132 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. [VOL. IT. 



night and day? The spirit of enquiry eventually resulted in the intro- 

 duction of what we now call " mean time," but to effect the change was 

 a matter of great difficulty. In the words of M. Houzeau : — " It was a 

 greater revolution than we are now capable of imagining. There was 

 between this uniform time, which we call " mean time," and the time of 

 the people or of the sun, sometimes the difference of a quarter of an hour. 

 Out of this divergence the populations created a scarecrow at which we 

 are forced to laugh. The mid-day by the sun, or the middle of the day, 

 will no longer, they said, accord with twelve o'clock. Tradesmen, day 

 laborers, will be bewildered and their work disarranged. The forenoon 

 will be sometimes longer, sometimes shorter, than the afternoon. Bakers 

 deceived by the clock will no longer be ready in time, and the people 

 will be in want of bread. I in no way exaggerate, but is not this the 

 history of all reforms ? And what did the fears amount to ? We have 

 to-day " mean time," without the immense majority of our contemporar- 

 ies having the least idea that any other notation was ever followed."* 



The introduction of mean time into common use was only effected 

 after much opposition. It took its origin in Geneva in 1780, and slowly 

 made its way. In London the variable hours ceased in 1792. It 

 required another eighteen years to overcome the old custom in Berlin, 

 and it is difficult to believe that Paris did not renounce the daily alter- 

 ation of its clocks until 18 16. 



We smile at these practices, now happily no longer prevailing, which 

 came down from antiquity, and wonder at the persistency with which 

 they were clung to, even after their absurdity became recognized. 

 Another generation may perhaps laugh at those living in this century 

 for adhering to customs not less open to ridicule. 



What reason can we give for using the double series of hours, repeat- 

 ing one to twelve in each half of a single diurnal period ; a practice 

 which originated in primitive times, the purpose and significance of which 

 have long since been forgotten ? Who in this railway age would think 

 of regulating the movement of trains by the shadow of the sun during 

 the day, or by the progress of the stars during the night .-* 



Again there is a general belief throughout Christendom that Sunday is 

 simultaneous over the world. What would the rigid Sabbatarian say if 

 told as a matter of fact that Saturday extends into the middle of Sun- 

 day, and Monday begins when Saturday ends.^* and while this is actually 

 the case, Sunday itself extends from the end of Friday to the first hour 

 of Tuesday, ranging over forty-eight hours? Further, that the same ano- 



* Translated from Houzeau, Histoire de I'heure, pp. 182-3. 



