve important legal questions
of various kinds, which will readily suggest themselves to gentlemen
engaged in legal pursuits.

:i-

The system ot Terrestrial time would, it is thought, supply the
want. As part of the system it would be necessary to establish
an initial meridian to denote the dividing line between each
day. It is suggested that the initial meridian be established
through or near Behring's Straits, passing from pole to pole
through the Pacific Ocean, so as to avoid all Continents and
Islands. Every civilized country, indeed, all habitable lands
would thus be brought within the limits of the same day, which
.for convenience might be designated — " The Terrestrial Day."
The Terrestrial day would not it is true commence at all places
at the same local hour, but it would begin and end everywhere
at the same moment in absolute time. The general adoption
of the system of Terrestrial Time would enable every human
being to reckon by a common day and by a common sub-
division of the day. Every steamboat and every locomotive
would be worked by the same standard, every telegram
would be despatched, practically by the same timekeeper, and
all uncertainty and confusion would be obviated.

In this paper it has been my desire to point out the character
and causes of the inconveniences and difficulties inseparable
from our present mode of reckoning time, which are being
developed by the rapid extension of lines of communication
over the earth. I trust I have succeeded in showing that it
is desirable to have some modifications in our system of
chronometry in order to meet the condition of an advanced
stage of civilization, and that we should not any longer be
compelled to perpetuate old customs and practices which
general progress will probably render excessively inconvenient
if not intolerable. We have undoubtedly entered upon a
remarkable period in the history of the human race.
Discoveries and inventions crowd upon each other in
an astonishing manner. Lines of telegraph and steam
communications are girdling the earth, and all countries
are being drawn into one neighbourhood — but when men
of all races, in all lands are thus brought face to face, what
will they find ? They will find a great many nations

/..'

measuring the day by two sets of subdivisions, as if they had
recently emerged from barbarism and had not yet learned
to count higher thari twelve. They will find the hands of the
various clocks in use pointing in all conceivable directions.
They will find at the same moment some men reckoning that
they live in different hours, others in different days. Is it not
important, then, that an attempt should be made to provide a
change for this state of affairs and devise for common use
some simple uniform system which all nations may with
advantage adopt whenever they may feel inclined to do so.

Should the desirability of some change be admitted, it is
important to ascertain what the change should be. A new
scheme should be well considered and rendered generally
acceptable in the first place, so that whenever the necessity
of a change be felt in any country or community, it may
be spontaneously adopted ; the inhabitants of the place feeling
assured that they have selected the system which eventually
will become universal. My duty has been simply to attempt to
draw attention to the subject, and submit some suggestions for
consideration. The subject is one which I feel concerns all
countries, although in differei- degrees, and I shall be gratified
if I have in any way assisted in initiating a discussion, which
may result ultimately in the production of a matured com-
prehensive scheme suitable for all lands and advantageous to
all mankind.

The Author's London Address: — Canadian Agency, 31, Queen Victoria

Street, B.C.

Edwin S. Boot, Printer, 3U, Gracechurch Stre«t, London, E.G.