PARK AND CEMETERY 
197 
N 1892, an Englishman writing 
about sun dials, began by be- 
moaning the fact that sun 
dials would soon be a thing 
completely of the past in 
England. A short time ago 
the present writer, visiting an 
architect’s office in one of the 
larger cities of our country, 
examined the metal gnomon 
of a sun dial while the archi- 
tect explained : 
“It is a sun dial Mr. 
picked up somewhere abroad and wishes to set up in 
the grounds of his country home. He sent it to me to 
design a suitable pedestal for it.” 
Other evidence is not wanting that the English 
writer of 1892 miscalculated the temper of the age 
then rapidly approaching. It is true that the sun dial 
is well nigh useless now, in the presence of the present 
improved methods of keeping time, but many, even in 
this utilitarian age. love to see these relics which link 
us to the past. The sight of an old sun dial, if it does 
nothing more, is sure to “give variety to our thoughts 
in passing.” In that respect it fulfils an important 
mission in the world. 
For a picturesque feature of public or private 
grounds — of parks and particularly of a cemetery — 
a sun dial is worthy of high commendation. A com- 
memorative monument could assume that form with 
admirable effect. And to architects or monumental 
designers the sun dial offers opportunities that deserve 
to be eagerly seized. An awkward blank space upon 
a wall or stone exposed to the sun could find no more 
appropriate relief than by a curiously carved dial. 
There is that in the history of the sun dial that 
makes it especially appropriate for the adornment of 
park or cemetery. It is undoubtedly the earliest appli- 
ance devised by man for denoting the divisions of time 
less than a day. The aborigines of this country often 
drew a circle in the path of a journey, placed an up- 
right stick in the center and marked on the circum- 
ference the point where the shadow fell, as a notice to 
any one who followed them along the path as to the 
time when they passed that spot. The dial as a com- 
plete scientific instrument for dividing the day into 
twelve or more parts was probably first known to the 
Chaldeans about the middle of the eighth century 
B. C., and a practical use of the knowledge thereof 
traveled from them through Egypt to Greece two cen- 
turies later. The Berosus Hemicycle, still extant and 
supposed to be Chaldean, was inclined according to 
the latitude in which it was placed. It divided the day 
from sunrise to sunset into twelve equal divisions, and 
thus an hour might be eighty minutes in length in 
June and but forty- five in December. 
Possibly the earliest dials were in the form of con- 
cave hemispheres, the shadow of the gnomon in the 
middle falling upon diverse lines scratched in the 
cavity. Specimens of such dials are still preserved 
among the relics of very ancient times — one of them 
being taken from the base of what is usually known as 
Cleopatra’s needle. This has suggested that the pur- 
pose of the Egyptian obelisks may have been to denote 
time by their shadows. It was not until the middle 
of the fifth century, B. C., that mid-day or noon was 
first recognized at Rome as a point of time. It was 
observed and noted and proclaimed to the city by a 
herald by the appearance of the sun in a certain place 
between two buildin'gs. The use of pole and gnomon 
combined may have originated about the same time or 
earlier. The shadow was probably cast on steps in 
the open air or a ray of light fell on steps in a closed 
chamber. Thus the early use of the term “degrees” 
or “steps.” The dial mentioned in the Bible (II 
Kings, 20), was probably of such a character. 
Later and lasting until about the beginning of the 
Christian era, the day was divided into four parts 
and the night was divided into three watches. The 
ancient Romans had small portable dials, as the Chinese 
and Japanese have to this day. In Greek the letters 
used to signify the hours 6, 7, 8 and 9, spelled the 
word, ZETHI, “live!” which suggests an especial ap- 
propriateness in adopting the sun dial for monumental 
purposes. 
In England there are many sun dials in various 
states of preservation or dilapidation. Some of them 
go back to Scandinavian times, when a maritime peo- 
ple divided the day into tides — two high and two low — 
and these into quarters. This gave to the day sixteen 
“.stundrs” or hours. There are dials extant in England 
which show this system to have been continued down 
to the time of the Norman conquest. There are dials 
of Anglo-Saxon origin also, as shown by their inscrip- 
tions. One of the Popes directed that every church 
should be supplied with a dial. When dialing became 
an exact science, efforts were made from time to time 
to break up all the old and incorrect dials and replace 
them with the newer and correct ones. The Saxon 
dials survived in England because of their massive- 
