But any such plan must be _speedily_ and _well_ organised and _well
announced_!
I give the above details, not only because they relate to a passage in our
immortal bard, who has ennobled and perpetuated every word and fact in his
writings, but because they illustrate the astronomical antiquities of our
own country and our kindred tribes during many centuries. These sun-dials
are now very scarce, even in the high Scandinavian North, driven out as
they have been by the watch, in the same manner as the ancient clog[1] or
Rune-staff (the carved wooden perpetual almanac) has been extirpated by the
printed calendar, and now only exists in the cabinets of the curious. In
fifty years more sun-rings will probably be quite extinct throughout
Europe. I hope this will cause you to excuse my prolixity. Will no
_astronomer_ among your readers direct his attention to this subject? Does
anything of the kind still linger in the East?
GEORGE STEPHENS.
Stockholm.
[Footnote 1: The Scandinavian Rune-staff is well known. An engraving of an
ancient English clog (but with Roman characters, instead of Runic) is in
Hone's _Every-Day Book_, vol.
Pages:
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32