ST PAUL'S CATHEDRAL CLOCK [see p. 140] is one of the best examples of old-fashioned clocks in London; it occupies the clock-room in the south-western tower. It may be described as a ting-tang quarter on the rack principle, having hammers raised from pins in the main wheel as in St James's Palace Clock. The train is run in a bar, so that to get away one piece the rest must be disturbed. The escapement is a recoil, beating two seconds with a wood rod pendulum. The length of the minute hand is eight feet, and its weight 75lb; the length of the hour hand is five feet five inches, and its weight 44lb. The diameter of the bell, made from old 'Great Tom of Westminster,' is about 10 feet, its weight 11,474lb; the hammer weighs 145lb, and the clapper 180lb. +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | [Illustration: St James's Palace Clock.] | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ The OLD CLOCK AT THE ROYAL FREE HOSPITAL, GRAY'S INN LANE, is a fair specimen of the work of 120 years ago. It has a recoil escapement, most of the wheels are of wrought-iron, cut by hand, as is also the pinion. The pendulum rod is of iron with leaden bob. THE WHEELS. +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | [Illustration: St Paul's Cathedral Clock.] | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ And now, in order to form a judgment of what is necessary to be done to make a really sound and valuable Turret Clock of the present day, let me describe the materials of which it should be formed. One of the most important parts of a clock is the wheel-work. Iron wheels are of course very much cheaper than those which are made of gun metal or hard brass, but iron wheels, however well they may sometimes wear, are more liable to oxidize and to decay, and although it is certain that a large number of clocks are constructed with iron wheels by London houses of some reputation, a few years are generally sufficient to prove such time-pieces to be very faulty, and to necessitate the substitution of wheels of the superior metal. +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | [Illustration: Old Clock at the Royal Free Hospital.] | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+