SUPrLEMENTARY PAPEES. 55 



The greatest difficulty presents itself in the fact that as yet no means 

 of bringing Cosmojjolitan Time into certain relationship with the rise 

 and setting of the sun in the different parts of the earth ; the appear- 

 ance of the sun admittedly governing the ordinary avocations of 

 business life. 



But if we consider this question in a scientific spirit, it follo\vs 

 that for some but not for all branches of sciences, for example, for 

 Meteorology and Astronomy and in part also for physical questions 

 of the earth, and in general for all questions which are affected by 

 the close determination of time, the common acceptance of one and 

 the same Time would extend great advantages, and could be effected 

 with little difficulty. Besides, it would save much time, and set 

 aside a great extent of misunderstanding. 



According to Struve's view, we must in the first place investigate 

 in what relationship the introduction of Cosmopolitan Time be oppor- 

 tune for science, and for what scientific problems the application of 

 Local Time with its relationship to the rise and setting of the sun can 

 be indicated. 



The common acceptance of another proposition of Fleming's, accord- 

 ing to Struve, should meet with slight objection, and is to be recom* 

 mended, viz., to set aside that division of the day into two halves of 

 12 hours, brought down to us from antiquity, and in its place to 

 establish the simple division of 24 hours, as at .present is the case 

 with the Italians ;"'' so indeed that besides the standard datum, exact 

 Standard Time for the several chief places, in the form of 24 Standards 

 one hour apart should be established fr-om which all the remaining 

 Local Times would obtain their derivation. 



Our associate, Prof. W. Forster, Director of the Observatory of 

 this place, at the conclusion of his pa|>er, " Review on some Time 

 considerations, especially concerning the establishment of a German 

 Standard Time," read at Hamburg, 7th February, 1881 (Deutche 

 Revue, 1881, No. S and 4-), has likewise taken into consideration this 

 proposition of the Canadian Institute, and expresses himself against 

 the introduction of 24 chief Local Times for ordinary life, in interna- 

 tional relations. On the other hand, he accepts the introduction of 

 a universal and not a national Standard Time in connection with a 

 standard datum for all transactions requiring precision in time. 

 The specified starting-point and time-determination yet to be estab- 

 lished, named in the Canadian papers as the " Cosmopolitan," accord- 

 ing to Prof Forster's view, must be the common principle of a 

 universally accepted and undisputed measure of time freed from all 

 differences of local time. Equally foi- the starting point of Universal 

 Time, he considers the meridian the best suited to be the one exactly 

 12 hoars or 180° from that of Greenwich (thus precisely identical 

 with that of Greenwich). G. V. B. 



"■■Also the day is divided by astronomers into 24 hours. 



