332 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



adopted the solar year as a measure of time, made the month a 

 civil period, quite independent of the moon and its, phases. Their 

 solar year consisted of eighteen months of twenty days each, with 

 five supplementary days ; and they divided each month into four 

 weeks of five days each, on the last of which was the public fair, 

 or market day. This plan had the advantage of making both the 

 month and the year contain an exact number of weeks. The 

 lunar year, though discarded for ordinary computations, was re- 

 tained for religious purposes, and was divided into periods of 

 thirteen days, corresponding with the phases of the moon.* 



Before the Aztecs adopted the civil month of twenty days, 

 they had, if they had subdivided the lunar month at all, prob- 

 ably divided it into six periods, five of five days and one of the 

 remainder of the month, or four days and a half approximately. 

 We say, if they had subdivided the lunar month at all, because 

 the difficulty of dividing twenty-nine days and a half appears 

 to have been too great for many races. In the Society Islands 

 time was reckoned by nights and moons, but any intermediate 

 division was unknown. There were distinct names for each night 

 of the moon. The fifteenth night was called " The moon with a 

 round, full face," and the last night, " This is the night the moon 

 dies." People always asked, " How many nights since ?" instead 

 of " How many days since ? " These islanders had progressed suf- 

 ficiently far to have some notion of the solar year. The Maoris 

 of New Zealand reckoned by nights and moons, but had no weeks. 

 Each night possessed a name, regulated by the moon's shape and 

 age. They had a lunar year of thirteen moons.f The inhabitants 

 of Madagascar had advanced beyond the stage of reckoning by 

 moons, and had a solar year with civil months, but no weeks. 

 Their months contained twenty-eight nights, and twelve months, 

 with eighteen intercalary days, made a year. Their year was thus 

 eleven days shorter than the true solar year, so that their New- 

 Year's day fell eleven days earlier each year, till the cycle of 

 thirty-three years was completed, when the festival was again 

 held at the same season. J 



The Society Islanders and the Maoris had thus not subdivided 

 the lunar month, and the Malagasy had not subdivided their civil 

 month, but examples of nations who have done each are fairly 

 numerous. In Ibo (lower Niger) a civil month of twenty-eight 

 days has been adopted, and has been divided into seven weeks of 

 four days each.* The Congoese also have a civil week of four 



* Nadaillac, Prehistoric America, p. 306. 



f Thompson, The Story of New Zeah^ud, vol. i, p. 198. 

 X Sibree, Madagascar and its People, p. 206. 



* Baikie, Narrative of an Exploring Voyage, p. 316. 



