LONGITUDE AND TIME-RECKONING. 143 



It thus appears that of the total commerce of the world which in 

 a greater or less degree bases its system of navigation on eleven 

 different first meridians for the reckoning of longitude, 65 per cent, 

 of the number of ships, and 72 per cent, of the total tonnage, compute 

 their longitude east and west of Greenwich. 



The United States of America at one time used the meridian of 

 Washington. But the importance of having a common zero of 

 measurement has been felt to be so great, that practical effect has 

 been given to the idea, on the part of the United States, by all sea- 

 going ships of the Republic, giving up Washington, and adopting 

 the meridian of Greenwich. Russia, Norway, Holland, Belgium and 

 Japan have taken the same course, and Germany, Sweden, Austria 

 and Denmark have partially done so. 



It is accordingly clear that of the six places mentioned, the nether 

 meridians of which are convenient to Behring's Strait, Greenwich 

 takes the first position with respect to the number and tonnage of 

 ships navigating by it. The six several places, as far as known, seem 

 to stand in the following order, viz. : 



SHIPS. TONNAGE. 



Greenwich 37,663 14,600,972 



Paris 5,914 1,735,083 



Naples 2,263 715,448 



Christiania 2,128 695,988 



Stockholm 717 154,180 



Copenhagen 435 81,888 



The meridian drawn 180° east and west of Greenwich crosses a 

 small angle of Kamtschatka, immediately on the western side of 

 Behring's Strait; with this exception, it passes over no land between 

 the Arctic and Antarctic circles. The foregoing shows clearly that 

 it is, of all the meridians, the one which would best accommodate 

 the greatest number and tonnage of the world's shipping. By the 

 adoption of this as a common prime meridian, there would be no 

 disarrangement in the charts, the nautical tables, or the descriptive 

 nomenclature of nearly three-fourths of the ships navigating the 

 high seas. The same lines of longitude would be traced on the maps, 

 although diffex-ently notated. The necessity would simply arise of 

 falling back on the familiar phrases of 'new style' and 'old style,' 

 first applied in connection with chronological dates in England in 



