The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1860-02-29
Leap Year.


The year 1860 is "leap year." and con.
sists of three hundred and sxty.six days,
one day being added to the shortest month,
February, which will therefore have twenty
nine days this year. Leap year occurs every
fourth year, and is 80 called because it leaps
over day more than does any other yesr.
It is also called bissextle-from the Latin
word bis, twice, and Ssrtus, sixth-meaning
that the sixth of the calends of March (cor.
responding to the oath OF February was
reckoned twice every fourth year by the in.
tercalation Of a day.
The necessity of leap year arises from
the fact that the solar year does not corres-
pond exactly with the civil year, in conse-
quence of its not ending exactly with a
given day, but with fraction of day. III
it were not for this arrangement, Christmas
in the course of time would be in Midsum.
mer and the fourth of July in the depth of
Winter.
The true year consists of the time it takes
for the earth to make one revolution round
the sun, which is determined by its coming
back to the same point in the zodiac from
which il started, and this is accomplished in
three hundred and sixty.fve days and nearly
six hours; but as the calendar must consist
of complete days, these six hours are omit
ted, and in four years they make up whole
day, which one is added 10 the year, making
what is called leap year. This, however, is
not strictly correct; for it is ascertained by
accurate calculations that a solar year is
exactly 365 days, hours, 49 minutes, and
ST. seconds; consequently, in putting on
the six hours, we add / minutes, II 4 sec.
onds in four years. This in the course,of
1851 years would amount 10 "a hours, or
complete day. Every year, the number OF
which is divisible by four without remain.
der, is leap year, except the last day of the
century, which is leap year only when d.
visible by 400 without remainder. Thus
the year 1900 will not be leap year.
The Roman year originally had but ten
months, as may be seen in the meaning of
he name December, which is "tenth month"
March was the first month of the year in
the time of Romulus, and December was
the last month; but Numa Pomplius, who
knew astronomy better, added January nnd
February.
! While Romes great founder made the times hi, care
y m tha he rho IN tuta ba
!, But Numas, better skilled in astral lore,
! To Romulus' months adjoined two more.
a The Egyptians were the first who approx
! imated to the real length of the year, which
|. they made to consist Of three hundred an
y sixty days. Afterwards they added fv
g days, as was done by Thales, one of the Sc
Y ven wise men of the Greeks. Jews, Syr
q ians, E,hiopians, Romnns, Persians, an,
r Arabs, all had years of different lengths.
The day on which the year commence!
t is also different in different countries, bu
e in all it is held in great veneration. The
: Jewish historical year commences with
e the new moon, near the vernal equinox
= (March 22d), and the civil year with the
=. new moon near the autumnal equinox. The
d Mahomedans begin their year on the day
y when the sun enters Aries the Persians in
v the month which answers to our June; the
Chinese and Indians with the first new moon
! which happens in March; and the Mexcana
, on the 23l of February, at which time the
verdure in that country begins to APPEAR
e William the Conqueror. having been crown
j. ed on the first day of January, gave occasion
o to the English to begin their year on ths
e day, in order to make it correspond with tht
$ most remarkable date in their history.
Though the hstorica years begin in Eng
8 land on the festival OF the Circumcision, OIL
=. the first day of January, on which day tbs
4 German and Italian year begins, yet the civi
=, or legal year did not commence till the day
ia Of the Annuncia,ion Of the Virgin, the 25tb
), of March. The part of the year between
y those terms was usually expressed in bott
i these ways either ls4s-o or 1874 SO. Blu
by the act altering the style, the civil yea
/. now begins with the first Of January. TIT
r old style followed the Julian method OF com
d putting the year by the calender established
d by Julius Caesar, in which every fourth yea
l consists OF 366 days and the other years 0
9 365. This Julian arrangement Of tim
8 makes, as we have seen, eleven minutes an
some seconds in a year too much. Pop
= Gregory XIII. reformed the calendar by re
= trenching ten days in October, 1889, in or
r der TO bring back the vernal eqnnox to tn
b. came day as at the Council of Nice, A. D
b 1876. The Reformation was adopted by &C
g of Parliament in Great Britain in 1881, b
i. which eleven days in September, 1852, wer
d retrenched, and the third dly was reckone
k the fourteenth. This mode of reckoning
r called new style.
- A Beautiful Story.
i Ike Green Bav (WisconsiD) AdrocGk