[time-nuts] Leap Second Pending

Chuck Harris cfharris at erols.com
Wed Jul 30 02:05:10 UTC 2008


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)
> 
> 
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