86 M. TONDINI on the 



VII. 

 On both sides, then, an appeal is made to science. 

 Now, the well-known Italian writer, Alessandro Manzoni, 

 remarks somewhere, in his Promessi sposi, that when, in a 

 contest, each party is only repeating its own argument, the 

 contest is likely to go on for a long series of generations. 

 To prevent this being the case with the initial meridian, the 

 Bologna Academy of Science has recently made an attempt 

 to conciliate every interest. At the last meeting of the 

 British Association, held at Bath, I made, as delegate, and 

 in the name of that academy, the following suggestion : — 

 " That navigators and astronomers being at liberty to go 

 " on using their ozvn initial meridians, another truly 

 " international meridian be chosen for all other 

 "purposes for which the unification of time is 

 " required. 

 "That, moreover, since the Jerusalem meridian has 

 "already the suffrages of scientific authorities, its 

 "appropriateness to serve as the universal initial 

 " meridian be seriously taken into consideration."* 

 This suggestion I was most kindly allowed to defend before 

 the committee of Section A (Mathematical and Physical 

 Science), and I am only too happy to express my thanks 

 for the way in which I was listened to and the encourage- 

 ments I there received in my endeavour, not indeed to have 

 the proposals carried through by all means, but merely to 

 have them carefully considered. A special committee was 

 appointed to report on them. 



It is hardly necessary for me to remark that, had there 

 been any serious probability at hand that the Greenwich 



* This suggestion was already to be found in the above-quoted Note of the 

 Bologna Academy of Science. ' ' Siir les dernios progres de la question de 

 Vtinification dii Caleiidrier daiis ses rapports avec Vheia-e Jiniversel/e," dated 

 August 2, 1888. pp. 12—14. 



