antedating of "clock wise" (1882)

[sagehen]

>At 9:48 AM -0400 7/10/05, Sam Clements wrote:
>>OED and M-W both have 1888.
>>
>>>>From APS online    _American Journal of Science_  June 1882; 23,138, p.460
>>
>>     "When the rotation of the plane of polarization appears
>>clock-wise to the observer, it has the character of a left-handed
>>screw.  But the circularly polarized ray to which Vr relates, the
>>rotation of which also appears clock-wise to the observer, has the
>>character of a right-handed screw."
>>
>>The article was about circular polarization.  There are other cites
>>between 1882 and 1888 for clock-wise, and all used in scientif
>>papers, as was the 1888 one on hurricanes.
>>
>>Sam Clements
>>
>>I guess a scientist just needed a term which more efficiently
>>described a motion that could only be indicated with hand gestures.
>
>Well, there were other terms around, in fact two of my favorite
>words, which while not referring directly to clocks, could describe
>(more or less) the same concept.  Some excerpts from the relevant OED
>entries:
>
>deasil
>
>'Righthandwise, towards the right; motion with continuous turning to
>the right, as in going round an object with the right hand towards
>it, or in the same direction as the hands of a clock, or the apparent
>course of the sun (a practice held auspicious by the Celts)'
>
>and
>
>withershins, widdershins
>
>adverb
>2.  In a direction contrary to the apparent course of the sun
>(considered as unlucky or causing disaster).
>
>adjective
>'Moving in an anticlockwise direction, contrary to the apparent
>course of the sun (considered as unlucky or sinister); unlucky,
>ill-fated, relating to the occult.'
>
>Curiously, cites for the former only go back to the 18th century,
>while those for the latter go back to the 16th.  The former is of
>Celtic derivation--
>
>[Gaelic deiseil (deiseal, deasal) adj. and adv., righthandwise,
>turned toward the right, dextrorsum, f. deas right hand, south, in
>OIr. dess, des, Welsh dehau, cognate with Lat. dex-ter, Gk...]
>
>--and the latter Germanic
>
>[a. MLG. weddersin(ne)s (cf. wedersins 'contrario modo', Kilian), a.
>MHG. widersinnes, f. wider- WITHER-1 + gen. of sin (esp. MG.) = sind,
>sint way, direction (see SITHE n.1): cf. MHG. widersinnen to return.
>In sense 2 associated with son, SUN n.1]
>
>One question that I've always wondered about is whether the
>referential meanings of "deasil" and "clockwise" (and similarly those
>of "widdershins" and "counter-clockwise") converge only in the
>Northern Hemisphere, given the difference in the apparent course of
>the sun down under.  Any 17th century antipodeans around to offer
>informant judgments?
>
>Larry
~~~~~~~~~
Another context in which direction of spin is significant  is that of
imparting twist to fiber in in the production of thread or yarn.  These are
referred to as "Z twist" (right-handed) or "S twist" (left-handed).
Individual rovings are given a twist in one direction to produce plies and
then the several requisite plies are twisted in the other direction,
stabilizing the whole.
A. Murie