ORIGIN OF THE CALENDAR AND ASTROLOGY. 825 



pie of the State of New York might with equal propriety measure 

 the value of the common-school system by the commercial value of 

 their school-houses and grounds. The absurdity would be equally as 

 great in the one as in the other case. Like the system of public edu- 

 cation, the results of the Geological Survey have penetrated into 

 every school district and into every corner of the State ; and these 

 results are not to be measured by the figures representing dollars, but 

 by the increased intelligence of the people, and the proud satisfaction 

 that we have been able to lay broad and deep the foundations of geo- 

 logical science in the soil of a people whose motto is " Excelsior." 



-<**<>- 



ORIGIN OF THE CALENDAR AND ASTROLOGY. 



By Professor WILLIAM FOESTER, 



DIRECTOR OBSERVATORY, BERLIN.* 



THE significance of the astronomical portion of the calendar is ma- 

 terially different at present from what it was in the earlier stages 

 of its development. That this may be clearly understood, and the 

 modern problem with which astronomy has to deal in the yearly con- 

 struction of the calendar justly appreciated, let us examine the history 

 of its origin. 



The word " calendar " is derived from calendium, denoting the 

 commencements of months, which, in the language of ancient Rome, 

 were called dies calendce, or simply calendce ; i. e., clays on which 

 " calling out " should occur, from " calo" I call. This " calling out " 

 took place upon the reappearance of the small crescent after new 

 moon, and at the present day remains the custom among those people 

 who, as for instance the Turks, reckon time wholly from the recurring 

 phases of the moon. This was loudly proclaimed from the roofs of 

 public buildings by appointed priests or seers, who were required to 

 seek for the moon's crescent in the evening sky either two days after 

 new moon, or four or five days after the last appearance of its light in 

 the morning sky ; this, then, was established as the beginning of the 

 month, the single days being reckoned by counting backward or for- 

 ward from the night, or from the intermediate day of full moon. 

 This method of reckoning time from the revolutions and phases of 

 light of the moon has been long practiced in those countries in which 

 the constant clearness of the heavens enables people to determine with 

 considerable accuracy the first appearance of the moonlight, the so- 

 called " new light," and, again, among those whose limited intercourse 

 with other nations afforded no comparison of fixed standards. In 



* '.' Popularische astronomische Mittheilungen." Berlin : Ilorrwitz & Gossmann. 

 Translated by L. M. Muzzey, B. S. 



