Idaho news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1887-1891, 1888-02-04
gnE ALMANAC
How the Advertising Medicines Ara w.0.
iho hAfgest Almanac ia the Unlted sta,as

Thn -. "s @culcihrs are EAds--
sno AAfsest Almanac ia the United states.
Every family In the United States
writes correspondent 10 me GIeue'
suHa Leaaer, uses AN almanac. but fev
pe"pla are cognizan OF the Immensa
anlpunt 81 work require | IN their nre.
paiauoh. The phases of the moon.
the positions which the sun and stars
VIII hold at given times for every day
n,,,Duehout the year, the calculation OF
cs,llpses' and the hundred and one
o'usr iacls told by astronomy and
m,alheinaties appear ms regularly as
tne years go round. The simplest al
nianaes used for druggists advertise
ments are full Of such information
anu when one goes further and hicks
up ono OF the big volumes called nauti.
eaI himanacs, published for the use of
astronomers and navigators, the array
OF ngnfes Is really appalling, and their
long lines of digiis, thrown into order
which would delight Gradgrind
make the brains Of the general reader
SWIM rs no endeavors TO understand
lhem' These big nautical almanacs
are the fathers of all the others. The
calculations OF tho smaller almanaes
arc taken from them, and they feed.
as U were, the whole family Of little
nlmanaes the world over. The great.
est nations OF the world now have
thelr own nautical almanacs, and
these are made by their respective
governments. The nautical almanac
OF France has been published longer
ihan any other, its editions having
been issued for several hundred years.
Inc british almanac comes next, dat
ing back TO little before the Reyolu-
ton, and the German and Spanish
were begun since then. The Ameri-
can nautical almanac was first issued
ia 1880. and II is now said 20 be the
best almanac published anywhere In
the world. II contains more valuable
Information aud calculation than any
OF the other government almsnacs.
and It holds the highest place among
astronomers and navigators. The
almanac Is made at Washington. aud
q special department Of the navy UNI
der Prof. Neweomb is devoted TO It's
getting up. II Is 4 book Of solid fig
nres, over an inch thick. about eight
inches wide, and twelve inches long.
lt contains more than five hundred
pages. and each page Is black with
multitude Of carefully arranged lig-
nres, each Of which represent hours Of
calculation and sheets of scientific and
algebTaic study.
The work IN published three or more
years IN advance Of It's date. The al
manac for 1883 Is now out. and that
for 1889 is being prepared. Twelve
scientists. each noted as an astronomer
and mathematician. located ia dii-
iercnt parts Of the country, are almost
constantly working upon 1t. They
make their calculations and send them
10 Washington. and they are here
proved before gong into the Almanac.
The tito Of tho book Is 1.-The Ameri-
can Ephemoris and Nautical Altman
sc. snd II you would abbrcyiate this
title In talking Of i 10 one OF the
makers Of il lao would be highly dis
gusicd. Que Of them told me yesler-
day what IL contained. but his words
Of scientific terms fell upon my ear
like The jsrgon Of "a choctaw. and he
might as well have expressed himself
Ia Greek. Some of the moro scientific
Of your readers. however. may under
stand him. ] will repeat hts answer
10 ms request 10 know what this book
oi i've hundred pages 81 solid figures
contained. He said its calculations
are divided into three parts. Part !
IL adapted 10 the meridian Of Green
wich II contains tho positions Of tho
sun. moon. and primary planets for
every mean moon throughout the year.
II contains tho distances Of the moon
from the sun aud certain liked planets.
This Is used by nayigators at sea for
determining the longitude, etc. etc.
Part : 4 ADAPTED 10 the meridian Of
Washington. and il intended for the
nsa Of astronomers. MS we'll rs naviga-
tors. Il contains data for finding the
apparent positions Of the liked stars,
aud gives also the apparent places OF
the principal liked stars for every tenth
upper transit at Washington; also the
suns apparent right ascension and do
clination, hourly motion, and equation
oi time for every mean and apparent
noon at Washington, aud likewise the
same circumstances for the moon. IL
also contains tho mean time OF transit.
right ascension and declination, hori-
Eontal parallax aud scmi-diameter OF
each primary planet at the time OF
irsnsiI at Washington. Part is de-
voted 10 phenomena, and here, as
am no, scientific dictionary on legs,
| will not attempt 10 repeat what the
astronomer said IL contained II was
much worse than tho above, and when
/ looked again nj the millions OF figures
as he repeated the scientific jargon l
became more and more impressed with
the immense work III getting mp
nautical almanac and an american
Ephcmeris.'
These nautical almanacs, however,
do not deal with the weather. That
4 left entirely TO the weather bureau,
which is distinct from them. Altman
acs were made for years before any
government took them up. Tho old
Romans had n sort Of almanac, but
The first printed almanac was that OF
George Won Burback, who issued MS
predictions at Vienna In 1860. In the
sixteenth aud seventeenth centuries
almanacs were used as political docu-
m,uts, and they were full OF astrology,
asst, lpomy, and superstition in addi-
tion 10 their politics. The first Amerl-
can almanac was that Of William Brad
ford. who published one 10 1857. Ben
Frapklin's poor Richards Almanac
was first published in 1889, and the
American Almanac, which continued
NJ publication up TO 1861, was first
nublisbed In 1928. There are now
about one hundred almanacs published
N The United States. Of which, per-
hsn. ,he hest IL SpoifOrd's American