Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the numerous original illustrations. See 44838-h.htm or 44838-h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/44838/44838-h/44838-h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/44838/44838-h.zip) Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive. See https://archive.org/details/timeitsmeasureme00arth Transcriber's note: Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). The notation "_{n}" means that n is a subscript. Small capital text has been converted to all uppercase. TIME AND ITS MEASUREMENT by JAMES ARTHUR Reprinted from Popular Mechanics Magazine Copyright, 1909, By H. H. Windsor Chicago, 1909 CONTENTS CHAPTER I HISTORIC OUTLINE Time as an abstraction. -- Ancient divisions of day and night. -- Night watches of the Old Testament. -- Quarter days and hours of the New Testament. -- Shadow, or sun time. -- Noon mark dials. -- Ancient dials of Herculaneum and Pompeii. -- Modern dials. -- Equation of time. -- Three historic methods of measuring time. -- "Time-boy" of India. -- Chinese clepsydra. -- Ancient weather and time stations. -- Tower of the winds, Athens, Greece Page 13 CHAPTER II JAPANESE CLOCKS Chinese and Japanese divisions of the day. -- Hours of varying length. -- Setting clocks to length of daylight. -- Curved line dials. -- Numbering hours backwards and strange reasons for same. -- Daily names for sixty day period. -- Japanese clock movements practically Dutch. -- Japanese astronomical clock. -- Decimal numbers very old Chinese. -- Original vertical dials founded on "bamboo stick" of Chinese clepsydra. -- Mathematics and superstition. -- Mysterious disappearance of hours 1, 2, 3. -- Eastern mental attitude towards time. -- Japanese methods of striking hours and half hours Page 25 CHAPTER III MODERN CLOCKS De Vick's clock of 1364. -- Original "verge" escapement. -- "Anchor" and "dead beat" escapements. -- "Remontoir" clock. -- The pendulum. -- Jeweling pallets. -- Antique clock with earliest application of pendulum. -- Turkish watches. -- Correct designs for public clock faces. -- Art work on old watches. -- 24-hour watch. -- Syrian and Hebrew hour numerals. -- Correct method of striking hours and quarters. -- Design for 24-hour dial and hands. -- Curious clocks. -- Inventions of the old clock-makers Page 37 CHAPTER IV ASTRONOMICAL FOUNDATION OF TIME