Tir-meh. Aben-meh. Affirer-meh.

The five additional days (in intercalary years six) are named
_Musteraca_.

As it does not appear that the above-mentioned rule of intercalation was
ever regularly followed, it is impossible to assign exactly the days on
which the different years begin. In some provinces of India the Parsees
begin the year with September, in others they begin it with October. We
have stated that the era began with the 16th June 632. But the vague
year, which was followed till 1079, anticipated the Julian year by one
day every four years. In 447 years the anticipation would amount to
about 112 days, and the beginning of the year would in consequence be
thrown back to near the beginning of the Julian year 632. To the year of
the Persian era, therefore, add 631, and the sum will be the year of our
era in which the Persian year begins.

_Chinese Chronology._--From the time of the emperor Yao, upwards of 2000
years B.C., the Chinese had two different years,--a civil year, which
was regulated by the moon, and an astronomical year, which was solar.
The civil year consisted in general of twelve months or lunations, but
occasionally a thirteenth was added in order to preserve its
correspondence with the solar year. Even at that early period the solar
or astronomical year consisted of 3651/4 days, like our Julian year; and
it was arranged in the same manner, a day being intercalated every
fourth year.

According to the missionary Gaubil, the Chinese divided the day into 100
_ke_, each _ke_ into 100 minutes, and each minute into 100 seconds. This
practice continued to prevail till the 17th century, when, at the
instance of the Jesuit Schall, president of the tribunal of mathematics,
they adopted the European method of dividing the day into twenty-four
hours, each hour into sixty minutes, and each minute into sixty seconds.
The civil day begins at midnight and ends at the midnight following.

Since the accession of the emperors of the Han dynasty, 206 B.C., the
civil year of the Chinese has begun with the first day of that moon in
the course of which the sun enters into the sign of the zodiac which
corresponds with our sign Pisces. From the same period also they have
employed, in the adjustment of their solar and lunar years, a period of
nineteen years, twelve of which are common, containing twelve lunations
each, and the remaining seven intercalary, containing thirteen
lunations. It is not,