PROCEEDINGS— APPENDIX A A-23 



APPENDIX IV. 



Unification of Astronomical, Civil and Nautical Time. 



Third Report of the Joint Committee of the Canadian Institute and 

 of the Astronomical and Physical Society of Toronto. 



Toronto, September 21st, 1895. 



The Joint Committee of the Canadian Institute and of the Astro- 

 nomical and Physical Society of Toronto on the Unitication of Astro- 

 nomical, Civil and Nautical Time, as recommended by the Washington 

 Conference, 1884, respectfully reports : 



The several communications on this subject which have been trans- 

 mitted by the Home G-overnment to the Governor-General of Canada 

 and by His Excellency submitted to the Institute and to the Astro- 

 nomical and Physical Society, have been referred by them for an 

 expression of opinion by the Joint Committee. 



The fundamental object of the international conference summoned 

 by the Government of the United States in 1884, was to consider and 

 to recommend a more satisfactoiy mode of reckoning time, and to 

 endeavour to establish an international system for its unitication on a 

 broad and scientific basis. 



The correspondence before the Joint ( *ommittee has direct reference 

 to that branch of the general S3'Stem of Time-reform which forms the 

 subject of the sixth resolution of the Washington Conference of 1S84. 



It has been genei*ally recognized that marinei"s, together with the 

 interests of conimei'ce which thej^ represent, would especially benefit by 

 the adoption of the sixth resolution of the Washington Conference. 

 In considering the subject on previous occasions, the Joint Committee 

 therefore assumed that mariners the world over would favour the 

 adaptation of the Nautical Almanac to one uniform reckoning of time 

 at sea, and that it would be in all respects advantageous to have the 

 time reckoning at sea in complete harmony with the time reckoning on 

 land. It was only with respect to the views that astronomers might 

 entertain that the Joint Committee had doubts, inasmuch as the 

 viniversal adoption of the recommendation of the Washington Confer- 

 ence in all matters relating to navigation woald pi*actically abolish 

 " Astronomical Time " as it is now defined. In order to obtain the views 

 of astronomers on this point, the Joint Committee sent circulars to 

 every known astronomer in all parts of the world whose address could 



