May II, 1911] 



NATURE 



349 



the proposal, to which in the first instance I think the 

 reform should be confined. 



Astronomers are apt to ask, Cm bono ? But though 

 the advantages of such a simplification would to them be 

 small, they would be enormous, innumerable, and universal 

 to the lawyer, the statesman, the banker, broker, &c.— 

 indeed, to public business, commerce, and education in all 

 civilised countries. 



If without infringing any scientific principle or violating 

 any religious symbolism benefits so general can be con- 

 ferred so easily, I feel sure that scientific men will not 

 stand in the way. Indeed, many of them are in the fore- 

 front of the movement. 



What we want is a simply natural and naturally simple 

 scheme. I am afraid that suggested by your correspondent 

 — very ingenious as it is — is for that reason unsuited for 

 general use. Alex. Philip. 



The Marv Acre, Brechin, N.B. 



From Mr. Philip's letter it appears that he, at all 

 events, is conscious of the grave difficulties in the way 

 of interrupting the continuous succession of the days of 

 the week. It would be idle, therefore, to argue this point 

 further, or to insist in greater detail on the importance of 

 what Laplace called " peut-6tre le monument le plus 

 ancien et le plus incontestable des connaissances 

 humaines " (la semaine). 



The date of the Crucifixion depends on questions relating 

 to the Jewish, not the Christian, calendar. Now it seems 

 incredible that the Hebrew communities have failed to 

 maintain the order of the Sabbath without a break. If 

 this be granted, the only deduction to be drawn from Mr. 

 Philip's argument is that the Crucifixion did not occur in 

 the year 31 ; which, indeed, according to the most recent 

 chronological view, is most highly probable. 



Mr. Philip's argument in favour of equalising the 

 months will be received with interest when it appears. 

 When, however, it is realised that the suggested change 

 will not give us a fixed calendar, it may be doubted 

 whether this minor adjustment, free from objection as it 

 may be, will be found to have the necessary driving force 

 behind it to secure its adoption. H. C. P. 



A Zenith Rainbow. 



.An interesting rainbow was visible from the Bruges- 

 Ostend canal here at 4.30 p.m. on April 17, in fair 

 weather, almost due west. 



The sight at once evoked the Expression that the bow 

 was inverted. It was clearly visible for several minutes, 

 and subtended an arc of about 20°. 



On shielding the eye from the direct light of the sun, 

 this arc was seen to extend much farther, and formed 

 part of a circle with the zenith as apparent centre, the 

 radius of the circle being estimated from 10° to 15°. 



The inside of the bow was violet, the colour following 

 the usual order to red ; the intermediate colours were, 

 however, not characterised by the sharpness often seen in 

 the ordinary rainbow. 



The state of the Sky at the time was misty near the 

 horizon, but otherwise brilliant with high fleecy clouds, 

 with a light wind from N.N.W. 



The bow was backed by a thin broken cloud, which 

 presented a " curtain " formation as far as the angle of 

 the sun. 



No rain was observed to fall at the time or during the 

 day. No primary or secondary bow was visible, which, 

 among other things, excludes the idea of the bow observed 

 being a tertiary one. 



It would be interesting to know whether this type of 

 bow is of frequent occurrence. K. C. Kreyer. 



7 rue des Lions, Bruges, Belgium, April 18. 



It appears from Mr. Kreyer 's description that the pheno- 

 menon observed was the upper arc of contact of the halo 

 of 46° radius. The altitude of the sun was about 24° at 

 the time, so that the height of the point of contact would 

 be about 70°, and the centre of the arc, accepting vour 

 correspondent's estimate of 10° or 15° radius, would be 

 nt an altitude of 80° to 85°. The phenomenon is described 

 by Pnrnter as the most beautiful of all halo phenomena, 

 and it occurs often when no trace of the 46° halo is 



NO. 2167, VOL. 86] 



visible ; the colours, with the exception of the violet, are 

 definite and brilliant, with the red towards the sun. The 

 violet seen by your correspondent is more rarely present. 

 The cloud with " curtain " formation was probably cirro- 

 stratus, and would be formed by the ice crystals which 

 give rise to halo-phenomena. 



The bow observed is not of frequent occurrence (about 

 seventy had been observed up to 1883), and it is interesting 

 to have a record of it. E. Gold. 



Meteorological Office, South Kensington, 

 London, S.W., April 27. 



Daylight Saving ! 



The following aspect of the Daylight Saving Bill does 

 not appear 3'et to have been noticed. 



A man who is accustomed to rise at 9 a.m., lunch at 

 1.30, dine at 7.30, and go to bed at 11.30 will naturally 

 object to turning out of bed an hour earlier on a dull, 

 grey, cold April morning. So, when the clocks are put 

 forward, he will consider that the change is only nominal, 

 and will continue to follow the old hours, rising at 10, 

 lunching at 2.30, dining at 8.30, and going to bed at 12.30. 

 When, however, the clocks are put back the weather is 

 getting bad, and the pleasantest part of the day is after 

 the blinds have been drawn and the gas lit ; he will be 

 glad of the extra hour's sleep in the dark morning, and 

 the increased fireside comfort in the evening, and will be 

 so accustomed to regard 10 o'clock as the time for getting 

 up, 2.30 as lunch time, 8.30 as dinner time, and 12.30 

 as the time for going to bed, that he will certainly not 

 want to go back to the old clock reckoning. Thus " day- 

 light saving " will mean a saving of an hour's daylight 

 in the dark winter months and a gain of an hour's gas- 

 light. 



"The Voice of the Sluggard." 



DAYLIGHT AND DARKNESS. 



WHATEVER may be thought of Mr. Willett's 

 so-called daylight-saving scheme, it is im- 

 possible not to admire the persistence with which 

 he pursues the idea, and secures support for it from 

 city corporations, town councils, chambers of com- 

 merce, members of ParHament, and other people 

 who are attracted by the advantages offered, and 

 do not realise how unscientific the scheme is, or the 

 gravity of the objections to the adoption of a variable 

 standard of time-reckoning. We do not believe for 

 an instant that the Government is likely to give 

 facilities for legislation on the lines of the Summer 

 Season Time Bill, however sanguine the promoters 

 of the Bill may be As, however, a meeting at 

 which the Lord Mayor presided, and the Home 

 Secretary spoke, was held at the Guildhall on 

 May 3, it is worth while to consider again sc«ne 

 aspects of the proposals usually overlooked. 



The promoters of the Bill have circulated a mass 

 of literature, in which the advantages are emphasised 

 and the objections disregarded. Among these com- 

 munications is an article contributed to Die Woche by 

 Dr. E. von Engel of Berlin, who supports warmly the 

 proposition of accommodating the standard meridian 

 of Greenwich to that of Berlin or Mid-Europe. We 

 have no doubt he is perfectly sincere hi his recom- 

 mendation. At the same time, the advantages of 

 making the hours of business in England coincide 

 with those in Germany is entirely in favour of the 

 latter country. 



In consequence of this renewed earnestness and 

 vigour of the daylight-saving movement, it is desir- 

 able to express, concisely and decisively, some funda- 

 mental objections to a scheme which can be made 

 to present so much that is agreeable. This is the 

 more necessary because there is a feeling that scientific 

 men are inclined to display a selfish regard for their 

 own convenience, and a contemptuous indifTcrence to 



