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Aueieat Sun-Dials.
: "It is priibable t hat I lie eai liest siin-dial
was simply ibu sjieai- oE sorae liomad vcliief)
stuck upright.in.ihe ground: 'b^fpre ^i.is teiit,
Amongst those desert, wanderers,: keen to
observe tlioiv -snrround ings, it would not be
a difficult:illiiigrt<): notice that the shadow
shortened as the sun rose higher in . tbe.jskyj
and that tlie slibrtest sliado w al ivays ppinted
in the same direction. The • recognition
would have followed very soon that this
noonday shadow changed in its length - from
day to day . A six-foot spear . won Id. give a
shadow at:noonday iti Iatitu6e 40 degrees:bf
12ft. at one time of the year, of less thau 2ft.
at another. This instrument,' so stmplei iso
easily:carried; so easily .set-up, may;wfcH have
begun the^'Anientitic. study^
's
it lent itself tp measurenieutj ai'd soieiice is
measurement : and pnibably we see it expressed
in permanent form iu the obelisks of
.
-Egyptian solar temples, though 'these up
doubt aere rc4ained mei'e!y :as soiar®i;b
Ages';after' ibe^
observat ionvbad ceased. A n u pright :sticlt,
l carefully plumbed, standing on ^some. level
surface; may iherefbre ma.ke^^ihe iirMMdvauce
upon-the natural horizon. A knob at tlve
top of the stick will be found to render, the
shadow more easily observed."
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