February, March, April, May, June, July,
Augufl, September, Oitober, November,
December.
The number of days in each month is
found by the following canon.
Thirty days hath September,
Apiii, Junf, and November,
February hath Twenty-eight .-»5one.
All the reft have Thirty-one.
Years are again either aftronomical or
V.
civil.
The ailronomical year is either folar or
lunar.
The folar year is fiderial, or tropical.
The fiderial year is the fpace that flows
while the fun is paffing from any fixed ftar,
to the fame again. Jt confifts of 365 days,
6 hours, 9 minutes, 14 feconds.
The tropical year is the fpace that flows
while the fun paffes from either tropic, or
from any point of the ecliptic, to the fame
again. This is fomewhat Ihort of the fide-*
rial year, becaufe every point of the ecliptic -
goes backwards about 50 feconds of a degree
in a year, thereby meeting the fun, as it
were; which makes the fun return to the
* The ancient Saxons had a great many idols, Feven of which were appropriated to the feven days of the
week, becaul'eol' lomeworfhip that was paid to each idol on its refpedive day, viz.
I. The Sun.
?.. The Moon.
3. Tuifco, who had been a man of great renown among the Germans, after whom they called themfelves
Tuitften, that is, Tuitihmen ; from whence comes the modern name Dutchmen. The third day of the
\v;ek was cfpecially dedicated to the worfhip of this ido], V/hichwas therefore called Tuifday, or Tuefday. .
4- ^^^'^'^".> ^'"^o had been a famous warrior, ai;d was therefore honoured as the god of battle, in like man-
ner as Mars was among the Romans. Ke was chiefly worfhipped on the fourth day of the week, which was
c-..lled Wodenfday or Wednefday.
5. Thor, the god Aho was fuppofed to govern the winds and clouds, and to whom they prayed for feafon-'' I
able weather, and that efpeciaily sn the fifth day of the week, called therefore Thorfday or Thurfday.
_ 6.^ Fnga, agoddefs, reputed the giver of peace and plenty; for which gifts they prayed to her chiefly on
tiie uxtu day, which was therefore called Frigedead ; from whence comes the name Friday.
Scatcr, tovyhom they prayed for protcft-on, freedom and concord; and alfo for the fruits of the earth.
He was worfhipped on the feventh day of the week, which therefore received the name Seater-day from this
Idol ; or, as we now write it, Saturday.
The Romans finding, or fancying, fome refemblance between the attributes of thefe Saxon idols, and
k'veral ^'f tneir gods, imagined them to be the fame. As Woden thev fuppofed to be Mars ; Thor to be
jupiter the thundcrcr; Friga to be Venus the goddc-fs of love and friendiTiip ; and efpeciaily becaufe Venus
w IS honoured by them on the fame day of the week. Seater they miftook for Saturn, merely becaufe of the
like foundi .g ot the name.
Vide Ferjltgcin'' i Rejlttut'm of dectLyed Jnull'^ence, Page 68.
fame
teoii v;
t: H Pv O N O L O G Y.
451
fame poit^t of the ecliptic, about 20 minutes
^f time before he arrives at the fame fixed
flar, where that point of the ecliptic was
when the fun was in it a year ago. The
tropical year therefore is fhorter than the
liderial year, and cOnfifts of 365 days, 5
hours, 48 minutes, 57 feconds.
The lunjlr year is either wandering or
fixed.
The wandering lunar year confifts of 12
lunar fynodical months ; which wants 1 1
days of the folar year. This year is ufed
by the Turks and other Mahometans; fo
that the beginning of their year is perpetu-
lally iliifung through the leveral fealons> and
jit revolves in 32 years.
|. The hxed lunar or lunse-folar year con-
fifts fometimes of "l 2 fynodical months, fome-
ftimes of 1 3 ; as will be (hewn afterwards.
The civil year is either Julian or Grego-
rian.
The Julian is fo called from Julius Csefar,
[by whom it was hxed 40 years before Chrill.
£ conhfts of 365 days; only every fourth
year, which, is called biffextile, or leap year,
tonfifts of 366. The additional day is now
put to the end of February^ fo that February
has that yedr 29 days : but in the ancient
Roman calendar the fixth of the calends of
March, anfwering lo our 24th of February,
was 'that year reckoned twice over; fronl
vt-hence is the name biflextile.
The Gregorian year is fo called from
Pope Gregory XlII. by vvhofe order the
Calendar was reformed A. D. 1582. It be-
gins at prefent 11 days before the Julian;
Every centelhmal or hundredth year from
the birth of Chrift, as 1500, 1600, 1700,
fee. is leap year, according to the Julian
Recount; but according to the Gregorian,
It. is always a common year, except when
he number of centuries can be divided by
J. without a remainder^ for then it is leap
iTear. Thus the years 1600 and 2000 are
fCap years ; but the intermediate centeflimal
rears are common ones. So that the Gre-
{orian year, or new llyle, which is now ge-
lerally ufed, gets before the Julian, or old
iyle, 3 days in 400 years.
To k?ioiAj if it be Leap Year.
leap year is given, wB.en four will divide
^he cent'ries compleatj or odd years befide*
Example for 1791.
'79i-7-4> remain 3, not Leap Year.
Example for 1792.
1792-7-4, remains o,Leap Yeir.
§ 2. Of Calendars.
The calendar (in Arabic all-manach.
from whence is fhe Englilh wdrd almanack)
is a table, in whic^ all the days of trie year
are, fet down fucceffively ; with holy-days^
both ecclefiallical and civil, terms, &c.
marked in their proper places. Tliis cable
of days is divided iiio 52 weeks, of 7 day$
each, and i dar'over, by means of the firft
feveh letters of the alphabet A, B, C, D, E,
F, G, perpetually recurring throughout the
year. A Hands againll the li? of January.
B againft the 2d, and fo on tO Decembtr ..he
3111, which has A joined to it. The letter
which ftands againil all the lundays of the
year, is called the dorhmica! or funday let-
ter, for that year. If January the ill be
funday, A is the dominical letter, which
ftands againft every funday throughout the
year, except it be leap year; for then the
dominical letter changes at the end of Feb-
ruary, moving a letter backwards : fo that G ^
will be the funday letter during the remain-
der of the year ; for the dominical letter al-
ways fhifts backwards, as irom A to G,
from G to F, and from F toiE. if E be
the dominical letter this year, D will be the
next.
To find the Dominical Letter for any Tear.
Divide the cent'ries by 4; and :wice vyhat does re»
main
Take from 6j and then add to the number you
gain
The odd years and their 4th ; which dividing by
What is left take from 7, and the lettei is given*
Example for I79i.
17—4 remains i
1x2=2
4+91+22=117
117-^7 remain 5 . .
7.1531:2 = 6, the Domlnicdl tetter*
By the dominical letter, you may compute
on what day bf the week any day of the
ihonth will fall throughout the year, by the
foUov/ing canon.
i 2 i 4 5. 6
At Dover Dwells George Brown Efquircj
7 8 9 10 II iz
Good Chriliopher Finch, And David Frier.
Where the 12 words anfwer to the I2
months ; the iirit letter of each ivord ftands
ih the calendar againft the firft day of the
correfponding month, as A againit January
the ift, D againft February the ift, &c.
Supoofe B is the dominical letter, I would
know on what day of the week Jur.e the
24th falls that year. E ftands againft June
the ift, per (".anon. Remember that the- ift,
8th, I 5th, 22d, 29th, is the fame day of the
week in each month. Now if B be Sunday,
E is Wednefday ; therefore June the 22d 19
Wednefday, and the 24th is Friday.
g g * § 3. qr
452
ELEGANT EXTRApTS, Book V.
§ 3. Of Cycles.
Cycles, or periods, are fuch fpaces of time
as revolve into themfelves again ; of which
fort the molt confiderable are,
Tof the fun,
The cycled of the moon,
l^of the Roman indiftion.
1. The cycle of the fun confifts of 28
years, which contain all the poihble combi-
out the firft day of the moon (Primum Lu-
ns) and the golden number, as deferving to
be writ in letters of gold.
The golden numbers are thofe placed in
the firft column of the calendar, betwixt
March 21 and April »8th, both inclufive,
to denote the days upon which thofe full
moons fall, which happen upon or next after
March 21 ft in thofe years, of which they
are refpeflively the golden numbers. The
nations of the dominical letters, in refpeft ^ A r . r „ ^ »v,» r,nn,K^r ^f
^ , : r- a- ^ ^.^o^ oc nmntino- out dav of fuch full moon, or the number or
::lTn ~d Teatyei .TSaft da s from March , ft .0 .hat day inclufive.
Ae exolltion of the cycle, the days of the is called the pafchal hmit, the next lunday,
tS^^:tt faL o'rder to'Jhe fa.e after which ;sE*r day. J- "hence -t
days of the week, throughout the next cycle,
Except that upon every centelTimal year,
which is not a leap year.
the letters muft
all be removed one place forward, to make
them anfwer to the years of the cycle. For
inftarce, if the year i 800 were a leap year,
as every centeffimal year is in the Julian ac-
count, the dominical letters would be E D,
appears that Eaiter can never fall fooner
than march 22d, nor later than April 25th ;
becaufe thofe two days are the earliell and
lateft fundays that can pofiibly fall next af-
ter the firft full moon on or after the 2 ift of
March. Thefe numbers fo placed will mark
the day of the pafchal limit, till the year
1900, when they will need fome alteration
and C would be the dominical letter of the as may be feen in The Earl of Macclesfield's
Remarks upon the Solar and the ijunar
next year ; but as it is a common year m
the Gregorian account, D is the dominical
letter of 1801, which anfwers to the iS^h of
the cycle ; C to the 1 9th &c, until the next
centeffimal year.
The dominical letter of each year in this
cycle, until the year 1 800, appears in the
following table.
I DC
6 D 11 Eii6 F21 Oi^i^b Uj
2 B
7 ^
12 D 17 ED 22 E 27 F
3 A
8 B
13 CB iS C23 D 28 E
4 G
AG
14 a; 19 B,24 C
S FElio F
15 G20 AI25 B A
Years, in Philof. Tranfad. No. 495.
3. The cycle of the Roman indiftion is
a period of 1 5 years, which was ufed by the
ancient Romans, but for what purpofe is
not now known. It is however ufed by the
Popes, who date their ads by the years of ,
the indidioB.
The golden number, cycle of the fun, and
indidion are found for any year by this canon.
When I, 9, 3, to the year have added been.
Divide by nineteen, twenty-eight, fifteen :
By what remains each cycle's year is feen *f
Example for 1791.
2. The cycle of the moon is a period of
19 years, after which the new and full
moons return on the fame days of the months;
only 1 hour 28 minutes fooner : fo that on
whatever days the new and full moons fall
this year, they will happen 19 years hence
on the fame days of the months. Except
when a centeffimal common year falls with-
in the cycle, that will remove the new and
full moons a day later in the calendar, than
ctherwife they would have fallen ; fo that a
new moon w
1791
39)1792(94
171
1791
?
a8) 1800(64
168
1791
3
I5)i794("9
i5_
29
IS
144
Ui
9R.1.
Thefe three cycles, multiplied into one
another; that is, 28X19X15, amount to
7980, which is called the Julian period.
3l
6G. N''.
Cy. S,
It is
hich fell, before the centeffimal after which the three foregoing cycles will
year, fuppofe on march lOth, will fall 19 begin again together. This period had its
years afterwards on March nth. imaginary beginning 710 years before the
The number of the years in this cycle creation, and is not yet complete,
is called the prime, from its ufe inpointing much ufed in chronological tables.
» The reafon of adding thefe numbers, viz, 1 for the golden number, 9 for the cycle of the fun, and jb,
for the indiaion, to the date of the Chiiftian sra, is becaufe fo many years of the refpedive cycles were elap-
fed when the Chriftiansra began. If then you divide the current year of Chrift, with the addition of the re-
fpeftive number, by the whole number of the cycle, the quotient ihews how many compleat cycles have run
out, fince the beginning of that in which the'Chriftian aera commenced, and the remainder, if any, Ihews
the prelent year ^i the cycle j if there be no remainder, it is the laft year, which complcats the cycle.
pOOK V#
§ 4. Of the Epaa.
The Epafl * is a number arifing from the
jxcefs of the folar year above the lunar, of
12 fvnodical months, wliich excefs is 11
iays ; or the epaft of any year expreffes the
jiumber of days from the laft new moon of
the old year, (which was the beginning of
he prefent lunar year) to the ift of Janua-
The firft year of the cycle of the moon
;he epaft is o, becaufe the lunar year begins
ivi-Lh the folar. On the fecond, the lunar
i^ear has begun 1 1 days before the folar
jtzx, therefore the epaft is 1 1 . On the third
has begun twice ^ i days before the folar
'•ear, therefore the epail is 22. On the
burth it begins three times 1 1 days fooner
han the folar year ; the epaft would there-
ore be 33, but 30, being an intire fynodi-
al month, muft that year be intercalated ;
)r that year muft be reckoned to confiil: of
3 fynodical months, and there remains 3,
vhich is the true epadl of the year;, and fo
m to the end of the cycle, adding 1 1 to the
pa6b of the laft year, and always rejefting
o,' gives the epaft of the prefent year.
Thus to adjuil the lunar year to the folar,
hrough the whole cycle of 19 years, 12 of
hem muft confilt of 1 2 fynodical months
rach, and 7 of 13, by adding a month of 30
iays to every year when the epait would
xceed 30, and a month of 29 days to the
aft year of the cycle, which make in all
509 days, i. e. 19X11 ; fo that the inter-
calary or embolimean years in this cycle are
\, 7, 10, 12, 15, 18, 19.
A general Rule to find the Gregorian Epa6i.
CHRONOLOGY.
45^
A table of the golden numbers and jheir
correfponding epads until the year iq©o.
t the cenf ries by 4 be divided, and then
Vhat remains multipUed by the number 17 ;
'orty-three times the quotient, and 86 more
dd to that ; and dividing by 5 and a fcore ;
rom II times the prime, fubflraifl the laft quote,
ufid reje£ling the thirties, gives the epadl you
fuught.
Ex A M p L F. for .I;9J.
17-J-4 renwins I
iXi7=:i7
43x4+^6+17^=275
?.75-^-S=:::ii
11x6 — 66
65—113=55
55-i-30 rem.V:n -sr-Epad,
^ofind the Epaa uuiil the 1 'ear 1 500.
The prime wanting one mukipijcd by 11,
iad the thirties rejeftcd, the epadl is given.
Example for Ijgi-
6—1X11 = 55
55-^30 remain 25 = Epaift.
U. IN. t,pat. G. N. 1-,..
J. iSl. bp. Cj. i\. Ep.
I —
6 — 25
11 — 20 16 - - 15
2 11
7 — 6
12 I 17 — 26
3 — 22
8 — 17
13 — 12 iS — 7
4 — 3
9 - zS
14 — 2-3 19 — 18
5 - 14
10 — rji5 — 4' 1
Eafter may be computed from the epaft
by the two following canons.
To find Safer Limit, or the Day of the Pafchal
Full Moon, from March the if inclufi've.
Add fix to the epaft, rejeft 3 times 10,
"What's left take from 50, the lirr.it you gain :
Which if 50, one iefs you muft make it, and evejj
When 49 too, if prime's more than 11.
Example for 1791;
25 + 6 = 31
30- 3cm .
50— I =49= Limits.
By the Limit, and Dominical Letter to find
Eafter Day.
If the letter and 4 from the limit you take,
And what's left from next number which fevens
will make;
Adding then to the limit what laft does remain.
You the days from St. David's to Eafter obtain.
Example for 1791.
49-.4-2=43
49 — 43iz6
49 + 6 = 55 = April 24th, Eafter Day.
The age or change of the moon may be
found, pretty nearly, by the following ca-
non, in which the I 2 numbers anfwer to the
12 months, beginning with January.
Unus o, 2, I, 2, 3,4, 5,6,
a, 8, 10, 10, thefe to the cpatt fix.
The fum, bate 30, to the month'^ day add.
Or take from 30, age or change is had.
Example for 179I.
25+1 + 10=36
36 3o = 6:=Moon's Age.
25 + 1=26
30— 26=4=Day of the Change.
To find the Time of the Moon's coming to the
South, andofHigh.Watcr at London-Bridge,
Four times the moon's age, if by 5/°^ ^'Z'^:?., x.
Gives the hour of her fouthing : add 2 for the tue f-
S 5. Of Epochas or .^ras.
An epocha or sra is a fixed point of time,
at or near to which fome remarkable event
has happened, from whence a feries of years
is computed ; as, from the creation of the
• Derived from tvayiiv, to add or intercalate, , , ^ , 1 . u,„r,<.n^ fome'-Ii-^es
t The high water does not always anfwer to the fame fituatlon of the moon, b«t happens fomcns
poner, and fometimes later, than if the moon alone afted on the fea. This proceeds fi^r the .ch^
?o. TJic different diftaacea of the moan from the earth, produce hkswife a fcnhblevauatio^ ;n the t.de^.
g g 3
ELEGANT EXTRACTS, Book V^
ecclefiaftical computations ; which is other- â–
wife called the aera of the roartvrs, becaufe «•
454
^orld, from the deluge, from the birth of
Chrift, &c.
' As the conftitution of epochas is merely
arbitrarvr and not founded on any afirono-
rtiical cor, liderations, different nations have
made ufe of different epochas, commonly
taken from foms remarkable occurrence in
their refoe^live hiftories. Tnus the Romans
computed cheir years from the building of
Jlome. The Greeks from the iirli inttitu-
tion of the Olympic games, which were ce-
lebrated at tha beginning of every fifth year.
Hence they computed their years by Olym-
piads, each Olympiad containing four years.
The Turks and Arabians, and generally all
thai: piofefs the Mahometan religion, ufe
the epocha of the Hegciva, which is com-
puted from the time of Mahomet'g flight
from Mecca to Medina. The ancient Jews
made ufe of various epochas, taken from
remarkable occurrences in their hiftory, as
from their Exodus or departure from Egypt,
from the budding of Solomon's temple, from
the Aflyrianand Babylonian captivities, &c.
The modern Jews ufe^ principally, the epo-
cha of the creation. The epocha of Chrift,
or A. D. i. e. the year of our Lord com-
mencing from our Saviour's nativity, is now
chiefly ufed by Chriftians, ^t leaft through-
out Europe ; for the Abyffmian Chriftians
are faid to ufe the Dioclefian asra, in all their
of the great number of Chriftians that fuf-..,;,
fered martyrdom in the reign of the empe- j^"
ror Dioclefian. The vulgar Chriftian aera, '
whofe author was Dionyiius Exiguus, ai\
Abbot of Rome, in the fixth century, is al-,;
lowed by the beft chronologers to begin four.,
years too late, or alter the true time of
Chrilt's birth : yet long ufe has now fo
eftablilhed it, that there is lefs inconvenience
in ufing it with that error, than there would
be in correfting it. Dionyfius dated his sera
from the conception of Chrift, which he
fuppofed to be on March 25th, which me-
thod obtained in England until the yeac
1752. But now the hrft of January is rec-
koned the beginning of the year in all the
Britilh dominions, as well as by moft other
nations of Europe.
Befides thefe great epochas, as we may
call them, it has been uliial to compute by
ieffer epochas, commencing with the begins
ning of the reign of emperors and kings,
and expiring at their death. Thus the an-
cient Romans reckoned by the years of th^
reign of their emperors ; and thus in Eng-,
land the anno regni, which is computed
from the beginning of the king's reign, is
generally ufed in ads of parliament, an(^
law inftruments.
C H A P. TV.
NATURAL HISTORY.
Extrails from Afr . P e n n a N T V Briiijh
Zoology .
§ I. r>?-f Horse.
THE breed of horfes in Great Britain is
as mixed as that of its inhabitants : the fre-
quent introdurlion of foreign horfes has
given us a variety, that noYingle country
can boaft of: moft other kingdoms produce
only one kind, while ours, by a judicious
mixture of the feveral fpecies, by the happy
difference of our foils, and by our luperior
flcill in management, may triumph over the
reft of Europe, in having brought each qua-
lity of this noble animal to the higheft per-
feftion.
In the annals of Newmarket, may be
found mftances of horfes that have literally
out-flnpped the wind, as the celebrated M.
Condamine has lately iliewn in his remarks
Oil thofe of Great Britain. Childers is an
amazing inftance of rapidity, his fpeed hav;»
ing been more than once exerted equal to-
8z§ feet in a fecond, or near a mile in a mi-
nute : the fame horfe has alfo run the round
coiirfe a,; Newmarket (which is about 40Q
yards lefs than four miles) in fix minutes
and forty feconds ; in which cafe his fleet-
nefs is to that of the. fwifteft Barb, as four
to three ; the former, according to Dodlor
Maty's computation, covering at every
bound a fpace of ground equal in length to
twenty-three feet royal, the latter only that
of eighteen feet and a half royal.
Horfes of this kind derive their origio
from Arabia ; the feat of the pureft, an(i
moft generous breed.
The fpecies ufed in hunting, is a happy
combination of the former with others fupe-
rior in ftrength, but inferior in point of
fpeed and lineage : an union of both is ne-
cefTary ; for the fatigues of the chace mufj;
be
Book V.
NATURAL HISTORY.
45jr-
be fupported by the fpirit of the one, as well
as by the vigour of the other.
No country can bring a parallel to the
ftrength and fize of our horfes deftined for
the draught ; or to the adivity and ftrength
united of thofe that form our cavalry.
In our capital there are inftances of fin-
gjle horfes that are able to draw on a plain,
for a fmall fpace, the weight of three tons;
but could with eafe, and for a continuance,
draw half that weight. The pack- horfes olF
Yorkshire, employed in conveying the ma-
nufaftures of that county to the moft remote
parts of the kingdom, ufually carry a burden
of 420 pounds ; and that indifferently over
the highelt hills of the north, as well as the
moft level roads ; but the moft remarkable
proof of the ftrength of our Britilh horfes,
is to be drawn from that of our mill-horfes :
fome of thefe will carry, at one load, thir-
teen meafures, which, at a moderate compu-
tation of 70 pounds each, will amount to
910 ; a weight fuperior to that which the
leiTer fort of camels will bear : this will ap-
pear lefs furprlfing, as thefe horfes are, by
degrees, accuftomed to the weight ; and the
diftance they travel no greater than to and
from the adjacent hamlets.
Our cavalry in the late campaigns (when
they had an opportunity) ftiewed over thofe
of' our allies, as well as of the French, a
great fuperiority both of ftrength and ac-
tivity : the enemy was broken through by
the impetuous charge of our fquadrons ;
while the German horfes, from their great
weight, and inadive make, were unable to
iecond our eftbrts ; though thofe troops
were aduJted by the nobleft ardour.
The prefentcavalry of this ifland only fup-
ports its ancient glory ; it was eminent in
the earlieft times : our fcythed chariots, and
the aftivityand good difciplineof our horfes,
even ftruck terror into Csfar's legions : and
the Britons, as foon as they became civilized
enough to coin, took care to reprefent on
their money the animal for which they were
fo celebrated. It is now impofiible to trace
out this fpecies ; for thofe which exift among
the indigents of Great Britain, fuch as the
little horfes of Wales and Cornv/all, the
hobbies of Ireland, and the fhelties of Scot-
land, though admirably well adapted to the
ufes of thofe countries, could never have
been equal to the work of war ; but proba-
bly we had even then a larger and ftronger
breed in the more fertile and luxuriant parts
of the ifland. Thofe we employ for that
purpofe, or for the draught, are an offspring
of the German or Fiemlfti breed, mellorited
by our foil, and a judicious culture.
The Eiiglifn were ever attentive to an
exaft culture of thefe animals; and in very
early times fet a high value on their breed.
The efteem that our horfes were held in by
foreigners fo long ago as the reign of Athel-
ftan, may be colleded from a law of that mo-
narch prchibuing their exportation, except
they were defigned as prefents. Thefe muft
have been the native kind, or the prohibi-
tion would have been needlefs, for our com-
merce was at that time too limited to re-
ceive improvement from any but the Ger-
man kind, to which country their own breed
could be of no value.
But when our intercourfe with the other
parts of Europe was enlarged, we foon laid
hold of the advantages this gave of impro-
ving our breed. Roger de Belefme, Earl
of Shrewlhury, is the iirft that is on record :