EIGHTH ORDINARY MEETING, 65 
<= 
In Italy, the Italian Geographical Society has given its counten- 
ance to a work by Mr. Fernando Bosari, who, in a pamphlet of 68 
pages, reviews the whole question at length, and lays down three 
principles ; 1. The determination of a zero meridian ;.2. The estab- 
lishment of cosmopolitan time based upon it; 3. The notation of 
the hours from 1 to 24 in a continuous series. 
The question of Universal Time and the selection of a Prime Meri- 
dian is discussed with ability in a paper published by M. 'Thury, 
professor at the University of Geneva. 
At the meeting of the Association for the Reform and Codifica- 
tion of the Laws of Nations at Cologne, Prussia, in 1881, the 
question of regulating time on the new system was considered and 
resolutions moved. 
In the same year (1881), the subject occupied the attention of the 
International Geographical Congress at Venice, at which a delegate 
from the Canadian Institute attended. The general question was 
warmly discussed, and resolutions adopted. The appointment of an 
international conference to meet at Washington, specially to consider 
the question, was then suggested by the Canadian delegate. The 
president of the Congress communicated the resolutions to the Italian 
Government, and Prince Teano, on behalf of the Italian Government, 
undertook to conduct the official correspondence. Out of this appears 
to have sprung the important discussion at the meeting of the Inter- 
national Geodetic Association at Rome, in Octoher, 1883, when the 
utility of Universal Time was recognized, and a special international 
conference for the establishment of a zero meridian for longitude and 
time recommended. 
Turning to this side of the Atlantic, the question of regulating 
time for railway, telegraph, and civil purposes generally, was consid- 
ered at the Convention of the American Society of Civil Engineers, 
held at Montreal, June 15, 1881, and a committee of men engaged 
in the management and familiar with the economy of railways, ap- 
pointed to examine the question. The committee has reported from 
time to time. They recognized that a proposition to reform the 
general time system of the country was a problem beset with diffi- 
culties, but it did not appear to them insolvable. It was felt, how- 
ever, that the question affected so many interests that any change 
could only be effected by general concurrence. 
5 
