DAYLIGHT SAVING. 



By Robert Thordurn Ayton Innes, F.R.A.S., F.R.S.E. 



This year has seen the adoption of the device called Day- 

 light Saving by Great Britain and several other European nations. 

 During the summer months all clocks are advanced one hour. 



The title " Daylight Saving " is a misnomer, as daylight 

 cannot be saved. A more correct designation would be " Day- 

 light Using." or. better still, " An Earlier Hours Regulation." 



Theoretically our clock-times depend upon the place of the 

 sun in the daylight sky. and this was also the case practically 

 until raihvays and the electric telegraph came into general use. 

 To-day there is no necessary connection between the clock-hours 

 and the diurnal motion of the sun. The hours shown by the 

 clock may be conventional, and, by the adoption of zone or stan- 

 dard times, are so. 



There is a little historical interest in this, because it shows 

 a slight inconvenience caused by the logic of astronomers. 



In some old book — the exact reference is unnecessary — the 

 author complains that he had to be at work at two in the morn- 

 ing, which at first sight seems to be rather early. But when 

 we remember that the hours were counted from sunrise, the 

 apparent hardship disappears. Some centuries ago the progress 

 of astronomy and of watch-making led to the day being con- 

 sidered to commence at midnight, especally as in that age no 

 one would be about at that time, and it was therefore a con- 

 venient hour by which to commence the new^ day. 



Then the fixing by statute of certain hours during which 

 certain trades might be plied undoubtedly gave rise to the use 

 of late hours in town — a use or abuse which the invention of gas 

 and other artificial illumination made easy. 



Having made my j)rotest against the loose English of 

 " Daylight .Saving," I will keep to that term to avoid the charge 

 of pedantry. 



Daylight Saving is peculiarly a town device — it is not 

 wanted in the covmtry, because the country folks always use 

 the daylight. But we are becoming a a town-living people. 

 In nearly every country in the world which is populated by 

 the white races, the country-side population decays, slowly when 

 compared with itself, rapidly when compared with the growth 

 of towns. Hence we must not be surprised that little should 

 be said about daylight so far as it regards country folk. 



Near the equator, where there are no seasons, there could 

 not, of course, be a Svmimer Daylight Saving Regulation. There 

 the sun rises and sets at practically the same time all the year 

 round. Nor could daylight be saved in summer-time in the 

 more northern parts of Europe ( such as .Scotland north of 

 Dundee), because davlight persists to a late hour or even all nigJit^YTTV^ 



long. /VVI—^'*' y^ 



lil LIBRARY) =0j 



