Dear Colin
> In the description of the dials, one is said to be in french
> hours ... Are these the same as equal hours?
Roger Bailey has already confirmed your guess. You will rarely
hear English-speaking diallists using the term French Hours but
Italian diallists (gnomonisti) refer to `ore francesi' quite
commonly.
Intriguingly, ordinary Italians do not know this term. If you
ask a non-dialling Italian about ore francesi you will get a
blank look. This is not surprising. Few non-diallists in
the English-speaking world ever use the term `equal hours'.
You can read about Italian hours and French Hours (and just a
hint about what makes them French!) in my frivolous spoof in:
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/users/fhk1/Maggiore.pdf
Frank King
Cambridge, U.K.
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