1886.] on U7i{versal Time. 393 



advantage use universal time during railway journeys. This attempt 

 to separate the travelling from the stationary public seems to be one 

 that is not likely to meet with success even temporarily, and it is 

 clear that in the future we may expect the latter class to be com- 

 pletely absorbed in the former. Another argument that influenced 

 the meeting at Rome was the supposed use of the astronomical day 

 by sailors. Now it appears that sailors never did use the astronomical 

 day, which begins at the noon following the civil midnight of that 

 date, but the nautical day which begins at the noon preceding, i. e. 

 twenty-four hours before the astronomical day of the same date, end- 

 ing w'hen the latter begins. And the nautical day itself has long 

 been given up by English and American sailors, who now use a sort 

 of mongrel time-reckoning, employing civil time in the log-book and 

 for ordinary purposes, whilst, in working up the observations on 

 which the safe navigation of the ship depends, they are obliged to 

 change civil into astronomical reckoning, altering the date where 

 necessary, and interpreting their a.m. and p.m. by the light of nature. 

 It says something for the common-sense of our sailors that they are 

 able to carry out every day without mistake this operation, which is 

 considered so troublesome by some astronomers. 



In this connection I may mention that the Board of Visitors of 

 Greenwich Observatory have almost unanimously recommended that, 

 in accordance with the resolution of the Washington Conference, the 

 day in the English ' Nautical Almanac ' should be arranged from the 

 year 1891 (the earliest practicable date) to begin at Greenwich mid- 

 night (so as to agree with civil reckoning, and remove this source of 

 confusion for sailors), and that a committee appointed by them have 

 drawn up the details of the changes necessary to give effect to 

 this resolution without causing inconvenience to the mercantile 

 marine. 



The advantage of making the world day coincide with the Green- 

 wich civil day is that the change of date at the commencement of a 

 new day falls in the houi'S of the night throughout Europe, Africa, and 

 Asia, and that it does not occur in the ordinary office hours (10 a.m. to 

 4 p.m.) in any important country except New Zealand. In the United 

 States and Canada the change of date would occur after four in the 

 evening, and in Australia before ten in the morning. This arrange- 

 ment would thus reduce the inconvenience to a minimum, as the part 

 of the world in which the change of date would occur about the 

 middle of the local day is almost entirely water, whilst on the opposite 

 side we have the most populous continents. 



The question for the future seems to be whether it will be found 

 more troublesome to change the hours for labour, sleep, and meals 

 once for all in any particular place, or to be continually changing 

 them in communications from place to place, whether by railway, 

 telegraph, or telephone. When universal or world time is used for 

 railways and telegraphs, it seems not unlikely that the public may 

 find it more convenient to adopt it for all purposes. A business man 



