During the interval elapsing between Dampier's two voyages, an accident led to the closer examination of the coasts of Western Australia by the Dutch.
The information at the disposal of dealers has steadily enlarged in volume and improved in trustworthiness, though some of it is not yet invariably above suspicion, and the time elapsing between an event and the knowledge of it becoming common property has been reduced to a fraction of what it used to be, in consequence chiefly of the telegraph and cables.
It may be observed however that the absence of a definite date in Deuteronomy must be accidental, since a common pilgrimage feast must be on a fixed day, and the reference to the seven weeks elapsing between Passover and Pentecost also implies the fixing of the date.
There is no doubt about the latter variation, but with regard to its periodicity - that is, the number of years elapsing between one maximum and the next - much still remains to be done.
The observer measures by a clock or chronometer the time elapsing between the receipt of the flash, which passes practically instantaneously, and the receipt of the report.
