A-IO ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA. 



At a meeting of the American Society of Civil Kngineei's hold in 

 Monti'eal in 1881. a Canadian member of that society submitted certain 

 principles respecting the reckoning and unitication of time. That 

 sociotv at once initiated steps to bring those principles into practice, and 

 has ever since taken a prominent and successful part in advancing the 

 movement of reckoning time by one standard everywhere. 



The geographical circumstances of Canada, extending as it does 

 over so many degrees of longitude, invested the question with peculiar 

 interest to the people of the Dominion. The Canadian Institute, accord- 

 ingly, sent a delegate to Venice to attend the International Geographical 

 Congress, held in September, 1881 ; his special object was to advocate 

 the advisability of establishing a tirst. or ]»rime meridian to be common 

 to all nations as a time-zero. The Canadian delegate, among other 

 things, suggested that an International Conference should be specially 

 convened to determine upon such a zero-meridian, and, in co-operation 

 with delegates from the United States, he proposed that such a confer- 

 ence should be held at Washington. As an outcome of the.se eflforts, an 

 International Conference was held at Washington in 1884, at which 

 Canada was represented, along with twenty-five other nations. 



The Washington Conference adopted a series of resolutions substan- 

 tially in accord with the principles set forth in the proceedings of the 

 Canadian Institute published in 1879 and these resolutions have been 

 fruitful of results of high importance. 



The first five resolutions of the Washington Conference have been 

 practically and generally accepted, the sixth is still under consideration, 

 and it is with respect thereto that we again venture to a])peal to His 

 Excellency. 



The adoption of the sixth resolution involves a change vvhich afi'ects 

 mai'iners, as it would supersede the old system of reckoning by astro- 

 nomical and nautical days ; it would bring both into agreement with the 

 civil day ; it would complete the unification of time at sea, and, forever 

 remove all ambiguity and difficulty which under the present system 

 prevails. 



The .sixth resolution was supported at the Washington Conference 

 by the several distinguished astronomers present and was passed without 

 a dissenting voice. As some objections had been raised by other astro- 

 nomers, it was desirable to ascertain how far these objections extended. 

 The Canadian Institute and the Astronomical and Physical Society of 

 Toronto accordingly assumed the dut}" of inquiry. These societies 

 appointed a joint committee for the special purpose of communicating 

 with individual astronomers throughout the world, in order to obtain 

 the widest expression of opinion. The result of the inquiry is given in 

 detail in the report of the joint committee of May 10th, 1894, appended 

 hereto. This report establishes that while some astronomers object to 



