Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-03
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES 3. TRACEWELL.

deal Of pleasure In doing their own cal
culation for the proper placing OF q
sundial in their own gardens. the
Encyclopedias Britannica gives several
pages Of directions, guaranteed 70 be
not understood at all by those VINO were
not good ut mathematics and algebra
In school.
Most home owners who feel the sun
dial complex coming over them VIII Dc
satisfied 10 purchase themselves piate
and gnomon already manufactured. :.
This can be installed easily enough
on . post or column The plate must
be horizontal, of course, the more 50 the
better. with the sun aiming, the OPP
orator simply turns the dial till the time
given by the shadow agrees with q good
watch.
such q sundial may not be the
height of accuracy, but none OF them
Is, for that matter. II one wants to 60
into the matter he can do all sorts OF
calculations, not only in the making OF
his own dial and gnomon the style il
in reality the hypotenuse OF the triangle
formed by the nat piece Of triangular
metal which casts the shadow. bit
even more In the orientation Of the dial
itself.
This is best done, so the books de-
clare, by arising at night. when the pole
star crosses the meridian of the place.
This time IA found by reference 70 the
Nautical Almanac. Two plumb lines
are brought into q line pointing 70 the
star at that moment The dial can then
be placed in the same line by daylight.
II this means anything to the reader,
we are very happy, because 1t means
nothing at all TO us We would be sat
isfied to place q sundial a. best We
could and let II tell time as best 1t could.
1t is the picturesque quality of the
dial, It's ancient lineage, which endears
1t today. Think Of having In ones
to the earliest days Of humanity They
say that the sundial Ia still in use In
Egypt. and that the Turks never found
o mosque without installing sun
dial. too.
The FIRST Greek sundial was set up
in Athens in 1913 BIC. by the as
tronomer Melton. The Romans. who
made the most of the instrument, got
II from the Greeks. 1t is curious
how we Of today associate the old-time
teller so closely with the Romans. Most
either the English or Roman inscrfp-
ton, IT count only sunny hours"
There Is something barbaric about q
sundial, q hint of sun worship. which
ought to go very we'll with the modern
vogue for sunshine and fresh air. The
sundial came into being first when Pan
was q popular god. Around many a
modern dial one expects to see strange
little elves peep out: this feeling Is en-
HANGED II the pedestal Is placed amid q
planting Of iris or some such flower.
While one may lament the passing
Of this earliest of Watches" he may
rejoice, too. for It gives him an oppor-
tunity to put something into his garden
which all OF his neighbors do not pos
sess.
The beauty of the sundial ie that
one is always likely to have the only
one In q community. for 1t utterly
lacks any appeal 70 many persons. They
see nothing beautiful In It, nor do they
care anything for its old associations,
or its pleasantly philosophic notices.
This attitude gives gardener his OPP
portunity. He may have something as
old as the hills. vet something which
Is not repeated every nifty feet.