I thought I recollected another etymology for 'dog watch' than those
offered in earlier postings. Now that I've got my source in hand (Dava
Sobel and William J.H. Andrewes The Illustrated Longitude London: Fourth
Estate, 1998) I'm not so sure. But the story is so amusing that I hope
others will enjoy it (and forgive its tangential relevance to the central
point of interest of this discussion group...) as much as I have:
"At the end of the seventeenth century, even as members of learned
societies debated the means to a longitude solution, countless cranks and
opportunists published pamphlets to promulgate their own harebrained
schemes for finding longitude at sea.
"Surely the most colorful of the offbeat approaches was the wounded dog
theory, put forth in 1687. It was predicated on a quack cure called powder
of sympathy. This miraculous powder, discovered in southern France by the
dashing Sir Kenelm Digby, could purportedly heal at a distance. All one
had to do to unleash its magic was to apply it to an article from the
ailing person. A bit of bandage from a wound, for example, when sprinkled
with powder of sympathy, would hasten the closing of the wound.
Unfortunately, the cure was not painless, and Sir Kenelm was rumored to
have made his patients jump by powdering--for medicinal purposes--the
knives that had cut them, or by dipping their dressings into a solution of
the powder.
"The daft idea to apply Digby's powder to the longitude problem follows
naturally enough to the prepared mind: Send aboard a wounded dog as a ship
sets sail. Leave ashore a trusted individual to dip the dog's bandage into
the sympathy solution every day at noon. The dog would perforce yelp in
reaction, and thereby the captain a time cue. The dog's cry would mean,
"the Sun is upon the Meridian in London." The captain could then compare
that hour to the local time on ship and figure the longitude accordingly."
pp.51-52
Somehow I formed the idea that 'dog watch' came from this daft
scheme: but I can't find confirmation for it at the moment.
cheers,
Peter
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Peter Mayer | [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Politics Department | [EMAIL PROTECTED]
University of Adelaide | 'phone:+61.8 8303 5606/5610
Adelaide, SA 5005 | FAX: (+61.8) 8303 3446
AUSTRALIA |
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