The hourglass still goes

Do you know how, since the XV century, sailors measure time? Yes, they can navigate the sun or the stars, but the most reliable, accurate and indispensable device on the ship is an hourglass. A sundial can only show time in clear weather and only in the locality in which the ship is, and sandy ones are a real salvation for the sailors.

On any ship there were always at least three such measuring devices: for four hours - the time of carrying one watch, for a minute and for 30 seconds. With the help of the last two, the speed of the vessel was calculated.

It was from here that the time was traditionally measured by "bottles", and the expression "hit the flasks" became a running one. The watchman, who had specially watched the hourglass readings, turned the half-hour device and turned it into a ship's bell.

But the hourglass appeared much earlier than in the 15th century. The principle of their action was known long before the beginning of our chronology. Since the time of Archimedes, there are references to the bottle clock. Most likely, there were sand.

Classic watches of this type are two connected by a narrow neck of a glass vessel fixed in a stable wooden stand. Depending on the period of time measurement, a certain amount of sand is filled into one of the vessels.

In Western European countries, such watches were talked about at the beginning of the fourteenth century, when a method for preparing the finest sand for them was found in France. It was a finely sifted black marble powder, boiled in wine and well dried in the sun. But the flasks could be filled with crushed eggshell, and lead or tin oxide.

Hours of sand in Europe appeared late, but they are fast enough Spread and became popular because of its simplicity, reliability, the ability to measure time at any time and low price. Their only drawback is a relatively short measurement interval. Most often they can measure a time equal to half an hour or an hour. Significantly less frequent are watches, measuring the gap at 3 or 4 hours, and extremely rarely comes across a huge, gigantic-sized device, designed for 12 hours of "running".

Calling an hourglass the most accurate time measuring device, you can not at all doubt it. In the first place, accuracy depends on the quality of sand, which was produced using a special technology, from its uniform granularity and flowability. Not the least role is played by the shape of the flasks, the smoothness of the diaphragm in the neck, the smoothness of the inner walls.

By the way, the most accurate results were given by watches, whose flasks were filled with lead sand, which had the most uniform granularity. Even with prolonged use, such sand did not scratch the inner walls of the glass bulb and did not break their smoothness, which undoubtedly affected the accuracy of the measurement. Although "Nothing lasts forever under the moon," and the hourglass also eventually went out of order.

Until recently, this time measuring device was used quite widely. To record short telephone conversations, they were used at telephone stations, used in courtrooms during court sessions and even used in production.

Now, when deciding where to buy an hourglass, we often look in the souvenir shop. After all, now they are usually used either in everyday life, or as souvenirs. Such watches can be used in the kitchen as a timer, or in procedural medical offices, or while staying in a solarium, sauna or bathhouse. This device is very popular with children, and with it even a boring hygienic procedure, like brushing your teeth, can turn into a fun and exciting game.

By the way, now there are electronic versions of this "time meter", which can be used not only as a practical thing, for example, an unusual sand alarm clock, but also as an original element of the interior. The sand model is housed in a body made of precious wood, adorned with carvings and bizarre ornaments, sometimes encrusted with precious stones. And such a desk clock can become a bright highlight of the interior.