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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
CHAPTER IV
ASTRONOMICAL FOUNDATION OF TIME
Astronomical motions on which our time is founded. -- Reasons
for selecting the sidereal day as a basis for our 24-hour
day. -- Year of the seasons shorter than the zodiacal year. --
Precession of the equinoxes. -- Earth's rotation most uniform
motion known to us. -- Time stars and transits. -- Local time.
-- The date line. -- Standard time. -- Beginning and ending of
a day. -- Proposed universal time. -- Clock dial for universal
time and its application to business. -- Next great improvement
in clocks and watches indicated. -- Automatic recording of
the earth's rotation. -- Year of the seasons as a unit for
astronomers. -- General conclusions Page 53
ILLUSTRATIONS
Page
Portrait of James Arthur 8
Interpretation of Chinese and Japanese Methods of Time Keeping 15
Portable Bronze Sundial from the Ruins of Herculaneum 16
Noon-Mark Sundials 17
Modern Horizontal Sundial for Latitude 40°-43´ 18
The Earth, Showing Relation of Dial Styles to Axis 18
Modern Sundial Set Up in Garden 18
"Time-Boy" of India 19
"Hon-woo-et-low," or "Copper Jars Dropping Water"--Canton, China 19
Modern Sand Glass or "Hour Glass" 20
Tower of the Winds, Athens, Greece 20
Key to Japanese Figures 25
Japanese Dials Set for Long and Short Days 25
Japanese Striking Clock with Weight and Short Pendulum 26
Japanese Striking Clock with Spring, Fusee and Balance 26
Japanese Clock with Vertical Dial, Weight and Balance 27
Japanese Clock with Vertical Dial Having Curved Lines, Weight
and Balance 27
Japanese Vertical Dials 28
Japanese Striking Clock with Two Balances and Two Escapements 29
"Twelve Horary Branches" and "10 Celestial Stems" as Used in
Clocks 30
Key to "12 Horary Branches" and "10 Celestial Stems" 30
Dial of Japanese Astronomical Clock 31
Use of "Yeng Number" and Animal Names of Hours 32
Public Dial by James Arthur 37
Dial of Philadelphia City Hall Clock 37
Verge Escapement 37
De Vick's Clock of 1364 38
Anchor Escapement 38
American Anchor Escapement 39
Dead Beat Escapement 39
Remontoir Clock by James Arthur 40
Remontoir Clock Movement 40
Antique Clock, Entirely Hand-Made 41, 42
Double-Case Watch of Repoussé Work 42
Triple-Case Turkish Watches 43
Watch Showing Dutch Art Work 43
Triple-Case Turkish Watch 44
Watches Showing Art Work 45
Antique Watch Cock 46
"Chinese" Watch 46
Musical Watch, Repeating Hours and Quarters 47
Syrian Dial 47
Hebrew Numerals 48
Twenty-four Hour Watch 48
Domestic Dial by James Arthur 49
Local Time--Standard Time--Beginning and Ending of the Day 57
Universal Time Dial Set for Four Places 61
[Illustration: James Arthur
Mr. Arthur is an enthusiastic scientist, a successful inventor and
extensive traveler, who has for years been making a study of clocks,
watches, and time-measuring devices. He is not only a great authority
on this subject, but his collection of over 1500 timepieces gathered
from all parts of the globe has been pronounced the finest collection
in the world. Mr. Arthur is a pleasing exception to the average
business man, for he has found time to do a large amount of study and
research along various scientific lines in addition to conducting an
important manufacturing business in New York City, of which he is
president. Mr. Arthur is 67 years of age.--H. H. Windsor.]
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.
Time, as a separate entity, has not yet been defined in language.
Definitions will be found to be merely explanations of the sense in
which we use the word in matters of practical life. No human being
can tell how long a minute is; only that it is longer than a second
and shorter than an hour. In some sense we can think of a longer
or shorter period of time, but this is merely comparative. The
difference between 50 and 75 steps a minute in marching is clear to
us, but note that we introduce motion and space before we can get a
conception of time as a succession of events, but time, in itself,
remains elusive.
In time measures we strive for a uniform motion of something and
this implies equal spaces in equal times; so we here assume just
what we cannot explain, for space is as difficult to define as time.
Time cannot be "squared" or used as a multiplier or divisor. Only
numbers can be so used; so when we speak of "the square of the time"
we mean some number which we have arbitrarily assumed to represent
it. This becomes plain when we state that in calculations relating
to pendulums, for example, we may use seconds and inches--minutes
and feet--or seconds and meters and the answer will come out right
in the units which we have assumed. Still more, numbers themselves
have no meaning till they are applied to something, and here we are
applying them to time, space and motion; so we are trying to explain
three abstractions by a fourth! But, happily, the results of these
assumptions and calculations are borne out in practical human life,
and we are not compelled to settle the deep question as to whether
fundamental knowledge is possible to the human mind. Those desiring
a few headaches on these questions can easily get them from Kant
and Spencer--but that is all they will get on these four necessary
assumptions.
Evidently, man began by considering the day as a unit and did not
include the night in his time keeping for a long period. "And the
evening and the morning were the first day" Gen. 1, 5; "Evening and
morning and at noonday," Ps. LV, 17, divides the day ("sun up") in
two parts. "Fourth part of a day," Neh. IX, 3, shows another advance.
Then comes, "are there not twelve hours in a day," John XI, 9. The
"eleventh hour," Matt. XX, 1 to 12, shows clearly that sunset was
12 o'clock. A most remarkable feature of this 12-hour day, in the
New Testament, is that the writers generally speak of the third,
sixth and ninth hours, Acts II, 15; III, 1; X, 9. This is extremely
interesting, as it shows that the writers still thought in quarter
days (Neh. IX, 3) and had not yet acquired the 12-hour conception
given to them by the Romans. They thought in quarter days even
when using the 12-hour numerals! Note further that references are
to "hours;" so it is evident that in New Testament times they did
not need smaller subdivisions. "About the third hour," shows the
mental attitude. That they had no conception of our minutes, seconds
and fifth seconds becomes quite plain when we notice that they
jumped down from the hour to nowhere, in such expressions as "in an
instant--in the twinkling of an eye."
Before this, the night had been divided into three watches, Judges
VII, 19. Poetry to this day uses the "hours" and the "watches" as
symbols.
This 12 hours of daylight gave very variable hours in latitudes some
distance from the equator, being long in summer and short in winter.
The amount of human ingenuity expended on time measures so as to
divide the time from sunrise to sunset into 12 equal parts is almost
beyond belief. In Constantinople, to-day, this is used, but in a
rather imperfect manner, for the clocks are modern and run 24 hours
uniformly; so the best they can do is to set them to mark twelve at
sunset. This necessitates setting to the varying length of the days,
so that the clocks appear to be sometimes more and sometimes less
than six hours ahead of ours. A clock on the tower at the Sultan's
private mosque gives the impression of being out of order and about
six hours ahead, but it is running correctly to their system. Hotels
often show two clocks, one of them to our twelve o'clock noon system.
Evidently the Jewish method of ending a day at sunset is the same
and explains the command, "let not the sun go down upon thy wrath,"
which we might read, do not carry your anger over to another day. I
venture to say that we still need that advice.
This simple line of steps in dividing the day and night is taken
principally from the Bible because everyone can easily look up the
passages quoted and many more, while quotations from books not in
general use would not be so clear. Further, the neglect of the Bible
is such a common complaint in this country that if I induce a few
to look into it a little some good may result, quite apart from the
matter of religious belief.
Some Chinese and Japanese methods of dividing the day and night are
indicated in Fig. 1. The old Japanese method divides the day into
six hours and the night also into six, each hour averaging twice as
long as ours. In some cases they did this by changing the rate of the
clock, and in others by letting the clock run uniformly and changing
the hour marks on the dial, but this will come later when we reach
Japanese clocks.
It is remarkable that at the present time in England the "saving
daylight" agitation is virtually an attempt to go back to this
discarded system. "John Bull," for a long period the time-keeper
of the world with headquarters at Greenwich, and during that time
the most pretentious clock-maker, now proposes to move his clocks
backward and forward several times a year so as to "fool" his workmen
out of their beds in the mornings! Why not commence work a few
minutes earlier each fortnight while days are lengthening and the
reverse when they are shortening?
This reminds me of a habit which was common in Scotland,--"keeping
the clock half an hour forward." In those days work commenced at six
o'clock, so the husband left his house at six and after a good walk
arrived at the factory at six! Don't you see that if his clock had
been set right he would have found it necessary to leave at half
past five? But, you say he was simply deceiving himself and acting
in an unreasonable manner. Certainly, but the average man is not a
reasonable being, and "John Bull" knows this and is trying to fool
the average Englishman.
[Illustration: Fig. 1--Interpretation of Chinese and Japanese Methods
of Time Keeping]
Now, as to the methods of measuring time, we must use circumstantial
evidence for the pre-historic period. The rising and the going down
of the sun--the lengthening shadows, etc., must come first, and we are
on safe ground here, for savages still use primitive methods like
setting up a stick and marking its shadow so that a party trailing
behind can estimate the distance the leaders are ahead by the changed
position of the shadow. Men notice their shortening and lengthening
shadows to this day. When the shadow of a man shortens more and
more slowly till it appears to be fixed, the observer knows it
is noon, and when it shows the least observable lengthening then
it is just past noon. Now, it is a remarkable fact that this crude
method of determining noon is just the same as "taking the sun" to
determine noon at sea. Noon is the time at which the sun reaches his
highest point on any given day. At sea this is determined generally
by a sextant, which simply measures the angle between the horizon
and the sun. The instrument is applied a little before noon and the
observer sees the sun creeping upward slower and slower till a little
tremor or hesitation appears indicating that the sun has reached his
height,--noon. Oh! you wish to know if the observer is likely to make
a mistake? Yes, and when accurate local time is important, several
officers on a large ship will take the meridian passage at the same
time and average their readings, so as to reduce the "personal
error." All of which is merely a greater degree of accuracy than that
of the man who observes his shadow.
[Illustration: Fig. 2--Portable Bronze Sundial from the Ruins of
Herculaneum]
The gradual development of the primitive shadow methods culminated
in the modern sundial. The "dial of Ahas," Isa. XXXVIII, 8, on which
the sun went back 10 "degrees" is often referred to, but in one of
the revised editions of the unchangeable word the sun went back 10
"steps." This becomes extremely interesting when we find that in
India there still remains an immense dial built with steps instead of
hour lines. Figure 2 shows a pocket, or portable sundial taken from
the ruins of Herculaneum and now in the Museo National, Naples. It
is bronze, was silver plated and is in the form of a ham suspended
from the hock joint. From the tail, evidently bent from its original
position, which forms the gnomon, lines radiate and across these wavy
lines are traced. It is about 5 in. long and 3 in. wide. Being in the
corner of a glass case I was unable to get small details, but museum
authorities state that names of months are engraved on it, so it
would be a good guess that these wavy lines had something to do with
the long and short days.
In a restored flower garden, within one of the large houses in the
ruins of Pompeii, may be seen a sundial of the Armillary type,
presumably in its original position. I could not get close to it, as
the restored garden is railed in, but it looks as if the plane of the
equator and the position of the earth's axis must have been known to
the maker.
Both these dials were in use about the beginning of our era and were
covered by the great eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D., which destroyed
Pompeii and Herculaneum.
Modern sundials differ only in being more accurately made and a few
"curiosity" dials added. The necessity for time during the night,
as man's life became a little more complicated, necessitated the
invention of time machines. The "clepsydra," or water clock, was
probably the first. A French writer has dug up some old records
putting it back to Hoang-ti 2679 B.C., but it appears to have been
certainly in use in China in 1100 B.C., so we will be satisfied
with that date. In presenting a subject to the young student it
is sometimes advisable to use round numbers to give a simple
comprehension and then leave him to find the overlapping of dates and
methods as he advances. Keeping this in mind, the following table may
be used to give an elementary hint of the three great steps in time
measuring:
Shadow time, 2000 to 1000 B. C.
Dials and Water Clocks, 1000 B. C. to 1000 A. D.
Clocks and watches, 1000 to 2000 A. D.
I have pushed the gear wheel clocks and watches forward to 2000 A.D.,
as they may last to that time, but I have no doubt we will supersede
them. At the present time science is just about ready to say that
a time measurer consisting of wheels and pinions--a driving power
and a regulator in the form of a pendulum or balance, is a clumsy
contrivance and that we ought to do better very soon; but more on
this hoped-for, fourth method when we reach the consideration of the
motion on which we base all our time keeping.
It is remarkable how few are aware that the simplest form of sundial
is the best, and that, as a regulator of our present clocks, it is
good within one or two minutes. No one need be without a "noon-mark"
sundial; that is, every one may have the best of all dials. Take a
post or any straight object standing "plumb," or best of all the
corner of a building as in Fig. 3. In the case of the post, or tree
trunk, a stone (shown in solid black) may be set in the ground;
but for the building a line may often be cut across a flagstone of
the footpath. Many methods may be employed to get this noon mark,
which is simply a north and south line. Viewing the pole star, using
a compass (if the local variation is known) or the old method of
finding the time at which the shadow of a pole is shortest. But the
best practical way in this day is to use a watch set to local time
and make the mark at 12 o'clock.
[Illustration: Fig. 3--Noon-Mark Sundials]
On four days of the year the sun is right and your mark may be set at
12 on these days, but you may use an almanac and look in the column
marked "mean time at noon" or "sun on meridian." For example, suppose
on the bright day when you are ready to place your noon mark you read
in this column 11:50, then when your watch shows 11:50 make your noon
mark to the shadow and it will be right for all time to come. Owing
to the fact that there are not an even number of days in a year, it
follows that on any given yearly date at noon the earth is not at
the same place in its elliptical orbit and the correction of this
by the leap years causes the equation table to vary in periods of
four years. The centennial leap years cause another variation of 400
years, etc., but these variations are less than the error in reading
a dial.
SUN ON NOON MARK, 1909
-------------------------------------------------------
Clock Clock Clock
Date Time Date Time Date Time
-------------------------------------------------------
Jan. 2 12:04 May 1 11:57 Sep. 30 11:50
" 4 12:05 " 15 11:56 Oct. 3 11:49
" 7 12:06 " 28 11:57 " 6 11:48
" 9 12:07 June 4 11:58 " 10 11:47
" 11 12:08 " 10 11:59 " 14 11:46
" 14 12:09 " 14 12:00 " 19 11:45
" 17 12:10 " 19 12:01 " 26 11:44
" 20 12:11 " 24 12:02 Nov. 17 11:45
" 23 12:12 " 29 12:03 " 22 11:46
" 28 12:13 July 4 12:04 " 25 11:47
Feb. 3 12:14 " 10 12:05 " 29 11:48
" 26 12:13 " 19 12:06 Dec. 1 11:49
Mar. 3 12:12 Aug. 11 12:05 " 4 11:50
" 8 12:11 " 16 12:04 " 6 11:51
" 11 12:10 " 21 12:03 " 9 11:52
" 15 12:09 " 25 12:02 " 11 11:53
" 18 12:08 " 28 12:01 " 13 11:54
" 22 12:07 " 31 12:00 " 15 11:55
" 25 12:06 Sep. 4 11:59 " 17 11:56
" 28 12:05 " 7 11:58 " 19 11:57
Apr. 1 12:04 " 10 11:57 " 21 11:58
" 4 12:03 " 12 11:56 " 23 11:59
" 7 12:02 " 15 11:55 " 25 12:00
" 11 12:01 " 18 11:54 " 27 12:01
" 15 12:00 " 21 11:53 " 29 12:02
" 19 11:59 " 24 11:52 " 31 12:03
" 24 11:58 " 27 11:51
-------------------------------------------------------
The above table shows the variation of the sun from "mean"
or clock time, by even minutes.
[Illustration: Fig. 4--12-Inch Modern Horizontal Sundial for Latitude
40°-43´]
[Illustration: Fig. 5--The Earth, Showing Relation of Dial Styles to
Axis]
The reason that the table given here is convenient for setting clocks
to mean time is that a minute is as close as a dial can be read, but
if you wish for greater accuracy, then the almanac, which gives the
"equation of time" to a second for each day, will be better. The
reason that these noon-mark dials are better than ordinary commercial
dials is that they are larger, and still further, noon is the only
time that any dial is accurate to sun time. This is because the
sun's rays are "refracted" in a variable manner by our atmosphere,
but at noon this refraction takes place on a north and south line,
and as that is our noon-mark line the dial reads correctly. So,
for setting clocks, the corner of your house is far ahead of the
most pretentious and expensive dial. In Fig. 4 is shown a modern
horizontal dial without the usual confusing "ornamentation," and in
Fig. 5 it is shown set up on the latitude of New York City for which
it is calculated. This shows clearly why the edge FG of the style
which casts the shadow must be parallel to the earth's axis and why
a horizontal dial must be made for the latitude of the place where
it is set up. Figure 6 is the same dial only the lines are laid
out on a square dial plate, and it will give your young scientific
readers a hint of how to set up a dial in the garden. In setting up a
horizontal dial, consider only noon and set the style, or 12 o'clock
line, north and south as described above for noon-mark dials.
[Illustration: Fig. 6--Modern Sundial Set Up in Garden]
A whole issue of Popular Mechanics could be filled on the subject
of dials and even then only give a general outline. Astronomy,
geography, geometry, mathematics, mechanics, as well as architecture
and art, come in to make "dialing" a most charming scientific and
intellectual avocation.
During the night and also in cloudy weather the sundial was useless
and we read that the priests of the temples and monks of more modern
times "went out to observe the stars" to make a guess at the time
of night. The most prominent type after the shadow devices was the
"water clock" or "clepsydra," but many other methods were used, such
as candles, oil lamps and in comparatively late times, the sand
glass. The fundamental principle of all water clocks is the escape
of water from a vessel through a small hole. It is evident that such
a vessel would empty itself each time it is filled in very nearly
the same time. The reverse of this has been used as shown in Fig. 7,
which represents the "time-boy" of India. He sits in front of a large
vessel of water and floats a bronze cup having a small hole in its
bottom in this large vessel, and the leakage gradually lowers this
cup till it sinks, after which he fishes it up and strikes one or
more blows on it as a gong. This he continues and a rude division of
time is obtained,--while he keeps awake!
[Illustration: Fig. 7--"Time-Boy" of India]
[Illustration: Fig. 8--"Hon-woo-et-low" or "Copper Jars Dropping
Water"--Canton, China]
The most interesting of all water clocks is undoubtedly the "copper
jars dropping water," in Canton, China, where I saw it in 1897.
Referring to the simple line sketch, which I make from memory, Fig.
8, and reading four Chinese characters downwards the translation is
"Canton City." To the left and still downwards,--"Hon-woo-et-low,"
which is,--"Copper jars dropping water." Educated Chinamen inform me
that it is over 3,000 years old and had a weather vane. As they
speak of it as "the clock of the street arch" this would look quite
probable; since the little open building, or tower in which it stands
is higher than surrounding buildings. It is, therefore, reasonably
safe to state that the Chinese had a _weather and time station_
over 1,000 years before our era. It consists of four copper jars
partially built in masonry forming a stair-like structure. Commencing
at the top jar each one drops into the next downward till the water
reaches the solid bottom jar. In this lowest one a float, "the bamboo
stick," is placed and indicates the height of the water and thus in
a rude way gives the time. It is said to be set morning and evening
by dipping the water from jar 4 to jar 1, so it runs 12 hours of
our time. What are the uses of jars 2 and 3, since the water simply
enters them and drips out again? No information could be obtained,
but I venture an explanation and hope the reader can do better, as
we are all of a family and there is no jealousy. When the top jar is
filled for a 12-hour run it would drip out too fast during the first
six hours and too slow during the second six hours, on account of
the varying "head" of water. Now, the spigot of jar 2 could be set
so that it would gain water during the first six hours, and lose
during the second six hours and thus equalize a little by splitting
the error of jar 1 in two parts. Similarly, these two errors of jar 2
could be again split by jar 3 making four small variations in lowest
jar, instead of one large error in the flow of jar 1. This could
be extended to a greater number of jars, another jar making eight
smaller errors, etc., etc. But I am inclined to credit our ancient
Chinese inventor with the sound reasoning that a human attendant,
being very fallible and limited in his capacity, would have all he
could properly do to adjust four jars, and that his record would
average better than it would with a greater number. Remember, this
man lived thousands of years before the modern mathematician who
constructed a bell-shaped vessel with a small hole in the bottom,
and proportioned the varying diameter in such a manner that in
emptying itself the surface of the water sank equal distances in
equal times. The sand glass, Fig. 9, poetically called the "hour
glass," belongs to the water-clock class and the sand flows from one
bulb into the other, but it gives no subdivisions of its period, so
if you are using one running an hour it does not give you the half
hour. The sand glass is still in use by chairmen, and when the oldest
inhabitant gets on his feet, I always advise setting a 20-minute
glass "on him."
[Illustration: Fig. 9--Modern Sand Glass or "Hour Glass"]
[Illustration: Fig. 10--"Tower of the Winds"--Athens, Greece]
In the "Tower of the Winds" at Athens, Greece (Fig. 10), we have a
later "weather bureau" station. It is attributed to the astronomer
Andronicos, and was built about 50 B. C. It is octagonal in plan
and although 27 ft. in diameter and 44 ft. high, it looks like a
sentry box when seen from one of the hills of Athens. It had a
bronze weather vane and in later times sundials on its eight sides,
but all these are gone and the tower itself is only a dilapidated
ruin. In making the drawing for this cut, from a photograph of the
tower, I have sharpened the weathered and chipped corners of the
stones so as to give a view nearly like the structure as originally
built; but nothing is added. Under the eaves it has eight allegorical
sculptures, representing wind and weather. Artists state that
these sculptures are inferior as compared with Grecian art of an
older period. But the most interesting part is inside, and here
we find curious passages cut in solid stone, and sockets which
look as if they had contained metal bearings for moving machinery.
Circumstantial evidence is strong that it contained a complicated
water clock which could have been kept running with tolerable
accuracy by setting it daily to the dials on the outside. Probably
during a few days of cloudy weather the clock would "get off quite a
little," but business was not pressing in those days. Besides, the
timekeeper would swear by his little water wheel, anyway, and feel
safe, as there was no higher authority wearing an American watch.
Some very interesting engravings of Japanese clocks and a general
explanation of them, as well as a presentation of the Japanese mental
attitude towards "hours" and their strange method of numbering them
may be expected in the next chapter.