prove false, "What you have Found already done, you 

 c.ni easily repeat, nor is it difficult to add to what has 

 alread) been Invented." Relying on this principle, I 

 have alread) conceived some new things to I"' added to 



the present little work. 



THE BELLS 



There is a discrepancy between Father Borghesi's 



written description in his second hook of the number 

 of hells and those which currently exist in the clock. 

 Ai the present time, there are two seis of bells attached 

 to the upper p.nt of the movement. While Fathei 

 Borghesi indicated that there were two sets of hells 

 in the clock, he described the first set by stating that: 



. . . there are three hells inside [he clock: I lie I. i 



when struck by a little hammei ,n ea< h mean new m i, 



signifies the new moon. The smallest indicates in the 

 same waj the full moon at the time of the mean full moon, 

 by automatic sound. When on the equatorial earth, the 

 sun appears anywhere in eclipse, two bells (the largest 

 and the medium) sounding together automatically, 

 announce that eclipse at the time of the mean new moon. 

 (I think it is evident that eclipses of the sun occur at new 

 moons and eclipses of the moon at full moon.) 



U hen the moon is eclipsed, the smallest and the 

 medium hells, simultaneously and automatically, an- 

 nounce the event to the ear at the time of the mean full 

 moon. Besides, at the proper time and automatically, 

 the largest of these bells announces the current tolai 

 In nil and the smallest bell strikes the quarter hours. 



In the clock today, the first set consists of a smaller 

 bell fixed within a larger one. It is presumably 

 these bells that indicate the eclipses and also strike 

 the hours and quarter hours. A pull cord attached 

 to the striking mechanism repeats the current hour 

 and quarter hours at will. The second sel cmiMsis 

 of nine meshed hells struck with individual hammers 

 operated by means of a pinned cylinder as in a music 

 box. On the hour, the chimes play one of two 



melodies, which may he changed at will. While 

 not identified, these appear to he Tyrolean folk 

 melodies. I he largest ofthis set of bells is dissimilar to 



the other chimes, and may he the third hell described 

 by fathei' Borghesi to signify the new moon. 



CHRONOGE wis 



One of the most curious aspects of the second clock 

 produced by Father Borghesi and Bertolla, as well 

 as of the second published volume, is the presence 



In Monte Annanle CoeLI ConDVncVr 



ahenl * 

 DIfCIs ab hTs oMncs foLIs LVnsqVe 



Laboics * . 

 LVna: fyzyglas hIC Ccrnls & aVDIs: 



& oMncs * 

 OMpana eCLIpfes fonlcV aDportablc 



In aVrcs. 



I run i :; \ ciiki inocram in the text "i I athet ft n 

 second volume, indicating the year 1764. The poem is 

 translated as: "In the Mount of'Anauni,' the insi rutabie 

 heavens are led. You learn from these .ill die labors "i the 

 sun and die moon. Here you are shown and heat the 

 conjunction ol die moon: And a hell brings 10 die ears 

 l>\ iis sound, all ecli] acs 



of chronograms which occur repeatedly on the clock 

 dial and throughout the Vo " in /• < o-Practicum 

 Astronomicum \uthoma from the title page to thi 

 of the hook. Interestingly enough, father Borghesi 

 did not utilize this device even once in his first little 

 book. 



Wehster defines a chronogram as an inscription, 

 sentence, or phrase in which certain letters express 

 a date or epoch. The method used b) Fathei Borghesi 

 for forming chronograms was a simple one. He used 

 combinations of uppercase and lowercase letters in 

 two si/es in the inscriptions on the clock dial and in 

 Ins writings. At first this curious combination in 

 the inscriptions on the dial plate was .1 source of con- 

 sider, il ilc speculation. The extremely fine quality 

 of the engraving and .ntistrv was such tli.it these 

 combinations could only he deliberate in natun 

 not the accidental whims or act [dents <it die engrave] . 



V 1 1 irdinglv . they must he 1 I1 1 gl ipl 



tion. Such proved to he tin casi 



Borghesi used the larger size of uppercase letter 

 to form the chronogram, and each chronogram was 

 complete within a phrase or line. He accomplished 

 this by using for this purpose those letters of the 

 alph diet which form the Roman numerals. The 

 uppercase letters found within words are copied off 

 in the order in which they appear in the inscription 

 or phrase. These are then converted into their 

 numerical equivalents, and totaled. Taking the 



PAPER 35: THE BORGHESI ASTRONOMICAL CLOCK 



31 



