207 
North latitude, 40° 40’ 06” 
Longitude west of Greenwich, 73° 57’ 48” 
To the North Pole, 3416.7 miles 
To the Equator, 2798.2 miles 
This feature is proving of much public interest, and the data are 
constantly being copied by classes and others. 
Armillary Sphere—The central feature of the Laboratory 
Plaza is the large Compass and Armillary Sphere erected in 1933. 
This was made possible through a bequest of the late Alfred W. 
Jenkins, a former member of the Botanic Garden Governing Com- 
mittee. The Armillary Sphere consists of circular bands of bronze 
representing the principal celestial circles, and has been designed 
to serve also as a sun dial. Strictly, an armillary sphere should 
have either the earth or the sun represented in its center, but here, 
in order to make it serve as a sun dial, these are omitted, and a 
slender metal rod, extending from the south to the north pole of 
the sphere, serves as a gnomon. From the shadow thrown by this 
rod the correct sun time is indicated on a dial on the inner surface 
of the equatorial band. By means of the “ Equation of Time” 
inside the sphere, this can be changed to Standard Time. The 
signs of the zodiac are to be seen on the outside of this broad 
band (as the band of the ecliptic where they are usually placed is 
too narrow to receive them): they were modelled by Miss Rhys 
Caparn, sculptor. Other circles represent the boundaries of the 
zones of the earth, and the north pole points to the North Celestial 
Pole. The sphere is mounted on a pedestal of Carver black granite 
from Vinal Haven, Maine. <A bronze band encircling the pedestal 
bears the following classic sun dial motto: 
[ah 
“Serene I stand amyddst ye flowres 
To tell ye passing of ye howres.” 
The pedestal rests on a platform of Stony Creek (Connecticut) 
pink granite, and the whole is mounted at the center of a large cir- 
cular compass paved with marble terrazzo in four colors, each color 
representing a different point of the compass. The marble chips 
used in the terrazzo are of various origins, the red marble com- 
ing from Massa, Italy, the black from Mazy, Belgium, the green 
from Cardiff, Maryland, and the yellow from Siena, Italy. 
