COMMON THINGS THE ALMANAC. 



in May, and the March moon, that which ends in March. All 

 writers on chronology and the calendar agree in this, among 

 whom may he cited the author of the well-known work entitled 

 V Art de verifier les Dates. 



91 . Nevertheless, it must be admitted that this definition is attended 

 with consequences which will seem rather absurd and inconsistent. 

 Let us suppose, for example, that the moon happens to be new a 

 little after the midnight which commences the 1st May. Accord- 

 ing to the definition, the moon which commenced its life on the 

 2nd April, and which finished it on the morning of the 1st May, 

 must be called not the " April moon," but the " May moon." 



But another consequence would in that case also follow, which 

 shows in a striking manner the confusion which occasionally 

 arises from this form of expression. In the case here supposed, the 

 moon which was new soon after the midnight with which the 1st 

 May commenced, would finish before the end of May, and would, 

 therefore, according to the definition, be also called the " May 

 moon." In fine, in such case, there would be two May moons, 

 one whose entire age, except a few seconds, was passed in April, 

 and the other, whose age began and ended in May. 



It is easy to perceive that, the month of February in a common 

 civil year having only 28 days, while the length of a lunar month 

 always exceeds 29 days, it may happen that there will be no 

 February moon. This will, in fact, occur if the moon be new on 

 the afternoon of the 31st January. 



Similar inconsistency and confusion would, however, equally 

 ensue, if the moon took its name from the month in which it 

 is new. 



Independently of other causes of confusion arising from this 

 custom of identifying the moon with the month in which it ends, 

 there is the case in which the same moon might in one place take 

 the name from one month, and in another place from the month 

 preceding or following. Thus, for example, in the case of two 

 places having a difference of longitude of 10 minutes, the hour at 

 one place will be 10 minutes later than at the other. Now, let us 

 suppose that the moon is new at 5 minutes before the midnight 

 which terminates the last day of the month at one of the places. 

 It will be new at 5 minutes after the midnight which terminates 

 the month at the other place. Since the preceding moon ends its 

 age in one of the places 5 minutes before the end of the month, 

 and at the other place 5 minutes after the commencement of the 

 next month, it will take its name at one place from the one month, 

 and at the other from the other month. The moon which is the 

 "May moon" of Paris may, therefore, be the "April moon" of 

 London, 

 54 



