The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1859-04-07
The DOEninieal letter.

As an explanation of the meaning and
use of the Dominica Letter is seldom found
in any book or paper, perhaps an article re-
spccting it may not be uninteresting to
many rural readers. The writer heard it ex-
planned by one of his teachers som. years
since, but has never seen an explanation in
print, though some old arithmetic is said to
contain one.
The first seven letters of the alphabet are
used for the purpose ofdctermining the day
ofthe week, or month, without referring to
a calendar or almanac Let US observe, in
the first place, how these letters are applied
to the days Of the year. The first day of the
year is designated by the letter A, the sec
ond by B, the third by c, and so on, repeat
ing the letter for every seven days. Now,
by continuing thus through the year, and
noting the letters which fall on the first day
Of the months, we shall find that they occur
in the following order, A, d, d, G., B, E, G.,
c, F, \, d, f. These twelve (seven diff.
ferent) letters constitute the basis of reck On
ing for any year. Aalways designating the
first day Of January, D the first of February
D the first of March, and so on. The fol-
lowing couplet will assist In remembering
their order:
9 At Dover Dwells George Brown Esquire,
Let us now consider how the seven letter;
are applied to the days of the week. Since
Aalways designates the first day of the year
it necessarily designates the days OF the
week on which it occurred, also; B the day
following, and so on. If the first of January
occurs on Friday, then A will designate Fri
day, b Saturday, &C.; if on Tuesday, then :,
will designate Tuesday. b Wednesday, &c
We see, then, that the same letter dcsig
mates different days of the week in different
years; but the same days of the week
throughout the same year. aad l ast
BY knowing the letter designating par
ticular day of the week, we know at once
the letters for the other days of the week.
The letter designating Sunday is the one
fixed on from which to reckon. 1t is gen
orally given in the Almanac, and is called the
Dominica (dies' Domini, Lords day, OF
Sunday, } letter. 7as '"r ata a.5E
Since that day of the week on which the
first OF January occurs is designated by A.
the day following is b, &C., we readily as.
certain the Dominical letter, as it is the one
falling on Sunday. Thus, when the first o
january occurs on Wednesday, the letter
falling on Sunday is Z, which is the Sunday
or Dominica letter for the year. The first
ofJanuary this year occurred on Saturday,
and the Sunday or Dominica letter is B.
Now, on what day of the week will the 4ti,
of July occur? BY the couplet, the lst o
July is G. Then the 4.h is C, or Monday.
On what day will Christmas occur? The
lst of December is f; then the ODD is F.
and the S5th b, or Sunday. Again, it is
the second wednesday of May, what day Of
the month is it? The lst of May is b, or
Sunday, then Wednesday is the 4th, and the
second Wednesday the 1lth. 1t is the Sd
Friday in October, what day of the month
is it? The 1st of October is A, or Saturday
then Friday is the fifth, and the third Friday
is the 21st.
The Sunday, or Dominical Of 1857 was D.
Then the lst of July being G, the 4th was G.
or Saturday. The lst of May being B.
was Friday. Then the first Wednesday was
the 9th, and the second the 18th. There
are two Dominical letters for leap year. The
first letter is used for the first two months
and the second, which is the letter proceed
ing the first in order Of the alphabet is used
for the remaining ten months, and compen.
safes for the additional day in February
The Dominica letter of any year is the lette,
proceeding, in the order of the alphabet, the
Dominlcal letter Of the proceeding year.
ENC.
Rural Nec Yorker