Jan. 14, I 



NA TURE 



259 



insuring re-observation of those objects was by tlie determina- 

 tion, not of their absolute, but only of their relative, positions, 

 through the agency of the larger "' finder "of the great telescope. 

 This has an aperture of five inches, a power of thirty diameters, 

 and a field of view of seventy-eight minutes of arc. Two 

 diagrams were usually drawn in the book for each of these 

 objects, — the one showing the relation of adjacent objects in the 

 great telescope, and the other the configuration of the more 

 conspicuous objects in the field of view of the finder. Adjacent 

 to these "finder" diagrams are the settings, — to the nearest 

 minute of arc in declination, and of time in right ascension, —as 

 read from the large finding-circles, divided in black and white. 

 The field of vew of the finder is crosed by two pairs of hair- 

 lines, making a square of about twelve minutes on a side by 

 their intersection at the centre. The diagrams in all cases re- 

 present the objects as seen with an inverting eye-piece. As the 

 adjustment of the finder was occasionally verified, as well as the 

 readings of the larje circles, there should be no trouble in 

 identifying any of these objects, notwithstanding the fact that 

 no estimates of absolute magnitude were recorded. The rela- 

 tive magnitudes, while intended to be only appro.ximate, are 

 still shown with sufficient accuracy for the purpose of the 

 research, and the diagrams are, in general, faithful tracings from 

 the original memoranda. 



[Mr. Todd transcribes the observing-bojk entire.]. 



PRIME MERIDIAN TIME 1 

 C\^ the first day of the month, the President of the United 

 ^-^ States, in his message at the opening of Congress, referred 

 to the International Meridian Conference lately convened in 

 Washington, in the following words : — " The Conference con- 

 cluded its labours on November i, having with substan'ial 

 unanimity agreed upon the meridian of Greenwich as the starting 

 point whence longitude is to be computed through 180° eastward 

 and westward, and upon the adoption for all purposes for whicli 

 it may be found convenient of a Universal Day, which shall 

 begin at midnight on the initial meredian, and whose hours shall 

 be counted from zero up to twenty-four." 



The Can.adian Institute is peculiarly interested in this an- 

 nouncement. No society, literary or scientific, has taken a move 

 important part in the initiation of the movement to reform our 

 Time-system, of which the success is, to some extent, indicated 

 in the President's words. It theiefore appears to me fit and 

 proper that I should recall to your attention the various steps 

 which from time to time have been taken, so that we may possess 

 a reco d of the events which have led to the now almost general 

 recognition of the necessity for a new notation. 



Six years ago on several occasions the meetings of the Institute 

 were engaged in discussing the subject of Time-reckoning and 

 the selection of a Prime Meridian common to all nations. Papers 

 were read and arguments were advanced, with the view of show- 

 ing the necessity of establishing a cosmopolitan or universal 

 time, by which the events of history might be more accurately 

 recorded, and which would respond to the more precise demands 

 of science, and generally satisfy the requirements of modern 

 civilisation. The Pioceedhtgs of the Institute for January and 

 February, 1879, give at considerable length the views submitted 

 and the suggestions offered to meet the new conditions of life. 

 While on the one hand it was argued that the introduction of a 

 comprehensive scheme by which time could be universally reck- 

 oned was highly desirable, it was equally maintained that the 

 determination of a common Prime Meridian for the world was the 

 key to its success, and that the establishment of such a meridian, 

 as a zero, recognised by all nations, was the first important step 

 demanded. 



These Proceedings were brought under the notice of His 

 Excellency the Marquis of Lome, then Governor-General of 

 Canada. In the name of the Institute, they were submitted, in 

 the form of a memorial, with the hope ihat His E.xcellency would 

 see fit to lay them before the Imperial Government, that they 

 would by these means obtain the attention of the several scientific 

 bodies throughout Europe, and thit some general systematic 

 effort would be made in the right direction to secure the 

 important objects sought to be attained. 



Through the good offices of His Excellency, copies of the 

 Canadian Institute Proceedings found their way to the Britisli 



' This paper, giving the early history of a movement which is now 

 attracting such general attention, we extract from a recently received 

 volume of Transactions of the Canadian Institute. 



Admiralty, the Astronomer Royal, Greenwich, the Astronomer 

 Royal for Scotland, Edinburgh, the Royal Society, the Royal 

 Geographical Society, the Royal Astronomical Society, the 

 Royal United Service Institute, and other societies of eminence 

 and weight in the United Kingdom. Copies of the papers were 

 likewise sent through the Imperial Government to the govern- 

 ments of the following countries, viz. : — 



France, Germany, 



Italy, Norway and Sweden, 



The United States, Russia, 



Austria, Belgium, 



Brazil, Denmark, 



Japan, The Netherlands, 



Spain, Portugal, 



Switzerland, Turkey, 



Greece, China. 



In the year following, the American Metrological Society 

 issued a Report of the Committee on Standard Time. The 

 report bears the name of Mr. Cleveland Abbe, the Chairman of 

 the Committee, and the date of May, 1879. It draws attention 

 to many of the ciuses calling for the establishment of accurate 

 time, and the attempts made since the establishment of the 

 electro-magnetic telegraph to make the notation of time syn- 

 clironous. While pointing out that this result had been obtained 

 in Great Britain through the efforts of Prof. Airy, Mr. Cleveland 

 Abbe gave a list of the various observatories on this continent 

 which are in possession of the necessary apparatus and force 

 proper to furnish astronomically accurate time by telegraph. 

 Writing in February, 1880, while giving the resolution adopted 

 by the society, recommending the adoption of accurate time by 

 telegraph from an established astronomical observatory, Mr. 

 Cleveland Abbe points out that the subject of accurate time has 

 been taken up by the Horological Bureau of the Winchester 

 Observatory of Yale College, and that the most perfect apparatus 

 had been received for the purpose of distibuting New York 

 time with the highest degree of uniformity and accuracy. 



Mr. Cleveland Abbe's own remarks on the subject are of high 

 value. He forcibly points out the diHicuIties and inconveniences 

 under which r.ulway operations in America labour from the want 

 of a proper system of time. To show this fact in greater force, 

 he gives the 74 standards then followed. These several standards 

 he proposed to set aside and replace by standards each differing 

 one hour, or 15° of longitude. 



While recommending this course, the report sets forth that the 

 change could only be regarded as a step towards the absolute 

 uniformity of all time-pieces, and the Society passed resolutions, 

 that absolute uniformity of time is desirable ; that the meridian 

 six hours west of Greenwich should be adopted as the National 

 Standard to be used in common on all railways and telegraphs, 

 to be known as "Railroad and Telegraph Time;" that after 

 July 4, 1880, such uniform Standard Time should be the legal 

 standard for the whole country, and that the State and National 

 Legislatures should be memorialised on the subject. 



Mr. Cleveland Abbe in this report alluded to the previous 

 Proceedings of the Canadian Institute. 



The active sympathy of the Marquis of Lome greatly aided 

 the movement of Time-reform in its early stages. In 1879, in 

 his official position as Governor- General, he had been the 

 recipient of the papers published by the Canadian Institute, and 

 had transmitted them to Great Britain, and through the Imperial 

 Government to the several European centres. In 1880, it was 

 learned that the Report to the American Metrological Society, 

 above alluded to, would shortly be issued. Accordingly, advance 

 copies were obtained from New York, and, together with addi- 

 tional papers issued by this Institute, they were transmitted by 

 His Excellency to the following European Societies, and the 

 special attention of their members was directed to the documents, 

 themselves : — 



1. The Institut de France Paris. 



2. Societe de Geographic Paris. 



3. Societe Beige de Geographic .... Brussels. 



4. Kbnigliche Preussische Akademie der 



Wissenschafien Berlin. 



5. Gesellchaft fiir Erdkunde .... Berlin, 



6. Kaiserliche Akademie der Wissen- 



schaften Vienna. 



7. K. K. Geographische Gesellschaft . . Vienna. 



8. Nicolaievskaia Glavnaia Observatoria . Pultowa. 



9. Imper. Rousskae Geograficheskoe Ob- 



schestou St. Petersburg.. 



