ABOUT SUNDIALS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10536, 10 August 1912, Page 4

ABOUT SUNDIALS.

Sundials wore introduced into Rome in 293 8.C., when Papirius Cursor, a Roman general, sst ono up in the court of the Temple of Quirinas. Cicero, writing 48 8.C., refers to a sundial he wished to havo put up in his villa, and his death is saicl to have heen predicted by the omen of a raven which struck off the gnomon.of the dial. After their introduction into Rome, sundials were extensively employed, upon temples, baths, houses, and on tombs. In, the latter case, it ib cynically suggested, cays the " Autocar," that they were so placed in order to induce passers-by to pause and read the fulsome epitaphs. In America there are traces of sundials of earlier date than ti.3 Spanish conquest. In England the oldest dial is that on the Bewcastlo Cross ; which dates back to 670 A.D. There is, however, a sundial at the base of Cleopatra's Needle on the Thames Embankment which is believed to be of Grecian origin. It was not until the Norman conquest that sundials became of general use in, England. At that time they were placed on public buildings, at the junction of the important highways, as at Seven Dials in London, and other places. It was not, however, until th» sixteenth century that sundials became fashionable in private gardens and over the doors of ohurohos.