The Jeffersonian Democrat. [volume] (Chardon, Ohio) 1854-1865, 1861-03-01
WHOLE NO., 5Sl.
For the JefTersonian Democrat.
Ancient Modes of Keeping Time.


means, have marked tho passing hours by
she shadow OF tree, post or othor natural
objects. In ancient cities, tall columns wero
erected. either in the public square, or upon
the top OF largo, fat-roofed buildings. and
the hours of the day, marked By tbeir
shadow, in its passage from tho West round
by North TO the East, were announced to
the people by crier, stationed for that pur-
pose near tho foot of the column. In Eeypt
aud some other countries, these wcre usually
of stono, and some Of them, though erected
more than 5000 years ago. remain standing
TO this day. The Dial Of King Abaz seems
to have been one of the elevated ones so
was tho ono In Syracuse, from tho top which,
Dion, after ho had delivered the people
from the tyrnny Of Dyonisius, harangued
tho multitude, Those also in ancient China
were of this class, but, in ancient Egypt aud
some other countries, the base of the column
was usually but little elevated above the
ground on which IL stood.
To tho aucicnts, thcse were not only
passablo timo-keopers, but determined for
them several facts in As;rouomy--such as
the obliquity of the Ecliptic, the solstitial
and equinoctal points, &c.
These, however, were of no use during
nights or on cloudy days, Divers were tho
expedents resorted to in different countries,
: to remedy those evils. King Alfred of
England, used, we arc told, wax candles
abou. IL inches long, six of which would
burn a whole day, wbilo the ancient Saxons
mado use of kind of slow match, twisted
into the form of rope. This. when lit,
burned very evenly AID slowly, and the pro-
crossing fire indicated the hours as il came
successfully in contact with the numbers
placed at intervals along :be rope This
method is also.in use at the present time, in
some portion of Japan, though the moro
common practice is to burn the bark of a tree
they call Skimmi. This, ground very fine, is
filled into small grooves made in ashes,
placed in shallow box, long and narrow
This, as it burns, indicates the hours, as the
fire reaches, successfully, the several num-
bers placed along the side of the box
Water, however, was more commonly made
use Otto remedy the defects of the sun -diai.
The simplest, and undoubtedly the first of
tho ways to accomplish this end, was merely
a vessel, with q hole IN the bottom of such
size that it would fill and sink in given
time, as an hour or day. The latter was,
however. most common, as il required to be
changed but once in twenty -four hours. In
this, the rising water marked the passing
hours, as it came successfully in contact
with the figures placed along the inside of
the vessel. from the bottom upwards. To
mako the correction cf errors, to which this
mode of keeping time was liable, it became
necessary, when the vessel was emptied and
set anew, to compare it with the position OF
the sun at that time. By some ancient ma
tions, this was done at sunrise, by others at
noon, and by others at sunset. Those
nations that made use of this mode of keep
| ing time, would very naturally consider the
day as commencing at tho time when these
| changes and corrections were made and
here we find that some began The day &C
| sunrise, others at noon, and others at sunset.
Sometimes. instead of letting tho vessel Gil
and sink, the order was reversed. 1t was
first filled with water, and emptied through
the orifice in the bottom into vessel below.
And the hours were noted by a pointer at
tache6 10 float upon the water, as it came
in contact, in its descent, with the several
figures placed along an upright, fastened to
the siGo of the vessel. With this instrument,
rude as it was, the ancients were ablo to di-
vide the Zodiac into its twelve signs, as we
now have it. subsequently, this sliding in.
dex was changed into revolving one, by
the following method: one end of cord
was fastened to the float; TO the other was
attached small weight The cord was then
passed over e pulley, tho axis of which passed
through dial plate far enough TO receive
tho index or pointer. AS the water settled
down in the vessel, tho float followed, turn
ing the pulley and index, showing the sue
cessivo hours, upon the dial, like modern
clock By this methed, ono index only could
be placed upon the dial. Tho problem of
adding several pointers, was finally solved
! in The following manner: water, Issuing
from an oriice in vessel was made to fall
on a small overshot wheel, to which were
eeared wheels and pinions in such manner,
that days, hours, minutes, &c, were very ac-
curatcly indicated by the several pointers
upon the same dial plate.
Ctesibius of Alexandria, in Egypt, had one
Of his own make, that not only noted the
hours and minutes, but marked the day Of
tho week and month, and the return of the
vernal equinox. This clock also announced
tho hours by sounds. Plato, the Crock phi.
iosopher, had one that gave out musical
sounds, at the return of each hour, and his
students called it the musical Clepsydra.--
In these, there is another approach TO the
common clock; viz. wheels, additional
pointers, and marking the hours by sounds.
serious objection to the use OF these
cepsydras, or water clocks, was the liability
to freeze, iu the winter season, in cold cli-
mates. To remedy this Inconvenience, some
made use of sand, and hence the origin OF
the hour glass while others used weights
alone for that purpose. Clocks moved BY
weights only, we're known to have been in
use among the SaracenS, in the East, and
among tho Moors in Spain, more than 500
years beforo Calico discovered the pendu-
lum. The first one OF this kind, set up in
England, was in tho year 1888 These clocks
of the Saracens lacked ono part, which
Huggens supplied. He attached the pendu-
lum of Calico, to the Woodwork of the
Sarsccns, and the modern clock was COM
plete.
Watches were first mnde at Nuremberg,
but who tho inventor was is not now known.
Thoy wero at first of tho size and shape ofH
goose egg, and were called Nuremberg fggS.
Such an one Queen Elizabeth is said to have
carried. Tho first great improvement was
the addition of the hair spring by Dr. Hooke.
in the year 1868. Others have since been
added, ill a frat class modern chronometer,
rarely varies more than a minute or tWo'
from the true time, in the course Of year
Welchfeld. o. b. T, A.
MAoADAMzED ROADS, better than any to
be found in Europe, says tho Moniteur de
r.4,mee, are universal in China, and arc