Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-02-27
SHOWN
Of TINE INDICATORS
Interesting Exhibit of Sundials,
Hourglasses, ETC., at United States
National Museum.

National Museum.
The indication of time has long been
one of the most important factors in
the history of the world. Even the
primitive peoples had some crude
methods of telling time, usually by the
sun. and one of the first implements
used for the purpose was vertical
pole stuck In the ground to establish
the noon mark. Representative types
of early timekeeping apparatus and
mechanisms from various countries are
to be seen in the United States Ma
tiona1 Museum. This collection con-
sists of permanent and portable sun
dials, hourglasses, time candles and
lamps. a, large series of watches and
watch movements, and clocks, includ-
ing water clock OF the seventeenth
century.
Among the sundials. which are perhaps
the best known of the early time indi-
Gators, Is a model of one used by the
Montagnais Indians OF Canada, consist
ing OF pole set vertically. the shadow
of which was marked In the snow by
each hunting party to indicate the time
lowed, thus making the passage of
time calculable. Other interesting spec
linens are brass and ivory pocket sun
dials of the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries. There also is a ring dial
which. when held vertically. permits
the sun to shine through a small hole
on one side Of the rim and register the
hour on scale on the opposite side.
Vertical and horizontal dials from
many countries and ATTITUDES. dating
hn {akI
centuries. are represented.
One of the most primitivetime-record
ing devices employed by the Chinese
and Japanese. was a knotted wick
about two feet in length, which smol-
dered without breaking into flame, and
indicated the passage Of an hour by the
time consumed in burning between
two knots. King Alfred is credited
with having established a system
whereby twelve-inch wax candles were
divided into equal distances. relatively
third of an hour being required to
burn an inch. candle of this type,
but only ten inches in length, is ex-
hibfted In the museum collection.
Philippe II Used Oil Lamp.
Philippe II of Spain is supposed to
have used an oil lamp for indicating
time, the decrease in the amount of
oil being shown by graduations on the
glass reservoir. 1t was designed espe-
cially for night use; the graduations
started at the top, with the mark I'LL,
passed downward to XII, and then from
l to VIII, covering the period of win
ter darkness. A similar lamp is in the
National Museum exhibit classified as
pewter time-indicatfng lamp, marked
for the hours 8 to 6, and was collected
in 1900 in Nuremberg by DR.. Samuel P.
Langley, late secretary of the Smith
sonian Institution.
Sand glasses are represented by seven
specimens of various types. indicating
three minutes. one-quarter hour, one
half hour and one hour, and one Ger
man set of four hourglasses. proba bly,
of the fourteenth century. The hour
glass is said to be the invention of
Luitprand, a monk of Chartres, who,
near the end of the eighth century, re-
vived the art of glass blowing. These
instruments are still popular with many
clergymen, and it Is understood that
one is in daily use in the British house
of commons.
Clocks operated by water power date
back as far as 300 Be. in Egypt, and
although their history is somewhat
vague, 1t is believed that the earliest
ones indicated hours of uneven
length, while those evolved during the
simpler and showed even periods.
Had an Alarm Attachment.
Clocks of this description and of
this period are known as clepsydras.
One with an alarm attachment was col
lected for the museum by DR.. Langley
in Paris. 1t consists of hollow drum
partly filled with water suspended from
an oblong frame by two cords. the low
er ends of which are wrapped about
the shaft of the drum. When the cord
is wound about the shaft the drum is
at the top of the frame and If released
would descend rapidly, unwinding the
cord as it goes, were its speed not reg
ulated by the action of the water.
which flows slowly through a series of
seven compartments within the drum,
causing a drag or counterbalance to
the action of gravity. The ends of the
shaft act as indexes. pointing to the
hours marked on the frame.
The date of the Introduction of clocks
worked by weights Is not definitely
known. but it Is supposed that they did
not appear until the thirteenth or four
teenth century. and that John Mcgee
stein of Cologne invented the escape
ment The museum displays number
of these clocks, including a ships clock
which rings bells in seagoing style.
Portable timepieces appeared shortly
after 1900, as the invention of Peter
Henlein of Nuremberg, who employed
long ribbon steel spring to drive the
mechanism of his watches.
and movements numbers several hun
dred and illustrates the development
of the mechanical part of the watch,
making it possible to compare the work
of many early watchmakers of this and
other countries.