548 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 



may on the instaut be aiiiioimced in a locality where the time is that of 

 the previons day, aud in another locality where the time is that of the 

 following day. About the period when the mouth or year passes into 

 another month or year an occurrence may actually take place, accord- 

 ing to our present system of reckoning, in two different months or in 

 two different years; indeed, there can be no certainty whatever with 

 regard to time, unless the precise geographical position be specified as 

 an essential fact in connection with the event described. Under these 

 circumstances it must be conceded that our present system of notation 

 is most defective, certainly it is unscientific, and possesses every ele- 

 ment of confusion ; it produces a degree of ambiguity which, as railways 

 and telegraphs become greatly multiplied, will lead to complications in 

 social and commercial affairs, to errors in chronology, to litigation in 

 connection with succession to property, insurance, contracts, and other 

 matters; and, in view of individual and general relationships, it will 

 undoubtedly act as a clog to the business of life and prove an increas- 

 ing hindrance to human intercourse. 



The problem to be mastered is to put an end to this confusion. In 

 order to do so, it is important that we should endeavor to form correct 

 ideas of time and its attributes. 



According to the ordinary usages which we follow, the time of any 

 particular locality depends upon its position on the earth's surface ; in 

 other words, upon its longitude. The princii)le followed is that there 

 is a separate time on every meridian around the circumference of the 

 globe. Let us carry this theory to its logical conclusion. Take, by way 

 of example, a hundred or a thousand meridians, each with a distinct and 

 separate time. It will be conceded that what is true of one point on a 

 meridian must be true of every point. A meridian line runs due north 

 and south on the earth's surface from pole to pole; hence it follows 

 that at the point where every nieridian must converge we have the time 

 of every meridian. That is to say, at the earth's pole, a point common 

 to every meridian, there are a hundred or a thousand different nota- 

 tions of time, each distinct and separate. The extreme absurdity of 

 this hypothesis establishes beyond question that the premises are false; 

 and it is in no way surprising that confusion and difticulty result from 

 a system such as we possess, based on principles so erroneous. 



We may here ask the question : " Why should time vary with every 

 mile of longitude?" The answer comes. It is not possible to conceive 

 more than a single unity of time in the whole universe. Time, which is 

 "an infinite continuity in infinite space," resembles a mighty river, 

 whose unvarying stream i)asses before us. Such a river is unchangea- 

 ble, yet continually changing ; volumes of water always advancing are 

 replaced by new volumes in perpetual succession, and yet the river con- 

 tinues one and the same ever flowing unity. The passing stream of time 

 is much the same, and the problem presented to us is to keep a proper 

 record of its flow. It is perfectly obvious that the principles which 



