Evening star., 1898-06-11
How They Are Measured in This and
Other Lands.
CURIOSIfIES OF TIE CALENDAR
Various Ways of Determining the
Length Of the Year.
WHEN a CENTURY BEGINS


Pies knowledge of the year. But there ara
several kinds of years. and they do not All
start on January the first The lunar year
Is the time In which the moon travels round
the earth twelve times. This is three hum
dred and ifty-four days. eight hours. forty
eight minutes long. and is the period Of
tine used by the Jews. il is an exceeding
iy fauity year, being no less than eleven
DAYS shorter than the solar year. To mako
good this defect the Jews add thirteenth
month of thirty days every third year. but
even then they are still three days behind
solar time.
The solar year is the time in which tha
earth completes one journey round the sun;
this is three hundred and sixty-iive days,
five hours, forty-eight minutes forty-nins
seconds long. Then there is the sidereal
year-the tune required for the earth Io
travel round the sun and return TO ths
same position with respect to the sun and "A
given liked star; this is three hundred and
sikty-hVe days, six hours, nine minutes.
nine seconds. The anomalistic wear is the
period in which the earth travels from peri
hehon-the nearest point to the sun-Dack
10 perlhellon again. This year consists OF
three hundred and sixty-hve days, six
hours, thirteen minutes. forty-nine Sec
oDds.
The Solar Year.
1t Is the solar year which is in universal
use; II Is generally assumed to be three
hundred and sixty-fiye and a quarter days
long. Julius Caesar was the first to intro
oCce the leap year, and by adding a day
every fourth year making civil and astro-
nomic time equal. But the year is really
eleven minutes twelve seconds short of
thfee hundred and sixty-tive and a quarter
days, so that every four years civil time
became faster than solar time by that
amount But this, though only a small
traction OF a year-O.DI1S of a day to be
eAact-assumed considerable proportions in
the course of centuries. In 15S2, twelve
hundred years after the adoption of the
Julian Calendar, Aloyslus Lilius, an Ital-
ian astronomer, found that the error
amounted to ten days; civil time was in
fact, ten days before the solar time The
pope, Gregory XIII, accordingly decreed
that ten days should be dropped, October
the NTH being called October the fifteenth.
In order to prevent future errors, il was
also directed that every hundredth year
should not be counted a leap year unless
the number of the year was divsible by
four hundred without remainder. Thus 1850
was a leap year. but 100 and 1850 were
not, nor Will 1880 be leap year though
1000 A-D. will be. The changes constituted
the Gregorian Calendar. or new style.
Variable Dates.
The date of Christmas varies only less
than that of the New Year. The Eastern
Church observed Christmas on January G
the Abyssinians on June II and the Armenf-
ans still call January Is Christmas day.
ScEle churches celebrated it on March 2t-
the Jewish Passover-and others on Sep
tember 2J-the Feast of Taternacies. But
Pope Julius L, who occupied St. Peters
chair from 33I TO S52 A. d.. fixed Christ
N as day ON December 10 and that ever
since has been the date.
Easter Is the most important Christian
festival of the year. as by its date are fixed
All the movable feaStS. For he
centuries OF the Christian era the Churches
OF the East and the West observed Easter
at different times. The Eastern or ortho-
COX Church, as II Is now called observed
Easter on the same day as the Jewish
Passover, the 14th Nisln, while the West
ern or Roman Church celebrated Easter
on the Sunday after that date. The East
ern Church liked Easter by the Jewish cal
endar, which is full OF imperfections Vic
tor bishop of Rome, commanded the East
ern Church TO observe Easter on the same
date as the Western Church. The former
refused, and hence a schism between the
TWO churches. The Celtic Church celebrate
Ell Easter at a different time from either
put at the council of Whitby, in G64. the
English Church TO mally attached itself to
the Church of Rome by adopting her time
of observing Easter
Depends Upon the Moon,
In 325 a. ID. Constantine had called to-
gether the council of Nicea to fix the da;e
OF Easter As the moon had been full on
the nlSht after the crucifixion, il was
agreed that Easter must depend upon the
phases of the moon. and therefore be a
movable feast; and Easter was fixed TO
occur on the first Sunday after the full
moon OF the spring equinox
In England the date of Easter is fixed by
act OF pariidment-l4 Charles II-and also
by the rubric of the church. Easter mas a
range or thlrty-ave days in which it can
fall. The earliest date is March ~ and the
latest April p. In ISIS il fell on March %
and cannot do so agail Until 22S5 In IssIi
Easter fell On the latest possible date. April
%; this had not occurred before since 1856
hundred and fifty years previously-and
VIII not occur again until 1943-the only
ume next century-and 2U,S When Easter
sunday thus falls on st. Marks day. Whit
sunday falls on the Feast of St Antony
and Corpus Christi day on ST. John the
Baptist.
Centuries and Months.
There are some curious facts As to tba
days on which centuries and months conn
mence. No century can commence on a
wednesday, Friday or Saturday The
month of October commences on the same
day of the week January except i'm a
leap year. September and December also
start on the same week day and so do
FeDruary. March and November. The first
day OF May, June and August never fall
on the same week day on which any other
month starts. April and July always start
on the same day of the week. This wear
January and October start on a Saturday:
February, March and November on a Tues
Gay; April and July on Friday: Septem-
ber and December On a Thursday; June on
wednesday, May on Sunday, and Au-
gust on Monday. Leap year, however.
always throws this little Arrangement out
OF gear. Christmas day always falls on
the same day of the week as New Year
day, and a year always ends on the same
week day as IL started. In 1893 January
the first fell on Sunday. and there were
thus ffty-three Sundays in the year; this
will happen again next year. This occurs
only fourteen times in a century. IL is
also interesting to note that all the dates
of this year are the same as those of lSSy
The Twentieth Century.
Now that this century is so rapidly draw
ing to its close, ii will be worth our while
to point out that the nineteenth century
does not finish until December the thirty
first. 1890. and the twentieth commence
until January the first, 1901. No doubt
there viii be many people who will be
guided by mere nominal considerations.
and prematurely bury the century on De-
cember the thirty-first. 1s99
The longest day Of the year at New York
\