758 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXII. No. 830 



(i) Months: 12 of 28 days (4 weeks) each, 

 assembled in groups of three terminated by a 

 single closing week with a special designation. 

 All months to begin on Monday, as suggested 

 by Patterson. 



(c) Weelcs: 52 of Y days each, all beginning 

 with Monday. Forty-eight of the weeks, in 

 groups of 4 each, constitute the 12 months. 

 The remaining 4 weeks of the 52, viz., the 

 13th, the 26th, the 39th and the 52d, to be 

 attached severally at the end of the four three- 

 month groups to make up four symmetrical 

 •quarters of 13 weeks each. These terminal 

 weeks might be designated as closing or 

 quarter-end weeks ; but each is to have its own 

 -special name, the 13th to be Easter week, the 

 26th Julian week, the 39th Gregorian week 

 and the 52d Christmas week. In large meas- 

 ure these might concentrate into themselves 

 the holidays, short vacations, book-closing 

 periods, etc. ; and so come to have other special 

 designations suited to the various vocations. 



{d) Odd Days: The odd day of the usual 

 year, the 365th day, to be New Tear's Day, 

 and to be dies non so far as the week and the 

 month are concerned, as proposed by Patter- 

 son, but to be grouped with the preceding 

 Kjuarter as the end-day of the old year and as 

 the start-day of the new year. The adjust- 

 ment for the odd one-quarter day to follow 

 the Julian method and to be made by a Leap 

 Day following New Tear's Day every fourth 

 year, and to be a dies non also so far as week 

 and month are concerned, as also proposed by 

 Patterson, but to be grouped with the pre- 

 ceding quarter. 



The necessary correction of the Julian reck- 

 oning to be made by the Gregorian method as 

 now, by means of the periodic omission of the 

 Leap Day. 



Some further details of the scheme, par- 

 ticularly the places and names of the transi- 

 tion or quarter-end weeks, will appear in the 

 following table which throws the scheme into 

 form: 



FIRST QUABTEB 



(Winter season, northern hemisphere) 

 (Summer season, southern hemisphere) 

 January — i weeks, 28 days. 



February — i weeks, 28 days. 

 March — i weeks, 28 days. 

 Close Week — Easter week. 



SECOND QUAETEE 



(Spring season, northern hemisphere) 

 (Fall season, southern hemisphere) 

 April — i weeks, 28 days. 

 May — i weeks, 28 days. 

 June—^ weeks, 28 days. 

 Close Week — Julian week. 



THIKD QUAETEE 



(Summer season, northern hemisphere) 

 (Winter season, southern hemisphere) 



July — 4 weeks, 28 days. 



August — i weeks, 28 days. 



September — 4 weeks, 28 days. 



Close Week — Gregorian week. 



FOUETH QUAETEE 



(Fall season, northern hemisphere) 

 (Spring season, southern hemisphere) 

 October — i weeks, 28 days. 

 November — 4 weeks, 28 days. 

 December — 4 weeks, 28 days. 

 Close Week — Christmas week and odd days. 



The special feature of the scheme is the 

 symmetrical assembling of twelve months of 

 strictly uniform composition into four sea- 

 sonal groups with a close week each. Each 

 group therefore consists of 13 weeks and to- 

 gether they embrace the 52 weeks of the year. 

 The odd days are placed so as to emphasize 

 the Christmas holidays that mark the close of 

 one year and the beginning of the next. By 

 thus using the odd days to emphasize the 

 transitions between the years and the odd 

 weeks above those that make up the twelve 

 uniform months to mark the transitions be- 

 tween the quarters, almost perfect symmetry 

 is secured, and the close weeks of the quarters 

 should lend their good offices to secure uni- 

 formity of practise in the periodic work of the 

 world of affairs, of society and of education. 



The feature that is perhaps most debatable 

 in this scheme is the shifting of March, June, 

 September and December forward in the sea- 

 sonal scheme. This avoids dividing the win- 

 ter season (summer season of southern hemi- 

 sphere) between two years, which is our pres- 

 ent method in the grouping of the months 



