120 TIME-RECKONING. 
throughout England and Scotland, although it is half an hour faster 
than local mean time, and sometimes forty-five minutes faster than 
solar time on the west coast of the latter country. 
In every country, local time is more or less arbitrarily established ; 
it could not be otherwise, without causing great confusion, as no two 
places, unless in the same meridian, have the same true local time. 
In considering the whole subject, itis felt that if some simple rule 
could be agreed upon for defining local time everywhere, it would 
materially add to general convenience. 
It is suggested that each of the twenty-four lettered meridians 
(Fig. 1) should be taken as standards for establishing approximate 
local time, and that as a general rule all places should adopt the 
local time of the nearest of these meridians. This would divide the 
surface of the globe into twenty-four “lunes,” forming distinct local 
sections. Although the twenty-four fixed meridians would be at one 
hour’s distance from each other, only in extreme cases would the 
difference between the true and approximate local time be as much 
as half an hour. In many cases there would be no difference, and 
in no case could the difference be of the slightest moment in the 
ordinary business of civil life. Whenever exact time was required 
for any purpose, cosmopolitan time, assuming it to be in general use, 
would be available, or a third hand, such as shown by the dotted line 
in the figure, might in certain cases be used. 
CosMOPOLITAN WatTcH DIAL. 
Fig. No. 4 represents a compound dial designed to indicate non- 
local as well as local time, on the same face of a clock or watch, by 
means of one set of hands. In this arrangement it is proposed to 
have the Roman numerals for local time inscribed on a movable disc, 
