SUPPLEMENTARY PAPERS. 39 



THE SECRETARY OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY, LONDON, TO THE 

 COLONIAL OFFICE. 

 The Royal Society, Bu.rltn«ton House, November 6tli, 1879. 



Sir, — In reply to your letter dated 28tli August, 1879, enclosing 

 copy of a letter from the Secretary of tlie Canadian Institute, To- 

 ronto, with copies of a pamphlet relative to the establishment of a 

 Prime Meridian that shall be common to all nations, I am directed 

 to offer the following observations : — 



The President and Council of the Royal Society have taken into 

 consideration the proposals of Mr. Sandford Fleming relative to 

 Time-reckoning and to the establishment of a Prime Meridian, which 

 were forwarded by the Council of the Canadian Institute, with a 

 Memorial, to His Excellency the Governor-General of Canada. 



The proposal consists of two parts — (1) The establishment of a 

 system of Cosmopolitan Time, with plans for the ready passage from 

 this to approximate local Time. (2) The choice of a Prime Meri- 

 dian which should be common to all nations. 



The convenience of a system of Time-reckoning which should be 

 common to all the earth is easily seen ; while at the same time it is 

 obvious that if such a reckoning be at all generally used, there must 

 be means of readily passing from it to local Time, or at least approxi- 

 mate local Time, which is intimately bound up with the daily busi- 

 ness of life. 



The means recommended by the author are simple and seem well 

 devised. The difficulty is, of coui-se, to induce the different civilized 

 nations of the world to concur in this or any similar scheme. 



With i-egard to the second point, the establishment of a Prime 

 Meridian common to all nations, the author has adduced strong 

 reasons, founded on convenience, why a Meridian passing through 

 Behring Strait, or nearly so, should be chosen. It happens that a 

 Meridian 180° from that of Greenwich fulfils the condition, and if 

 this were adopted, the change in existing maps, &c., which refer to 

 the Meridian of Greenwich as the Prime Meridian, would not be 

 very serious. The choice, however, of a Prime Meridian, even to 

 the extent of adopting one exactly 180° from a Meridian at present 

 in use as a Prime Meridian, is one upon which the susceptibilities of 

 individual nations might make it more difficult to obtain concurrence 

 than upon the mere adoption of a common system of cosmopolitan 

 Time-reckoning in the abstract. 



While disposed to look favourably on the proposed scheme, the 

 President and Council feel that no scheme of the kind would have 

 much chance of success unless there were a general readiness on the 

 part of civilized nations seriously to entertain the question. 



I have, &c. , 



G. G. STOKES, Secretary R. S. 

 To Edward Wingfield, Esq., Asst. Under-Sec. of State for the Colonies. 



