650 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. [VoL .VI. 
of the Canadian Institute were recognized by the highest scientific 
authorities in Europe and America. In all their features they have 
been found practicable. The essential principles have been adopted on 
the five continents. It is only with respect to a secondary feature that 
there has been hesitation in its adoption anywhere, and this hesitation 
is wholly due to a divergence from an old and indefensible usage. I allude 
to what is known as the “twenty-four hour notation,” and I avail my- 
self of this opportunity of pointing out to the civic authorities of Toronto, 
that it would be fitting on their part to advance the movement by adapt- 
ing the public clocks to the reform within the municipality whose interest 
they guard. The twenty-four hour notation is no vain experiment—it is 
in use by astronomers all over the globe. It has been tested for fifteen 
years on our national railways; it has been endorsed by a conference of 
representatives of twenty-five civilized nations; it has been promulgated 
by law in several countries in Europe and Asia. Moreover, it has been 
placed on the statute book by the Parliament of Ontario. Obviously 
it would be eminently fit and proper that Toronto, where the scientific 
reform can trace its origin, should, among the cities of this country, be 
the first to provide for its adoption. I ask, would it not be a graceful 
compliment to the Canadian Institute? Would it not be a fitting civic 
recognition of the utility and standing of this society, if the City Council 
caused to be adapted to the new notation, at the beginning of the new 
century, the clocks to be placed in the great tower of the new Municipal 
Buildings approaching completion on Queen Street ? 
My concluding words shall be an appeal to the members on the roll of 
the Institute to-day. The name which your Society bears, the articles of 
your charter, indicate the widest range of subjects for discussion ; they 
suggest the cultivation of the spirit of investigation in order that addi- 
tions to knowledge may be.made to the common stock ; they invite 
research in every field ; they admit of the initiation of desirable move- 
ments in matters of general concern. The publications which have been 
widely circulated by the Institute, the hundreds of foreign societies 
which regularly send their proceedings in exchange, are memorable 
evidences that the Canadian Institute has done much to make known 
the good name of our country. 
Young members, this is no ordinary occasion ; entering on a new half- 
century, let me remind you that you are the heirs of fifty years of useful 
effort. It is for you to keep alive the lighted torch and pass it on to 
those who may come after you. It is for you to bequeath to another 
generation a record of work well done. 
