A21244.

FIFTH ANNUAL PUBLICATION.

COPYRIGHT, 1881, BY AINSWORTH R. SPOFFORD.

THE AMERICAN ALMANAC AND TREASURY OF OF FACTS

Is published in two editions:

Edition, handsome paper cover. Price 25 cents.

Edition, with 100 additional pages; elegantly bound in full scarlet Oth. Price, $1.50.

former issues, 1878, 1879, and 1881, may be had, bound, at $1.50 each. à Almanac for 1880 is out of print.

PRESS OF
WM. K. BOYLE,

BALTIMORE.

The Solar Cycle embraces a period of 28 years.

The Roman Indiction is a cycle of 15 years.

The Lunar Cycle is 235 synodical revolutions of the moon -
The Epact denotes the age of the moon on the first day of Jan

ECLIPSES FOR THE YEAR 1882.

In 1882, there will be two Eclipses, both of the Sun, and a transit of t over the disk of the Sun.

1. A total Eclipse of the Sun, May 17. Central Africa.

Visible in Europe, Asia, and

2. An annular Eclipse of the Sun, November 10, invisible in North an Visible in Australia, Polynesia, and the Southern regions of the Pacific A transit of Venus over the Sun's disc will occur on December 6. Vi or lesser degree to a large part of the world, except to Eastern Eur and wholly visible to the Eastern portion of North America and to Invisible to most of the United States lying west of 110° W. longitude There will be four contacts of the circular disk of the Sun and the pla

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EXPLANATION OF THE

CALENDAR.

1. The days of the different months as given above, fall, in any year, on the weekday found opposite the century (Old or New Style) in which the year occurs, and over the year thereof.

2. Find the year in "Years of the Century; follow up the column to the day on the same horizontal line with the given cenFind this day tury. under the given month. The figures above it in the same vertical line show the dates of that day during the given month, and the weekdays in the same horizontal line to the right or left have their respective dates above them, thus forming the entire calendar for that month and year.

-To find the day of the week for July 4th, 1881. Opposite Century 19, New r year 81, is Saturday. Under July, Saturday fails in the vertical line e second day to the right following, under 4, is Monday, July 4th. -To flnd the day of the week on which Columbus discovered America, 92, Old Style. Opposite Century 15, Old Style, and over 92 in black letter year,) is Monday. Therefore, October 8th was Monday; and the line of which Monday falls under October (which is the sixth,) with the days of ve, constitute the entire Calendar for October, 1492, Old Style, and the alls on Friday.

-To find the 1st Tuesday after the 1st Monday in November, (Election d 82 in "Years of the Century; " follow up the column to the day on a gure 19 of the "Centuries, New Style: " this will be found to be Sunday. er, Sunday is found in the vertical line under 5, of the calendar above, right of it under 6, and Tuesday under 7. So the Tuesday after the first 7th.

EXAMPLE.-To ascertain at what hour it will be high tide at 1st of August, find the time of high water at New York under is 4.24 A.M., then add 10 hours 52 minutes, as found in the tal stants under Baltimore, and we have 3.16 P.M. as the hour of hi timore August 1st, 1880.

NOTE.-The hours of high water in the calendar pages are th -from midnight to noon-throughout the year, as computed fo Survey. To find the time of next high water, or the afternoon to midnight-add 12 h. 25 m. in each day. The result will be the of evening tide. For low water, add 6 h. 12 m., approximately high water.

Explanation of the Calendar.

THE two natural divisions of time are the day, of 24 hours, r revolution of the earth on its axis, and the year, 365 days, appr senting one revolution of the earth around the sun. The m (nearly) the period of the moon's revolution round the earth ( while the week is approximately one-fourth of this.

By the Julian Calendar, established by Julius Cæsar, 46 1 were reconstructed; the Roman year, which began March 1, months, being changed to Jan. 1, and two months added. Thirt given to the 1st, 3d, 5th, 7th, 8th, 10th, and 12th months, and 30 rest, except February, which on every fourth year received an made by the sexto Calendas Martius, whence "leap year" came sextile. As the Julian year had 3654 days, its length exceed year by 11m.14 sec., so that the equinox in the course of centuries days. To correct this error, Pope Gregory XIII. in 1582 reform by suppressing ten days, restoring the equinox to March 21. Calendar also made every year which is divisible by four with a leap year, except the centesimal years, which are only leap first two figures are divisible by four: thus 1600 was a leap yea 1900 common years, 2000 a leap year, etc. The length of the m 5h. 49m. 12sec., exceeding the true solar year nearly 26 se amounts only to 1 day in 3,325 years.

The Gregorian Calendar was adopted by Germany in 1700, law in 1752, when the Julian Calendar, or old style, gave place by dropping eleven days from the month of September, 1752.

The festival of Easter, commemorating the resurrection of C observed on the 14th day of the moon, i.e., near the full moonJewish Passover. But the Council of Nice, A.D. 325, ordered E brated on the Sunday next succeeding the ful' moon. that co after the vernal equinox-March 21st; thus makin, Easter and and fast days movable holidays.