TIME-RECKONING. 99 



If he extends his journey west of Chicago, travelling from place to 

 place until he reaches San Francisco, he will meet continual change, 

 and finally discover a loss in time of nearly four hours (3h. 56m.). 

 Between the extreme points there are many standards of time, each 

 city or place of importance generally being governed by its own 

 meridian. Hence the discrepancies which perplex the traveller in 

 moving from place to place. 



On the conbinent of Europe, and indeed wherever lines of com- 

 munication extend between points differing to any considerable extent 

 in longitude, the same difficulty is experienced. On a journey from 

 Paris to Vienna or to St. Petersburg, the standard time employed 

 by the railways changes frequently, and the extreme difference in 

 time between the first and last city is nearly two hours. As railways 

 and telegraphs are extended in E-ussia, the inconveniences will become 

 of serious importance in that country. Within the limits of Russia 

 in Euroj^e and Asia, the extreme variations of time is about twelve 

 hours. 



Suppose we take the case of a person travelling from London to 

 India. He starts with Greenwich time, but he scarcely leaves the 

 shores of England, when he finds his watch no longer right. Paris 

 time is used for the journey, until that of Rome becomes the standard. 

 At Brindisi there is another change. Up the Mediterranean, ships' 

 time is used. At Alexandria, Egyptian time is the standard. At 

 Suez, ships' time is resumed, and continues, with daily changes, until 

 India is reached. Arriving at Bombay, the traveller will find two 

 standards employed, local time and railway time, the latter being 

 that of Madras. If he has not altered his watch since he left England, 

 he will find it some five hours slow. Should he continue his journey 

 to China, it will have fallen eight hours behind. 



In the United Kingdom the difficulties due to longitude are only 

 felt in a modified form. The greater island, embracing England and 

 Scotland, is comparatively limited in width ; one standard of time 

 is therefore used. It is only in respect to the sister island, Ireland, 

 that the difference in longitude calls for a difference in time. In the 

 whole United Kingdom, consequently, there are practically only 

 two standards, viz., Greenwich time and Irish time, the difference 

 being twenty-five minutes. No one, therefore, whose experience has 

 been confined to the United Kingdom, can form an adequate idea of 

 the extent of the inconvenieiice arising from the causes alluded to, 



