108 PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 
I. The unification of longitude and of time is desirable, as much 
in the interest of science as in that of navigation, of commerce, 
and of international communication. The scientific and practical 
utility of this reform far outweighs the sacrifice of labor and the 
difficulties of adaptation which it would entail. It should, there- 
fore, be recommended to the Governments of all the States in- 
terested, to be organized and confirmed by an International Conven- 
tion, to the end that hereafter one and the same system of longitudes 
shall be employed in all the institutes and geodetic bureaus, for 
the general geographic and hydrographic charts, as well as in the 
astronomical and nautical almanacs, with the exception of those 
made to preserve a local meridian, as, for instance, the almanacs for 
transits, or those which are needed to indicate the local time, such 
as the establishment of the port, &c. 
II. Notwithstanding the great advantages which the general in- 
troduction of the decimal division of a quarter of the circle in the 
expressions of the geographical and geodetic co-ordinates, and in 
the corresponding time expressions, is destined to realize for the 
sciences and their applications, it is proper, through considerations 
eminently practical, to pass it by in considering the great measure 
of unification proposed in the first resolution. 
However, with a view to satisfying, at the same time, very serious 
scientific considerations, the Conference recommends, on this occa- 
sion, the extension by the multiplication and perfection of the nec- 
essary tables, of the application of the decimal division of the quad- 
rant, at least, for the great operations of numerical calculations, for 
which it presents incontestable advantages, even if it is wished to 
preserve the old sexagesimal division for observations, for charts, 
navigation, &c. 
III. The Conference proposes to the Governments to select for the 
initial meridian that of Greenwich, defined by a point midway be- 
tween the two pillars of the meridian instrument of the Observa- 
tory of Greenwich, for the reason that that meridian fulfils, as a 
point of departure for longitudes, all the conditions demanded by 
science; and because being at present the best known of all, it 
presents the greatest probability of being generally accepted. 
IV. It is advisable to count all longitudes, starting from the 
meridian of Greenwich, in the direction from west to east only. 
V. The Conference recognizes for certain scientific wants and for 
the internal service in the chief administrations of routes of com- 
