Chapter I: Front Matter

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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