H — Page 57
It is recorded that, in the time of Numa, the vernal equinox fell on the 25th of March, and that Julius Cæsar restored it to the 25th, when he reformed the ancient Roman calendar in the year 46 B. C. It is also recorded that in less than 400 years from that time, at the meeting of the Council of Nice in 325, it had fallen back to the 21st—four days in less than 400 years.
Now there is an error somewhere, for it is found by actual computation that the discrepancy between the solar and the Julian year is about three days in 400 years. It certainly is true that the vernal equinox fell on the 21st in 325, and was restored to that place by Gregory in 1582; since which time it has been made to fall on the 21st by the Gregorian rule of intercalation. Again it is stated by the same author that the discrepancies in time from Cæsar to Gregory is thirteen days, from the Council of Nice to Gregory ten days; now 10 + 4 = 14. While our author states it is thirteen days, he also states it is fourteen days; a discrepancy of one day. The mistake evidently is in making the 25th instead of the 24th, the date of the vernal equinox in the time of Cæsar, consequently a difference of four days instead of three from Cæsar to the Council of Nice.