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On Sunday, December 21, 2003, at 04:44 PM, Frank Reed wrote:

> These tides bring to mind something I noticed in old editions of
> Bowditch. If I am remembering correctly, Bowditch from c.1800 says
> that the Spring Tides (tides with maximum range) occur about three
> days after New Moon and three days after Full Moon. That's not
> accurate in New England where the difference is less than a day, but
> it is fairly accurate in northwest Europe which has unique resonances.
> Bowditch, of course, copied earlier works and carried over lore
> regarding European tides. So when did they fix it? Is there a 19th
> century edition of Bowditch that has better basic descriptions of
> tidal phenomena?

Here is how the text has changed:

3rd edition (1811) says the same thing as you mention above.

7th edition (1832) still says the same thing: 3 days, with no regard to
location.  This edition was still done by Nathaniel Bowditch.

12th edition (1841) on page 120 has: "The tides are greater than common
about thirty-six hours after the new and full moon: these are called
spring tides.  And the tides are lower than common about thirty-six
hours after the first and last quarters: these are called neap tides."
This edition was being maintained by Ingersoll Bowditch, Nathaniel's
son.

32nd edition (1864) on page 120 has: "The highest tides do not occur at
the precise time of full and new moon, but subsequent to full and
change.  Upon our Atlantic coast they occur one day after, and on the
Atlantic coast of Europe two days after, but on our Pacific coast
nearly at full and change."  This edition was one of the last done by a
Bowditch family member.

The first real Navy/Government edition in my collection, an 1888
edition, on page 163 has the identical wording to the 1864 edition.

Hope this helps.

Dan

   

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