Rollo's Experiments

JONAS’S DIAL

That evening, Rollo told his father about his hour-glass, and also about Jonas’s noon line. His father said it was very difficult to draw a meridian line.

“O no, father,” said Rollo; “Jonas has drawn one, and he told me how, and it was a very easy way.”

“Yes,” said his father, “it is easy to draw something which you can call a noon mark; but it is a very difficult and delicate operation to do it with any considerable degree of exactness.”

“I think that Jonas’s is exact,” said Rollo.

“It probably may be as exact as he could make it with his means and instruments; but there are a great many sources of error which he could not possibly have avoided.”

“What?” asked Rollo.

“Why, in the first place, the clock is not exact. It is near enough to answer all the purposes of a family; but it may often be a minute or more out of the way. Then besides, while Jonas is going from the clock out to the barn, the shadow is slowly moving on, all the time; so that he cannot tell exactly where the shadow was, when it was precisely twelve by the clock.

“Then again, it is not always exactly noon when the shadow comes to the north and south line. It varies a little at different seasons of the year, though it is so near that we say, in general terms, that at noon all shadows of upright objects point to the north. Still, it is not precisely true, except on a very few days in the year. Then, again, the post of the barn door is not exactly upright.”

“I thought they always made door posts exactly upright,” said Rollo.

“They do make them as nearly upright as they can, with the common carpenters’ instruments; but they are not exact. To set a post of any kind, with great precision, perpendicular to the horizon, would require very expensive mathematical instruments, and very laborious and nice observations. Then, again, if the clock had been exact, and the post perfectly upright, Jonas could not have marked the place of the shadow exactly. The shadow has not an exact and well-defined edge; and then, even while he was marking at one end, the shadow would be moving along at the other end, and so his noon mark would not be exactly straight.”

“Why, father, he could make the mark right along quick.”

“No matter how quick he might make it. It would take some time, wouldn’t it?”

“Only a very little,” said Rollo.

“And do you suppose the sun would stand still, even during that little time, so as to let the shadow remain stationary?

“However,” continued his father, “I don’t say this to disparage Jonas’s noon mark. I dare say, it is accurate enough for his purposes. He only wants to know from it when it is time for him to come in to dinner, or something like that. I only want you to understand what exactness is, and to see, a little, how difficult it is to attain to any considerable degree of it, in such cases. So thus, it seems, that Jonas has got a sort of a dial?”

“Why, it only tells him what o’clock it is at one hour in the day,” said Rollo. “But I think he might make it do for all the afternoon and forenoon.”

“How?” inquired his father.

“Why, all he has got to do is to watch some day when it is nine o’clock, and ten o’clock, and so on, every hour; and then make a line where the shadow comes every hour, just as he did for twelve o’clock. Then he will have marks for every hour in the day, and when the shadow comes along to these marks, one after another, he will know what time it is.”

“O, but the difficulty is,” said his father, “that the shadow will not come to the same places, at the same hours, on different days. It will come to the meridian line, at twelve, always,—that is, nearly to it; but it will not come to any other lines regularly,—that is, if the object, which casts the shadow, is upright.”

“Will any other kind of object carry the shadow regularly?” asked Rollo.

“Yes,” said his father, “an object that leans over to the north, so as to point to the North Star. If you and Jonas could put a post into the ground so as to have it point to the North Star, then you could mark, all around it, the places to which the shadow would come for every hour in the day, and afterwards it would come to the same places regularly, or nearly so. It would be near enough for your purposes; and I don’t know but that it would be quite a respectable dial for you.”

Rollo then asked his father why it was that a post, which pointed to the North Star, would bring a shadow any more regularly to the hour marks, than an upright one would; but he said that Rollo did not know enough, yet, to understand the explanation, even if he were to try to explain it. “Therefore,” said he, “you must wait until you study astronomy before you can expect to understand it; but you can now, in the mean time, make such a dial, if you wish to do it.”

Rollo did wish to do it very much. He accordingly told Jonas all that his father had said. It seemed very strange to Jonas, that a post, pointing to the North Star, should have its shadows move round any more regularly than a post in any other position. He could not imagine what the North Star could have to do with the shadows. Still, he determined to try the experiment.

A few days after this, Jonas did try the experiment. He got two narrow boards, which were once pickets belonging to a picket fence, one end of each was sharp, so that it could be driven down into the ground. Then he selected a certain part of the yard, in a corner, where the dial would be out of the way, and yet the path to the barn led along pretty near it. The reason why Jonas got two boards was this: he knew that, if he drove only one stake into the ground, and inclined it towards the North Star, it would be very likely to get started out of its proper position; but if he had two, he could drive the second one down perpendicularly from the end of the first, and then nail the two ends together; and that would keep all steady.

After having got every thing ready, the boys waited till the evening before fixing up the dial, because they could not see the North Star in the day time. But when the evening came, they went out, and began their preparations. It was a clear and pretty cold evening, and the stars were out in thousands.

“Which is the North Star?” asked Rollo.

Jonas looked about a minute or two, saying, “Let me see—where’s the Dipper? O, I see a part of it; the rest is down behind the barn. It was up high the last time I saw it.”

“Where is the Dipper?” said Rollo, looking eagerly in the direction to which Jonas was turned.

“Come this way,” said Jonas, “so as to be out of the way of the barn, and you can see it better.”

So Jonas pointed out the Dipper to Rollo, with its square body, and long, bent handle. It was at first quite difficult for Rollo to see any thing that looked at all like a dipper; as it consisted only of stars, which it required some imagination to make look like one.

“The handle reaches almost down to the ground,” said Rollo.

“Down to the horizon, you mean,” said Jonas.

“Is that the horizon?” said Rollo.

“Yes,” said Jonas, “where the earth and sky meet. Not long ago the Dipper handle was away up there,” he continued, pointing up very high.

“Does the Dipper move?” said Rollo.

“Yes, it goes round and round the North Star, all the time. All the stars that are near the North Star keep going round and round it, once every day.”

“And the rest of the stars,” said Rollo, “do they go round too?”

“Yes,” said Jonas; “only they are so far from the North Star, that they go in larger circles, and so go down below the horizon, and are out of sight sometimes. They come up in the east, like the sun, and go over and down in the west. But they don’t go over straight,” he added. “They don’t come right up straight; and so go directly over. They slant away, off to the south, so as to keep always just so far from the North Star.”

“That’s curious,” said Rollo.

“I think it is,” said Jonas. “And they all go together; they don’t move about among themselves, at all.”

“Don’t they?” said Rollo.

“No,” said Jonas; “only there are a few wandering stars, that keep wandering about among the others. But the rest all keep exactly in their places, and all go round together; so they are called fixed stars.”

“Show me one of the wandering stars,” said Rollo.

“I don’t know which they are,” said Jonas, “only they are pretty bright ones.”

“I guess that’s one,” said Rollo, pointing to a pretty bright star in the east.

“Perhaps it is,” said Jonas.

“I wish I knew,” said Rollo.

“I’ll tell you how you can find out,” said Jonas.

“How?” asked Rollo.

“Why, when you go into the house, take a piece of paper, and go to the window, and make some dots upon it, for all the stars around that one. Make the dots just in the places that the stars seem to be in. Then let them all go. They will rise more and more, and go overhead, and down in the west, and to-morrow night they will come up in the east again; and then you can look at them again, and see if the bright star has changed its place at all.”

Rollo said that he meant to do that; and then he said that he began to feel cold, and wanted to go in. But Jonas told him that he ought to wait and help finish the dial.

So they went to the place which Jonas had selected, and Jonas, looking up first at the North Star, made a hole in the ground, with an iron bar, in an oblique direction, so that the bar should point pretty nearly to the North Star. Then he drove in one of his stakes in the same way. He then made a hole, perpendicularly, directly under the end of this inclined stake, and drove the other stake down into that. The two upper ends of the stakes were now together.

Then Jonas stooped down, so as to bring his eye near the edge of the inclined stake, at the lower end, so that he could “sight” along the edge of it, towards the star. He had previously cut a notch in it, so that he could get his eye down far enough to look directly along the edge. At the same time, Rollo took hold of the upper end, and stood ready to move it either way, as Jonas might direct, until it should point exactly towards the North Star.

“Down,” said Jonas.

Then Rollo moved it a little down.

“Down more.”

Rollo moved it farther.

“Up—up a little,” added Jonas. “There—that will do. Now hold the two stakes firmly together, exactly so.”

Then Jonas took some nails, which he had before provided, and nailed the tops of the stakes together, Rollo holding the axe up against them, on the opposite side. This supported the end of the inclined stake firmly, so that it could not move up or down. This was all that the boys wanted to do in the evening, and so they both went in.

The next day, Jonas sawed off the ends of both stakes where they projected beyond the junction; and then Rollo said he would watch the clock all day, and mark the place where the shadow came each hour, and drive a little stake down. “Then,” said he, “our dial will be done.”

“But what do you suppose is the reason,” said Rollo, “that we must make it point to the North Star more than to any other?”

“I don’t know,” said Jonas, “unless it is because the North Star is the only one that keeps always in the same place. The rest move round and round every day. Those that are far enough from the North Star to go down below the horizon, rise and set; and those that are not far enough, go round and round in circles, in the open sky. But the North Star keeps still.”

“Does it?” said Rollo, turning around, and looking up to the part of the heavens where he had seen the star the evening before.

“Yes,” said Jonas; “and the reason why we cannot see it now, is the bright daylight. It is up there now, just where it was last night.”

“And the Dipper, too?” said Rollo.

“Yes, and the Dipper, too; only that has moved half round, I suppose, and is now away up above the North Star.”

“I wish I could see it,” said Rollo. And he looked as steadily and intently into the clear blue sky, as he could; but he could not possibly see the least sign of a star.

However, the sun shone bright, and it cast a strong shadow from the stakes which they had driven into the ground. Jonas soon went away to his work, and left Rollo to mark the hours by means of the clock.

So Rollo had to go into the house very often to see what time it was; and at last his father, who was sitting there at his writing, asked him what made him want to see the clock so much. Rollo told him the reason. So his father put down his pen, and came out to see the dial.

When he saw the two stakes, with their lower ends driven into the ground, and the upper ends nailed firmly together, he looked at them with a smile, but did not say any thing.

“Will that do?” said Rollo, looking up very eagerly into his father’s face.

His father did not answer, but continued to examine the work on all sides, with a countenance expressive of curiosity and pleasure.

“It points to the North Star, exactly,” added Rollo. “Jonas sighted it.”

“Yes,” said his father; “I think that will do; you have got quite a respectable gnomon.”

“Gnomon?” said Rollo.

“Yes,” said his father; “we call such a thing a gnomon. In common dials, they are made of brass; but I don’t see why this won’t do very well. It is rather a large gnomon.”

“Is it?” said Rollo.

“Yes,” said his father, “I think it is the biggest gnomon I ever saw.

“But how are you going to mark the hour lines, Rollo?” asked his father.

“Why, we are going to drive little stakes down into the ground.”

“’Seems to me that you can contrive some better plan than that,” said his father.

“Why?” said Rollo. “Is not that a good plan?”

“Not very good,” he replied; “because you cannot be exact in driving down stakes. The beauty of a dial is its exactness. I should think that you would do better to put a board down upon the ground, and mark your lines upon that.”

“O, the board would get knocked about,” said Rollo.

“I dare say that Jonas would contrive some way to keep it steady.”

“But he says he can’t do any thing more about the dial to-day, for he must attend to his work.”

“Let me see—he is putting the harnesses in order, I believe.”

“Yes, sir,” said Rollo.

“Well, you may tell him that after he has done the harness that he is at work upon now, he may finish his dial.”

Then Rollo’s father went into the house, and away went Rollo in pursuit of Jonas.

Jonas liked the plan of putting a board down very much, and in a short time he went to work to do it. He planed out a board of the right length, and then put it down upon the ground, under and between the two stakes, but nearest to the upright one. They placed it across at right angles to the line between the stakes, and of course, as the stakes were in a north and south line, the board was in an east and west line, and so the shadows were cast exactly across it.

The board being planed smooth, the edge of the shadow could be seen much more distinctly upon it, than upon the ground; so Jonas was satisfied that it would be a great deal better to draw the hour lines upon the board. After having determined upon the place where it was to go, he took it up again, and then drove down two strong but short stakes, sawed off square at the top, into the ground, one on each side; so that they should come under the two ends of the board. Then he laid the board down again upon the stakes, and nailed the ends of the board to them. The stakes had been driven in until they were just level with the surface of the ground, and so the board seemed to be lying along upon the ground too, though it was, in fact, fastened securely to the short stakes. Then the boys marked the hour lines upon the board with some black paint; and thus they had a very respectable dial. When the sun shone, Rollo could tell what o’clock it was near enough for all his purposes.

THE BEE-HIVE

One of the drollest of all of Rollo’s experiments was his plan for getting a bee-hive.

One day, he was in the garden with a playmate of his, named Henry, who lived not very far from his father’s house.

In the back part of the garden were some tall hollyhocks growing. They were in full flower. Hollyhocks are very tall. They grow up in a straight stem, as high as a man’s head, with leaves and flowers from top to bottom.

The flowers are large, and shaped somewhat like a cup, or rather a wine-glass, and bees often go into them to get honey.

Now it happened that as Rollo and Henry were sauntering about, near these hollyhocks, Rollo happened to see a bee in one of the flowers, loading himself up with wax or honey. The flower, that the bee was in, was just about as high as Rollo’s head.

“O, there’s a bee!” said Rollo; “let’s catch him.”

“Catch him!” said Henry. “If you do, you’ll catch a sting, I rather think.”

“No,” said Rollo, “I can catch him without getting stung.”

“How?” said Henry.

“I will show you,” said Rollo.

So saying, Rollo approached the hollyhocks, and put both his hands up slowly to the flower which the bee was in. He then very carefully gathered together the edges of the flower, so as to enclose and imprison the bee. He then gently broke off the stem of the flower, and held it up to Henry’s ear, to let him hear the bee buzz within.

“Now,” said Rollo, “I wish I had a little bee-hive. I would put him in, and perhaps he would make some honey in there.”

“Do you think he would?” said Henry.

“Yes,” replied Rollo, “I have no doubt he would; bees always make honey in bee-hives.”

“Haven’t you got some box that will do?” said Henry.

“I don’t know,” said Rollo; “let us go along towards the barn, and see if we can’t find one. I suppose it is no matter what the shape of it is,” he added, “if it is only a box, with a small hole for the bees to go in and out.”

“But you haven’t got but one bee,” said Henry, as they walked along towards the barn.

Rollo held the flower, with the bee imprisoned in it, safely in his fingers.

“O, I can catch plenty more. I could catch a whole hive of them, in time.”

“But I don’t believe they will stay and work in your hive,” said Henry. “They will all fly off and go home to where they belong.”

“No,” said Rollo, “I will plug up the hole, and keep them shut in until they get used to it. When they get wonted to the new hive, they will stay there, after that, I know. That’s the way they do with doves.”

“But you won’t have any queen bee,” said Henry. “Bees won’t work without a queen bee. I read it in a book.”

“Well, perhaps I can catch a queen bee, some day,” said Rollo, rather doubtfully.

Rollo was so much interested in his plan, that he was determined not to see any difficulties in the way of it; and yet he could not help feeling that there was some uncertainty about his succeeding in entrapping a queen bee.

However, just at this point in the conversation, he suddenly stopped, and pointed down to a flower-pot, which stood bottom upwards, upon a seat, near where they were walking.

“There,” said he, “that will do for a bee-hive.”

“Ho!” said Henry, “that is not a box.”

“No matter,” said Rollo; “it is just as good, and there is a little hole for the bees to go out and in at.”

There is always a little hole in the bottom of a flower-pot.

“So there is,” said Henry; “but do you think that the bees will make honey in an earthen pot?”

“O, yes,” said Rollo, “just as well as in any thing. The bees don’t care what they make the honey in. Sometimes they make it in old logs.”

“Well,” said Henry, “and we’ll call it a honey-pot. And where shall we put it?”

“We can keep it on this seat: it is as good a place as any; the bees will be right in the garden as soon as they come out of their hive.”

So saying, Rollo asked Henry to hold his bee a minute, while he got the honey-pot ready. Henry took the flower very carefully, so as not to let the bee escape, and then Rollo lifted up the flower-pot, and looked inside. It was pretty clean; but as Rollo knew that bees were very nice in their habits, he thought he would just take it to the pump, and wash it out a little.

In a few minutes, he brought it back, and replaced it, bottom upwards, upon the seat, and then prepared to put the bee in. He took the flower again from Henry’s hand, and then very carefully inserted the edges of it, which had been gathered together with his fingers, into the hole. He then began to knock and push the bottom of the flower, to make the bee go in. The bee, not knowing what to make of this treatment, kept up a great buzzing, but soon went in.

“There,” said Rollo. “Now, Henry, you be ready to clap your thumb over the hole, as soon as I take the flower away, or else he’ll come out.”

“O, no,” said Henry; “he’ll fly up and sting me.”

“No, he won’t,” said Rollo. “I only want you to keep him in a minute, while I go and get a plug.”

Henry then, with much hesitation and fear, put his thumb over the hole, as Rollo withdrew the flower. He stood there while Rollo went for a plug; but he seemed to feel very uneasy, and continually called Rollo to be quick.

Rollo could not find a plug, but he picked up a small, flat stone, and concluded that that would do just as well. So he released Henry from his dangerous position, and put the stone over the hole.

“There,” said Rollo, with a tone of great satisfaction, when he had done this, “now he is safe. We’ll let him stay, while we go and catch another bee.”

So they went back to the hollyhocks, and there, quite fortunately, they found another bee just going into one of the flowers. Rollo secured him in the same way, and carried him along, and pushed him into the flower-pot. Henry stood ready to clap the stone on, as soon as he was in, and then they came back to the hollyhocks again. They had then to wait a little while, watching for bees; at length, however, one came, and, by and by, another; and so, in the course of an hour or two, they got seven bees, all safe in the honey-pot, and Rollo said he thought seven were about enough to go to work, at least, to begin. They had not yet found any one, however, that seemed to Rollo to be a queen bee.

At last, it was time for Henry to go home, and Rollo concluded to leave his bee-hive until the next morning. He thought he would leave the hole stopped up, so that the bees might get used to their new accommodations; but he intended to open it the next day, in order to let them begin their work.

The next morning, Henry came over soon after breakfast to see how affairs stood in respect to the bee-hive. He and Rollo went out into the garden to look at the establishment, and found every thing as they had left it the night before. Rollo felt quite confident of the success of his experiment. The only thing that gave him any uneasiness was the want of a queen bee. He and Henry were just speculating upon the expediency of sending in a bumble-bee instead, for a king, when their attention was arrested by hearing Jonas calling Rollo. They looked up, and saw him standing at the garden gate.

“Rollo,” said Jonas, “do you want to go out with me to the pasture, and catch the horse?”

“Why,—yes,” said Rollo. But yet he did not go. He seemed to feel in doubt. “Must you go this minute?” said he.

“Yes,” said Jonas. “Come; and Henry may go, too.”

“Well, wait a minute, just till I go and open the door in my bee-hive.”

“Your bee-hive!” said Jonas; “what do you mean by that?”

But Rollo did not hear what Jonas said; for he had run off along the alley, Henry after him, towards the place where they had established their hive.

“What does he mean by his bee-hive?” said Jonas to himself. “I mean to go and see.”

So Jonas opened the garden gate, and came in. When he came up near the seat where Henry and Rollo stood, he found the boys standing a step or two back from the flower-pot, both watching the hole with the utmost intentness.

“What are you looking at, there, boys?” said Jonas, with great surprise.

“O, we are looking to see the bees come out.”

“The bees come out!” said Jonas.

“Yes,” said Rollo; “that is our bee-hive,—honey-pot we call it. We have put some bees in it.”

Here Jonas burst into a loud, and long, and apparently incontrollable fit of laughter. Henry and Rollo looked upon him with an expression of ludicrous gravity and perplexity.