On an Apparatus for Facilitating the Reduction of Tidal Observations

TL;DRAbstract

The tidal oscillation of the ocean may be represented as the sum of a number of simple harmonic waves which go through their periods approximately once, twice, thrice, four times in a mean solar day. But these simple harmonic waves may be regarded as being rigorously diurnal, semi-diurnal, ter-diurnal, and so forth, if the length of the day referred to be adapted to suit the particular wave under consideration. The idea of a series of special scales of time is thus introduced, each time-scale being appropriate to a special tide. For example, the mean interval between successive culminations of the moon is 24h 50m, and this interval may be described as the mean lunar day. Now there is a series of tides, bearing the initials M1, M2, M3, M4, &c., which go through their periods rigorously once, twice, thrice, four times, &c., in a mean lunar day. The solar tides, S, proceed according to mean solar time; but, besides mean lunar and mean solar times, there are special time scales appropriate

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