9.6 UNIVERSAL OR COSMIC TIME. 
These opinions have taken root in North America. For about a year, 
especially by the impulse given by the administrations of railways, the 
United States and Canada, not through force of law, but by common 
arrangement of those interested, have been divided into six divisions, 
within the boundaries of which the time notation of ordinary life, al- 
though in a strict sense answering only to the middle Longitude of the 
Time-division, is taken as a constant, which in the successive time- 
divisions each differs from the other a full hour. According to the 
communications of the delegate of the United States, Mr. W. F. 
Allen, this arrangement has been accepted by not less than 85 per 
cent. of the cities of the United States containing 10,000 inhabitants, 
and 80 per cent. of the administrations of railways affected. For this 
period no practical difficulties have been reported even in those places 
where the true Time of the place differs half an hour frgm the Divis- 
ion-time introduced. But that some necessary difficulties must be 
experienced by this arrangement in actual civic life is proved by the 
observation that within these Time-divisions where at the boundaries 
there is a clear round hour where one can differ from the other, cer- 
tain every-day occupations, for example, the hours of labour of the day- 
labourer with regard to the same use of day light must be established 
in a different manner with regard to each other, according as the spot 
under consideration lies to the east or western boundary of the Divis- 
ion. How this mode of proceeding is regarded by the inhabitants of 
the prairie-land the report in no way informs us. It would, how- 
ever, be a matter of surprise if serious complications did not arise. 
For instance, village communsties, which are only a couple of kilome- 
tres apart [1 2-5th miles] or are yet nearer neighbours, must make 
use of Time notations which differ an entire hour. So it forces itself 
on our attention that in a community of countries of which Europe 
consists, in which individual states, apart from their geographical 
position, gravitate to one side more than the other in their commer- 
cial, industrial, or political relationship, that by the adoption of simi- 
lar proceedings they would be subjected to embarrassments perfectly 
unsupportable. Nevertheless, the attempt made in America is full 
of interest and instruction, and by the favourable result which it is 
said the first year has effected, it becomes a matter for serious reflec- 
tion that this method of Time reckoning has been fully naturalized in 
the United States, and perhaps will be accepted by other countries. 
The same principle is also applied and has also been long in use in 
Great Britain, of which the isolated position and scarcely an extent 
of 30 minutes in longitude have greatly facilitated its introduction. 
In any case the further extension of the principle is yet in the cate- 
gory of experiments, and for this reason the Washington Conference 
did not recognize that it was in a position to offer a resolution on the 
subject, or even to enter into its discussion in detail. 
It might be remarked that the method adopted for the period of 
dating the Universal Day accepted by the Conference, would not 
