TIME-RECKONING. 99 
If he extends his journey west of Chicago, travelling from place to 
place until he reaches San Francisco, he will meet continual change, 
and finally discover a loss in time of nearly four hours (3h. 5&m.). 
Between the extreme points there are many standards of time, each 
city or place of importance generally being governed by its own 
meridian. Hence the discrepancies which perplex the traveller in 
moving from place to place. 
On the continent of Europe, and indeed wherever lines of com- 
munication extend between points differing to any considerable extent 
in longitude, the same difficulty is experienced. On a journey from 
Paris to Vienna or to St. Petersburg, the standard time employed 
by the railways changes frequently, and the extreme difference in 
time between the first and last city is nearly two hours. As railways 
and telegraphs are extended in Russia, the inconveniences will become 
of serious importance in that country. Within the limits of Russia 
in Europe and Asia, the extreme variations of time is about twelve 
hours. 
Suppose we take the case of a person travelling from London to 
India. He starts with Greenwich time, but he scarcely leaves the 
shores of England, when he finds his watch no longer right. Paris 
time is used for the journey, until that of Rome becomes the standard. 
At Brindisi there is another change. Up the Mediterranean, ships’ 
time is used. At Alexandria, Egyptian time is the standard. At 
Suez, ships’ time is resumed, and continues, with daily changes, until 
India is reached. Arriving at Bombay, the traveller will find two 
standards employed, local time and railway time, the latter being 
that of Madras. If he has not altered his watch since he left England, 
he will find it some five hours slow. Should he continue his journey 
to China, it will have fallen eight hours behind. 
In the United Kingdom the difficulties due to longitude are only 
felt in a modified form. The greater island, embracing England and 
Scotland, is comparatively limited in width; one standard of time 
is therefore used. It is only in respect to the sister island, Ireland, 
that the difference in longitude calls for a difference in time. In the 
whole United Kingdom, consequently, there are practically only 
two standards, viz., Greenwich time and Irish time, the difference 
being twenty-five minutes. No one, therefore, whose experience has 
been confined to the United Kingdom, can form an adequate idea of 
the extent of the inconvenience arising from the causes alluded to, 
