Mabch 22, 1907] 



SCIENCE 



443 



and about 1750 four such were found in 

 Italy. 



The introduction of the sundial into 

 Greece is generally fixed by historians in 

 the latter part of the sixth century B.C. 

 At that time the instrument seems to have 

 been a very crude one, consisting merely 

 of a pillar without any graduated dial by 

 means of which the day could be divided 

 into a number of equal parts. The length 

 of the shadow determined the time for cer- 

 tain regular daily duties, as a shadow six 

 feet long might indicate the time for 

 bathing, and one twelve feet long that for 

 supper. 



As civilization advanced and the needs 

 of the people required more accurate meas- 

 ures of time, the sundial was developed. 

 We have already mentioned the sundial of 

 Berosus, about 350 e.g., by means of which 

 each day from sunrise to sunset was di- 

 vided into twelve equal parts, that is pro- 

 vided the sun was visible all day long. 



As the sundial could not be used indoors 

 or on cloudy days, as soon as the Grecian 

 life became complex enough to need a time- 

 piece under such circumstances, this de- 

 mand was met by the clepsydra. The time 

 of its introduction is not definitely known, 

 but the familiar references of Aristophanes 

 show its use to have been common about 

 430 B.C., while no mention is made of it by 

 Herodotus, whose history ends fifty years 

 earlier. 



A passage in Aristotle gives some idea of 

 the early form of the clepsydra: it was a 

 spherical bottle with a minute opening at 

 the bottom and a short neck at the top into 

 which the water was poured, and by closing 

 which the flow of the water could be 

 stopped. This form of clepsydra became 

 a necessary adjunct of all courts of justice, 

 and the number of gallons of water that a 

 lawyer was allowed for his speech gave 

 some indication of the importance of the 

 trial. In fact, the word vBcop became a 



synonym for time. We find Demosthenes 

 charging his opponent with talking 'in my 

 water'; and on another occasion he shows 

 the value he attached to the time allotted 

 him by turning to the officer, when inter- 

 rupted, with a peremptory 'Tou there! 

 stop the water!' reminding one of the 

 ' take out time ' of our modern football eon- 

 tests. 



The first timepiece of the Romans seems 

 to have been the watchman, who, from the 

 Senate House, called forth noon as soon as 

 he caught sight of the sun between the 

 Rostra and the Grseco-Statis. From the 

 same point he watched the declining sun 

 and proclaimed its disappearance. This 

 custom was probably instituted towards the 

 close of the fifth century B.C. According 

 to Pliny the first sundial was set up in 

 Rome about 290 b.c. About thirty years 

 later Consul Valerius Messala erected at 

 Rome a sundial which was captured at 

 Catania in Sicily. This instrument was 

 not a mere gnomen such as was introduced 

 three centuries earlier into Greece, but was 

 the result of Grecian science and genius, 

 constructed for a particular latitude, that 

 of Catania 5° south of Rome. For a hun- 

 dred years this sundial supplied the needs 

 of the Romans for a timepiece, although 

 it was constantly in error. Finally, in 

 164 B.C., Marcius Phillippus set up near 

 the dial of Catania, one constructed for 

 the latitude of Rome, and Rome then pos- 

 sessed her first accurate timepiece; and 

 during the time of Plautus the use of sun- 

 dials became common, as is evidenced by 

 the following quotation: 



When I waa young, no time-piece Rome supplied, 



But every fellow had his own — inside; 

 A trusty horologe, that — rain or shine — 



Ne'er failed to warn him of the hour — to dine. 

 Then sturdy Romans sauntered through the 

 Forum, 

 Fat, hale, content; for trouble ne'er came o'er 

 them. 



