The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 1 (of 6)

Chapter 78: CHAP. 74. (72.)—REMARKS ON DIALS, AS CONNECTED WITH THIS SUBJECT.

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The text assembles a systematic survey of the natural world, opening with cosmological and geographical discussions and proceeding through plants, animals, minerals, and human uses of natural substances. It synthesizes reports from earlier authors, travelers, and craftsmen, combining empirical observation, hearsay, and learned commentary to describe physical phenomena, medicinal remedies, technologies, and curiosities. Organized as an encyclopedic sequence of books and chapters, it catalogues facts and theories, cites authorities, and balances practical instruction with natural-philosophical reflection.

CHAP. 74. (72.)—REMARKS ON DIALS, AS CONNECTED WITH THIS SUBJECT.

The same dial-plates505 cannot be used in all places, the shadow of the sun being sensibly different at distances of 300, or at most of 500 stadia506. Hence the shadow of the dial-pin, which is termed the gnomon, at noon and at the summer solstice, in Egypt, is a little more than half the length of the gnomon itself. At the city of Rome it is only ¹⁄₉ less than the gnomon, at Ancona not more than ¹⁄₃₅ less, while in the part of Italy which is called Venetia, at the same hour, the shadow is equal to the length of the gnomon507.