[dawson] solar and LUNAR CYCLES IN BOOK OF DANIEL 43 



by his sons in 1754. This work is long out of print; but the char- 

 acter of his discoveries is fully explained by H. Grattaji Guinness in 

 " The Approaching End of the Age/' fifth edition, 1880, pages 399 to 

 406. 



The following comparisons show the length of this cycle in days, 

 and the high degree of accuracy which it has, when reduced to the same 

 standard as before. 



Solar years 1040 x 365.2421961 = 379851.8839 days. 

 Lunations 12863 x 29.53058870 - 379851.9624 " 



Lunar year, Epoch 1900 = 354.3670644 



Cycle-value of lunar year, 

 or(1040yrs. -=- 12863) x 12 = 354.3669912 



Error per century. 

 0.00754 day. 



Error of one day in: 

 13,260 years. 



TV. — The solar year and the lunar year. — Instead of the method 

 adopted by Cheseaux, in dealing with the numbers 2,300 and 1,260 in 

 the Book of Daniel, we take them to represent lunar years. This also 

 accords with the Jewish reference in the passages in which they occur 

 in Daniel;, furnishing a further example of the clue afforded by the 

 prophecy itself. When reduced to their equivalent in solar years, it 

 was found that the decimal fractions if added, are almost exactly unity ; 

 thus approximately : — 



2300 lunar years = 2231.5172 solar years. 

 1260 " " = 1222.4834 " 



Hence conversely, the mean of these two periods, or their half-sum, 

 should prove to be an exact number of solar years. The resulting cvele 

 is then 1(2,300 + 1,260) = 1.780 lunar years = 1,727 solar years. 

 This is the highest type of cycle; as it brings the lunar year of twelve 

 lunations, into accord M'ith the solar year, and affords a simple ratio 

 between the two. It is thus superior to the cycle of Cheseaux, which 

 only harmonizes the year with the lunar month. This cycle has a very 

 high degree of accuracy at this epoch, as the .following figures will 

 show : — 



Solar years 1727 x 365.2421961 = 630,773.2727 days. 

 Lunar years 1780 x 354.3670644 - 630,773.3746 " 



Lunar year, Epoch 1900 = 354.3670644 | Error per century. 



Cycle-value of lunar year, ' 



or 1727 of tropical year = 354.3670071 ] 0.00591 day. 



1780 I 



Error of one day in: 

 16,920 years. 



