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REVIVAL OF THE SUN-DIAL 
BY 
ALICE MORSE EARLE 
N O more surprising example of a revival 
of popularity has been seen in this 
country than the sudden appearance on our 
walls and in our gardens of the old-time 
sun-dial. Five years ago I could scarcely 
find ten sun-dials in America ; now they are 
in scores of gardens, and on 
many public and private 
buildings. There still remains, 
however, a lack of simple 
dials, or—to speak plainly— 
inexpensive dials, either hor¬ 
izontal or vertical. Cheap 
horizontal dials may be bought 
readily ; they are for sale in 
considerable number in our 
“ antique shops.” Some of 
these examples are old, having 
been uprooted from homes in 
old England; some have been 
manufactured anew to supply 
the sudden demand, manu¬ 
factured without regard to fit¬ 
ness for latitude—and indeed 
are often suited to no known 
latitude ; having gnomons of 
any ornamental shape, set 
wildly in any haphazard sort 
of prettily arranged hour-lines. 
Indeed it is not generally 
known by the every-day 
garden-owner that a sun-dial 
must be made to be set in a 
certain latitude; must have 
the hour lines and the angle 
of gnomon accurately calcu¬ 
lated; that drawings carefully 
made for this latitude by 
skilled mathematicians must be followed with 
exactness by the dial manufacturer. Other¬ 
wise the sun-dial is valueless save as a pretty 
figure of a thing, a thing meaningless and 
useless. 
There are, in all our large cities, fully 
equipped shops for the sale of 
mathematical, nautical and as¬ 
tronomical instruments, where 
accurate drawings can be 
ordered for the construction 
of sun-dials. But such draw¬ 
ings are naturally costly, and 
the carrying out in the casting, 
engraving or carving of the 
dial - face equally expensive. 
Such a sun-dial is a luxury far 
beyond the means of many 
who must limit the cost of the 
garden furnishing to such vital 
essentials as seeds, plants and 
bulbs. 
I do not mean to imply 
that these carefully calculated 
and beautifully constructed 
sun-dials are over-priced; 
they are perfect; and perfec¬ 
tion of execution added to ele¬ 
gance of material must be ever 
costly. But there are gardens 
which are simple in design 
and furnishing, and garden- 
owners with moderate purses 
and plain tastes, and these gar¬ 
dens and owners wish a sun¬ 
dial. H ow can this wish be 
satisfied at comparatively slight 
cost? We may begin at the 
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