The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1912-12-27

NAAiC VI LIE JCdA
as we know it |
low. Little more than twenty centu- |
ries of the earth's annual celestial |
tours have been tailed with the year
as the unit of time. This innovation
is credited to Eratosthenes, mathe-
matician and philosopher, who held a
job as librarian for one of the Ptol-
emys at Alexandria about 254 years
before Christ Eratosthenes no doubt
found delight in devising system by
which future ages could eat their
meals and go to bed and get up again
without having to first run out into
the yard to see where the sun or
moon or some starry constellation
might chance to be.
We all know that the year is the
period In which the sun makes COM
plete circuit of the heavens and re-
turns to the point in the zodiac
whence it started, but we never stop
to question how or why. It is enough
for US that calendars and almanacs
are thrown our way for the asking,
wherein we find each day Of the
month and of the year carefully num-
| bered
Our years are Of the Christian era
and extend from January to Deem
Der 81. This era was first used by
Dionysius Exigus in A. d. sag. 1t was
more than thousand years before
the year was begun on January by
many nations. Before the days of
Eratosthenes there seems to have
been no crying demand for precise
plan of counting time. In one city
the reckoning was by succession OF
kings, in another by succession of
magistrates or priests. Even after
the adoption in European countries OF
the Christian era there were SO many
methods of dating-national, provin-
ciaI and ecclesiastical-that only con
fusion could result. Mythology long
had held a higher place than astron
omy.
Peoples of Egypt and Babylonia are
/ said to have been wiser than those
: of other nations that figure in the cen
turtles following them. Sages of those
oldeu times we're familiar with tbs
heavens, but the Greeks who followet
$ them could not calculate the adven
e Of their moons in conjunction will
il the sun. The Hebrews before goinI
down into Egypt and the Arabian
= before the time of Mohammed calcu
y lated time only by the moon. The
. figured IL lunations or S54 days a
4 the duration of the year. On tina
basis the New Years day returned t
the same season once in 80 year,
Moses is said to have obtained all
- his chronological knowledge froi
!. the Egyptians who learned the lengt
of the tropical year by observing tn
rising of Sirius, the dogstar.
Some troubles of the Jews in kee
ing their calendar straight are told
= the Jewish encyclopedia. In ear
= times an extra month was thrown
'e every two or three years. Calcul
tons of the relative length or Il
solar and lunar years were hand'
). down by traditions in the patriarch
family. 1t was possible also to judi
" by the grain harvest. If the mon
of Nissan arrived and the sun was
" far from the yernal equinox that
ne could not reach it by the 10Th OF .
ou month. the month was not called J
san. but Adar Sheni (second).
'e The country people and the inhs
on itants OF Babylonia were informed
the beginning of the month by 4
ne signals. carried from station to 8
ton in the mountain country.
"under the patriarchate Of Raj
Judah L." says the Jewish encyc
media. s'the Samaritans. in order to ct
:. mise the Jews, set fire signals at
- rroner times and thus caused
~ Jews to fall into error with rega
~, ~ n the day OF the new moon. RAJ
~ ~ Judah accordingly abolished the
ei signals and employed messengers
The Jewish calendar reckons
's DAYS from evening to evening In
70 cordanca with the order observed
The biblical account of the creati
an The Jewish cycle in nineteen ye
axcesds the Gregorian by hours
COZ minutes and 1873 seconds. inns ma
her . adherence in a hundred eye
n 400 years) OF days, p hours.
,,,inntss and s seconds. The assun
duration OF the solar year rs . n
TOY utes SO 1851 seconds In excess OF
the true astronomical value, which
nch cause the dates Of the commencem
nat Of future Jewish years. that are
is calculated. to advance from the e
nox a day in error in 21s years
All European countries borro,
..,viI calendars from the Romans.
VINO wsar began with March and that
' sns counts for the present names o.
'ue last four months of the year. IN
rae rae reign Of Numa two months were .
Ireo I'd january at the beginning and J