The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-12-27
THE CALENDARS.
a History Of the Evolution OF the
Solar Year.


planisphere. or celestial globe, one is
led to associate the noble and sublime
science of astronomy with shepherd
| life. In the pastures of the newly Gre
ated world the first human beings had
very little society, and all they saw
| from day to day was their hocks graz
! ing and frisking about them. There
were several signs, however, by me ans
/ of which, if they were only observant,
they could have roughly calculated the
| flight of time. Thus the departure Of
! the birds in the autumn and the fall of
the leaves warned them of the approach
of winter. and ixed an epoch recur-
| ring with periodic regularity; but in
their wanderings in search of new
pastures, the necessity of an unerring
guide became of paramount i'm
portance, and naturally the heavenly
bodies came to be adopted as a great
compass of wondrous directing aud
date-marking machine, fixing the regu-
lar periodic flow of time. Thus the
heliacal rising of one certain star her
aided the advent of the shearing season,
while the appearance of the pleiades in
the east preluded the seedtime; and
thus two dates Of the utmost impor-
tance to priDitive'end pastoral people
came to be fixed Aud as in this sim
pie astronomy the shepherds traced
the annals of the stars among their
hocks and herds, SO in like manner
they traced the history Of their focks
among the stars.
Thus the course of the sun came TO
lie amid sheepfolds and their surround
ings. At one time of the year the 20
diacal constellation Taurus, the bull,
the lord of the herd, marked where
''the father of the day" was located.
At another time the ram, the master
of the fold, served to designate his po-
sition.
The lion. the terror Of herdsmen, was
also placed in the sky, together with
the dreaded scorpion, and besides these
concomitants Of the life CT shepherd.
he placed likewise above him still dear
er associations, such as the children of
his household, Gemini; the virgin, Vir-
go; the ear of corn, Spica Virgins; and
his instruments OF husbandry, the pillow
and the sickle.
The best possible proof of how far
the stars had entered into the life of
man may be found in the worship of
the Sabeans of antiquity, who adored
the starry hosts as infinite God But
this epoch Of mystery evidently pre-
coded the dawn of observation, and the
most important period in connection
with the subject of time-neasuring
commenced when men began to turn
the celestial sphere into a mighty rus
tic habitation, modelled on the basis of
their own immediate surroundings.
Even the dog, the type of watchful-
ness, was translated to the heavens;
the bright star Sirius, whose heliacal
rising in the days of ancient Egypt pre-
saged the OVERLOOKING of the Nile,
periodic event of the greatest national
importance.
Thus, from the earliest times the
been regarded as grand time-measur-
ers; but long before the stars had been /
observed for astrological or other pur-
poses the sun and moon, more intimate /
ly connected with mans existence. came I
to be regarded as time-marking ma
chimes; and it is on the motions of these /
two celestial bodies that all calendars 4
have been based.
1t would be reasonably expected that 4
the sun, which is the great source and .
supporter of life upon the earth, aud .
the regulator of the seasons, would be
generally adopted as measure Of .
time, but men were also struck by the
constant aud regular return of the
phases of the moon, and from this fact
were led 20 use the moon as the basis
for their calendar.
The Nussulmzn year is purely lunar,
and consists Of the period embraced By
twelve revolutions OF the moon around
the earth, or three hundred and fifty
four and oue-third days The Israel
ties never adopted the solar year, no:
even when they lived go long in the
land of Egypt; for we find them, SO
soon as they were settled III the prom
.sed land, using the lunar month
and the lunar year. The ancient Jew
ISL year had only three hundred and
ettT-tou- days; twelve days were
added sometimes At Tie end o,
the year, and sometimes q month CT
thirty days after the month AdSr. IN or
der 10 bring j; into agreement with the
solar year. But the Jewish calendar
reform in the fourth century
after the Christian era AID Il is this
calendar which Is used By the
Jews OF our day for fixing their fes-
rivals and religious ceremonies Il Is
extremely ingenious. and is based on
he course OF the moor The year 10
composed OF twelve lunar months
when common, and Of thirteen lunar
when eHbolisuics snd these
years succeed each other in such way
hat after . period Of nineteen years
ne comuencem ent q the Jewish year
srriEes a. tie same epoch as tie solar
rear The Jewish year Is therefore
znz--solzr year. and the civil ysar q
bis remarkable people. IN eo1zoa
With All Oriental ExtiozsL eonn-Eces
zith the Few noo7 % SpS.AzzSer. AID