The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1885-08-29
ABOUT AtMANAcs.

ABOUT AtMANAcs.
me Largest Almanac In the werid Prom
which All the Lesser Ones are Pre-
pared
Every family in the United States uses
m almanac, but few people are cog
aizant of the immense amount of work
required in their preparation. The
phases of the moon, the positions which
he sun and stars will hold at given
lines for every day throughout the
rear. the calculation of eclipses, and
;he hundred and one other facts told
BY astronomy and mathematics appear
As regularly as the years go round. The
simplest almanacs used for druggists
advertisements are full of such informa-
lion, and when ous goes further and
picks up one Of the big -olumes called
nautical almanacs. published for the
use Of Astronomers and navigators, the
stray OF figures is really appalling. and
their long lines of digits. thrown into
order which would delight Gradgrind,
make the brains of the general reader
swim as he endeavors to understand
them. These big nautical almanacs are
the fathers Of all the others. The
calculations OF the smaller almanacs are
taken from them, and they feed, as 1t
were. the whole family Of little almanacs
the world over. The greatest nations
Of the world now have their own nautical
almanacs, and these are made by their
respective governments. The nautical
almanac OF France has been published
longer than any other, Its
editions having been issued for several
hundred years. The British almanac
comes next, dating back to little be-
fore the Revolution, and the German
and Spanish were begun since then
The American Nautical Almanac was
first issued In 1855. and 1t is now said
to be the best almanac published any.
where In the world. 1t contains more
valuable Information and calculation
than any of the other government
almanacs. and it holds the highest
place among astronomers and naviga-
tors. The almanac Is made at Wash.
ington. and o special department of the
navy under Prof. Newcomb Is devoted
to its getting up. 1t Is q book of solid
figures, over an inch thick. about eight
inches wide and twelve inches long 1t
contains more than five hundred pages,
and each page is black with multitude
Of carefully arranged figures, each of
which represent hours OF calculation
and sheets of scientific and algebraic
study.
The work is published three or more
r. IL r. IL.
almanac for 1888 is now out and that
for 1889 is being prepared. Twelve
scientists, each noted as an astronomer
and mathematician, located in diff
ferent parts Of the country, are almost
constantly working upon it. They
make their calculations and send them
TO Washington, and they are here
proved before going into the almanac
The title of the book is The American
Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac" and
il you would abbreviate this title in
talking Of it to one of the makers Of it
be would be highly disguised. One of
them told me yesterday what it con-
tanned, but his words of scientific terms
fell upon my ear like the jargon of
Choctaw, and he might as well have
expressed himself in Greek Some Of
the more scientific of your readers,
however. may understand him. will
repeat his answer to my request to
know what this book of five hundred
pages of solid figures contained. He
said its calculations are divided into
three parts. Part is adapted to the
meridian of Greenwich. 1t contains
the positions of the sun. moon and pri-
mary planets for every mean moon
throughout the year. It contains the
distances of the moon from the sun and
certain fixed planets. This Is used by
navigators at sea for determining the
longitude, ETC., ETC.. Part 2 is adapted
to the meridian of Washington, and is
intended for the use of astronomers, as
well as navigators. 1t contains data for
finding the apparent positions of the
principal fixed stars for every tenth
upper transit at Washington; also the
suns apparent right ascension and
declination, hourly motion, and equa-
ton of time for every mean and appar-
ent noon at Washington, and likewise
the same circumstances tor the moon.
1t also contains the mean time OF
transit, right ascension, and declina-
ton, horizontal paraHax and semi-di-
ameter of each primary planet at the
time of transit at Washington. Part
is devoted to "phenomena." and
here, as l am not a scientific dictionary
on legs, l will not attempt to repeat
what the astronomer said 1t contained
1t was much worse than the above, and
when Hooked again at the millions of
figures as he repeated the scientific jar
gon l became more and more impressed
with the immense work of getting up a
nautical almanac and an american
Ephemeris.
These nautical almanacs, however. do
not deal with the weather. That is left
entirely to the weather bureau. which Is
distinct from them. Almanacs were
made for years before any government
took them up. The old Romans had a
sort Of almanac. but the first printed
almanac was that of George Won Bur-
back, who issued his predictions at vi
emma In 1860. In the sixteenth and sew
enteeth centuries almanacs were used
as political documents, and they were
full OF astrology. astronomy and super
stition in addition to their politics. The
first American almanac was that OF
William Bradford. who published one in
1887. Ben Franklin's ''Poor Richards
Almanac" was first published in 1882.
and the American Almanac. which con-
tinued its publication up to 1861, was
first published in 1928 There are now
about one hundred almanacs published
in the United States, of which, perhaps,
the best is Spoford's American Alma
nae, published by the Librar an of Con-
gress. CDR Cleveland Leader.