112 TIME-RECKOXING. 



The Chinese system would, without a doubt, suit the requirements 

 of this age much better than that wliich we now follow. The halving 

 of the day is one source of difficulty which ought not to exist, and it 

 would be an impoi'tant step to imitate the custom of computing time 

 which is followed by that old oriental civilization. The adoption of 

 the Chinese system, by which half days would be thrown out of use, 

 would not, however, obviate the other very serious objections which 

 have been raised. To overcome at once all the difficvdties is the 

 problem which presents itself for solution. 



A SCHEME OF UNIFORM TIME-RECKONING. 



It has been stated that the period occupied by a diurnal revolution 

 of the earth, is the shortest measure of time which we find in nature. 

 As a conseqvience, man is left to reckon and sub-divide this measure 

 in the way best calculated to promote his own convenience. There 

 can be no doubt whatever that all smaller divisions, except that 

 produced by the rising and setting of the sun, must be artificial 

 and arbitrary. 



When the decimal system was adopted by the French, it was pro- 

 posed to divide the day into ten and a hundred parts; a scheme which 

 would probably be the best at this age of the world, had the whole 

 system of horology to be established de novo. In view of generally 

 prevailing customs, however, it will doubtless be felt that any attempt 

 to introduce the decimal division of the day would be unwise ; that it 

 would be futile to propose a change which could only succeed by 

 seriously interfering with the present notations. 



The progress of the world may indeed before long demand a 

 radical change in our chronometry ; but the present method of com- 

 puting time in the more civilized parts of the earth is so interwoven 

 with every day life, that it cannot in the meantime be disregarded. 

 It will be evident that the consideration of any change should be 

 based on the full recognition of established customs. Instead of 

 attempting to uproot and supersede the present system, it is con- 

 sidered that any new scheme to meet the requirements of the age 

 should rather be engrafted on and be in as complete harmony as 

 possible with the old one. 



In this view the following suggestions are offered : 



Our fi.rst effort should be to find a suitable unit measure of time, 

 uniform in length, and^ for obvious reasons, the shortest to be found 

 in nature. 



