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From: Bruce Stark (no email)
Date: Sat Oct 23 2004 - 18:17:39 EDT
Trevor Kenchington got it just right! If you want to understand what I've
been trying to say, read his Oct. 22, 5:20 PM post.
And Ken Muldrew wrote: ". . . the 'regulation' that Bowditch is talking about
doesn't involve anything more than writing down a correction to be applied to
a chronometer reading when he wants to know the time (LMT)."
Well, that's the answer to the puzzle.
Jared Sherman wrote: "I suspect we seek too much of authors when we examine
their words too closely. If Bowditch said 'regulate' meaning only the first
half of what others would call regulating the clock...I can live with that.<G> We
can understand what he means from the context."
I agree. There ARE times when "regulate" would be used by Bowditch's
contemporaries the way the word is used today, but context would make it clear.
Suppose a seamstress is reading a sailing story and comes across the phrase
"Trim the sheet." Since our minds are wonderfully inventive when it comes to
keeping preconceptions intact, I bet she'd be able to incorporate her own
definitions of "trim" and "sheet" into the story and carry on.
Bruce
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