TIME AND SPACE 283 



was left out of account. The more intelligent people have become, the 

 less attention they have paid to it. The defective year was brought a 

 little nearer to the actual year by adding an intercalary month every 

 three. The Babylonian year is supposed to have been introduced in 

 Athens about 600 B.C. Half a century later the calendar was further 

 improved by Cleostratus, but in all the Greek states the method of reck- 

 oning by days and months always remained a good deal wide of the 

 mark. That the Eoman year originally contained ten months is evident 

 from the names of the last four called by them seventh, eighth, ninth 

 and tenth (September, October, etc.), although they are in fact the 

 ninth, tenth, and so on. July was named Quintilis, the fifth, August, 

 Sextilis, the sixth; they were afterwards renamed in honor of Julius 

 and Augustus Caesar. The Eoman calendar had, by the year 67 B.C. 

 gone astray to the number of sixty-seven days, that is the civil and the 

 solar year differed from each other to this extent. Julius Caesar, with 

 the aid of Sosigenes and M. Flavins, brought about the reform in the 

 calendar which has remained substantially unchanged to the present. 

 The current arrangement of our calendar is a very stupid one. The 

 seasons are not of the same length and the red-letter days fall on all the 

 days of the week in different years. There are 186 days in the spring 

 and summer seasons and 179 in the other two. It would be more 

 rational to divide the year into four seasons each with 91 days and leave 

 out of the count ISTew Year's day and once in four years the extra day, 

 calling it by some appropriate name, leap-year day, for example. The 

 year should not begin where it now does, but either at one of the equi- 

 noxes or at one of the solstices. As the date, in the nature of the case, 

 must be arbitrarily chosen it would thus at least have a scientific 

 foundation. The calendar adopted by the French revolutionary junta 

 was based on a scientific principle. The year began with the autumnal 

 equinox of 1792 and consisted of twelve months of thirty days each with 

 five complementary days, to which was added every six years an inter- 

 calary day. The months of the year with their names succeeded each 

 other in the following order : Vendemiaire, Brumaire, Frimaire, Nivose, 

 Pluviose, Ventose, Germinal, Floreal, Prairial, Messidor, Thermidor, 

 Fructidor. The month was divided into three decades. The days were 

 named numerically, Primidi, Duodi, and so on. The fifth (Quintidi) 

 and the tenth (Decadi) were designated as days of rest. The five or 

 six complementary days were named Fete de la vertu. Fete du genie. 

 Fete du travail. Fete de I'opinion, Fete des recompenses and Fete de la 

 revolution. This calendar remained in force until January first, 1806, 

 when that of Pope Gregory was restored by decree of ISTapoleon. Three 

 Eoman emperors after Augustus tried to substitute their own names for 

 months instead of those in current use, but they were not permanently 

 successful. Charlemagne also proposed to displace the heathen names 



