y. It appears to me, therefore,
that inasmuch as there must be an absolute break or discontinuity in
time in passing round the earth--a break of twenty-four hours--it is
much more convenient that this break should take place in the
uninhabited part of the earth than in the very centre of civilization.

If we adopt the universal day which coincides with the civil day at
Greenwich, then you will be able to have complete continuity of local
time over the whole earth, in harmonious relation with the universal
day, except at the break which necessarily takes place on the 180th
meridian. Otherwise this will not be possible. For instance, according
to the system proposed by the resolution, the local time
corresponding, say, to 0 hours of Monday at Greenwich, would, in
passing round the earth to the eastward from the 180th meridian,
gradually change from 12 hours of Sunday to 12 hours of Monday; and,
on returning to that meridian, the break of time would occur, and one
day would appear to be lost. But complete continuity both in the days
and hours, and harmony with the universal day, that is, the Greenwich
civil day, would be preserved for the whole earth, excepting on
crossing the 180th meridian.

The result of the system which was proposed at Rome would be to cause
the break of dates to take place at Greenwich at noon, so that the
morning hours of the civil day would have a different universal date
from the afternoon hours, and this would be the case all over Europe.
But if the universal day be made to correspond to the civil day of
Greenwich, and the longitude is counted east in one direction and west
in another direction to the 180th meridian, these difficulties would
be overcome, and a perfectly simple rule would suffice for converting
local into universal time. As regards what was said upon the subject
of longitude being plus or minus, according as you move to the east or
west, it appears to me that there is a positive, clear, and rational
reason for calling longitude eastward plus and longitude westward
minus. The time is later to the east, and therefore the hour is
indicated by a higher number. In converting universal into local time,
if the place is east of Greenwich, you add the longitude to the
universal time, and therefore increase the number of the hour; if the
place be west of Greenwich, you subtract the longitude, and therefore
diminish the number of the hour. It is natural, therefore, to call
east longitude po