A clock dial on which a skeleton holds an oil lamp. Drawing by Caleb Elwin, 1800.

Camb[ridge], 1800.

1 drawing : pen and ink ; image 32 x 21.7 cm

Front of a clock dial by Caleb Elwin. D.T. Aul Pembr. Camb. 1800. <Greek> Hoti tōn pacheiōn enetitheis thruallidōn. The Greek lettering is from Aristophanes' "Clouds", verse 59: it means "Because you put [one] of the thick wicks in [an oil lamp]". It is a reproach to a slave who has let a lamp burn out: the thick wick gives a bright flame but quickly burns down, whereas the thin wick gives a weak flame but lasts longer

On Caleb Elwin, a scholar of Pembroke College Cambridge and subsequently a clergyman, see J.A. Venn, Alumni cantabrigienses, part II (1752-1900), vol. 2, Cambridge 1944, p. 418. Further information about him was supplied by Miss J.S. Ringrose, Pembroke College Archivist, 17 March 1997: he moved to Pembroke College from Caius College, he held one of the Mapletoft Sizarships 1793-1796, and he was 12th Senior Optime in the Mathematical Tripos for 1796

Wellcome Collection 36480i