[time-nuts] Leap Second Pending

[Rex]

Oh. I see!  It was already a joke that I didn't get.
Thanks.

Chuck Harris wrote:
> 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 -- time-nuts at febo.com
>> To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
>> and follow the instructions there.
>>
>>     
>
> _______________________________________________
> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts at febo.com
> To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
> and follow the instructions there.
>
>
>