SECTION III, 1886. [ 43 ] Trans. Roy. Soc. CANADA. 
IV.—Time-Reckoning for the Twentieth Century. 
By SANDFORD FLEMING, C.M.G., LL.D., C.E., etc. 
(Presented May 26, 1886.) 
During the early historical ages much chronological confusion prevailed, and it is 
largely owing to this cause that the annals of the centuries which preceded the Christian 
era are involved in obscurity. The attempt to end this general disorder was made by 
Julius Cesar who established regulations with respect to the divisions of time and the 
mode of reckoning to be followed. The Julian Calendar was introduced forty-six years 
before Christ. It continued unchanged until the sixteenth century. In 1582 recognition 
was obtained of the errors and defects which the circumstances of the period had made 
manifest and which demanded correction. Pope Gregory XIII accordingly directed the 
Reformation of the Calendar and established new rules of intercalation. These two epochs 
are certainly the most important in the history of our chronology. 
Three centuries have passed since the reform of Pope Gregory. New continents have 
been opened to civilization and immense regions then wholly unknown to Europe have 
been peopled by races busied in commerce and skilled in the arts, and characterized by 
unwearied energy and determination. In these three hundred years a marvellous suc- 
cession of inventions bearing upon human activity and progress has been introduced, 
and the character of nearly every requirement of life has undergone change. The dis- 
coveries and inventions which have marked this period have produced new conditions of 
society ; and our minds have received an impulse, which leads to investigation wherever 
need of improvement appears to be demanded. It is within the last half century more 
especially that the bounds of human knowledge have been so wonderfully extended ; 
perhaps in the whole world’s annals no fifty years have witnessed such a marvellous 
revolution. The triumphs of applied science in facilitating intercourse between men and 
nations have given an extraordinary impulse to general progress, but in so doing they 
have developed imperfections in our system of time-notation which previously were un- 
known, and it is no longer possible to escape the conviction that we have reached a stage 
when further reform is demanded as a requirement of our condition. The necessity for 
a reform in time-reckoning is recognized by the highest authority and has obtained a 
hold of public opinion. The President of the United States, General Arthur, at the 

1 In submitting this paper to the Royal Society of Canada, it is proper to explain that it was prepared by 
request for the Smithsonian Institution, with a view to publication in the Smithsonian Reports. The object is 
to bring out prominently the true principles by which the several nationalities may be guided in the notation 
of time. It is communicated to the Royal Society, with the full knowledge and concurrence of the authorities of 
the Smithsonian Institution, who desire to coüperate in the movement of time-reform by diffusing knowledge on 
this important question in all countries where their publications circulate. 
