According to Donald DeCarle's Watch and Clock Encyclopedia: Clepsydra- Water Clock. There are various types of water clocks, from the plain vessel with an orifice at its base through which water percolates and, by the lowering of the surface of the water the passage of time is denoted, to the water clock with a mechanical device to cause a hand to rotate. The mechanical clepsydra shown overleaf is simple in operation. The cylindrical vessel is slowly filled with water and a float with a stem and rack engages the wheel to which the hour hand is attached. As the vessel fills so the float rises and the hour hand is made to rotate. When the vessel is full it is emtied (sic) and the process starts over again. While this type of clock is spectacular and one would like to think it is of ancient origin, it has to be recorded that no ancient example has been handed down to us. On the other hand, Egyptian water clocks, as illustrated, have been found and date from about 1400B.C. Primitive water clocks of Saxon times have been found in the British Isles. They are of the "sinking bowl" type, where a bronze bowl with a hole in the bottom was placed upon the surface of the water, water percolated through the hole and eventually it sank which denoted a period of time. It is interesting to note that this system is still used in Algeria for timing periods of the supply of water for irrigation purposes.
-Chuck Harris Rex wrote: > Mark Sims wrote: >> And my clepsydra is now indicating "Leak Second Pending"... >> ---------------------------------------- >> >> >> > > Did you make a typo... or is clepsydra a real word? > > > :-) (just joking) > > > _______________________________________________ > time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts > and follow the instructions there. > _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
