One of the first waterclocks was a basin with a small hole near the bottom through which the water dripped out.
最早的水钟之一是一个在底部附近有小洞的水盆,水从这个洞里滴出来。
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Once known, it spread rapidly, driving out waterclocks but not solar dials, which were needed to check the new machines against the timekeeper of last resort.
Sun clocks worked, of course, only on clear days; waterclocks misbehaved when the temperature fell toward freezing, to say nothing of long-run drift as the result of sedimentation and clogging.