The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1867-08-15
How Long is a Year.

Venus only to confer upon ladies the
privilege of popping the question. or
that February has twenty nine days that
it might have q chance Of the luck Of
odd numbers. OF course It is not nee
essary to bring any science to bear
against such notions. The subject, really
involves some certain important niceties
which we are persuaded not one in
thousand clearly comprehends, and for
that reason we shall:try to elucidate it.
Our civil year is founded upon the
period OF the revolution of the earth
about the sun. We say founded upon.
only, for the natural Or astronomical
year as determined by astronomers is
not the same period of time as the civil
year. If the natural year had exactly
365, 366 Or other number of days, there
would De no trouble. the civil year would
accord with it and represent precisely
the same period of time. But the nat
ural year cannot be divided into an ex.
act number of days; and to- complicate
the matter still more, astronomers show
us that there areseveral kinds of natural
years in consequence Of there being sew
eral distinct but Legitimate ways of meas
uring the period os the earth S orbit
We give two examples. Let the earth,
the sun and a fixei star be in the same
straight line in given instant. Now
the time which will e!apse before they
will be again in the same relative posi-
tion is one kind of year. This year is
called a siderial year and it's length is
365 6h. On. 8. s. sec.-But if the per
iod be measured on the ecliptic, as for
example the time which elapses between
the SUMS crossing one of the equinoctial
points and again reaching the same we
get different result. This year is call
sd the eauinoctial, tropical or solar year
and its length is 365 d. 5 b. 48 m 49.7
see.
Now it has been agreed that this so,
lar year shall be the foundation or stand
ard Of the civil year, and that the two
shall be brought as nearly as possible
into accord. In ancient times the sab
ject was very poorly understood, and the
civil year was constantly getting out of
with the sun, This discrep
ancy evidently became serious affair.
when the natural winter enasoached on
the summer OF the calendar. -g
julius Cesar, 46 B. c., made the first I
10 fial
saw that the solar year was about 3654
lays iong-the figures were near enough :
he truth to answer his purpose. If the
civil year be 365, it is quarter of q
lay short of the solar year, four civil
years would have lost just whole day.
he therefore ordered that every fourth
year should have 366 days. Thus orig
mated the leap year. By his changes ]
n the reckoning Of time, Cesar's ZANE ]
8 made to live forever and to be on the 1
ips of all men. The month July is
lamed in honor. and the Julian Calen- !,
lar is still followed, over a considerable I
'ortion of the earth. aes 4
If the solar year were exactly 3654 /
lays, there would never have arisen an j
occasion TO reform the Julian Calandar. il
n fact, every Julian year gets in ad-
ance of the solar year about ten min i
ties; in Il century nearly whole day. \
II Caesar 8 time the vernai equinox fell (
n the 25th of March, in the sixteenth 1
entury it had fallen back to the 11th.
he difference was getting to be impor-
ant and the subject was ably discussed.
he result was that Pope Gregory XIII,
I 1877, approved and ordered reform. /
he change actually took effect in 1882. /
n honor OF the Council of Nice, ten
avs were dropped from the calendar, in [
RIDER to bring the vernal equinox for all 1
Iae on that day of the month, the 21st
f March, at which it occurred in the
ear 1925 of the meeting of the coun-
i. If there had been respect for the |
emory of Caesar, fourteen days instead I
ten would have been omitted.
To prevent discrepancy in the future
atween the civil and solar year, it was
und that if only those centennial years
which the number, after suppressing
te two ciphers, is divisible by four, be
garded as leap years, the purpose is
The plan was adopted /
accordance with it 1900 will not be !;
ap year. = = q = s +,
The protestant nations and those un-
,r the rule of the Greek Church. Of
urse looked upon a reform instituted
pope with no favor. But protest.
It Germany and Denmark adopted it
1900; England followed in 1852, and I
pm that time forward "old STYLE and
ew style of necessity became house 4
Id words wherever English was epoken. t