1895.] ■^^ [Sachse. 



this peculiar sun-dial to an atheist, and that it would be apt to give 

 such as had no faith in miracles the idea that this was the sun-dial 

 which, by the retrogression of its shadow, furnished the sign for King 

 Hezekiah ; or that it was a similarly constructed instrument having 

 the same property, and which being known to the prophet, he, on 

 that account, proposed that particular test to the King." 



During a late visit to Europe, a careful search was instituted in 

 the various museums for a duplicate of this Horologium, but with- 

 out result. So scarce and sought-after are the specimens of Schiss- 

 ler's ingenuity, that the great Germanic National Museum at 

 Nuremberg contains, I think, merely a small pair of dividers from 

 this great artificer. The museum of his native city, Augsburg, con- 

 tains nothing whatever of his handiwork. 



Failing in my efforts to find a duplicate or a similar instrument in 

 either Germany or France, by the aid of which our own specimen 

 might be restored to its original condition, as a matter of interest, 

 I next endeavored to obtain whatever information was to be had 

 relative to the ingenious mechanic whose name adorns the rim of our 

 specimen. Here I was more successful, thanks to the courtesy of 

 Herr Hans Boesch, Director- in-Chief of the Germanic National 

 Museum. The following references to the artificer were found in the 

 Archives of the Museum, viz. : 



In Paul von Steffen's account of the " Kunst-, Gewerbt-, u. 

 Handwerks-Geschichte der Reichsstadt Augsburg," it is recorded, 

 that more noteworthy than any one is Christophorus Schissler. This 

 man, according to his apprenticed trade, was a brassworker in a small 

 way, or brazier. His talents, however, led him into geometry, 

 mechanics and astronomy. Therefore, he subsequently called 

 himself a geometric and astronomical master mechanic ( Werk- 

 meister). 



From this artist, continues the old chronicler, there stands in the 

 Bodleian Library at Oxford, England, a solid gold quadrant, which 

 measures more than a Rhenish foot square, and has a weight of six 

 to eight pounds. Upon this instrument is engraved in large letters, 

 ** Christophorvs Schissler, Geometricvs ac Astronomicvs Arti- 



FEX, AUGUSTAE ViNDELlCORUM FaCIEBAT, 1579." 



I will here state that this quadrant was also known and described 

 by Zacharias von Uffenbach, who states (Vol. iii, loi, 102) that 

 it was of pure gold, and was covered with scales, divisions 

 and calculations, which he thought were poorly executed. The 



PROC. AMER. PHIL08. SOC. XXXIV. 147. D. PRINTED MARCH 19, 1895. 



