Athletics and Football (extract)

2o8 ATHLETICS All this process, however, though exceedingly wonderful and the result of admirable workmanship, is also liable to error. The slightewsatrp otfhe straightness of the hanbdetween the fifths may lead to doubt, and even supposing the mecha fect thheuman eye canand doemsake mistakes in deciphering the resuwlthich the machine has registered. The watchoefs which we speakare ocfourse msaode thtahte se'conds' hand travels routnhde wholoef the dial; but the watcihs made to be carried in the pocket, thsaot there veisry littlsepace between the fifthsof seconds on the dial, as each fifth occupies o the circumference of the dial.It itshus obvious that the human eye can easily be deceived in reading the dial, and it must be recollected that as soon as the next race comes on the watch has to be gotready agafionr this, stohat biet comes im­ possible to verifyafterwards the result registered on the dial. On account of thedifficulty of reading rtehseults tohne watch many timekeepers carry a magnifying glass with them, and although this makes the reading easier and perhaps more accurate, the whole process becomes still more complex. On the whole, therefore, it appears that there is every possi­ bility oaf mistake being made to the extent of a fifth of a second, or evenrather moirne,the timinogf races and; some years ago when timekeepers had less experience and timing instruments were inferior, there was even a greater possi­ bility of error than there is now. We cannot help thinking how strange it is thatin these days osfcience no more satis­ factory method timofing races habseen invented than t t of a watch started by a man who observes the start from some distance Ionff. these days oeflectric science it seems thtoe unscientific mind of the present writer thiat tought not tobe difficult to time by anapparatus, which could be fixed on every recognised running-ground, set in motion by the firing of the pistol, and stopped by thebreaking of the thread at the winning post. In such an apparatus the difficulty deocf iphering the result marked a onsmalldial need not occur, tahse hand or hammer registering the result might work upon daial oafny