Fig. 4. 



COMMON THINGS. 



TIME. 



CHAPTER III. 



The month (continued). 52. Not conformable with lunar periods. 53. 

 Difficulty of subdividing the year. 54. Division unequal. 55. Egyp- 

 tian months. 56. Greek. 57. Solon's months. 58. Roman months. 

 Romulus. 59. Origin of names of months. 60. Additional months 

 of Numa. 61. Origin of their names. 62. Their lengths. 63. 

 Superstition in favour of odd numbers methods of remembering the 

 lengths of the months. 64. Calends. 65. Greek Calends. 66. 

 Nones. 67. Ides. 68. Practice of counting backwards. 69. Dis- 

 cordance of the Roman year with the seasons. 70. Month Mercedo- 

 nius. 71. Legal meaning of "month." 72. The year. 73. What 

 is a year ? 74. Egyptian. 75. Only a rude approximation to the 

 course of the seasons. 76. The vague year and Sothic period. 77. 

 Advantage of Egyptian year. 78. Greek year. 79. Meton and his 

 cycle. 80. Origin of Golden Number. 81. Meton ridiculed by Aris- 

 tophanes. 82. Near accordance of the lunar phases with the Metonic 

 cycle. 83. Roman year. 84. Pontifical abuses. 85. Julian Calendar. 

 86. Bissextile years. 

 LARDNER'S MUSEUM OP SCIENCE. L 145 



No. 62. 



