Book Description

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1849 edition. Excerpt: ... "I, whom thou see'st with Horologe in hand, Am named Time, the lord of every hour. I shall, in space, destroy both sea and land." With regard to time, we are indebted for the idea to successions of observed events, or, at least, to the power of applying the idea to external objects. But this cannot be done by our thoughts, except approximately, and for short periods. The memory of a musician, aided by the sentiment or feeling of time, will do well enough as respects his purpose, for a short space; but as to the judgment of considerable portions, it is subject to many uncertainties. A time which seems to have been long through weariness, has been long, and the contrary, on opposite grounds. Thus, a year of mature age is really, to the thoughts, of a different length from one of childhood. It became necessary, therefore, not only for the purposes of scientific but of civil reckoning, that some determinate method of measuring time should be agreed upon, as derived from the succession of events observable by every one. There can be no doubt that the heavenly bodies originally gave rise to the measurement of time, and that mankind were induced, from an observation of their motions, to adopt the present mode of dividing it. The space which elapsed between what is called sunrise and sunset has, from time immemorial, been designated by a term signifying day, and that from sunset to sunrise by another term signifying night. The day and night were subsequently divided into twentyfour equal parts, called hours; an hour into sixty equal parts, called minutes; and a minute into sixty seconds, &c. The moment the sun attains his greatest altitude, is called noon for that day; and the time from one noon to the next is a solar day. But as solar days are...