{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_36495/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_36495","id":"gutenberg_36495","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/36495","summary":null,"tags":["Astronomy -- History","Category: History - Ancient","Category: History - Religious","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Science - Physics","Constellations","Cosmology"],"text":"\n\n\n\nProduced by Eric Hutton and the Online Distributed\nProofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n ASTRONOMICAL MYTHS.\n\n\n [Illustration]\n\n\n [Illustration: THE CLIFFS OF FLAMANVILLE.]\n\n\n\n ASTRONOMICAL MYTHS,\n\n BASED ON\n FLAMMARION'S\n \"HISTORY OF THE HEAVENS.\"\n\n BY\n\n JOHN F. BLAKE.\n\n [Illustration]\n\n London:\n MACMILLAN AND CO.\n 1877.\n\n\n\n LONDON:\n R. CLAY, SONS, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS,\n BREAD STREET HILL,\n QUEEN VICTORIA STREET.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nThe Book which is here presented to the public is founded upon a French\nwork by M. Flammarion which has enjoyed considerable popularity. It\ncontained a number of interesting accounts of the various ideas,\nsometimes mythical, sometimes intended to be serious, that had been\nentertained concerning the heavenly bodies and our own earth; with a\npopular history of the earliest commencement of astronomy among several\nancient peoples. It was originally written in the form of conversations\nbetween the members of an imaginary party at the seaside. It was\nthought that this style would hardly be so much appreciated by English\nas by French readers, and therefore in presenting the materials of the\nFrench author in an English dress the conversational form has been\nabandoned. Several facts of extreme interest in relation to the early\nastronomical myths and the development of the science among the ancients\nhaving been brought to light, especially by the researches of Mr.\nHaliburton, a considerable amount of new matter, including the whole\nchapter on the Pleiades, has been introduced, which makes the present\nissue not exactly a translation, but rather a book founded on the French\nauthor's work. It is hoped that it may be found of interest to those who\ncare to know about the early days of the oldest of our sciences, which\nis now attracting general attention again by the magnitude of its recent\nadvances. Astronomy also, in early days, as will be seen by a perusal of\nthis book, was so mixed up with all the affairs of life, and contributed\nso much even to religion, that a history of its beginnings is found to\nreveal the origin of several of our ideas and habits, now apparently\nquite unconnected with the science. There is matter of interest here,\ntherefore, for those who wish to know only the history of the general\nideas of mankind.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: THE ANNUAL REVOLUTION OF THE EARTH ROUND THE SUN, WITH\nTHE SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC AND THE CONSTELLATIONS.]\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.\n\n\n THE CLIFFS OF FLAMANVILLE _Frontispiece._\n THE ANNUAL REVOLUTION OF THE EARTH ROUND THE SUN, WITH\n THE SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC AND THE CONSTELLATIONS Page ix\n THE EARTH'S YEAR, AND THE MONTHS \" xiv\n AN ASTRONOMER AT WORK To face page 1\n THE NORTHERN CONSTELLATIONS \" 49\n THE CONSTELLATIONS FROM THE SEA-SHORE \" 65\n THE ZODIAC OF DENDERAH \" 102\n\n I. BABYLONIAN ASTRONOMERS 19\n II. DRUIDICAL WORSHIP 37\n III. CHALDEAN ASTRONOMERS 87\n IV. THE ZODIAC AND THE DEAD IN EGYPT 108\n V. THE LEGENDS OF THE DRUIDS 123\n VI. THE NEMAEAN LION 146\n VII. HEAVENS OF THE FATHERS 191\n VIII. DEATH OF COPERNICUS 208\n IX. THE SOLAR SYSTEM 225\n X. THE DISCOVERY OF THE TELESCOPE 227\n XI. THE FOUNDATION OF THE PARIS OBSERVATORY 229\n XII. THE LEGEND OF OWEN 315\n XIII. CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS AND THE ECLIPSE OF THE MOON 336\n XIV. PRODIGIES IN THE MIDDLE AGES 358\n XV. AN ASTROLOGER AT WORK 385\n XVI. THE END OF THE WORLD 429\n\n 1. THE EARLIEST (ARYAN) REPRESENTATION OF THE EARTH 12\n 2. ANCIENT GAULISH MEDALS, BEARING ASTRONOMICAL SIGNS 42\n 3. ANCIENT CELESTIAL SPHERE 58\n 4. POSITIONS OF THE GREAT BEAR ON SEPTEMBER 4 62\n 5. CONSTELLATION OF THE BEAR 63\n 6. CONSTELLATION OF ORION 73\n 7. CHART OF CONSTELLATIONS IN SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES 78\n 8. FLAMSTEED'S CHART 79\n 9. ARABIAN SPHERE OF THE ELEVENTH CENTURY 84\n 10. ANCIENT CHINESE PIECES OF MONEY, BEARING REPRESENTATIONS OF\n THE ZODIAC 93\n 11. THE ZODIAC 96\n 12. DIAGRAM ILLUSTRATING THE POSITION OF CERTAIN STARS, B.C. 1200 98\n 13. CURIOUS FIFTEENTH CENTURY FIGURE, REPRESENTING ELEVEN\n DIFFERENT HEAVENS 150\n 14. PTOLEMY'S ASTRONOMICAL SYSTEM 181\n 15. THE EPICYCLES OF PTOLEMY 184\n 16. HEAVENS OF THE MIDDLE AGES 188\n 17. EMBLEMATIC DRAWING FROM ANCIENT ASTRONOMICAL WORK 193\n 18. EGYPTIAN SYSTEM 194\n 19. CAPELLA'S SYSTEM 195\n 20. THE COPERNICAN SYSTEM 205\n 21. TYCHO BRAHE'S SYSTEM 212\n 22. DESCARTES' THEORY OF VORTICES 216\n 23. VORTICES OF THE STARS 218\n 24. VARIATION OF DESCARTES' THEORY 219\n 25. THE EARTH FLOATING 237\n 26. THE EARTH WITH ROOTS 237\n 27. THE EARTH OF THE VEDIC PRIESTS 238\n 28. HINDOO EARTH 239\n 29. THE EARTH OF ANAXIMANDER 240\n 30. PLATO'S CUBICAL EARTH 241\n 31. EGYPTIAN REPRESENTATION OF THE EARTH 243\n 32. HOMERIC COSMOGRAPHY 247\n 33. THE EARTH OF THE LATER GREEKS 256\n 34. POMPONIUS MELA'S COSMOGRAPHY 257\n 35. THE EARTH'S SHADOW 262\n 36. DITTO 263\n 37. DITTO 264\n 38. DITTO 264\n 39. THE COSMOGRAPHY OF COSMAS 268\n 40. THE SQUARE EARTH 269\n 41. EXPLANATION OF SUNRISE 271\n 42. THE EARTH AS AN EGG 273\n 43. THE EARTH AS A FLOATING EGG 274\n 44. EIGHTH-CENTURY MAP OF THE WORLD 276\n 45. TENTH-CENTURY MAPS 277\n 46. THE MAP OF ANDREA BIANCO 283\n 47. FROM THE MAP IN HEREFORD CATHEDRAL 285\n 48. DITTO 286\n 49. COSMOGRAPHY OF ST. DENIS 291\n 50. THE MAP OF MARCO POLO 293\n 51. MAP ON A MEDAL OF CHARLES V 294\n 52. DANTE'S INFERNAL REGIONS 311\n 53. PARADISE OF FRA MAURO 322\n 54. THE PARADISE OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY 324\n 55. REPRESENTATION OF A COMET, SIXTEENTH CENTURY 349\n 56. AN EGG MARKED WITH A COMET 352\n 57. THE ROMAN CALENDAR 403\n 58. DIAGRAM ILLUSTRATING THE ORDER OF THE DAYS OF THE WEEK 413\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: THE EARTH'S YEAR, AND THE MONTHS.]\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n PAGE\n CHAPTER I.\n THE FIRST BEGINNINGS OF ASTRONOMY 1\n\n CHAPTER II.\n ASTRONOMY OF THE CELTS 29\n\n CHAPTER III.\n ORIGIN OF THE CONSTELLATIONS 49\n\n CHAPTER IV.\n THE ZODIAC 89\n\n CHAPTER V.\n THE PLEIADES 111\n\n CHAPTER VI.\n THE NATURE AND STRUCTURE OF THE HEAVENS ACCORDING TO THE ANCIENTS 138\n\n CHAPTER VII.\n THE CELESTIAL HARMONY 161\n\n CHAPTER VIII.\n ASTRONOMICAL SYSTEMS 179\n\n CHAPTER IX.\n THE TERRESTRIAL WORLD OF THE ANCIENTS.--COSMOGRAPHY AND GEOGRAPHY 231\n\n CHAPTER X.\n COSMOGRAPHY AND GEOGRAPHY OF THE CHURCH 258\n\n CHAPTER XI.\n LEGENDARY WORLDS OF THE MIDDLE AGES 300\n\n CHAPTER XII.\n ECLIPSES AND COMETS 330\n\n CHAPTER XIII.\n THE GREATNESS AND THE FALL OF ASTROLOGY 360\n\n CHAPTER XIV.\n TIME AND THE CALENDAR 387\n\n CHAPTER XV.\n THE END OF THE WORLD 418\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: AN ASTRONOMER AT WORK.]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nHISTORY OF THE HEAVENS.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nTHE FIRST BEGINNINGS OF ASTRONOMY.\n\n\nAstronomy is an ancient science; and though of late it has made a fresh\nstart in new regions, and we are opening on the era of fresh and\nunlooked-for discoveries which will soon reveal our present ignorance,\nour advance upon primitive ideas has been so great that it is difficult\nfor us to realize what they were without an attentive and not\nuninstructive study of them. No other science, not even geology, can\ncompare with astronomy for the complete revolution which it has effected\nin popular notions, or for the change it has brought about in men's\nestimate of their place in creation. It is probable that there will\nalways be men who believe that the whole universe was made for their\nbenefit; but, however this may be, we have already learned from\nastronomy that our habitation is not that central spot men once deemed\nit, but only an ordinary planet circulating round an ordinary star, just\nas we are likely also to learn from biology, that we occupy the\nposition, as animals, of an ordinary family in an ordinary class.\n\nThat we may more perfectly realize this strange revolution of ideas, we\nmust throw ourselves as far as possible into the feeling and spirit of\nour ancestors, when, without the knowledge we now possess, they\ncontemplated, as they could not fail to do, the marvellous and\nawe-inspiring phenomena of the heavens by night. To them, for many an\nage, the sun and moon and stars, with all the planets, seemed absolutely\nto rise, to shine, and to set; the constellations to burst out by night\nin the east, and travel slowly and in silence to the west; the ocean\nwaves to rise and fall and beat against the rock-bound shore as if\nendowed with life; and even in the infancy of the intellect they must\nhave longed to pierce the secrets of this mysterious heavenly vault, and\nto know the nature of the starry firmament as it seemed to them, and\nthe condition of the earth which appeared in the centre of these\nuniversal movements. The simplest hypothesis was for them the truth, and\nthey believed that the sky was in reality a lofty and extended canopy\nbestudded with stars, and the earth a vast plain, the solid basis of the\nuniverse, on which dwelt man, sole creature that lifted his eyes and\nthoughts above. Two distinct regions thus appeared to compose the whole\nsystem--the upper one, or the air, in which were the moving stars, the\nlights of heaven, and the firmament over all; and the lower one, or\nearth and sea, adorned on the surface with the products of life, and\nbelow with the minerals, metals, and stones. For a long time the various\ntheories of the universe, grotesque and changing as they might be, were\nbut modifications of this one central idea, the earth below, the heavens\nabove, and on this was based every religious system that was\npromulgated--the very phrases founded upon it remaining to this day for\na testimony to the intimate relation thus manifested between the infant\nideas in astronomy and theology. No wonder that early revolutions in the\nconceptions in one science were thought to militate against the other.\nIt is only when the thoughts on both are enlarged that it is seen that\ntheir connection is not necessary, but accidental, or, at least,\ninevitable only in the infancy of both.\n\nIt is scarcely possible to estimate fully the enormous change from\nthese ideas representing the appearances to those which now represent\nthe reality; or to picture to ourselves the total revolution in men's\nminds before they could transform the picture of a vast terrestrial\nsurface, to which the sun and all the heavenly bodies were but\naccessories for various purposes, to one in which the earth is but a\nplanet like Mars, moving in appearance among the stars, as it does, and\nrotating with a rapidity that brings a whole hemisphere of the heavens\ninto view through the course of a single day and night. At first sight,\nwhat a loss of dignity! but, on closer thought, what a gain of grandeur!\nNo longer some little neighbouring lights shine down upon us from a\nsolid vault; but we find ourselves launched into the sea of infinity;\nwith power to gaze into its almost immeasurable depths.\n\nTo appreciate rightly our position, we have to plant ourselves, in\nimagination, in some spot removed from the surface of the earth, where\nwe may be uninfluenced by her motion, and picture to ourselves what we\nshould see. Were we placed in some spot far enough removed from the\nearth, we should find ourselves in eternal day; the sun would ever\nshine, for no great globe would interpose itself between it and our\neyes; there would be no night there. Were we in the neighbourhood of the\nearth's orbit, and within it, most wonderful phenomena would present\nthemselves. At one time the earth would appear but an ordinary planet,\nsmaller than Venus, but, as time wore on, unmeasured by recurring days\nor changing seasons, it would gradually be seen to increase in size--now\nappearing like the moon at the full, and shining like her with a silver\nlight. As it came nearer, and its magnitude increased, the features of\nthe surface would be distinguished; the brighter sea and the darker\nshining continents, with the brilliant ice-caps at the poles; but,\nunlike what we see in the moon, these features would appear to move,\nand, one after another, every part of the earth would be visible. The\nactual time required for all to pass before us would be what we here\ncall a day and night. And still, as it rotates, the earth passes nearer\nto us, assumes its largest apparent size, and so gradually decreasing\nagain, becomes once more, after the interval we here call a year, an\nordinary-looking star-like planet. To us, in these days, this\ndescription is easy of imagination; we find no difficulty in picturing\nit to ourselves; but, if we will think for a moment what such an idea\nwould have been to the earliest observers of astronomy, we shall better\nappreciate the vast change that has taken place--how we are removed from\nthem, as we may say, _toto coelo_.\n\nBut not only as to the importance of the earth in the universe, but on\nother matters connected with astronomy, we perceive the immensity of the\nchange in our ideas--in that of distance, for instance. This celestial\nvault of the ancients was near enough for things to pass from it to us;\nit was in close connection with the earth, supported by it, and\ntherefore of less diameter; but now, when our distance from the sun is\nexpressed by numbers that we may write, indeed, but must totally fail to\nadequately appreciate, and the distance from the _next_ nearest star is\nsuch, that with the velocity of light--a velocity we are accustomed to\nregard as instantaneous--we should only reach it after a three years'\njourney, we are reminded of the pathetic lines of Thomas Hood:\n\n \"I remember, I remember, the fir trees straight and high,\n And how I thought their slender tops were close against the sky;\n It was a childish fantasy, but now 'tis little joy,\n To know I'm further off from heaven than when I was a boy.\"\n\nThe astronomer's answer to the last line would be that as far as the\nmaterial heaven goes, we are just as much in it as the stars or as any\nother member of the universe; we cannot, therefore, be far off or near\nto it.\n\nIt is probable that we are even yet but little awake to true cosmical\nideas in other respects;--as to velocity, for instance. We know indeed,\nof light and electricity and the motions of the earth, but revelations\nare now being made to us of motions of material substances in the sun\nwith such velocities that in comparison with them any motions on the\nearth appear infinitesimally small. Our progress to our present notions,\nand appreciations of the truth of nature in the heavens, will thus\noccupy much of our thoughts; but we must also recount the history of the\nacquirement of those facts which have ultimately become the basis for\nour changes of idea.\n\nOur rustic forefathers, whatever their nation, were not so enamoured of\nthe \"wonders of science\"--that their astronomy was greatly a collection\nof theories, though theories, and wild ones, they had; it was a more\npractical matter, and was believed too by them to be more practical than\nwe now find reason to believe to be the case. They noticed the various\nseasons, and they marked the changes in the appearances of the heavens\nthat accompanied them; they connected the two together, and conceived\nthe latter to be the cause of the former, and so, with other apparently\nuncertain events. The celestial phenomena thus acquired a fictitious\nimportance which rendered their study of primary necessity, but gave no\noccasion for a theory.\n\nThat we may better appreciate the earliest observations on astronomy, it\nmay be well to mention briefly what are the varying phenomena which may\nmost easily be noticed. If we except the phases of the moon, which\nalmost without observation would force their recognition on people who\nhad no other than lunar light by night, and which must therefore, from\nthe earliest periods of human history have divided time into lunar\nmonths; there are three different sets of phenomena which depend on the\narrangement of our planetary system, and which were early observed.\n\nThe first of these depends upon the earth's rotation on its axis, the\nresult of which is that the stars appear to revolve with a uniform\nmotion from east to west; the velocity increasing with the distance from\nthe pole star, which remains nearly fixed. This circumstance is almost\nas easy of observation as the phases of the moon, and was used from the\nearliest ages to mark the passage of time during the night. The next\narises from the motion of the earth in her orbit about the sun, by which\nit happens that the earth is in a different position with respect to the\nsun every night, and, therefore, a different set of stars are seen in\nhis neighbourhood; these are setting with him, and therefore also a\ndifferent set are just rising at sunset every evening. These changes,\nwhich would go through the cycle in a year, are, of course, less\nobvious, but of great importance as marking the approach of the various\nseasons during ages in which the hour of the sun's rising could not be\nnoted by a clock. The last depends on the proper motions of the moon and\nplanets about the earth and sun respectively, by reason of which those\nheavenly bodies occupy varying positions among the stars. Only a careful\nand continuous scrutiny of the heavens would detect these changes,\nexcept, perhaps, in the case of the moon, and but little of importance\nreally depends on them; nevertheless, they were very early the subject\nof observation, as imagination lent them a false value, and in some\ncases because their connection with eclipses was perceived. The\npractical cultivation of astronomy amongst the earliest people had\nalways reference to one or other of these three sets of appearances, and\nthe various terms and signs that were invented were intended for the\nclearer exposition of the results of their observations on these points.\n\nIn looking therefore into extreme antiquity we shall find in many\ninstances our only guide to what their knowledge was is the way in which\nthey expressed these results.\n\nWe do not find, and perhaps we should scarcely expect to find, any one\nman or even one nation who laid the foundation of astronomy--for it was\nan equal necessity for all, and was probably antecedent to the practice\nof remembering men by their names. We cannot, either, conjecture the\nantiquity of ideas and observations met with among races who are\nthemselves the only record of their past; and if we are to find any\norigins of the science, it is only amongst those nations which have been\ncultivators of arts by which their ancient doings are recorded.\n\nAmongst the earliest cultivators of astronomy we may refer to the\nPrimitive Greeks, the Chinese, the Egyptians, the Babylonians, and the\nAryans, and also to certain traditions met with amongst many savage as\nwell as less barbarous races, the very universality of which proclaims\nas loudly as possible their extreme antiquity.\n\nEach of the four above-mentioned races have names with which are\nassociated the beginnings of astronomy--Uranus and Atlas amongst the\nGreeks; Folic amongst the Chinese; Thaut or Mercury in Egypt; Zoroaster\nand Bel in Persia and Babylonia. Names such as these, if those of\nindividuals, are not necessarily those of the earliest astronomers--but\nonly the earliest that have come down to us. Indeed it is very far from\ncertain whether these ancient celebrities have any real historical\nexistence. The acts and labours of the earliest investigators are so\nwrapped in obscurity, there is such a mixture of fable with tradition,\nthat we can have no reliance that any of them, or that others mentioned\nin ancient mythology, are not far more emblematical than personal. Some,\nsuch as Uranus, are certainly symbolical; but the very existence of the\nname handed down to us, if it prove nothing else, proves that the\nscience was early cultivated amongst those who have preserved or\ninvented them.\n\nIf we attempt to name in years the date of the commencement--not of\nastronomy itself--for that probably in some form was coeval with the\nrace of man itself, but of recorded observations, we are met with a new\ndifficulty arising from the various ways in which they reckoned time.\nThis was in every case by the occurrence of the phases of one or other\nof the above-mentioned phenomena; sometimes however they selected the\napparent rotation of the sun in twenty-four hours, sometimes that of the\nmoon in a month, sometimes the interval from one solstice to the next,\nand yet they apparently gave to each and all of these the same\ntitle--such as _annus_--obviously representing a cycle only, but\nwithout reference to its length. By these different methods of\ncounting, hopeless confusion has often been introduced into chronology;\nand the moderns have in many instances unjustly accused the ancients of\nvanity and falsehood. Bailly attempted to reconcile all these various\nmethods and consequent dates with each other, and to prove that\npractical astronomy commenced \"about 1,500 years before the Deluge, or\nthat it is about 7,000 years old;\" but we shall see reason in the sequel\nfor suspecting any such attempt, and shall endeavour to arrive at more\nreliable dates from independent evidence.\n\nPerhaps the remotest antiquity to which we can possibly mount is that of\nthe Aryans, amongst whom the hymns of the _Rig Veda_ were composed. The\nshort history of Hebrew and Greco-Roman civilization seems to be lost in\ncomparison with this the earliest work of human imagination. When\nseeking for words to express their thoughts, these primitive men by the\nbanks of the Oxus personified the phenomena of the heavens and earth,\nthe storm, the wind, the rain, the stars and meteors. Here, of course,\nit is not practical but theoretical astronomy we find. We trace the\nfirst figuring of that primitive idea alluded to before--the heaven\nabove, the earth below. Here, as we see, is the earth represented as an\nindefinite plane surface and passive being forming the foundation of\nthe world; and above it the sky, a luminous and variable vault beneath\nwhich shines out the fertile and life-giving light. Thus to the earth\nthey gave the name P'RTHOVI, \"the wide expanse;\" the blue and\nstar-bespangled heavens they called VARUNA, \"the vault;\" and beneath it\nin the region of the clouds they enthroned the light DYAUS, _i.e._ \"the\nluminous air.\"\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 1.]\n\nFrom hence, it would appear, or on this model, the early ideas of all\npeoples have been formed. Among the Greeks the name for heaven expresses\nthe same idea of a hollow vault ([Greek: koilos], hollow, concave) and\nthe earth is called [Greek: ge], or mother. Among the Latins the name\n_coelum_ has the same signification, while the earth _terra_ comes\nfrom the participle _tersa_ (the dry element) in contradistinction to\n_mare_ the wet.\n\nIn this original Aryan notion, however, as represented by the figure, we\nhave more than this, the origin of the names _Jupiter_ and _Deus_ comes\nout. For it is easy to trace the connection between _Dyaus_ (the\nluminiferous air) and the Greek word _Zeus_ from whence _Dios_, [Greek:\n_theos_], _Deus_, and the French word _Dieu_, and then by adding _pater_\nor father we get _Deuspater_, _Zeuspater_, Jupiter.\n\nThese etymologies are not however matters beyond dispute, and there are\nat least two other modes of deriving the same words. Thus we are told\nthe earliest name for the Deity was Jehovah, the word _Jehov_ meaning\nfather of life; and that the Greeks translated this into _Dis_ or\n_Zeus_, a word having, according to this theory, the same sense, being\nderived from [Greek: zao] to live. Of course there can be no question of\nthe later word _Deus_ being the direct translation of _Dios_.\n\nA third theory is that there exists in one of the dialects which formed\nthe basis of the old languages of Asia, a word _Yahouh_, a participle of\nthe verb _nih_, to exist, to be; which therefore signifies the\nself-existent, the principle of life, the origin of all motion, and this\nis supposed to be the allusion of Diodorus, who explaining the theology\nof the Greeks, says that the Egyptians according to Manetho, priest of\nMemphis, in giving names to the five elements have called the spirit or\nether Youpiter in the _proper sense_ of the word, for the spirit is the\nsource of life, the author of the vital principle in animals, and is\nhence regarded as the father or generator of all beings. The people of\nthe Homeric ages thought the lightning-bearing Jupiter was the\ncommencement, origin, end, and middle of all things, a single and\nuniversal power, governing the heavens, the earth, fire, water, day and\nnight, and all things. Porphyry says that when the philosophers\ndiscoursed on the nature and parts of the Deity, they could not imagine\nany single figure that should represent all his attributes, though they\npresented him under the appearance of a man, who was _seated_ to\nrepresent his immovable essence; uncovered in his upper part, because\nthe upper parts of the universe or region of the stars manifest most of\nhis nature; but clothed below the loins, because he is more hidden in\nterrestrial things; and holding a sceptre in his left hand, because his\nheart is the ruler of all things. There are, besides, the etymologies\nwhich assert that Jupiter is derived from _juvare_ to help, meaning the\nassisting father; or again that he is _Dies pater_--the god of the\nday--in which case no doubt the sun would be alluded to.\n\nIt appears then that the ancient Aryan scheme, though _possibly_\nsupplying us with the origin of one of the widest spread of our words,\nis not universally allowed to do so. This origin, however, appears to\nderive support from the apparent occurrence of the original of another\nwell-known ancient classical word in the same scheme, that is Varuna,\nobviously the same word as [Greek: Ouranos], and Uranus, signifying the\nheavens. Less clearly too perhaps we may trace other such words to the\nsame source. Thus the Sun, which according to these primitive\nconceptions is the husband of the Earth, which it nourishes and makes\nfruitful, was called _Savitr_ and _Surya_, from which the passage to the\nGothic _Sauil_ is within the limits of known etymological changes, and\nso comes the Lithuanian _Saull_, the Cymric _Haul_, the Greek _Heilos_,\nthe Latin _Sol_, and the English _Solar_. So from their _Nakt_, the\ndestructive, we get _Nux_, _Nacht_, _Night_. From _Glu_, the Shining,\nwhence the participle _Glucina_, and so to _Lucina_, _Luena_, _Luna_,\n_Lune_.\n\nTurning from the ancient Aryans, whose astronomy we know only from poems\nand fables, and so learn but little of their actual advance in the\nscience of observation, we come to the Babylonians, concerning whose\nastronomical acquirements we have lately been put in possession of\nvaluable evidence by the tablets obtained by Mr. Smith from Kouyunjik,\nan account the contents of which has been given by Mr. Sayce (_Nature_,\nvol. xii. p. 489). As the knowledge thus obtained is more certain, being\nderived from their actual records, than any that we previously\npossessed, it will be well to give as full an account of it as we are\nable.\n\nThe originators of Babylonian astronomy were not the Chaldaeans, but\nanother race from the mountains of Elam, who are generally called\nAcadians. Of the astronomy of this race we have no complete records, but\ncan only judge of their progress by the words and names left by them to\nthe science, as afterwards cultivated by the Semitic Babylonians. These\nlast were a subsequent race, who entering the country from the East,\nconquered the original inhabitants about 2000 B.C., and borrowed their\ncivilization, and with it their language in the arts and sciences. But\neven this latter race is one of considerable antiquity, and when we see,\nas we shortly shall, the great advances they had made in observations of\nthe sun and moon, and consider the probable slowness of development in\nthose early ages, we have some idea of the remoteness of the date at\nwhich astronomical science was there commenced. Our chief source of\ninformation is an extremely ancient work called The _Observations of\nBell_, supposed to have been written before 1700 B.C., which was\ncompiled for a certain King Saigou, of Agave in Babylonia. This work is\nin seventy books or parts, and is composed of numerous small earthen\ntablets having impressed upon them the cuneiform character in which\nthey printed, and which we are now able to read. We generally date the\nart of printing from Caxton, in 1474, because it took the place of\nmanuscript that had been previously in use in the West; but that method\nof writing, if in some respects an improvement on previous methods of\nrecording ideas as more easily executed, was in others a retrogression\nas being less durable: while the manuscripts have perished the\nimpressions on stone have remained to this day, and will no doubt last\nlonger than even our printed books. These little tablets represented so\nmany leaves, and in large libraries, such as that from which those known\nhave been derived, they were numbered as our own are now, so that any\nparticular one could be asked for by those who might wish to consult it.\nThe great difficulty of interpreting these records, which are written in\ntwo different dialects, and deal often with very technical matters, may\nwell be imagined. These difficulties however have been overcome, and a\ngood approach to the knowledge of their contents has been made. The\nChaldaeans, as is well known, were much given to astronomy and many of\ntheir writings deal with this subject; but they did practical work as\nwell, and did not indulge so much in theory as the Aryans. We shall have\nfuture occasion in this book to refer to their observations on various\npoints, as they did not by any means confine themselves to the simplest\nmatters; much, in fact, of that with which modern astronomy deals, the\ndates and duration of eclipses of the sun and moon, the accurate\nmeasurement of time, the existence of cycles in lunar and solar\nphenomena, was studied and recorded by them. We can make some approach\nto the probable dates of the invention of some part of their system, by\nmeans of the signs of the Zodiac, which were invented by them and which\nwe will discuss more at length hereafter. We need only say at present\nthat what is now the sign of spring, was not reckoned so with them, and\nthat we can calculate how long ago it is that the sign they reckoned the\nspring sign was so.\n\nSemiramis also raised in the centre of Babylon a temple consecrated to\nJupiter, whom the Babylonians called Bel. It was of an extraordinary\nheight and served for an observatory. The whole edifice was constructed\nwith great art in asphalte and brick. On its summit were placed the\nstatues of Jupiter, Juno, and Rhea, covered with gold.\n\nThe Egyptians have always been named as the earliest cultivators of\nastronomy by the Grecian writers, by whom the science has been handed\ndown to us, and the Chaldaeans have even been said to have borrowed from\nthem. The testimony of such writers however is not to be received\nimplicitly, but to be weighed with the knowledge we may now obtain, as\nwe have noticed above with respect to the Babylonians, from the actual\nrecords they have left us, whether by actual records, or by words and\ncustoms remaining to the present day.\n\n[Illustration: PLATE I.--BABYLONIAN ASTRONOMERS.]\n\nHerodotus declares that the Egyptians had made observations for 11,340\nyears and had seen the course of the sun change four times, and the\necliptic placed perpendicular to the equator. This is the style of\nstatement on which opinions of the antiquity of Egyptian astronomy have\nbeen founded, and it is obviously unworthy of credit.\n\nDiodorus says that there is no country in which the positions and\nmotions of the stars have been so accurately observed as in Egypt\n(_i.e._ to his knowledge). They have preserved, he says, for a great\nnumber of years registers in which their observations are recorded.\nExpositions are found in these registers of the motions of the planets,\ntheir revolutions and their stations, and, moreover, the relation which\neach bears to the birthdays of animals, and its good or evil influence.\nThey often predicted the future with success. The earthquakes,\ninundations, the appearance of comets, and many other phenomena which it\nis impossible for the vulgar to know beforehand, were foreseen by them\nby means of the observations they had made over a long series of years.\n\nOn the occasion of the French expedition to Egypt, a long passage was\ndiscovered leading from Karnak to Lucksor. This passage was adorned on\neach side of the way with a range of 1600 sphinxes with the body of a\nlion and the head of a ram. Now in Egyptian architecture, the ornaments\nare never the result of caprice or chance; on the contrary, all is done\nwith intention, and what often appears at first sight strange, appears,\nafter having been carefully examined and studied, to present allegories\nfull of sense and reason, founded on a profound knowledge of natural\nphenomena, that the ornaments are intended to record. These sphinxes and\nrams of the passage were probably the emblems of the different signs of\nthe Zodiac along the route of the sun. The date of the avenue is not\nknown; but it would doubtless lead us to a high antiquity for the\nEgyptian observations.\n\nThe like may be said of the great pyramid, which according to Piazzi\nSmyth was built about 2170 B.C. Certainly there are no carvings about it\nexhibiting any astronomical designs; but the exact way in which it is\nexecuted would seem to indicate that the builders had a very clear\nconception of the importance of the meridian line. It should, however,\nbe stated that Piazzi Smyth does not consider it to have been built by\nthe Egyptians for themselves; but under the command of some older race.\n\nThere seem, however, to be indications in various festivals and\nobservances, which are met with widely over the earth's surface, as will\nbe indicated more in detail in the chapter on the Pleiades, that some\nastronomical observations, though of the rudest, were made by races\nanterior even to those whose history we partially possess; and that not\nmerely because of its naturalness, but because of positive evidence, we\nmust trace back astronomy to a source from whence Egyptians, Indians,\nand perhaps Babylonians themselves derived it.\n\nThe Chinese astronomy is totally removed from these and stands on its\nown basis. With them it was a matter concerning the government, and\nstringent laws were enforced on the state astronomers. The advance,\nhowever, that they made would appear to be small; but if we are to\nbelieve their writers, they made observations nearly three thousand\nyears before our era.\n\nUnder the reign of Hoangti, Yuchi recorded that there was a large star\nnear the poles of the heavens. By a method which we shall enlarge upon\nfurther on, it can be astronomically ascertained that about the epoch\nthis observation was said to be made there was a star ([Greek: a]\nDraconis) so near the pole as to appear immovable, which is so far a\nconfirmation of his statement. In 2169 the first of a series of eclipses\nwas recorded by them; but the value of their astronomy seems to be\ndoubtful when we learn that calculation proves that not one of them\nprevious to the age of Ptolemy can be identified with the dates given.\n\nAmongst all nations except the Chinese, where it was political, and the\nGreeks, where it was purely speculative, astronomy has been intimately\nmixed with religious ideas, and we consequently find it to have taken\nconsiderable hold on the mind.\n\nJust as we have seen among the Indians that the basis of their\nastronomical ideas was the two-fold division into heaven and earth, so\namong other nations this duality has formed the basis of their\nreligion. Two aspects of things have been noticed by men in the\nconstitution of things--that which remains always, and that which is\nmerely transitory, causes and effects. The heaven and the earth have\npresented the image of this to their minds--one being the eternal\nexistence, the other the passing form. In heaven nothing seems to be\nborn, increase, decrease, or die above the sphere of the moon. That\nalone showed the traces of alteration in its phases; while on the other\nhand there was an image of perpetuity in its proper substance, in its\nmotion, and the invariable succession of the same phases.\n\nFrom another point of view, the heavens were regarded as the father, and\nthe earth as the mother of all things. For the principle of fertility in\nthe rains, the dew and the warmth, came from above; while the earth\nbrought forth abundantly of the products of nature. Such is the idea of\nPlutarch, of Hesiod, and of Virgil. From hence have arisen the fictions\nwhich have formed the basis of theogony. Uranus is said to have espoused\nGhe, or the heavens took the earth to wife, and from their marriage was\nborn the god of time or Saturn.\n\nAnother partly religious, and partly astronomical antagonism has been\ndrawn between light and darkness, associated respectively with good and\nevil. In the days when artificial lights, beyond those of the flickering\nfire, were unknown, and with the setting of the sun all the world was\nenveloped in darkness and seemed for a time to be without life, or at\nleast cut off entirely from man, it would seem that the sun and its\nlight was the entire origin of life. Hence it naturally became the\nearliest divinity whose brilliant light leaping out of the bosom of\nchaos, had brought with it man and all the universe, as we see it\nrepresented in the theologies of Orpheus and of Moses; whence the god\nBel of the Chaldeans, the Oromaza of the Persians, whom they invoke as\nthe source of all that is good in nature, while they place the origin of\nall evil in darkness and its god Ahrinam. We find the glories of the sun\ncelebrated by all the poets, and painted and represented by numerous\nemblems and different names by the artists and sculptors who have\nadorned the temples raised to nature or the great first cause.\n\nAmong the Jews there are traditions of a very high antiquity for their\nastronomy. Josephus assures us that it was cultivated before the Mosaic\nDeluge. According to him it is to the public spirit and the labour of\nthe antediluvians that we owe the science of astrology: \"and since they\nhad learnt from Adam that the world should perish by water and by fire,\nthe fear that their science should be lost, made them erect two columns,\none of brick the other of stone, on which they engraved the knowledge\nthey had acquired, so that if a deluge should wash away the column of\nbrick, the stone one might remain to preserve for posterity the memory\nof what they had written. The prescience was rewarded, and the column of\nstone is still to be seen in Syria.\" Whatever we may think of this\nstatement it would certainly be interesting if we could find in Syria or\nanywhere else a monument that recorded the ancient astronomical\nobservations of the Jews. Ricard and others believe that they were very\nfar advanced in the science, and that we owe a great part of our present\nastronomy to them; but such a conjecture must remain without proof\nunless we could prove them anterior to the other nations, whom, we have\nseen, cultivated astronomy in very remote times.\n\nOne observation seems peculiar to them, if indeed it be a veritable\nobservation. Josephus says, \"God prolonged the life of the patriarchs\nthat preceded the deluge, both on account of their virtues, and to give\nthem the opportunity of perfecting the sciences of geometry and\nastronomy which they had discovered; which they could not have done if\nthey had not lived for 600 years, because it is only after the lapse of\n600 years that the _great year_ is accomplished.\"\n\nNow what is this great year or cycle of 600 years? M. Cassini, the\ndirector of the Observatory of Paris, has discussed it astronomically.\nHe considers it as a testimony of the high antiquity of their astronomy.\n\"This period,\" he says, \"is one of the most remarkable that have been\ndiscovered; for, if we take the lunar month to be 29 days 12h. 44m. 3s.\nwe find that 219,146-1/2 days make 7,421 lunar months, and that this\nnumber of days gives 600 solar years of 365 days 5h. 51m. 36s. If this\nyear was in use before the deluge, it appears very probable it must be\nacknowledged that the patriarchs were already acquainted to a\nconsiderable degree of accuracy with the motions of the stars, for this\nlunar month agrees to a second almost with that which has been\ndetermined by modern astronomers.\"\n\nA very similar argument has been used by Prof. Piazzi Smyth to prove\nthat the Great Pyramids were built by the descendants of Abraham near\nthe time of Noah; namely, that measures of two different elements in the\nmeasurement of time or space when multiplied or divided produce a number\nwhich may be found to represent some proportion of the edifice, and\nhence to assume that the two numbers were known to the builders.\n\nWe need scarcely point out that numbers have always been capable of\ngreat manipulation, and the mere fact of one number being so much\ngreater than another, is no proof that _both_ were known, unless we knew\nthat _one_ of them was known independently, or that they are intimately\nconnected.\n\nIn the case of Josephus' number the cycle during which the lunar months\nand solar years are commensurable has been long discussed and if the\nnumber had been 19 instead of 600, we should have had little doubt of\nits reference; yet 600 is a very simple number and might refer to many\nother cycles than the complicated one pointed out by M. Cassini. A\nsimilar case may be quoted with regard to the Indians, which, according\nto our temperament, may be either considered a proof that these\nreasonings are correct, or that they are easy to make. They say that\nthere are two stars diametrically opposite which pass through the zodiac\nin 144 years; nothing can be made of this period, nor yet of another\nequally problematical one of 180 years; but if we multiply the two\ntogether we obtain 25,920, which is very nearly the length of the cycle\nfor the precession of the equinoxes.\n\nIn this review of the ancient ideas of different peoples, we have\nfollowed the most probable order in considering that the observation of\nnature came first, and the different parts of it were afterwards\nindividualized and named. It is proper to add that according to some\nancient authors--such as Diodorus Siculus--the process was considered to\nhave been the other way. That Uranus was an actual individual, that\nAtlas and Saturn were his sons or descendants or followers, and that\nbecause Atlas was a great astronomer he was said to support the heavens,\nand that his seven daughters were real, and being very spiritual they\nwere regarded as goddesses after death and placed in heaven under the\nname of the Pleiades.\n\nHowever, the universality of the ideas seems to forbid this\ninterpretation, which is also in itself much less natural.\n\nThese various opinions lead us to remark, in conclusion, that the\nfables of ancient mythological astronomy must be interpreted by means of\nvarious keys. Allegory is the first--the allegory employed by\nphilosophers and poets who have spoken in figurative language. Their\nwords taken in the letter are quite unnatural, but many of the fables\nare simply the description or explanation of physical facts.\nHieroglyphics are another key. Having become obscure by the lapse of\ntime they sometimes, however, present ideas different from those which\nthey originally expressed. It is pretty certain that hieroglyphics have\nbeen the source of the men with dogs' heads, or feet of goats, &c.\nFables also arise from the adoption of strange words whose sound is\nsomething like another word in the borrowing language connected with\nother ideas, and the connection between the two has to be made by\nfable.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nASTRONOMY OF THE CELTS.\n\n\nThe numerous stone monuments that are to be found scattered over this\ncountry, and over the neighbouring parts of Normandy, have given rise to\nmany controversies as to their origin and use. By some they have been\nsupposed to be mere sepulchral monuments erected in late times since the\nRoman occupation of Great Britain. Such an idea has little to rest upon,\nand we prefer to regard them, as they have always been regarded, as\nrelics of the Druidical worship of the Celtic or Gaulish races that\npreceded us in this part of Europe.\n\nIf we were to believe the accounts of ordinary historians, we might\nbelieve that the Druids were nothing more than a kind of savage race,\nhidden, like the fallow-deer in the recesses of their woods. Thought to\nbe sanguinary, brutal, superstitious, we have learned nothing of them\nbeyond their human sacrifices, their worship of the oak, their raised\nstones; without inquiring whether these characteristics which scandalize\nour tastes, are not simply the legacy of a primitive era, to which, by\nthe side of the tattered religions of the old Paganism, Druidism\nremained faithful. Nevertheless the Druids were not without merit in the\norder of thought.\n\nFor the Celts, as for all primitive people, astronomy and religion were\nintimately associated. They considered that the soul was eternal, and\nthe stars were worlds successively inhabited by the spiritual emigrants.\nThey considered that the stars were as much the abodes of human life as\nour own earth, and this image of the future life constituted their power\nand their grandeur. They repelled entirely the idea of the destruction\nof life, and preferred to see in the phenomena of death, a voyage to a\nregion already peopled by friends.\n\nUnder what form did Druidical science represent the universe? Their\nscientific contemplation of the heavens was at the same time a religious\ncontemplation. It is therefore impossible to separate in our history\ntheir astronomical and theological heavens.\n\nIn their theological astronomy, or astronomical theology, the Druids\nconsidered the totality of all living beings as divided into three\ncircles. The first of these circles, the circle of immensity, _Ceugant_,\ncorresponding to incommunicable, infinite attributes, belonged to God\nalone; it was properly the absolute, and none, save the ineffable\nbeing, had a right there. The second circle, that of blessedness,\n_Gwyn-fyd_, united in it the beings that have arrived at the superior\ndegrees of existence; this was heaven. The third, the circle of voyages,\n_Abred_, comprised all the noviciate; it was there, at the bottom of the\nabysses, in the great oceans, as Taliesin says, that the first breath of\nman commenced. The object proposed to men's perseverance and courage was\nto attain to what the bards called the point of liberty, very probably\nthe point at which, being suitably fortified against the assaults of the\nlower passions, they were not exposed to be troubled, against their\nwills, in their celestial aspirations; and when they arrived at such a\npoint--so worthy of the ambition of every soul that would be its own\nmaster--they quitted the circle of Abred and entered that of Gwyn-fyd;\nthe hour of their recompense had come.\n\nDemetrius, cited by Plutarch, relates that the Druids believed that\nthese souls of the elect were so intimately connected with our circle\nthat they could not emerge from it without disturbing its equilibrium.\nThis writer states, that being in the suite of the Emperor Claudius, in\nsome part of the British isles, he heard suddenly a terrible hurricane,\nand the priests, who alone inhabited these sacred islands, immediately\nexplained the phenomenon, by telling him that a vacuum had been produced\non the earth, by the departure of an important soul. \"The great men,\" he\nsaid, \"while they live are like torches whose light is always\nbeneficent and never harms any one, but when they are extinguished their\ndeath generally occasions, as you have just seen, winds, storm, and\nderangements of the atmosphere.\"\n\nThe palingenetic system of the Druids is complete in itself, and takes\nthe being at his origin, and conducts him to the ultimate heaven. At the\nmoment of his creation, as Henry Martyn says in his Commentary, the\nbeing has no conscience of the gifts that are latent in him. He is\ncreated in the lowest stage of life, in _Annwfn_, the shadowy abyss at\nthe base of _Abred_. There, surrounded by nature, submitted to\nnecessity, he rises obscurely through the successive degrees of\ninorganic matter, and then through the organic. His conscience at last\nawakes. He is man. \"Three things are primarily contemporaneous--man,\nliberty, and light.\" Before man there was nothing in creation but fatal\nobedience to physical laws; with man commences the great battle between\nliberty and necessity, good and evil. The good and the evil present\nthemselves to man in equilibrium, \"and he can at his pleasure attach\nhimself to one or the other of them.\"\n\nIt might appear at first sight that it was carrying things too far to\nattribute to the Druids the knowledge, not indeed of the true system of\nthe world, but the general idea on which it was constructed. But, on\ncloser examination, this opinion seems to have some consistency. If it\nwas from the Druids that Pythagoras derived the basis of his theology,\nwhy should it not be from them that he derived also that of his\nastronomy? Why, if there is no difficulty in seeing that the principle\nof the subordination of the earth might arise from the meditations of an\nisolated spirit, should there be any more difficulty in thinking that\nthe principles of astronomy should take birth in the midst of a\ncorporation of theologians embued with the same ideas as the\nphilosophers on the circulation of life, and applied with continued\ndiligence to the study of celestial phenomena. The Druid, not having to\nreceive mythological errors, might be led by that circumstance to\nimagine in space other worlds similar to our own.\n\nIndependently of its intrinsic value, this supposition rests also upon\nthe testimony of historians. A singular statement made by Hecataeus with\nregard to the religious rites of Great Britain exhibits this in a\nstriking manner. This historian relates that the moon, seen in this\nisland, appears much larger than it does anywhere else, and that it is\npossible to distinguish mountains on its surface, such as there are on\nthe earth. Now, how had the Druids made an observation of this kind? It\nis of not much consequence whether they had actually seen the lunar\nmountains or had only imagined them, the curious thing is that they were\npersuaded that that body was like the earth, and had mountains and\nother features similar to our own. Plutarch, in his treatise _De facie\nin orbe Lunae_, tells us that, according to the Druids, and conformably\nto an idea which had long been held in science, the surface of the moon\nis furrowed with several Mediterraneans, which the Grecian philosophers\ncompare to the Red and Caspian seas. It was also thought that immense\nabysses were seen, which were supposed to be in communication with the\nhemisphere that is turned away from the earth. Lastly, the dimensions of\nthis sky-borne country were estimated; (ideas very different to those\nthat were current in Greece): its size and its breadth, says the\ntraveller depicted by the writer, are not at all such as the geometers\nsay, but much larger.\n\nIt is through the same author, who is in accordance in this respect with\nall the bards, that we know that this celestial earth was considered by\nthe theologians of the West as the residence of happy souls. They rose\nand approached it in proportion as their preparation had been complete,\nbut, in the agitation of the whirlwind, many reached the moon that it\nwould not receive. \"The moon repelled a great number, and rejected them\nby its fluctuations, at the moment they reached it; but those that had\nbetter success fixed themselves there for good; their soul is like the\nflame, which, raising itself in the ether of the moon, as fire raises\nitself on that of the earth receives force and solidity in the same way\nthat red-hot iron does when plunged into the water.\"\n\nThey thus traced an analogy between the moon and the earth, which they\ndoubtless carried out to its full development, and made the moon an\nimage of what they knew here, picturing there the lunar fields and\nbrooks and breezes and perfumes. What a charm such a belief must have\ngiven to the heavens at night. The moon was the place and visible pledge\nof immortality. On this account it was placed in high position in their\nreligion; the order of all the festivals was arranged after that which\nwas dedicated to it; its presence was sought in all their ceremonies,\nand its rays were invoked. The Druids are always therefore represented\nas having the crescent in their hands.\n\nAstronomy and theology being so intimately connected in the spirit of\nthe Druids, we can easily understand that the two studies were brought\nto the front together in their colleges. From certain points of view we\nmay say that the Druids were nothing more than astronomers. This quality\nwas not less striking to the ancients in them than in the Chaldaeans. The\nobservation of the stars was one of their official functions. Caesar\ntells us, without entering more into particulars, that they taught many\nthings about _the form and dimensions of the earth, the size and\narrangements of the different parts of heaven, and the motions of the\nstars_, which includes the greater part of the essential problems of\ncelestial geometry, which we see they had already proposed to\nthemselves. We can see the same fact in the magnificent passage of\nTaliesin. \"I will ask the bards,\" he says in his _Hymn of the World_,\n\"and why will not the bards answer me? I will ask of them what sustains\nthe earth, since having no support it does not fall? or if it falls\nwhich way does it go? But what can serve for its support? Is the world a\ngreat traveller? Although it moves without ceasing, it remains tranquil\nin its route; and how admirable is that route, seeing that the world\nmoves not in any direction.\" This suffices to show that the ideas of the\nDruids on material phenomena were not at all inferior to their\nconceptions of the destiny of the soul, and that they had scientific\nviews of quite another origin from the Alexandrian Greeks, the Latins,\ntheir disciples, or the middle ages. An anecdote of the eighth century\nfurnishes another proof in favour of Druidical science. Every one knows\nthat Virgilius, bishop of Salzburg, was accused of heresy by Boniface\nbefore the Pope Zacharias, because he had asserted that there were\nantipodes. Now Virgilius was educated in one of the learned monasteries\nof Ireland, which were fed by the Christian bards, who had preserved the\nscientific traditions of Druidism.\n\n[Illustration: PLATE II.--DRUIDICAL WORSHIP.]\n\nThe fundamental alliance between the doctrine of the plurality of worlds\nand of the eternity of the soul is perhaps the most memorable character\nin the thoughts of this ancient race. The death upon earth was for them\nonly a psychological and astronomical fact, not more grave than that\nwhich happened to the moon when it was eclipsed, nor the fall of the\nverdant clothing of the oak under the breath of the autumnal breeze. We\nsee these conceptions and manners, at first sight so extraordinary,\nclothe themselves with a simple and natural aspect. The Druids were so\nconvinced of the future life in the stars, that they used _to lend money\nto be repaid in the other world_. Such a custom must have made a\nprofound impression on the minds of those who daily practised it.\nPomponius Mela and Valerius Maximus both tell us of this custom. The\nlatter says, \"After having left Marseilles I found that ancient custom\nof the Gauls still in force, namely, of lending one another money to be\npaid back in the infernal regions, for they are persuaded that the souls\nof men are immortal.\"\n\nIn passing to the other world they lost neither their personality, their\nmemory, nor their friends; they there re-encountered the business, the\nlaws, the magistrates of this world. They had capitals and everything\nthe same as here. They gave one another rendezvous as emigrants might\nwho were going to America. This superstition, so laudable as far as it\nhad the effect of pressing on the minds of men the firm sentiment of\nimmortality, led them to burn, along with the dead, all the objects\nwhich had been dear to them, or of which they thought they might still\nwish to make use. \"The Gauls,\" says Pomponius Mela, \"burn and bury with\nthe dead that which had belonged to the living.\"\n\nThey had another custom prompted by the same spirit, but far more\ntouching. When any one bade farewell to the earth, each one charged him\nto take letters to his absent friends, who should receive him on his\narrival and doubtless load him with questions as to things below. It is\nto Diodorus that we owe the preservation of the remembrance of this\ncustom. \"At their funerals,\" he says, \"they place letters with the dead\nwhich are written to those already dead by their parents, so that they\nmay be read by them.\" They followed the soul in thought in its passage\nto the other planets, and the survivors often regretted that they could\nnot accomplish the voyage in their company; sometimes, indeed, they\ncould not resist the temptation. \"There are some,\" says Mela, \"who burn\nthemselves with their friends in order that they may continue to live\ntogether.\" They entertained another idea also, which led even to worse\npractices than this, namely, that death was a sort of recruiting that\nwas commanded by the laws of the universe for the sustenance of the army\nof existences. In certain cases they would replace one death by another.\nPosidonius, who visited Gaul at an epoch when it had not been broken up,\nand who knew it far better than Caesar, has left us some very curious\ninformation on this subject. If a man felt himself seriously warned by\nhis disease that he must hold himself in readiness for departure, but\nwho, nevertheless, had, for the moment, some important business on hand,\nor the needs of his family chained him to this life, or even that death\nwas disagreeable to him; if no member of his family or his clients were\nwilling to offer himself instead, he looked out for a substitute; such a\none would soon arrive accompanied by a troop of friends, and stipulating\nfor his price a certain sum of money, he distributed it himself as\nremembrances among his companions,--often even he would only ask for a\nbarrel of wine. Then they would erect a stage, improvise a sort of\nfestival, and finally, after the banquet was over, our hero would lie\ndown on the shield, and driving a sword into his bosom, would take his\ndeparture for the other world.\n\nSuch a custom, indeed, shows anything but what we should rightly call\ncivilization, however admirable may have been their opinions; but it\nreceives its only palliation from the fact that their indifference to\ndeath did not arise from their undervaluing life here, but that they had\nso firm a belief in the existence and the happiness of a life hereafter.\n\nThat these beliefs were not separated from their astronomical ideas is\nseen from the fact that they peopled the firmament with the departed.\nThe Milky Way was called the town of Gwyon (Coer or Ker Gwydion, Ker in\nBreton, Caer in Gaulish, Kohair in Gaelic); certain bardic legends gave\nto Gwyon as father a genius called Don, who resides in the constellation\nof Cassiopeia, and who figures as \"the king of the fairies\" in the\npopular myths of Ireland. The empyrean is thus divided between various\nheavenly spirits. Arthur had for residence the Great Bear, called by\nthe Druids \"Arthur's Chariot.\"\n\nWe are not, however, entirely limited to tradition and the reports of\nformer travellers for our information as to the astronomy of the Druids,\nbut we have also at our service numerous coins belonging to the old\nGauls, who were of one family with those who cultivated Druidism in our\nisland, which have been discovered buried in the soil of France. The\nimportance which was given to astronomy in that race becomes immediately\nevident upon the discovery of the fact that these coins are marked with\nfigures having reference to the heavenly bodies, in other words are\nastronomical coins. If we examine, from a general point of view, a large\ncollection of Gaulish medals such as that preserved in the National\nMuseum of Paris, we observe that among the essential symbols that occupy\nthe fields are types of the Horse, the Bull, the Boar, the Eagle, the\nLion, the Horseman, and the Bear. We remark next a great number of\nsigns, most often astronomical, ordinarily accessory, but occasionally\nthe chief, such as the sign [symbol: rotated mirrored S], globules\nsurrounded by concentric circles, stars of five, six, or eight points,\nradiated and flaming bodies, crescents, triangles, wheels with four\nspokes, the sign [symbol: infinity], the lunar crescent, the zigzag, &c.\nLastly, we remark other accessory types represented by images of real\nobjects or imaginary figures, such as the Lyre, the Diota, the Serpent,\nthe Hatchet, the Human Eye, the Sword, the Bough, the Lamp, the Jewel,\nthe Bird, the Arrow, the Ear of Corn, the Fishes, &c.\n\nOn a great number of medals, on the stateres of Vercingetorix, on the\nreverses of the coins of several epochs, we recognize principally the\nsign of the Waterer, which appears to symbolize for one part of\nantiquity the knowledge of the heavenly sphere. On the Gaulish types\nthis sign (an amphora with two handles) bears the name of Diota, and\nrepresents amongst the Druids as amongst the Magi the sciences of\nastronomy and astrology.\n\nSome of these coins are represented in the woodcut below.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 2.]\n\nThe first of these represents the course of the Sun-Horse reaching the\nTropic of Cancer (summer solstice), and brought back to the Tropic of\nCapricorn (winter solstice).\n\nOn the second is seen the symbol of the year between the south\n(represented by the sun [symbol: sun]) and the north (represented by the\nNorthern Bear). In the third the calendar (or course of the year)\nbetween the sun [symbol: sun] and the moon [symbol: moon]. Time the Sun,\nand the Bear are visible on the fourth. The diurnal motion of the\nheavens is represented on the fifth; and lastly, on the sixth, appears\nthe Watering-pot, the Sun-Horse, and the sign of the course of the\nheavenly bodies.\n\nOn other groups of money the presence of the zodiac may be made out.\n\nThese medals would seem to show that some part of the astronomical\nknowledge of the Druids was not invented by themselves, but borrowed\nfrom the Chaldeans or others who in other lands invented them in\nprevious ages, and from whom they may have possibly derived them from\nthe Phenicians.\n\nWe may certainly expect, however, from these pieces of money, if found\nin sufficient number and carefully studied, to discover a good many\npositive facts now wanting to us, of the religion, sciences, manners,\nlanguage, commercial relation, &c. which belonged to the Celtic\ncivilization. It was far from being so barbarous as is ordinarily\nsupposed, and we shall do more justice to it when we know it better.\n\nM. Fillioux, the curator of the museum of Gueret, who has studied these\ncoins with care, after having sought for a long time for a clear and\nconcise method of determining exactly the symbolic and religious\ncharacter of the Gaulish money, has been able to give the following\ngeneral statements.\n\nThe coins have for their ordinary field the heavens.\n\nOn the right side they present almost universally the ideal heads of\ngods or goddesses, or in default of these, the symbols that are\nrepresentative of them.\n\nOn the reverse for the most part, they reproduce, either by direct types\nor by emblems artfully combined, the principal celestial bodies, the\ndivers aspects of the constellations, and probably the laws, which,\naccording to their ancient science, presided over their course; in a\nsmaller proportion they denote the religious myths which form the base\nof the national belief of the Gauls. As we have seen above, for them the\npresent life was but a transitory state of the soul, only a prodrome of\nthe future life, which should develop itself in heaven and the\nastronomical worlds with which it is filled.\n\nBorrowed from an elevated spiritualism, incessantly tending towards the\ncelestial worlds, these ideas were singularly appropriate to a nation at\nonce warlike and commercial. These circumstances explain the existence\nof these strange types, founded at the same time on those of other\nnations, and on the symbolism which was the soul of the Druidical\nreligion. To this religious caste, indeed, we must give the merit of\nthis ingenious and original conception, of turning the reverses of the\ncoins into regular charts of the heavens. Nothing indeed could be better\ncalculated to inspire the people with respect and confidence than these\nmysterious and learned symbols, representing the phenomena of the\nheavens.\n\nNot making use of writing to teach their dogmas, which they wished to\nmaintain as part of the mysteries of their caste, the Druids availed\nthemselves of this method of placing on the money that celestial\nsymbolism of which they alone possessed the key.\n\nThe religious ideas founded on astronomical observations were not\npeculiar to, or originated by, the Druids, any more than their zodiac.\nThere seems reason to believe that they had come down from a remote\nantiquity, and been widely spread over many nations, as we shall see in\nthe chapter on the Pleiades; but we can certainly trace them to the\nEast, where they first prevailed in Persia and Egypt, and were\nafterwards brought to Greece, where they disappeared before the new\ncreations of anthropomorphism, though they were not forgotten in the\ndays of the poet Anacreon, who says, \"Do not represent for me, around\nthis vase\" (a vase he had ordered of the worker in silver), \"either the\nheavenly bodies, or the chariot, or the melancholy Orion; I have nothing\nto do with the Pleiades or the Herdsman.\" He only wanted mythological\nsubjects which were more to his taste.\n\nThe characters which are made use of in these astronomical moneys of\nthe Druids would appear to have a more ancient origin than we are able\nto trace directly, since they are most of them found on the arms and\nimplements of the bronze age. Some of them, such as the concentric\npointed circles, the crescent with a globule or a star, the line in\nzigzag, were used in Egypt; where they served to mark the sun, the\nmonth, the year, the fluid element; and they appear to have had among\nthe Druids the same signification. The other signs, such as the\n[symbol: wave], and its multiple combinations, the centred circles,\ngrouped in one or two, the little rings, the alphabetical characters\nrecalling the form of a constellation, the wheel with rays, the\nradiating discs, &c. are all represented on the bronze arms found in the\nCeltic, Germanic, Breton, and Scandinavian lands. From this remote\nperiod, which was strongly impressed with the Oriental genius, we must\ndate the origin of the Celtic symbolism. It has been supposed, and not\nwithout reason, that this epoch, besides being contemporaneous with the\nPhenician establishments on the borders of the ocean, was an age of\ncivilization and progress in Gaul, and that the ideas of the Druids\nbecame modified at the same time that they acquired just notions in\nastronomy and in the art of casting metals. At a far later period, the\nDruidic theocracy having, with religious care, preserved the symbols of\nits ancient traditions, had them stamped on the coins which they caused\nto be struck.\n\nThis remarkable fact is shown in an incontestable manner in the rougher\nattempts in Gaulish money, and this same state of things was perpetuated\neven into the epoch of the high arts, since we find on the imitation\nstatues of Macedonia the old Celtic symbols associated with emblems of a\nGrecian origin.\n\nIn Italy a different result was arrived at, because the warlike element\nof the nobles soon predominated over the religious. Nevertheless the\nmost ancient Roman coins, those which are known to us under the name of\nConsular, have not escaped the common law which seems to have presided,\namong all nations, over the origin of money. The two commonest types,\none in bronze of _Janus Bifrons_ with the _palus_; the other in silver,\nthe _Dioscures_ with their stars, have an eminently astronomical aspect.\n\nThe comparison between the Gaulish and Roman coins may be followed in a\nseries of analogies which are very remarkable from an astronomical point\nof view. To cite only a few examples, we may observe on a large number\nof pennies of different families, the impression of Auriga \"the\nCoachman\" conducting a quadriga; or the sun under another form (with his\nhead radiated and drawn in profile); or Diana with her lunar attributes;\nor the five planets well characterised; for example, Venus by a double\nstar, as that of the morning or of the evening; or the constellations of\nthe Dog, Hercules, the Kid, the Lyre, and almost all those of the\nzodiac and of the circumpolar region and the seven-kine (septemtriones).\nIn later times, under the Caesars, in the villa of Borghese, is found a\ncalendar whose arrangements very much recall the ancient Gaulish coin.\nThe head of the twelve great gods and the twelve signs of the zodiac are\nrepresented, and the drawing of the constellations establishes a\ncorrespondence between their rising and the position of the sun in the\nzodiac. It may therefore be affirmed that in the coinage and works of\nart in Italy and Greece, the characteristic influence of astronomical\nworship is found as strongly as among the Druids. Nor have the Western\nnations alone had the curious habit of impressing their astronomical\nideas upon their coinage, for in China and Japan coins of a similar\ndescription have been met with, containing on their reverse all the\nsigns of the zodiac admitted by them.\n\nIn conclusion, we may say, that it was cosmography, that constructed the\ndogmas of the Druidical religion, which was, in its essential elements,\nthe same as that of the old Oriental theocracies. The outward ceremonies\nwere addressed to the sun, the moon, the stars, and other visible\nphenomena; but, above nature, there was the great generating and moving\nprinciple, which the Celts placed, at a later period perhaps, among the\nattributes of their supreme deities.\n\n[Illustration: THE NORTHERN CONSTELLATIONS.\n\nThe Lyre--Cassiopeia--The Little Bear--The Dragon--Andromeda--The Great\nBear--Capella--Algol, or Medusa's Head.]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nORIGIN OF THE CONSTELLATIONS.\n\n\nWhen we look upon the multitude of heavenly bodies with which the\ncelestial vault is strewed, our attention is naturally arrested by\ncertain groupings of brilliant stars, apparently associated together on\naccount of their great proximity; and also by certain remarkable single\nstars which have excessive brilliancy or are completely isolated from\nthe rest. These natural groups seem to have some obscure connection with\nor dependence on each other. They have always been noticed, even by the\nmost savage races. The languages of several such races contain different\nnames for the same identical groups, and these names, mostly borrowed\nfrom terrestrial beings, give an imaginary life to the solitude and\nsilence of the skies. A celestial globe, as we know, presents us with a\nsingular menagerie, rich in curious monsters placed in inconceivable\npositions. How these constellations, as they are called, were first\ninvented, and by whom, is an interesting question which by the aid of\ncomparative philology we must endeavour now to answer.\n\nAmong these constellations there are twelve which have a more than\nordinary importance, and to which more attention has always been paid.\nThey are those through which the sun appears to pass in his annual\njourney round the ecliptic, entering one region each month. At least,\nthis is what they were when first invented. They were called the\nzodiacal constellations or signs of the zodiac--the name being derived\nfrom their being mostly named after living beasts. In our own days the\nzodiacal constellations are no longer the signs of the zodiac. When they\nwere arranged the sun entered each one on a certain date. He now is no\nlonger at the same point in the heavens at that date, nevertheless he is\nstill said to enter the same sign of the zodiac--which therefore no\nlonger coincides with the zodiacal constellation it was named from--but\nmerely stands for a certain twelfth part of the ecliptic, which varies\nfrom time to time. It will be of course of great interest to discover\nthe origin of these particular constellations, the date of their\ninvention, &c.; and we shall hope to do so after having discussed the\norigin of those seen in the Northern hemisphere which may be more\nfamiliar even than those.\n\nWe have represented in the frontispiece the two halves of the Grecian\ncelestial sphere--the Northern and the Southern, with the various\nconstellations they contain. This sphere was not invented by the Greeks,\nbut was received by them from more ancient peoples, and corrected and\naugmented. It was used by Hipparchus two thousand years ago; and Ptolemy\nhas given us a description of it. It contained 48 constellations, of\nwhich 21 belonged to the Northern, 15 to the Southern hemisphere, and\nthe remaining twelve were those of the zodiac, situated along the\necliptic.\n\nThe constellations reckoned by Ptolemy contained altogether 1,026 stars,\nwhose relative positions were determined by Hipparchus; with reference\nto which accomplishment Pliny says, \"Hipparchus, with a height of\naudacity too great even for a god, has ventured to transmit to posterity\nthe number of the stars!\"\n\nPtolemy's catalogue contains:--\n\n For the northern constellations 361 stars\n For the zodiacal 350 \"\n For the southern 318 \"\n or -----\n For all the 48 constellations 1,029 \"\n or, since 3 of these are named twice 1,026 \"\n\nOf course this number is not to be supposed to represent the whole of\nthe stars visible even to the naked eye; there are twice as many in the\nNorthern hemisphere alone, while there are about 5,000 in the whole sky.\nThe number visible in a telescope completely dwarfs this, so that more\nthan 300,000 are now catalogued; while the number visible in a large\ntelescope may be reckoned at not less than 77 millions. The principal\nnorthern constellations named by Ptolemy are contained in the following\nlist, with the stars of the first magnitude that occur in each:--\n\nThe Great Bear, or David's Chariot, near the centre.\n\nThe Little Bear, with the Pole Star at the end of the tail.\n\nThe Dragon.\n\nCepheus, situated to the right of the Pole.\n\nThe Herdsman, or the Keeper of the Bear, with the star Arcturus.\n\nThe Northern Crown to the right.\n\nHercules, or the Man who Kneels.\n\nThe Lyre, or Falling Vulture, with the beautiful star Vega.\n\nThe Swan, or Bird, or Cross.\n\nCassiopeia, or the Chair, or the Throne.\n\nPerseus.\n\nThe Carter, or the Charioteer, with Capella Ophiuchus, or Serpentarius,\nor Esculapius.\n\nThe Serpent.\n\nThe Bow and Arrow, or the Dart.\n\nThe Eagle, or the Flying Vulture, with Altair.\n\nThe Dolphin.\n\nThe Little Horse, or the Bust of the Horse.\n\nPegasus, or the Winged Horse, or the Great Cross.\n\nAndromeda, or the Woman with the Girdle.\n\nThe Northern Triangle, or the Delta.\n\nThe fifteen constellations on the south of the ecliptic were:--\n\nThe Whale.\n\nOrion, with the beautiful stars Rigel and Betelgeuse.\n\nThe River Endanus, or the River Orion, with the brilliant Achernar.\n\nThe Hare.\n\nThe Great Dog, with the magnificent Sirius.\n\nThe Little Dog, or the Dog which runs before, with Procyon.\n\nThe ship Argo, with its fine Alpha (Canopus) and Eta.\n\nThe Female Hydra, or the Water Snake.\n\nThe Cup, or the Urn, or the Vase.\n\nThe Raven.\n\nThe Altar, or the Perfuming Pot.\n\nThe Centaur, whose star Alpha is the nearest to the earth.\n\nThe Wolf, or the Centaur's Lance, or the Panther, or the Beast.\n\nThe Southern Crown, or the Wand of Mercury, or Uraniscus.\n\nThe Southern Fish, with Fomalhaut.\n\nThe twelve zodiacal constellations, which are of more importance than\nthe rest, are generally named in the order in which the sun passes\nthrough them in its passage along the ecliptic, and both Latins and\nEnglish have endeavoured to impress their names on the vulgar by\nembodying them in verses. The poet Ausonius thus catalogues them:--\n\n \"Sunt: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo,\n Libraque, Scorpius, Arcitenens, Caper, Amphora, Pisces.\"\n\nand the English effusion is as follows:--\n\n \"The Ram, the Bull, the Heavenly Twins,\n And next the Crab the Lion shines,\n The Virgin and the Scales.\n The Scorpion, Archer, and He Goat,\n The Man that holds the watering-pot,\n And Fish with glittering scales.\"\n\nThese twelve have hieroglyphics assigned to them, by which they are\nreferred to in calendars and astronomical works, some of the marks being\neasily traced to their origin. Thus [symbol: aries] refers to the horns\nof the Ram; [symbol: taurus] to the head of the Bull; [symbol: scorpion]\nto the joints and tail-sting of the Scorpion; [symbol: saggitarius] is\nvery clearly connected with an archer; [symbol: capricorn] is formed by\nthe junction of the first two letters [Greek: t] and [Greek: r] in\n[Greek: tragos], the Sea-goat, or Capricorn; [symbol: libra] for the\nBalance, is suggestive of its shape; [symbol: aquarius] refers to the\nwater in the Watering-pot; and perhaps [symbol: pisces] to the Two\nFishes; [symbol: gemini] for Twins may denote two sides alike; [symbol:\ncancer] for the Crab, has something of its side-walking appearance;\nwhile [symbol: leo] for the Lion, and [symbol: virgo] for the Virgin,\nseem to have no reference that is traceable.\n\nThese constellations contain the following stars of the first\nmagnitude--Aldebaran, Antares, and Spica.\n\nTo these constellations admitted by the Greeks should be added the Locks\nof Berenice, although it is not named by Ptolemy. It was invented indeed\nby the astronomer Conon. The story is that Berenice was the spouse and\nthe sister of Ptolemy Euergetes, and that she made a vow to cut off her\nlocks and devote them to Venus if her husband returned victorious; to\nconsole the king the astronomer placed her locks among the stars. If\nthis is a true account Arago must be mistaken in asserting that the\nconstellation was created by Tycho Brahe in 1603. The one he did add to\nthe former ones was that of Antinoeus, by collecting into one figure some\nunappropriated stars near the Eagle. At about the same time J. Bayer,\nfrom the information of Vespuccius and the sailors, added twelve to the\nsouthern constellations of Ptolemy; among which may be mentioned the\nPeacock, the Toucan, the Phoenix, the Crane, the Fly, the Chameleon,\nthe Bird of Paradise, the Southern Triangle, and the Indian.\n\nAugustus Royer, in 1679, formed five new groups, among which we may name\nthe Great Cloud, the Fleur-de-Lis, and the Southern Cross.\n\nHevelius, in 1690, added 16; the most important being the Giraffe, the\nUnicorn, the Little Lion, the Lynx, the Little Triangle.\n\nAmong these newer-named constellations none is more interesting than the\nSouthern Cross, which is by some considered as the most brilliant of all\nthat are known. Some account of it, possibly from the Arabs, seems to\nhave reached Dante, who evidently refers to it, before it had been named\nby Royer, in a celebrated passage in his \"Purgatory.\" Some have thought\nthat his reference to such stars was only accidental, and that he really\nreferred only to the four cardinal virtues of theology, chiefly on\naccount of the difficulty of knowing how he could have heard of them;\nbut as the Arabs had establishments along the entire coast of Africa,\nthere is no difficulty in understanding how the information might reach\nItaly.\n\nAmericus Vespuccius, who in his third voyage refers to these verses of\nDante, does not mention the name of the Southern Cross. He simply says\nthat the four stars form a rhomboidal figure. As voyages round the Cape\nmultiplied, however, the constellation became rapidly more celebrated,\nand it is mentioned as forming a brilliant cross by the Florentine\nAndrea Corsali, in 1517, and a little later by Pigafetta, in 1520.\n\nAll these constellations have not been considered sufficient, and many\nsubsequent additions have been made. Thus Lacaille, in 1752, created\nfourteen new ones, mostly characterized by modern names--as the\nSculptor's Studio, the Chemical Furnace, the Clock, the Compass, the\nTelescope, the Microscope, and others.\n\nLemonnier, in 1766, added the Reindeer, the Solitaire, and the Indian\nBird, and Lalande the Harvestman. Poczobut, in 1777, added one more,\nand P. Hell another. Finally, in the charts drawn by Bode, eight more\nappear, among which the Aerostat, and the Electrical and Printing\nMachines.\n\nWe thus arrive at a total of 108 constellations. To which we may add\nthat the following groups are generally recognized. The Head of Medusa,\nnear Perseus; the Pleiades, on the back, and the Hyades on the forehead\nof the Bull; the Club of Hercules; the Shield of Orion, sometimes called\nthe Rake; the Three Kings; the Staff of S. James; the Sword of Orion;\nthe Two Asses in the Crab, having between them the Star Cluster, called\nthe Stall, or the Manger; and the Kids, near Capella, in the\nconstellation of the Coachman.\n\nThis brings the list of the constellations to 117, which is the total\nnumber now admitted.\n\nA curious episode with respect to these star arrangements may here be\nmentioned.\n\nAbout the eighth century Bede and certain other theologians and\nastronomers wished to depose the Olympian gods. They proposed,\ntherefore, to change the names and arrangements of the constellations;\nthey put S. Peter in the place of the Ram; S. Andrew instead of the\nBull; and so on. In more recent calendars David, Solomon, the Magi, and\nother New and Old Testament characters were placed in the heavens\ninstead of the former constellations; but these changes of name were not\ngenerally adopted.\n\nAs an example of these celestial spheres we figure a portion of one\nnamed _Coeli stellati Christiani hemisphericum prius_. We here see the\nGreat Bear replaced by the Barque of S. Peter, the Little Bear by S.\nMichael, the Dragon by the Innocents, the Coachman by S. Jerome, Perseus\nby S. Paul, Cassiopeia by the Magdalene, Andromache by S. Sepulchre, and\nthe Triangle by S. Peter's mitre; while for the zodiac were substituted\nthe Twelve Apostles.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 3.]\n\nIn the seventeenth century a proposal was made by Weigel, a professor\nin the University of Jena, to form a series of heraldic constellations,\nand to use for the zodiac the arms of the twelve most illustrious\nfamilies in Europe; but these attempts at change have been in vain, the\nold names are still kept.\n\nHaving now explained the origin in modern times of 69 out of the 117\nconstellations, there remain the 48 which were acknowledged by the\nGreeks, whose origin is involved in more obscurity.\n\nOne of the first to be noticed and named, as it is now the most easily\nrecognized and most widely known, is the _Great Bear_, which attracts\nall the more attention that it is one of those that never sets, being at\na less distance from the pole than the latter is from the horizon.\n\nEvery one knows the seven brilliant stars that form this constellation.\nThe four in the rectangle and the three in a curved line at once call to\nmind the form of a chariot, especially one of antique build. It is this\nresemblance, no doubt, that has obtained for the constellation the name\nof \"the Chariot\" that it bears among many people. Among the ancient\nGauls it was \"Arthur's Chariot.\" In France it is \"David's Chariot,\" and\nin England it goes by the name of \"King Charles' Wain,\" and by that of\nthe \"Plough.\" The latter name was in vogue, too, among the Latins\n(_Plaustrum_), and the three stars were three oxen, from whence it would\nappear that they extended the idea to all the seven stars, and at last\ncalled them the _seven_ oxen, _septem-triones_, from whence the name\nsometimes used for the north--septentrional. The Greeks also called it\nthe Chariot ([Greek: Hamaxa]), and the same word seems to have stood\nsometimes for a plough. It certainly has some resemblance to this\ninstrument.\n\nIf we take the seven stars as representing the characteristic points of\na chariot, the four stars of the quadrilateral will represent the four\nwheels, and the three others will represent the three horses. Above the\ncentre of the three horses any one with clear sight may perceive a small\nstar of the fifth or sixth magnitude, called the Cavalier. Each of these\nseveral stars is indicated, as is usual with all the constellations, by\na Greek letter, the largest being denoted by the first letter. Thus the\n4 stars in the quadrilateral are [Greek: a], [Greek: b], [Greek: g],\n[Greek: d], and the 3 tail stars [Greek: e], [Greek: x], [Greek: e]. The\nArabs give to each star its special name, which in this case are as\nfollows:--Dubhe and Merak are the stars at the back; Phegda and Megrez\nthose of the front; Alioth, Mizat, and Ackiar the other three, while the\nlittle one over Mizat is Alcor. Another name for it is Saidak, or the\nTester, the being able to see it being a mark of clear vision.\n\nThere is some little interest in the Great Bear on account of the\npossibility of its being used as a kind of celestial time-keeper, and\nits easy recognition makes it all the more available. The line through\n[Greek: a] and [Greek: b] passes almost exactly through the pole. Now\nthis line revolves of course with the constellation round the pole in 24\nhours; in every such interval being once, vertical above the pole, and\nonce vertical below, taking the intermediate positions to right and left\nbetween these times. The instant at which this line is vertical over the\npole is not the same on any two consecutive nights, since the stars\nadvance each day 4 minutes on the sun. On the 21st of March the superior\npassage takes place at 5 minutes to 11 at night; on the following night\nfour minutes earlier, or at 9 minutes to 11. In three months the\nculmination takes place 6 hours earlier, or at 5 minutes to 5. In six\nmonths, _i.e._ on Sept. 22, it culminates at 10.55 in the morning, being\nvertically below the pole at the same hour in the evening. The following\nwoodcut exhibits the positions of the Great Bear at the various hours of\nSeptember 4th. It is plain from this that, knowing the day of the month,\nthe hour of the night may be told by observing what angle the line\njoining [Greek: a] and [Greek: b] of this constellation makes with the\nvertical.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 4.]\n\nWe have used the name _Great Bear_, by which the constellation is best\nknown. It is one of the oldest names also, being derived from the\nGreeks, who called it Arctos megale ([Greek: Arktos megale]), whence the\nname Arctic; and singularly enough the Iroquois, when America was\ndiscovered, called it Okouari, their name for a bear. The explanation of\nthis name is certainly not to be found in the resemblance of the\nconstellation to the animal. The three stars are indeed in the tail, but\nthe four are in the middle of the back; and even if we take in the\nsmaller stars that stand in the feet and head, no ingenuity can make it\nin this or any other way resemble a bear. It would appear, as Aristotle\nobserves, that the name is derived from the fact, that of all known\nanimals the bear was thought to be the only one that dared to venture\ninto the frozen regions of the north and tempt the solitude and cold.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 5.]\n\nOther origins of the name, and other names, have been suggested, of\nwhich we may mention a few. For example, \"Ursa\" is said to be derived\nfrom _versus_, because the constellation is seen to _turn_ about the\npole. It has been called the Screw ([Greek: Elike]), or Helix, which has\nplainly reference to its turning. Another name is Callisto, in reference\nto its beauty; and lastly, among the Arabs the Great and Little Bears\nwere known as the Great and Little Coffins in reference to their slow\nand solemn motion. These names referred to the four stars of each\nconstellation, the other three being the mourners following the bearers.\nThe Christian Arabs made it into the grave of Lazarus and the three\nweepers, Mary, Martha, and their maid.\n\nNext as to the Little Bear. This constellation has evidently received\nits name from the similarity of its form to that of the Great Bear. In\nfact, it is composed of seven stars arranged in the same way, only in an\ninverse order. If we follow the line from [Greek: b] to [Greek: a] of\nthe Great Bear to a distance of five times as great as that between\nthese stars we reach the brightest star of the Little Bear, called the\nPole Star. All the names of the one constellation have been applied to\nthe other, only at a later date.\n\nThe new constellations were added one by one to the celestial sphere by\nthe Greeks before they arranged certain of them as parts of the zodiac.\nThe successive introduction of the constellations is proved completely\nby a long passage of Strabo, which has been often misunderstood. \"It is\nwrong,\" he says, \"to accuse Homer of ignorance because he speaks only of\none of the two Celestial Bears. The second was probably not formed at\nthat time. The Phenicians were the first to form them and to use them\nfor navigation. They came later to the Greeks.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE CONSTELLATIONS FROM THE SEA-SHORE.\n\nThe Swan--The Lyre--Hercules--The Crown--The Herdsman--The Eagle--The\nSerpent--The Balance--The Scorpion--Sagittarius.]\n\nAll the commentators on Homer, Hygin and Diogenes Laertes, attribute to\nThales the introduction of this constellation. Pseudo-Eratosthenes\ncalled the Little Bear [Greek: Phoinike], to indicate that it was a\nguide to the Phenicians. A century later, about the seventeenth\nOlympiad, Cleostrates of Tenedos enriched the sphere with the Archer\n([Greek: Toxotes], Sagittarius) and the Ram ([Greek: Krios], Aries), and\nabout the same time the zodiac was introduced into the Grecian sphere.\n\nWith regard to the Little Bear there is another passage of Strabo which\nit will be interesting to quote. He says--\"The position of the people\nunder the parallel of Cinnamomophore, _i.e._ 3,000 stadia south of Meroe\nand 8,800 stadia north of the equator, represents about the middle of\nthe interval between the equator and the tropic, which passes by Syene,\nwhich is 5,000 stadia north of Meroe. These same people are the first\nfor whom the Little Bear is comprised entirely in the Arctic circle and\nremains always visible; the most southern star of the constellation, the\nbrilliant one that ends the tail being placed on the circumference of\nthe Arctic circle, so as just to touch the horizon.\" The remarkable\nthing in this passage is that it refers to an epoch anterior to Strabo,\nwhen the star [Greek: a] of the Little Bear, which now appears almost\nimmovable, owing to its extreme proximity to the pole, was then more to\nthe south than the other stars of the constellation, and moved in the\nArctic circle so as to touch the horizon of places of certain latitudes,\nand to set for latitudes nearer the equator.\n\nIn those days it was not the _Pole_ Star--if that word has any relation\nto [Greek: poleo], I turn--for the heavens did not turn about it then as\nthey do now.\n\nThe Grecian geographer speaks in this passage of a period when the most\nbrilliant star in the neighbourhood of the pole was [Greek: a] of the\nDragon. This was more than three thousand years ago. At that time the\nLittle Bear was nearer to the pole than what we now call the Polar Star,\nfor this latter was \"the most southern star in the constellation.\" If we\ncould alight upon documents dating back fourteen thousand years, we\nshould find the star Vega ([Greek: a] Lyra) referred to as occupying the\npole of the world, although it now is at a distance of 51 degrees from\nit, the whole cycle of changes occupying a period of about twenty-six\nthousand years.\n\nBefore leaving these two constellations we may notice the origin of the\nnames according to Plutarch. He would have it that the names are derived\nfrom the use that they were put to in navigation. He says that the\nPhenicians called that constellation that guided them in their route the\n_Dobebe_, or _Doube_, that is, the speaking constellation, and that this\nsame word happens to mean also in that language a bear; and so the name\nwas confounded. Certainly there is still a word _dubbeh_ in Arabic\nhaving this signification.\n\nNext as to the Herdsman. The name of its characteristic star and of\nitself, Arcturus ([Greek: Arktos], bear; [Greek: Ouros], guardian), is\nexplained without difficulty by its position near the Bears. There are\nsix small stars of the third magnitude in the constellation round its\nchief one--three of its stars forming an equilateral triangle. Arcturus\nis in the continuation of the curved line through the three tail stars\nof the Great Bear. The constellation has also been called Atlas, from\nits nearness to the pole--as if it held up the heavens, as the fable\ngoes.\n\nBeyond this triangle, in the direction of the line continued straight\nfrom the Great Bear, is the Northern Crown, whose form immediately\nsuggests its name. Among the stars that compose it one, of the second\nmagnitude, is called the Pearl of the Crown. It was in this point of the\nheavens that a temporary star appeared in May, 1866, and disappeared\nagain in the course of a few weeks.\n\nAmong the circumpolar constellations we must now speak of Cassiopeia, or\nthe Chair--or Throne--which is situated on the opposite side of the Pole\nfrom the Great Bear; and which is easily found by joining its star\n[Greek: d] to the Pole and continuing it. The Chair is composed\nprincipally of five stars, of the third magnitude, arranged in the form\nof an M. A smaller star of the fourth magnitude completes the square\nformed by the three [Greek: b], [Greek: a], and [Greek: g]. The figure\nthus formed has a fair resemblance to a chair or throne, [Greek: d] and\n[Greek: e] forming the back; and hence the justification for its popular\nname. The other name Cassiopeia has its connection and meaning unknown.\n\nWe may suitably remark in this place, with Arago, that no precise\ndrawing of the ancient constellations has come down to us. We only know\ntheir forms by written descriptions, and these often very short and\nmeagre. A verbal description can never take the place of a drawing,\nespecially if it is a complex figure, so that there is a certain amount\nof doubt as to the true form, position, and arrangement of the figures\nof men, beasts, and inanimate objects which composed the star-groups of\nthe Grecian astronomers--so that unexpected difficulties attend the\nattempt to reproduce them on our modern spheres. Add to this that\nalterations have been avowedly introduced by the ancient astronomers\nthemselves, among others by Ptolemy, especially in those given by\nHipparchus. Ptolemy says he determined to make these changes because it\nwas necessary to give a better proportion to the figures, and to adapt\nthem better to the real positions of the stars. Thus in the\nconstellation of the Virgin, as drawn by Hipparchus, certain stars\ncorresponded to the shoulders; but Ptolemy placed them in the sides, so\nas to make the figure a more beautiful one. The result is that modern\ndesigners give scope to their imagination rather than consult the\ndescriptions of the Greeks. _Cassiopeia_, _Cepheus_, _Andromeda_, and\n_Perseus_ holding in his hand the _Head of Medusa_, appear to have been\nestablished at the same epoch, no doubt subsequently to the Great Bear.\nThey form one family, placed together in one part of the heavens, and\nassociated in one drama; the ardent Perseus delivering the unfortunate\nAndromeda, daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia. We can never be sure,\nhowever, whether the constellations suggested the fable, or the fable\nthe constellations: the former may only mean that Perseus, rising before\nAndromeda, seems to deliver it from the Night and from the constellation\nof the Whale. The Head of Medusa, a celebrated woman, that Perseus cut\noff and holds in his hand, is said by Volney to be only the head of the\nconstellation Virgo, which passes beneath the horizon precisely as the\nPerseus rises, and the serpents which surround it are Ophiucus and the\npolar Dragon, which then occupies the zenith.\n\nEither way, we have no account of the origin of the _names_, and it is\npossible that we may have to seek it, if ever we find it, from other\nsources--for it would appear that similar names were used for the same\nconstellations by the Indians. This seems inevitably proved by what is\nrelated by Wilford (_Asiatic Researches_, III.) of his conversation with\nhis pundit, an astronomer, on the names of the Indian constellations.\n\"Asking him,\" he says, \"to show me in the heavens the constellation of\nAntarmada, he immediately pointed to Andromeda, though I had not given\nhim any information about it beforehand. He afterwards brought me a very\nrare and curious work in Sanscrit, which contained a chapter devoted to\n_Upanacchatras_, or extra-zodiacal constellations, with drawings of\n_Capuja_ (Cepheus), and of _Casyapi_ (Cassiopeia) seated and holding a\nlotus flower in her hand, of _Antarmada_ charmed with the fish beside\nher, and last of _Parasiea_ (Perseus) who, according to the explanation\nof the book, held the head of a monster which he had slain in combat;\nblood was dropping from it, and for hair it had snakes.\" As the stars\ncomposing a constellation have often very little connection with the\nfigure they are supposed to form, when we find the same set of stars\ncalled by the same name by two different nations, as was the case, for\ninstance, in some of the Indian names of constellations among the\nAmericans, it is a proof that one of the nations copied it from the\nother, or that both have copied from a common source. So in the case\nbefore us, we cannot think these similar names have arisen\nindependently, but must conclude that the Grecian was borrowed from the\nIndian.\n\nAnother well-known constellation in this neighbourhood, forming an\nisosceles triangle with Arcturus and the Pole Star, is the Lyre. Lucian\nof Samosatus says that the Greeks gave this name to the constellation to\ndo honour to the Lyre of Orpheus. Another possible explanation is this.\nThe word for lyre in Greek [Greek: chelys] and in Latin (_testudo_)\nmeans also a tortoise. Now at the time when this name was imposed the\nchief star in the Lyre may have been very near to the pole of the\nheavens and therefore have had a very slow motion, and hence it might\nhave been named the tortoise, and this in Greek would easily be\ninterpreted into lyre instead. Indeed this double meaning of the word\nseems certainly to have given rise to the fable of Mercury having\nconstructed a lyre out of the back of a tortoise. Circling round the\npole of the ecliptic, and formed by a sinuous line of stars passing\nround from the Great Bear to the Lyre, is the Dragon, which owes its\nname to its form. Its importance is derived from its relation to the\necliptic, the pole of which is determined by reference to the stars of\nthe first coil of the body. The centre of the zodiacal circle is a very\nimportant point, that circle being traced on the most ancient spheres,\nand probably being noticed even before the pole of the heavens.\n\nClosely associated with the Dragon both in mythology and in the\ncelestial sphere is Hercules. He is always drawn kneeling; in fact, the\nconstellation is rather a man in a kneeling posture than any particular\nman. The poets called it Engonasis with reference to this, which is too\nmelancholy or lowly a position than would agree well with the valiant\nhero of mythology. There is a story related by AEschylus about the stones\nin the Champ des Cailloux, between Marseilles and the embouchure of the\nRhone, to the effect that Hercules, being amongst the Ligurians, found\nit necessary to fight with them; but he had no more missiles to throw;\nwhen Jupiter, touched by the danger of his son, sent a rain of round\nstones, with which Hercules repulsed his enemies. The Engonasis is thus\nconsidered by some to represent him bending down to pick up the stones.\nPosidonius remarks that it was a pity Jupiter did not rain the stones on\nthe Ligurians at once, without giving Hercules the trouble to pick them\nup.\n\nOphiucus, which comes close by, simply means the man that holds the\nserpent [Greek: ophi-ouchos].\n\nIt is obviously impossible to know the origins of all the names, as\nthose we now use are only the surviving ones of several that from time\nto time have been applied to the various constellations according to\ntheir temporary association with the local legends. The prominent ones\nare favoured with quite a crowd of names. We need only cite a few.\nHercules, for instance, has been called [Greek: Okalzon Korynetes],\nEngonasis, Ingeniculus, Nessus, Thamyris, Desanes, Maceris, Almannus,\nAl-chete, &c. The Swan has the names of [Greek: Kyknos], [Greek: Iktin],\n[Greek: Ornis], Olar, Helenae genitor, Ales Jovis, Ledaeus, Milvus,\nGallina, The Cross, while the Coachman has been [Greek: Ippilates],\n[Greek: Elastippos], [Greek: Airoelates], [Greek: Eniochos], Auriga,\nAcator, Hemochus, Erichthonus, Mamsek, Alanat, Athaiot, Alatod, &c. With\nrespect to the Coachman, in some old maps he is drawn with a whip in his\nleft hand turned towards the chariot, and is called the charioteer. No\ndoubt its proximity to the former constellation has acquired for it its\nname. The last we need mention, as of any celebrity, is that of Orion,\nwhich is situated on the equator, which runs exactly through its midst.\nRegel forms its left foot, and the Hare serves for a footstool to the\nright foot of the hero. Three magnificent stars in the centre of the\nquadrilateral, which lie in one straight line are called the Rake, or\nthe Three Kings, or the Staff of Jacob, or the Belt. These names have\nan obvious origin; but the meaning of Orion itself is more doubtful. In\nthe Grecian sphere it is written [Greek: Orion], which also means a kind\nof bird. The allied word [Greek: oros] has very numerous meanings, the\nonly one of which that could be conjectured to be connected with the\nconstellations is a \"guardian.\" The word [Greek: horion], on the\ncontrary, the diminutive of [Greek: horos], means a limit, and has been\nassigned to Jupiter; and in this case may have reference to the\nconstellation being situated on the confines of the two hemispheres. In\nmythology Orion was an intrepid hunter of enormous size. He was the same\npersonage as Orus, Arion, the Minotaur, and Nimrod, and afterwards\nbecame Saturn. Orion is called _Tsan_ in Chinese, which signifies three,\nand corresponds to the three kings.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 6.]\n\nThe Asiatics used not to trace the images of their constellations, but\nsimply joined the component stars by straight lines, and placed at the\nside the hieroglyphic characters that represented the object they wished\nto name. Thus joining by five lines the principal stars in Orion, they\nplaced at the side the hieroglyphics representing a man and a sword,\nfrom whence the Greeks derived the figure they afterwards drew of a\ngiant armed with a sword.\n\nWe must include in this series that brightest of all stars, Sirius. It\nforms part of the constellation of the Great Dog, and lies to the south\nof Orion near the extreme limit of our vision into the Southern\nhemisphere in our latitudes. This star seems to have been intimately\nconnected with Egypt, and to have derived its name--as well as the name\nof the otherwise unimportant constellation it forms part of--from that\ncountry, and in this way:--\n\nThe overflowing of the Nile was always preceded by an Etesian wind,\nwhich, blowing from north to south about the time of the passage of the\nsun beneath the stars of the Crab, drove the mists to the south, and\naccumulated them over the country whence the Nile takes its source,\ncausing abundant rains, and hence the flood. The greatest importance\nattached to the foretelling the time of this event, so that people might\nbe ready with their provisions and their places of security. The moon\nwas no use for this purpose, but the stars were, for the inundation\ncommenced when the sun was in the stars of the Lion. At this time the\nstars of the Crab just appeared in the morning, but with them, at some\ndistance from the ecliptic, the bright star Sirius also rose. The\nmorning rising of this star was a sure precursor of the inundation. It\nseemed to them to be the warning star, by whose first appearance they\nwere to be ready to move to safer spots, and thus acted for each family\nthe part of a faithful dog. Whence they gave it the name of the Dog, or\nMonitor, in Egyptian _Anubis_, in Phenician _Hannobeach_, and it is\nstill the Dog-Star--_Caniculus_, and its rising commences our\n_dog-days_. The intimate connection between the rising of this star and\nthe rising of the Nile led people to call it also the Nile star, or\nsimply the Nile; in Egyptian and Hebrew, _Sihor_; in Greek, [Greek:\nSothis]; in Latin, _Sirius_.\n\nIn the same way the Egyptians and others characterised the different\ndays of the year by the stars which first appeared in the evening--as we\nshall see more particularly with reference to the Pleiades--and in this\nway certain stars came to be associated in their calendar with\nvariations of temperature and operations of agriculture. They soon took\nfor the cause what was originally but the sign, and thus they came to\ntalk of moist stars, whose rising brought rain, and arid stars, which\nbrought drought. Some made certain plants to grow, and others had\ninfluence over animals.\n\nIn the case of Egypt, no other so great event could occur as that which\nthe Dog-Star foretold, and its appearance was consequently made the\ncommencement of the year. Instead, therefore, of painting it as a simple\nstar, in which case it would be indistinguishable from others, they gave\nit shape according to its function and name. When they wished to signify\nthat it opened the year, it was represented as a porter bearing keys, or\nelse they gave it two heads, one of an old man, to represent the passing\nyear, the other of a younger, to denote the succeeding year. When they\nwould represent it as giving warning of the inundation they painted it\nas a dog. To illustrate what they were to do when it appeared, Anubis\nhad in his arms a stew-pot, wings to his feet, a large feather under his\narm, and two reptiles behind him, a tortoise and a duck.\n\nThere is also in the celestial sphere a constellation called the Little\nDog and Procyon; the latter name has an obvious meaning, as appearing\n_before_ the Dog-Star.\n\nWe cannot follow any farther the various constellations of the northern\nsphere, nor of the southern. The zodiacal constellations we must\nreserve for the present, while we conclude by referring to some of the\nchanges in form and position that some of the above-mentioned have\nundergone in the course of their various representations.\n\nThese changes are sometimes very curious, as, for example, in a coloured\nchart, printed at Paris in 1650, we have the Charioteer drawn in the\ncostume of Adam, with his knees on the Milky Way, and turning his back\nto the public; the she-goat appears to be climbing over his neck, and\ntwo little she-goats seem to be running towards their mother. Cassiopeia\nis more like King Solomon than a woman. Compare this with the _Phenomena\nof Aratus_, published 1559, where Cassiopeia is represented sitting on\nan oak chair with a ducal back, holding the holy palm in her left hand,\nwhile the Coachman, \"Erichthon,\" is in the costume of a minion of Henry\nthe Third of France. Now compare the Cassiopeia of the Greeks with that\ndrawn in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, or the Coachman of the\nsame periods, and we can easily see the fancies of the painters have\nbeen one of the most fertile sources of change. They seem, too, to have\nhad the fancy in the middle ages to draw them all hideous and turning\ntheir backs. Compare, for instance, the two pictures of Andromeda and\nHercules, as given below, where those on one side are as heavy and gross\nas the others are artistic and pretty. Unfortunately for the truth of\nAndromeda's beauty, as depicted in these designs, she was supposed to\nbe a negress, being the daughter of the Ethiopians, Cepheus and\nCassiopeia. Not one of the drawings indicates this; indeed they all take\nafter their local beauties.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 7.]\n\nIn Flamsteed's chart, as drawn above, the Coachman is a female; and\ninstead of the she-goat being on the back, she holds it in her arms. No\none, indeed, from any of the figures of this constellation would ever\ndream it was intended to represent a coachman.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 8.]\n\nOne more fundamental cause of changes has been the confusion of names\nderived by one nation from another, these having sometimes followed\ntheir signification, but at others being translated phonetically. Thus\nthe Latins, in deriving names from the Greek [Greek: Arktos], have\npartly translated it by Ursa, and partly have copied it in the form\nArcticus. So also with reference to the three stars in the head of the\nBull, called by the Greeks Hyades. The Romans thought it was derived\nfrom [Greek: hyes], sows, so they called them _suculae_, or little sows;\nwhereas the original name was derived from [Greek: hyein], to rain, and\nsignified stars whose appearance indicated the approach of the rainy\nseason.\n\nMore curious still is the transformation of the Pearl of the Northern\nCrown (Margarita Coronae) in a saint--S. Marguerite.\n\nThe names may have had many origins whose signification is lost, owing\nto their being misunderstood. Thus figurative language may have been\ninterpreted as real, as when a conjunction is called a marriage; a\ndisappearance, death; and a reappearance, a resurrection; and then\nstories must be invented to fit these words; or the stars that have in\none country given notice of certain events lose the meaning of their\nnames when these are used elsewhere; as when a boat painted near the\nstars that accompany an inundation, becomes the ship Argo; or when, to\nrepresent the wind, the bird's wing is drawn; or those stars that mark a\nseason are associated with the bird of passage, the insect or the animal\nthat appears at that time: such as these would soon lose their original\nsignification.\n\nThe celestial sphere, therefore, as we now possess it, is not simply a\ncollection of unmeaning names, associated with a group of stars in no\nway connected with them, which have been imposed at various epochs by\ncapricious imagination, but in most instances, if not in all, they\nembody a history, which, if we could trace it, would probably lead us to\nastronomical facts, indicating the where and the when of their first\nintroduction; and the story of their changes, so far as we can trace it,\ngives us some clue to the mental characteristics or astronomical\nprogress of the people who introduced the alterations.\n\nWe shall find, indeed, in a subsequent chapter, that many of our\nconclusions as to the birth and growth of astronomy are derived from\nconsiderations connected with the various constellations, more\nespecially those of the zodiac.\n\nWith regard to the date when and the country where the constellations of\nthe sphere were invented, we will here give what evidence we possess,\nindependent of the origin of the zodiac.\n\nIn the first place it seems capable of certain proof that they were not\ninvented by the Greeks, from whom we have received them, but adopted\nfrom an older source, and it is possible to give limits to the date of\nintroduction among them.\n\nNewton, who attributes its introduction to Musaeus, a contemporary of\nChiron, remarks, that it must have been settled _after_ the expedition\nof the Argonauts, and _before_ the destruction of Troy; because the\nGreeks gave to the constellation names that were derived from their\nhistory and fables, and devoted several to celebrate the memory of the\nfamous adventurers known as the Argonauts, and they would certainly have\ndedicated some to the heroes of Troy, if the siege of that place had\nhappened at the time. We remark that at this time astronomy was in too\ninfant a state in Greece for them to have fixed with so much accuracy\nthe position of the stars, and that we have in this a proof they must\nhave borrowed their knowledge from older cultivators of the science.\n\nThe various statements we meet with about the invention of the sphere\nmay be equally well interpreted of its introduction only into Greece.\nSuch, for instance, as that Eudoxus first constructed it in the\nthirteenth or fourteenth century B.C., or that by Clement of Alexandria,\nthat Chiron was the originator.\n\nThe oldest direct account of the names of the constellations and their\ncomponent stars is that of Hesiod, who cites by name in his _Works and\nDays_ the Pleiades, Arcturus, Orion, and Sirius. He lived, according to\nHerodotus, about 884 years before Christ.\n\nThe knowledge of all the constellations did not reach the Greeks at the\nsame time, as we have seen from the omission by Homer of any mention of\nthe Little Bear, when if he had known it, he could hardly have failed to\nspeak of it. For in his description of the shield of Achilles, he\nmentions the Pleiades, the Hyades, Orion and the Bear, \"which alone does\nnot bathe in the Ocean.\" He could never have said this last if he had\nknown of the Dragon and Little Bear.\n\nWe may then safely conclude that the Greeks received the idea of the\nconstellations from some older source, probably the Chaldeans. They\nreceived it doubtless as a sphere, with figured, but nameless\nconstellations; and the Greeks by slight changes adapted them to\nrepresent the various real or imaginary heroes of their history. It\nwould be a gracious task, for their countrymen would glory in having\ntheir great men established in the heavens. When they saw a ship\nrepresented, what more suitable than to name it the ship Argo? The Swan\nmust be Jupiter transformed, the Lyre is that of Orpheus, the Eagle is\nthat which carried away Ganymede, and so on.\n\nThis would be no more than what other nations have done, as, for\nexample, the Chinese, who made greater changes still, unless we consider\ntheirs to have had an entirely independent origin.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 9.]\n\nThat the celestial sphere was a conception known to others than the\nGreeks is easily proved. The Arabians, for instance, certainly did not\nborrow it from them; yet they have the same things represented. Above is\na figure of a portion of an Arabian sphere drawn in the eleventh\ncentury, where we get represented plainly enough the Great and Little\nBears, the Dragon, Cassiopeia, Andromeda, Perseus, with the Triple Head\nof Medusa; the Triangle, one of the Fishes, Auriga, the Ram, the Bull\nobscurely, and the Twins.\n\nThere is also the famous so-called zodiac of Denderah, brought from\nEgypt to Paris. This in reality contains more constellations than those\nof the zodiac. Most of the northern ones can be traced, with certain\nmodifications. Its construction is supposed to belong to the eighth\ncentury B.C. Most conspicuous on it is the Lion, in a kind of barque,\nrecalling the shape of the Hydra. Below it is the calf Isis, with\nSirius, or the Dog-Star, on the forehead; above it is the Crab, to the\nright the Twins, over these along instrument, the Plough, and above that\na small animal, the Little Bear, and so we may go on:--all the zodiacal\nconstellations, especially the Balance, the Scorpion, and the Fishes\nbeing very clear. This sphere is indeed of later date than that supposed\nfor the Grecian, but it certainly appears to be independent. The remains\nwe possess of older spheres are more particularly connected with the\nzodiac, and will be discussed hereafter.\n\nFrom what people the Greeks received the celestial sphere, is a question\non which more than one opinion has been formed. One is that it was\noriginated in the tropical latitudes of Egypt. The other, that it came\nfrom the Chaldeans, and a third that it came from more temperate\nlatitudes further to the east. The arguments for the last of these are\nas follow:\n\nThere is an empty space of about 90 deg., formed by the last constellations\nof the sphere, towards the south pole, that is by the Centaur, the\nAltar, the Archer, the Southern Fish, the Whale, and the Ship. Now in a\nsystematic plan, if the author were situated near the equator there\nwould be no vacant space left in this way, for in this case the southern\nstars, attracting as much attention as the northern, would be inevitably\ninserted in the system of constellations which would be extended to the\nhorizon on all sides. But a country of sufficiently high latitude to be\nunable to see at any time the stars about the southern pole must be\nnorth both of Egypt and Chaldea.\n\nThis empty space remained unfilled until the discovery of the Cape of\nGood Hope, except that the star Canopus was included in the\nconstellation Argo, and the river Eridan had an arbitrary extension\ngiven to it, instead of terminating in latitude 40 deg..\n\nAnother less cogent argument is derived from the interpretation of the\nfable of the Phoenix. This is supposed to represent the course of the\nsun, which commences its growth at the time of its death. A similar\nfable is found among the Swedes. Now a tropical nation would find the\ndifference of days too little to lead it to invent such a fable to\nrepresent it. It must needs have arisen where the days of winter were\nvery much shorter than those of summer.\n\nThe Book of Zoroaster, in which some of the earliest notices of\nastronomy are recorded, states that the length of a summer day is twice\nas long as that of winter. This fixes the latitude in which that book\nmust have been composed, and makes it 49 deg.. Whence it follows, that to\nsuch a place must we look for the origin of these spheres, and not to\nEgypt or Chaldea.\n\n[Illustration: PLATE III.--CHALDEAN ASTRONOMERS.]\n\nDiodorus Siculus speaks of a nation in that part of the world, whom he\ncalls Hyperboreans, who had a tradition that their country is the\nnearest to the moon, on which they discovered mountains like those on\nthe earth, and that Apollo comes there once every nineteen years. This\nperiod being that of the metonic cycle of the moon, shows that if this\ncould have really been discovered by them, they must have had a long\nacquaintance with astronomy.\n\nThe Babylonian tablets lead us to the belief that astronomy, and with it\nthe sphere, and the zodiac were introduced by a nation coming from the\nEast, from the mountains of Elam, called the Accadians, before 3000\nB.C., and these may have been the nation to whom the whole is due.\n\nOn the other hand, the arguments for the Egyptians, or Chaldeans being\nthe originators depend solely on the tradition handed down by many, that\none or other are the oldest people in the world, with the oldest\ncivilization, and they have long cultivated astronomy. More precise\ninformation, however, seems to render these traditions, to say the\nleast, doubtful, and certainly incapable of overthrowing the arguments\nadduced above.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nTHE ZODIAC.\n\n\nThe zodiac, as already stated, is the course in the heavens apparently\npursued by the sun in his annual journey through the stars. Let us\nconsider for a moment, however, the series of observations and\nreflections that must have been necessary to trace this zone as\nrepresenting such a course.\n\nFirst, the diurnal motion of the whole heavens from east to west must\nhave been noticed during the night, and the fact that certain stars\nnever set, but turn in a circle round a fixed point. What becomes then,\nthe next question would be, of those stars that do descend beneath the\nhorizon, since they rise in the same relative positions as those in\nwhich they set. They could not be thought to be destroyed, but must\ncomplete the part of the circle that is invisible _beneath the earth_.\nThe possibility of any stars finding a path beneath the earth must have\nled inevitably to the conception of the earth as a body suspended in the\ncentre with nothing to support it. But leaving this alone, it would\nalso be concluded that the sun went with the stars, and was in a certain\nposition among them, even when both they and it were invisible. The next\nobservations necessary would be that the zodiacal constellations visible\nduring the nights of winter were not the same as those seen in summer,\nthat such and such a group of stars passed the meridian at midnight at a\ncertain time, and that six months afterwards the group exactly opposite\nin the heavens passed at the same hour. Now since at midnight the sun\nwill be exactly opposite the meridian, if it continues uniformly on its\ncourse, it will be among that group of stars that is opposite the group\nthat culminates at midnight, and so the sign of the zodiac the sun\noccupies would be determined.\n\nThis method would be checked by comparisons made in the morning and\nevening with the constellations visible nearest to the sun at its rising\nand setting.\n\nThe difficulty and indirectness of these observations would make it\nprobable that originally the zodiac would be determined rather by the\npath of the moon, which follows nearly the same path as the sun, and\nwhich could be observed at the same time as, and actually associated\nwith, the constellations. Now the moon is found each night so far to the\neast of its position on the previous night that it accomplishes the\nwhole circumference in twenty-seven days eight hours. The two nearest\nwhole number of days have generally been reckoned, some taking\ntwenty-eight, and others twenty-seven. The zodiac, or, as the Chinese\ncalled it, the Yellow Way, was thus divided into twenty-eight parts,\nwhich were called _Nakshatras_ (mansions, or hotels), because the moon\nremains in each of them for a period of twenty-four hours. These\nmansions were named after the brightest stars in each, though sometimes\nthey went a long way off to fix upon a characteristic star, as in the\nsixteenth Indian constellation, _Vichaca_, which was named after the\nNorthern Crown, in latitude 40 deg.. This arose from the brightness of the\nmoon extinguishing the light of those that lie nearest to it.\n\nThis method of dividing the zodiac was very widely spread, and was\ncommon to almost all ancient nations. The Chinese have twenty-eight\nconstellations, but the word _siou_ does not mean a group of stars, but\nsimply a mansion or hotel. In the Coptic and ancient Egyptian the word\nfor constellation has the same meaning. They also had twenty-eight, and\nthe same number is found among the Arabians, Persians, and Indians.\nAmong the Chaldeans, or Accadians, we find no sign of the number\ntwenty-eight. The ecliptic or \"Yoke of the Sky,\" with them, as we see in\nthe newly-discovered tablets, was divided into twelve divisions as now,\nand the only connection that can be imagined between this and the\ntwenty-eight is the opinion of M. Biot, who thinks that the Chinese had\noriginally only twenty-four mansions, four more being added by Chenkung\n(B.C. 1100), and that they corresponded with the twenty-four stars,\ntwelve to the north and twelve to the south, that marked the twelve\nsigns of the zodiac among the Chaldeans. But under this supposition the\ntwenty-eight has no reference to the moon, whereas we have every reason\nto believe that it has.\n\nThe Siamese only reckoned twenty-seven, and occasionally inserted an\nextra one, called _Abigitten_, or intercalary moon. They made use,\nmoreover, of the constellations to tell the hour of the night by their\nposition in the heavens, and their method of doing this appears to have\ninvolved their having twenty-eight constellations. The names of the\ntwenty-eight divisions among the Arabs were derived from parts of the\nlarger constellations that made the twelve signs, the first being the\nhorns, and the second the belly, of the Ram.\n\nThe twenty-eight divisions among the Persians, of which we may notice\nthat the second was formed by the Pleiades, and called _Pervis_, soon\ngave way to the twelve, the names of which, recorded in the works of\nZoroaster, and therefore not less ancient than he, were not quite the\nsame as those now used. They were the Lamb, the Bull, the Twins, the\nCrab, the Lion, the Ear of Corn, the Balance, the Scorpion, the Bow, the\nSea-Goat, the Watering-pot, and the Fishes.\n\nNor were the Chinese continually bound to the number twenty-eight. They,\ntoo, had a zodiac for the sun as well as the moon, as may be seen on\nsome very curious pieces of money, of which those figured below are\nspecimens.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 10.]\n\nOn some of these the various constellations of the Northern hemisphere\nare engraved, especially the Great Bear--under innumerable\ndisguises--and on others the twelve signs of the zodiac. These are very\ndifferent, however, from the Grecian set--they are the Mouse, the Bull,\nthe Tiger, the Hare, the Dragon, the Serpent, the Horse, the Ram, the\nMonkey, the Cock, the Dog, and the Pig. The Japanese series were the\nsame. The Mongolians had a series of zodiacal coins struck in the reign\nof Jehanjir Shah (1014). He had pieces of gold stamped, representing the\nsun in the constellation of the Lion; and some years afterwards other\ncoins were made, with one side having the impress of the particular sign\nin which the sun happened to be when the coin was struck. In this way a\nseries is preserved having all the twelve signs. Tavernier tells the\nstory that one of the wives of the Sultan, wishing to immortalise\nherself, asked Jehanjir to be allowed to reign for four-and-twenty\nhours, and took the opportunity to have a large quantity of new gold and\nsilver zodiacal coins struck and distributed among the people.\n\nThe twenty-eight divisions are less known now, simply from the fact that\nthe Greeks did not adopt them; but they were much used by the early\nAsian peoples, who distinguished them, like the twelve, by a series of\nanimals, and they are still used by the Arabs.\n\nSo far for the nature of the zodiac, as used in various countries, and\nas adopted from more ancient sources by the Greeks and handed on to us.\nIt is very remarkable that the arrangement of it, and its relation to\nthe pole of the equator, carries with it some indication of the age in\nwhich it must have been invented, as we now proceed to show.\n\nWe may remark, in the first place, that from very early times the centre\nof the zodiacal circle has been marked in the celestial sphere, though\nthere is no remarkable star near the spot; and the centre of the\nequatorial circle, or pole, has been even less noticed, though much more\nobvious. We cannot perhaps conclude that the instability of the pole was\nknown, but that the necessity for drawing the zodiac led to attention\nbeing paid to its centre. Both the Persians and the Chinese noted in\naddition four bright stars, which they said watched over the rest,\n_Taschter_ over the east, _Sateris_ over the west, _Venaud_ over the\nsouth, and _Hastorang_ over the north. Now we must understand these\npoints to refer to the sun, the east being the spring equinox, the west\nthe autumnal, and the north and south the summer and winter solstices.\nThere are no stars of any brilliancy that we could now suppose referred\nto in these positions; but if we turn the zodiac through 60 deg. we shall\nfind Aldebaran, the Antares, Regulus, and Fomalhaut, four stars of the\nfirst magnitude, pretty nearly in the right places. Does the zodiac then\nturn in this way? The answer is, It does.\n\nThe effect of the attraction of the sun and moon upon the equatorial\nprotuberance of the earth is to draw it round from west to east by a\nvery slow motion, and make the ecliptic cross the equator each year\nabout one minute of arc to the east of where it crossed it the year\nbefore. So, then, the sidereal year, or interval between the times at\nwhich the sun is in a certain position amongst the stars, is longer than\nthe solar year, or interval between the times at which the sun crosses\nthe equator at the vernal equinox. Now the sun's position in the zodiac\nrefers to the former, his appearance at the equinox to the latter kind\nof year. Each solar year then--and these are the years we usually reckon\nby--the equinox is at a point fifty seconds of arc to the east on the\nzodiac, an effect which is known by the name of the precession of the\nequinoxes.\n\nNow it is plain that if it keeps moving continuously to the east it will\nat last come round to the same point again, and the whole period of its\nrevolution can easily be calculated from the distance it moves each\nyear. The result of such a calculation shows that the whole revolution\nis completed in 25,870 years, after which time all will be again as it\nis now in this respect.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 11.]\n\nIf we draw a figure of the zodiac, as below, and know that at this time\nthe vernal equinox takes place when the sun is in the Fishes, then, the\nconstellation of the Ram being to the west of this, the date at which\nthe equinox was there must be before our present date, while at some\ntime in the future it will be in Aquarius.\n\nNow if in any old description we find that the equinox is referred to as\nbeing in the Ram or in the Bull, it tells us at once how long ago such a\ndescription was a true one, and, therefore, when it was written. This is\nthe way in which the Zodiac carries with it an intimation of its date.\nThus in the example lately referred to of the Persians and their four\nstars, it must have been about 5,000 years ago, according to the above\ncalculation, that these were in the positions assigned, which is\ntherefore the date of this part of Persian astronomy, if we have rightly\nconjectured the stars referred to.\n\nWe have already said that the signs of the zodiac are not now the same\nas the zodiacal constellations, and this is now easily understood. It is\nnot worth while to say that the sun enters such and such a part of the\nFishes at the equinox, and changes every year. So the part of the\nheavens it _does_ then enter--be it Fishes, or Aquarius, or the Ram--is\ncalled by the same name--and is called a _sign_; the name chosen is the\nRam or Aries, which coincided with the constellation of that name when\nthe matter was arranged. There is another equally important and\ninstructive result of this precession of the equinox. For the earth's\naxis is always perpendicular to the plane of the equator, and if the\nlatter moves, the former must too, and change its position with respect\nto the axis of the ecliptic, which remains immovable. And the ends of\nthese axes, or the points they occupy among the stars, called their\npoles, will change in the same way; the pole of the equator, round which\nthe heavens appear to move, describing a curve about the pole of the\necliptic; and since the ecliptic and equator are always _nearly_ at the\nsame angle, this curve will be very nearly a circle, as represented on\npreceding page.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 12.]\n\nNow the pole of the equator is a very marked point in the heavens,\nbecause the star nearest to it appears to have no motion. If then we\ndraw such a figure as above, so as to see where this pole would be at\nany given date, and then read in any old record that such and such a\nstar had no motion, we know at once at what date such a statement must\nhave been made. This means of estimating dates is less certain than the\nother, because any star that is nearer to the pole than any other will\nappear to have no motion _relatively_ to the rest, unless accurate\nmeasurements were made. Nevertheless, when we have any reason to believe\nthat observations were carefully made, and there is any evidence that\nsome particular star was considered the Pole Star, we have some\nconfidence in concluding the date, examples of which will appear in the\nsequel; and we may give one illustration now, though not a very\nsatisfactory one. Hipparchus cites a passage from the sphere of Eudoxus,\nin which he says, _Est vero stella quaedam in eodem consistens loco, quae\nquidem polus est mundi._ (There is a certain immovable star, which is\nthe pole of the world.)\n\nNow referring to our figure, we find that about 1300 B.C. the two stars,\n[Greek: b] Ursae Minoris and [Greek: k] Draconis were fairly near the\npole, and this fact leads us to date the invention of this sphere at\nabout this epoch, rather than a little before or a little after,\nalthough, of course, there is nothing in _this_ argument (though there\nmay be in others), to prevent us dating it when [Greek: a] Draconis was\nnear the pole, 2850 B.C. This star was indeed said by the Chinese\nastronomers in the reign of Hoangti to mark the pole, which gives a date\nto their observations. The chief use of this latter method is to\n_confirm_ our conclusions from the former, rather than to originate any.\nLet us now apply our knowledge to the facts.\n\nIn the first place we may notice that in the time of Hipparchus the\nvernal equinox was in the first degree of the Ram, from which our own\narrangement has originated. Hipparchus lived 128 years B.C., or nearly\n2,000 years ago, at which time the equinox was exactly at [Greek: b]\nAries. Secondly, there are many reasons for believing that at the time\nof the invention of the zodiac, indeed in the first dawning of\nastronomy, the Bull was the first sign into which the sun entered at the\nvernal equinox. Now it takes 2,156 years to retrograde through a sign,\nand therefore the Bull might occupy this position any time between 2400\nand 4456 B.C., and any nearer approximation must depend on our ability\nto fix on any particular _part_ of the constellation as the original\nequinoctial point. We may say that whoever invented the zodiac would no\ndoubt make this point the _beginning_ of a sign, and therefore date its\ninvention 2400 B.C.; or on the other hand, if it can be proved that the\nconstellations were known and observed before this, we may have to put\nback the date to near the end of the sign, and make its last remarkable\nstars the equinoctial ones, say those in the horns of Taurus. Compare\nthe line of Virgil,\n\n \"Candidus auratis aperit cum cornibus annum\n Taurus.\"\n\nThe date in this case would be about 4500 B.C.--or once more some\nremarkable part of the constellation may give proof that its appearance\nwith the sun commenced the year--and our date would be intermediate\nbetween these two. In fact, the remarkable group of stars known as the\n_Pleiades_ actually does play this part. So much interest clusters,\nhowever, round this group, so much light is thrown by it on the past\nhistory of astronomical ideas--and so much new information has recently\nbeen obtained about it--that it requires a chapter to itself, and we\nshall therefore pass over its discussion here. Let us now review some of\nthe indications that some part of the constellation of the Bull was\noriginally the first sign of the zodiac.\n\nWe need perhaps only mention the astrological books of the Jews--the\nCabal--in which the Bull is dealt with as the first zodiacal sign. Among\nthe Persians, who designate the successive signs by the letters of the\nalphabet, _A_ stands for Taurus, _B_ for the Twins, and so on. The\nChinese attribute the commencement of the sun's apparent motion to the\nstars of Taurus. In Thebes is a sepulchral chamber with zodiacal signs,\nand Taurus at the head of them. The zodiac of the pagoda of Elephanta\n(Salsette) commences with the same constellation.\n\nHowever, reasons have been given for assigning to the zodiac a still\nearlier date than this would involve. Thus Laplace writes:--\"The names\nof the constellations of the zodiac have not been given to them by\nchance--they embody the results of a large number of researches and of\nastronomical systems. Some of the names appear to have reference to the\nmotion of the sun. The Crab, for instance, and the He-Goat, indicate its\nretrogression at the solstices. The Balance marks the equality of the\ndays and nights at the equinoxes, and the other names seem to refer to\nagriculture and to the climate of the country in which the zodiac was\ninvented. The He-Goat appears better placed at the highest point of the\nsun's course than the lowest. In this position, which it occupied\nfifteen thousand years ago, the Balance was at the vernal equinox, and\nthe zodiacal constellations match well with the climate and agriculture\nof Egypt.\" If we examine this, however, we see that all that is probable\nin it is satisfied by the Ram being at the vernal, and the Balance at\nthe autumnal equinox, which corresponds much better with other evidence.\n\n[Illustration: THE ZODIAC OF DENDERAH.]\n\nIn the first instance, no doubt, the names of the zodiacal\nconstellations would depend on the principal star or stars in each, and\nthese stars and the portion of the ecliptic assigned to each may have\nbeen noticed before the stars round them were grouped into\nconstellations with different names. In any case, the introduction of\nthe zodiac into Greece seems to have been subsequent to that of the\ncelestial sphere, and not to have taken place more than five or six\ncenturies before our era. Eudemus, of Rhodes, one of the most\ndistinguished of the pupils of Aristotle, and author of a History of\nAstronomy, attributes the introduction of the zodiac to Oenopides of\nChio, a contemporary of Anaxagoras. They did not receive it complete, as\nat first it had only eleven constellations, one of them, the Scorpion,\nbeing afterwards divided, to complete the necessary number. Their\nzodiacal divisions too would have been more regular had they derived\nthem directly from the East, and would not have stretched in some\ninstances over 36 deg. to 48 deg., like the Lion, the Bull, the Fishes, or the\nVirgin--while the Crab, the Ram, and the He-Goat, have only 19 deg. to 23 deg..\nNor would their constellations be disposed so irregularly, some to the\nnorth and some to the south of the ecliptic, nor some spreading out\nwidely and others crammed close together, so that we see that they only\nborrowed the idea from the Easterns, and filled it out with their\nancient constellations. Such is the opinion of Humboldt.\n\nWith regard to the origin of the names of the signs of the zodiac, we\nmust remember that a certain portion of the zodiacal circle, and not any\ndefinite group of stars, forms each sign, and that the constellations\nmay have been formed separately, and have received independent names,\nthough afterwards receiving those of the sign in which they were. The\nonly rational suggestion for the origin of the names is that they were\nconnected with some events which took place, or some character of the\nsun's motion observed, when it was in each sign. Thus we have seen that\nthe Balance may refer to equal nights and days (though only introduced\namong the _Greeks_ in the time of Hipparchus), and the Crab to the\nretrogression or stopping of the sun at the solstice.\n\nThe various pursuits of husbandry, having all their necessary times,\nwhich in the primeval days were determined by the positions of the\nstars, would give rise to more important names. Thus the Ethiopian, at\nThebes, would call the stars that by their rising at a particular time\nindicated the inundation, Aquarius, or the Waterer; those beneath which\nit was necessary to put the plough to the earth, the Bull stars. The\nLion stars would be those at whose appearance this formidable animal,\ndriven from the deserts by thirst, showed himself on the borders of the\nriver. Those of the Ear of Corn, or the Virgin of harvest, those beneath\nwhich the harvest was to be gathered in; and the sign of the Goat, that\nin which the sun was when these animals were born.\n\nThere can be but little doubt but that such was the origin of the names\nimposed, and for a time they would be understood in that sense. But\nafterwards, when time was more accurately kept, and calendars\nregulated, without each man studying the stars for himself, when the\nprecession of the equinoxes made the periods not exactly coincide, the\noriginal meaning would be lost, the stars would be associated with the\nanimals, as though there was a real bull, a real lion, &c., in the\nheavens; and then the step would be easy to represent these by living\nanimals, whom they would endow with the heavenly attributes of what they\nrepresented; and so the people came at last to pray to and worship the\nseveral creatures for the sake of their supposed influence. They asked\nof the Ram from their flocks the influences they thought depended on the\nconstellation. They prayed the Scorpion not to spread his evil venom on\nthe world; they revered the Crab, the Scarabaeus, and the Fish, without\nperceiving the absurdity of it.\n\nIt is certain at least that the gods of many nations are connected or\nare identical with the signs of the zodiac, and it seems at least more\nreasonable to suppose the former derived from the latter than _vice\nversa_.\n\nAmong the Greeks indeed, who had, so to speak, their gods ready made\nbefore they borrowed the idea of the zodiac, the process appears to have\nbeen the reverse, they made the signs to represent as far as they could\ntheir gods. In the more pastoral peoples, however, of the East, and in\nEgypt, this process can be very clearly traced. Among the Jews there\nseems to be some remarkable connection between their patriarchs and\nthese signs, though the history of that connection may not well be made\nout. The twelve signs are mentioned as being worshipped, along with the\nsun and moon, in the Book of Kings. But what is more remarkable is the\ndream of Joseph, in which the sun and moon and the other eleven stars\nworshipped him, coupled with the various designations or descriptions\ngiven to each son in the blessing of Jacob. In Reuben we have the man\nwho is said to be \"unstable as water,\" in which we may recognise\nAquarius. In Simeon and Levi \"the brethren,\" we trace the Twins. Judah\nis the \"Lion.\" Zebulun, \"that dwells at the haven of the sea,\"\nrepresents Fishes. Issachar is the Bull, or \"strong ass couching down\nbetween two burdens.\" Dan, \"the serpent by the way, the adder in the\npath,\" represents the Scorpion. Gad is the Ram, the leader to a flock or\ntroop of sheep. Asher the Balance, as the weigher of bread. Naphtali,\n\"the hind let loose,\" is the Capricorn, Joseph the Archer, whose bow\nabode in strength. Brujanin the Crab, changing from morning to evening,\nand Dinah, the only daughter, represents the Virgin.\n\nThere is doubtless something far-fetched in some of these comparisons,\nbut when we consider the care with which the number twelve was retained,\nand that the four chief tribes carried on their sacred standards these\nvery signs--namely, Judah a lion, Reuben a man, Ephraim a bull, and Dan\na scorpion--and notice the numerous traces of astronomical culture in\nthe Jewish ceremonies, the seven lights of the candlestick, the twelve\nstones of the High Priest, the feasts at the two equinoxes, the\nceremonies connected with a ram and a bull, we cannot doubt that there\nis something more than chance in the matter, but rather conclude that we\nhave an example of the process by which, in the hands of the Egyptians\nthemselves, astronomical representations became at last actually\ndeified.\n\nIt has been thought possible indeed to assign definitely each god of the\nEgyptians to one of the twelve zodiacal signs. The Ram was consecrated\nto Jupiter Ammon, who was represented with a ram's head and horns. The\nBull became the god Apis, who was worshipped under that similitude. The\nTwins correspond to Horus and Harpocrates, two sons of Osiris. The Crab\nwas consecrated to Anubis or Mercury. The Lion belonged to the summer\nsun, Osiris; the Virgin to Isis. The Balance and the Scorpion were\nincluded together under the name of Scorpion, which animal belongs to\nTyphon, as did all dangerous animals. The Archer was the image of\nHercules, for whom the Egyptians had great veneration. The Capricorn was\nconsecrated to Pan or Mendes. The Waterer--or man carrying a\nwater-pot--is found on many Egyptian monuments.\n\nThis process of deification was rendered easier by the custom they had\nof celebrating a festival each month, under the name _neomenia_. They\ncharacterised the neomenias of the various months by making the animal\nwhose sign the sun was entering accompany the Isis which announced the\n_fete_. They were not content with a representation only, but had the\nanimal itself. The dog, being the symbol of Cannulus, with which the\nyear commenced, a living dog was made to head the ceremonial of the\nfirst neomenia. Diodorus testifies to this as an eye-witness.\n\nThese neomenias thus came to be called the festival of the Bull, of the\nRam, the Dog, or the Lion. That of the Ram would be the most solemn and\nimportant in places where they dealt much in sheep. That of the Bull in\nthe fat pasture-lands of Memphis and Lower Egypt. That of Capella would\nbe brilliant at Mendes, where they bred goats more than elsewhere.\n\nWe may fortify these opinions by a quotation from Lucian, who gives\nexpression to them very clearly. \"It is from the divisions of the\nzodiac,\" he says, \"that the crowd of animals worshipped in Egypt have\nhad their origin. Some employed one constellation, and some another.\nThose who used to consult that of the Ram came to adore a ram. Those who\ntook their presages from the Fishes would not eat fish. The goat was not\nkilled in places were they observed Capricornus, and so on, according to\nthe stars whose influence they cared most for. If they adored a bull it\nwas certainly to do honour to the celestial Bull. The Apis, which was a\nsacred object with them, and wandered at liberty through the country,\nand for which they founded an oracle, was the astrological symbol of the\nBull that shone in the heavens.\"\n\n[Illustration: PLATE IV.--THE ZODIAC AND THE DEAD IN EGYPT.]\n\nTheir use of the zodiac is illustrated in an interesting manner by a\nmummy found some years ago in Egypt. At the bottom of the coffin was\nfound painted a zodiac, something like that of Denderah; underneath the\nlid, along the body of a great goddess, were drawn eleven signs, but\nwith that of _Capricornus_ left out. The inscription showed that the\nmummy was that of a young man, aged 21 years, 4 months, and 22 days, who\ndied the 19th year of Trajan, on the 8th of the month Pazni, which\ncorresponds to the 2nd of June, A.D. 116. The embalmed was therefore\nborn on the 12th of January, A.D. 95, at which time the sun was in the\nconstellation of Capricornus. This shows that the zodiac was the\nrepresentation of the astrological theories about the person embalmed,\nwho was doubtless a person of some importance. (See Plate IV.) Any such\nuse as this, however, must have been long subsequent to the invention of\nthe signs themselves, as it involves a much more complicated idea.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nTHE PLEIADES.\n\n\nAmong the most remarkable of the constellations is a group of seven\nstars arranged in a kind of triangular cluster, and known as the\nPleiades. It is not, strictly speaking, one of the constellations, as it\nforms only part of one. We have seen that one of the ancient signs of\nthe zodiac is the Bull, or Taurus; the group of stars we are now\nspeaking of forms part of this, lying towards the eastern part in the\nshoulders of the Bull. The Pleiades scarcely escape anybody's\nobservation now, and we shall not be, therefore, surprised that they\nhave always attracted great attention. So great indeed has been the\nattention paid to them that festivals and seasons, calendars and years,\nhave by many nations been regulated by their rising or culmination, and\nthey have been thus more mixed up with the early history of astronomy,\nand have left more marks on the records of past nations, than any other\ncelestial object, except the sun and moon.\n\nThe interesting details of the history of the Pleiades have been very\ncarefully worked out by R. G. Haliburton, F.S.A., to whom we owe the\ngreater part of the information we possess on the subject.[1]\n\nLet us first explain what may be observed with respect to the Pleiades.\nIt is a group possessing peculiar advantages for observation; it is a\ncompact group, the whole will appear at once; and it is an unmistakable\ngroup and it is near the equator, and is therefore visible to observers\nin either hemisphere.\n\nNow suppose the sun to be in the same latitude as the Pleiades on some\nparticular day; owing to the proximity of the group to the ecliptic, it\nwill be then very near the sun, and it will set with it and be invisible\nduring the night. If the sun were to the east of the Pleiades they would\nhave already set, and the first view of the heavens at sunset would not\ncontain this constellation; and so it would be so long as the sun was to\nthe east, or for nearly half a year; though during some portion of this\ntime it would rise later on in the night. During the other half year,\nwhile the sun was to the west, the Pleiades would be visible at sunset,\nand we immediately see how they are thus led to divide the whole year\ninto two portions, one of which might be called _the Pleiades below_,\nand the other _the Pleiades above_. It is plain that the Pleiades first\nbecome visible at sunset, when they are then just rising, in which case\nthey will culminate a little after midnight (not at midnight, on account\nof the twilight) and be visible all night. This will occur when the sun\nis about half a circle removed from them--that is, at this time, about\nthe beginning of November; which would thus be the commencement of one\nhalf of the year, the other half commencing in May. The culmination of\nthe Pleiades at midnight takes place a few days later, when they rise at\nthe time that the sun is really on the horizon, in which case they are\nexactly opposite to it; and this will happen on the same day all over\nthe earth. The opposite effect to this would be when the sun was close\nto the Pleiades--a few days before which the latter would be just\nsetting after sunset, and a few days after would be just rising before\nsunrise.\n\n [1] Mr. Haliburton's observations are contained in an interesting\n pamphlet, entitled _New Materials for the History of Man_, which\n is quoted by Prof. Piazzi Smyth, but which is not easy to obtain.\n It may be seen, however, in the British Museum.\n\nWe have thus the following observations, that might be made with respect\nto this, or any other well-marked constellation. First, the period\nduring which it was visible at sunset; secondly, the date of its\nculmination at midnight; thirdly, its setting in the evening; and\nfourthly, its rising in the morning: the last two dates being nearly six\nmonths removed from the second. There are also the dates of its\nculmination at sunrise and sunset, which would divide these intervals\ninto two equal halves. On account of the precession of the equinoxes,\nas explained in the last chapter, the time at which the sun has any\nparticular position with respect to the stars, grows later year by year\nin relation to the equinoctial points. And as we regulate our year by\nthe date of the sun's entrance on the northern hemisphere, the sidereal\ndates, as we may call them, keep advancing on the months. As, however,\nthe change is slow, it has not prevented years being commenced and\nhusbandry being regulated by the dates above mentioned. Any date that is\nregulated by the stars we might expect to be nearly the same all over\nthe world, and the customs observed to be universal, though the date\nitself might alter, and in this way. So long as the date was directly\nobtained from the position of the star, all would agree; but as soon as\na solar calendar was arranged, and it was found that at that time this\nposition coincided with a certain day, say the Pleiades culminating at\nmidnight on November 17, then some would keep on the date November 17 as\nthe important day, even when the Pleiades no longer culminated at\nmidnight then, and others would keep reckoning by the stars, and so have\na different date.\n\nWith these explanations we shall be able to recognise how much the\nconfigurations of the Pleiades have had to do with the festivals and\ncalendars of nations, and have even left their traces on customs and\nnames in use among ourselves to the present day.\n\nWe have evidences from two very different quarters of the universality\nof the division of the year into two parts by means of the Pleiades. On\nthe one hand we learn from Hesiod that the Greeks commenced their winter\nseasons in his days by the setting of the Pleiades in the morning, and\nthe summer season by their rising at that time. And Mr. Ellis, in his\n_Polynesian Researches_, tells us that \"the Society Islanders divided\nthe year into two seasons of the Pleiades, or _Matarii_. The first they\ncalled _Matarii i nia_, or the _Pleiades above_. It commenced when, in\nthe evening, these stars appeared at or near the horizon, and the half\nyear during which, immediately after sunset, they were seen above the\nhorizon was called _Matarii i nia_. The other season commenced when at\nsunset these stars are invisible, and continued until at that time they\nappeared again above the horizon. This season was called _Matarii i\nraro_, i.e. _the Pleiades below_.\" Besides these direct evidences we\nshall find that many semi-annual festivals connected with these stars\nindicate the commencement of the two seasons among other nations.\n\nOne of these festivals was of course always taken for the commencement\nof the year, and much was made of it as new-year's day. A new-year's\nfestival connected with and determined by the Pleiades appears to be one\nof the most universal of all customs; and though some little difficulty\narises, as we have already pointed out, in fixing the date with\nreference to solar calendars, and differences and coincidences in this\nrespect among different nations may be to a certain extent accidental,\nyet the fact of the wide-spread observance of such a festival is certain\nand most interesting.\n\nThe actual observance at the present day of this festival is to be found\namong the Australian savages. At their midnight culmination in November,\nthey still hold a new-year's _corroboree_, in honour of the\n_Mormodellick_, as they call the Pleiades, which they say are \"very good\nto the black fellows.\" With them November is somewhat after the\nbeginning of spring, but in former days it would mark the actual\ncommencement, and the new year would be regulated by the seasons.\n\nIn the northern hemisphere this culmination of the Pleiades has the same\nrelation to the autumnal equinox, which would never be taken as the\ncommencement of the year; and we must therefore look to the southern\nhemisphere for the origin of the custom; especially as we find the very\nPleiades themselves called _Vergiliae_, or stars of spring. Of course we\nmight suppose that the rising of the constellation in the _morning_ had\nbeen observed in the northern hemisphere, which would certainly have\ntaken place in the beginning of spring some 5,000 years ago; but this\nseems improbable, first, because it is unlikely that different phenomena\nof the Pleiades should have been most noticed, and secondly, because\nneither April nor May are among any nations connected with this\nconstellation by name. Whereas in India the year commenced in the month\nthey called _Cartiguey_, which means the Pleiades. Among the ancient\nEgyptians we find the same connection between _Athar-aye_, the name of\nthe Pleiades, with the Chaldeans and Hebrews, and _Athor_ in the\nEgyptian name of November. The Arabs also call the constellation\n_Atauria_. We shall have more to say on this etymology presently, but in\nthe meantime we learn that it was the phenomenon connected with the\nPleiades at or about November that was noticed by all ancient nations,\nfrom which we must conclude that the origin of the new-year's spring\nfestival came from the southern hemisphere.\n\nThere is some corroboration of this in the ancient traditions as to the\nstars having changed their courses. In the southern hemisphere a man\nstanding facing the position of the sun at noon would see the stars rise\non his right hand and move towards his left. In the northern hemisphere,\nif he also looked in the direction of the sun at noon, he would see them\nrise on his left hand. Now one of a race migrating from one side to the\nother of the equator would take his position from the sun, and fancy he\nwas facing the same way when he looked at it at noon, and so would think\nthe motion of the stars to have altered, instead of his having turned\nround. Such a tradition, then, seems to have arisen from such a\nmigration, the fact of which seems to be confirmed by the calling the\nPleiades stars of spring, and commencing the year with their\nculmination at midnight. In order to trace this new-year's festival into\nother countries, and by this means to show its connection with the\nPleiades, we must remark that every festival has its peculiar features\nand rites, and it is by these that we must recognise it, where the\nactual date of its occurrence has slightly changed; bearing, of course,\nin mind that the actual change of date must not be too great to be\naccounted for by the precession of the equinoxes, or about seventy-one\nyears for each day of change, since the institution of the festival, and\nthat the change is in the right direction.\n\nNow we find that everywhere this festival of the Pleiades' culmination\nat midnight (or it may be of the slightly earlier one of their first\nappearance at the horizon at apparent sunset) was always connected with\nthe memory of the dead. It was a \"feast of ancestors.\"\n\nAmong the Australians themselves, the _corroborees_ of the natives are\nconnected with a worship of the dead. They paint a white stripe over\ntheir arms, legs, and ribs, and, dancing by the light of their fires by\nnight, appear like so many skeletons rejoicing. What is also to be\nremarked, the festival lasts three days, and commences in the evening;\nthe latter a natural result of the date depending on the appearance of\nthe Pleiades on the horizon at that time.\n\nThe Society Islanders, who, as we have seen, divided their year by the\nappearance of the Pleiades at sunset, commenced their year on the first\nday of the appearance, about November, and also celebrated the closing\nof one and the opening of a new year by a \"usage resembling much the\npopish custom of mass for souls in purgatory,\" each man returning to his\nhome to offer special prayers for the spirits of departed relatives.\n\nIn the Tonga Islands, which belong to the Fiji group, the festival of\n_Inachi_, a vernal first-fruits' celebration, and also a commemoration\nof the dead takes place towards the end of October, and commences at\nsunset.\n\nIn Peru the new-year's festival occurs in the beginning of November, and\nis \"called _Ayamarca_ from _aya_, a corpse, and _marca_, carrying in\narms, because they celebrated the solemn festival of the dead, with\ntears, lugubrious songs, and plaintive music; and it was customary to\nvisit the tombs of relations, and to leave in them food and drink.\" The\nfact that this took place at the time of the discovery of Peru on the\nvery same day as a similar ceremony takes place in Europe, was only an\naccidental coincidence, which is all the more remarkable because the two\nappear, as will be seen in the sequel, to have had the same origin, and\ntherefore at first the same date, and to have altered from it by exactly\nthe same amount. These instances from races south of the equator prove\nclearly that there exists a very general connection with new-year's day,\nas determined by the rising of the Pleiades at sunset, and a festival of\nthe dead; and in some instances with an offering of first-fruits. What\nthe origin of this connection may be is a more difficult matter. At\nfirst sight one might conjecture that with the year that was passed it\nwas natural to connect the men that had passed away; and this may indeed\nbe the true interpretation: but there are traditions and observances\nwhich may be thought by some to point to some ancient wide-spread\ncatastrophe which happened at this particular season, which they yearly\ncommemorated, and reckoned a new year from each commemoration. Such\ntraditions and observances we shall notice as we trace the spread of\nthis new-year's festival of the dead among various nations, and its\nconnection, with the Pleiades.\n\nWe have seen that in India November is called the month of the Pleiades.\nNow on the 17th day of that month is celebrated the Hindoo Durga, a\nfestival of the dead, and said by Greswell to have been a new-year's\ncommemoration at the earliest time to which Indian calendars can be\ncarried back.\n\nAmong the ancient Egyptians the same day was very noticeable, and they\ntook care to regulate their solar calendars that it might remain\nunchanged. Numerous altered calendars have been discovered, but they are\nall regulated by this one day. This was determined by the culmination of\nthe Pleiades at midnight. On this day commenced the solemn festival of\nthe Isia, which, like the _corroborees_ of the Australians, lasted three\ndays, and was celebrated in honour of the dead, and of Osiris, the lord\nof tombs. Now the month Athyr was undoubtedly connected with the\nPleiades, being that \"in which the Pleiades are most distinct\"--that\nis, in which they rise near and before sunset. Among the Egyptians,\nhowever, more attention was paid to astronomy than amongst the savage\nraces with which the year of the Pleiades would appear to have\noriginated, and they studied very carefully the connection between the\npositions of the stars and the entrance of the sun into the northern\nhemisphere, and regulated their calendar accordingly; as we shall see\nshortly in speaking of the pyramid builders.\n\nThe Persians formerly called the month of November _Mordad_, the angel\nof death, and the feast of the dead took place at the same time as in\nPeru, and was considered a new-year's festival. It commenced also in the\nevening.\n\nIn Ceylon a combined festival of agriculture and of the dead takes place\nat the beginning of November.\n\nAmong the better known of the ancient nations of the northern\nhemispheres, such as the Greeks and Romans, the anomaly of having the\nbeginning of the year at the autumnal equinox seems to have induced them\nto make a change to that of spring, and with this change has followed\nthe festival of the dead, although some traces of it were left in\nNovember.\n\nThe commemoration of the dead was connected among the Egyptians with a\ndeluge, which was typified by the priest placing the image of Osiris in\na sacred coffer or ark, and launching it out into the sea till it was\nborne out of sight. Now when we connect this fact, and the celebration\ntaking place on the 17th day of Athyr, with the date on which the Mosaic\naccount of the deluge of Noah states it to have commenced, \"in the\nsecond month (of the Jewish year, which corresponds to November), the\n17th day of the month,\" it must be acknowledged that this is no chance\ncoincidence, and that the precise date here stated must have been\nregulated by the Pleiades, as was the Egyptian date. This coincidence is\nrendered even stronger by the similiarity of traditions among the two\nnations concerning the dove and the tree as connected with the deluge.\nWe find, however, no festival of the dead among the Hebrews; their\nbetter form of faith having prevented it.\n\nWe have not as yet learnt anything of the importance of the Pleiades\namong the ancient Babylonian astronomers, but as through their tablets\nwe have lately become acquainted with their version of the story of the\ndeluge, we may be led in this way to further information about their\nastronomical appreciation of this constellation.\n\nFrom whatever source derived, it is certain that the Celtic races were\npartakers in this general culture, we might almost call it, of the\nPleiades, as shown by the time and character of their festival of the\ndead. This is especially interesting to ourselves, as it points to the\norigin of the superstitions of the Druids, and accounts for customs\nremaining even to this day amongst us.\n\n[Illustration: PLATE V.--THE LEGENDS OF THE DRUIDS.]\n\nThe first of November was with the Druids a night full of mystery, in\nwhich they annually celebrated the reconstruction of the world. A\nterrible rite was connected with this; for the Druidess nuns were\nobliged at this time to pull down and rebuild each year the roof of\ntheir temple, as a symbol of the destruction and renovation of the\nworld. If one of them, in bringing the materials for the new roof, let\nfall her sacred burden, she was lost. Her companions, seized with a\nfanatic transport, rushed upon her and tore her to pieces, and scarcely\na year is said to have passed without there being one or more victims.\nOn this same night the Druids extinguished the sacred fire, which was\nkept continually burning in the sacred precincts, and at that signal all\nthe fires in the island were one by one put out, and a primitive night\nreigned throughout the land. Then passed along to the west the phantoms\nof those who had died during the preceding year, and were carried away\nby boats to the judgment-seat of the god of the dead. (Plate V.)\nAlthough Druidism is now extinct, the relics of it remain to this day,\nfor in our calendar we still find November 1 marked as All Saints' Day,\nand in the pre-Reformation calendars the last day of October was marked\nAll Hallow Eve, and the 2nd of November as All Souls'; indicating\nclearly a three days' festival of the dead, commencing in the evening,\nand originally regulated by the Pleiades--an emphatic testimony how much\nastronomy has been mixed up with the rites and customs even of the\nEnglish of to-day. In former days the relics were more numerous, in the\nHallowe'en torches of the Irish, the bonfires of the Scotch, the\n_coel-coeth_ fires of the Welsh, and the _tindle_ fires of Cornwall, all\nlighted on Hallowe'en. In France it still lingers more than here, for to\nthis very day the Parisians at this festival repair to the cemeteries,\nand lunch at the graves of their ancestors.\n\nIf the extreme antiquity of a rite can be gathered from the remoteness\nof the races that still perform it, the fact related to us by Prescott\nin his _History of the Conquest of Mexico_ cannot fail to have great\ninterest. There we find that the great festival of the Mexican cycle was\nheld in November, at the time of the midnight culmination of the\nPleiades. It began at sunset, and at midnight as that constellation\napproached the zenith, a human victim, was offered up, to avert the\ndread calamity which they believed impended over the human race. They\nhad a tradition that the world had been previously destroyed at this\ntime, and they were filled with gloom and dismay, and were not at rest\nuntil the Pleiades were seen to culminate, and a new cycle had begun;\nthis great cycle, however, was only accomplished in fifty-two years.\n\nIt is possible that the festival of lanthorns among the Japanese, which\nis celebrated about November, may be also connected with this same day,\nas it is certain that that nation does reckon days by the Pleiades.\n\nThese instances of a similar festival at approximately the same period\nof the year, and regulated (until fixed to a particular day in a solar\ncalendar) by the midnight culmination of the Pleiades, show conclusively\nhow great an influence that constellation has had on the manners and\ncustoms of the world, and throw some light on the history of man.\n\nEven where we find no festival connected with the particular position of\nthe Pleiades which is the basis of the above, they still are used for\nthe regulation of the seasons--as amongst the Dyaks of Borneo. This race\nof men are guided in their farming operations by this constellation.\n\"When it is low in the east at early morning, before sunrise, the elders\nknow it is time to cut down the jungle; when it approaches mid-heaven,\nthen it is time to burn what they have cut down; when it is declining\ntowards the west, then they plant; and when in the early evening it is\nseen thus declining, then they may reap in safety and in peace;\" the\nlatter period is also that of their feast of _Nycapian_, or\nfirst-fruits.\n\nWe find the same regulations amongst the ancient Greeks in the days of\nHesiod, who tells us that the corn is to be cut when the Pleiades rise,\nand ploughing is to be done when they set. Also that they are invisible\nfor forty days, and reappear again at harvest. When the Pleiades rise,\nthe care of the vine must cease; and when, fleeing from Orion, they are\nlost in the waves, sailing commences to be dangerous. The name, indeed,\nby which we now know these stars is supposed to be derived from the word\n[Greek: plein], to sail--because sailing was safe after they had risen;\nthough others derive it from [Greek: peleiai], a flight of doves.\n\nAny year that is regulated by the Pleiades, or by any other group of\nstars, must, as we have seen before, be what is called a sidereal, and\nnot a solar year. Now a year in uncivilised countries can only mean a\nsuccession of seasons, as is illustrated by the use of the expression \"a\nperson of so many summers.\" It is difficult of course to say when any\nparticular season begins by noticing its characteristics as to weather;\neven the most regular phenomena are not certain enough for that; we\ncannot say that when the days and nights become exactly equal any marked\nchange takes place in the temperature or humidity of the atmosphere, or\nin any other easily-noticed phenomena. The day therefore on which spring\ncommences is arbitrary, except that, inasmuch as spring depends on the\nposition of the sun, its commencement, ought to be regulated by that\nluminary, and not by some star-group which has no influence in the\nmatter. Nevertheless the position of such a group is much more easily\nobserved, and in early ages could almost alone be observed; and so long\nas the midnight culmination of the Pleiades--judged of, it must be\nnoticed, by their appearance _on the horizon_ at sunset--fairly\ncoincided with that state of weather which might be reckoned the\ncommencement of spring conditions, no error would be detected, because\nthe change in their position is so slow. The solar spring is probably a\nlater discovery, which now, from its greater reasonableness and\nconstancy, has superseded the old one. But since the time of the sun's\ncrossing the equator is the natural commencement of spring, whether\ndiscovered or not, it is plain that no group of stars could be taken as\na guide instead, if their indication did not approximately coincide with\nthis.\n\nIf then we can determine the exact date at which the Pleiades indicated\nby their midnight culmination the sun's passage across the equator, we\ncan be sure that the spring could only have been regulated by this\nduring, say, a thousand years at most, on either side of this date. It\nis very certain that if the method of reckoning spring by the stars had\nbeen invented at a more remote date, some other set of stars would have\nbeen chosen instead.\n\nNow when was this date? It is a matter admitting of certain calculation,\ndepending only on numbers derived from observation in our own days and\nrecords of the past few centuries, and the answer is that this date is\nabout 2170 B.C.\n\nWe have seen that, though it was probably brought from the southern\nhemisphere, the Egyptians adopted the year of the Pleiades, and\ncelebrated the new-year's festival of the dead; but they were also\nadvanced astronomers, and would soon find out the change that took place\nin the seasons when regulated by the stars. And to such persons the date\nat which the two periods coincided, or at least were exactly half a year\napart, would be one of great importance and interest, and there seems\nto be evidence that they did commemorate it in a very remarkable manner.\nThe evidence, however, is all circumstantial, and the conclusion\ntherefore can only claim probability. The evidence is as follows:--The\nmost remarkable buildings of Egypt are the pyramids. These are of\nvarious sizes and importance, but are built very much after the same\nplan. They seem, however, to be all copies from one, the largest,\nnamely, the Pyramid of Gizeh, and to be of subsequent date to this.\nTheir object has long been a puzzle, and the best conclusion has been\nsupposed to be that they were for sepulchral purposes, as in some of\nthem coffins have been found. The large one, however, shows far more\nthan the rest of the structure, and cannot have been meant for a funeral\npile alone.\n\nIts peculiarities come out on a careful examination and measurement such\nas it has been subjected to at the devoted hands of Piazzi Smyth, the\nAstronomer Royal for Scotland. He has shown that it is not built at\nrandom, as a tomb might be, but it is adjusted with exquisite design,\nand with surprising accuracy. In the first place it lies due north,\nsouth, east, and west, and the careful ascertainment of the meridian of\nthe place, by modern astronomical instruments, could not suggest any\nimprovement in its position in this respect. The outside of it is now,\nso to speak, pealed, that is to say, there was originally, covering the\nwhole, another layer of stones which have been taken away. These stones,\nwhich were of a different material, were beautifully polished, as some\nof the remaining ones, now covered and concealed, can testify. The angle\nat which they are cut, and which of course gives the angle and elevation\nof the whole pyramid, is such that the height of it is in the same\nproportion to its circumference or perimeter, as the radius of a circle\nis to its circumference approximately. The height, in fact, is proved by\nmeasurement and observation to be 486 ft., and the four sides together\nto be 3,056 ft., or about 6-2/7 times the height. It does not seem\nimprobable that, considering their advancement, the Egyptians might have\ncalculated approximately how much larger the circumference of the circle\nis than its diameter, and it is a curious coincidence that the pyramid\nexpresses it. Professor Piazzi Smyth goes much further and believes that\nthey knew, or were divinely taught, the shape and size of the earth, and\nby a little manipulation of the length of their unit, or as he expresses\nit the \"pyramid inch,\" he makes the base of the pyramid express the\nnumber of miles in the diameter of the earth.\n\nNow in the interior of the apparently solid structure, besides the usual\nslanting passage down to a kind of cellar or vault beneath the middle of\nthe base, which may have been used for a sepulchral resting-place, there\nare two slanting passages, one running north and the other running\nsouth, and slanting up at different angles. Part of that which leads\nsouth is much enlarged, and is known as the grand gallery. It is of a\nvery remarkable shape, being perfectly smooth and polished along its\nascending base, as indeed it is in every part, and having a number of\nsteps or projections, pointing also upwards at certain angles, very\ncarefully maintained. Whether we understand its use or not, it is very\nplain that it has been made with a very particular design, and one not\neasily comprehended. This leads into a chamber known as the king's\nchamber, whose walls are exquisitely polished and which contains a\ncoffer known as _Cheops' Coffin_. This coffer has been villainously\ntreated by travellers, who have chipped and damaged it, but originally\nit was very carefully made and polished. It is too large to have been\nbrought in by the only entrance into the chamber after it was finished,\nand therefore is obviously no coffin at all, as is proved also by the\nelaborateness of the means of approach. Professor Piazzi Smyth has made\nthe happy suggestion that it represents their standard of length and\ncapacity, and points out the remarkable fact that it contains exactly as\nmuch as four quarters of our dry measure. As no one has ever suggested\nwhat our \"quarters\" are quarters of, Professor Smyth very naturally\nsupplies the answer--\"of the contents of the pyramid coffer.\" There are\nvarious other measurements that have been made by the same worker, and\ntheir meaning suggested in his interesting book, _Our Inheritance in the\nGreat Pyramid_, which we may follow or agree to as we can; but from all\nthat has been said above, it will appear probable that this pyramid was\nbuilt with a definite design to mark various natural phenomena or\nartificial measures, which is all we require for our present purpose.\nNow we come to the question, what is the meaning of the particular\nangles at which the north-looking and south-looking passages rise, if,\nas we now believe, they must have _some_ meaning.\n\nThe exits of these passages were closed, and they could not therefore\nhave been for observation, but they may have been so arranged as to be a\nmemorial of any remarkable phenomena to be seen in those directions. To\nascertain if there be any such to which they point, we must throw back\nthe heavens to their position in the days of the Egyptians, because, as\nwe have seen, the precession of the equinoxes alters the meridian\naltitude of every star. As the passages point north and south, if they\nrefer to any star at all, it must be to their passing the meridian.\n\nNow let us take the heavens as they were 2170 B.C., the date at which\nthe Pleiades _really_ commenced the spring, by their midnight\nculmination, and ask how high they would be then. The answer of\nastronomy is remarkable--\"_Exactly at that height that they could be\nseen in the direction of the southward-pointing passage of the\npyramid._\" And would any star then be in a position to be seen in the\ndirection of the other or northward-looking passage? Yes, the largest\nstar in the constellation of the Dragon, which would be so near the pole\n(3 deg. 52') as to be taken as the Pole Star in those days. These are such\nremarkable coincidences in a structure admittedly made with mathematical\naccuracy and design, and truly executed, that we cannot take them to be\naccidental, but must endeavour to account for them.\n\nThe simplest explanation seems to be, that everything in the pyramid is\nintended to represent some standard or measure, and that these passages\nhave to do with their year. They had received the year of the Pleiades\nfrom a remoter antiquity than their own, they had discovered the true\ncommencement of solar spring, as determined from the solar autumnal\nequinox, and they commemorated by the building of the pyramid the\ncoincidence of the two dates, making passages in it which would have no\nmeaning except at that particular time.\n\nWhether the pyramid was built _at that time_, or whether their\nastronomical knowledge was sufficient to enable them to predict it and\nbuild accordingly, just as we calculate back to it, we have no means of\nknowing. It is very possible that the pyramid may have been built by\nsome immigrating race more learned in astronomy, like the Accadians\namong the Babylonians.\n\nEither the whole of the conclusions respecting the pyramid is founded on\npure imagination and the whole work upon it thrown away, or we have here\nanother very remarkable proof of the influence of the Pleiades on the\nreckoning of the year, and a very interesting chapter in the history of\nthe heavens.\n\nFollowing the guidance of Mr. Haliburton, we shall find still more\ncustoms, and names depending in all probability on the influence the\nPleiades once exerted, and the observances connected with the feasts in\ntheir honour.\n\nThe name by which the Pleiades are known among the Polynesians is the\n\"Tau,\" which means a season, and they speak of the years of the Tau,\nthat is of the Pleiades. Now we have seen that the Egyptians had similar\nfeasts at similar times, in relation to this constellation, and argued\nthat they did not arise independently. This seems still further proved\nby their name for these stars--the Atauria.\n\nNow the Egyptians do not appear to have derived their signs of the\nZodiac from the same source; these had a Babylonian origin, and the\nconstellation in which the Pleiades were placed by the latter people was\nthe Bull, by whatever name he went. The Egyptians, we may make the fair\nsurmise, adopted from both sources; they took the Pleiades to indicate\nthe Bull, and they called this animal after the Atauria. From thence we\ngot the Latin Taurus, and the German Thier.\n\nIt is possible that this somehow got connected with the letter \"tau\" in\nGreek, which seems itself connected with the sacred scarabaeus or\nTau-beetle of Egypt; but the nature of the connection is by no means\nobvious. Mr. Haliburton even suggests that the \"tors\" and \"Arthur's\nseat,\" which are names given to British hill-tops, may be connected with\nthe \"high places,\" of the worship of the Pleiades, but of this we have\nno proof.\n\nAmong the customs possibly derived from the ancients, through the\nPhoenicians, though now adopted as conveying a different meaning in a\nChristian sense, is that of the \"hot cross bun,\" or \"bull cake.\" It is\nfound on Egyptian monuments, signifying the four quarters of the year,\nand sometimes stamped with the head and horns of the bull. It is found\namong ourselves too, essentially connected with the dead, and something\nsimilar to it appears in the \"soul cake\" connected originally with All\nSouls' Day.\n\nAmong the Scotch it was traditionally thought that on New Year's Eve the\nCandlemas Bull can be seen, rising at twilight and sailing over the\nheavens--a very near approach to a matter-of-fact statement.\n\nWe have seen that among the ancient Indians there was some notice taken\nof the Pleiades, and that they in all probability guided their year by\nthem or by some other stars: it would therefore behove them to know\nsomething of the precession of the equinoxes. It seems very well proved\nthat their days of Brahma and other periods were meant to represent some\nastronomical cycles, and among these we find one that is applicable to\nthe above. They said that in every thousand divine ages, or in every day\nof Brahma, fourteen Menus are successively invested with the sovereignty\nof the earth. Each Menu transmits his empire to his sons during\nseventy-one divine ages. We may find a meaning for this by putting it\nthat the equinox goes forward fourteen days in each thousand years, and\neach day takes up seventy-one years.\n\nThese may not be the only ones among the various customs, sayings, and\nnames that are due in one way or other to this primitive method of\narranging the seasons by the positions of the stars, especially of those\nmost remarkable and conspicuous ones the Pleiades, but they are those\nthat are best authenticated. If the connection between the Pleiades and\nthe festival of the dead, the new year and a deluge, can be clearly made\nout; if the tradition of the latter be found as universal as that of the\nformer, and be connected with it in the Mosaic narrative; if we can\ntrace all these traditions to the south of the equator, and find\nnumerous further traditions connected with islands, we may find some\nreason for believing in their theory who suggest that the early\nprogenitors of the human race (? all of them) were inhabitants of some\nfortunate islands of even temperature in the southern hemisphere, where\nthey made some progress in civilisation, but that their island was\nswallowed up by the sea, and that they only escaped by making huge\nvessels, and, being carried by the waves, they landed on continental\nshores, where they commemorated yearly the great catastrophe that had\nhappened to them, notifying its time by the position of the Pleiades,\nmaking it a feast of the dead whom they had left behind, and opening\nthe year with the day, whether it were spring or not, and handing down\nto their descendants and to those among whom they came, the traditions\nand customs which such events had impressed upon them.\n\nWhether such an account be probable, mythical, or unnatural, there are\ncertainly some strange things to account for in connection with the\nPleiades.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nTHE NATURE AND STRUCTURE OF THE HEAVENS ACCORDING TO THE ANCIENTS.\n\n\nMany and various have been the ideas entertained by reflecting men in\nformer times on the nature and construction of the heavenly vault,\nwherein appeared those stars and constellations whose history we have\nalready traced. Is it solid? or liquid? or gaseous? Each of these and\nmany other suppositions have been duly formulated by the ancient\nphilosophers and sages, although, as we are told by modern astronomy, it\ndoes not exist at all.\n\nIn our study of the ancient ideas about the structure of the universe,\nwe will commence with that early and curious system which considered the\nheavenly vault to be material and solid.\n\nThe theory of a solid sky received the assent of all the most ancient\nphilosophers. In his commentary on Aristotle's work on the heavens,\nSimplicius reveals the repugnance the ancient philosophers felt in\nadmitting that a star could stand alone in space, or have a free motion\nof its own. It must have a support, and they therefore conceived that\nthe sky must be solid. However strange this idea may now appear, it\nformed for many centuries the basis of all astronomical theories. Thus\nAnaximenas (in the sixth century B.C.) is related by Plutarch to have\nsaid that \"the outer sky is solid and crystalline,\" and that the stars\nare \"fixed to its surface like studs,\" but he does not say on what this\nopinion was founded, though it is probable that, like his master\nAnaximander, he could not understand how the stars could move without\nbeing supported.\n\nPythagoras, who lived about the same epoch, is also supposed by some to\nhave held the same views, and it is possible that they all borrowed\nthese ideas from the Persians, whose earliest astronomers are said in\nthe _Zend avesta_ to have believed in concentric solid skies.\n\nEudoxus of Cnidus, in the fifth century B.C., is said by his commentator\nAratus to have also believed in the solidity of the heavens, but his\nreasons are not assigned.\n\nNotwithstanding these previously expressed opinions, Aristotle (fourth\ncentury, B.C.) has for a long time been generally supposed to be the\ninventor of solid skies, but in fact he only gave the idea his valuable\nand entire support. The sphere of the stars was his eighth heaven. The\nless elevated heavens, in which he also believed, were invented to\nexplain as well as they might, the proper motions of the sun, moon, and\nplanets.\n\nThe philosopher of Stagira said that the motion of his eighth or\noutermost solid sky was uniform, nor ever troubled by any perturbation.\n\"Within the universe there is,\" he says, \"a fixed and immovable centre,\nthe earth; and without there is a bounding surface enclosing it on all\nsides. The outermost part of the universe is the sky. It is filled with\nheavenly bodies which we know as stars, and it has a perpetual motion,\ncarrying round with it these immortal bodies in its unaltering and\nunending revolution.\"\n\nEuclid, to whom we may assign a date of about 275 before our present\nera, also considered the stars to be set in a solid sphere, having the\neye of the observer as centre; though for him this conception was simply\na deduction from exact and fundamental observations, namely, that their\nrevolution took place as a whole, the shape and size of the\nconstellation being never altered.\n\nCicero, in the last century before Christ, declared himself a believer\nin the solidity of the sky. According to him the ether was too rarefied\nto enable it to move the stars, which must therefore require to be fixed\nto a sphere of their own, independent of the ether.\n\nIn the time of Seneca there seem to have been difficulties already\nraised about the solidity of the heavens, for he only mentions it in the\nform of a question--\"Is the sky solid and of a firm and compact\nsubstance?\" (_Questions_, Book ii.)\n\nIn the fifth century the idea of the star sphere still lingered, and in\nthe eyes of Simplicius, the commentator of Aristotle, it was not merely\nan artifice suitable for the representation of the apparent motions, but\na firm and solid reality; while Mahomet and most of the Fathers of the\nChristian Church had the same conception of these concentric spheres.\n\nIt appears then from this review that the phrases \"starry vault,\" and\nespecially \"fixed stars,\" have been used in two very distinct senses.\nWhen we meet with them in Aristotle or Ptolemy, it is obvious that they\nhave reference to the crystal sphere of Anaximenas, to which they were\nsupposed to be affixed, and to move with it; but that later the word\n\"fixed\" carried with it the sense of immovable, and the stars were\nconceived as fixed in this sense, independently of the sphere to which\nthey were originally thought to be attached. Thus Seneca speaks of them\nas the _fixum et immobilem populum_.\n\nIf we would inquire a little further into the supposed nature of this\nsolid sphere, we find that Empedocles considered it to be a solid mass,\nformed of a portion of the ether which the elementary fire has converted\ninto crystal, and his ideas of the connection between cold and\nsolidification being not very precise, he described it by names that\ngive the best idea of transparence, and, like Lactantius, called it\n_vitreum caelum_, or said _caelum aerem glaciatum esse_, though we cannot\nsuppose that he made any allusion to what we now call glass, but simply\nmeant some body eminently transparent into which the fire had\ntransformed the air; while so far from having any idea of cold, as we\nmight imagine possible from observations of the snowy tops of mountains,\nthey actually believed in a warm region above the lower atmosphere. Thus\nAristotle considers that the spheres heat by their motion the air below\nthem, without being heated themselves, and that there is thus a\nproduction of heat. \"The motion of the sphere of fixed stars,\" he says,\n\"is the most rapid, as it moves in a circle with all the bodies attached\nto it, and the spaces immediately below are strongly heated by the\nmotion, and the heat, thus engendered, is propagated downwards to the\nearth.\" This however, strangely enough, does not appear to have\nprevented their supposing an eternal cold to reign in the regions next\nbelow, for Macrobius, in his commentary on Cicero, speaks of the\ndecrease of temperature with the height, and concludes that the extreme\nzones of the heavens where Saturn moves must be eternally cold; but this\nthey reckoned as part of the atmosphere, beyond whose limits alone was\nto be found the fiery ether.\n\nIt is to the Fathers of the Church that we owe the transmission during\nthe middle ages of the idea of a crystal vault. They conceived a heaven\nof glass composed of eight or ten superposed layers, something like so\nmany skins in an onion. This idea seems to have lingered on in certain\ncloisters of southern Europe even into the nineteenth century, for a\nvenerable Prince of the Church told Humboldt in 1815, that a large\naerolite lately fallen, which was covered with a vitrified crust, must\nbe a fragment of the crystalline sky. On these various spheres, one\nenveloping without touching another, they supposed the several planets\nto be fixed, as we shall see in a subsequent chapter.\n\nWhether the greater minds of antiquity, such as Plato, Plutarch,\nEudoxus, Aristotle, Apollonius, believed in the reality of these\nconcentric spheres to carry the planets, or whether this conception was\nnot rather with them an imaginary one, serving only to simplify\ncalculation and assist the mind in the solution of the difficult problem\nof their motion, is a point on which even Humboldt cannot decide. It is\ncertain, however, that in the middle of the sixteenth century, when the\ntheory involved no less than seventy-seven concentric spheres, and\nlater, when the adversaries of Copernicus brought them all into\nprominence to defend the system of Ptolemy, the belief in the existence\nof these solid spheres, circles and epicycles, which was under the\nespecial patronage of the Church, was very widespread.\n\nTycho Brahe expressly boasts of having been the first, by considerations\nconcerning the orbits of the comets, to have demonstrated the\nimpossibility of solid spheres, and to have upset this ingenious\nscaffolding. He supposed the spaces of our system to be filled with air,\nand that this medium, disturbed by the motion of the heavenly bodies,\nopposed a resistance which gave rise to the harmonic sounds.\n\nIt should be added also that the Grecian philosophers, though little\nfond of observation, but rejoicing rather in framing systems for the\nexplanation of phenomena of which they possessed but the faintest\nglimpse, have left us some ideas about the nature of shooting stars and\naerolites that come very close to those that are now accepted. \"Some\nphilosophers think,\" says Plutarch in his life of Lysander, \"that\nshooting stars are not detached particles of ether which are\nextinguished by the atmosphere soon after being ignited, nor do they\narise from the combustion of the rarefied air in the upper regions, but\nthat they are rather heavenly bodies which fall, that is to say, which\nescaping in some way from the general force of rotation are precipitated\nin an irregular manner, sometimes on inhabited portions of the earth,\nbut sometimes also in the ocean, where of course they cannot be found.\"\nDiogenes of Apollonius expresses himself still more clearly: \"Amongst\nthe stars that are visible move others that are invisible, to which in\nconsequence we are unable to give any name. These latter often fall to\nthe earth and take fire like that star-stone which fell all on fire near\nAEgos Potamos.\" These ideas were no doubt borrowed from some more ancient\nsource, as he believed that all the stars were made of something like\npumice-stone. Anaxagoras, in fact, thought that all the heavenly bodies\nwere fragments of rocks which the ether, by the force of its circular\nmotion, had detached from the earth, set fire to, and turned into\nstars. Thus the Ionic school, with Diogenes of Apollonius, placed the\naerolites and the stars in one class, and assigned to all of them a\nterrestrial origin, though in this sense only, that the earth, being the\ncentral body, had furnished the matter for all those that surround it.\n\nPlutarch speaks thus of this curious combination:--\"Anaxagoras teaches\nthat the ambient ether is of an igneous nature, and by the force of its\ngyratory motion it tears off blocks of stone, renders them incandescent,\nand transforms them into stars.\" It appears that he explained also by an\nanalogous effect of the circular motion the descent of the Nemaean Lion,\nwhich, according to an old tradition, fell out of the moon upon the\nPeloponnesus. According to Boeckh, this ancient myth of the Nemaean\nLion had an astronomical origin, and was symbolically connected in\nchronology with the cycle of intercalation of the lunar year, with the\nworship of the moon in Nemaea, and the games by which it was\naccompanied.\n\n[Illustration: PLATE VI.--THE NEMAEAN LION.]\n\nAnaxagoras explains the apparent motion of the celestial sphere from\neast to west by the hypothesis of a general revolution, the interruption\nof which, as we have just seen, caused the fall of meteoric stones. This\nhypothesis is the point of departure of the theory of vortices, which\nmore than two thousand years later, by the labours of Descartes,\nHuyghens, and Hooke, took so prominent a place among the theories of\nthe world.\n\nIt may be worth adding with regard to the famous aerolite of AEgos\nPotamus, alluded to above, that when the heavens were no longer believed\nto be solid, the faith in the celestial origin of this, as of other\naerolites, was for a long time destroyed. Thus Bailly the astronomer,\nalluding to it, says, \"if the fact be true, this stone must have been\nthrown out by a volcano.\" Indeed it is only within the last century that\nit has been finally accepted for fact that stones do fall from the sky.\nLaplace thought it probable that they came from the moon; but it has now\nbeen demonstrated that aerolites, meteors, and shooting stars belong all\nto one class of heavenly bodies, that they are fragments scattered\nthrough space, and circulate like the planets round the sun. When the\nearth in its motion crosses this heavenly host, those which come near\nenough to touch its atmosphere leave a luminous train behind them by\ntheir heating by friction with the air: these are the _shooting stars_.\nSometimes they come so close as to appear larger than the moon, then\nthey are _meteors;_ and sometimes too the attraction of the earth makes\nthem fall to it, and these become _aerolites_.\n\nBut to return to our ancient astronomers:--\n\nThey believed the heavens to be in motion, not only because they saw the\nmotion with their eyes, but because they believed them to be animated,\nand regarded motion as the essence of life. They judged of the rapidity\nof the stars' motion by a very ingenious means. They perceived that it\nwas greater than that of a horse, a bird, an arrow, or even of the\nvoice, and Cleomenas endeavoured to estimate it in the following way. He\nremarks that when the king of Persia made war upon Greece he placed men\nat certain intervals, so as to lie in hearing of each other, and thus\npassed on the news from Athens to Susa. Now this news took two days and\nnights to pass over this distance. The voice therefore only accomplished\na fraction of the distance that the stars had accomplished twice in the\nsame time.\n\nThe heavens, as we have seen, were not supposed to consist of a single\nsphere, but of several concentric ones, the arrangement and names of\nwhich we must now inquire into.\n\nThe early Chaldeans established three. The first was the empyreal\nheaven, which was the most remote. This, which they called also the\nsolid firmament, was made of fire, but of fire of so rare and\npenetrating a nature, that it easily passed through the other heavens,\nand became universally diffused, and in this way reached the earth. The\nsecond was the ethereal heaven, containing the stars, which were simply\nformed of the more compact and denser parts of this substance; and the\nthird heaven was that of the planets. The Persians, however, gave a\nseparate heaven to the sun, and another to the moon.\n\nThe system which has enjoyed the longest and most widely-spread reign\nis that which places above, or rather round, the solid firmament a\nheaven of water--(the nature of which is not accurately defined), and\nround this a _primum mobile_, prime mover, or originator of all the\nmotions, and round all this the empyreal heaven, or abode of the\nblessed. In the most anciently printed scientific encyclopaedia known,\nthe _Magarita philosophica_, edited in the fifteenth century, that is,\ntwo centuries before the adoption of the true system of the world, we\nhave the curious figure represented on the next page, in which we find\nno less than eleven different heavens. We here see on the exterior the\nsolid empyreal heaven, which is stated in the body of the work to be the\nabode of the blessed and to be immovable, while the next heaven gives\nmotion to all within, and is followed by the aqueous heaven, then the\ncrystal firmament, and lastly by the several heavens of the planets,\nsun, and moon. The revolution of these spheres was not supposed to take\nplace, like the motion of the earth in modern astronomy, round an\nimaginary axis, but round one which had a material existence, which was\nprovided with pivots moving in fixed sockets. Thus Vitruvius, architect\nto Augustus, teaches it expressly in these words:--\n\n\"The heaven turns continually round the earth and sea upon an axis,\nwhere two extremities are like two pivots that sustain it: for there are\ntwo places in which the Governor of Nature has fashioned and set these\npivots as two centres; one is above the earth among the northern stars;\nthe other is at the opposite end beneath the earth to the south; and\naround these pivots, as round two centres, he has placed little naves,\nlike those of a wheel upon which the heaven turns continually.\"\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 13.]\n\nSimilarly curious ideas we shall find to have prevailed with respect to\nthe meaning of everything that they observed in the heavens: thus what a\nnumber of opinions have been hazarded on the nature of the \"Milky Way\"\nalone! some of which we may learn from Plutarch. The Milky Way, he says,\nis a nebulous circle, which constantly appears in the sky, and which\nowes its name to its white appearance. Certain Pythagoreans assert that\nwhen Phaeton lit up the universe, one star, which escaped from its\nproper place, set light to the whole space it passed over in its\ncircular course, and so formed the Milky Way. Others thought that this\ncircle was where the sun had been moving at the beginning of the world.\nAccording to others it is but an optical phenomenon produced by the\nreflection of the sun's rays from the vault of the sky as from a mirror,\nand comparable with the effects seen in the rainbow and illuminated\nclouds. Metrodorus says it is the mark of the sun's passage which moves\nalong this circle. Parmenidas pretends that the milky colour arises from\na mixture of dense and rare air. Anaxagoras thinks it an effect of the\nearth's shadow projected on this part of the heavens, when the sun is\nbelow. Democritus says that it is the lustre of several little stars\nwhich are very near together, and which reciprocally illuminate each\nother. Aristotle believes it to be a vast mass of arid vapours, which\ntakes fire from a glowing tress, above the region of the ether, and far\nbelow that of the planets. Posidonius says that the circle is a\ncompound of fire less dense than that of the stars, but more luminous.\nAll such opinions, except that of Democritus, are of little value,\nbecause founded on nothing; perhaps the worst is that of Theophrastus,\nwho said it was the junction between the two hemispheres, which together\nformed the vault of heaven: and that it was so badly made that it let\nthrough some of the light that he supposed to exist everywhere behind\nthe solid sky.\n\nWe now know that the Milky Way, like many of the nebulae, is an immense\nagglomeration of suns. The Milky Way is itself a nebula, a mass of\nsidereal systems, with our own among them, since our sun is a single\nstar in this vast archipelago of eighteen million orbs. The Greeks\ncalled it the Galaxy. The Chinese and Arabians call it the River of\nHeaven. It is the Path of Souls among the North American Indians, and\nthe Road of S. Jacques de Compostelle among French peasants.\n\nIn tracing the history of ideas concerning the structure of the heavens\namong the Greek philosophers, we meet with other modifications which it\nwill be interesting to recount. Thus Eudoxus, who paid greater attention\nthan others to the variations of the motions of the planets, gave more\nthan one sphere to each of them to represent these observed changes.\nEach planet, according to him, has a separate part of the heaven to\nitself, which is composed of several concentric spheres, whose\nmovements, modifying each other, produce that of the planet. He gave\nthree spheres to the sun: one which turned from east to west in\ntwenty-four hours, to represent the diurnal rotation; a second, which\nturned about the pole of the ecliptic in 365-1/4 days, and produced its\nannual movement; and a third was added to account for a certain supposed\nmotion, by which the sun was drawn out of the ecliptic, and turned about\nan axis, making such an angle with that of the ecliptic, as represented\nthe supposed aberration. The moon also had three spheres to produce its\nmotions in longitude and latitude, and its diurnal motion. Each of the\nother planets had four, the extra one being added to account for their\nstations and retrogressions. It should be added that these concentric\nspheres were supposed to fit each other, so that the different planets\nwere only separated by the thicknesses of these crystal zones.\n\nPolemarch, the disciple of Eudoxus, who went to Athens with his pupil\nCalippus for the express purpose of consulting Aristotle on these\nsubjects, was not satisfied with the exactness with which these spheres\nrepresented the planetary motions, and made changes in the direction of\nstill greater complication. Instead of the twenty-six spheres which\nrepresented Eudoxus' system, Calippus established thirty-three, and by\nadding also intermediary spheres to prevent the motion of one planet\ninterfering with that of the adjacent ones, the number was increased to\nfifty-six.\n\nThere is extant a small work, ascribed to Aristotle, entitled \"Letter of\nAristotle to Alexander on the system of the world,\" which gives so clear\nan account of the ideas entertained in his epoch that we shall venture\nto give a somewhat long extract from it. The work, it should be said, is\nnot by all considered genuine, but is ascribed by some to Nicolas of\nDamas, by others to Anaximenas of Lampsacus, a contemporary of\nAlexander's, and by others to the Stoic Posidonius. It is certain,\nhowever, that Aristotle paid some attention to astronomy, for he records\nthe rare phenomena of an eclipse of Mars by the moon, and the\noccultation of one of the Gemini by the planet Jupiter, and the work may\nwell be genuine. It contains the following:--\n\n\"There is a fixed and immovable centre to the universe. This is occupied\nby the earth, the fruitful mother, the common focus of every kind of\nliving thing. Immediately surrounding it on all sides is the air. Above\nthis in the highest region is the dwelling-place of the gods, which is\ncalled the heavens. The heavens and the universe being spherical and in\ncontinual motion, there must be two points on opposite sides, as in a\nglobe which turns about an axis, and these points must be immovable, and\nhave the sphere between them, since the universe turns about them. They\nare called the poles. If a line be drawn from one of these points to the\nother it will be the diameter of the universe, having the earth in the\ncentre and the two poles at the extremities; of these two poles the\nnorthern one is always visible above our horizon, and is called the\nArctic pole; the other, to the south, is always invisible to us--it is\ncalled the Antarctic pole.\n\n\"The substance of the heavens and of the stars is called ether; not that\nit is composed of flame, as pretended by some who have not considered\nits nature, which is very different from that of fire, but it is so\ncalled because it has an eternal circular motion, being a divine and\nincorruptible element, altogether different from the other four.\n\n\"Of the stars contained in the heavens some are fixed, and turn with the\nheavens, constantly maintaining their relative positions. In their\nmiddle portion is the circle called the _zoophore_, which stretches\nobliquely from one tropic to the other, and is divided into twelve\nparts, which are the twelve signs (of the zodiac). The others are\nwandering stars, and move neither with the same velocity as the fixed\nstars, nor with a uniform velocity among themselves, but all in\ndifferent circles, and with velocities depending on the distances of\nthese circles from the earth.\n\n\"Although all the fixed stars move on the same surface of the heavens,\ntheir number cannot be determined. Of the movable stars there are seven,\nwhich circulate in as many concentric circles, so arranged that the\nlower circle is smaller than the higher, and that the seven so placed\none within the other are all within the spheres of the fixed stars.\n\n\"On the nearer, that is inner, side of this ethereal, immovable,\nunalterable, impassible nature is placed our movable, corruptible, and\nmortal nature. Of this there are several kinds, the first of which is\nfire, a subtle inflammable essence, which is kindled by the great\npressure and rapid motion of the ether. It is in this region of air,\nwhen any disturbance takes place in it, that we see kindled\nshooting-stars, streaks of light, and shining motes, and it is there\nthat comets are lighted and extinguished.\n\n\"Below the fire comes the air, by nature cold and dark, but which is\nwarmed and enflamed, and becomes luminous by its motion. It is in the\nregion of the air, which is passive and changeable in any manner, that\nthe clouds condense, and rain, snow, frost, and hail are formed and fall\nto the earth. It is the abode of stormy winds, of whirlwinds, thunder,\nlightning, and many other phenomena.\n\n\"The cause of the heaven's motion is God. He is not in the centre, where\nthe earth is a region of agitation and trouble, but he is above the\noutermost circumference, which is the purest of all regions, a place\nwhich we call rightly _ouranos_, because it is the highest part of the\nuniverse, and _olympos_, that is, perfectly bright, because it is\naltogether separated from everything like the shadow and disordered\nmovements which occur in the lower regions.\"\n\nWe notice in this extract a curious etymology of the word ether, namely,\nas signifying perpetual motion ([Greek: aei teein]), though it is more\nprobable that its true, as its more generally accepted derivation is\nfrom [Greek: aithein], to burn or shine, a meaning doubtless alluded to\nin a remarkable passage of Hippocrates, [Greek: Peri Sarkon]. \"It\nappears to me,\" he says, \"that what we call the principle of heat is\nimmortal, that it knows all, sees all, hears all, perceives all, both in\nthe past and in the future. At the time when all was in confusion, the\ngreater part of this principle rose to the circumference of the\nuniverse; it is this that the ancients have called _ether_.\"\n\nThe first Greek that can be called an astronomer was Thales, born at\nMiletus 641 B.C., who introduced into Greece the elements of astronomy.\nHis opinions were these: that the stars were of the same substance as\nthe earth, but that they were on fire; that the moon borrowed its light\nfrom the sun, and caused the eclipses of the latter, while it was itself\neclipsed when it entered the earth's shadow; that the earth was round,\nand divisible into five zones, by means of five circles, _i.e._ the\nArctic and Antarctic, the two tropics, and the equator; that the latter\ncircle is cut obliquely by the ecliptic, and perpendicularly by the\nmeridian. Up to his time no division of the sphere had been made beyond\nthe description of the constellations. These opinions do not appear to\nhave been rapidly spread, since Herodotus, one of the finest intellects\nof Greece, who lived two centuries later, was still so ill-instructed as\nto say, in speaking of an eclipse, \"The sun abandoned its place, and\nnight took the place of day.\"\n\nAnaxagoras, of whom we have spoken before, asserted that the sun was a\nmass of fire larger than the Peloponnesus. Plutarch says he regarded it\nas a burning stone, and Diogenes Laertius looked upon it as hot iron.\nFor this bold idea he was persecuted. They considered it a crime that he\ntaught the causes of the eclipses of the moon, and pretended that the\nsun is larger than it looks. He first taught the existence of one God,\nand he was taxed with impiety and treason against his country. When he\nwas condemned to death, \"Nature,\" he said, \"has long ago condemned me to\nthe same; and as to my children, when I gave them birth I had no doubt\nbut they would have to die some day.\" His disciple Pericles, however,\ndefended him so eloquently that his life was spared, and he was sent\ninto exile.\n\nPythagoras, who belonged to the school of Thales, and who travelled in\nPhoenicia, Chaldea, Judaea, and Egypt, to learn their ideas, ventured,\nin spite of the warnings of the priests, to submit to the rites of\ninitiation at Heliopolis, and thence returned to Samos, but meeting with\npoor reception there, he went to Italy to teach. From him arose the\n_Italian School_, and his disciples took the name of philosophers\n(lovers of wisdom) instead of that of sages. We shall learn more about\nhim in the chapter on the Harmony of the Spheres.\n\nHis first disciple, Empedocles, famous for the curiosity which led him\nto his death in the crater of AEtna, as the story goes, thought that the\ntrue sun, the fire that is in the centre of the universe, illuminated\nthe other hemisphere, and that what we see is only the reflected image\nof that, which is invisible to us, and all of whose movements it\nfollows.\n\nHis disciple, Philolaus, also taught that the sun was a mass of glass,\nwhich sent us by reflection all the light that it scattered through the\nuniverse. We must not, however, forget that these opinions are recorded\nby historians who probably did not understand them, and who took in the\nletter what was only intended for a comparison or figure.\n\nIf we are to believe Plutarch, Xenophanes, who flourished about 360\nB.C., was very wild in his opinions. He thought the stars were lighted\nevery night and extinguished every morning; that the sun is a fiery\ncloud; that eclipses take place by the sun being extinguished and\nafterwards rekindled; that the moon is inhabited, but is eighteen times\nlarger than the earth; that there are several suns and several moons for\ngiving light to different countries. This can only be matched by those\nwho said the sun went every night through a hole in the earth round\nagain to the east; or that it went above ground, and if we did not see\nit going back it was because it accomplished the journey in the night.\n\nParmenidas was the disciple of Xenophanes. He divided the earth, like\nThales, into zones; and he added that it was suspended in the centre of\nthe universe, and that it did not fall because there was no reason why\nit should move in one direction rather than another. This argument is\nperfectly philosophical, and illustrates a principle employed since the\ntime of Archimedes, and of which Leibnitz made so much use.\n\nSuch are some of the general ideas which were held by the Greeks and\nothers on the nature of the heavens, omitting that of Ptolemy, of which\nwe shall give a fuller account hereafter. We see that they were all\naffected by the dominant idea of the superiority of the earth over the\nrest of the universe, and were spoiled for want of the grand conception\nof the immensity of space. The universe was for them a closed space,\noutside of which there was _nothing_; and they busied themselves with\nmetaphysical questions as to the possibility of space being infinite. In\nthe meantime their conceptions of the distances separating us from other\nvisible parts of the universe were excessively cramped. Hesiod, for\ninstance, thinks to give a grand idea of the size of the universe by\nsaying that Vulcan's anvil took seven days to fall from heaven to earth,\nwhen in reality, as now calculated, it would take no less than\nseventy-two years for the light, even travelling at a far greater rate,\nto reach us from one of the nearest of the fixed stars.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nTHE CELESTIAL HARMONY.\n\n\nNature presents herself to us under various aspects. At times, it may\nbe, she presents to us the appearance of discord, and we fail to\nperceive the unity that pervades the whole of her actions. At others,\nhowever, and most often to an instructed mind, there is a concord\nbetween her various powers, a harmony even in her sounds, that will not\nescape us. Even the wild notes of the tempest and the bass roll of the\nthunder form themselves into part of the grand chorus which in the great\nopera are succeeded by the solos of the evening breeze, the songs of\nbirds, or the ripple of the waves. These are ideas that would most\nnaturally present themselves to contemplative minds, and such must have\nbeen the students of the silent, but to them harmonious and tuneful,\nstar-lit sky, under the clear atmosphere of Greece. The various motions\nthey observed became indissolubly connected in their minds with music,\nand they did not doubt that the heavenly spheres made harmony, if\nimperceptible to human ears. But their ideas were more precise than\nthis. They discovered that harmony depended on number, and they\nattempted to prove that whether the music they might make were audible\nor not, the celestial spheres had motions which were connected together\nin the same way as the numbers belonging to a harmony. The study of\ntheir opinions on this point reveals some very curious as well as very\ninteresting ideas. We may commence by referring to an ancient treatise\nby Timaeus of Locris on the soul of the universe. To him we owe the first\nserious exposition of the complete harmonic cosmography of Pythagoras.\nWe must premise that, according to this school, God employed all\nexisting matter in the formation of the universe--so that it comprehends\nall things, and all is in it. \"It is a unique, perfect, and spherical\nproduction, since the sphere is the most perfect of figures; animated\nand endowed with reason, since that which is animated and endowed with\nreason is better than that which is not.\"\n\nSo begins Timaeus, and then follows, as a quotation from Plato, a\ncomparison of the earth to what would appear to us nowadays to be a very\nsingular animal. Not only, says Plato, is the earth a sphere, but this\nsphere is perfect, and its maker took care that its surface should be\nperfectly uniform for many reasons. The universe in fact has no need of\neyes, since there is nothing outside of it to see; nor yet of ears,\nsince there is nothing but what is part of itself to make a sound; nor\nof breathing organs, as it is not surrounded by air: any organ that\nshould serve to take in nourishment, or to reject the grosser parts,\nwould be absolutely useless, for there being nothing outside it, it\ncould not receive or reject anything. For the same reason it needs no\nhands with which to defend itself, nor yet of feet with which to walk.\nOf the seven kinds of motion, its author has given it that which is most\nsuitable for its figure in making it turn about its axis, and since for\nthe execution of this rotatory motion no arms or legs are wanted, its\nmaker gave it none.\n\nWith regard to the soul of the universe, Plato, according to Timaeus,\nsays that God composed it \"of a mixture of the divisible and indivisible\nessences, so that the two together might be united into one, uniting two\nforces, the principles of two kinds of motion, one that which is _always\nthe same_, and the other that which is _always changing_. The mixture of\nthese two essences was difficult, and was not accomplished without\nconsiderable skill and pains. The proportions of the mixture were\naccording to harmonic numbers, so chosen that it is possible to know of\nwhat, and by what rule, the soul of the universe is compounded.\"\n\nBy harmonic numbers Timaeus means those that are proportional to those\nrepresenting the consonances of the musical scale. The consonances known\nto the ancients were three in number: the diapason, or octave, in the\nproportion of 2 to 1, the diapent, or fifth, in that of 3 to 2, and the\ndiatessaron, or fourth, in that of 4 to 3; when to these are joined the\ntones which fill the intervals of the consonances, and are in the\nproportion of 9 to 8, and the semitones in that of 256 to 243, all the\ndegrees of the musical scale is complete.\n\nThe discovery of these harmonic numbers is due to Pythagoras. It is\nstated that when passing one day near a forge, he noticed that the\nhammers gave out very accurate musical concords. He had them weighed,\nand found that of those which sounded the octave, one weighed twice as\nmuch as the other; that of those which made a perfect fifth, one weighed\none third more than the other, and in the case of a fourth, one quarter\nmore. After having tried the hammers, he took a musical string stretched\nwith weights, and found that when he had applied a given weight in the\nfirst instance to make any particular note, he had to double the weight\nto obtain the octave, to add one third extra only to obtain a fifth, a\nquarter for the fourth, and eight for one tone, and about an eighteenth\nfor a half-tone; or more simply still, he stretched a cord once for all,\nand then when the whole length sounded any note, when stopped in the\nmiddle it gave the octave, at the third it gave the fifth, at the\nquarter the fourth, at the eighth the tone, and at the eighteenth the\nsemi-tone.\n\nSince the ancients conceived of the soul by means of motion, the\nquantity of motion developed in anything was their measure of the\nquantity of its soul. Now the motion of the heavenly bodies seemed to\nthem to depend on their distance from the centre of the universe, the\nfastest being those at the circumference of the whole. To determine the\nrelative degrees of velocity, they imagined a straight line drawn\noutwards from the centre of the earth, as far as the empyreal heaven,\nand divided it according to the proportions of the musical scale, and\nthese divisions they called the harmonic degrees of the soul of the\nuniverse. Taking the earth's radius for the first number, and calling it\nunity, or, in order to avoid fractions, denoting it by 384, the second\ndegree, which is at the distance of an harmonic third, will be\nrepresented by 384 plus its eighth part, or 432. The third degree will\nbe 432, plus its eighth part, or 486. The fourth, being a semitone, will\nbe as 243 to 256, which will give 512; and so on. The eighth degree will\nin this way be the double of 384 or 768, and represents the first\noctave.\n\nThey continued this series to 36 degrees, as in the following table:--\n\nThe Earth.\n\n Mi 384 + 1/8 = 432\n Re 432 + 1/8 = 486\n Ut 486 : 512 : : 243 : 256\n Si 512 + 1/8 = 576\n La 576 + 1/8 = 648\n Sol 648 + 1/8 = 729\n Fa 729 : 768 : : 243 : 256\n Mi 768 + 1/8 = 864\n Re 864 + 1/8 = 972\n Ut 972 : 1024 : : 243 : 256\n Si 1024 + 1/8 = 1152\n La 1152 + 1/8 = 1296\n Sol 1296 + 1/8 = 1458\n Fa 1458 : 1536 : : 243 : 256\n Mi 1536 + 1/8 = 1728\n Re 1728 + 1/8 = 1944\n Ut 1944 : 2048 : 243 : 256\n Si 2048 + 139 = 2187\n Si 2 2187 : 2304 : : 243 : 256\n La 2304 + 1/8 = 2592\n Sol 2592 + 1/8 = 2916\n Fa 2916 : 3072 : : 243 : 256\n Mi 3072 + 1/8 = 3456\n Re 3457 + 1/8 = 3888\n Ut 3888 + 1/8 = 4374\n Si 4374 : 4608 : : 243 : 256\n La 4608 + 1/8 = 5184\n Sol 5184 + 1/8 = 5832\n Fa 5832 : 6144 : : 243 : 256\n Mi 6144 + 417 = 6561\n Mi 2 6561 : 6912 : : 243 : 256\n Re 6912 + 1/8 = 7776\n Ut 7776 + 1/8 = 8748\n Si 8748 : 9216 : : 243 : 256\n La 9216 + 1/8 = 10368\n Sol 10368 = 384 + 27\n\n The empyreal heaven.\n Sum of all the terms, 114,695.\n\nThis series they considered a complete one, because by taking the terms\nin their proper intervals, the last becomes 27 times the original\nnumber, and in the school of Pythagoras this 27 had a mystic\nsignification, and was considered as the perfect number.\n\nThe reason for considering 27 a perfect number was curious. It is the\nsum of the first linear, square, and cubic numbers added to unity. First\nthere is 1, which represents the point, then 2 and 3, the first linear\nnumbers, even and uneven, then 4 and 9, the first square or surface\nnumbers, even and uneven, and the last 8 and 27, the first solid or\ncubic numbers, even and uneven, and 27 is the sum of all the former.\nWhence, taking the number 27 as the symbol of the universe, and the\nnumbers which compose it as the elements, it appeared right that the\nsoul of the universe should be composed of the same elements.\n\nOn this scale of distances, with corresponding velocities, they arranged\nthe various planets, and the universe comprehended all these spheres,\nfrom that of the fixed stars (which was excluded) to the centre of the\nearth. The sphere of the fixed stars was the common envelope, or\ncircumference of the universe, and Saturn, immediately below it,\ncorresponded to the thirty-sixth tone, and the earth to the first, and\nthe other planets with the sun and moon at the various harmonic\ndistances.\n\nThey reckoned one tone from the earth to the moon, half a tone from the\nmoon to Mercury, another half-tone to Venus, one tone and a half from\nVenus to the sun, one from the sun to Mars, a semitone from Mars to\nJupiter, half a tone from Jupiter to Saturn, and a tone and a half from\nSaturn to the fixed stars; but these distances were not, as we shall\nsee, universally agreed upon.\n\nAccording to Timaeus, the sphere of the fixed stars, which contains\nwithin it no principle of contrariety, being entirely divine and pure,\nalways moves with an equal motion in the same direction from east to\nwest. But the stars which are within it, being animated by the mixed\nprinciple, whose composition has been just explained, and thus\ncontaining two contrary forces, yield on account of one of these forces\nto the motion of the sphere of fixed stars from east to west, and by the\nother they resist it, and move in a contrary direction, in proportion to\nthe degree with which they are endowed with each; that is to say, that\nthe greater the proportion of the material to the divine force that they\npossess, the greater is their motion from west to east, and the sooner\nthey accomplish their periodic course. Now the amount of this force\ndepends on the matter they contain. Thus, according to this system, the\nplanets turn each day by the common motion with all the heavens about\nthe earth from east to west, but they also retrograde towards the east,\nand accomplish their periods according to their component parts.\n\nThe additions which Plato made to this theory have always been a proverb\nof obscurity, and none of his commentators have been able to make\nanything of them, and very possibly they were never intended to.\n\nSo far the harmony of the heavenly bodies has been explained with\nreference to numbers only, and we may add to this that they reckoned\n126,000 stadia, or 14,286 miles, to represent a tone, which was thus the\ndistance of the earth to the moon, and the same measurement made it\n500,000 from the earth to the sun, and the same distance from the sun to\nthe fixed stars.\n\nBut Plato teaches in his _Republic_ that there is actual musical,\nharmony between the planets. Each of the spheres, he said, carried with\nit a Siren, and each of these sounding a different note, they formed by\ntheir union a perfect concert, and being themselves delighted with their\nown harmony, they sang divine songs, and accompanied them by a sacred\ndance. The ancients said there were nine Muses, eight of whom, according\nto Plato, presided over celestial, and the ninth over terrestrial\nthings, to protect them from disorder and irregularity.\n\nCicero and Macrobius also express opinions on this harmonious concert.\nSuch great motions, says Cicero, cannot take place in silence, and it is\nnatural that the two extremes should have related sounds as in the\noctave. The fixed stars must execute the upper note, and the moon the\nbase. Kepler has improved on this, and says Jupiter and Saturn sing\nbass, Mars takes the tenor, the earth and Venus are contralto, and\nMercury is soprano! True, no one has ever heard these sounds, but\nPythagoras himself may answer this objection. We are always surrounded,\nhe says, by this melody, and our ears are accustomed to it from our\nbirth, so that, having nothing different to compare it with, we cannot\nperceive it.\n\nWe may here recall the further development of the idea of the soul of\nthe universe, which was the source of this harmony, and endeavour to\nfind a rational interpretation of their meaning. They said that nature\nhad made the animals mortal and ephemeral, and had infused their souls\ninto them, as they had been extracts from the sun or moon, or even from\none of the planets. A portion of the unchangeable essence was added to\nthe reasoning part of man, to form a germ of wisdom in privileged\nindividuals. For the human soul there is one part which possesses\nintelligence and reason, and another part which has neither the one nor\nthe other.\n\nThe various portions of the general soul of the universe resided,\naccording to Timaeus, in the different planets, and depended on their\nvarious characters. Some portions were in the moon, others in Mercury,\nVenus, or Mars, and so on, and thus they give rise to the various\ncharacters and dispositions that are seen among men. But to these parts\nof the human soul that are taken from the planets is joined a spark of\nthe supreme Divinity, which is above them all, and this makes man a more\nholy animal than all the rest, and enables him to have immediate\nconverse with the Deity himself. All the different substances in nature\nwere supposed to be endowed with more or less of this soul, according to\ntheir material nature or subtilty, and were placed in the same order\nalong the line, from the centre to the circumference, on which the\nplanets were situated, as we have seen above. In the centre was the\nearth, the heaviest and grossest of all, which had but little if any\nsoul at all. Between the earth and the moon, Timaeus placed first water,\nthen the air, and lastly elementary fire, which he considered to be\nprinciples, which were less material in proportion as they were more\nremote and partook of a larger quantity of the soul of the universe.\nBeyond the moon came all the planets, and thus were filled up the\ngreater number of the harmonic degrees, the motions of the various\nbodies being guided by the principle enunciated above.\n\nWhen we carefully consider this theory we find that by a slight change\nof name we may bring it more into harmony with modern ideas. It would\nappear indeed that the ancients called that \"soul\" which we now call\n\"force,\" and while we say that this force of attraction is in proportion\nto the masses and the inverse square of the distance, they put it that\nit was proportional to the matter, and to the divine substance on which\nthe distance depended. So that we may interpret Timaeus as stating this\nproposition: _The distances of the stars and their forces are\nproportional among themselves to their periodic times._ \"Some people,\"\nsays Plutarch, \"seek the proportions of the soul of the universe in the\nvelocities (or periodic times), others in the distances from the centre;\nsome in the masses of the heavenly bodies, and others more acute in the\nratios of the diameters of their orbits. It is probable that the mass of\neach planet, the intervals between the spheres and the velocities of\ntheir motions, are like well-tuned musical instruments, all proportional\nharmonically with each other and with all other parts of the universe,\nand by necessary consequence that there are the same relative\nproportions in the soul of the universe by which they were formed by the\nDeity.\"\n\nIt is marvellous how deeply occupied were all the best minds in Greece\nand Italy on this subject, both poets and philosophers; Ocellus,\nDemocritus, Timaeus, Aristotle, and Lucretius have all left treatises on\nthe same subject, and almost with the same title, \"The Nature of the\nUniverse.\"\n\nThough somewhat similar to that of Timaeus, it will be interesting to\ngive an account of the ideas of one of these, Ocellus of Lucania.\n\nOcellus represents the universe as having a spherical form. This sphere\nis divided into concentric layers; above that of the moon they were\ncalled celestial spheres, while below it and inwards as far as the\ncentre of the earth they were called the elementary spheres, and the\nearth was the centre of them all.\n\nIn the celestial spheres all the stars were situated, which were so many\ngods, and among them the sun, the largest and most powerful of all. In\nthese spheres is never any disturbance, storm, or destruction, and\nconsequently no reparation, no reproduction, no action of any kind was\nrequired on the part of the gods. Below the moon all is at war, all is\ndestroyed and reconstructed, and here therefore it is that generations\nare possible. But these take place under the influence of the stars, and\nparticularly that of the sun, which in its course acts in different ways\non the elementary spheres, and produces continual variations in them,\nfrom whence arises the replenishing and diversifying of nature. It is\nthe sun that lights up the region of fire, that dilates the air, melts\nthe water, and renders fertile the earth, in its daily course from east\nto west, as well as in this annual journey into the two tropics. But to\nwhat does the earth owe its germs and its species? According to some\nphilosophers these germs were celestial ideas which both gods and demons\nscattered from above over every part of nature, but according to Ocellus\nthey arise continually under the influence of the heavenly bodies. The\ndivisions of the heavens were supposed to separate the portion that is\nunalterable from that which is in ceaseless change. The line dividing\nthe mortal from the immortal is that described by the moon: all that\nlies above that, inclusive, is the habitation of the gods; all that lies\nbelow is the abode of nature and discord; the latter tending constantly\nto destruction, the former to the reconstruction of all created things.\n\nIdeas such as these, of which we could give other examples more remotely\nconnected with harmony, whatever amount of truth we may discover in\nthem, prove themselves to have been made before the sciences of\nobservation had enabled men to make anything better than empty theories,\nand to support them with false logic. No better example of the latter\ncan perhaps be mentioned here than the way in which Ocellus pretends to\nprove that the world is eternal. \"The universe,\" he says, \"_having_\nalways existed, it follows that everything in it and every arrangement\nof it must always have been as it is now. The several parts of the\nuniverse _having_ always existed with it, we may say the same of the\nparts of these parts; thus the sun, the moon, the fixed stars, and the\nplanets have always existed with the heavens; animals, vegetables, gold,\nand silver with the earth; the currents of air, winds, and changes from\nhot to cold, from cold to hot, with the air. _Therefore_ the heaven,\nwith all that it now contains; the earth, with all that it produces and\nsupports; and lastly, the whole aerial region, with all its phenomena,\nhave always existed.\" When this system of argument passed away, and\nexact observation took its place, it was soon found that so far from\nwhat the ancients had argued _must be_ really being the case, no such\nrelation as they indicated between the distances or velocities of the\nplanets could be traced, and therefore no harmony in the heavens in this\nsense. It is not indeed that we can say no sounds exist because we hear\nnone; but considering harmony really to consist of the relations of\nnumbers, no such relations exist between the planets' distances, as\nmeasured now of course from the sun, instead of being, as then, imagined\nfrom the earth.\n\nThe gamut is nothing else than the series of numbers:--\n\n do re mi fa sol la si do\n 1 9/8 5/4 4/3 3/2 5/3 15/8 2\n\nand is independent of our perception of the corresponding notes. A\nconcert played before a deaf assembly would be a concert still. If one\nnote is made by 10,000 vibrations per second, and another by 20,000, we\nshould hear them as an octave, but if one had only 10 and the other 20,\nthey would still be an octave, though inaudible as notes to us; so too\nwe may speak even of the harmony of luminous vibrations of ether, though\nthey do not affect our ears.\n\nThe velocities of the planets do not coincide with the terms of this\nseries. The nearer they are to the sun the faster is their motion,\nMercury travelling at the mean rate of 55,000 metres a second, Venus,\n36,800, the earth 30,550, Mars 24,448, Jupiter 13,000, Saturn 9,840,\nUranus 6,800, and Neptune 5,500, numbers which are in the proportion\nroundly of 100, 67, 55, 44, 24, 16, 12, 10, which have no sufficient\nrelation to the terms of an harmonic series, to make any harmony\nobvious.\n\nReturning, however, to the ancient philosophers, we are led by their\nideas about the soul of the universe to discover the origin of their\ngods and natural religion. They were persuaded that only living things\ncould move, and consequently that the moving stars must be endowed with\nsuperior intelligence. It may very well be that from the number seven\nof the planets, including the sun and moon, which were their earliest\ngods, arose the respect and superstition with which all nations, and\nespecially the Orientals, regarded that number. From these arose the\nseven superior angels that are found in the theologies of the Chaldeans,\nPersians, and Arabians; the seven gates of Mithra, through which all\nsouls must pass to reach the abode of bliss; the seven worlds of\npurification of the Indians, and all the other applications of the\nnumber seven which so largely figure in Judaism, and have descended from\nit to our own time. On the other hand, as we have seen, this number\nseven may have been derived from the number of the stars in the\nPleiades.\n\nWe have noticed in our chapter on the History of the Zodiac how the\nvarious signs as they came round and were thought to influence the\nweather and other natural phenomena, came at last to be worshipped. Not\nless, of course, were the sun and moon deified, and that by nations who\nhad no zodiac. Among the Egyptians the sun was painted in different\nforms according to the time of year, very much as he is represented in\nour own days in pictures of the old and new years. At the winter\nsolstice with them he was an infant, at the spring equinox he was a\nyoung man, in summer a man in full age with flowing beard, and in the\nautumn an old man. Their fable of Osiris was founded on the same idea.\nThey represented the sun by the hawk, and the moon by the Ibis, and to\nthese two, worshipped under the names of Osiris and Isis they attributed\nthe government of the world, and built a city, Heliopolis, to the\nformer, in the temple of which they placed his statue.\n\nThe Phenicians in the same way, who were much influenced by ideas of\nreligion, attributed divinity to the sun, moon, and stars, and regarded\nthem as the sole causes of the production and destruction of all things.\nThe sun, under the name of Hercules, was their great divinity.\n\nThe Ethiopians worshipped the same, and erected the famous table of the\nsun. Those who lived above Meroe, admitted the existence of eternal and\nincorruptible gods, among which they included the sun, moon, and the\nuniverse. Like the Incas of Peru, they called themselves the children of\nthe sun, whom they regarded as their common father.\n\nThe moon was the great divinity of the Arabs. The Saracens called it\nCabar, or the great, and its crescent still adorns the religious\nmonuments of the Turks. Each of their tribes was under the protection of\nsome particular star. Sabeism was the principal religion of the east.\nThe heavens and the stars were its first object.\n\nIn reading the sacred books of the ancient Persians contained in the\n_Zendavesta_, we find on every page invocations addressed to Mithra, to\nthe moon, the stars, the elements, the mountains, the trees, and every\npart of nature. The ethereal fire circulating through all the universe,\nand of which the sun is the principal focus, was represented among the\nfire-worshippers by the sacred and perpetual fire of their priests. Each\nplanet had its own particular temple, where incense was burnt in its\nhonour. These ancient peoples embodied in their religious systems the\nideas which, as we have seen, led among the Greeks to the representation\nof the harmony of heaven. All the world seemed to them animated by a\nprinciple of life which circulated through all parts, and which\npreserved it in an eternal activity. They thought that the universe\nlived like man and the other animals, or rather that these latter only\nlived because the universe was essentially alive, and communicated to\nthem for an instant an infinitely small portion of its own immortality.\nThey were not wise, it may be, in this, but they appear to have caught\nsome of the ideas that lie at the basis of religious thought, and to\nhave traced harmony where we have almost lost the perception of it.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nASTRONOMICAL SYSTEMS.\n\n\nIn our former chapters we have gained some idea of the general structure\nof the heavens as represented by ancient philosophers, and we no longer\nrequire to know what was thought in the infancy of astronomy, when any\nideas promulgated were more or less random ones; but in this chapter we\nhope to discuss those arrangements of the heavenly bodies which have\nbeen promulgated by men as complete systems, and were supposed to\nrepresent the totality of the facts.\n\nThe earliest thoroughly-established system is that of Ptolemy. It was\nnot indeed invented by him. The main ideas had been entertained long\nbefore his time, but he gave it consistence and a name.\n\nWe obtain an excellent view of the general nature of this system from\nCicero. He writes:--\n\n\"The universe is composed of nine circles, or rather of nine moving\nglobes. The outermost sphere is that of the heavens which surrounds all\nthe others, and on which are fixed the stars. Beneath this revolve\nseven other globes, carried round by a motion in a direction contrary to\nthat of the heavens. On the first circle revolves the star which men\ncall Saturn; on the second Jupiter shines, that beneficent and\npropitious star to human eyes; then follows Mars, ruddy and awful.\nBelow, and occupying the middle region, revolves the Sun, the chief,\nprince, and moderator of the other stars, the soul of the world, whose\nimmense globe spreads its light through space. After him come, like two\ncompanions, Venus and Mercury. Lastly, the lowest globe is occupied by\nthe moon, which borrows its light from the star of day. Below this last\ncelestial circle, there is nothing but what is mortal and corruptible,\nexcept the souls given by a beneficent Divinity to the race of men.\nAbove the moon all is eternal. The earth, situated in the centre of the\nworld, and separated from heaven on all sides, forms the ninth sphere;\nit remains immovable, and all heavy bodies are drawn to it by their own\nweight.\"\n\nThe earth, we should add, is surrounded by the sphere of air, and then\nby that of fire, and by that of ether and the meteors.\n\nWith respect to the motions of these spheres. The first circle described\nabout the terrestrial system, namely, that of the moon, was accomplished\nin 27 days, 7 hours, and 43 minutes. Next to the moon, Mercury in the\nsecond, and Venus in the third, and the sun in the fourth circle, all\nturned about the earth in the same time, 365 days, 5 hours, and 49\nminutes. But these planets, in addition to the general movement, which\ncarried them in 24 hours round from east to west and west to east, and\nthe annual revolution, which made them run through the zodiacal circle,\nhad a third motion by which they described a circle about each point of\ntheir orbit taken as a centre.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 14.--PTOLEMY'S ASTRONOMICAL SYSTEM.]\n\nThe fifth sphere, carrying Mars, accomplished its revolution in two\nyears. Jupiter took 11 years, 313 days, and 19 hours to complete his\norbit, and Saturn in the seventh sphere took 29 years and 169 days.\nAbove all the planets came the sphere of the fixed stars, or Firmament,\nturning from east to west in 24 hours with inconceivable rapidity, and\nendued also with a proper motion from west to east, which was measured\nby Hipparchus, and which we now call the precession of the equinoxes,\nand know that it has a period of 25,870 years. Above all these spheres,\na _primum mobile_ gave motion to the whole machine, making it turn from\neast to west, but each planet and each fixed star made an effort against\nthis motion, by means of which each of them accomplished their\nrevolution about the earth in greater or less time, according to its\ndistance, or the magnitude of the orbit it had to accomplish.\n\nOne immense difficulty attended this system. The apparent motions of the\nplanets is not uniform, for sometimes they are seen to advance from west\nto east, when their motion is called _direct_, sometimes they are seen\nfor several nights in succession at the same point in the heavens, when\nthey are called _stationary_, and sometimes they return from east to\nwest, and then their motion is called _retrograde_.\n\nWe know now that this apparent variation in the motion of the planets is\nsimply due to the annual motion of the earth in its orbit round the sun.\nFor example, Saturn describes its vast orbit in about thirty years, and\nthe earth describes in one year a much smaller one inside. Now if the\nearth goes faster in the same direction as Saturn, it is plain that\nSaturn will be left behind and appear to go backwards, while if the\nearth is going in the same direction the velocity of Saturn will appear\nto be decreased, but his direction of motion will appear unaltered.\n\nTo explain these variations, however, according to his system, Ptolemy\nsupposed that the planets did not move exactly in the circumference of\ntheir respective orbits, but about an _ideal centre_, which itself moved\nalong this circumference. Instead therefore of describing a circle, they\ndescribed parts of a series of small circles, which would combine, as is\neasy to see, into a series of uninterrupted waves, and these he called\n_Epicycles_.\n\nAnother objection, which even this arrangement did not overcome, was the\nvariation of the size of the planets. To overcome this Hipparchus gave\nto the sphere of each planet a considerable thickness, and saw that the\nplanet did not turn centrally round the earth, but round a centre of\nmotion placed outside the earth. Its revolution took place in such a\nmanner, that at one time it reached the inner boundary, at another time\nthe outer boundary of its spherical heaven.\n\nBut this reply was not satisfactory, for the differences in the apparent\nsizes proved by the laws of optics such a prodigious difference between\ntheir distances from the earth at the times of conjunction and\nopposition, that it would be extremely difficult to imagine spheres\nthick enough to allow of it.\n\nIt was a gigantic and formidable piece of machinery to which it was\nnecessary to be continually adding fresh pieces to make observation\naccord with theory. In the thirteenth century, in the times of the\nKing-Astronomer, Alphonso X. of Castile, there were already seventy-five\ncircles, one within the other. It is said that one day he exclaimed, in\na full assemblage of bishops, that if the Deity had done him the honour\nto ask his advice before creating the world, he could have told Him how\nto make it a little better, or at all events more simply. He meant to\nexpress how unworthy this complication was of the dignity of nature.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 15.--THE EPICYCLES OF PTOLEMY.]\n\nFracastor, in his _Homocentrics_, says that nothing is more monstrous or\nabsurd than all the excentrics and epicycles of Ptolemy, and proposes\nto explain the difference of velocity in the planets at different parts\nof their orbits by the medium offering greater or less resistance, and\ntheir alteration in apparent size by the effect of refraction.\n\nThe essential element of this system was that it took appearances for\nrealities, and was founded on the assumption that the earth is fixed in\nthe centre of the universe, and of course therefore neglected all the\nappearances produced by its motion, or had to explain them by some\npeculiarity in the other planets.\n\nAlthough it was corrected from time to time to make it accord better\nwith observation, it was the same essentially that was taught officially\neverywhere. It reigned supreme in Egypt, Greece, Italy, and Arabia, and\nin the great school of Alexandria, which consolidated it and enriched it\nby its own observations.\n\nBut though the same in essence, the details, and especially the means of\novercoming the difficulties raised by increased observations, have much\nvaried, and it will be interesting and instructive to record some of the\nchief of them.\n\nOne of the most important influences in modifying the astronomical\nsystems taught to the world has been that of the Fathers of the\nChristian Church. When, after five centuries of patient toil, of hopes,\nambitions, and discussions, the Christian Church took possession of the\nthrones and consciences of men, they founded their physical edifice on\nthe ancient system, which they adapted to their special wants. With them\nAristotle and Ptolemy reigned supreme. They decreed that the earth\nconstituted the universe, that the heavens were made for it, that God,\nthe angels, and the saints inhabited an eternal abode of joy situated\nabove the azure sphere of the fixed stars, and they embodied this\ngratifying illusion in all their illuminated manuscripts, their\ncalendars, and their church windows.\n\nThe doctors of the Church all acknowledged a plurality of heavens, but\nthey differed as to the number. St. Hilary of Poitiers would not fix it,\nand the same doubt held St. Basil back; but the rest, for the most part\nborrowing their ideas from paganism, said there were six or seven, or up\nto ten. They considered these heavens to be so many hemispheres\nsupported on the earth, and gave to each a different name. In the system\nof Bede, which had many adherents, they were the Air, Ether, Fiery\nSpace, Firmament, Heaven of the Angels, and Heaven of the Trinity.\n\nThe two chief varieties in the systems of the middle ages may be\nrepresented as follows:--\n\nThose who wished to have everything as complete as possible combined the\nsystem of Ptolemy with that of the Fathers of the Church, and placed in\nthe centre of the earth the infernal regions which they surrounded by a\ncircle. Another circle marked the earth itself, and after that the\nsurrounding ocean, marked as water, then the circle of air, and lastly\nthat of fire. Enveloping these, and following one after the other, were\nthe seven circles of the seven planets; the eighth represented the\nsphere of the fixed stars on the firmament, then came the ninth heaven,\nthen a tenth, the _coelum cristallinum_, and lastly an eleventh and\noutermost, which was the empyreal heaven, where dwelt the cherubim and\nseraphim, and above all the spheres was a throne on which sat the\nFather, as Jupiter Olympus.\n\nThe others who wished for more simplicity, represented the earth in the\ncentre of the universe, with a circle to indicate the ocean, the second\nsphere was that of the moon; the third was that of the sun; on the\nfourth were placed the four planets, Jupiter, Mars, Venus and Mercury;\nthere was a fifth for the space outside the planets, and the last\noutside one was the firmament; altogether seven spheres instead of\neleven. As a specimen of the style of representation of the astronomical\nsystems of the middle ages, we may take the figure on the following\npage:--\n\nHere we see the earth placed immovable in the centre of the universe,\nand represented by a disc traversed by the Mediterranean, and surrounded\nby the ocean. Round this are circumscribed the celestial spheres. That\nof the moon first, then that of Mercury, in which several\nconstellations, as the Lyre, Cassiopeia, the Crown, and others, are\nroughly indicated, then comes the sphere of Venus with Sagittarius and\nthe Swan. After this comes the _celestis_ _paradisus_, and the legend\nthat, \"the paradise to which Paul was raised is in this third locality;\nsome of these must reach to us, since in them repose the souls of the\nprophets.\" In the other circles are yet other constellations: for\nexample Pegasus, Andromeda, the Dog, Argo, the He-goat, Aquarius, the\nFishes, and Canopus, figured by a star of the first magnitude. To the\nnorth is seen near the constellation of the Swan a large star with seven\nrays, meant to represent the brightest of those which compose the Great\nBear. The stars of Cassiopeia are not only misplaced, but roughly\nrepresented. The Lyre is curiously drawn. The positions of the\nconstellations just named are all wrong in this figure, just as we find\nthose of towns in maps of the earth. The cartographers of the middle\nages, with incredible ignorance, misplaced in general every locality.\nThey did the same for the constellations in the celestial hemispheres.\nIn the heaven of Jupiter, and in that of Saturn we read the\nwords--Seraphim, Dominationes, Potestates, Archangeli, Virtutes\ncoelorum, Principatus, Throni, Cherubim, all derived from their\ntheology. A veritable muddle! The angels placed with the heroes of\nmythology, the immortal virgins with Venus and Andromeda, and the Saints\nwith the Great Bear, the Hydra, and the Scorpion!\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 16.--HEAVENS OF THE MIDDLE AGES.]\n\nAnother such richly illuminated manuscript in the library at Ghent,\nentitled Liber Floridus, contains a drawing similar to this under the\ntitle _Astrologia secundum Bedum_. Only, instead of the earth, there is\na serpent in the centre with the name Great Bear, and the twins are\nrepresented by a man and woman, Andromeda in a chasuble, and Venus as a\nnun!\n\nSeveral similar ones might be quoted, varying more or less from this;\none, executed in a geographical manuscript of the fifteenth century, has\nthe tenth sphere, being that of the fixed stars, then the crystalline\nheaven, and then the immovable heaven, \"which,\" it says, \"according to\nsacred and certain theology, is the dwelling-place of the blessed, where\nmay we live for ever and ever, Amen;\" \"this is also called the empyreal\nheaven.\" Near each planet the author marks the time of its revolution,\nbut not at all correctly.\n\n[Illustration: PLATE VII.--HEAVENS OF THE FATHERS.]\n\nThe constructors of these systems were not in the least doubt as to\ntheir reality, for they actually measured the distance between one\nsphere and another, though in every case their numbers were far from the\ntruth as we now know it. We may cite as an example an Italian system\nwhose spheres were as follows:--Terra, Aqua, Aria, Fuoco, Luna,\nMercurio, Venus, Sol, Marte, Giove, Saturno, Stelle fixe, Sfera nona,\nCielo empyreo. Attached to the design is the following table of\ndimensions which we may copy:--\n\n Miles.\n From the centre of the Earth to the surface 3,245\n \" \" \" \" inner side of the\n heaven of the Moon 107,936\n Diameter of Moon 1,896\n From the centre of the Earth to Mercury 209,198\n Diameter of Mercury 230\n From the centre of the Earth to Venus 579,320\n Diameter of Venus 2,884\n From the centre of the Earth to the Sun 3,892,866\n Diameter of the Sun 35,700\n From the centre of the Earth to Mars 4,268,629\n Diameter of Mars 7,572\n From the centre of the Earth to Jupiter 8,323,520\n Diameter of Jupiter 29,641\n From the centre of the Earth to outside of Saturn's\n heaven 52,544,702\n Diameter of Saturn 29,202\n From the centre of the Earth to the fixed stars 73,387,747\n\nThe author states that he cannot pursue his calculations further, and\ncondescends to acknowledge that it is very difficult to know accurately\nwhat is the thickness of the ninth and of the crystalline heavens!\n\nPerhaps, however, these reckonings are better than those of the\nEgyptians, who came to the conclusion that Saturn was only distant 492\nmiles, the sun only 369, and the moon 246.\n\nThese numerous variations and adaptations of the Ptolemaic system, prove\nwhat a firm hold it had taken, and how it reigned supreme over all\nminds. Nor are we merely left to gather this. They consciously looked to\nPtolemy as their great light, if we may judge from an emblematic drawing\ntaken from an authoritative astronomical work, the _Margarita\nPhilosophica_, which we give on the opposite page.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 17.]\n\nIn all the systems derived from Ptolemy, the order of the planets\nremained the same, and Mercury and Venus were placed nearer to the earth\nthan the sun is. According to many authors, however, Plato made a\nvariation in this respect, by putting them outside the sun, on the\nground that they never were seen to pass across its surface. He had\nobviously never heard of the \"Transit of Venus.\" This arrangement was\nadopted by Theon, in his commentary on the _Almagesta_ of Ptolemy, and\nafterwards by Geber, who alone among the Arabians departed from the\nstrict Ptolemaic system.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 18.--EGYPTIAN SYSTEM.]\n\nThe Egyptians improved upon this idea, and made the first step towards\nthe true system, by representing these two planets, Mercury and Venus,\nas revolving round the sun instead of the earth. All the rest of their\nsystem was the same as that of Ptolemy, for the sun itself, and the\nother planets and the fixed stars all revolved round the earth in the\ncentre. This system of course accounted accurately for the motions of\nthe two inferior planets, whose nearness to the sun may have suggested\ntheir connection with it. This system was in vogue at the same time as\nPtolemy's, and numbers Vitruvius amongst its supporters.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 19.--CAPELLA'S SYSTEM.]\n\nIn the fifth century of our era Martian Capella taught a variation on\nthe Egyptian system, in which he made Mercury and Venus revolve in the\nsame orbit round the sun. In the treatise entitled _Quod Tellus non sit\nCentrum Omnibus Planetis_, he explains that when Mercury is on this side\nof the orbit it is nearer to us than Venus, and farther off from us\nthan that planet when it is on the other side. This hypothesis was also\nadopted in the middle ages.\n\nWe have here indicated the time of the revolution of the various\nplanets, and notice that the firmament is said to move round from west\nto east in 7,000 years; the second heaven in 49,000, while the _primum\nmobile_ outside moved in the contrary direction in twenty-four hours.\n\nThese Egyptian systems survived in some places the true one, as they\nwere thought to overcome the chief difficulties of the Ptolemaic without\ninterfering with the stability of the earth, and they were known as the\n_common system_, _i.e._ containing the elements of both.\n\nSuch were the astronomical systems in vogue before the time of\nCopernicus--all of them based upon the principle of the earth being the\nimmovable centre of the universe. We must now turn to trace the history\nof the introduction of that system which has completely thrown over all\nthese former ones, and which every one knows now to be the true one--the\nCopernican.\n\nNo revolution is accomplished, whether in science or politics, without\nhaving been long in preparation. The theory of the motion of the earth\nhad been conceived, discussed, and even taught many ages before the\nbirth of Copernicus. And the best proof of this is the acknowledgment of\nCopernicus himself in his great work _De Revolutionibus Orbium\nCaelestium_, in which he laid down the principles of his system. We will\nquote the passage in which it is contained.\n\n\"I have been at the trouble,\" he writes, \"to read over all the works of\nphilosophers that I could procure, to see if I could find in them any\ndifferent opinion to that which is now taught in the schools respecting\nthe motions of the celestial spheres. And I saw first in Cicero that\nMaetas had put forth the opinion that the earth moves. (Maetam sensisse\nterram moveri.) Afterwards I found in Plutarch that others had\nentertained the same idea.\"\n\nHere Copernicus quotes the original as far as it relates to the system\nof Philolaus, to the effect \"that the earth turns round the region of\nfire (ethereal region), and runs through the zodiac like the sun and the\nmoon.\" The principal Pythagoreans, such as Archytas of Tarentum,\nHeraclides of Pontium, taught also the same doctrine, saying that \"the\nearth is not immovable in the centre of the universe, but revolves in a\ncircle, and is far from occupying the chief place among the celestial\nbodies.\"\n\nPythagoras learnt this doctrine, it is said, from the Egyptians, who in\ntheir hieroglyphics represented the symbol of the sun by the stercoral\nbeetle, because this insect forms a ball with the excrement of the oxen,\nand lying down on its back, turns it round and round with its legs.\n\nTimaeus of Locris was more precise than the other Pythagoreans in calling\n\"the five planets the organs of time, on account of their revolutions,\"\nadding that we must conclude that the earth is not immovable in one\nplace, but that it turns, on the contrary, about itself, and travels\nalso through space.\n\nPlutarch records that Plato, who had always taught that the sun turned\nround the earth, had changed his opinion towards the end of his life,\nregretting that he had not placed the sun in the centre of the universe,\nwhich was the only place, he then thought, that was suitable for that\nstar.\n\nThree centuries before Jesus Christ, Aristarchus of Samos is said by\nAristotle to have composed a special work to defend the motion of the\nearth against the contrary opinions of philosophers. In this work, which\nis now lost, he laid down in the most positive manner that \"the sun\nremains immovable, and that the Earth moves round it in a circular\ncurve, of which that star is the centre.\" It would be impossible to\nstate this in clearer terms; and what makes his meaning more clear, if\npossible, is that he was persecuted for it, being accused of irreligion\nand of troubling the repose of Vesta--\"because,\" says Plutarch, \"in\norder to explain the phenomena, he taught that the heavens were\nimmovable, and that the earth accomplished a motion of translation in an\noblique line, at the same time that it turned round its own axis.\" This\nis exactly the opinion that Copernicus took up, after an interval of\neighteen centuries--and he too was accused of irreligion.\n\nIn passing from the Greeks to the Romans, and from them to the middle\nages, the doctrine of Aristarchus underwent a curious modification,\nassimilating it to the system of Tycho Brahe, which we shall hereafter\nconsider, rather than to that of Copernicus. This consisted in making\nthe planets move round the sun, while the sun itself revolved round the\nearth, and carried them with him, and the heavens revolved round all.\nVitruvius and Macrobius both taught this doctrine. Although Cicero and\nSeneca, with Aristotle and the Stoics, taught the immobility of the\nearth in the centre of the universe, the question seemed undecided, to\nSeneca at least, who writes:--\"It would be well to examine whether it is\nthe universe that turns about the immovable earth, or the earth that\nmoves, while the universe remains at rest. Indeed some men have taught\nthat the earth is carried along, unknown to ourselves, that it is not\nthe motion of the heavens that produces the rising and setting of the\nstars, but that it is we who rise and set relatively to them. It is a\nmatter worthy of contemplation, to know in what state we are--whether we\nare assigned an immovable or rapidly-moving home--whether God makes all\nthings revolve round us, or we round them.\"\n\nThe double motion of the earth, then, is an idea revived from the\nGrecian philosophers. The theory was known indeed to Ptolemy, who\ndevotes a whole chapter in his celebrated _Almagesta_ to combat it. From\nhis point of view it seemed very absurd, and he did not hesitate to call\nit so; and it was in reality only when fresh discoveries had altered the\nmethod of examining the question that the absurdities disappeared, and\nwere transferred to the other side. Not until it was discovered that the\nearth was no larger and no heavier than the other planets could the idea\nof its revolution and translation have appeared anything else than\nabsurd. We are apt to laugh at the errors of former great men, while we\nforget the scantiness of the knowledge they then possessed. So it will\nbe instructive to draw attention to Ptolemy's arguments, that we may see\nwhere it is that new knowledge and ideas have led us, as they would\ndoubtless have led him, had he possessed them, to a different\nconclusion.\n\nHis argument depends essentially on the observed effects of weight.\n\"Light bodies,\" he says, \"are carried towards the circumference, they\nappear to us to go _up_; because we so speak of the space that is over\nour heads, as far as the surface which appears to surround us. Heavy\nbodies tend, on the contrary, towards the middle, as towards a centre,\nand they appear to us to fall _down_, because we so speak of whatever is\nunder our feet, in the direction of the centre of the earth. These\nbodies are piled up round the centre by the opposed forces of their\nimpetus and friction. We can easily see that the whole mass of the\nearth, being so large compared with the bodies that fall upon it, can\nreceive them without their weight or their velocity communicating to it\nany perceptible oscillation. Now if the earth had a motion in common\nwith all the other heavy bodies, it would not be long, on account of its\nweight, in leaving the animals and other bodies behind it, and without\nsupport, and it would soon itself fall out of heaven. Such would be the\nconsequences of its motion, which are most ridiculous even to imagine.\"\n\nAgainst the idea of the earth's diurnal rotation he argued as\nfollows:--\"There are some who pretend that nothing prevents us from\nsupposing that the heaven remains immovable, and the earth turns round\nupon its axis from west to east, accomplishing the rotation each day. It\nis true that, as far as the stars are concerned, there is nothing\nagainst our supposing this, if guided only by appearances, and for\ngreater simplicity; but those who do so forget how thoroughly ridiculous\nit is when we consider what happens near us and in the air. For even if\nwe admit, which is not the case, that the lighter bodies have no motion,\nor only move as bodies of a contrary nature, although we see that aerial\nbodies move with greater velocity than terrestrial--if we admit that\nvery dense and heavy bodies have a rapid and constant motion of their\nown, whereas in reality they obey but with difficulty the impulses\ncommunicated to them--we should then be obliged to assert that the\nearth, by its rotation, has a more rapid motion than any of the bodies\nthat are round it, as it makes so large a circuit in so short a time. In\nthis case the bodies which are not supported by it would appear to have\na motion contrary to it, and no cloud or any flying bird could ever\nappear to go to the east, since the earth would always move faster than\nit in that direction.\"\n\nThe _Almagesta_ was for a long time the gospel of astronomers; to\nbelieve in the motion of the earth was to them more than an innovation,\nit was simply folly. Copernicus himself well expresses the state of\nopinion in which he found the question, and the process of his own\nchange, in the following words:--\"And I too, taking occasion by these\ntestimonies, commenced to cogitate on the motion of the earth, and\nalthough that opinion appeared absurd, I thought that as others before\nme had invented an assemblage of circles to explain the motion of the\nstars, I might also try if, by supposing the earth to move, I could not\nfind a better account of the motions of the heavenly bodies than that\nwith which we are at present contented. After long researches, I am at\nlast convinced that if we assign to the circulation of the earth the\nmotions of the other planets, calculation and observation will agree\nbetter together. And I have no doubt that mathematicians will be of my\nopinion, if they will take the trouble to consider carefully and not\nsuperficially the demonstrations I shall give in this work.\" Although\nthe opinions of Copernicus had been held before, it is very just that\nhis should be the name by which they are known; for during the time that\nelapsed before he wrote, the adherents of such views became fewer and\nfewer, until at last the very remembrance of them was almost forgotten,\nand it required research to know who had held them and taught them. It\ntook him thirty years' work to establish them on a firm basis. We shall\nmake no excuse for quoting further from his book, that we may know\nexactly the circumstances, as far as he tells us, of his giving this\nsystem to the world.\n\n\"I hesitated for a long time whether I should publish my commentaries on\nthe motions of the heavenly bodies, or whether it would not be better to\nfollow the example of certain Pythagoreans, who left no writings, but\ncommunicated the mysteries of their philosophy orally from man to man\namong their adepts and friends, as is proved by the letter of Lysidas to\nHipparchus. They did not do this, as some suppose, from a spirit of\njealousy, but in order that weighty questions, studied with great care\nby illustrious men, might not be disparaged by the idle, who do not care\nto undertake serious study, unless it be lucrative, or by shallow-minded\nmen, who, though devoting themselves to science, are of so indolent a\nspirit that they only intrude among philosophers, like drones among\nbees.\n\n\"When I hesitated and held back, my friends pressed me on. The first was\nNicolas Schonberg, Cardinal of Capua, a man of great learning. The other\nwas my best friend, Tideman Gysius, Bishop of Culm, who was as well\nversed in the Holy Scriptures as in the sciences. The latter pressed me\nso much that he decided me at last to give to the public the work I had\nkept for more than twenty-seven years. Many illustrious men urged me, in\nthe interest of mathematics, to overcome my repugnance and to let the\nfruit of my labours see the light. They assured me that the more my\ntheory of the motion of the earth appeared absurd, the more it would be\nadmired when the publication of my work had dissipated doubts by the\nclearest demonstrations. Yielding to these entreaties, and buoying\nmyself with the same hope, I consented to the printing of my work.\"\n\nHe tried to guard himself against the attacks of dogmatists by saying,\n\"If any evil-advised person should quote against me any texts of\nScripture, I deprecate such a rash attempt. Mathematical truths can only\nbe judged by mathematicians.\"\n\nNotwithstanding this, however, his work, after his death, was condemned\nby the Index in 1616, under Paul V.\n\nOn examining the ancient systems, Copernicus was struck by the want of\nharmony in the arrangements proposed, and by the arbitrary manner in\nwhich new principles were introduced and old ones neglected, comparing\nthe system to a collection of legs and arms not united to any trunk, and\nit was the simplicity and harmony which the one idea of the motion of\nthe earth introduced into the whole system that convinced him most\nthoroughly of its truth.\n\nHe knew well that new views and truths would appear as paradoxes, and be\nrejected by men who were wedded to old doctrines, and on this account he\ntook such pains to show that these views had been held before, and thus\nto disarm them of their apparent novelty.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 20.--THE COPERNICAN SYSTEM.]\n\nCopernicus dealt only with the six planets then known and the sun and\nmoon. As to the stars, he had no idea that they were suns like our own,\nat immense and various distances from us. The knowledge of the magnitude\nof the sidereal universe was reserved for our own century, when it was\ndiscovered by the method of parallaxes. We will give Copernicus's own\nsketch of the planetary system:--\n\n\"In the highest place is the sphere of the fixed stars, an immovable\nsphere, which surrounds the whole of the universe. Among the movable\nplanets the first is Saturn, which requires thirty years to make its\nrevolution. After it Jupiter accomplishes its journey in twelve years;\nMars follows, requiring two years. In the fourth line come the earth and\nthe moon which in the course of one year return to their original\nposition. The fifth place is occupied by Venus, which requires nine\nmonths for its journey. Mercury occupies the sixth place, whose orbit is\naccomplished in eighty days. In the midst of all is the sun. What man is\nthere, who in this majestic temple could choose another and better place\nfor that brilliant lamp which illuminates all the planets with their\nsatellites? It is not without reason that the sun is called the lantern\nof the world, the soul and thought of the universe. In placing it in the\ncentre of the planets, as on a regal throne, we give it the government\nof the great family of celestial bodies.\"\n\nThe hypothesis of the motion of the earth in its orbit appeared simply\nto Copernicus as a good basis for the exact determination of the ratios\nof the distances of the several planets about the sun. But he did not\ngive up the excentrics and epicycles for the explanation of the\nirregular motions of the planets, and certain imaginary variations in\nthe precession of the equinoxes and the obliquity of the ecliptic.\nAccording to him the earth was endowed with three different motions, the\nfirst about its axis, the second along the ecliptic, and a third, which\nhe called the declination, moving it backwards along the signs of the\nzodiac from east to west. This last motion was invented to explain the\nphenomena of the seasons. He thought, like many other ancient\nphilosophers, that a body could not turn about another without being\nfixed in some way to it--by a crystal sphere, or something--and in this\ncase that the same surface would each day be presented to the sun, and\nso it requires a third rotation, by which its axis may remain constantly\nparallel to itself. Galileo, however, afterwards demonstrated the\nindependence of the two motions in question, and proved that the third\nwas unnecessary.\n\nCopernicus was born in the Polish village of Thorn, in 1473, and died in\n1543, at Warmia, of which he was canon, and where he built an\nobservatory. The voyages of his youth, his labours, adversities, and old\nage at last broke him down, and in the winter of 1542 he took to his\nbed, and was incapable of further work. His work, which was just\nfinished printing at Nuremberg, was brought to him by his friends before\nhe died. He soon after completely failed in strength, and passed away\ntranquilly on the 23rd of May, 1543.\n\n[Illustration: PLATE VIII.--DEATH OF COPERNICUS.]\n\nThe Copernican system required, however, establishing in the minds of\nastronomers generally before it took the place it now holds, and this\nwork was done by Galileo--a name as celebrated as that of Copernicus\nhimself, if not more so. This perhaps is due not only to his\ndemonstration of the motion of the earth, but to his introduction of\nexperimental philosophy, and his observational method in astronomy.\n\nThe next advance was made by Kepler, who overthrew at one blow all the\nexcentrics and epicycles of the ancients, when by his laborious\ncalculations he proved the ellipticity of the orbit of Mars.\n\nThe Grecian hypotheses were the logical consequences of two propositions\nwhich were universally admitted as axioms in the early and middle ages.\nFirst, that the motions of the heavenly bodies were uniform; second,\nthat their orbits were perfect circles. Nothing appeared more natural\nthan this belief, though false. So then when Kepler, in 1609, recognised\nthe fact, by incontestable geometrical measurements, that Mars described\nan oval orbit round the sun, in which its velocity varied periodically,\nhe could not believe either his observation or his calculation, and he\npuzzled his brain to discover what secret principle it was that forced\nthe planet to approach and depart from the sun by turns. Fortunately for\nhim, in this inquietude he came across a treatise by Gilbert, _De\nMagnate_, which had been published in London nine years before. In this\nremarkable work Gilbert proved by experiment that the earth acts on\nmagnetized needles and on bars of iron placed near its surface just as a\nmagnet does--and by a conjectural extension of this fact, which was a\nvague presentiment of the truth, he supposed that the earth itself might\nbe retained in its constant orbit round the sun by a magnetic\nattraction. This idea was a ray of light to Kepler. It led him to see\nthe secret cause of the alternating motions that had troubled him so\nmuch, and in the joy of that discovery he said, \"If we find it\nimpossible to attribute the vibration to a magnetic power residing in\nthe sun, acting on the planet without any material medium between, we\nmust conclude that the planet is itself endowed with a kind of\nintelligent perception which gives it power to know at each instant the\nproper angles and distances for its motion.\" In the result Kepler was\nled to enunciate to the world his three celebrated laws:--\n\n1st. That the planets move in ellipses, of which the sun is in one of\nthe foci.\n\n2nd. The spaces described by the ideal radius which joins each planet to\nthe sun are proportional to the times of their description. In other\nwords, the nearer a planet is to the sun, the faster it moves.\n\n3rd. The squares of the times of revolution are as the cubes of the\nmajor axes of the orbits.\n\nSuch were the laws of Kepler, the basis of modern astronomy, which led\nin the hands of Newton to the simple explanation by universal\ngravitation, which itself is now asking to be explained.\n\nWe are not to suppose that the system of Copernicus was universally\naccepted even by astronomers of note. By some an attempt was made to\ninvent a system which should have all the advantages of this, and yet if\npossible save the immobility of the earth. Such was that of Tycho Brahe,\nwho was born three years after the death of Copernicus, and died in\n1601. He was one of the most laborious and painstaking observers of his\ntime, although by the peculiarity of fate he is known generally only by\nhis false system.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 21.--TYCHO BRAHE'S SYSTEM.]\n\nIn 1577, Tycho Brahe wrote a little treatise, _Tychonis Brahe, Dani, De\nMundi AEtherei Recentioribus phenomenis, a propos_ of a comet that had\nlately appeared. He speaks at length of his system as follows:--\"I have\nremarked that the ancient system of Ptolemy is not at all natural, and\ntoo complicated. But neither can I approve of the new one introduced by\nthe great Copernicus after the example of Aristarchus of Samos. This\nheavy mass of earth, so little fit for motion, could not be displaced in\nthis manner, and moved in three ways, like the celestial bodies, without\na shock to the principles of physics. Besides, it is opposed to\nScripture! I think then,\" he adds, \"that we must decidedly and without\ndoubt place the earth immovable in the centre of world, according to the\nbelief of the ancients and the testimony of Scripture. In my opinion the\ncelestial motions are arranged in such a way that the sun, the moon,\nand the sphere of the fixed stars, which incloses all, have the earth\nfor their centre. The five planets turn about the sun as about their\nchief and king, the sun being constantly in the centre of their orbits,\nand accompany it in its annual motion round the earth.\" This system\nperfectly accounts for the apparent motions of the planets as seen from\nthe earth, and is essentially a variation on the Copernican, rather than\non the Ptolemaic system, but it lent itself less readily to future\ndiscoveries. It simply amounts, as far as the solar system is concerned,\nto impressing upon all the rest of it the motions of the earth, so as to\nleave the latter at rest; and were the sun only as large with respect\nto the earth as it seems, were the planets really smaller than the moon,\nand the stars only at a short distance, and smaller than the planets, it\nmight seem more natural that they should move than the earth; but when\nall these suppositions were disproved, the very argument of Tycho Brahe\nfor the stability of the earth turned the other way, and proved as\nincontestably that it moved. In the Copernican system, however, these\nquestions are of no consequence; if the sun be at rest, this mass makes\nno difference; if the earth moves like the planets, their relative size\ndoes not alter anything; and if stars are immovable they may be at any\ndistance and of any magnitude.\n\nThe objections of Tycho Brahe to the earth's motion were: First, that it\nwas too heavy--we know now, however, that some other planets are\nheavier--and that the sun, which he would make move instead, is 340,000\ntimes as heavy. Secondly, that if the earth moved, all loose things\nwould be carried from east to west; but we have experience of many loose\nthings being kept by friction on moving bodies, and can conceive how,\nall things may be kept by the attraction of the earth under the\ninfluence of its own motion. Thirdly, that he could not imagine that the\nearth was turned upside down every day, and that for twelve hours our\nheads are downwards.\n\nBut the existence of the antipodes overcomes this objection, and shows\nthat there is no up and down in the universe, but each man calls that\n_down_ which is nearer to the centre of the earth than himself.\n\nA variation on Tycho Brahe's system was attempted by one Longomontanus,\nwho had lived with him for ten years. It consisted in admitting the\ndiurnal rotation, but not the annual revolution, of the earth; but it\nmade no progress, and was soon forgotten.\n\nMore remarkable than this was the attempt by Descartes in the same\ndirection, namely, to hold the principles of Copernicus, and yet to\nteach the immobility of the earth. His idea of immobility was however\nvery different from that of Tycho Brahe, or of any one else, and would\nonly be called so by those who were bound to believe it at all costs.\n\nHis Theory of Vortices, as it is called, will be best given in his own\nwords as contained in his _Les Principes de la Philosophie_, third part,\nchap. xxvi., entitled, \"That the earth is at rest in its heaven, which\ndoes not prevent its being carried along with it, and that it is the\nsame with all the planets.\"\n\n\"I adhere,\" he says, \"to the hypothesis of Copernicus, because it seems\nto me the simplest and clearest. There is no vacuum anywhere in\nspace.... The heavens are full of a universal liquid substance. This is\nan opinion now commonly received among astronomers, because they cannot\nsee how the phenomena can be explained without it. The substance of the\nheavens has the common property of all liquids, that its minutest\nparticles are easily moved in any direction, and when it happens that\nthey all move in one way, they necessarily carry with them all the\nbodies they surround, and which are not prevented from moving by any\nexternal cause. The matter of the heaven in which the planets are turns\nround continually like a vortex, which has the Sun for its centre. The\nparts that are nearest the Sun move faster than those that are at a\ngreater distance; and all the planets, including the earth, remain\nalways suspended in the same place in the matter of the heaven. And just\nas in the turns of rivers, when the water turns back on itself and\ntwists round in circles, if any twig or light body floats on it, we see\nit carry them round, and make them move with it, and even among these\ntwigs we may see some turning on their own centre, and those that are\nnearest to the middle of the vortex moving quicker than those on the\noutside; so we may easily imagine it to be with the planets, and this is\nall that is necessary to explain the phenomena. The matter that is round\nSaturn takes about thirty years to run its circle; that which surrounds\nJupiter carries it and its satellites round in twelve years, and so\non.... The satellites are carried round their primaries by smaller\nvortices.... The earth is not sustained by columns, nor suspended in the\nair by ropes, but it is environed on all sides by a very liquid heaven.\nIt is at rest, and has no propulsion or motion, since we do not perceive\nany in it. This does not prevent it being carried round by its heaven,\nand following its motion without moving itself, just as a vessel which\nis not moved by winds or oars, and is not retained by anchors, remains\nin repose in the middle of the sea, although the flood of the great\nmass of water carries it insensibly with it. Like the earth, the planets\nremain at rest in the region of heaven where each one is found.\nCopernicus made no difficulty in allowing that the earth moves. Tycho,\nto whom this opinion seemed absurd and unworthy of common sense, wished\nto correct him, but the earth has far more motion in his hypothesis than\nin that of Copernicus.\"\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 22.--DESCARTES' THEORY OF VORTICES.]\n\nSuch is the celebrated theory of vortices. The comparison of the\nrotation of the earth and planets and their revolution round the sun to\nthe turning of small portions of a rapid stream, may contain an idea yet\ndestined to be developed to account for these motions; but as used by\nDescartes it is a mere playing upon words admirably adapted to secure\nthe concurrence of all parties; those who believed in the motion of the\nearth seeing that it did not interfere with their ideas in the least,\nand those who believed in its stability being gratified to find some way\nby which they might still cling to that belief and yet adopt the new\nideas. This was its purpose, and that purpose it well served; but as a\nphilosophical speculation it was worthless. When former astronomers\ndeclared that any planet moved, whether it were the earth or any other,\nthey had no idea of attraction, but supposed the planet fixed to a\nsphere; this sphere moving and carrying the planet with it was what they\nmeant by the planet moving: the theory of vortices merely substituted a\nliquid for a solid sphere, with this disadvantage, that if the planet\nwere fixed to a solid moving sphere, it _must_ move; if only placed in a\nliquid one, that liquid might pass it if it did not have motion of its\nown.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 23.--VORTICES OF THE STARS.]\n\nA variation on Descartes' system of vortices was proposed in the\neighteenth century, which supposed that the sun, instead of being fixed\nin the centre of the system, itself circulated round another centre,\ncarrying Mercury with it. This motion of the sun was intented to explain\nthe changes of magnitude of its disc as seen from the earth, and the\ndiurnal and annual variations in its motion, without discarding its\ncircular path.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 24.--VARIATION OF DESCARTES' THEORY.]\n\nWe have thus noticed all the chief astronomical systems that have at any\ntime been entertained by astronomers. They one and all have given way\nbefore the universally acknowledged truth about which there is no longer\nany dispute. Systems are not now matters of opinion or theory. We speak\nof facts as certain as any that can be ascertained in any branch of\nknowledge. We have much to learn, but what we have settled as the basis\nof our knowledge will never more be altered as far as we can see.\n\nOf course there have been always fantastic fancies put forth about the\nsolar system, but they are more amusing than instructive. Some have said\nthat there is no sun, moon, or stars, but that they are reflections from\nan immense light under the earth. Some savage races say that the moon\nwhen decreasing breaks up into stars, and is renewed each month by a\ncreative act. The Indians used to say that it was full of nectar which\nthe gods ate up when it waned, and which grew again when it waxed. The\nBrahmins placed the earth in the centre, and said that the stars moved\nlike fishes in a sea of liquid. They counted nine planets, of which two\nare invisible dragons which cause eclipses; which, since they happen in\nvarious parts of the zodiac, show that these dragons revolve like the\nrest. They said the sun was nearer than the moon, perhaps because it is\nhotter and brighter. Berosus the Chaldean gave a very original\nexplanation of the phases and eclipses of the moon. He said it had one\nside bright, and the other side just the colour of the sky, and in\nturning it represented the different colours to us.\n\nBefore concluding this chapter we may notice what information we possess\nas to the origin of the names by which the planets are known. These\nnames have not always been given to them, and date only from the time\nwhen the poets began to associate the Grecian mythology with astronomy.\nThe earlier names had reference rather to their several characters,\nalthough there appear to have been among every people two sets of names\napplied to them.\n\nThe earliest Greek names referred to their various degrees of\nbrilliancy: thus Saturn, which is not easily distinguished, was called\nPhenon, or _that which appears_; Jupiter was named Phaeton, _the\nbrilliant_; Mars was Pysois, or _flame-coloured_; Mercury, Stilbon, _the\nsparkling_; Venus, Phosphorus; and Lucifer, _the light-bearer_. They\ncalled the latter also Calliste, _the most beautiful_. It was also known\nthen as now under the appellations of the morning star and evening star,\nindicating its special position.\n\nWith the ancient Accadians, the planets had similar names, among others.\nThus, \"Mars was sometimes called _the vanishing star_, in allusion to\nits recession from the earth, and Jupiter the _planet of the ecliptic_,\nfrom its neighbourhood to the latter\" (Sayce). The name of Mars raises\nthe interesting question as to whether they had noticed its phases as\nwell as its movements--especially when, with reference to Venus, it is\nrecorded in the \"Observations of Bel,\" that \"it rises, and in its orbit\nduly grows in size.\" They had also a rather confusing system of\nnomenclature by naming each planet after the star that it happened to be\nthe nearest to at any point of its course round the ecliptic.\n\nAmong less cultivated nations also the same practice held, as with the\nnatives of South America, whose name for the sun is a word meaning _it\nbrings the day_; for the moon, _it brings the night_; and for Venus, _it\nannounces the day_.\n\nBut even among the Eastern nations, from whom the Greeks and Romans\nborrowed their astronomical systems, it soon became a practice to\nassociate these planets with the names of the several divinities they\nworshipped. This was perhaps natural from the adoration they paid to the\ncelestial luminaries themselves on account of their real or supposed\ninfluence on terrestrial affairs; and, moreover, as time went on, and\nheroes had appeared, and they had to find them dwelling-places in the\nheavens, they would naturally associate them with one or other of the\nmost brilliant and remarkable luminaries, to which they might suppose\nthem translated. Beyond these general remarks, only conjectures can be\nmade why any particular divinity should among the Greeks be connected\nwith the several planets as we now know them. Such conjectures as the\nfollowing we may make. Thus Jupiter, the largest, would take first rank,\nand be called after the name of the chief divinity. The soft and\nsympathising Venus--appearing at the twilight--would well denote the\nevening star. Mars would receive its name from its red appearance,\nnaturally suggesting carnage and the god of war. Saturn, or Kronos, the\ngod of time, is personified by the slow and almost imperceptible motion\nof that remote planet. While Mercury, the fiery and quick god of thieves\nand commerce, is well matched with the hide-and-seek planet which so\nseldom can be seen, and moves so rapidly.\n\nThese were the only planets known to the ancients, and were indeed all\nthat could be discovered without a telescope. If the ancient Babylonians\npossessed telescopes, as has been conjectured from their speaking, as we\nhave noticed above, of the increase of the size of Venus, and from the\nfinding a crystal lens among the ruins of Nineveh, they did not use them\nfor this purpose.\n\nThe other planets now known have a far shorter history. Uranus was\ndiscovered by Sir William Herschel on the 13th of March, 1781, and was\nat first taken for a comet. Herschel proposed to call it Georgium Sidus,\nafter King George III. Lalande suggested it should be named Herschel,\nafter its discoverer, and it bore this name for some time. Afterwards\nthe names, Neptune, Astroea, Cybele, and Uranus were successively\nproposed, and the latter, the suggestion of Bode, was ultimately\nadopted. It is the name of the most ancient of the gods, connected with\nthe then most modern of planets in point of discovery, though also most\nancient in formation, if recent theories be correct. Neptune, as\neverybody knows, was calculated into existence, if one may so speak, by\nAdams and Leverrier independently, and was first seen, in the quarter\nindicated, by Dr. Galle at Berlin, in September, 1846, and by universal\nconsent it received the name it now bears.\n\nThere are now also known a long series of what are called minor planets,\nall circulating between Mars and Jupiter, with their irregular orbits\ninextricably mingled together. Their discovery was led to in a\nremarkable manner. It was observed that the distances of the several\nplanets might approximately be expressed by the terms of a certain\nmathematical series, if one term was supplied between Mars and\nJupiter--a fact known by the name of Bode's law. When the new planet,\nUranus, was found to obey this law, the feeling was so strong that there\nmust be something to represent this missing term, that strong efforts\nwere made to discover it, which led to success, and several, whose names\nare derived from the minor gods and goddesses, are now well known.\n\nAll these planets, like the signs of the zodiac, are indicated by\nastronomers by certain symbols, which, as they derive their form from\nthe names or nature of the planets, may properly here be explained. The\nsign of Neptune is [symbol: neptune], representing the trident of the\nsea; for Uranus [symbol: uranus], which is the first letter of Herschel\nwith a little globe below; [symbol: saturn] is the sickle of time, or\nSaturn; [symbol: jupiter] is the representation of the first letter of\nZeus or Jupiter; [symbol: mars] is the lance and buckler of Mars;\n[symbol: venus] the mirror of Venus; [symbol: mercury] the wand of\nMercury; [symbol: sun] the sun's disc; and [symbol: moon] the crescent\nof the moon.\n\n[Illustration: PLATE IX.--THE SOLAR SYSTEM.]\n\nThe more modern discoveries have, of course, been all made by means of\nthe telescope, and a few words on the history of its discovery may fitly\nclose this chapter.\n\nAccording to Olbers, a concave and convex lens were first used in\ncombination, to render objects less distant in appearance, in the year\n1606. In that year the children of one Jean Lippershey, an optician of\nMiddelburg, in Zealand, were playing with his lenses, and happened to\nhold one before the other to look at a distant clock. Their great\nsurprise in seeing how near it seemed attracted their father's\nattention, and he made several experiments with them, at last fixing\nthem as in the modern telescope--in draw tubes. On the 2nd of October,\n1606, he made a petition to the States-General of Holland for a patent.\nThe aldermen, however, saw no advantage in it, as you could only look\nwith one eye instead of two. They refused the patent, and though the\ndiscovery was soon found of value, Lippershey reaped no benefit.\n\nGalileo was the first to apply the telescope to astronomical\nobservations. He did not have it made in Holland, but constructed it\nhimself on Lippershey's principle. This was in 1609. Its magnifying\npower was at first 4, and he afterwards increased it to 7, and then to\n30. With this he discovered the phases of Venus, the spots on the sun,\nthe four satellites of Jupiter, and the mountains of the moon.\n\n[Illustration: PLATE X.--THE DISCOVERY OF THE TELESCOPE.]\n\nKepler, in 1611, made the first astronomical telescope with two concave\nglasses.\n\nHuyghens increased the magnifying power successively to 48, 50, and 92,\nand discovered Saturn's ring and his satellite No. 4.\n\nCassini, the first director of the Paris Observatory, brought it to 150,\naided by Auzout Campani of Rome, and Rives of London. He observed the\nrotation of Jupiter (1665), that of Venus and Mars (1666), the fifth and\nthird satellites of Saturn (1671), and afterwards the two nearer ones\n(1684); the other satellites of this planet were discovered, the sixth\nand seventh, by Sir William Herschel (1789), and the eighth by Bond and\nLasel (1848).\n\nWe may add here that the satellites of Uranus were discovered, six by\nHerschel from 1790 to 1794, and two by Lassel in 1851, the latter also\ndiscovering Neptune's satellite in 1847.\n\nThe rotation of Saturn was discovered by Herschel in 1789, and that of\nMercury by Schroeter in 1800.\n\nThe earliest telescopes which were reflectors were made by Gregory in\n1663 and Newton in 1672. The greatest instruments of our century are\nthat of Herschel, which magnifies 3,000 times, and Lord Rosse's,\nmagnifying 6,000 times, the Foucault telescope at Marseilles, of 4,000,\nthe reflector at Melbourne, of 7,000, and the Newall refractor.\n\n[Illustration: PLATE XI.--THE FOUNDATION OF PARIS OBSERVATORY.]\n\nThe exact knowledge of the heavens, which makes so grand a feature in\nmodern science, is due, however, not only to the existence of\ninstruments, but also to the establishment of observatories especially\ndevoted to their use. The first astronomical observatory that was\nconstructed was that at Paris. In 1667 Colbert submitted the designs of\nit to Louis XIV., and four years afterwards it was completed. The\nGreenwich Observatory was established in 1676, that of Berlin in 1710,\nand that of St. Petersburg in 1725. Since then numerous others have been\nerected, private as well as public, in all parts of the world, and no\nnight passes without numerous observations being taken as part of the\nordinary duty of the astronomers attached to them.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nTHE TERRESTRIAL WORLD OF THE ANCIENTS.--COSMOGRAPHY AND GEOGRAPHY.\n\n\nWith respect to the shape and position of the earth itself in the\nmaterial universe, and the question of its motion or immobility, we\ncannot go so far back as in the case of the heavens, since it obviously\nrequires more observation, and is not so pressing for an answer.\n\nAmongst the Greeks several authors appear to have undertaken the\nsubject, but only one complete work has come down to us which undertakes\nit directly. This is a work attributed to Aristotle, _De Mundo_. It is\naddressed to Alexander, and by some is considered to be spurious,\nbecause it lacks the majestic obscurity that in his acknowledged works\nrepels the reader. Although, however, it is not as obscure as it might\nbe, for the writer, it is quite bad enough, and its dryness and\nvagueness, its mixture of metaphysical and physical reasoning, logic and\nobservation, and the change that has naturally passed over the meanings\nof many common words since they were written, render it very tedious\nand unpleasant reading.\n\nNevertheless, as presenting us with the first recorded ideas on these\nquestions of the nature and properties of the earth, it deserves\nattentive study. It is not a system of observations like those of\nPtolemy and the Alexandrian School, but an entirely theoretical work. It\nis founded entirely on logic; but unfortunately, if the premisses are\nbad, the better the syllogism the more erroneous will be the conclusion;\nand it is just this which we find here. Thus if he be asked whether the\nearth turns or the heavens, he will reply that the earth is _evidently_\nin repose, and that this is the case not only because we observe it to\nbe so, but because it is a necessity that it should be; because repose\nis _natural_ to the earth, and it is _naturally_ in equilibrium. This\nidea of \"natural\" leads very often astray. He is guided to his idea of\nwhat is natural by seeing what is, and then argues that what is, or\nappears to be, must be, because it is natural--thus arguing in a circle.\nAnother example may be given in his answer to the question, Why must the\nstars move round the earth? He says it is natural, because a circle is a\nmore perfect line, and must therefore be described by the perfect stars,\nand a circle is perfect because it has no ends! Unfortunately there are\nother curves that have no ends; but the circle was considered, without\nmore reason, the most perfect curve, and therefore the planets must move\nin circles--an idea which had to wait till Kepler's time to be\nexploded. One more specimen of this style may be quoted, namely, his\nproof that every part of heaven must be eternally moving, while the\nearth must be in the centre and at rest. The proof is this. Everything\nwhich performs any act has been made for the purpose of that act. Now\nthe work of God is immortality, from which it follows that all that is\ndivine must have an eternal motion. But the heavens have a divine\nquality, and for this reason they have a spherical shape and move\neternally in a circle. Now when a body has a circular motion, one part\nof it must remain at rest in its place, namely, that which is in the\ncentre; the earth is in the centre--therefore it is at rest.\n\nAristotle says in this work that there are two kinds of simple motion,\nthat in a circle and that in a straight line. The latter belongs to the\nelements, which either go up or down, and the former to the celestial\nbodies, whose nature is more divine, and which have never been known to\nchange; and the earth and world must be the only bodies in existence,\nfor if there were another, it must be the contrary to this, and there is\nno contrary to a circle; and again, if there were any other body, the\nearth would be attracted towards it, and move, which it does not. Such\nis the style of argument which was in those days thought conclusive, and\nwhich with a little development and inflation of language appeared\nintensely profound.\n\nBut what brings these speculations to the subject we have now in hand\nis this: that when Aristotle thus proves the earth to be immovable in\nthe centre of the universe, he is led on to inquire how it is possible\nfor it to remain in one fixed place. He observed that even a small\nfragment of earth, when it is raised into the air and then let go,\nimmediately falls without ever stopping in one place--falling, as he\nsupposed, all the quicker according to its weight; and he was therefore\npuzzled to know why the whole mass of the earth, notwithstanding its\nweight, could be kept from falling.\n\nAristotle examines one by one the answers that have been given to this\nquestion. Thus Xenophanes gave to the earth infinitely extended roots,\nagainst which Empedocles uses such arguments as we should use now.\nThales of Miletus makes the earth rest upon water, without finding\nanything on which the water itself can rest, or answering the question\nhow it is that the heavier earth can be supported on the lighter water.\nAnaxemenes, Anaxagoras, and Democritus, who make the earth flat,\nconsider it to be sustained by the air, which is accumulated below it,\nand also presses down upon it like a great coverlet. Aristotle himself\nsays that he agrees with those philosophers who think that the earth is\nbrought to the centre by the primitive rotation of things, and that we\nmay compare it, as Empedocles does, to the water in glasses which are\nmade to turn rapidly, and which does not fall out or move, even though\nupside down. He also quotes with approval another opinion somewhat\nsimilar to this, namely, that of Anaximander, which states that the\nearth is in repose, on account of its own equilibrium. Placed in the\ncentre and at an equal distance from its extremities, there is no reason\nwhy it should move in one direction rather than the other, and rests\nimmovable in the centre without being able to leave it.\n\nThe result of all is that Aristotle concludes that the earth is\nimmovable, in the centre of the universe, and that it is not a star\ncirculating in space like other stars, and that it does not rotate upon\nits axis; and he completes the system by stating that the earth is\nspherical, which is proved by the different aspects of the heavens to a\nvoyager to the north or to the south.\n\nSuch was the Aristotelian system, containing far more error than truth,\nwhich was the first of any completeness. Scattered ideas, however, on\nthe shape and method of support of the earth and the cause of various\nphenomena, such as the circulation of the stars, are met with besides in\nabundance.\n\nThe original ideas of the earth were naturally tinged by the\nprepossessions of each race, every one thinking his own country to be\nsituated in the centre. Thus among the Hindoos, who lived near the\nequator, and among the Scandinavians, inhabiting regions nearer the\npole, the same meaning attaches to the words by which they express their\nown country, _medpiama_ and _medgard_, both meaning the central\nhabitation. Olympus among the Greeks was made the centre of the earth,\nand afterwards the temple of Delphi. For the Egyptians the central point\nwas Thebes; for the Assyrians it was Babylon; for the Indians it was the\nmountain Mero; for the Hebrews Jerusalem. The Chinese always called\ntheir country the central empire. It was then the custom to denote the\nworld by a large disc, surrounded on all sides by a marvellous and\ninaccessible ocean. At the extremities of the earth were placed\nimaginary regions and fortunate isles, inhabited by giants or pigmies.\nThe vault of the sky was supposed to be supported by enormous mountains\nand mysterious columns.\n\nNumerous variations have been suggested on the earliest supposed form of\nthe earth, which was, as we have seen in a former chapter, originally\nsupposed to be an immense flat of infinite depth, and giving support to\nthe heavens.\n\nAs travels extended and geography began to be a science, it was remarked\nthat an immense area of water circumscribed the solid earth by irregular\nboundaries--whence the idea of a universal ocean.\n\nWhen, however, it was perceived that the horizon at sea was always\ncircular, it was supposed that the ocean was bounded, and the whole\nearth came to be represented as contained in a circle, beneath which\nwere roots reaching downwards without end, but with no imagined\nsupport.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 25.--THE EARTH FLOATING.]\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 26.--THE EARTH WITH ROOTS.]\n\nThe Vedic priests asserted that the earth was supported on twelve\ncolumns, which they very ingeniously turned to their own account by\nasserting that these columns were supported by virtue of the sacrifices\nthat were made to the gods, so that if these were not made the earth\nwould collapse.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 27.--THE EARTH OF THE VEDIC PRIESTS.]\n\nThese pillars were invented in order to account for the passing of the\nsun beneath the earth after his setting, for which at first they were\nobliged to imagine a system of tunnels, which gradually became enlarged\nto the intervals between the pillars.\n\nThe Hindoos made the hemispherical earth to be supported upon four\nelephants, and the four elephants to stand on the back of an immense\ntortoise, which itself floated on the surface of a universal ocean. We\nare not however to laugh at this as intended to be literal; the\nelephants symbolised, it may be, the four elements, or the four\ndirections of the compass, and the tortoise was the symbol for strength\nand for eternity, which was also sometimes represented by a serpent.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 28.--HINDOO EARTH.]\n\nThe floating of the earth on water or some other liquid long held\nground. It was adopted by Thales, and six centuries later Seneca adopts\nthe same opinion, saying that the humid element that supports the\nearth's disc like a vessel may be either the ocean or some liquid more\nsimple than water.\n\nDiodorus tells us that the Chaldeans considered the earth hollow and\nboat-shaped--perhaps turned upside down--and this doctrine was\nintroduced into Greece by Heraclitus of Ephesus.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 29.--THE EARTH OF ANAXIMANDER.]\n\nAnaximander represents the earth as a cylinder, the upper face of which\nalone is inhabited. This cylinder, he states, is one-third as high as\nits diameter, and it floats freely in the centre of the celestial vault,\nbecause there is no reason why it should move to one side rather than\nthe other. Leucippus, Democritus, Heraclitus, and Anaxagoras all adopted\nthis purely imaginary form. Europe made the northern half, and Lybia\n(Africa) and Asia the southern, while Delphi was in the centre.\n\nAnaximenes, without giving a precise opinion as to the form of the\nearth, made it out to be supported on compressed air, though he gave no\nidea as to how the air was to be compressed.\n\nPlato thought to improve upon these ideas by making the earth cubical.\nThe cube, which is bound by six equal faces, appeared to him the most\nperfect of solids, and therefore most suitable for the earth, which was\nto stand in the centre of the universe.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 30.--PLATO'S CUBICAL EARTH.]\n\nEudoxus, who in his long voyages throughout Greece and Egypt had seen\nnew constellations appear as he went south, while others to the north\ndisappeared, deduced the sphericity of the earth, in which opinion he\nwas followed by Archimedes, and, as we have seen, by Aristotle.\n\nAccording to Achilles Tatius, Xenophanes gave to the earth the shape of\nan immense inclined plane, which stretched out to infinity. He drew it\nin the form of a vast mountain. The summit only was inhabited by men,\nand round it circulated the stars, and the base was at an infinite\ndepth. Hesiod had before this obscurely said: \"The abyss is surrounded\nby a brazen barrier; above it rest the roots of the earth.\" Epicurus and\nhis school were well pleased with this representation. If such were the\nfoundations of the earth, then it was impossible that the sun, and moon,\nand stars should complete their revolutions beneath it. A solid and\nindefinite support being once admitted, the Epicurean ideas about the\nstars were a necessary consequence; the stars must inevitably be put out\neach day in the west, since they are not seen to return to the place\nwhence they started, and they must be rekindled some hours afterwards in\nthe east. In the days of Augustus, Cleomedes still finds himself obliged\nto combat these Epicurean ideas about the setting and rising of the sun\nand stars. \"These stupid ideas,\" he says, \"have no other foundation than\nan old woman's story--that the Iberians hear each night the hissing\nnoise made by the burning sun as it is extinguished, like a hot iron in\nthe waters of the ocean.\" Modern travellers have shown us that similar\nideas about the support of the earth have been entertained by more\nremote people. Thus, in the opinion of the Greenlanders, handed down\nfrom antiquity to our own days, the earth is supported on pillars, which\nare so consumed by time that they often crack, and were it not that they\nare supported by the incantations of the magicians, they would long\nsince have broken down. This idea of the breaking of the pillars may\npossibly have originated in the known sinking of the land beneath the\nsea, which is still going on even at the present day.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 31.--EGYPTIAN REPRESENTATION OF THE EARTH.]\n\nAn ancient Egyptian papyrus in the library of Paris gives a very curious\nhieroglyphical representation of the universe. The earth is here figured\nunder the form of a reclining figure, and is covered with leaves. The\nheavens are personified by a goddess, which forms the vault by her\nstar-bespangled body, which is elongated in a very peculiar manner. Two\nboats, carrying, one the rising sun, and the other the setting sun, are\nrepresented as moving along the heavens over the body of the goddess. In\nthe centre of the picture is the god, Maon, a divine intelligence, which\npresides over the equilibrium of the universe.\n\nWe will now pass on from the early ideas of the general shape and\nsituation of the world to inquire into the first outlines of\ngeographical knowledge of details.\n\nOf all the ancient writings which deal with such questions, the Hebrew\nScriptures have the greatest antiquity, and in them are laid down many\ndetails of known countries, from which a fair map of the world as known\nto them might be made out. The prophet Esdras believed that six-sevenths\nof the earth was dry land--an idea which could not well be exploded till\nthe great oceans had been traversed and America discovered.\n\nMore interesting, as being more complete, and written to a certain\nextent for the very purpose of relating what was known of the geography\nof the earth, are the writings of the oldest Grecian poets. The first\nelements of Grecian geography are contained in the two national and\nalmost sacred poems, the _Iliad_ and _Odyssey_. So important have these\nwritings been considered in regard to ancient geography, that for many\ncenturies discussions have been carried on with regard to the details,\nthough evidently fictitious, of the voyage of Ulysses, and twenty lines\nof the _Iliad_ have furnished matter for a book of thirty volumes.\n\nThe shield of Achilles, forged by Vulcan and described in the eighteenth\nbook of the _Iliad_, gives us an authentic representation of the\nprimitive cosmographical ideas of the age. The earth is there figured as\na disc, surrounded on all sides by the _River Ocean_. However strange it\nmay appear to us, to apply the term _river_ to the ocean, it occurs too\noften in Homer and the other ancient poets to admit of a doubt of its\nbeing literally understood by them. Hesiod even describes the sources of\nthe ocean at the western extremity of the world, and the representation\nof these sources was preserved from age to age amongst authors posterior\nto Homer by nearly a thousand years. Herodotus says plainly that the\ngeographers of his time drew their maps of the world according to the\nsame ideas; the earth was figured with them as a round disc, and the\nocean as a river, which washed it on all sides.\n\nThe earth's disc, the _orbis terrarum_, was covered according to Homer\nby a solid vault or firmament, beneath which the stars of the day and\nnight were carried by chariots supported by the clouds. In the morning\nthe sun rose from the eastern ocean, and in the evening it declined into\nthe western; and a vessel of gold, the mysterious work of Vulcan,\ncarried it quickly back by the north, to the east again. Beneath the\nearth Homer places, not the habitation of the dead, the caverns of\nHades, but a vault called Tartarus, corresponding to the firmament. Here\nlived the Titans, the enemies of the gods, and no breath of wind, no\nray of light, ever penetrated to this subterranean world. Writers\nsubsequent to Homer by a century determined even the height of the\nfirmament and the depth of Tartarus. An anvil, they said, would take\nnine days to fall from heaven to earth, and as many more to fall from\nearth to the bottom of Tartarus. This estimate of the height of heaven\nwas of course far too small. If a body were to fall for nine days and\nnights, or 777,600 seconds under the attraction of the earth, it would\nonly pass over 430,500 miles, that is not much more than half as far\nagain as the moon. A ray of light would only take two seconds to pass\nover that distance, whereas it takes eight minutes to reach us from the\nsun, and four hours to come from Neptune--to say nothing of the distance\nof the stars.\n\nThe limits of the world in the Homeric cosmography were surrounded by\nobscurity. The columns of which Atlas was the guardian were supported on\nunknown foundations, and disappeared in the systems subsequent to Homer.\nBeyond the mysterious boundary where the earth ended and the heavens\nbegan an indefinite chaos spread out--a confused medley of life and\ninanity, a gulf where all the elements of heaven, Tartarus, and earth\nand sea are mixed together, a gulf of which the gods themselves are\nafraid.\n\nIdeas such as these prevailed long after geometers and astronomers had\nproved the spherical form of the globe, and they were revived by the\nearly Christian geographers and have left their trace even on the\ncommon language of to-day.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 32.--HOMERIC COSMOGRAPHY.]\n\nThe centre of the terrestrial disc was occupied by the continent and\nisles of Greece, which in the time of Homer possessed no general name.\nThe centre of Greece passed therefore for the centre of the whole world;\nand in Homer's system it was reckoned to be Olympus in Thessaly, but the\npriests of the celebrated Temple of Apollo at Delphi (known then under\nthe name of Python) gave out a tradition that that sacred place was the\nreal centre of the habitable world.\n\nThe straits which separate Italy from Sicily were so to speak the\nvestibule of the fabulous world of Homer. The threefold ebb and flow,\nthe howling of the monster Scylla, the whirlpools of Charybdis, the\nfloating rocks--all tell us that we are quitting here the region of\ntruth. Sicily itself, although already known under the name of\n_Trinacria_, was filled with marvels; here the flocks of the Sun\nwandered in a charming solitude under the guardianship of nymphs; here\nthe Cyclops, with one eye only, and the anthropophagous Lestrigons\nscared away the traveller from a land that was otherwise fertile in corn\nand wine. Two historical races were placed by Homer in Sicily, namely\nthe _Sicani_, and the _Siceli_, or _Siculi_.\n\nTo the west of Sicily we find ourselves in the midst of a region of\nfables. The enchanted islands of Circe and Calypso, and the floating\nisland of Eolus can no longer be found, unless we imagine them to have\noriginated, like Graham's Island in this century, from volcanic\neruptions or elevations, and to have disappeared again by the action of\nthe sea.\n\nThe Homeric map of the world terminated towards the west by two fabulous\ncountries which have given rise to many traditions among the ancients,\nand to many discussions among moderns. Near to the entrance of the\nocean, and not far from the sombre caverns where the dead are\ncongregated, Ulysses found the _Cimmerians_, \"an unhappy people, who,\nconstantly surrounded by thick shadows, never enjoyed the rays of the\nsun, neither when it mounted the skies, nor when it descended below the\nearth.\" Still farther away, and in the ocean itself, and therefore\nbeyond the limits of the earth, beyond the region of winds and seasons,\nthe poet paints for us a Fortunate Land, which he calls _Elysium_, a\ncountry where tempests and winter are unknown, where a soft zephyr\nalways blows, and where the elect of Jupiter, snatched from the common\nlot of mortals, enjoy a perpetual felicity.\n\nWhether these fictions had an allegory for their basis, or were founded\non the mistaken notions of voyagers--whether they arose in Greece, or,\nas the Hebrew etymology of the name Cimmerian might seem to indicate, in\nthe east, or in Phenicia, it is certain that the images they present,\ntransferred to the world of reality, and applied successively to various\nlands, and confused by contradictory explanations, have singularly\nembarrassed the progress of geography through many centuries. The Roman\ntravellers thought they recognised the Fortunate Isles in a group to the\nwest of Africa, now known as the Canaries. The philosophical fictions of\nPlato and Theopompus about Atlantes and Meropis have been long\nperpetuated in historical theories; though of course it is possible that\nin the numerous changes that have taken place in the surface of the\nearth, some ancient vast and populous island may have descended beneath\nthe level of the sea. On the other side, the poetic imagination created\nthe _Hyperboreans_, beyond the regions where the northern winds were\ngenerated, and according to a singular kind of meteorology, they\nbelieved them for that reason to be protected from the cold winds.\nHerodotus regrets that he has not been able to discover the least trace\nof them; he took the trouble to ask for information about them from\ntheir neighbours, the _Arimaspes_, a very clear-sighted race, though\nhaving but a single eye; but they could not inform him where the\nHyperboreans dwelt. The Enchanted Isles, where the Hesperides used to\nguard the golden fruit, and which the whole of antiquity placed in the\nwest, not far from the Fortunate Isles, are sometimes called Hyperborean\nby authors well versed in the ancient traditions. It is also in this\nsense that Sophocles speaks of the Garden of Phoebus, near the vault\nof heaven, and not far from the _sources of the night_, _i.e._ of the\nsetting of the sun.\n\nAvienus explains the mild temperature of the Hyperborean country by the\ntemporary proximity of the sun, since, according to the Homeric ideas,\nit passes during the night by the northern ocean to return to its palace\nin the east. This ancient tradition was not entirely exploded in the\ntime of Tacitus, who states that on the confines of Germany might be\nseen the veritable setting of Apollo beyond the water, and he believes\nthat as in the east the sun gives rise to incense and balm by its great\nproximity to the earth, so in the regions where it sets it makes the\nmost precious of juices to transude from the earth and form amber. It is\nthis idea that is embedded in the fables of amber being the tears of\ngold that Apollo shed when he went to the Hyperborean land to mourn the\nloss of his son AEsculapius, or by the sisters of Phaeton, changed into\npoplars; and it is denoted by the Greek name for amber, _electron_--a\nsun-stone. The Grecian sages, long before the time of Tacitus, said that\nthis very precious material was an exhalation from the earth that was\nproduced and hardened by the rays of the sun, which they thought came\nnearer to the earth in the west and in the north.\n\nFlorus, in relating the expedition of Decimus Brutus along the coast of\nSpain, gives great effect to the Epicurean views about the sun, by\ndeclaring that Brutus only stopped his conquests after having witnessed\nthe actual descent of the sun into the ocean, and having heard with\nhorror the terrible noise occasioned by its extinction. The ancients\nalso believed that the sun and the other heavenly bodies were nourished\nby the waters--partly the fresh water of the rivers, and partly the salt\nwater of the sea. Cleanthes gave the reason for the sun returning\ntowards the equator on reaching the solstices, that it could not go too\nfar away from the source of its nourishment. Pytheas relates that in the\nIsland of Thule, six days' journey north of Great Britain, and in all\nthat neighbourhood, there was no land nor sea nor air, but a compound of\nall three, on which the earth and the sea were suspended, and which\nserved to unite together all the parts of the universe, though it was\nnot possible to go into these places, neither on foot nor in ships.\nPerhaps the ice floating in the frozen seas and the hazy northern\natmosphere had been seen by some navigator, and thus gave rise to this\nidea. As it stands, the history may be perhaps matched by that of the\namusing monk who said he had been to the end of the world and had to\nstoop down, as there was not room to stand between heaven and earth at\ntheir junction.\n\nHomer lived in the tenth century before our era. Herodotus, who lived in\nthe fifth, developed the Homeric chart to three times its size. He\nremarks at the commencement of his book that for several centuries the\nworld has been divided into three parts--Europe, Asia, and Libya; the\nnames given to them being female. The exterior limits of these countries\nremained in obscurity notwithstanding that those boundaries of them that\nlay nearest to Greece were clearly defined.\n\nOne of the greatest writers on ancient geography was Strabo, whose ideas\nwe will now give an account of. He seems to have been a disciple of\nHipparchus in astronomy, though he criticises and contradicts him\nseveral times in his geography. He had a just idea of the sphericity of\nthe earth; but considered it as the centre of the universe, and\nimmovable. He takes pains to prove that there is only one inhabited\nearth--not in this refuting the notion that the moon and stars might\nhave inhabitants, for these he considered to be insignificant meteors\nnourished by the exhalations of the ocean; but he fought against the\nfact of there being on this globe any other inhabited part than that\nknown to the ancients.\n\nIt is remarkable to notice that the proofs then used by geographers of\nthe sphericity of the earth are just those which we should use now. Thus\nStrabo says, \"The indirect proof is drawn from the centripetal force in\ngeneral, and the tendency that all bodies have in particular towards a\ncentre of gravity. The direct proof results from the phenomena observed\non the sea and in the sky. It is evident, for example, that it is the\ncurvature of the earth that alone prevents the sailor from seeing at a\ndistance the lights that are placed at the ordinary height of the eye,\nand which must be placed a little higher to become visible even at a\ngreater distance; in the same way, if the eye is a little raised it will\nsee things which previously were hidden.\" Homer had already made the\nsame remark.\n\nOn this globe, representing the world, Strabo and the cosmographers of\nhis time placed the habitable world in a surface which he describes in\nthe following way: \"Suppose a great circle, perpendicular to the\nequator, and passing through the poles to be described about the sphere.\nIt is plain that the surface will be divided by this circle, and by the\nequator into four equal parts. The northern and southern hemispheres\ncontain, each of them, two of these parts. Now on any one of these\nquarters of the sphere let us trace a quadrilateral which shall have for\nits southern boundary the half of the equator, for northern boundary a\ncircle marking the commencement of polar cold, and for the other sides\ntwo equal and opposite segments of the circle that passes through the\npoles. It is on one such quadrilateral that the habitable world is\nplaced.\" He figures it as an island, because it is surrounded on all\nsides by the sea. It is plain that Strabo had a good idea of the nature\nof gravity, because he does not distinguish in any way an upper or a\nlower hemisphere, and declares that the quadrilateral on which the\nhabitable world is situated may be any one of the four formed in this\nway.\n\nThe form of the habitable world is that of a \"chlamys,\" or cloak. This\nfollows, he says, both from geometry and the great spread of the sea,\nwhich, enveloping the land, covers it both to the east and to the west\nand reduces it to a shortened and truncated form of such a figure that\nits greatest breadth preserved has only a third of its length. As to the\nactual length and breadth, he says, \"it measures seventy thousand stadia\nin length, and is bounded by a sea whose immensity and solitude renders\nit impassable; while the breadth is less than thirty thousand stadia,\nand has for boundaries the double region where the excess of heat on\none side and the excess of cold on the other render it uninhabitable.\"\n\nThe habitable world was thus much longer from east to west than it was\nbroad from north to south; from whence come our terms _longitude_, whose\ndegrees are counted in the former direction, and _latitude_, reckoned in\nthe latter direction.\n\nEratosthenes, and after him Hipparchus, while he gives larger numbers\nthan the preceding for the dimensions of the inhabited part of the\nearth, namely, thirty-eight thousand stadia of breadth and eighty\nthousand of length, declares that physical laws accord with calculations\nto prove that the length of the habitable earth must be taken from the\nrising to the setting of the sun. This length extends from the extremity\nof India to that of Iberia, and the breadth from the parallel of\nEthiopia to that of Ierne.\n\nThat the earth is an island, Strabo considers to be proved by the\ntestimony of our senses. For wherever men have reached to the\nextremities of the earth they have found the sea, and for regions where\nthis has not been verified it is established by reasoning. Those who\nhave retraced their steps have not done so because their passage was\nbarred by any continent, but because their supplies have run short, and\nthey were afraid of the solitude; the water always ran freely in front\nof them.\n\nIt is extraordinary that Strabo and the astronomers of that age, who\nrecognised so clearly the sphericity of the earth and the real\ninsignificance of mountains, should yet have supposed the stars to have\nplayed so humble a part, but so it was; and we find Strabo arguing in\nwhat we may call quite the contrary direction. He says, \"the larger the\nmass of water that is spread round the earth, so much more easy is it to\nconceive how the vapours arising from it are sufficient to nourish the\nheavenly bodies.\"\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 33.--THE EARTH OF THE LATER GREEKS.]\n\nAmong the Latin cosmographers we may here cite one who flourished in the\nfirst century after Christ, Pomponius Mela, who wrote a treatise, called\n_De Situ Orbis_. From whatever source, whether traditional or otherwise,\nhe arrived at the conclusion, he divided the earth into two continents,\nour own and that of the Antichthones, which reached to our antipodes.\nThis map was in use till the time of Christopher Columbus, who modified\nit in the matter of the position of this second continent, which till\nthen remained a matter of mystery.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 34.--POMPONIUS MELA'S COSMOGRAPHY.]\n\nOf those who in ancient times added to the knowledge then possessed of\ncosmography, we should not omit to mention the name of Pytheas, of\nMarseilles, who flourished in the fourth century before our era. His\nchief observations, however, were not so closely related to geography as\nto the relation of the earth with the heavenly bodies. By the\nobservation of the gnomon at mid-day on the day of the solstice he\ndetermined the obliquity of the ecliptic in his epoch. By the\nobservation of the height of the pole, he discovered that in his time it\nwas not marked by any star, but formed a quadrilateral with three\nneighbouring stars, [Greek: b] of the little Bear and [Greek: k] and\n[Greek: a] of the Dragon.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\nCOSMOGRAPHY AND GEOGRAPHY OF THE CHURCH.\n\n\nAfter the writers mentioned in the last chapter a long interval elapsed\nwithout any progress being made in the knowledge of the shape or\nconfiguration of the earth. From the fall of the Roman Empire, whose\ncolonies themselves gave a certain knowledge of geography, down to the\nfifteenth century, when the great impetus was given to discovery by the\nadventurous voyagers of Spain and Portugal, there was nothing but\nservile copying from ancient authors, who were even misrepresented when\nthey were not understood. Even the peninsula of India was only known by\nthe accounts of Orientals and the writings of the Ancients until the\nbeginning of the fifteenth century. Vague notions, too, were held as to\nthe limits of Africa, and even of Europe and Asia--while of course they\nknew nothing of America, in spite of their marking on their maps an\nantichthonal continent to the south.\n\nDenys, the traveller, a Greek writer of the first century, and Priscian,\nhis Latin commentator of the fourth, still maintained the old errors\nwith regard to the earth. According to them the earth is not round, but\nleaf-shaped; its boundaries are not so arranged as to form everywhere a\nregular circle. Macrobius, in his system of the world, proves clearly\nthat he had no notion that Africa was continued to the south of\nEthiopia, that is of the tenth degree of N. latitude. He thought, like\nCleanthus and Crates and other ancient authors, that the regions that\nlay nearest the tropics, and were burnt by the sun, could not be\ninhabited; and that the equatorial regions were occupied by the ocean.\nHe divided the hemisphere into five zones, of which only two were\nhabitable. \"One of them,\" he said, \"is occupied by us, and the other by\nmen of whose nature we are ignorant.\"\n\nOrosus, writing in the same century (fourth), and whose work exercised\nso great an influence on the cosmographers of the middle ages and on\nthose who made the maps of the world during that long period, was\nignorant of the form or boundaries of Africa, and of the contours of the\npeninsulas of Southern Asia. He made the heavens rest upon the earth.\n\nS. Basil, also of the fourth century, placed the firmament on the earth,\nand on this heaven a second, whose upper surface was flat,\nnotwithstanding that the inner surface which is turned towards us is in\nthe form of a vault; and he explains in this way how the waters can be\nheld there. S. Cyril shows how useful this reservoir of water is to the\nlife of men and of plants.\n\nDiodorus, Bishop of Tarsus, in the same century, also divided the world\ninto two stages, and compared it to a tent. Severianus, Bishop of\nGabala, about the same time, compared the world to a house of which the\nearth is the ground floor, the lower heavens the ceiling, and the upper,\nor heaven of heavens, the roof. This double heaven was also admitted by\nEusebius of Caesaraea.\n\nIn the fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries science made no progress\nwhatever. It was still taught that there were limits to the ocean. Thus\nLactantius asserted that there could not be inhabitants beyond the line\nof the tropics. This Father of the Church considered it a monstrous\nopinion that the earth is round, that the heavens turn about it, and\nthat all parts of the earth are inhabited. \"There are some people,\" he\nsays, \"so extravagant as to persuade themselves that there are men who\nhave their heads downwards and their feet upwards; that all that lies\ndown here is hung up there; that the trees and herbs grow downwards; and\nthat the snow and hail fall upwards.... Those people who maintain such\nopinions do so for no other purpose than to amuse themselves by\ndisputation, and to show their spirit; otherwise it would be easy to\nprove by invincible argument that it is impossible for the heavens to\nbe underneath the earth.\" (Divine Institution). Saint Augustin also, in\nhis _City of God_, says: \"There is no reason to believe in that fabulous\nhypothesis of the antipodes, that is to say, of men who inhabit the\nother side of the earth--where the sun rises when it sets with us, and\nwho have their feet opposed to ours.\" ... \"But even if it were\ndemonstrated by any argument that the earth and world have a spherical\nform, it would be too absurd to pretend that any hardy voyagers, after\nhaving traversed the immensity of the ocean, had been able to reach that\npart of the world and there implant a detached branch of the primaeval\nhuman family.\"\n\nIn the same strain wrote S. Basil, S. Ambrose, S. Justin Martyr, S.\nChrysostom, Procopius of Gaza, Severianus, Diodorus Bishop of Tarsus,\nand the greater number of the thinkers of that epoch.\n\nEusebius of Caesaraea was bold enough on one occasion to write in his\nCommentaries on the Psalms, that, \"according to the opinion of some the\nearth is round;\" but he draws back in another work from so rash an\nassertion. Even in the fifteenth century the monks of Salamanca and\nAlcala opposed the old arguments against the antipodes to all the\ntheories of Columbus.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 35.--THE EARTH'S SHADOW.]\n\nIn the middle of the sixteenth century Gregory of Tours adopted also the\nopinion that the intertropical zone was uninhabitable, and, like other\nhistorians, he taught that the Nile came from the unknown land in the\neast, descended to the south, crossed the ocean which separated the\nantichthone from Africa, and then alone became: visible. The\ngeographical and cosmographical ideas that were then prevalent may also\nbe judged of by what S. Avitus, a Latin poet of the sixth century and\nnephew of the Emperor Flavius Avitus, says in his poem on the Creation,\nwhere he describes the terrestrial Paradise. \"Beyond India,\" he writes,\n\"_where the world commences_, where the confines of heaven and earth are\njoined, is an exalted asylum, inaccessible to mortals, and closed by\neternal barriers, since the first sin was committed.\"\n\nIn a treatise on astronomy, published a little after this in 1581, by\nApian and Gemma Frison, they very distinctly state their belief in a\nround earth, though they do not go into details of its surface. The\nargument is the old one from eclipses, but the figures they give in\nillustration are very amusing, with three or four men of the size of the\nmoon disporting themselves on the earth's surface. As, however, they all\nhave their feet to the globe representing the earth, and consequently\nhave their feet in opposite directions at the antipodes, the idea is\nvery clearly shown.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 36.]\n\n\"If,\" they say, \"the earth were square, its shadow on the\nmoon would be square also.\n\n\"If the earth were triangular, its shadow, during an eclipse of the\nmoon, would also be triangular.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 37.]\n\n\"If the earth had six sides, its shadow would have the same figure.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 38.]\n\n\"Since, then, the shadow of the earth is round, it is a proof that the\nearth is round also.\"\n\nThis of course is one of the proofs that would be employed in the\npresent day for the same purpose.\n\nThe most remarkable of all the fantastical systems, however, the _chef\nd'oeuvre_ of the cosmography of that age, was the famous system of the\nsquare earth, with solid walls for supporting the heavens. Its author\nwas _Cosmas_, surnamed _Indicopleustes_ after his voyage to India and\nEthiopia. He was at first a merchant, and afterwards a monk. He died in\n550. His manuscript was entitled \"Christian Topography,\" and was written\nin 535. It was with the object of refuting the opinions of those who\ngave a spherical form to the earth that Cosmas composed his work after\nthe systems of the Church Fathers, and in opposition to the cosmography\nof the Gentiles. He reduced to a systematic form the opinions of the\nFathers, and undertook to explain all the phenomena of the heavens in\naccordance with the Scriptures. In his first book he refutes the opinion\nof the sphericity of the earth, which he regarded as a heresy. In the\nsecond he expounds his own system, and the fifth to the ninth he devotes\nto the courses of the stars. This mongrel composition is a singular\nmixture of the doctrines of the Indians, Chaldeans, Greeks, and\nChristian Fathers.\n\nWith respect to his opponents he says, \"There are on all sides vigorous\nattacks against the Church,\" and accuses them of misunderstanding\nScripture, being misled by the eclipses of the sun and moon. He makes\ngreat fun of the idea of rain falling upwards, and yet accuses his\nopponents of making the earth at the same time the centre and the base\nof the universe. The zeal with which these pretended refutations are\nused proves, no doubt, that in the sixth century there were some men,\nmore sensible and better instructed than others, who preserved the\ndeposit of progress accomplished by the Grecian genius in the\nAlexandrian school, and defended the labours of Hipparchus and Ptolemy;\nwhile it is manifest that the greater number of their contemporaries\nkept the old Indian and Homeric traditions, which were easier to\nunderstand, and more accessible to the false witness of the senses, and\nnot improved by combination with texts of Scripture misinterpreted. In\nfact, cosmographical science in the general opinion retrograded instead\nof advancing.\n\nAccording to Cosmas and his map of the world, the habitable earth is a\nplane surface. But instead of being supposed, as in the time of Thales,\nto be a disc, he represented it in the form of a parallelogram, whose\nlong sides are twice the shorter ones, so that man is on the earth like\na bird in a cage. This parallelogram is surrounded by the ocean, which\nbreaks in in four great gulfs, namely, the Mediterranean and Caspian\nseas, and the Persian and Arabian gulfs.\n\nBeyond the ocean in every direction there exists another continent which\ncannot be reached by man, but of which one part was once inhabited by\nhim before the Deluge. To the east, just as in other maps of the world,\nand in later systems, he placed the _Terrestrial Paradise_, and the\nfour rivers that watered Eden, which come by subterranean channels to\nwater the post-diluvian earth.\n\nAfter the Fall, Adam was driven from Paradise; but he and his\ndescendants remained on its coasts until the Deluge carried the ark of\nNoah to our present earth.\n\nOn the four outsides of the earth rise four perpendicular walls, which\nsurround it, and join together at the top in a vault, the heavens\nforming the cupola of this singular edifice.\n\nThe world, according to Cosmas, was therefore a large oblong box, and it\nwas divided into two parts; the first, the abode of men, reaches from\nthe earth to the firmament, above which the stars accomplish their\nrevolutions; there dwell the angels, who cannot go any higher. The\nsecond reaches upwards from the firmament to the upper vault, which\ncrowns and terminates the world. On this firmament rest the waters of\nthe heavens.\n\nCosmas justifies this system by declaring that, according to the\ndoctrine of the Fathers and the Commentators on the Bible, the earth has\nthe form of the Tabernacle that Moses erected in the desert; which was\nlike an oblong box, twice as long as broad. But we may find other\nsimilarities,--for this land beyond the ocean recalls the Atlantic of\nthe ancients, and the Mahomedans, and Orientals in general, say that the\nearth is surrounded by a high mountain, which is a similar idea to the\nwalls of Cosmas.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 39.--THE COSMOGRAPHY OF COSMAS.]\n\n\"God,\" he says, \"in creating the earth, rested it on nothing. The earth\nis therefore sustained by the power of God, the Creator of all things,\nsupporting all things by the word of His power. If below the earth, or\noutside of it, anything existed, it would fall of its own accord. So God\nmade the earth the base of the universe, and ordained that it should\nsustain itself by its own proper gravity.\"\n\nAfter having made a great square box of the universe, it remained for\nhim to explain the celestial phenomena, such as the succession of days\nand nights and the vicissitudes of the seasons.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 40.--THE SQUARE EARTH.]\n\nThis is the remarkable explanation he gives. He says that the earth,\nthat is, the oblong table circumscribed on all sides by high walls, is\ndivided into three parts; first the habitable earth, which occupies the\nmiddle; secondly, the ocean which surrounds this on all sides; and\nthirdly, another dry land which surrounds the ocean, terminated itself\nby these high walls on which the firmament rests. According to him the\nhabitable earth is always higher as we go north, so that southern\ncountries are always much lower than northern. For this reason, he says,\nthe Tigris and Euphrates, which run towards the south, are much more\nrapid than the Nile, which runs northwards. At the extreme north there\nis a large conical mountain, behind which the sun, moon, planets, and\ncomets all set. These stars never pass below the earth, they only pass\nbehind this great mountain, which hides them for a longer or shorter\ntime from our observation. According as the sun departs from or\napproaches the north, and consequently is lower or higher in the\nheavens, he disappears at a point nearer to or further from the base of\nthe mountain, and so is behind it a longer or shorter time, whence the\ninequality of the days and nights, the vicissitudes of the seasons,\neclipses, and other phenomena. This idea is not peculiar to Cosmas, for\naccording to the Indians, the mountain of Someirat is in the centre of\nthe earth, and when the sun appears to set, he is really only hiding\nbehind this mountain.\n\nHis idea, too, of the manner in which the motions are performed is\nstrange, but may be matched elsewhere. \"All the stars are created,\" he\nsays, \"to regulate the days and nights, the months and the years, and\nthey move, not at all by the motion of the heaven itself, but by the\naction of certain divine Beings, or _lampadophores_. God made the angels\nfor His service, and He has charged some of them with the motion of the\nair, others with that of the sun, or the moon, or the other stars, and\nothers again with the collecting of clouds and preparing the rain.\"\n\nSimilar to this were the ideas of other doctors of the\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 41.--EXPLANATION OF SUNRISE.]\n\nChurch, such as S. Hilary and Theodorus, some of whom supposed that the\nangels carried the stars on their shoulders like the _omophores_ of the\nManichees; others that they rolled them in front of them or drew them\nbehind; while the Jesuit Riccioli, who made astronomical observations,\nremarks that each angel that pushes a star takes great care to observe\nwhat the others are doing, so that the relative distances between the\nstars may always remain what they ought to be. The Abbot Trithemus gives\nthe exact succession of the seven angels or spirits of the planets, who\ntake it in turns during a cycle of three hundred and fifty-four years to\ngovern the celestial motions from the creation to the year 1522. The\nsystem thus introduced seems to have been spread abroad, and to have\nlingered even into the nineteenth century among the Arabs. A guide of\nthat nationality hired at Cairo in 1830, remarked to two travellers how\nthe earth had been made square and covered with stones, but the stones\nhad been thrown into the four corners, now called France, Italy,\nEngland, and Russia, while the centre, forming a circle round Mount\nSinai, had been given to the Arabians.\n\nAlongside of this system of the square was another equally curious--that\nof the egg. Its author was the famous Venerable Bede, one of the most\nenlightened men of his time, who was educated at the University of\nArmagh, which produced Alfred and Alcuin. He says: \"The earth is an\nelement placed in the middle of the world, as the yolk is in the middle\nof an egg; around it is the water, like the white surrounding the yolk;\noutside that is the air, like the membrane of the egg; and round all is\nthe fire which closes it in as the shell does. The earth being thus in\nthe centre receives every weight upon itself, and though by its nature\nit is cold and dry in its different parts, it acquires accidentally\ndifferent qualities; for the portion which is exposed to the torrid\naction of the air is burnt by the sun, and is uninhabitable; its two\nextremities are too cold to be inhabited, but the portion that lies in\nthe temperate region of the atmosphere is habitable. The ocean, which\nsurrounds it by its waves as far as the horizon, divides it into two\nparts, the upper of which is inhabited by us, while the lower is\ninhabited by our antipodes; although not one of them can come to us, nor\none of us to them.\"\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 42.--THE EARTH AS AN EGG.]\n\nThis last sentence shows that however far he may have been from the\ntruth, he did not, like so many of his contemporaries, stumble over the\nidea of up and down in the universe, and so consider the notion of\nantipodes absurd.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 43.--THE EARTH AS A FLOATING EGG.]\n\nA great number of the maps of the world of the period followed this\nidea, and drew the world in the shape of an egg at rest. It was\nbroached, however, in another form by Edrisi, an Arabian geographer of\nthe eleventh century, who, with many others, considered the earth to be\nlike an egg with one half plunged into the water. The regularity of the\nsurface is only interrupted by valleys and mountains. He adopted the\nsystem of the ancients, who supposed that the torrid zone was\nuninhabited. According to him the known world only forms a single half\nof the egg, the greater part of the water belonging to the surrounding\nocean, in the midst of which earth floats like an egg in a basin.\nSeveral artists and map-makers adopted this theory in the geographical\nrepresentations, and so, whether in this way or the last, the egg has\nhad the privilege of representing the form of the earth for nearly a\nthousand years.\n\nThe celebrated Raban Maur, of Mayence, composed in the ninth century a\ntreatise, entitled _De Universo_, divided into twenty-two books. It is a\nkind of encyclopaedia, in which he gives an abridged view of all the\nsciences. According to his cosmographic system the earth is in the form\nof a wheel, and is placed in the middle of the universe, being\nsurrounded by the ocean; on the north it is bounded by the Caucasus,\nwhich he supposes to be mountains of gold, which no one can reach\nbecause of dragons, and griffins, and men of monstrous shape that dwell\nthere. He also places Jerusalem in the centre of the earth.\n\nThe treatise of Honorus, entitled _Imago Mundi_, and many other authors\nof the same kind, represent, 1st, the terrestrial paradise in the most\neasterly portion of the world, in a locality inaccessible to man; 2nd,\nthe four rivers which had their sources in Paradise; 3rd, the torrid\nzone, uninhabited; 4th, fantastic islands, transformed from the Atlantis\ninto _Antillia_.\n\n[Illustration: FIG 44.--EIGHTH CENTURY MAP OF THE WORLD.]\n\nIn a manuscript commentary on the Apocalypse, which is in the library of\nTurin, is a very curious chart, referred to the tenth, but belonging\npossibly to the eighth century. It represents the earth as a circular\nplanisphere. The four sides of the earth are each accompanied by a\nfigure of a wind, as a horse on a bellows, from which air is poured out,\nas well as from a shell in his mouth. Above, or to the east, are Adam,\nand Eve with the serpent. To their right is Asia with two very elevated\nmountains--Cappadocia and Caucasus. From thence comes the river\n_Eusis_, and the sea into which it falls forms an arm of the ocean which\nsurrounds the earth. This arm joins the Mediterranean, and separates\nEurope from Asia. Towards the middle is Jerusalem, with two curious arms\nof the sea running past it; while to the south there is a long and\nstraight sea in an east and west direction. The various islands of the\nMediterranean are put in a square patch, and Rome, France, and Germany\nare indicated, while Thula, Britannia, and Scotia are marked as islands\nin the north-west of the ocean that surrounds the whole world.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 45.--TENTH CENTURY MAPS.]\n\nWe figure below two very curious maps of the world of the tenth\ncentury--one of which is round, the other square. The first is divided\ninto three triangles; that of the east, or Asia, is marked with the name\nof _Shem_; that of the north, or Europe, with that of _Japhet_; that of\nthe south, or Africa, with that of _Cham_. The second is also divided\nbetween the three sons of Noah; the ocean surrounds it, the\nMediterranean forms the upright portion of a cross of water which\ndivides the Adamic world.\n\nOmons, the author of a geographical poem entitled _The Image of the\nWorld_, composed in 1265, who was called the Lucretius of the thirteenth\ncentury, was not more advanced than the cosmographers of the former\ncenturies of which we have hitherto spoken. The cosmographical part of\nhis poem is borrowed from the system of Pythagoras and the Venerable\nBede. He maintains that the earth is enveloped in the heavens, as the\nyoke in the white of an egg, and that it is in the middle as the centre\nis within the circle, and he speaks like Pythagoras of the harmony of\nthe celestial spheres.\n\nOmons supposed also that in his time the terrestrial paradise was still\nexisting in the east, with its tree of life, its four rivers, and its\nangel with a flaming sword. He appears to have confounded Hecla with the\npurgatory of St. Patrick, and he places the latter in Iceland, saying\nthat it never ceases to burn. The volcanoes were only, according to him,\nthe breathing places or mouths of the infernal regions. The latter he\nplaced with other cosmographers in the centre of the earth.\n\nAnother author, Nicephorus Blemmyde, a monk who lived during the same\ncentury, composed three cosmographical works, among them the following:\n_On the Heavens and the Earth, On the Sun and Moon, the Stars, and Times\nand Days_. According to his system the earth is flat, and he adopts the\nHomeric theory of the ocean surrounding the world, and that of the seven\nclimates.\n\nNicolas of Oresmus, a celebrated cosmographer of the fourteenth century,\nalthough his celebrity as a mathematician attracted the attention of\nKing John of France, who made him tutor to his son Charles V., was not\nwiser than those we have enumerated above. He composed among other works\na _Treatise on the Sphere_. He rejected the theory of an antichthonal\ncontinent as contrary to the faith. A map of the world, prepared by him\nabout the year 1377, represents the earth as round, with one hemisphere\nonly inhabited, the other, or lower one, being plunged in the water. He\nseems to have been led by various borrowed ideas, as, for instance,\ntheological ones, such as the statement in the Psalms that God had\nfounded the earth upon the waters, and Grecian ones borrowed from the\nschool of Thales, and the theories of the Arabian geographers. In fact\nwe have seen that Edrisi thought that half of the earth was in the\nwater, and Aboulfeda thought the same. The earth was placed by Nicolas\nin the centre of the universe, which he represented by painting the sky\nblue, and dotting it over with stars in gold.\n\nLeonardo Dati, who composed a geographical poem entitled _Della Spera_,\nduring this century, advanced no further. A coloured planisphere showed\nthe earth in the centre of the universe surrounded by the ocean, then\nthe air, then the circles of the planets after the Ptolemaic system, and\nin another representation of the same kind he figures the infernal\nregions in the centre of the earth, and gives its diameter as seven\nthousand miles. He proves himself not to have known one half of the\nglobe by his statement of the shape of the earth--that it is like a T\ninside an O. This is a comparison given in many maps of the world in the\nmiddle ages, the mean parallel being about the 36th degree of north\nlatitude, that is to say at the Straits of Gibraltar; the Mediterranean\nis thus placed so as to divide the earth into two equal parts.\n\nJohn Beauvau, Bishop of Angiers under Louis XL, expresses his ideas as\nfollows:--\n\n\"The earth is situated and rests in the middle of the firmament, as the\ncentre or point is in the middle of a circle. Of the whole earth\nmentioned above only one quarter is inhabited. The earth is divided into\nfour parts, as an apple is divided through the centre by cutting it\nlengthways and across. If one part of such an apple is taken and peeled,\nand the peel is spread out over anything flat, such as the palm of the\nhand, then it resembles the habitable earth, one side of which is\ncalled the east, and the other the west.\"\n\nThe Arabians adopted not only the ideas of the ancients, but also the\nfundamental notions of the cosmographical system of the Greeks. Some of\nthem, as _Bakouy_, regarded the earth as a flat surface, like a table,\nothers as a ball, of which one half is cut off, others as a complete\nrevolving ball, and others that it was hollow within. Others again went\nas far as to say that there were several suns and moons for the several\nparts of the earth.\n\nIn a map, preserved in the library at Cambridge, by Henry, Canon of St.\nMarie of Mayence, the form of the world is given after Herodotus. The\nfour cardinal points are indicated, and the orientation is that of\nnearly all the cartographic monuments of the middle ages, namely, the\neast at the top of the map. The four cardinal points are four angels,\none foot placed on the disc of the earth; the colours of their vestments\nare symbolical. The angel placed at the Boreal extremity of the earth,\nor to the north of the Scythians, points with his finger to people\nenclosed in the ramparts of Gog and Magog, _gens immunda_ as the legend\nsays. In his left hand he holds a die to indicate, no doubt, that there\nare shut up the Jews who cast lots for the clothes of Christ. His\nvestments are green, his mantle and his wings are red. The angel placed\nto the left of Paradise has a green mantle and wings, and red vestments.\nIn his left hand he holds a kind of palm, and by the right he seems to\nmark the way to Paradise. The position of the other angels placed at the\nwest of the world is different. They seem occupied in stopping the\npassage beyond the _Columns_ (that is, the entrance to the Atlantic\nOcean). All of them have golden aureolas. The surrounding ocean is\npainted of a clear green.\n\nAnother remarkable map of the world is that of Andrea Bianco. In it we\nsee Eden at the top, which represents the east, and the four rivers are\nrunning out of it. Much of Europe is indicated, including Spain, Paris,\nSweden, Norway, Ireland, which are named, England, Iceland, Spitzbergen,\n&c., which are not named. The portion round the North Pole to the left\nis indicated as \"cold beneath the Pole star.\" In these maps the\nsystematic theories of the ancient geographers seem mixed with the\ndoctrines of the Fathers of the Church. They place generally in the Red\nSea some mark denoting the passage of the Hebrews, the terrestrial\nparadise at the extreme east, and Jerusalem in the centre. The towns are\nfigured often by edifices, as in the list of Theodosius, but without any\nregard to their respective positions. Each town is ordinarily\nrepresented by two towers, but the principal ones are distinguished by a\nlittle wall that appears between these two towers, on which are painted\nseveral windows, or else they may be known by the size of the edifices.\nSt. James of Compostella in Gallicia and Rome are represented by\nedifices of considerable size, as are Nazareth, Troy, Antioch, Damascus,\nBabylon, and Nineveh.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 46.--THE MAP OF ANDREA BIANCO.]\n\nOne of the most remarkable monuments of the geography of the last\ncenturies of the middle ages is the map in Hereford Cathedral, by\nRichard of Haldingham, not only on account of its numerous legends, but\nbecause of its large dimensions, being several square yards in area.\n\nOn the upper part of this map is represented the Last Judgment; Jesus\nChrist, with raised arms, holding in His hands a scroll with these\nwords, _Ecce testimonium meum_. At His side two angels carry in their\nhands the instruments of His passion. On the right hand stands an angel\nwith a trumpet to his mouth, out of which come these words, _Levez si\nvendres vous par_. An angel brings forward a bishop by the hand, behind\nwhom is a king, followed by other personages; the angel introduces them\nby a door formed of two columns, which seems to serve as an entrance to\nan edifice.\n\nThe Virgin is kneeling at the feet, of her Son. Behind her is another\nwoman kneeling, who holds a crown, which she seems ready to place on the\nhead of the Mother of Christ, and by the side of the woman is a kneeling\nangel, who appears to be supporting the maternal intercessor. The Virgin\nuncovers her breast and pronounces the words of a scroll which is held\nby an angel kneeling in front of her, _Vei i b' fiz mon piz de deuiz\nlauele chare preistes--Eles mame lettes dont leit de Virgin qui\nestes--Syes merci de tous si com nos mesmes deistes.--R ... em ... ont\nservi kaut sauveresse me feistes_.\n\nTo the left another angel, also with a trumpet to his mouth, gives out\nthe following words, which are written on a scroll, _Leves si alles all\nfu de enfer estable_. A gate, drawn like that of the entrance,\nrepresents probably the passage by which those must go out who are\ncondemned to eternal pains. In fact the devil is seen dragging after him\na crowd of men, who are tied by a cord which he holds in his hand.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 47.--FROM THE MAP IN HEREFORD CATHEDRAL.]\n\nThe map itself commences at its upper part, that is, the east, by the\nterrestrial paradise. It is a circle, in the centre of which is\nrepresented the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve are\nthere in company with the serpent that beguiled them. The four legendary\nrivers come out of the base of the tree, and they are seen below\ncrossing the map. Outside Eden the flight of the first couple, and the\nangel that drove them away, are represented. At this extreme eastern\nportion is the region of giants with the heads of beasts. There, too,\nis seen the first human habitation, or town, built by Enoch. Below\nappears the Tower of Babel. Near this are two men seated on a hill close\nto the river Jaxartes; one of them is eating a human leg and the other\nan arm, which the legend explains thus:--\"Here live the Essedons, whose\ncustom it is to sing at the funerals of their parents; they tear the\ncorpses with their teeth, and prepare their food with these fragments of\nflesh, mixed with that of animals. In their opinion it is more\nhonourable to the dead to be enclosed in the bodies of their relations\nthan in those of worms.\"\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 48.--FROM THE MAP IN HEREFORD CATHEDRAL.\n\n Tower of Babel.\n Essedons.\n Dragons.\n Pigmies.\n The Monoceros.\n The Mantichore.\n A Sphinx.\n The King of the Cyclops.\n Blemmye.\n Parasol lip.\n Monocle.]\n\nBelow are seen dragons and pigmies, always to the east of Asia, and a\nlittle further away in the midst of a strange country, _the King of the\nCyclops_.\n\nThis extraordinary geography shows us in India the \"Mantichore, who has\na triple range of teeth, the face of a man, blue eyes, the red colour of\nblood, the body of a lion, and the tail of a scorpion; its voice is a\nwhistle.\"\n\nOn the north of the Ganges is represented a man with one leg, shading\nhis head with his foot, which is explained by the following legend:--\"In\nIndia dwell the Monocles, who have only one leg, but who nevertheless\nmove with surprising velocity; when they wish to protect themselves from\nthe heat of the sun they make a shadow with the sole of their foot,\nwhich is very large.\"\n\nThe Blemmys have their mouth and eyes in their chest; others have their\nmouths and eyes on their shoulders. The Parvini are Ethiopians that have\nfour eyes.\n\nTo the east of Syene is a man seated who is covering his head with his\nlip, \"people who with their prominent lip shade their faces from the\nsun.\"\n\nAbove is drawn a little sun, with the word _sol_. Then comes an animal\nof human form, having the feet of a horse and the head and beak of a\nbird; he rests on a stick, and the legend tells us it is a satyr; the\nfauns, half men and half horses; the cynocephales--men with the head of\na dog; and the cyanthropes--dogs with the heads of men. The sphinx has\nthe wings of a bird, the tail of a serpent, the head of a woman. It is\nplaced in the midst of the Cordilleras, which are joined to a great\nchain of mountains. Here lastly is seen the _monoceros_, a terrible\nanimal; but here is the marvel: \"When one shows to this _monoceros_ a\nyoung girl, who, when the animal approaches, uncovers her breast, the\nmonster, forgetting his ferocity, lays his head there, and when he is\nasleep may be taken defenceless.\"\n\nNear to the lake Meotides is a man clothed in Oriental style, with a hat\nthat terminates in a point, and holding by the bridle a horse whose\nharness is a human skin, and which is explained thus by the Latin\nlegend: \"Here live the griffins, very wicked men, for among other crimes\nthey proceed so far as to make clothes for themselves and their horses\nout of the skins of their enemies.\"\n\nMore to the south is a large bird, the ostrich; according to the legend,\n\"the ostrich has the head of a goose, the body of a crane, the feet of a\ncalf; it eats iron.\"\n\nNot far from the Riphean Mountains two men with long tunics and round\nbonnets are represented in the attitude of fighting; one brandishes a\nsword, the other a kind of club, and the legend tells us, \"The customs\nof the people of the interior of Scythia are somewhat wild; they inhabit\ncaves; they drink the blood of the slain by sucking their wounds; they\npride themselves on the number of people they have slain--not to have\nslain any one in combat is reckoned disgraceful.\"\n\nNear the river that empties itself into the Caspian Sea it is written:\n\"This river comes from the infernal regions; it enters the sea after\nhaving descended from mountains covered with wood, and it is there, they\nsay, that the mouth of hell opens.\"\n\nTo the south of this river, and to the north of Hyrcania, is represented\na monster having the body of a man, the head, tail, and feet of a bull:\nthis is the Minotaur. Further on are the mountains of Armenia, and the\nark of Noah on one of its plateaux. Here, too, is seen a large tiger,\nand we read: \"The tiger, when he sees that he has been deprived of his\nyoung, pursues the ravisher precipitately; but the latter, hastening\naway on his swift horse, throws a mirror to him and is safe.\"\n\nElsewhere appears Lot's wife changed into a pillar of salt; the lynx who\ncan see through a stone wall; the river Lethe; so called because all who\ndrink of it forget everything.\n\nNumerous other details might be mentioned, but enough has been said to\nshow the curious nature and exceeding interest of this map, in which\nmatters of observation and imagination are strangely mixed. Another very\ncurious geographical document of that epoch is the map of the world of\nthe _Grandes Chroniques de Saint-Denis_. This belongs to the fourteenth\ncentury. The capitals here too are represented by edifices. The\nMediterranean is a vertical canal, which goes from the Columns of\nHercules to Jerusalem. The Caspian Sea communicates with it to the\nnorth, and the Red Sea to the south-east, by the Nile. It preserves the\nsame position for Paradise and for the land of Gog and Magog that we\nhave seen before. The geography of Europe is very defective. Britannia\nand Anglia figure as two separate islands, being represented off the\nwest coast of Spain, with Allemania and Germania, also two distinct\ncountries, to the north. The ocean is represented as round the whole,\nand the various points of the compass are represented by different kinds\nof winds on the outside.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 49.--COSMOGRAPHY OF ST. DENIS.]\n\nThis was the general style of the maps of the world at that period, as\nwe may perceive from the various illustrations we have been able to\ngive, and it curiously initiates us into the mediaeval ideas. Sometimes\nthey are surrounded by laughable figures of the winds with inflated\ncheeks, sometimes there are drawn light children of Eolus seated on\nleathern bottles, rotating the liquid within; at other times, saints,\nangels, Adam and Eve, or other people, adorn the circumference of the\nmap. Within are shown a profusion of animals, trees, populations,\nmonuments, tents, draperies, and monarchs seated on their thrones--an\nidea which was useful, no doubt, and which gave the reader some\nknowledge of the local riches, the ethnography, the local forms of\ngovernment and of architecture in the various countries represented; but\nthe drawings were for the most part childish, and more fantastic than\nreal. The language, too, in which they were written was as mixed as the\ndrawings; no regularity was preserved in the orthography of a name,\nwhich on the same map may be written in ten different ways, being\nexpressed in barbarous Latin, Roman, or Old French, Catalan, Italian,\nCastilian, or Portuguese!\n\nDuring the same epoch other forms of maps in less detail and of smaller\nsize show the characters that we have seen in the maps of earlier\ncenturies.\n\nMarco Polo, the traveller, at the end of the fourteenth century, has\npreserved in his writings all the ancient traditions, and united them in\na singular manner with the results of his own observations. He had not\nseen Paradise, but he had seen the ark of Noah resting on the top of\nArarat. His map of the world, preserved in the library at Stockholm, is\noval, and represents two continents.\n\nIn that which we inhabit, the only seas indicated are the Mediterranean\nand the Black Sea. Asia appears at the east, Europe to the north, and\nAfrica to the south. The other continent to the south of the equator,\nwhich is not marked, is Antichthonia.\n\nIn a map of the world engraved on a medal of the fifteenth century\nduring the reign of Charles V. there is still a reminiscence of the\nideas of the concealed earth and Meropides, as described by Theopompus.\nWe see the winds as cherubim; Europe more accurately represented than\nusual; but Africa still unknown, and a second continent, called Brumae,\ninstead of Antichthonia, with imaginary details upon it.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 50--THE MAP OF MARCO POLO.]\n\nIf such were the ideas entertained amongst the most enlightened nations,\nwhat may we expect among those who were less advanced? It would take us\ntoo long to describe all that more Eastern nations have done upon this\npoint since the commencement of our present era, but we may give an\nexample or two from the Arabians.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 51.--MAP ON A MEDAL OF CHARLES V.]\n\nIn the ancient Arabian chronicle of Tabari is a system founded on the\nearth being the solid foundation of all things; we read: \"The prophet\nsays, the all-powerful and inimitable Deity has created the mountain of\nKaf round about the earth; it has been called the foundation pile of the\nearth, as it is said in the Koran, 'The mountains are the piles.' This\nworld is in the midst of the mountain of Kaf, just as the finger is in\nthe midst of the ring. This mountain is emerald, and blue in colour; no\nman can go to it, because he would have to pass four months in darkness\nto do so. There is in that mountain neither sun, nor moon, nor stars;\nit is so blue that the azure colour you see in the heavens comes from\nthe brilliancy of the mountain of Kaf, which is reflected in the sky. If\nthis were not so the sky would not be blue. All the mountains that you\nsee are supported by Kaf; if it did not exist, all the earth would be in\na continual tremble, and not a creature could live upon its surface. The\nheavens rest upon it like a tent.\"\n\nAnother Arabian author, Benakaty, writing in 1317, says: \"Know that the\nearth has the form of a globe suspended in the centre of the heavens. It\nis divided by the two great circles of the meridian and equator, which\ncut each other at light angles, into four equal parts, namely, those of\nthe north-west, north-east, south-west, and south-east. The inhabited\nportion of the earth is situated in the southern hemisphere, of which\none half is inhabited.\"\n\nIbn-Wardy, who lived in the same century, adopted the idea of the ocean\nsurrounding all the earth, and said we knew neither its depth nor its\nextent.\n\nThis ocean was also acknowledged by the author of the Kaf mountain; he\nsays it lies between the earth and that mountain, and calls it\nBahr-al-Mohith.\n\nThe end of the fifteenth century saw the dawn of a new era in knowledge\nand science. The discoveries of Columbus changed entirely the aspect of\nmatters, the imagination was excited to fresh enterprises, and the\nhardihood of the adventurers through good or bad success was such as\nwant of liberty could not destroy.\n\nNevertheless, as we have seen, Columbus imagined the earth to have the\nshape of a pear. Not that he obtained this idea from his own\nobservations, but rather retained it as a relic of past traditions. It\nis probable that it really dates from the seventh century. We may read\nin several cosmographical manuscripts of that epoch, that the earth has\nthe form of a cone or a top, its surface rising from south to north.\nThese ideas were considerably spread by the compilations of John of\nBeauvais in 1479, from whom probably Columbus derived his notion.\n\nAlthough Columbus is generally and rightly known as the discoverer of\nthe New World, a very curious suit was brought by Pinzon against his\nheirs in 1514. Pinzon pretended that the discovery was due to him alone,\nas Columbus had only followed his advice in making it. Pinzon told the\nadmiral himself that the required route was intimated by an inspiration,\nor revelation. The truth was that this \"revelation\" was due to a flock\nof parrots, flying in the evening towards the south-west, which Pinzon\nconcluded must be going in the direction of an invisible coast to pass\nthe night in the bushes. Certainly the consequences of Columbus\nresisting the advice of Pinzon would have been most remarkable; for had\nhe continued to sail due west he would have been caught by the Gulf\nStream and carried to Florida, or possibly to Virginia, and in this\ncase the United States would have received a Spanish and Catholic\npopulation, instead of an English and Protestant one.\n\nThe discoveries of those days were often commemorated by the formation\nof heraldic devices for the authors of them, and we have in this way\nsome curious coats of arms on record. That, for instance, of Sebastian\nCano was a globe, with the legend, _Primus circumdedisti me_. The arms\ngiven to Columbus in 1493 consisted of the first map of America, with a\nrange of islands in a gulf. Charles V. gave to Diego of Ordaz the figure\nof the Peak of Orizaba as his arms, to commemorate his having ascended\nit; and to the historian Oviedo, who passed thirty-four years without\ninterruption (1513-47) in tropical America, the four beautiful stars of\nthe Southern Cross.\n\nWe have arrived at the close of our history of the attempts that\npreceded the actual discovery of the form and constitution of the globe;\nsince these were established our further progress has been in matters of\ndetail. There now remains briefly to notice the attempts at discovering\nthe size of the earth on the supposition, and afterwards certainty, of\nits being a globe.\n\nThe earliest attempt at this was made by Eratosthenes, 246 years before\nour era, and it was founded on the following reasoning. The sun\nilluminates the bottom of pits at Syene at the summer solstice; on the\nsame day, instead of being vertical over the heads of the inhabitants\nof Alexandria, it is 7-1/4 degrees from the zenith. Seven-and-a-quarter\ndegrees is the fiftieth part of an entire circumference; and the\ndistance between the two towns is five thousand stadia; hence the\ncircumference of the earth is fifty times this distance, or 250 thousand\nstadia.\n\nA century before our era Posidonius arrived at an analogous result by\nremarking that the star Canopus touched the horizon at Rhodes when it\nwas 7 degrees 12 minutes above that of Alexandria.\n\nThese measurements, which, though rough, were ingenious, were, followed\nin the eighth century by similar ones by the Arabian Caliph, Almamoun,\nwho did not greatly modify them.\n\nThe first men who actually went round the world were the crew of the\nship under Magellan, who started to the west in 1520; he was slain by\nthe Philippine islanders in 1521, but his ship, under his lieutenant,\nSebastian Cano, returned by the east in 1522. The first attempt at the\nactual measurement of a part of the earth's surface along the meridian\nwas made by Fernel in 1528. His process was a singular, but simple one,\nnamely, by counting the number of the turns made by the wheels of his\ncarriage between Paris and Amiens. He made the number 57,020, and\naccurate measurements of the distance many years after showed he had not\nmade an error of more than four turns.\n\nThe astronomer Picard attempted it again under Louis XIV. by\ntriangulation.\n\nThe French astronomers have always been forward in this inquiry, and to\nthem we owe the systematic attempts to arrive at a truer knowledge of\nthe length of an arc of the meridian which were made in 1735-45 in\nLapland and in Peru; and later under Mechain and Delambre, by order of\nthe National Assembly, for the basis of the metrical system.\n\nObservations of this kind have also been made by the English, as at\nLough Foyle in Ireland, and in India.\n\nThe review which has here been made of the various ideas on what now\nseems so simple a matter cannot but impress us with the vast contrast\nthere is between the wild attempts of the earlier philosophers and our\nmodern affirmations. What progress has been made in the last two\nthousand years! And all of this is due to hard work. The true revelation\nof nature is that which we form ourselves, by our persevering efforts.\nWe now know that the earth is approximately spherical, but flattened by\nabout 1/300 at the poles, is three-quarters covered with water, and\nenveloped everywhere by a light atmospheric mantle. The distance from\nthe centre of the earth to its surface is 3,956 miles, its area is 197\nmillion square miles, its volume is 256,000 millions of cubic miles, its\nweight is six thousand trillion tons. So, thanks to the bold\nmeasurements of its inhabitants, we know as much about it as we are\nlikely to know for a long time to come.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\nLEGENDARY WORLDS OF THE MIDDLE AGES.\n\n\nThe legends that were for so many ages prevalent in Europe had their\nfoundation in the attempt to make the accounts of Scripture and the\nideas and dogmas of the Fathers of the Church fit into the few and\ninsignificant facts that were known with respect to the earth, and the\nsystem of which it forms a part, and the far more numerous imaginations\nthat were entertained about it.\n\nWe are therefore led on to examine some of these legends, that we may\nappreciate how far a knowledge of astronomy will effect the eradication\nof errors and fantasies which, under the aspect of truth, have so long\nenslaved the people. No doubt the authors of the legendary stories knew\nwell enough their allegorical nature; but those who received them\nsupposed that they gave true indications of the nature of the earth and\nworld, and therefore accepted them as facts.\n\nSome indeed considered that the whole physical constitution of the world\nwas a scaffold or a model, and that there was a real theological\nuniverse hidden beneath this semblance. No one omitted from his system\nthe spiritual heaven in which the angels and just men might spend their\nexistence; but in addition to this there were places whose reality was\nbelieved in, but whose locality is more difficult to settle, and which\ntherefore were moved from one place to another by various writers, viz.,\nthe infernal regions, purgatory, and the terrestrial paradise.\n\nWe will here recount some of those legends, which wielded sufficient\nsway over men's minds as to gain their belief in the veritable existence\nof the places described, and in this way to influence their astronomical\nand cosmographical ideas.\n\nAnd for the first we will descend to the infernal regions with Plutarch\nand Thespesius.\n\nThis Thespesius relates his adventures in the other world. Having fallen\nhead-first from an elevated place, he found himself unwounded, but was\ncontused in such a way as to be insensible. He was supposed to be dead,\nbut, after three days, as they were about to bury him, he came to life\nagain. In a few days he recovered his former powers of mind and body;\nbut made a marvellous change for the better in his life.\n\nHe said that at the moment that he lost consciousness he found himself\nlike a sailor at the bottom of the sea; but afterwards, having recovered\nhimself a little, he was able to breathe perfectly, and seeing only with\nthe eyes of his soul, he looked round on all that was about him. He saw\nno longer the accustomed sights, but stars of prodigious magnitude,\nseparated from each other by immense distances. They were of dazzling\nbrightness and splendid colour. His soul, carried like a vessel on the\nluminous ocean, sailed along freely and smoothly, and moved everywhere\nwith rapidity. Passing over in silence a large number of the sights that\nmet his eye, he stated that the souls of the dead, taking the form of\nbubbles of fire, rise through the air, which opens a passage above them;\nat last the bubbles, breaking without noise, let out the souls in a\nhuman form and of a smaller size, and moving in different ways. Some,\nrising with astonishing lightness, mounted in a straight line; others,\nrunning round like a whipping-top, went up and down by turns with a\nconfused and irregular motion, making small advance by long and painful\nefforts. Among this number he saw one of his parents, whom he recognised\nwith difficulty, as she had died in his infancy; but she approached him,\nand said, \"Good day, Thespesius.\" Surprised to hear himself called by\nthis name, he told her that he was called Arideus, and not Thespesius.\n\"That was once your name,\" she replied, \"but in future you will bear\nthat of Thespesius, for you are not dead, only the intelligent part of\nyour soul has come here by the particular will of the gods; your other\nfaculties are still united to your body, which keeps them like an\nanchor. The proof I will give you is that the souls of the dead do not\ncast any shadow, and they cannot move their eyes.\"\n\nFurther on, in traversing a luminous region, he heard, as he was\npassing, the shrill voice of a female speaking in verse, who presided\nover the time Thespesius should die. His genius told him that it was the\nvoice of the Sibyl, who, turning on the orbit of the moon, foretold the\nfuture. Thespesius would willingly have heard more, but, driven off by a\nrapid whirlwind, he could make out but little of her predictions. In\nanother place he remarked several parallel lakes, one filled with melted\nand boiling gold, another with lead colder than ice, and a third with\nvery rough iron. They were kept by genii, who, armed with tongs like\nthose used in forges, plunged into these lakes, and then withdrew by\nturns, the souls of those whom avarice or an insatiable cupidity had led\ninto crime; after they had been plunged into the lake of gold, where the\nfire made them red and transparent, they were thrown into the lake of\nlead. Then, frozen by the cold, and made as hard as hail, they were put\ninto the lake of iron, where they became horribly black. Broken and\nbruised on account of their hardness, they changed their form, and\npassed once more into the lake of gold, and suffered in these changes\ninexpressible pain.\n\nIn another place he saw the souls of those who had to return to life and\nbe violently forced to take the form of all sorts of animals. Among the\nnumber he saw the soul of Nero, which had already suffered many\ntorments, and was bound with red-hot chains of iron. The workmen were\nseizing him to give him the form of a viper, under which he was destined\nto live, after having devoured the womb that bore him.\n\nThe locality of these infernal regions was never exactly determined. The\nancients were divided upon the point. In the poems of Homer the infernal\nregions appear under two different forms: thus, in the _Iliad_, it is a\nvast subterranean cavity; while in the _Odyssey_, it is a distant and\nmysterious country at the extremity of the earth, beyond the ocean, in\nthe neighbourhood of the Cimmerians.\n\nThe description which Homer gives of the infernal region proves that in\nhis time the Greeks imagined it to be a copy of the terrestrial world,\nbut one which had a special character. According to the philosophers it\nwas equally remote from all parts of the earth. Thus Cicero, in order to\nshow that it was of no consequence where one died, said, wherever we die\nthere is just as long a journey to be made to reach the \"infernal\nregions.\"\n\nThe poets fixed upon certain localities as the entrance to this dismal\nempire: such was the river Lethe, on the borders of the Scythians; the\ncavern Acherusia in Epirus, the mouth of Pluto, in Laodicoea, the cave\nof Zenarus near Lacedaemon.\n\nIn the map of the world in the _Polychronicon_ of Ranulphus Uygden, now\nin the British Museum, it is stated: \"The Island of Sicily was once a\npart of Italy. There is Mount Etna, containing the infernal regions and\npurgatory, and it has Scylla and Charybdis, two whirlpools.\"\n\nUlysses was said to reach the place of the dead by crossing the ocean to\nthe Cimmerian land, AEneas to have entered it by the Lake of Avernus.\nXenophon says that Hercules went there by the peninsula of Arechusiade.\n\nMuch of this, no doubt, depends on the exaggeration and\nmisinterpretation of the accounts of voyagers; as when the Phoenicians\nrelated that, after passing the Columns of Hercules, to seek tin in\nThule and amber in the Baltic, they came, at the extremity of the world,\nto the Fortunate Isles, the abode of eternal spring, and further on to\nthe Hyperborean regions, where a perpetual night enveloped the\ncountry--the imagination of the people developed from this the Elysian\nfields, as the places of delight in the lower regions, having their own\nsun, moon, and stars, and Tartarus, a place of shades and desolation.\n\nIn every case, however, both among pagans and Christians, the locality\nwas somewhere in the centre of the earth. The poets and philosophers of\nGreece and Rome made very detailed and circumstantial maps of the\nsubterranean regions. They enumerated its rivers, its lakes, and woods,\nand mountains, and the places where the Furies perpetually tormented the\nwicked souls who were condemned to eternal punishment. These ideas\npassed naturally into the creeds of Christians through the sect of the\nEssenes, of whom Josephus writes as follows:--\"They thought that the\nsouls of the just go beyond the ocean to a place of repose and delight,\nwhere they were troubled by no inconvenience, no change of seasons.\nThose of the wicked, on the contrary, were relegated to places exposed\nto all the inclemencies of the weather, and suffered eternal torments.\nThe Essenes,\" adds the same author, \"have similar ideas about these\ntorments to those of the Greeks about Tartarus and the kingdom of Pluto.\nThe greater part of the Gnostic sects, on the contrary, considered the\nlower regions as simply a place of purgatory, where the soul is purified\nby fire.\"\n\nAmongst all the writings of Christian ages in which matters such as we\nare now passing in review are described, there is one that stands out\nbeyond all others as a masterpiece, and that is the magnificent poem of\nDante, his _Divine Comedy_, wherein he described the infernal regions as\nthey presented themselves to his lively and fertile imagination. We have\nin it a picture of mediaeval ideas, painted for us in indelible lines,\nbefore the remembrance of them was lost in the past. The poem is at once\na tomb and a cradle--the tomb of a world that was passing, the cradle of\nthe world that was to come: a portico between two temples, that of the\npast and that of the future. In it are deposited the traditions, the\nideas, the sciences of the past, as the Egyptians deposited their kings\nand symbolic gods in the sepulchres of Thebes and Memphis. The future\nbrings into it its aspirations and its germs enveloped in the swaddling\nclothes of a rising language and a splendid poetry--a mysterious infant\nthat is nourished by the two teats of sacred tradition and profane\nfiction, Moses and St. Paul, Homer and Virgil.\n\nThe theology of Dante, strictly orthodox, was that of St. Thomas and the\nother doctors of the Church. Natural philosophy, properly so called, was\nnot yet in existence. In astronomy, Ptolemy reigned supreme, and in the\nexplanation of celestial phenomena no one dreamt or dared to dream of\ndeparting in any way from the traditionally sacred system.\n\nIn those days astronomy was indissolubly linked with a complete series\nof philosophical and theological ideas, and included the physics of the\nworld, the science of life in every being, of their organisation, and\nthe causes on which depended the aptitudes, inclinations, and even in\npart the actions, of men, the destinies of individuals, and the events\nof history. In this theological, astronomical, and terrestrial universe\neverything emanated from God; He had created everything, and the\ncreation embraced two orders of beings, the immaterial and the\ncorporeal.\n\nThe pure spirits composed the nine choirs of the celestial hierarchy.\nLike so many circles, they were ranged round a fixed point, the Eternal\nBeing, in an order determined by their relative perfection. First the\nseraphim, then the cherubim, and afterwards the simple angels. Those of\nthe first circle received immediately from the central point the light\nand the virtue which they communicated to those of the second; and so\non from circle to circle, like mirrors which reflect, with an\never-lessening light, the brilliancy of a single luminous point. The\nnine choirs, supported by Love, turned without ceasing round their\ncentre in larger and larger circles according to their distance; and it\nwas by their means that the motion and the divine inflatus was\ncommunicated to the material creation.\n\nThis latter had in the upper part of it the empyreal, or heaven of pure\nlight. Below that, was the _Primum mobile_, the greatest body in the\nheavens, as Dante calls it, because it surrounds all the rest of the\ncircle, and bounds the material world. Then came the heaven of the fixed\nstars; then, continuing to descend, the heavens of Saturn, Jupiter,\nMars, the sun, Venus, Mercury, the moon, and lastly, the earth, whose\nsolid and compact nucleus is surrounded by the spheres of water, air,\nand fire.\n\nAs the choirs of angels turn about a fixed point, so the nine material\ncircles turn also about another fixed point, and are moved by the pure\nspirits.\n\nLet us now descend to the geography of the interior of the earth. Within\nthe earth is a large cone, whose layers are the frightful abodes of the\ncondemned, and which ends in the centre, where the divine Justice keeps\nbound up to his chest in ice the prince of the rebellious angels, the\nemperor of the kingdom of woe. Such are the infernal regions which\nDante describes according to ideas generally admitted in the middle\nages.\n\nThe form of the infernal regions was that of a funnel or reversed cone.\nAll its circles were concentric, and continually diminished; the\nprincipal ones were nine in number. Virgil also admitted nine\ndivisions--three times three, a number sacred _par excellence_. The\nseventh, eighth, and ninth circles were divided into several regions;\nand the space between the entrance to the infernal regions and the river\nAcheron, where the resting-place of the damned really commenced, was\ndivided into two parts. Dante, guided by Virgil, traversed all these\ncircles.\n\nIt was in 1300 that the poet, \"in the midst of the course of life,\" at\nthe age of thirty-five, passed in spirit through the three regions of\nthe dead. Lost in a lonely, wild, and dismal forest, he reached the base\nof a hill, which he attempted to climb. But three animals, a panther, a\nlion, and a thin and famished wolf, prevented his passage; so, returning\nagain where the sun was powerless, into the shades of the depths of the\nvalley, there met him a shadow of the dead. This human form, whom a long\nsilence had deprived of speech, was Virgil, who was sent to guide and\nsuccour him by a celestial dame, Beatrice, the object of his love, who\nwas at the same time a real and a mystically ideal being.\n\nVirgil and Dante arrived at the gate of the infernal regions; they read\nthe terrible inscription placed over the gate; they entered and found\nfirst those unhappy souls who had lived without virtue and without vice.\nThey reached the banks of Acheron and saw Charon, who carried over the\nsouls in his bark to the other side; and Dante was surprised by a\nprofound sleep. He woke beyond the river, and he descended into the\nLimbo which is the first circle of the infernal regions. He found there\nthe souls of those who had died without baptism, or who had been\nindifferent to religion.\n\nThey descended next to the second circle, where Minos, the judge of\nthose below, is enthroned. Here the luxurious are punished. The poet\nhere met with Francesca of Rimini and Paul, her friend. He completely\nrecovered the use of his senses, and passed through the third circle,\nwhere the gourmands are punished. In the fourth he found Plutus, who\nguards it. Here are tormented the prodigal and the avaricious. In the\nfifth are punished those who yield to anger. Dante and Virgil there saw\na bark approaching, conducted by Phlegias; they entered it, crossed a\nriver, and arrived thus at the base of the red-hot iron walls of the\ninfernal town of Dite. The demons that guarded the gates refused them\nadmittance, but an angel opened them, and the two travellers there saw\nthe heretics that were enclosed in tombs surrounded by flames.\n\nThe travellers then visited the circles of violence, fraud, and usury,\nwhen they came to a river of blood guarded by a troop of centaurs;\nsuddenly they saw coming to them Geryon, who represents fraud, and\nthis beast took them behind him to carry them across the rest of the\ninfernal space.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 52.--DANTE'S INFERNAL REGIONS.]\n\nThe eighth circle was divided into ten valleys, comprising: the\nflatterers; the simoniacal; the astrologers; the sorcerers; the false\njudges; the hypocrites who walked about clothed with heavy leaden\ngarments; the thieves, eternally stung by venomous serpents; the\nheresiarchs; the charlatans, and the forgers.\n\nAt last the poets descended into the ninth circle, divided into four\nregions, where are punished four kinds of traitors. Here is recounted\nthe admirable episode of Count Ugolin. In the last region, called the\nregion of Judas, LUCIFER is enchained. There is the centre of the earth,\nand Dante, hearing the noise of a little brook, reascended to the other\nhemisphere, on the surface of which he found, surrounded by the Southern\nOcean, the mountain of Purgatory.\n\nSuch was the famous _Inferno_ of Dante.\n\nNot only was the geography of the infernal regions attempted in the\nmiddle ages, but even their size. Dexelius calculated that the number of\nthe damned was a hundred millions, and that their abode need not measure\nmore than one German mile in every direction. Cyrano of Bergerac\namusingly said that it was the damned that kept turning the earth, by\nhanging on the ceiling like bats, and trying to get away.\n\nIn 1757 an English clergyman, Dr. Swinden, published a book entitled,\n_Researches on the Nature of the Fire of Hell and the Place where it is\nsituated_. He places it in the sun. According to him the Christians of\nthe first century had placed it beneath the earth on account of a false\ninterpretation of the descent of Jesus into hell after his crucifixion,\nand by false ideas of cosmography. He attempted to show, 1st, that the\nterrestrial globe is too small to contain even the angels that fell from\nheaven after their battle; 2nd, that the fire of hell is real, and that\nthe closed globe of earth could not support it a sufficiently long\nperiod; 3rd, that the sun alone presents itself as the necessary place,\nbeing a well-sustained fire, and directly opposite in situation to\nheaven, since the empyreal is round the outside of the universe, and the\nsun in the centre. What a change to the present ideas, even of doctors\nof divinity, in a hundred years!\n\nSo far, then, for mediaeval ideas on the position and character of hell.\nNext as to purgatory.\n\nThe voyage to purgatory that has met with most success is certainly the\ncelebrated Irish legend of St. Patrick, which for several centuries was\nadmitted as authentic, and the account of which was composed certainly a\ncentury before the poem of Dante.\n\nThis purgatory, the entrance to which is drawn in more than one\nilluminated manuscript, is situated in Ireland, on one of the islands\nof Lough Derg, County Donegal, where there are still two chapels and a\nshrine, at which annual ceremonies are performed. A knight, called Owen,\nresolved to visit it for penance; and the chronicle gives us an account\nof his adventures.\n\nFirst he had his obsequial rites performed, as if he had been dead, and\nthen he advanced boldly into the deep ravine; he marched on\ncourageously, and entered into the semi-shadows; he marched on, and even\nthis funereal twilight abandoned him, and \"when he had gone for a long\ntime in this obscurity, there appeared to him a little light as it were\nfrom a glimmer of day.\" He arrived at a house, built with much care, an\nimposing mansion of grief and hope, a marvellous edifice, but similar\nnevertheless to a monkish cloister, where there was no more light than\nthere is in this world in winter at vesper-time.\n\nThe knight was in dreadful suspense. Suddenly he heard a terrible noise,\nas if the universe was in a riot; for it seemed certainly to him as if\nevery kind of beast and every man in the world were together, and each\ngave utterance to their own cry, at one time and with one voice, so that\nthey could not make a more frightful noise.\n\nThen commenced his trials, and discourse with the infernal beings; the\ndemons yelled with delight or with fury round him. \"Miserable wretch,\"\nsaid some, \"you are come here to suffer.\" \"Fly,\" said others, \"for you\nhave not behaved well in the time that is passed: if you will take our\nadvice, and will go back again to the world, we will take it as a great\nfavour and courtesy.\"\n\n[Illustration: PLATE XII.--THE LEGEND OF OWEN.]\n\nOwen was thrown on the dark shadowy earth, where the demons creep like\nhideous serpents. A mysterious wind, which he scarcely heard, passed\nover the mud, and it seemed to the knight as if he had been pierced by a\nspear-head. After a while the demons lifted him up; they took him\nstraight off to the east, where the sun rises, as if they were going to\nthe place where the universe ends. \"Now, after they had journeyed for a\nlong time here and there over divers countries, they brought him to an\nopen field, very long and very full of griefs and chastisements; he\ncould not see the end of the field, it was so long; there were men and\nwomen of various ages, who lay down all naked on the ground with their\nbellies downwards, who had hot nails driven into their hands and feet;\nand there was a fiery dragon, who sat upon them and drove his teeth into\ntheir flesh, and seemed as if he would eat them; hence they suffered\ngreat agony, and bit the earth in spite of its hardness, and from time\nto time they cried most piteously 'Mercy, mercy;' but there was no one\nthere who had pity or mercy, for the devils ran among them and over\nthem, and beat them most cruelly.\"\n\nThe devils brought the knight towards a house of punishment, so broad\nand long that one could not see the end. This house is the house of\nbaths, like those of the infernal regions, and the souls that are bathed\nin ignominy are there heaped in large vats. \"Now so it was, that each of\nthese vats was filled with some kind of metal, hot and boiling, and\nthere they plunged and bathed many people of various ages, some of whom\nwere plunged in over their heads, others up to the eyebrows, others up\nto the eyes, and others up to the mouth. Now all in truth of these\npeople cried out with a loud voice and wept most piteously.\"\n\nScarcely had the knight passed this terrible place, and left behind in\nhis mysterious voyage that column of fire which rose like a lighthouse\nin the shades, and which shone so sadly betwixt hope and eternal\ndespair, than a vast and magnificent spectacle displayed itself in the\nsubterranean space.\n\nThis luminous and odorescent region, where one might see so many\narchbishops, bishops, and monks of every order, was the terrestrial\nparadise; man does not stay there always; they told the knight that he\ncould not taste too long its rapid delights; it is a place of transition\nbetween purgatory and the abodes of heaven, just as the dark places\nwhich he had traversed were made by the Creator between the world and\nthe infernal regions.\n\n\"In spite of our joys,\" said the souls, \"we shall pass away from here.\"\nThen they took him to a mountain, and told him to look, and asked of him\nwhat colour the heavens seemed to be there where he was standing, and\nhe replied it was the colour of burning gold, such as is in the furnace;\nand then they said to him, \"That which you see is the entrance to heaven\nand the gate of paradise.\"\n\nThe attempts at identification of hell and purgatory have not been so\nnumerous, perhaps because the subjects were not very attractive, except\nas the spite of men might think of them in reference to other people;\nbut when we come to the terrestrial paradise, quite a crowd of attempts\nby every kind of writer to fix its position in any and every part of the\nglobe is met with on every side.\n\nIn the seventeenth century, under Louis XIV., Daniel Huet, Bishop of\nAvranches, gave great attention to the question, and collected every\nopinion that had been expressed upon it, with a view to arriving at some\ndefinite conclusion for himself. He was astonished at the number of\nwritings and the diversity of the opinions they expressed.\n\n\"Nothing,\" he says, \"could show me better how little is really known\nabout the situation of the terrestrial paradise than the differences in\nthe opinions of those who have occupied themselves about the question.\nSome have placed it in the third heaven, some in the fourth, in the\nheaven of the moon, in the moon itself, on a mountain near the lunar\nheaven, in the middle region of the air, out of the earth, upon the\nearth, beneath the earth, in a place that is hidden and separated from\nman. It has been placed under the North Pole, in Tartary, or in the\nplace now occupied by the Caspian Sea. Others placed it in the extreme\nsouth, in the land of fire. Others in the Levant, or on the borders of\nthe Ganges, or in the Island of Ceylon, making the name India to be\nderived from Eden, the land where the paradise was situated. It has been\nplaced in China, or in an inaccessible place beyond the Black Sea; by\nothers in America, in Africa, beneath the equator, in the East, &c. &c.\"\n\nNotwithstanding this formidable array, the good bishop was bold enough\nto make his choice between them all. His opinion was that the\ndwelling-place of the first man was situated between the Tigris and\nEuphrates, above the place where they separate before falling into the\nPersian Gulf; and, founding this opinion on very extensive reading, he\ndeclared that of all his predecessors, Calvin had come nearest to the\ntruth.\n\nAmong the other authors of greater or less celebrity that have occupied\nthemselves in this question, we may instance the following:--\n\nRaban Maur (ninth century) believed that the terrestrial paradise was at\nthe eastern extremity of the earth. He described the tree of life, and\nadded that there was neither heat nor cold in that garden; that immense\nrivers of water nourished all the forest; and that the paradise was\nsurrounded by a wall of fire, and its four rivers watered the earth.\n\nJames of Vitry supposed Pison to come out of the terrestrial paradise.\nHe describes also the garden of Eden; and, like all the cosmographers of\nthe middle ages, he placed it in the most easterly portion of the world\nin an inaccessible place, and surrounded by a wall of fire, which rose\nup to heaven.\n\nDati placed also the terrestrial paradise in Asia, like the\ncosmographers that preceded him, and made the Nile come from the east.\nStenchus, the librarian of St. Siege, who lived in the sixteenth\ncentury, devoted several years to the problem, but discovered nothing.\nThe celebrated orientalist and missionary Bochart wrote a treatise on\nthis subject in 1650. Thevenot published also in the seventeenth century\na map representing the country of the Lybians, and adds that \"several\ngreat doctors place the terrestrial paradise there.\"\n\nAn Armenian writer who translated and borrowed from St. Epiphanius\n(eighth century) produced a _Memorial on the Four Rivers of the\nTerrestrial Paradise_. He supposes they rise in the unknown land of the\nAmazons, whence also arise the Danube and the Hellespont, and they\ndeliver their waters into that great sea that is the source of all seas,\nand which surrounds the four quarters of the globe. He afterwards says,\nfollowing up the same theory, that the rivers of paradise surround the\nworld and enter again into the sea, which is the universal ocean.\"\n\nGervais and Robert of St. Marien d'Auxerre taught that the terrestrial\nparadise was on the eastern border of the _square_ which formed the\nworld. Alain de Lille, who lived in the thirteenth century, maintained\nin his _Anticlaudianus_ that the earth is circular, and the garden of\nEden is in the east of Asia. Joinville, the friend of St. Louis, gives\nus a curious notion of his geographical ideas, since, with regard to\nparadise, he assures us that the four great rivers of the south come out\nof it, as do the spices. \"Here,\" he says, referring to the Nile, \"it is\nadvisable to speak of the river which passes by the countries of Egypt,\nand comes from the terrestrial paradise. Where this river enters Egypt\nthere are people very expert and experienced, as thieves are here, at\nstealing from the river, who in the evening throw their nets on the\nstreams and rivers, and in the morning they often find and carry off the\nspices which are sold here in Europe as coming from Egypt at a good\nrate, and by weight, such as cinnamon, ginger, rhubarb, cloves, lignum,\naloes, and several other good things, and they say that these good\nthings come _from the terrestrial paradise_, and that the wind blows\nthem off the trees that are growing there.\" And he says that near the\nend of the world are the peoples of Gog and Magog, who will come at the\nend of the world with Antichrist.\n\nWe find, however, more than descriptions--we have representations of\nthe terrestrial paradise by cartographers of the middle ages, some of\nwhich we have seen in speaking of their general ideas of geography, and\nwe will now introduce others.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 53.--PARADISE OF FRA MAURO.]\n\nFra Mauro, a religious cosmographer of the fifteenth century, gives on\nthe east side of a map of the world a representation which shows us that\nat that epoch the \"garden of delights\" had become very barren. It is a\nvast plain, on which we see Jehovah and the first human couple, with a\ncircular rampart surrounding it. The four rivers flow out of it by\nbifurcating. An angel protects the principal gate, which cannot be\nreached but by crossing barren mountains.\n\nThe cosmographical map of Gervais, dedicated to the Emperor Otho IV.,\nshows the terrestrial paradise in the centre of the earth, which is\nsquare, and is situated in the midst of the seas. Adam and Eve appear in\nconsultation.\n\nThe map of the world prepared by Andreas Bianco, in the fifteenth\ncentury, represents Eden, Adam and Eve, and the tree of life. On the\nleft, on a peninsula, are seen the reprobated people of Gog and Magog,\nwho are to accompany Antichrist. Alexander is also represented there,\nbut without apparent reason. The paradisaical peninsula has a building\non it with this inscription, \"Ospitius Macarii.\"\n\nFormalconi says, on this subject, that a certain Macarius lives near\nparadise, who is a witness to all that the author states, and as Bianco\nhas indicated, his cell was close to the gates of paradise.\n\nThis legend has reference to the pilgrims of St. Macarius, a tradition\nthat was spread on the return of the Crusaders, of three monks who\nundertook a voyage to discover the point where the earth and heaven\nmeet, that is to say, the place of the terrestrial paradise. The map of\nRudimentum, a vast compilation published at Luebeck in 1475 by the\nDominican Brocard, represents the terrestrial paradise surrounded by\nwalls, but it is less sterile that in the last picture, as may be seen\non the next page.\n\nIn the year 1503, when Varthema, the adventurous Bolognian, went to the\nIndies by the route of Palestine and Syria, he was shown the\nevil-reputed house which Cain dwelt in, which was not far from the\nterrestrial paradise. Master Gilius, the learned naturalist who\ntravelled at the expense of Francis I., had the same satisfaction. The\nsimple faith of our ancestors had no hesitation in accepting such\narchaeology.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 54.--THE PARADISE OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.]\n\nThe most curious and interesting of all attempts to discover the\nsituation of paradise was that made half unconsciously by Columbus when\nhe first found the American shore.\n\nIn his third voyage, when for the first time he reached the main land,\nhe was persuaded not only that he had arrived at the extremity of Asia,\nbut that he could not be far from the position of paradise. The Orinoco\nseemed to be one of those four great rivers which, according to\ntradition, came out of the garden inhabited by our first parents, and\nhis hopes were supported by the fragrant breezes that blew from the\nbeautiful forests on its banks. This, he thought, was but the entrance\nto the celestial dwelling-place, and if he had dared--if a religious\nfear had not held back him who had risked everything amidst the elements\nand amongst men, he would have liked to push forward to where he might\nhope to find the celestial boundaries of the world, and, a little\nfurther, to have bathed his eyes, with profound humility, in the light\nof the flaming swords which were wielded by two seraphim before the gate\nof Eden.\n\nHe thus expresses himself on this subject in his letter to one of the\nmonarchs of Spain, dated Hayti, October, 1498. \"The Holy Scriptures\nattest that the Lord created paradise, and placed in it the tree of\nlife, and made the four great rivers of the earth to pass out of it, the\nGanges of India, the Tigris, the Euphrates (passing from the mountains\nto form Mesopotamia, and ending in Persia), and the Nile, which rises in\nEthiopia and goes to the Sea of Alexander. I cannot, nor have been ever\nable to find in the books of the Latins or Greeks anything authentic on\nthe site of this terrestrial paradise, nor do I see anything more\ncertain in the maps of the world. Some place it at the source of the\nNile, in Ethiopia; but the travellers who have passed through those\ncountries have not found either in the mildness of the climate or in the\nelevation of the site towards heaven anything that could lead to the\npresumption that paradise was there, and that the waters of the Deluge\nwere unable to reach it or cover it. Several pagans have written for the\npurpose of proving it was in the Fortunate Isles, which are the\nCanaries. St. Isidore, Bede, and Strabo, St. Ambrosius, Scotus, and all\njudicious theologians affirm with one accord that paradise was in the\nEast. It is from thence only that the enormous quantity of water can\ncome, seeing that the course of the rivers is extremely long; and these\nwaters (of paradise) arrive here, where I am, and form a lake. There are\ngreat signs here of the neighbourhood of the terrestrial paradise, for\nthe site is entirely conformable to the opinion of the saints and\njudicious theologians. The climate is of admirable mildness. I believe\nthat if I passed beneath the equinoctial line, and arrived at the\nhighest point of which I have spoken, I should find a milder\ntemperature, and a change in the stars and the waters; not that I\nbelieve that the point where the greatest height is situated is\nnavigable, or even that there is water there, or that one could reach\nit, but I am convinced that _there_ is the terrestrial paradise, where\nno one can come except by the will of God.\"\n\nIn the opinion of this illustrious navigator the earth had the form of\na pear, and its surface kept rising towards the east, indicated by the\npoint of the fruit. It was there that he supposed might be found the\ngarden where ancient tradition imagined the creation of the first human\ncouple was accomplished.\n\nWe can scarcely think without astonishment of the great amount of\ndarkness that obscured scientific knowledge, when this great man\nappeared on the scene of the world, nor of the rapidity with which the\nobscurity and vagueness of ideas were dissipated almost immediately\nafter his marvellous discoveries. Scarcely had a half century elapsed\nafter his death, than all the geographical fables of the middle ages did\nno more than excite smiles of incredulity, although during his life the\nuniversal opinion was not much advanced upon the times of the famous\nknight John of Mandeville, who wrote gravely as follows:--\n\n\"No mortal man can go to or approach this paradise. By land no one can\ngo there on account of savage beasts which are in the deserts, and\nbecause of mountains and rocks that cannot be passed over, and dark\nplaces without number; nor can one go there any better by sea; the water\nrushes so wildly, it comes in so great waves, that no vessel dare sail\nagainst them. The water is so rapid, and makes so great a noise and\ntempest, that no one can hear however loud he is spoken to, and so when\nsome great men with good courage have attempted several times to go by\nthis river to paradise, in large companies, they have never been able\nto accomplish their journey. On the contrary, many have died with\nfatigue in swimming against the watery waves. Many others have become\nblind, others have become deaf by the noise of the water, and others\nhave been suffocated and lost in the waves, so that no mortal man can\napproach it except by the special grace of God.\"\n\nWith one notable exception, no attempts have been made of late years to\nsolve such a question. That exception is by the noble and indefatigable\nLivingstone, who declared his conviction to Sir Roderick Murchison, in a\nletter published in the _Athenaeum_, that paradise was situated somewhere\nnear the sources of the Nile.\n\nThose generally who now seek an answer to the question of the birthplace\nof the human race do not call it paradise.\n\nSince man is here, and there was a time quite recent, geologically\nspeaking, when he was not, there must have been some actual locality on\nthe earth's surface where he was first a man. Whether we have, or even\ncan hope to have, enough information to indicate where that locality was\nsituated, is a matter of doubt. We have not at present. Those who have\nattended most to the subject appear to think some island the most\nprobable locality, but it is quite conjectural.\n\nThe name \"Paradise\" appears to have been derived from the Persian, in\nwhich it means a garden; similarly derived words express the same idea\nin other languages; as in the Hebrew _pardes_, in the Arabian\n_firdaus_, in the Syriac _pardiso_, and in the Armenian _partes_. It has\nbeen thought that the Persian word itself is derived from the Sanscrit\n_pradesa_, or _paradesa_, which means a circle, a country, or strange\nregion; which, though near enough as to sound, does not quite agree as\nto meaning. \"Eden\" is from a Hebrew root meaning delights.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\nECLIPSES AND COMETS.\n\n\nWe have seen in the earlier chapters on the systems of the ancients and\ntheir ideas of the world how everything was once supposed to have\nexclusive reference to man, and how he considered himself not only chief\nof animate objects, but that his own city was the centre of the material\nworld, and his own world the centre of the material universe; that the\nsun was made to shine, as well as the moon and stars, for his benefit;\nand that, were it not for him they would have no reason for existence.\nAnd we have seen how, step by step, these illusions have been dispelled,\nand he has learnt to appreciate his own littleness in proportion as he\nhas realised the immensity of the universe of which he forms part.\n\nIf such has been his history, and such his former ideas on the regular\nparts, as we may call them, of nature, much more have similar ideas been\ndeveloped in relation to those other phenomena which, coming at such\nlong intervals, have not been recognised by him as periodic, but have\nseemed to have some relation to mundane affairs, often of the smallest\nconsequence. Such are eclipses of the sun and moon, comets,\nshooting-stars, and meteors. Among the less instructed of men, even when\nastronomers of the same age and nation knew their real nature, eclipses\nhave always been looked upon as something ominous of evil.\n\nAmong the ancient nations people used to come to the assistance of the\nmoon, by making a confused noise with all kinds of instruments, when it\nwas eclipsed. It is even done now in Persia and some parts of China,\nwhere they fancy that the moon is fighting with a great dragon, and they\nthink the noise will make him loose his hold and take to flight. Among\nthe East Indians they have the same belief that when the sun and the\nmoon are eclipsed, a dragon is seizing them, and astronomers who go\nthere to observe eclipses are troubled by the fears of their native\nattendants, and by their endeavours to get into the water as the best\nplace under the circumstances. In America the idea is that the sun and\nmoon are tired when they are eclipsed. But the more refined Greeks\nbelieved for a long time that the moon was bewitched, and that the\nmagicians made it descend from heaven, to put into the herbs a certain\nmaleficent froth. Perhaps the idea of the Dragon arose from the ancient\ncustom of calling the places in the heavens at which the eclipses of the\nmoon took place the head and tail of the Dragon.\n\nIn ancient history we have many curious instances of the very critical\ninfluence that eclipses have had, especially in the case of events in a\ncampaign, where it was thought unfavourable to some projected attempt.\n\nThus an eclipse of the moon was the original cause of the death of the\nAthenian general Nicias. Just at a critical juncture, when he was about\nto depart from the harbour of Syracuse, the eclipse filled him and his\nwhole army with dismay. The result of his terror was that he delayed the\ndeparture of his fleet, and the Athenian army was cut in pieces and\ndestroyed, and Nicias lost his liberty and life.\n\nPlutarch says they could understand well enough the cause of the eclipse\nof the sun by the interposition of the moon, but they could not imagine\nby the opposition of what body the moon itself could be eclipsed.\n\nOne of the most famous eclipses of antiquity was that of Thales,\nrecorded by Herodotus, who says:--\"The Lydians and the Medes were at war\nfor five consecutive years. Now while the war was sustained on both\nsides with equal chance, in the sixth year, one day when the armies were\nin battle array, it happened that in the midst of the combat the day\nsuddenly changed into night. Thales of Miletus had predicted this\nphenomenon to the Ionians, and had pointed out precisely that very year\nas the one in which it would take place. The Lydians and Medes, seeing\nthe night succeeding suddenly to the day, put an end to the combat, and\nonly cared to establish peace.\"\n\nAnother notable eclipse is that related by Diodorus Siculus. It was a\ntotal eclipse of the sun, which took place while Agathocles, fleeing\nfrom the port of Syracuse, where he was blockaded by the Carthaginians,\nwas hastening to gain the coast of Africa. \"When Agathocles was already\nsurrounded by the enemy, night came on, and he escaped contrary to all\nhope. On the day following so complete an eclipse of the sun took place\nthat it seemed altogether night, for the stars shone out in all places.\nThe soldiers therefore of Agathocles, persuaded that the gods were\nintending them some misfortune, were in the greatest perturbation about\nthe future. Agathocles was equal to the occasion. When disembarked in\nAfrica, where, in spite of all his fine words, he was unable to reassure\nhis soldiers, whom the eclipse of the sun had frightened, he changed his\ntactics, and pretending to understand the prodigy, \"I grant, comrades,\"\nhe said, \"that had we perceived this, eclipse before our embarkation we\nshould indeed have been in a critical situation, but now that we have\nseen it after our departure, and as it always signifies a change in the\npresent state of affairs, it follows that our circumstances, which were\nvery bad in Sicily, are about to amend, while we shall indubitably ruin\nthose of the Carthaginians, which have been hitherto so flourishing.\"\n\nWe are reminded by this of the story of Pericles, who, when ready to set\nsail with his fleet on a great expedition, saw himself stopped by a\nsimilar phenomenon. He spread his mantle over the eyes of the pilot,\nwhom fear had prevented acting, and asked him if that was any sign of\nmisfortune, when the pilot answered in the negative. \"What misfortune\nthen do you suppose,\" said he, \"is presaged by the body that hides the\nsun, which differs from this in nothing but being larger?\"\n\nWith reference to these eclipses, when their locality and approximate\ndate is known, astronomy comes to the assistance of history, and can\nsupply the exact day, and even hour, of the occurrence. For the eclipses\ndepend on the motions of the moon, and just as astronomers can calculate\nboth the time and the path of a solar eclipse in the future, so they can\nfor the past. If then the eclipses are calculated back to the epoch when\nthe particular one is recorded, it can be easily ascertained which one\nit was that about that time passed over the spot at which it was\nobserved, and as soon as the particular eclipse is fixed upon, it may be\ntold at what hour it would be seen.\n\nThus the eclipse of Thales has been assigned by different authors to\nvarious dates, between the 1st of October, 583 B.C., and the 3rd of\nFebruary, 626 B.C. The only eclipse of the sun that is suitable between\nthose dates has been found by the Astronomer-Royal to be that which\nwould happen in Lydia on the 28th of May, 585 B.C., which must therefore\nbe the date of the event.\n\nSo of the eclipse of Agathocles, M. Delaunay has fixed its date to the\n15th August, 310 B.C.\n\nIn later days, when Christopher Columbus had to deal with the ignorant\npeople of America, the same kind of story was repeated. He found himself\nreduced to famine by the inhabitants of the country, who kept him and\nhis companions prisoners; and being aware of the approach of the\neclipse, he menaced them with bringing upon them great misfortunes, and\ndepriving them of the light of the moon, if they did not instantly bring\nhim provisions. They cared little for his menaces at first; but as soon\nas they saw the moon disappear, they ran to him with abundance of\nvictuals, and implored pardon of the conqueror. This was on the 1st of\nMarch, 1504, a date which may be tested by the modern tables of the\nmoon, and Columbus's account proved to be correct. The eclipse was\nindeed recorded in other places by various observers.\n\nEclipses in their natural aspect have thus had considerable influence on\nthe vulgar, who knew nothing of their cause. This of course was the\nstate with all in the early ages, and it is interesting to trace the\ngradual progress from their being quite unexpected to their being\npredicted.\n\nIt is very probable, if not certain, that their recurrence in the case\nof the moon at least was recognised long before their nature was\nunderstood.\n\n[Illustration: PLATE XIII.--CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS AND THE ECLIPSE OF THE\nMOON.]\n\nAmong the Chinese they were long calculated, and, in fact, it is thought\nby some that they have pretended to a greater antiquity by calculating\nbackwards, and recording as observed eclipses those which happened\nbefore they understood or noticed them. It seems, however, authenticated\nthat they did in the year 2169 B.C. observe an eclipse of the sun, and\nthat at that date they were in the habit of predicting them. For this\nparticular eclipse is said to have cost several of the astronomers their\nlives, as they had not calculated it rightly. As the lives of princes\nwere supposed to be dependent on these eclipses, it became high treason\nto expose them to such a danger without forewarning them. They paid more\nattention to the eclipses of the sun than of the moon.\n\nAmong the Babylonians the eclipses of the moon were observed from a very\nearly date, and numerous records of them are contained in the\nObservations of Bel in Sargon's library, the tablets of which have\nlately been discovered. In the older portion they only record that on\nthe 14th day of such and such a (lunar) month an eclipse takes place,\nand state in what watch it begins, and when it ends. In a later portion\nthe observations were more precise, and the descriptions of the eclipse\nmore accurate. Long before 1700 B.C. the discovery of the lunar cycle of\n223 lunar months had been made, and by means of it they were able to\nstate of each lunar eclipse, that it was either \"according to\ncalculation\" or \"contrary to calculation.\"\n\nThey dealt also with solar eclipses, and tried to trace on a sphere the\npath they would take on the earth. Accordingly, like the eclipses of the\nmoon, these too were spoken of as happening either \"according to\ncalculation\" or \"contrary to calculation.\" \"In a report sent in to one\nof the later kings of Assyria by the state astronomer, Abil Islar states\nthat a watch had been kept on the 28th, 29th, and 30th of Sivan, or May,\nfor an eclipse of the sun, which did not, however, take place after all.\nThe shadow, it is clear, must have fallen outside the field of\nobservation.\" Besides the more ordinary kind of solar eclipses, mention\nis made in the Observations of Bel of annular eclipses which, strangely\nenough, are seldom alluded to by classical writers.\n\nA record of a later eclipse has been found by Sir Henry Rawlinson on one\nof the Nineveh Tablets. This occurred near that city in B.C. 763, and\nfrom the character of the inscription it may be inferred that it was a\nrare occurrence with them, indeed that it was nearly, if not quite, a\ntotal eclipse. This has an especial interest as being the earliest that\nwe have any approximate date for.\n\nIt is possible that the remarkable phenomenon, alluded to by the prophet\nIsaiah, of the shadow going backwards ten degrees on the dial of Ahaz,\nmay be really a record of an eclipse of the sun, such as astronomy\nproves to have occurred at Jerusalem in the year 689 B.C.\n\nWe have very little notice of the calculation of eclipses by the\nEgyptians; all that is told us is more or less fabulous. Thus Diogenes\nLaertius says that they reckoned that during a period of 48,863 years,\n373 eclipses of the sun and 832 eclipses of the moon had occurred, which\nis far fewer than the right number for so long a time, and which, of\ncourse, has no basis in fact.\n\nAmong the Greeks, Anaxagoras was the first who entertained clear ideas\nabout the nature of eclipses; and it was from him that Pericles learnt\ntheir harmlessness.\n\nPlutarch relates that Helicon of Cyzicus predicted an eclipse of the sun\nto Dionysius of Syracuse, and received as a reward a talent of silver.\n\nLivy records an eclipse of the sun as having taken place on the 11th of\nQuintilis, which corresponds to the 11th of July. It happened during the\nAppollinarian games, 190 B.C.\n\nThe same author tells us of an eclipse of the moon that was predicted by\none Gallus, a tribune of the second legion, on the eve of the battle of\nPydna--a prediction which was duly fulfilled on the following night. The\nfact of its having been foretold quieted the superstitious fears of the\nsoldiers, and gave them a very high opinion of Gallus. Other authors,\namong them Cicero, do not give so flattering a story, but state that\nGallus's part consisted only in explaining the cause of the eclipse\nafter it had happened. The date of this eclipse was the 3rd of\nSeptember, 168 B.C.\n\nEnnius, writing towards the end of the second century B.C., describes an\neclipse which was said to have happened nearly two hundred years before\n(404, B.C.), in the following remarkable words:--\"On the nones of July\nthe moon passed over the sun, and there was night.\" Aristarchus, three\ncenturies before Christ, understood and explained the nature of\neclipses; but the chief of the ancient authors upon this subject was\nHipparchus. He and his disciples were able to predict eclipses with\nconsiderable accuracy, both as to their time and duration. Geminus and\nCleomedes were two other writers, somewhat later, who explained and\npredicted eclipses. In later times regular tables were drawn up, showing\nwhen the eclipses would happen. One that Ptolemy was the author of was\nfounded on data derived from ancient observers--Callipus, Democritus,\nEudoxus, Hipparchus--aided by his own calculations. After the days of\nPtolemy the knowledge of the eclipses advanced _pari passu_ with the\nadvance of astronomy generally. So long as astronomy itself was\nempirical, the time of the return of an eclipse was only reckoned by the\nintervals that had elapsed during the same portion of previous cycles;\nbut after the discovery of elliptic orbits and the force of gravitation\nthe whole motion of the moon could be calculated with as great accuracy\nas any other astronomical phenomenon.\n\nIn point of fact, if the new moon is in the plane of the ecliptic there\nmust be an eclipse of the sun; if the full moon is there, there must be\nan eclipse of the moon; and if it should in these cases be only\npartially in that plane, the eclipses also will be partial. The cycle of\nchanges that the position of the moon can undergo when new and full\noccupies a period of eighteen years and eleven days, in which period\nthere are forty-one eclipses of the sun and twenty-nine of the moon.\nEach year there are at most seven and at least two eclipses; if only\ntwo, they are eclipses of the sun. Although more numerous in reality for\nthe whole earth, eclipses of the sun are more rarely observed in any\nparticular place, because they are not seen everywhere, but only where\nthe shadow of the moon passes; while all that part of the earth that\nsees the moon at all at the time sees it eclipsed.\n\nWe now come to comets.\n\nThe ancients divided comets into different classes, the chief points\nof distinction being derived from the shape, length, and brilliancy\nof the tails. Pliny distinguished twelve kinds, which he thus\ncharacterised:--\"Some frighten us by their blood-coloured mane; their\nbristling hair rises towards the heaven. The bearded ones let their long\nhair fall down like a majestic beard. The javelin-shaped ones seem to\nbe projected forwards like a dart, as they rapidly attain their shape\nafter their first appearance; if the tail is shorter, and terminates in\na point, it is called a sword; this is the palest of all the comets; it\nhas the appearance of a bright sword without any diverging rays. The\nplate or disc derives its name from its shape, its colour is that of\namber, it gives out some diverging rays from its sides, but not in large\nquantity. The cask has really the form of a cask, which one might\nsuppose to be staved in smoke enveloped in light. The retort imitates\nthe figure of a horn, and the lamp that of a burning flame. The\nhorse-comet represents the mane of a horse which is violently agitated,\nas by a circular, or rather cylindrical, motion. Such a comet appears\nalso of singular whiteness, with hair of a silver hue; it is so bright\nthat one can scarcely look at it. There are bristling comets, they are\nlike the skins of beasts with their hair on, and are surrounded by a\nnebulosity. Lastly, the hair of the comet sometimes takes the form of a\nlance.\"\n\nPingre, a celebrated historian of comets, tells us that one of the first\ncomets noticed in history is that which appeared over Rome forty years\nbefore Christ, and in which the Roman people imagined they saw the soul\nof Caesar endowed with divine honours. Next comes that which threw its\nlight on Jerusalem when it was being besieged and remained for a whole\nyear above the city, according to the account of Josephus. It was of\nthis kind that Pliny said it \"is of so great a whiteness that one can\nscarcely look at it, and _one may see in it the image of God in human\nform_.\"\n\nDiodorus tells us that, a little after the subversion of the towns of\nHelix and Bura, there were seen, for several nights in succession, a\nbrilliant light, which was called a beam of fire, but which Aristotle\nsays was a true comet.\n\nPlutarch, in his life of Timoleon, says a burning flame preceded the\nfleet of this general until his arrival at Sicily, and that during the\nconsulate of Caius Servilius a bright shield was seen suspended in the\nheavens.\n\nThe historians Sazoncenas and Socrates relate that in the year 400 A.D.\na comet in the form of a sword shone over Constantinople, and appeared\nto touch the town just at the time when great misfortunes were impending\nthrough the treachery of Gainas.\n\nThe same phenomenon appeared over Rome previous to the arrival of\nAlaric.\n\nIn fact the ancient chroniclers always associated the appearance of a\ncomet with some terrestrial event, which it was not difficult to do,\nseeing that critical situations were at all times existing in some one\ncountry or other where the comet would be visible, and probably those\nwhich could not be connected with any were not thought worthy of being\nrecorded.\n\nIt is well known that the year 1000 A.D. was for a long time predicted\nto be the end of the world. In this year the astronomers and\nchroniclers registered the fall of an enormous burning meteor and the\nappearance of a comet. Pingre says: \"On the 19th of the calends of\nJanuary\"--that is the 14th of December--\"the heavens being dark, a kind\nof burning sword fell to the earth, leaving behind it a long train of\nlight. Its brilliancy was such that it frightened not only those who\nwere in the fields, but even those who were shut up in their houses.\nThis great opening in the heavens was gradually closed, and then was\nseen the figure of a dragon, whose feet were blue, and whose head kept\ncontinually increasing. A comet having appeared at the same time as this\nchasm, or meteor, they were confounded.\" This relation is given in the\nchronicles of Seigbert in Hermann Corner, in the Chronique de Tours, in\nAlbert Casin, and other historians of the time.\n\nBodin, resuscitating an idea of Democritus, wrote that the comets were\nthe souls of illustrious personages, who, after having lived on the\nearth a long series of centuries, and being ready at last to pass away,\nwere carried in a kind of triumph to heaven. For this reason, famine,\nepidemics, and civil wars followed on the apparition of comets, the\ntowns and their inhabitants finding themselves then deprived of the help\nof the illustrious souls who had laboured to appease their intestinal\nfeuds.\n\nOne of the comets of the middle ages which made the greatest impression\non the minds of the people was that which appeared during Holy Week of\nthe year 837, and frightened Louis the Debonnaire. The first morning of\nits appearance he sent for his astrologer. \"Go,\" he said, \"on to the\nterrace of the palace, and come back again immediately and tell me what\nyou have seen, for I have not seen that star before, and you have not\nshown it to me; but I know that this sign is a comet: it announces a\nchange of reign and the death of a prince.\" The son of Charlemagne\nhaving taken counsel with his bench of bishops, was convinced that the\ncomet was a notice sent from heaven expressly for him. He passed the\nnights in prayer, and gave large donations to the monasteries, and\nfinally had a number of masses performed out of fear for himself and\nforethought for the Church committed to his care. The comet, however,\nwas a very inoffensive one, being none other than that known as Halley's\ncomet, which returned in 1835. While they were being thus frightened in\nFrance, the Chinese were observing it astronomically.\n\nThe historian of Merlin the enchanter relates that a few days after the\n_fetes_ which were held on the occasion of the erection of the funeral\nmonument of Salisbury, a sign appeared in heaven. It was a comet of\nlarge size and excessive splendour. It resembled a dragon, out of whose\nmouth came a long two-forked tongue, one part of which turned towards\nthe north and the other to the east. The people were in a state of fear,\neach one asking what this sign presaged. Uter, in the absence of the\nking, Ambrosius, his brother, who was engaged in pursuing one of the\nsons of Vortigern, consulted all the wise men of Britain, but no one\ncould give him any answer. Then he thought of Merlin the enchanter, and\nsent for him to the court. \"What does this apparition presage?\" demanded\nthe king's brother. Merlin began to weep. \"O son of Britain, you have\njust had a great loss--the king is dead.\" After a moment of silence he\nadded, \"But the Britons have still a king. Haste thee, Uter, attack the\nenemy. All the island will submit to you, for the figure of the fiery\ndragon is thyself. The ray that goes towards Gaul represents a son who\nshall be born to thee, who will be great by his achievements, and not\nless so by his power. The ray that goes towards Ireland represents a\ndaughter of whom thou shalt be the father, and her sons and grandsons\nshall reign over all the Britons.\" These predictions were realised; but\nit is more than probable that they were made up after the event.\n\nThe comet of 1066 was regarded as a presage of the Conquest under\nWilliam of Normandy. In the Bayeaux tapestry, on which Matilda of\nFlanders had drawn all the most memorable episodes in the transmarine\nexpedition of her husband, the comet appears in one of the corners with\nthe inscription, _Isti mirantur stellam_, which proves that the comet\nwas considered a veritable marvel. It is said even to be traditionally\nreported that one of the jewels of the British crown was taken from the\ntail of this comet. Nevertheless it was no more than Halley's comet\nagain in its periodical visit every seventy-six years.\n\nIn July, 1214, a brilliant comet appeared which was lost to view on the\nsame day as the Pope, Urban IV., died, _i.e._ the third of October.\n\nIn June, 1456, a similar body of enormous size, with a very long and\nextraordinarily bright tail, put all Christendom in a fright. The Pope,\nCalixtus III., was engaged in a war at that time with the Saracens. He\nshowed the Christians that the comet \"had the form of a cross,\" and\nannounced some great event. At the same time Mahomet announced to his\nfollowers that the comet, \"having the form of a yataghan,\" was a\nblessing of the Prophet's. It is said that the Pope afterwards\nrecognised that it had this form, and excommunicated it. Nevertheless,\nthe Christians obtained the victory under the walls of Belgrade. This\nwas another appearance of Halley's comet.\n\nIn the early months of 1472 appeared a large comet, which historians\nagree in saying was very horrible and alarming. Belleforest said it was\na hideous and frightening comet, which threw its rays from east to west,\ngiving great cause for fear to great people, who were not ignorant that\ncomets are the menacing rods of God, which admonish those who are in\nauthority, that they may be converted.\n\nPingre, who has told us of so many of the comets that were seen before\nhis time, wrote of this epoch: \"Comets became the most efficacious signs\nof the most important and doubtful events. They were charged to announce\nwars, seditions, and the internal movements of republics; they presaged\nfamines, pestilence, and epidemics; princes, or even persons of dignity,\ncould not pay the tribute of nature without the previous appearance of\nthat universal oracle, a comet; men could no longer be surprised by any\nunexpected event; the future might be as easily read in the heavens as\nthe past in history. Their effect depended on the place in the heavens\nwhere they shone, the countries over which they directly lay, the signs\nof the zodiac that they measured by their longitude, the constellations\nthey traversed, the form and length of their tails, the place where they\nwent out, and a thousand other circumstances more easily indicated than\ndistinguished; they also announced in general wars, and the death of\nprinces, or some grand personage, but there were few years that passed\nwithout something of this kind occurring. The devout astrologers--for\nthere were many of that sort--risked less than the others. According to\nthem, the comet threatened some misfortune; if it did not happen, it was\nbecause the prayers of penitence had turned aside the wrath of God; he\nhad returned his sword to the scabbard. But a rule was invented which\ngave the astrologers free scope, for they said that events announced by\na comet might be postponed for one or more periods of forty years, or\neven as many years as the comet had appeared days; so that one which had\nappeared for six months need not produce its effect for 180 years.\"\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 55.--REPRESENTATION OF A COMET, 16TH CENTURY.]\n\nThe most frightful of the comets of this period, according to Simon\nGoulart, was that of 1527. \"It put some into so great a fright that they\ndied; others fell sick. It was seen by several thousand people, and\nappeared very long, and of the colour of blood. At the summit was seen\nthe representation of a curved arm, holding a large sword in its hand,\nas if it would strike; at the top of the point of the sword were three\nstars, but that which touched the point was more brilliant than the\nothers. On the two sides of the rays of this comet were seen large\nhatchets, poignards, bloody swords, among which were seen a great\nnumber of men decapitated, having their heads and beards horribly\nbristling.\"\n\nA view of this comet is given in the _History of Prodigies_.\n\nThere was another comet remarked in 1556, and another in 1577, like the\nhead of an owl, followed by a mantle of scattered light, with pointed\nends. Of this comet we read in the same book that recorded the last\ndescribed: \"The comet is an infallible sign of a very evil event.\nWhenever eclipses of the sun or moon, or comets, or earthquakes,\nconversions of water into blood, and such like prodigies happen, it has\nalways been known that very soon after these miserable portents\nafflictions, effusion of human blood, massacres, deaths of great\nmonarchs, kings, princes, and rulers, seditions, treacheries, raids,\noverthrowings of empires, kingdoms, or villages; hunger and scarcity of\nprovisions, burning and overthrowing of towns; pestilences, widespread\nmortality, both of beasts and men; in fact all sorts of evils and\nmisfortunes take place. Nor can it be doubted that all these signs and\nprodigies give warning that the end of the world is come, and with it\nthe terrible last judgment of God.\"\n\nBut even now comets were being observed astronomically, and began to\nlose their sepulchral aspect.\n\nA remarkable comet, however, which appeared in 1680, was not without its\nfears for the vulgar. We are told that it was recognised as the same\nwhich appeared the year of Caesar's death, then in 531, and afterwards\nin 1106, having a period of about 575 years. The terror it produced in\nthe towns was great; timid spirits saw in it the sign of a new deluge,\nas they said water was always announced by fire. While the fearful were\nmaking their wills, and, in anticipation of the end of the world, were\nleaving their money to the monks, who in accepting them showed\nthemselves better physicists than the testators, people in high station\nwere asking what great person it heralded the death of, and it is\nreported of the brother of Louis XIV., who apparently was afraid of\nbecoming too suddenly like Caesar, that he said sharply to the courtiers\nwho were discussing it, \"Ah, gentlemen, you may talk at your ease, if\nyou please; you are not princes.\"\n\nThis same comet gave rise to a curious story of an \"extraordinary\nprodigy, how at Rome a hen laid an egg on which was drawn a picture of\nthe comet.\n\n\"The fact was attested by his Holiness, by the Queen of Sweden, and all\nthe persons of first quality in Rome. On the 4th December, 1680, a hen\nlaid an egg on which was seen the figure of the comet, accompanied by\nother marks such as are here represented. The cleverest naturalists in\nRome have seen and examined it, and have never seen such a prodigy\nbefore.\"\n\nOf this same comet Bernouilli wrote, \"_That if the body of the comet is\nnot a visible sign of the anger of God, the tail may be_.\" It was this\ntoo that suggested to Whiston the idea that he put forward, not as a\nsuperstitious, but as a physical speculation, that a comet approaching\nthe earth was the cause of the deluge.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 56.--AN EGG MARKED WITH A COMET.]\n\nThe last blow to the superstitious fear of the comets was given by\nHalley, when he proved that they circulated like planets round the sun,\nand that the comets noticed in 837, 1066, 1378, 1456, 1531, 1607, 1682\nwere all one, whose period was about 76 years, and which would return in\n1759, which prediction was verified, and the comet went afterwards by\nthe name of this astronomer. It returned again in 1835, and will revisit\nus in 1911.\n\nEven after the fear arising from the relics of astrology had died away,\nanother totally different alarm was connected with comets--an alarm\nwhich has not entirely subsided even in our own times. This is that a\ncomet may come in contact with the earth and destroy it by the\ncollision. The most remarkable panic in this respect was that which\narose in Paris in 1773. At the previous meeting of the Academy of\nSciences, M. Lalande was to have read an interesting paper, but the time\nfailed. It was on the subject of comets that could, by approaching the\nearth, cause its destruction, with special reference to the one that was\nsoon to come. From the title only of the paper the most dreadful fears\nwere spread abroad, and, increasing day by day, were with great\ndifficulty allayed. The house of M. Lalande was filled with those who\ncame to question him on the memoir in question. The fermentation was so\ngreat that some devout people, as ignorant as weak, asked the archbishop\nto make a forty hours' prayer to turn away the enormous deluge that they\nfeared, and the prelate was nearly going to order these prayers, if the\nmembers of the Academy had not persuaded him how ridiculous it would be.\nFinally, M. Lalande, finding it impossible to answer all the questions\nput to him about his fatal memoir, and wishing to prevent the real evils\nthat might arise from the frightened imaginations of the weak, caused\nit to be printed, and made it as clear as was possible. When it\nappeared, it was found that he stated that of the sixty comets known\nthere were eight which could, by coming too near the earth, say within\n40,000 miles, occasion such a pressure that the sea would leave its bed\nand cover part of the globe, but that in any case this could not happen\ntill after twenty years. This was too long to make it worth while to\nmake provision for it, and the effervescence subsided.\n\nA similar case to this occurred with respect to Biela's comet, which was\nto return in 1832. In calculating its reappearance in this year,\nDamoiseau found that it would pass through the plane of the earth's\norbit on the 29th of October. Rushing away with this, the papers made\nout that a collision was inevitable, and the end of the world was come.\nBut no one thought to inquire where the earth would be when the comet\npassed through the plane in which it revolved. Arago, however, set\npeople's minds at rest by pointing out that at that time the earth would\nbe a month's journey from the spot, which with the rate at which the\nearth is moving would correspond to a distance of sixty millions of\nmiles.\n\nThis, like other frights, passed away, but was repeated again in 1840\nand 1857 with like results, and even in 1872 a similar end to the world\nwas announced to the public for the 12th of August, on the supposed\nauthority of a Professor at Geneva, but who had never said what was\nsupposed.\n\nBut in reality all cause of fear has now passed away, since it has been\nproved that the comet is made of gaseous matter in a state of extreme\ntenuity, so that, though it may make great show in the heavens, the\nwhole mass may not weigh more than a few pounds; and we have in addition\nthe testimony of experience, which might have been relied on on the\noccasions above referred to, for in 1770 Lexele's comet was seen to pass\nthrough the satellites of Jupiter without deranging them in the least,\nbut was itself thrown entirely out of its path, while there is reason to\nbelieve that on the 29th of June, 1861, the earth remained several hours\nin the tail of a comet without having experienced the slightest\ninconvenience.\n\nAs to the nature of comets, the opinions that have been held have been\nmostly very vague. Metrodorus thought they were reflections from the\nsun; Democritus, a concourse of several stars; Aristotle, a collection\nof exhalations which had become dry and inflamed; Strabo, that they are\nthe splendour of a star enveloped in a cloud; Heracletes of Pontus, an\nelevated cloud which gave out much light; Epigenes, some terrestrial\nmatter that had caught fire, and was agitated by the wind; Boecius,\npart of the air, coloured; Anaxagoras, sparks fallen from the elementary\nfire; Xenophanes, a motion and spreading out of clouds which caught\nfire; and Descartes, the debris of vortices that had been destroyed, the\nfragments of which were coming towards us.\n\nIt is said that the Chaldaeans held the opinion that they were analogous\nto planets by their regular course, and that when we ceased to see them,\nit was because they had gone too far from us; and Seneca followed this\nexplanation, since he regarded them as globes turning in the heavens,\nand which appear and disappear in certain times, and whose periodical\nmotions might be known by regular observation.\n\nWe have thus traced the particular ideas that have attached themselves\nto eclipses and comets, as the two most remarkable of the extraordinary\nphenomena of the heavens, and have seen how the fears and superstitions\nof mankind have been inevitably linked with them in the earlier days of\nignorance and darkness, but they are only part of a system of phenomena,\nand have been no more connected with superstition than others less\nremarkable, except in proportion to their remarkableness. Other minor\nappearances that are at all unusual have, on the same belief in the\ninextricable union of celestial and terrestrial matters, been made the\nsigns of calamities or extra-prosperity; the doleful side of human\nnature being usually the strongest, the former have been chosen more\noften than the latter.\n\nAccording to Seneca, the tradition of the Chaldees announced that a\nuniversal deluge would be caused by the conjunction of all the planets\nin the sign of Capricorn, and that a general breaking up of the earth\nwould take place at the moment of their conjunction in Cancer. \"The\ngeneral break-up of the world,\" they said, \"will happen when the stars\nwhich govern the heaven, penetrated with a quality of heat and dryness,\nmeet one another in a fiery triplicity.\"\n\n[Illustration: PLATE XIV.--PRODIGIES IN THE MIDDLE AGES.]\n\nEverywhere, and in all ages of the past, men have thought that a\nprotecting providence, always watching over them, has taken care to warn\nthem of the destinies which await them; thence the good and evil\n_presages_ taken from the appearance of certain heavenly bodies, of\ndivers meteors, or even the accidental meeting of certain animate or\ninanimate objects. The Indian of North America dying of famine in his\nmiserable cabin, will not go out to the chase if he sees certain\npresages in the atmosphere. Nor need we be astonished at such ideas in\nan uncultivated man, when even among Europeans, a salt-cellar upset, a\nglass broken, a knife and fork crossed, the number thirteen at dinner,\nand such things are regarded as unlucky accidents. The employment of\nsorcery and divination is closely connected with these superstitions.\nBesides eclipses and comets, meteors were taken as the signs of divine\nwrath. We learn from S. Maximus of Turin, that the Christians of his\ntime admitted the necessity of making a noise during eclipses, so as\nto prevent the magicians from hurting the sun or moon, a superstition\nentirely pagan. They used to fancy they could see celestial armies in\nthe air, coming to bring miraculous assistance to man. They thought the\nhurricanes and tempests the work of evil spirits, whose rage kept them\nset against the earth. S. Thomas Aquinas, the great theologian of the\nthirteenth century, accepted this opinion, just as he admitted the\nreality of sorceries. But the full development, as well as the\nnourishment of these superstitious ideas, was derived from the\nstorehouse of astrology, which dealt with matters of ordinary\noccurrence, both in the heavens and on the earth--and to the history of\nwhich our next chapter is devoted.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\nTHE GREATNESS AND THE FALL OF ASTROLOGY.\n\n\nOur study of the opinions of the ancients on the various phenomena of\nastronomy, leads us inevitably to the discussion of their astrology,\nwhich has in every age and among every people accompanied it--and though\nastrology be now no more as a science, or lingers only with those who\nare ignorant and desirous of taking advantage of the still greater\nignorance of others--yet it is not lacking in interest as showing the\neffect of the phenomena of the heavens on the human mind, when that\neffect is brought to its most technical and complete development.\n\nWe must distinguish in the first place two kinds of astrology, viz.,\nnatural and judicial. The first proposed to foresee and announce the\nchanges of the seasons, the rains, wind, heat, cold, abundance, or\nsterility of the ground, diseases, &c., by means of a knowledge of the\ncauses which act on the air and on the atmosphere. The other is occupied\nwith objects which would be still more interesting to men. It traced at\nthe moment of his birth, or at any other period of his life, the line\nthat each must travel according to his destiny. It pretended to\ndetermine our characters, our passions, fortune, misfortunes, and perils\nin reserve for each mortal.\n\nWe have not here to consider the natural astrology, which is a veritable\nscience of observation and does not deserve the name of astrology. It is\nrather worthy to be called the meteorological calendar of its\ncultivators. More rural than their descendants of the nineteenth\ncentury, the ancients had recognised the connection between the\ncelestial phenomena and the vicissitudes of the seasons; they observed\nthese phenomena carefully to discover the return of the same\ninclemencies; and they were able (or thought they were) to state the\ndate of the return of particular kinds of weather with the same\npositions of the stars. But the very connection with the stars soon led\nthe way to a degeneracy. The autumnal constellations, for example, Orion\nand Hercules, were regarded as rainy, because the rains came at the time\nwhen these stars rose. The Egyptians who observed in the morning, called\nSirius \"the burning,\" because his appearance in the morning was followed\nby the great heat of the summer: and it was the same with the other\nstars. Soon they regarded them as the cause of the rain and the\nheat--although they were but remote witnesses. The star Sirius is still\nconnected with heat--since we call it the dog-star--and the hottest days\nof the year, July 22nd to August 23rd, we call dog-days. At the\ncommencement of our era, the morning rising of Sirius took place on the\nearlier of those days--though it does not now rise in the morning till\nthe middle of August--and 4,000 years ago it rose about the 20th of\nJune, and preceded the annual rise of the Nile.\n\nThe belief in the meteorological influence of the stars is one of the\ncauses of judicial astrology. This latter has simply subjected man, like\nthe atmosphere, to the influence of the stars; it has made dependent on\nthem the risings of his passions, the good and ill fortune of his life,\nas well as the variations of the seasons. Indeed, it was very easy to\nexplain. It is the stars, or heavenly bodies in general, that bring the\nwinds, the rains, and the storms; their influences mixed with the action\nof the rays of the sun modify the cold or heat; the fertility of the\nfields, health or sickness, depend on these beneficial or injurious\ninfluences; not a blade of grass can grow without all the stars having\ncontributed to its increase; man breathes the emanations which escaping\nfrom the heavenly bodies fill the air; man is therefore in his entire\nnature subjected to them; these stars must therefore influence his will\nand his passions; the good and evil passages in his career, in a word,\nmust direct his life.\n\nAs soon as it was established that the rising of a certain star or\nplanet, and its aspect with regard to other planets, announced a certain\ndestiny to man, it was natural to believe that the rarer configurations\nsignified extraordinary events, which concerned great empires, nations,\nand towns. And lastly, since errors grow faster than truth, it was\nnatural to think that the configurations which were still more rare,\nsuch as the reunion of all the planets in conjunction with the same\nstar, which can occur only after thousands of centuries, while nations\nhave been renewed an infinity of times, and empires have been ruined,\nhad reference to the earth itself, which had served as the theatre for\nall these events. Joined to these superstitious ideas was the tradition\nof a deluge, and the belief that the world must one day perish by fire,\nand so it was announced that the former event took place when all the\nplanets were in conjunction in the sign of the Fishes, and the latter\nwould occur when they all met in the sign of the Lion.\n\nThe origin of astrology, like that of the celestial sphere, was in all\nprobability in upper Asia.\n\nThere, the starry heavens, always pure and splendid, invited observation\nand struck the imagination. We have already seen this with respect to\nthe more matter-of-fact portions of astronomy. The Assyrians looked upon\nthe stars as divinities endued with beneficent or maleficent power. The\nadoration of the heavenly bodies was the earliest form of religion among\nthe pastoral population that came down from the mountains of Kurdestan\nto the plains of Babylon. The Chaldaeans at last set apart a sacerdotal\nand learned caste devoted to the observation of the heavens; and the\ntemples became regular observatories. Such doubtless was the tower of\nBabel--a monument consecrated to the seven planets, and of which the\naccount has come down to us in the ancient book of Genesis.\n\nA long series of observations put the Chaldaeans in possession of a\ntheological astronomy, resting on a more or less chimerical theory of\nthe influence of the celestial bodies on the events of nations and\nprivate individuals. Diodorus Siculus, writing towards the commencement\nof our era, has put us in possession of the most circumstantial details\nthat have reached us with regard to the Chaldaean priests.\n\nAt the head of the gods, the Assyrians placed the sun and moon, whose\ncourses and daily positions they had noted in the constellation of the\nzodiac, in which the sun remained, one month in each. The twelve signs\nwere governed by as many gods, who had the corresponding months under\ntheir influence. Each of these months were divided into three parts,\nwhich made altogether thirty-six subdivisions, over which as many stars\npresided, called gods of consultation. Half of these gods had under\ntheir control the things which happen above the earth, and the other\nhalf those below. The sun and moon and the five planets occupied the\nmost elevated rank in the divine hierarchy and bore the name of gods of\ninterpretation. Among these planets Saturn or old Bel, which was\nregarded as the highest star and the most distant from us, was\nsurrounded by the greatest veneration; he was the interpreter _par\nexcellence_--the revealer. Each of the other planets had his own\nparticular name. Some of them, such as _Bel_ (Jupiter), _Merodaez_\n(Mars), _Nebo_ (Mercury), were regarded as male, and the others, as\n_Sin_ (the Moon), and _Mylitta_ or _Baulthis_ (Venus), as females; and\nfrom their position relative to the zodiacal constellations, which were\nalso called _Lords_ or masters of the _Gods_, the Chaldaeans derived the\nknowledge of the destiny of the men who were born under such and such a\nconjunction--predictions which the Greeks afterwards called horoscopes.\nThe Chaldaeans invented also relations between each of the planets and\nmeteorological phenomena, an opinion partly founded on fortuitous\ncoincidences which they had more or less frequently observed. In the\ntime of Alexander their credit was considerable, and the king of\nMacedonia, either from superstition or policy, was in the habit of\nconsulting them.\n\nIt is probable that the Babylonian priests, who referred every natural\nproperty to sidereal influences, imagined there were some mysterious\nrelations between the planets and the metals whose colours were\nrespectively somewhat analogous to theirs. Gold corresponded to the sun,\nsilver to the moon, lead to Saturn, iron to Mars, tin to Jupiter, and\nmercury still retains the name of the planet with which it was\nassociated. It is less than two centuries ago, since the metals have\nceased to be designated by the signs of their respective planets.\nAlchemy, the mother of chemistry, was an intimately connected sister of\nAstrology, the mother of Astronomy.\n\nEgyptian civilisation dates back to a no less remote period than that of\nBabylon. Not less careful observers than the Babylonish astrologers of\nthe meteors and the atmospheric revolutions, they could predict certain\nphenomena, and they gave it out that they had themselves been the cause\nof them.\n\nDiodorus Siculus tells us that the Egyptian priests pretty generally\npredicted the years of barrenness or abundance, the contagions, the\nearthquakes, inundations, and comets. The knowledge of celestial\nphenomena made an essential part of the theology of the Egyptians as it\ndid of the Chaldaeans. They had colleges of priests specially attached to\nthe study of the stars, at which Pythagoras, Plato, and Eudoxus were\ninstructed.\n\nReligion was besides completely filled with the symbols relating to the\nsun or moon. Each month, each decade, each day was consecrated to a\nparticular god. These gods, to the number of thirty, were called in the\nAlexandrine astronomy _decans_ ([Greek: dekavoi]). The festivals were\nmarked by the periodical return of certain astronomical phenomena, and\nthose heliacal risings to which any mythological ideas were attached,\nwere noted with great care. We find even now proof of this old\nsacerdotal science in the zodiac sculptured on the ceilings of certain\ntemples, and in the hieroglyphic inscriptions relating to celestial\nphenomena.\n\nAccording to the Egyptians, who were no less aware than the Greeks, of\nthe influence of atmospheric changes on our organs, the different stars\nhad a special action on each part of the body. In the funeral rituals\nwhich were placed at the bottom of the coffins, constant allusion is\nmade to this theory. Each limb of the dead body was placed under the\nprotection of a particular god. The divinities divided between them, so\nto speak, the spoils of the dead. The head belonged to Ra, or the Sun,\nthe nose and lips to Anubis, and so on. To establish the horoscope of\nanyone, this theory of specific influences was combined with the state\nof the heavens at the time of his birth. It seems even to have been the\ndoctrine of the Egyptians, that a particular star indicated the coming\nof each man into the world, and this opinion was held also by the Medes,\nand is alluded to in the Gospels. In Egypt, as in Persia and Chaldaea,\nthe science of nature was a sacred doctrine, of which magic and\nastrology constituted the two branches, and in which the phenomena of\nthe universe were attached very firmly to the divinities or genii with\nwhich they believed it filled. It was the same in the primitive\nreligions of Greece.\n\nThe Thessalian women had an especially great reputation in the art of\nenchantments. All the poets rival one another in declaring how they are\nable, by their magical hymns, to bring down the moon. Menander, in his\ncomedy entitled _The Thessalian_, represents the mysterious ceremonies\nby the aid of which these sorcerers force the moon to leave the heavens,\na prodigy which so completely became the type of enchantments that\nNonnus tells us it is done by the Brahmins. There was, in addition,\nanother _cultus_ in Greece, namely, that of Hecate with mysterious rays,\nthe patron of sorcerers. Lucian of Samosate--if the work on astrology\nwhich is ascribed to him be really his--justifies his belief in the\ninfluence of the stars in the following terms:--\"The stars follow their\norbit in the heaven; but independently of their motion, they act upon\nwhat passes here below. If you admit that a horse in a gallop, that\nbirds in flying, and men in walking, make the stones jump or drive the\nlittle floating particles of dust by the wind of their course, why\nshould you deny that the stars have any effect? The smallest fire sends\nus its emanations, and although it is not for us that the stars burn,\nand they care very little about warming us, why should we not receive\nany emanations from them? Astrology, it is true, cannot make that good\nwhich is evil. It can effect no change in the course of events; but it\nrenders a service to those who cultivate it by announcing to them good\nthings to come; it procures joy by anticipation at the same time that it\nfortifies them against the evil. Misfortune, in fact, does not take them\nby surprise, the foreknowledge of it renders it easier and lighter. That\nis my way of looking at astrology.\"\n\nVery different is the opinion of the satirist Juvenal, who says that\nwomen are the chief cultivators of it. \"All that an astrologer predicts\nto them,\" he says, \"they think to come from the temple of Jupiter. Avoid\nmeeting with a lady who is always casting up her _ephemerides_, who is\nso good an astrologer that she has ceased to consult, and is already\nbeginning to be consulted; such a one on the inspection of the stars\nwill refuse to accompany her husband to the army or to his native land.\nIf she only wishes to drive a mile, the hour of departure is taken from\nher book of astrology. If her eye itches and wants rubbing, she will do\nnothing till she has run through her conjuring book. If she is ill in\nbed, she will take her food only at the times fixed in her _Petosiris_.\nWomen of second-rate condition,\" he adds, \"go round the circus before\nconsulting their destiny, after which they show their hands and face to\nthe diviner.\"\n\nWhen Octavius came into the world a senator versed in astrology,\nNigidius Figulus, predicted the glorious destiny of the future emperor.\nLivia, the wife of Tiberius, asked another astrologer, Scribius, what\nwould be the destiny of her infant; his reply was, they say, like the\nother's.\n\nThe house of Poppea, the wife of Nero, was always full of astrologers.\nIt was one of the soothsayers attached to her house, Ptolemy, who\npredicted to Otho his elevation to the empire, at the time of the\nexpedition into Spain, where he accompanied him.\n\nThe history of astrology under the Roman empire supplies some very\ncurious stories, of which we may select an illustrative few.\n\nOctavius, in company with Agrippa, consulted one day the astrologer\nTheagenes. The future husband of Julia, more credulous or more curious\nthan the nephew of Caesar, was the first to take the horoscope. Theagenes\nforetold astonishing prosperity for him. Octavius, jealous of so happy a\ndestiny, and fearing that the reply would be less favourable to him,\ninstead of following the example of his companion, refused at first to\nstate the day of his birth. But, curiosity getting the better of him, he\ndecided to reply. No sooner had he told the day of his birth than the\nastrologer threw himself at his feet, and worshipped him as the future\nmaster of the empire. Octavius was transported with joy, and from that\nmoment was a firm believer in astrology. To commemorate the happy\ninfluence of the zodiacal sign under which he was born, he had the\npicture of it struck on some of the medals that were issued in his\nreign.\n\nThe masters of the empire believed in astrological divination, but\nwished to keep the advantages to themselves. They wanted to know the\nfuture without allowing their subjects to do the same. Nero would not\npermit anyone to study philosophy, saying it was a vain and frivolous\nthing, from which one might take a pretext to divine future events. He\nfeared lest some one should push his curiosity so far as to wish to\nfind out when and how the emperor should die--a sort of indiscreet\nquestion, replies to which lead to conspiracies and attempts. This was\nwhat the heads of the state were most afraid of.\n\nTiberius had been to Rhodes, to a soothsayer of renown, to instruct\nhimself in the rules of astrology. He had attached to his person the\ncelebrated astrologer Thrasyllus, whose fate-revealing science he proved\nby one of those pleasantries which are only possible with tyrants.\n\nWhenever Tiberius consulted an astrologer he placed him in the highest\npart of his palace, and employed for his purpose an ignorant and\npowerful freedman, who brought by difficult paths, bounded by\nprecipices, the astrologer whose science his Majesty wished to prove. On\nthe return journey, if the astrologer was suspected of indiscretion or\ntreachery, the freedman threw him into the sea, to bury the secret.\nThrasyllus having been brought by the same route across these\nprecipices, struck Tiberius with awe while he questioned him, by showing\nhim his sovereign power, and easily disclosing the things of the future.\nCaesar asked him if he had taken his own horoscope, and with what signs\nwere marked that day and hour for himself. Thrasyllus then examined the\nposition and the distance of the stars; he hesitated at first, then he\ngrew pale; then he looked again, and finally, trembling with\nastonishment and fear, he cried out that the moment was perilous, and\nhe was very near his last hour. Tiberius then embraced him and\ncongratulated him on having escaped a danger by foreseeing it; and\naccepting henceforth all his predictions as oracles, he admitted him to\nthe number of his intimate friends.\n\nTiberius had a great number of people put to death who were accused of\nhaving taken their horoscope to know what honours were in store for\nthem, although in secret he took the horoscopes of great people, that he\nmight ascertain that he had no rivalry to fear from them. Septimus\nSeverus was very nearly paying with his head for one of those\nsuperstitious curiosities that brought the ambitious of the time to the\nastrologer. In prosperous times he had gained faith in their\npredictions, and consulted them about important acts. Having lost his\nwife, and wishing to contract a second marriage, he took the horoscopes\nof the well-connected ladies who were at the time open to marriage. None\nof their fortunes, taken by the rules of astrology, were encouraging. He\nlearnt at last that there was living in Syria a young woman to whom the\nChaldaeans had predicted that she should be the wife of a king. Severus\nwas as yet but a legate. He hastened to demand her in marriage, and he\nobtained her; Julia was the name of the woman who was born under so\nhappy a star; but was he the crowned husband which the stars had\npromised to the young Syrian? This reflection soon began to perplex\nSeverus, and to get out of his perplexity he went to Sicily to consult\nan astrologer of renown. The matter came to the ears of the Emperor\nCommodus; and judge of his anger! The anger of Commodus was rage and\nfrenzy; but the event soon gave the response that Severus was seeking in\nSicily,--Commodus was strangled.\n\nDivination which had the emperor for its object at last came to be a\ncrime of high treason. The rigorous measures resorted to against the\nindiscreet curiosity of ambition took more terrible proportions under\nthe Christian emperors.\n\nUnder Constantine, a number of persons who had applied to the oracles\nwere punished with cruel tortures.\n\nUnder Valens, a certain Palladius was the agent of a terrible\npersecution. Everyone found himself exposed to being denounced for\nhaving relations with soothsayers. Traitors slipped secretly into houses\nmagic formulae and charms, which then became so many proofs against the\ninhabitant. The fear was so great in the East, says Ammienus\nMarcellinus, that a great number burned their books, lest matter should\nbe found in them for an accusation of magic or sorcery.\n\nOne day in anger, Vitellius commanded all the astrologers to leave Italy\nby a certain day. They responded by a poster, which impudently commanded\nthe prince to leave the earth before that date, and at the end of the\nyear Vitellius was put to death; on the other hand, the confidence\naccorded to astrologers led sometimes to the greatest extremes. For\ninstance, after having consulted Babylus, Nero put to death all those\nwhose prophecies promised the elevation of Heliogabalus. Another\ninstance was that of Marcus Aurelius and his wife Faustina. The latter\nwas struck with the beauty of a gladiator. For a long time she vainly\nstrove in secret with the passion that consumed her, but the passion did\nnothing but increase. At last Faustina revealed the matter to her\nhusband, and asked him for some remedy that should restore peace to her\ntroubled soul. The philosophy of Marcus Aurelius could not suggest\nanything. So he decided to consult the Chaldaeans, who were adepts at the\nart of mixing philters and composing draughts. The means prescribed were\nmore simple than might have been expected from their complicated\nscience; it was that the gladiator should be cut in pieces. They added\nthat Faustina should afterwards be anointed with the blood of the\nvictim. The remedy was applied, the innocent athlete was immolated, and\nthe empress afterwards only dreamed of him with great pleasure.\n\nThe first Christians were as much addicted to astrology as the other\nsects. The Councils of Laodicea (366, A.D.), of Arles (314), of Agdus\n(505), Orleans (511), Auxerre (570), and Narbonne (589), condemned the\npractice. According to a tradition of the commencement of our era, which\nappears to have been borrowed from Mazdeism, it was the rebel angels who\ntaught men astrology and the use of charms.\n\nUnder Constantius the crime of high treason served as a pretext for\npersecution. A number of people were accused of it, who simply continued\nto practise the ancient religion. It was pretended that they had\nrecourse to sorceries against the life of the emperor, in order to bring\nabout his fall. Those who consulted the oracles were menaced with severe\npenalties and put to death by torture, under the pretence that by\ndealing with questions of fate they had criminal intentions. Plots\nwithout number multiplied the accusations; and the cruelty of the judges\naggravated the punishments. The pagans, in their turn had to suffer the\nmartyrdom which they had previously inflicted on the early disciples of\nChrist--or rather, to be truer, it was authority, always intolerable,\nwhether pagan or Christian, that showed itself inexorable against those\nwho dared to differ from the accepted faith. Libanius and Jamblicus were\naccused of having attempted to discover the name of the successor to the\nempire. Jamblicus, being frightened at the prosecution brought against\nhim, poisoned himself. The name only of philosopher was sufficient to\nfound an accusation upon. The philosopher Maximus Diogenes Alypius, and\nhis son Hierocles, were condemned to lose their lives on the most\nfrivolous pretence. An old man was put to death because he was in the\nhabit of driving off the approach of fever by incantations, and a young\nman who was surprised in the act of putting his hands alternately to a\nmarble and his breast, because he thought that by counting in this way\nseven times seven, he might cure the stomach-ache, met with the same\nfate.\n\nTheodosius prohibited every kind of manifestation or usage connected\nwith pagan belief. Whoever should dare to immolate a victim, said his\nlaw, or consult the entrails of the animals he had killed, should be\nregarded as guilty of the crime of high treason.\n\nThe fact of having recourse to a process of divination was sufficient\nfor an accusation against a man.\n\nTheodosius II. thought that the continuation of idolatrous practices had\ndrawn down the wrath of heaven, and brought upon them the recent\ncalamities that had afflicted his empire--the derangement of the seasons\nand the sterility of the soil--and he thundered out terrible threats\nwhen his faith and his anger united themselves into fanaticism.\n\nHe wrote as follows to Florentius, prefect of the praetorium in 439, the\nyear that preceded his death:--\n\n\"Are we to suffer any longer from the seasons being upset by the effect\nof the divine wrath, on account of the atrocious perfidy of the pagans,\nwhich disturbs the equilibrium of nature? For what is the cause that now\nthe spring has no longer its ordinary beauty, that the autumn no longer\nfurnishes a harvest to the laborious workman and that the winter, by its\nrigour, freezes the soil and renders it sterile?\"\n\nPerhaps we are unduly amused with these ideas of Theodosius so long as\nwe retain the custom of asking the special intervention of Providence\nfor the presence or absence of rain!\n\nIn the middle ages, when astrology took such a hold on the world,\nseveral philosophers went so far as to consider the celestial vault as a\nbook, in which each star, having the value of one of the letters of the\nalphabet, told in ineffaceable characters the destiny of every empire.\nThe book of _Unheard-of Curiosities_, by Gaffarel, gives us the\nconfiguration of these celestial characters, and we find them also in\nthe writings of Cornelius Agrippa. The middle ages took their\nastrological ideas from the Arabians and Jews. The Jews themselves at\nthis epoch borrowed their principles from such contaminated sources that\nwe are not able to trace in them the transmission of the ancient ideas.\nTo give an example, Simeon Ben-Jochai, to whom is attributed the famous\nbook called _Zohar_, had attained in their opinion such a prodigious\nacquaintance with celestial mysteries as indicated by the stars, that he\ncould have read the divine law in the heavens before it had been\npromulgated on the earth. During the whole of the middle ages, whenever\nthey wanted to clear up doubts about geography or astronomy, they always\nhad recourse to this Oriental science, as cultivated by the Jews and\nArabians. In the thirteenth century Alphonse X. was very importunate\nwith the Jews to make them assist him with their advice in his vast\nastronomical and historical works.\n\nNicholas Oresmus, when the most enlightened monarch in Europe was\nsupplying Du Guesclin with an astrologer to guide him in his strategical\noperations, was physician to Charles V. of France, who was himself\ndevoted to astrology, and gave him the bishopric of Lisieux. He composed\nthe _Treatise of the Sphere_, of which we have already spoken. A few\nyears later, a learned man, the bishop Peter d'Ailly, actually dared to\ntake the horoscope of Jesus Christ, and proved by most certain rules\nthat the great event which inaugurated the new era was marked with very\nnotable signs in astrology.\n\nMathias Corvin, King of Hungary, never undertook anything without first\nconsulting the astrologers. The Duke of Milan and Pope Paul also\ngoverned themselves by their advice. King Louis XI., who so heartily\ndespised the rest of mankind, and had as much malice in him as he had\nweakness, had a curious adventure with an astrologer.\n\nIt was told him that an astrologer had had the hardihood to predict the\ndeath of a woman of whom the king was very fond. He sent for the\nwretched prophet, gave him a severe reprimand, and then asked him the\nquestion, \"You, who know everything, when will _you_ die?\" The\nastrologer, suspecting a trick, replied immediately, \"Sire, three days\nbefore your Majesty.\" Fear and superstition overcame the monarch's\nresentment, and the king took particular care of the adroit impostor.\n\nIt is well known how much Catherine de Medicis was under the influence\nof the astrologers. She had one in her Hotel de Soissons in Paris, who\nwatched constantly at the top of a tower. This tower is still in\nexistence, by the Wool-Market, which was built in 1763 on the site of\nthe hotel. It is surmounted by a sphere and a solar dial, placed there\nby the astronomer Pingre.\n\nOne of the most celebrated of the astrologers who was under her\npatronage was Nostradamus. He was a physician of Provence, and was born\nat St. Reny in 1503. To medicine he joined astrology, and undertook to\npredict future events. He was called to Paris by Catherine in 1556, and\nattempted to write his oracles in poetry. His little book was much\nsought after during the whole of the remainder of the sixteenth century,\nand even in the beginning of the next. According to contemporary writers\nmany imitations were made of it. It was written in verses of four lines,\nand was called _Quatrains Astronomiques_. As usual, the prophecies were\nobscure enough to suit anything, and many believers have thought they\ncould trace in the various verses prophecies of known events, by duly\ntwisting and manipulating the sense.\n\nA very amusing prophecy, which happened to be too clear to leave room\nfor mistakes as to its meaning, and which turned out to be most\nludicrously wrong, was one contained in a little book published in 1572\nwith this title:--_Prognostication touching the marriage of the very\nhonourable and beloved Henry, by the Grace of God King of Navarre, and\nthe very illustrious Princess Marguerite of France, calculated by Master\nBernard Abbatio, Doctor in Medicine, and Astrologer to the very\nChristian King of France._\n\nFirst he asked if the marriage would be happy, and says:--\"Having in my\nlibrary made the figure of the heavens, I found that the lord of the\nascendant is joined to the lord of the seventh house, which is for the\nwoman of a trine aspect, from whence I have immediately concluded,\naccording to the opinion of Ptolemy, Haly, Zael, Messahala, and many\nother sovereign astrologers, that they will love one another intensely\nall their lives.\" In point of fact they always detested each other.\nAgain, \"as to length of life, I have prepared another figure, and have\nfound that Jupiter and Venus are joined to the sun with fortification,\nand that they will approach a hundred years;\" after all Henri IV. died\nbefore he was sixty. \"Our good King of Navarre will have by his most\nnoble and virtuous Queen many children; since, after I had prepared\nanother figure of heaven, I found the ascendant and its lord, together\nwith the moon, all joined to the lord of the fifth house, called that of\nchildren, which will be pretty numerous, on account of Jupiter and also\nof Venus;\" and yet they had no children! \"Jupiter and Venus are found\ndomiciled on the aquatic signs, and since these two planets are found\nconcordant with the lord of the ascendant, all this proves that the\nchildren will be upright and good, and that they will love their father\nand mother, without doing them any injury, nor being the cause of their\ndestruction, as is seen in the fruit of the nut, which breaks, opens,\nand destroys the stock from which it took its birth. The children will\nlive long, they will be good Christians, and with their father will make\nthemselves so benign and favourable towards those of our religion, that\nat last they will be as beloved as any man of our period, and there will\nbe no more wars among the French, as there would have been but for the\npresent marriage. God grant us grace that so long as we are in this\ntransitory life we may see no other king but Charles IX., the present\nKing of France.\" And yet these words were written in the year of the\nmassacre of St. Bartholomew's day! and the marriage was broken off, and\nHenri IV. married to Marie de Medici. So much for the astrological\npredictions!\n\nThe aspect in which astrology was looked upon by the better minds even\nwhen it was flourishing may be illustrated by two quotations we may\nmake, from Shakespeare and Voltaire.\n\nOur immortal poet puts into the mouth of Edmund in _King Lear_:--\"This\nis the excellent foppery of the world, that when we are sick in fortune\n(often the surfeit of our own behaviour) we make guilty of our disasters\nthe sun, the moon, and the stars, as if we were villains by necessity;\nfools by heavenly compulsion; knaves, thieves, and treacherous, by\nspherical predominance; drunkards, liars, and adulterers by an enforced\nobedience of planetary influence; and all that we are evil in, by a\ndivine thrusting on. An admirable evasion of a libertine to lay his\ngoatish disposition to the charge of a star! My father married my mother\nunder the Dragon's tail; and my nativity was under _Ursa major_; so that\nit follows I am rough lecherous. Tut, I should have been that I am, had\nthe maidenliest star in the firmament twinkled on my birth.\"\n\nVoltaire writes thus:--\"This error is ancient, and that is enough. The\nEgyptians, the Chaldaeans, the Jews could predict, and therefore we can\npredict now. If no more predictions are made it is not the fault of the\nart. So said the alchemists of the philosopher's stone. If you do not\nfind to-day it is because you are not clever enough; but it is certain\nthat it is in the clavicle of Solomon, and on that certainty more than\ntwo hundred families in Germany and France have been ruined. Do you\nwonder either that so many men, otherwise much exalted above the vulgar,\nsuch as princes or popes, who knew their interests so well, should be so\nridiculously seduced by this impertinence of astrology. They were very\nproud and very ignorant. There were no stars but for them; the rest of\nthe universe was _canaille_, for whom the stars did not trouble\nthemselves. I have not the honour of being a prince. Nevertheless, the\ncelebrated Count of Boulainvilliers and an Italian, called Colonne, who\nhad great reputation in Paris, both predicted to me that I should\ninfallibly die at the age of thirty-two. I have had the malice already\nto deceive them by thirty years, for which I humbly beg their pardon.\"\n\nThe method by which these predictions were arrived at consisted in\nmaking the different stars and planets responsible for different parts\nof the body, different properties, and different events, and making up\nstories from the association of ideas thus obtained, which of course\nadmitted of the greatest degree of latitude. The principles are\nexplained by Manilius in his great poem entitled _The Astronomicals_,\nwritten two thousand years ago.\n\nAccording to him the sun presided over the head, the moon over the right\narm, Venus over the left, Jupiter over the stomach, Mars the parts\nbelow, Mercury over the right leg, and Saturn over the left.\n\nAmong the constellations, the Ram governed the head; the Bull the neck;\nthe Twins the arms and shoulders; the Crab the chest and the heart; the\nLion the stomach; the abdomen corresponded to the sign of the Virgin;\nthe reins to the Balance; then came the Scorpion; the Archer, governing\nthe thighs; the He-goat the knees; the Waterer the legs; and the Fishes\nthe feet.\n\nAlbert the Great assigned to the stars the following influences:--Saturn\nwas thought to rule over life, changes, sciences, and buildings;\nJupiter over honour, wishes, riches, and cleanness; Mars over war,\nprisons, marriages, and hatred; the sun over hope, happiness, gain, and\nheritages; Venus over friendships and amours; Mercury over illness,\ndebts, commerce, and fear; the moon over wounds, dreams, and larcenies.\n\nEach of these stars also presides over particular days of the week,\nparticular colours, and particular metals.\n\nThe sun governed the Sunday; the moon, Monday; Mars, Tuesday; Mercury,\nWednesday; Jupiter, Thursday; Venus, Friday; and Saturn, Saturday; which\nis partially indicated by our own names of the week, but more\nparticularly in the French names, which are each and all derived from\nthese stars.\n\nThe sun represented yellow; the moon, white; Venus, green; Mars, red;\nJupiter, blue; Saturn, black; Mercury, shaded colours.\n\nWe have already indicated the metals that corresponded to each.\n\nThe sun was reckoned to be beneficent and favourable; Saturn to be sad,\nmorose, and cold; Jupiter, temperate and benign; Mars, vehement; Venus,\nbenevolent and fertile; Mercury, inconstant; and the moon, melancholy.\n\nAmong the constellations, the Ram, the Lion, and the Archer were hot,\ndry and vehement. The Bull, the Virgin, and the He-goat were heavy,\ncold, and dry; the Twins, the Balance, and the Waterer were light,\nhot, and moist; the Crab, Scorpion, and the Fishes were moist, soft, and\ncold.\n\n[Illustration: PLATE XV.--AN ASTROLOGER AT WORK.]\n\nIn this way the heavens were made to be intimately connected with the\naffairs of earth; and astrology was in equally intimate connection with\nastronomy, of which it may in some sense be considered the mother. The\ndrawers of horoscopes were at one time as much in request as lawyers or\ndoctors. One Thurneisen, a famous astrologer and an extraordinary man,\nwho lived last century at the electoral court of Berlin, was at the same\ntime physician, chemist, drawer of horoscopes, almanack maker, printer,\nand librarian. His astrological reputation was so widespread that\nscarcely a birth took place in families of any rank in Germany, Poland,\nHungary, or even England without there being sent an immediate envoy to\nhim to announce the precise moment of birth. He received often three and\nsometimes as many as ten messages a day, and he was at last so pressed\nwith business that he was obliged to take associates and agents.\n\nIn the days of Kepler we know that astrology was more thought of than\nastronomy, for though on behalf of the world he worked at the latter,\nfor his own daily bread he was in the employ of the former, making\nalmanacks and drawing horoscopes that he might live.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\nTIME AND THE CALENDAR.\n\n\nThe opinions of thinkers on the nature of time have been very varied.\nSome have considered time as an absolute reality, which is exactly\nmeasured by hours, days, and years, and is as known and real as any\nother object whose existence is known to us. Others maintain that time\nis only a matter of sensation, or that it is an illusion, or a\nhallucination of a lively brain.\n\nThe definitions given of it by different great writers is as various.\nThus Kant calls it \"one of the forms of sensibility.\" Schelling declares\nit is \"pure activity with the negation of all being.\" Leibnitz defines\nit \"the order of successions\" as he defined space to be the order of\nco-existences. Newton and Clarke make space and time two attributes of\nthe Deity.\n\nA study of the astronomical phenomena of the universe, and a\nconsideration of their teaching, give us authority for saying, that\nneither space nor time are realities, but that the only things absolute\nare eternity and infinity.\n\nIn fact, we give the name of time to the succession of the terrestrial\nevents measured by the motion of the earth. If the earth were not to\nmove, we should have no means of measuring, and consequently no idea of\ntime as we have it now. So long as it was believed that the earth was at\nrest, and that the sun and all the stars turned round us, this apparent\nmotion was then, as the real motion of the earth is now, the method of\ngenerating time. In fact, the Fathers said that at the end of the world\nthe diurnal motion would cease, and there would be no more time. But let\nus examine the fact a little further.\n\nSuppose for an instant that the earth was, as it was formerly believed\nto be, an immense flat surface, which was illuminated by a sun which\nremained always immovable at the zenith, or by an invariable diffused\nlight--such an earth being supposed to be alone by itself in the\nuniverse and immovable. Now if there were a man created on that earth,\nwould there be such a thing as \"time\" for him? The light which illumines\nhim is immovable. No moving shadow, no gnomon, no sun-dial would be\npossible. No day nor night, no morning nor evening, no year. Nothing\nthat could be divided into days, hours, minutes, and seconds.\n\nIn such a case one would have to fall back upon some other terminating\nevents, which would indicate a lapse of time; such for instance as the\nlife of a man. This, however, would be no universal measure, for on one\nplanet the life might be a thousand years, and on another only a\nhundred.\n\nOr we may look at it in another way. Suppose the earth were to turn\ntwice as fast about itself and about the sun, the persons who lived\nsixty of such years would only have lived thirty of our present years,\nbut they would have seen sixty revolutions of the earth, and, rigorously\nspeaking, would have lived sixty years. If the earth turned ten times as\nfast, sixty years would be reduced to ten, but they would still be sixty\nof those years. We should live just as long; there would be four\nseasons, 365 days, &c., only everything would be more rapid: but it\nwould be exactly the same thing for us, and the other apparently\ncelestial motions having a similar diminution, there would be no change\nperceived by us.\n\nAgain, consider the minute animals that are observable under the\nmicroscope, which live but for five minutes. During that period, they\nhave time to be born and to grow. From embryos they become adult, marry,\nso to speak, and have a numerous progeny, which they develop and send\ninto the world. Afterwards they die, and all this in a few minutes. The\nimpressions which, in spite of their minuteness, we are justified in\npresuming them to possess, though rapid and fleeting, may be as profound\nfor them in proportion as ours are to us, and their measure of time\nwould be very different from ours. All is relative. In absolute value,\na life completed in a hundred years is not longer than one that is\nfinished in five minutes.\n\nIt is the same for space. The earth has a diameter of 8,000 miles, and\nwe are five or six feet high. Now if, by any process, the earth should\ndiminish till it became as small as a marble, and if the different\nelements of the world underwent a corresponding diminution, our\nmountains might become as small as grains of sand, the ocean might be\nbut a drop, and we ourselves might be smaller than the microscopic\nanimals adverted to above. But for all that nothing would have changed\nfor us. We should still be our five or six feet high, and the earth\nwould remain exactly the same number of our miles.\n\nA value then that can be decreased and diminished at pleasure without\nchange is not a mathematical absolute value. In this sense then it may\nbe said that neither time nor space have any real existence.\n\nOr once again. Suppose that instead of our being on the globe, we were\nplaced in pure space. What time should we find there? No time. We might\nremain ten years, twenty, a hundred, or a thousand years, but we should\nnever arrive at the next year! In fact each planet makes its own time\nfor its inhabitants, and where there is no planet or anything answering\nto it there is no time. Jupiter makes for its inhabitants a year which\nis equal to twelve years of ours, and a day of ten of our hours. Saturn\nhas a year equal to thirty of ours, and days of ten hours and a quarter.\nIn other solar systems there are two or three suns, so that it is\ndifficult to imagine what sort of time they can have. All this infinite\ndiversity of time takes place in eternity, the only thing that is real.\nThe whole history of the earth and its inhabitants takes place, not in\ntime, but in eternity. Before the existence of the earth and our solar\nsystem, there was another time, measured by other motions, and having\nrelation to other beings. When the earth shall exist no longer, there\nmay be in the place we now occupy, another time again, for other beings.\nBut they are not realities. A hundred millions of centuries, and a\nsecond, have the same real length in eternity. In the middle of space,\nwe could not tell the difference. Our finite minds are not capable of\ngrasping the infinite, and it is well to know that our only idea of time\nis relative, having relation to the regular events that befall this\nplanet in its course, and not a thing which we can in any way compare\nwith that, which is so alarming to the ideas of some--eternity.\n\nWe have then to deal with the particular form of time that our planet\nmakes for us, for our personal use.\n\nIt turns about the sun. An entire circuit forms a period, which we can\nuse for a measure in our terrestrial affairs. We call it a year, or in\nLatin _annus_, signifying a circle, whence our word _annual_.\n\nA second, shorter revolution, turns the earth upon itself, and brings\neach meridian directly facing the sun, and then round again to the\nopposite side. This period we call a _day_, from the Latin _dies_, which\nin Italian becomes _giorne_, whence the French _jour_. In Sanscrit we\nhave the same word in _dyaus_.\n\nThe length of time that it takes for the earth to arrive at the same\nposition with respect to the stars, which is called a sidereal year,\namounts to 365.2563744 days. But during this time, as we have seen, the\nequinox is displaced among the stars. This secular retrogression brings\nit each year a little to the east of its former position, so that the\nsun arrives there about eleven minutes too soon. By taking this amount\nfrom the sidereal we obtain the tropical year, which has reference to\nthe seasons and the calendar. Its length is 365.2422166 days, or 365\ndays, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 47.8 seconds.\n\nIn what way was the primitive year regulated? was it a solar or a\nsidereal year?\n\nThere can be no doubt that when there was an absence of all civilisation\nand a calendar of any sort was unknown, the year meant simply the\nsuccession of seasons, and that no attempt would be made to reckon any\nday as its commencement. And as soon as this was attempted a difficulty\nwould arise from there not being an exact number of days in the year. So\nthat when reckoned as the interval between certain positions of the sun\nthey would be of different lengths, which would introduce some\ndifficulty as to the commencement of the year. Be this the case,\nhowever, or not, Mr. Haliburton's researches seem to show that the\nearliest form of year was the sidereal one, and that it was regulated by\nthe Pleiades.\n\nIn speaking of that constellation we have noticed that among the\nislanders of the southern hemisphere and others there are two years in\none of ours, the first being called the Pleiades above and the second\nthe Pleiades below; and we have seen how the same new year's day has\nbeen recognised in very many parts of the world and among the ancient\nEgyptians and Hindoos. This year would begin in November, and from the\nintimate relation of all the primitive calendars that have been\ndiscovered to a particular day, taken as November 17 by the Egyptians,\nit would appear probable that for a long time corrections were made both\nby the Egyptians and others in order to keep the phenomenon of the\nPleiades just rising at sunset to one particular named day of their\nyear--showing that the year they used was a sidereal one. This can be\ntraced back as far as 1355 B.C. among the Egyptians, and to 1306 B.C.\namong the Hindoos. There seem to have been in use also shorter periods\nof three months, which, like the two-season year, appear to have been,\nas they are now among the Japanese, regulated by the different positions\nof the Pleiades.\n\nAmong the Siamese of the present day, there are both forms of the year\nexisting, one sidereal, beginning in November, and regulated by the\nfore-named constellation; and the other tropical, beginning in April.\nWhether, however, the year be reckoned by the stars or by the sun, there\nwill always be a difficulty in arranging the length of the year, because\nin each case there will be about a quarter of a day over.\n\nIt seems, too, to have been found more convenient in early times to take\n360 days as the length of the year, and to add an intercalary month now\nand then, rather than 365 and add a day.\n\nThus among the earliest Egyptians the year was of 360 days, which were\nreckoned in the months, and five days were added each year, between the\ncommencement of one and the end of the other, and called unlucky days.\nIt was the belief of the Egyptians that these five days were the\nbirthdays of their principal gods; Osiris being born on the first,\nAnieris (or Apollo) on the second, Typhon on the third, Isis on the\nfourth, Nephys (or Aphrodite) on the fifth. These appear to have some\nrelation with similar unlucky days among the Greeks and Romans, and\nother nations.\n\nThe 360 days of the Egyptian year were represented at Acantho, near\nMemphis, in a symbolical way, there being placed a perforated vessel,\nwhich each day was filled with water by one of a company of 360 priests,\neach priest having charge over one day in the year. A similar symbolism\nwas used at the tomb of Osiris, around which were placed 360 pitchers,\none of which each day was filled with milk.\n\nOn the other hand, the 365 days were represented by the tomb of\nOsymandyas, at Thebes, being surrounded by a circle of gold which was\none cubit broad and 365 cubits in circumference. On the side were\nwritten the risings and settings of the stars, with the prognostications\nderived from them by the Egyptian astrologers. It was destroyed,\nhowever, by Cambyses when the Persians conquered Egypt.\n\nThey divided their year according to Herodotus into twelve months, the\nnames of which have come down to us.\n\nEven with the 365 days, which their method of reckoning would\npractically come to, they would still be a quarter of a day each year\nshort; so that in four years it would amount to a whole day, an error\nwhich would amount to something perceptible even during the life of a\nsingle man, by its bringing the commencement of the civil year out of\nharmony with the seasons. In fact the first day of the year would\ngradually go through all the seasons, and at the end of 1460 solar years\nthere would have been completed 1461 civil years, which would bring back\nthe day to its original position. This period represents a cycle of\nyears in which approximately the sun and the earth come to the same\nrelative position again, as regards the earth's rotation on its axis and\nrevolution round the sun. This cycle was noticed by Firmicius. Another\nmore accurate cycle of the same kind, noticed by Syncellus, is obtained\nby multiplying 1461 by 25, making 36,525 years, which takes into account\nthe defect which the extra hours over 365 have from six. The Egyptians,\nhowever, did not allow their year to get into so large an error, though\nit was in error by their using sidereal time, regulating their year, and\nintercalating days, first according to the risings of the Pleiades, and\nafter according to that of Sirius, the dog-star, which announced to them\nthe approaching overflowing of the Nile, a phenomenon of such great\nvalue to Egypt that they celebrated it with annual fetes of the greatest\nmagnificence.\n\nAmong the Babylonians, as we are informed by Mr. Sayce, the year was\ndivided into twelve lunar months and 360 days, an intercalary month\nbeing added whenever a certain star, called the \"star of stars,\" or Icu,\nalso called Dilgan, by the ancient Accadians, meaning the \"messenger of\nlight,\" and what is now called Aldebaran, which was just in advance of\nthe sun when it crossed the vernal equinox, was not parallel with the\nmoon until the third of Nisan, that is, two days after the equinox. They\nalso added shorter months of a few days each when this system became\ninsufficient to keep their calendar correct.\n\nThey divided their year into four quarters of three months each; the\nspring quarter not commencing with the beginning of the year when the\nsun entered the spring equinox, proving that the arrangement of seasons\nwas subsequent to the settling of the calendar. The names of their\nmonths were given them from the corresponding signs of the zodiac; which\nwas the same as our own, though the zodiac began with Aries and the year\nwith Nisan.\n\nThey too had cycles, but they arose from a very different cause; not\nfrom errors of reckoning in the civil year or the revolution of the\nearth, but from the variations of the weather. Every twelve solar years\nthey expected to have the same weather repeated. When we connect this\nwith their observations on the varying brightness of the sun, especially\nat the commencement of the year on the first of Nisan, which they record\nat one time as \"bright yellow\" and at another as \"spotted,\" and remember\nthat modern researches have shown that weather is certainly in some way\ndependent on the solar spots, which have a period _now_ of about eleven\nyears, we cannot help fancying that they were very near to making these\ndiscoveries.\n\nThe year of the ancient Persians consisted of 365 days. The extra\nquarter of a day was not noticed for 120 years, at the end of which they\nintercalated a month--in the first instance, at the end of the first\nmonth, which was thus doubled. At the end of another 120 years they\ninserted an intercalary month after the second month, and so on through\nall their twelve months. So that after 1440 years the series began\nagain. This period they called the intercalary cycle.\n\nThe calendar among the Greeks was more involved, but more useful. It\nwas _luni-solar_, that is to say, they regulated it at the same time by\nthe revolutions of the moon and the motion about the sun, in the\nfollowing manner:--\n\nThe year commenced with the new moon nearest to the 20th or 21st of\nJune, the time of the summer solstice; it was composed in general of\ntwelve months, each of which commenced on the day of the new moon, and\nwhich had alternately twenty-nine and thirty days.\n\nThis arrangement, conformable to the lunar year, only gave 354 days to\nthe civil year, and as this was too short by ten days, twenty-one hours,\nthis difference, by accumulation, produced nearly eighty-seven days at\nthe end of eight years, or three months of twenty-nine days each. To\nbring the lunar years into accordance with the solstices, it was\nnecessary to add three intercalary months every eight years.\n\nThe phases of the moon being thus brought into comparison with the\nrotation of the earth, a cycle was discovered by Meton, now known as the\nMetonic cycle, useful also in predicting eclipses, which comprised\nnineteen years, during which time 235 lunations will have very nearly\noccurred, and the full moons will return to the same dates. In fact, the\nyear and the lunation are to one another very nearly in the proportion\nof 235 to 19. By observing for nineteen years the positions and phases\nof the moon, they will be found to return again in the same order at the\nsame times, and they can therefore be predicted. This lunar cycle was\nadopted in the year 433 B.C. to regulate the luni-solar calendar, and it\nwas engraved in letters of gold on the walls of the temple of Minerva,\nfrom whence comes the name _golden number_, which is given to the number\nthat marks the place of the given year in this period of nineteen.\n\nCaliphus made a larger and more exact cycle by multiplying by four and\ntaking away one day. Thus he made of 27,759 days 76 Julian years, during\nwhich there were 940 lunations.\n\nThe Roman calendar was even more complicated than the Greek, and not so\ngood. Romulus is said to have given to his subjects a strange\narrangement that we can no longer understand. More of a warrior than a\nphilosopher, this founder of Rome made the year to consist of ten\nmonths, some being of twenty days and others of fifty-five. These\nunequal lengths were probably regulated by the agricultural works to be\ndone, and by the prevailing religious ideas. After the conclusion of\nthese days they began counting again in the same order; so that the year\nhad only 304 days.\n\nThe first of these ten months was called _Mars_ after the name of the\ngod from whom Romulus pretended to have descended. The name of the\nsecond, Aprilis, was derived from the word _aperire_, to open, because\nit was at the time that the earth opened; or it may be, from Aphrodite,\none of the names of Venus, the supposed grandmother of AEneas. The third\nmonth was consecrated to _Maia_, the mother of Mercury. The names of\nthe six others expressed simply their order--Quintilis, the fifth;\nSextilis, the sixth; September, the seventh; and so on.\n\nNuma added two months to the ten of Romulus; one took the name of\n_Januarius_, from _Janus_: the name of the other was derived either from\nthe sacrifices (_februalia_), by which the faults committed during the\ncourse of the past year were expiated, or from _Februo___, the god of\nthe dead, to which the last month was consecrated. The year then had 355\ndays.\n\nThese Roman months have become our own, and hence a special interest\nattaches to the consideration of their origin, and the explanation of\nthe manner in which they have been modified and supplemented. Each of\nthem was divided into unequal parts, by the days which were known as the\ncalends, nones, and ides. The calends were invariably fixed to the first\nday of each month; the nones came on the 5th or 7th, and the ides the\n13th or 15th.\n\nThe Romans, looking forward, as children do to festive days, to the fete\nwhich came on these particular days, named each day by its distance from\nthe next that was following. Immediately after the calends of a month,\nthe dates were referred to the nones, each day being called seven, six,\nfive, and so on days before the nones; on the morrow of the nones they\ncounted to the ides; and so the days at the end of the month always bore\nthe name of the calends of the month following.\n\nTo complete the confusion the 2nd day before the fete was called the\n3rd, by counting the fete itself as the 1st, and so they added one\nthroughout to the number that _we_ should now say expressed our distance\nfrom a certain date.\n\nSince there were thus ten days short in each year, it was soon found\nnecessary to add them on, so a supplementary month was created, which\nwas called Mercedonius. This month, by another anomaly, was placed\nbetween the 23rd and 24th of February. Thus, after February 23rd, came\n1st, 2nd, 3rd of Mercedonius; and then after the dates of this\nsupplementary month were gone through, the original month was taken up\nagain, and they went on with the 24th of February.\n\nAnd finally, to complete the medley, the priests who had the charge of\nregulating this complex calendar, acquitted themselves as badly as they\ncould; by negligence or an arbitrary use of their power they lengthened\nor shortened the year without any uniform rule. Often, indeed, they\nconsulted in this nothing but their own convenience, or the interests of\ntheir friends.\n\nThe disorder which this license had introduced into the calendar\nproceeded so far that the months had changed from the seasons, those of\nwinter being advanced to the autumn, those of the autumn to the summer.\nThe fetes were celebrated in seasons different from those in which they\nwere instituted, so that of Ceres happened when the wheat was in the\nblade, and that of Bacchus when the raisins were green. Julius Caesar,\ntherefore, determined to establish a solar year according to the known\nperiod of revolution of the sun, that is 365 days and a quarter. He\nordained that each fourth year a day should be intercalated in the place\nwhere the month Mercedonius used to be inserted, _i.e._ between the 23rd\nand 24th of February.\n\nThe 6th of the calends of March in ordinary years was the 24th of\nFebruary; it was called _sexto-kalendas_. When an extra day was put in\nevery fourth year before the 24th, this was a second 6th day, and was\ntherefore called _bissexto-kalendas_, whence we get the name bissextile,\napplied to leap year.\n\nBut it was necessary also to bring back the public fetes to the seasons\nthey ought to be held in: for this purpose Caesar was obliged to insert\nin the current year, 46 B.C. (or 708 A.U.C.), two intercalary months\nbeside the month Mercedonius. There was, therefore, a year of fifteen\nmonths divided into 445 days, and this was called the year of confusion.\n\nCaesar gave the strictest injunctions to Sosigenes, a celebrated\nAlexandrian astronomer whom he brought to Rome for this purpose; and on\nthe same principles Flavius was ordered to compose a new calendar, in\nwhich all the Roman fetes were entered--following, however, the old\nmethod of reckoning the days from the calends, nones, and ides.\nAntonius, after the death of Caesar, changed the name of Quintilis, in\nwhich Julius Caesar was born, into the name _Julius_, whence we derive\nour name July. The name of _Augustus_ was given to the month _Sextilis_,\nbecause the Emperor Augustus obtained his greatest victories during that\nmonth.\n\nTiberius, Nero, and other imperial monsters attempted to give their\nnames to the other months. But the people had too much independence and\nsense of justice to accord them such a flattery.\n\nThe remaining months we have as they were named in the days of Numa\nPompilius.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 57.--THE ROMAN CALENDAR.]\n\nA cubical block of white marble has been found at Pompeii which\nillustrates this very well.\n\nEach of the four sides is divided into three columns, and on each column\nis the information about the month. Each month is surmounted by the sign\nof the zodiac through which the sun is passing. Beneath the name of the\nmonth is inscribed the number of days it contains; the date of the\nnones, the number of the hours of the day, and of the night; the place\nof the sun, the divinity under whose protection the month is placed, the\nagricultural works that are to be done in it, the civil and\necclesiastical ceremonies that are to be performed. These inscriptions\nare to be seen under the month January to the left of the woodcut.\n\nThe reform thus introduced by Julius Caesar is commonly known as the\n_Julian reform_. The first year in which this calendar was followed was\n44 B.C.\n\nThe Julian calendar was in use, without any modification, for a great\nnumber of years; nevertheless, the mean value which had been assigned to\nthe civil year being a little different to that of the tropical, a\nnoticeable change at length resulted in the dates in which, each year,\nthe seasons commenced; so that if no remedy had been introduced, the\nsame season would be displaced little by little each year, so as to\ncommence successively in different months.\n\nThe Council of Nice, which was held in the year 325 of the Christian\nera, adopted a fixed rule to determine the time at which Easter falls.\nThis rule was based on the supposed fact that the spring equinox\nhappened every year on the 21st of March, as it did at the time of the\nmeeting of the Council. This would indeed be the case if the mean value\nof the civil year of the Julian calendar was exactly equal to the\ntropical year. But while the first is 365.25 days, the second is\n365.242264 days; so that the tropical year is too small by 11 minutes\nand 8 seconds. It follows hence that after the lapse of four Julian\nyears the vernal equinox, instead of happening exactly at the same time\nas it did four years before, will happen 44 minutes 32 seconds too soon;\nand will gain as much in each succeeding four years. So that at the end\nof a certain number of years, after the year 325, the equinox will\nhappen on the 20th of March, afterwards on the 19th, and so on. This\ncontinual advance notified by the astronomers, determined Pope Gregory\nXIII. to introduce a new reform into the calendar.\n\nIt was in the year 1582 that the _Gregorian reform_ was put into\noperation. At that epoch the vernal equinox happened on the 11th instead\nof the 21st of March. To get rid of this advance of ten days that the\nequinox had made and to bring it back to the original date, Pope Gregory\ndecided that the day after the 4th of October, 1582, should be called\nthe 15th instead of the 5th. This change only did away with the\ninconvenience at the time attaching to the Julian calendar; it was\nnecessary to make also some modification in the rule which served to\ndetermine the lengths of the civil years, in order to avoid the same\nerror for the future.\n\nSo the Pope determined that in each 400 years there should be only 97\nbissextile years, instead of 100, as there used to be in the Julian\ncalendar. This made three days taken off the 400 years, and in\nconsequence the mean value of the civil year is reduced to 365.2425\ndays, which is not far from the true tropical year. The Gregorian year\nthus obtained is still too great by .000226 of a day; the date of the\nvernal equinox will still then advance in virtue of this excess, but it\nis easy to see that the Gregorian reform will suffice for a great number\nof centuries.\n\nThe method in which it is carried out is as follows:--In the Julian\ncalendar each year that divided by four when expressed in its usual way,\nby A.D., was a leap year, and therefore each year that completed a\ncentury was such, as 1300, 1400 and so on--but in the Gregorian reform,\nall these century numbers are to be reckoned common years, unless the\nnumber without the two cyphers divides by four; thus 1,900 will be a\ncommon year and 2,000 a leap year. It is easy to see that this will\nleave out three leap years in every 400 years.\n\nThe Gregorian calendar was immediately adopted in France and Germany,\nand a little later in England. Now it is in operation in all the\nChristian countries of Europe, except Russia, where the Julian calendar\nis still followed. It follows that Russian dates do not agree with ours.\nIn 1582, the difference was ten days, and this difference remained the\nsame till the end of the seventeenth century, when the year 1700 was\nbissextile in the Julian, but not in the Gregorian calendar, so the\ndifference increased to eleven days, and now in the same way is twelve\ndays.\n\nNext to the year, comes the day as the most natural division of time in\nconnection with the earth, though it admits of less difference in its\narrangements, as we cannot be mistaken as to its length. It is the\nnatural standard too of our division of time into shorter intervals such\nas hours, minutes, and seconds. By the word _day_ we mean of course the\ninterval during which the earth makes a complete revolution round\nitself, while _daytime_ may be used to express the portion of it during\nwhich our portion of the earth is towards the sun. The Greeks to avoid\nambiguity used the word _nyctemere_, meaning night and day.\n\nNo ancient nation is known that did not divide the day into twenty-four\nhours, when they divided it at all into such small parts, which seems to\nshow that such a division was comparatively a late institution, and was\nderived from the invention of a single nation. It would necessarily\ndepend on the possibility of reckoning shorter periods of time than the\nnatural one of the day. In the earliest ages, and even afterwards, the\nposition of the sun in the heavens by day, and the position of the\nconstellations by night, gave approximately the time. Instead of asking\nWhat \"o'clock\" is it? the Greeks would say, \"What star is passing?\" The\nnext method of determining time depended on the uniform motion of water\nfrom a cistern. It was invented by the Egyptians, and was called a\nclepsydra, and was in use among the Babylonians, the Greeks, and the\nRomans. The more accurate measurement of time by means of clocks was not\nintroduced till about 140 B.C., when Trimalcion had one in his dining\nchamber. The use of them, however, had been so lost that in 760 A.D.\nthey were considered quite novelties. The clocks, of course, have to be\nregulated by the sun, an operation which has been the employment of\nastronomers, among other things, for centuries. Each locality had its\nown time according to the moment when the sun passed the meridian of the\nplace, a moment which was determined by observation.\n\nBefore the introduction of the hour, the day and night appear to have\nbeen divided into watches. Among the Babylonians the night was reckoned\nfrom what we call 6 A.M. to 6 P.M., and divided into three watches of\nfour hours each--called the \"evening,\" \"middle,\" and \"morning\" watch.\nThese were later superseded by the more accurate hour, or rather \"double\nhour\" or _casbri_, each of which was divided into sixty minutes and\nsixty seconds, and the change taking place not earlier than 2,000 B.C.\nWhether the Babylonians (or Accadians) were the inventors of the hour it\nis difficult to say, though they almost certainly were of other\ndivisions of time. It is remarkable that in the ancient Jewish\nScriptures we find no mention of any such division until the date at\nwhich the prophecy of Daniel was written, that is, until the Jews had\ncome in contact with the Babylonians.\n\nSome nations have counted the twenty-four hours consecutively from one\nto twenty-four as astronomers do now, but others and the majority have\ndivided the whole period into two of twelve hours each.\n\nThe time of the commencement of the day has varied much with the\ndifferent nations.\n\nThe Jews, the ancient Athenians, the Chinese, and several other peoples,\nmore or less of the past, have commenced the day with the setting of the\nsun, a custom which perhaps originated with the determination of the\ncommencement of the year, and therefore of the day, by the observation\nof some stars that were seen at sunset, a custom continued in our memory\nby the well-known words, \"the evening and the morning were the first\nday.\"\n\nThe Italians, till recently, counted the hours in a single series,\nbetween two settings of the sun. The only gain in such a method would be\nto sailors, that they might know how many hours they had before night\novertook them; the sun always setting at twenty-four o'clock; if the\nwatch marked nineteen or twenty, it would mean they had five or four\nhours to see by--but such a gain would be very small against the\nnecessity of setting their watches differently every morning, and the\ninconvenience of never having fixed hours for meals.\n\nAmong the Babylonians, Syrians, Persians, the modern Greeks, and\ninhabitants of the Balearic Isles, &c., the day commenced with the\nrising of the sun. Nevertheless, among all the astronomical phenomena\nthat may be submitted to observation, none is so liable to uncertainty\nas the rising and setting of the heavenly bodies, owing among other\nthings to the effects of refraction.\n\nAmong the ancient Arabians, followed in this by the author of the\n_Almagesta_, and by Ptolemy, the day commenced at noon. Modern\nastronomers adopt this usage. The moment of changing the date is then\nalways marked by a phenomenon easy to observe.\n\nLastly, that we may see how every variety possible is sure to be chosen\nwhen anything is left to the free choice of men, we know that with the\nEgyptians, Hipparchus, the ancient Romans, and all the European nations\nat present, the day begins at midnight. Copernicus among the astronomers\nof our era followed this usage. We may remark that the commencement of\nthe astronomical day commences twelve hours _after_ the civil day.\n\nOf the various periods composed of several days, the week of seven days\nis the most widely spread--and of considerable antiquity. Yet it is not\nthe universal method of dividing months. Among the Egyptians the month\nwas divided into periods of ten days each; and we find no sign of the\nseven days--the several days of the whole month having a god assigned to\neach. Among the Hindoos no trace has been found by Max Mueller in their\nancient Vedic literature of any such division, but the month is divided\ninto two according to the moon; the _clear_ half from the new to the\nfull moon, the _obscure_ half from the full to the new, and a similar\ndivision has been found among the Aztecs. The Chinese divide the month\nlike the Egyptians. Among the Babylonians two methods of dividing the\nmonth existed, and both of them from the earliest times. The first\nmethod was to separate it into two halves of fifteen days each, and each\nof these periods into three shorter ones of five days, making six per\nmonth. The other method is the week of seven days. The days of the week\nwith them, as they are with many nations now, were named after the sun\nand moon and the five planets, and the 7th, 14th, 19th, 21st, and 28th\ndays of each month--days separated by seven days each omitting the\n19th--were termed \"days of rest,\" on which certain works were forbidden\nto be done. From this it is plain that we have here all the elements of\nour modern week. We find it, as is well known, in the earliest of Hebrew\nwritings, but without the mark which gives reason for the number seven,\nthat is the names of the seven heavenly bodies. It would seem most\nprobable, then, that we must look to the Accadians as the originators of\nour modern week, from whom the Hebrews may have--and, if so, at a very\nearly period--borrowed the idea.\n\nIt is known that the week was not employed in the ancient calendars of\nthe Romans, into which it was afterwards introduced through the medium\nof the biblical traditions, and became a legal usage under the first\nChristian Emperors. From thence it has been propagated together with\nthe Julian calendar amongst all the populations that have been subjected\nto the Roman power. We find the period of seven days employed in the\nastronomical treatises of Hindoo writers, but not before the fifth\ncentury.\n\nDion Cassius, in the third century, represents the week as universally\nspread in his times, and considers it a recent invention which he\nattributes to the Egyptians; meaning thereby, doubtless, the astrologers\nof the Alexandrian school, at that time very eager to spread the\nabstract speculations of Plato and Pythagoras.\n\nIf the names of the days of the week were derived from the planets, the\nsun and moon, as is easy to see, it is not so clear how they came to\nhave their present order. The original order in which they were supposed\nto be placed in the various heavens that supported them according to\ntheir distance from the earth was thus:--Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun,\nVenus, Mercury, the Moon. One supposition is that each hour of the day\nwas sacred to one of these, and that each day was named from the god\nthat presided over the first hours. Now, as seven goes three times into\ntwenty-four, and leaves three over, it is plain that if Saturn began the\nfirst hour of Saturday, the next day would begin with the planet three\nfurther on in the series, which would bring us to the Sun for Sunday,\nthree more would bring us next day to the Moon for Monday, and so to\nMars for Tuesday, to Mercury for Wednesday, to Jupiter for Thursday, to\nVenus for Friday, and so round again to Saturn for Saturday.\n\nThe same method is illustrated by putting the symbols in order round the\ncircumference of a circle, and joining them by lines to the one most\nopposite, following always in the same order as in the following figure.\nWe arrive in this way at the order of the days of the week.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 58.]\n\nAll the nations who have adopted the week have not kept to the same\nnames for them, but have varied them according to taste. Thus Sunday was\nchanged by the Christian Church to the \"Lord's Day,\" a name it still\npartially retains among ourselves, but which is the regular name among\nseveral continental nations, including the corrupted _Dimanche_ of the\nFrench. The four middle days have also been very largely changed, as\nthey have been among ourselves and most northern nations to commemorate\nthe names of the great Scandinavian gods Tuesco, Woden, Thor, and Friga.\nThis change was no doubt due to the old mythology of the Druids being\namalgamated with the new method of collecting the days into weeks.\n\nWe give below a general table of the names of the days of the week in\nseveral different languages.\n\n +------------+-----------+------------+------------+------------------+\n | ENGLISH. | FRENCH. | ITALIAN. | SPANISH. | PORTUGUESE. |\n +------------+-----------+------------+------------+------------------+\n | Sunday. | Dimanche. | Domenica. | Domingo. | Domingo. |\n | Monday. | Lundi. | Lunedi. | Luneo. | Secunda feira. |\n | Tuesday. | Mardi. | Marteti. | Martes. | Terca feira. |\n | Wednesday. | Mercredi | Mercoledi. | Miercoles. | Quarta feira. |\n | Thursday. | Jeudi. | Giovedi. | Jueves. | Quinta feira. |\n | Friday. | Vendredi. | Venerdi. | Viernes. | Sexta feira. |\n | Saturday. | Samedi. | Sabbato. | Sabado. | Sabbado. |\n +------------+-----------+------------+------------+------------------+\n +------------+--------------+-------------+---------------+-----------+\n | GERMAN. | ANGLO-SAXON. | ANCIENT | ANCIENT | DUTCH. |\n | | | FRISIAN. | NORTHMEN. | |\n +------------+--------------+-------------+---------------+-----------+\n | Sonntag. | Sonnan daeg. | Sonna dei. | Sunnu dagr. | Zondag. |\n | Montag. | Monan daeg. | Mona dei. | Mana dagr. | Maandag. |\n | Dienstag. | Tives daeg. | Tys dei. | Tyrs dagr. | Dingsdag. |\n | Mitwoch. | Vodenes daeg. | Werns dei. | Odins dagr. | Woensdag. |\n | Donnerstag.| Thunores daeg.| Thunres dei.| Thors dagr. | Donderdag.|\n | Freitag. | Frige daeg. | Frigen dei. | Fria dagr. | Vrijdag. |\n | Samstag. | Soeternes | Sater dei. | Laugar dagr | Zaturdag. |\n | | daeg. | | (washing day)| |\n +------------+--------------+-------------+---------------+-----------+\n\nThe cycle which must be completed with the present calendar to bring the\nsame day of the year to the same day of the week, is twenty-eight years,\nsince there is one day over every ordinary year, and two every leap\nyear; which will make an overlapping of days which, except at the\ncenturies, will go through all the changes in twenty-eight times, which\nforms what is called the solar cycle.\n\nThere is but one more point that will be interesting about the calendar,\nnamely, the date from which we reckon our years.\n\nAmong the Jews it was from the creation of the world, as recorded in\ntheir sacred books--but no one can determine when that was with\nsufficient accuracy to make it represent anything but an agreement of\nthe present day. Different interpreters do not come within a thousand\nyears of one another for its supposed date; although some of them have\ndetermined it very accurately to their own satisfaction--one going so\nfar as to say that creation finished at nine o'clock one Sunday morning!\nIn other cases the date has been reckoned from national events--as in\nthe Olympiads, the foundation of Rome, &c. The word we now use, AERA,\npoints to a particular date from which to reckon, since it is composed\nof the initials of the words AB EXORDIO REGNI AUGUSTI \"from the\ncommencement of the reign of Augustus.\" At the present day the point of\ndeparture, both forwards and backwards, is the year of the birth of\nJesus Christ--a date which is itself controverted, and the use of which\ndid not exist among the first Christians. They exhibited great\nindifference, for many centuries, as to the year in which Jesus Christ\nentered the world. It was a monk who lived in obscurity at Rome, about\nthe year 580, who was a native of so unknown a country that he has been\ncalled a Scythian, and whose name was Denys, surnamed _Exiguus_, or the\nLittle, who first attempted to discover by chronological calculations\nthe year of the birth of Jesus Christ.\n\nThe era of Denys the Little was not adopted by his contemporaries. Two\ncenturies afterwards, the Venerable Bede exhorted Christians to make use\nof it--and it only came into general use about the year 800.\n\nAmong those who adopted the Christian era, some made the year commence\nwith March, which was the first month of the year of Romulus; others in\nJanuary, which commences the year of Numa; others commenced on Christmas\nDay; and others on Lady Day, March 25. Another form of nominal year was\nthat which commenced with Easter Day, in which case, the festival being\na movable one, some years were shorter than others, and in some years\nthere might be two 2nd, 3rd, &c., of April, if Easter fell in one year\non the 2nd, and next year a few days later.\n\nThe 1st of January was made to begin the year in Germany in 1500. An\nedict of Charles IX. prescribes the same in France in 1563. But it was\nnot till 1752 that the change was made in England by Lord Chesterfield's\nAct. The year 1751, as the year that had preceded it, began on March\n25th, and it should have lasted till the next Lady Day; but according to\nthe Act, the months of January, February, and part of March were to be\nreckoned as part of the year 1752. By this means the unthinking seemed\nto have grown old suddenly by three months, and popular clamour was\nraised against the promoter of the Bill, and cries raised of \"Give us\nour three months.\" Such have been the various changes that our calendar\nhas undergone to bring it to its present state.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\nTHE END OF THE WORLD.\n\n\nPerhaps the most anxious question that has been asked of the astronomer\nis when the world is to come to an end. It is a question which, of\ncourse, he has no power to answer with truth; but it is also one that\nhas often been answered in good faith. It has perhaps been somewhat\nnatural to ask such a question of an astronomer, partly because his\nscience naturally deals with the structure of the universe, which might\ngive some light as to its future, and partly because of his connection\nwith astrology, whose province it was supposed to be to open the destiny\nof all things. Yet the question has been answered by others than by\nastronomers, on grounds connected with their faith. In the early ages of\nthe Church, the belief in the rapid approach of the end of the world was\nuniversally spread amongst Christians. The Apocalypse of St. John and\nthe Acts of the Apostles seemed to announce its coming before that\ngeneration passed away. Afterwards, it was expected at the year 1000;\nand though these beliefs did not rest in any way on astronomical\ngrounds, yet to that science was recourse had for encouragement or\ndiscouragement of the idea. The middle ages, fall of simple faith and\nsuperstitious credulity, were filled with fear of this terrible\ncatastrophe.\n\nAs the year 1000 approached, the warnings became frequent and very\npressing. Thus, for example, Bernard of Thuringia, about 960, began to\nannounce publicly that the world was about to end, declaring that he had\nhad a particular revelation of the fact. He took for his text the\nenigmatical words of the Apocalypse: \"At the end of one thousand years,\nSatan shall be loosed from his prison, and shall seduce the people that\nare in the four quarters of the earth. The book of life shall be open,\nand the sea shall give up her dead.\" He fixed the day when the\nAnnunciation of the Virgin should coincide with Good Friday as the end\nof all things. This happened in 992, but nothing extraordinary happened.\n\nDuring the tenth century the royal proclamations opened by this\ncharacteristic phrase: _Whereas the end of the world is approaching_....\n\nIn 1186 the astrologers frightened Europe by announcing a conjunction of\nall the planets. Rigord, a writer of that period, says in his _Life of\nPhilip Augustus_: \"The astrologers of the East, Jews, Saracens, and even\nChristians, sent letters all over the world, in which they predicted,\nwith perfect assurance, that in the month of September there would be\ngreat tempests, earthquakes, mortality among men, seditions and\ndiscords, revolutions in kingdoms, and the destruction of all things.\nBut,\" he adds, \"the event very soon belied their predictions.\"\n\nSome years after, in 1198, another alarm of the end of the world was\nraised, but this time it was not dependent on celestial phenomena. It\nwas said that Antichrist was born in Babylon, and therefore all the\nhuman race would be destroyed.\n\nIt would be a curious list to make of all the years in which it was said\nthat Antichrist was born; they might be counted by hundreds, to say\nnothing of the future.\n\nAt the commencement of the fourteenth century, the alchemist Arnault of\nVilleneuve announced the end of the world for 1335. In his treatise _De\nSigillis_ he applies the influence of the stars to alchemy, and expounds\nthe mystical formula by which demons are to be conjured.\n\nSt. Vincent Ferrier, a famous Spanish preacher, gave to the world as\nmany years' duration as there were verses in the Psalms--about 2537.\n\nThe sixteenth century produced a very plentiful crop of predictions of\nthe final catastrophe. Simon Goulart, for example, gave the world an\nappalling account of terrible sights seen in Assyria--where a mountain\nopened and showed a scroll with letters of Greek--\"The end of the world\nis coming.\" This was in 1532; but after that year had passed in safety,\nLeovitius, a famous astrologer, predicted it again for 1584. Louis\nGayon reports that the fright at this time was great. The churches could\nnot hold those who sought a refuge in them, and a great number made\ntheir wills, without reflecting that there was no use in it if the whole\nworld was to finish.\n\nOne of the most famous mathematicians of Europe, named Stoffler, who\nflourished in the 16th century, and who worked for a long time at the\nreform of the calendar proposed by the Council of Constance, predicted a\nuniversal deluge for 1524. This deluge was to happen in the month of\nFebruary, because Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars were then together in the\nsign of the Fishes. Everyone in Europe, Asia, and Africa, to whom these\ntidings came, was in a state of consternation. They expected a deluge,\nin spite of the rainbow. Many contemporary authors report that the\ninhabitants of the maritime provinces of Germany sold their lands for a\nmere trifle to those who had more money and less credulity. Each built\nhimself a boat like an ark. A doctor of Toulouse, named Auriol, made a\nvery large ark for himself, his family, and his friends, and the same\nprecautions were taken by a great many people in Italy. At last the\nmonth of February came, and not a drop of rain fell. Never was a drier\nmonth or a more puzzled set of astrologers. Nevertheless they were not\ndiscouraged nor neglected for all that, and Stoffler himself, associated\nwith the celebrated Regiomontanus, predicted once more that the end of\nthe world would come in 1588, or at least that there would be frightful\nevents which would overturn the earth.\n\nThis new prediction was a new deception; nothing extraordinary occurred\nin 1588. The year 1572, however, witnessed a strange phenomenon, capable\nof justifying all their fears. An unknown star came suddenly into view\nin the constellation of Cassiopeia, so brilliant that it was visible\neven in full daylight, and the astrologers calculated that it was the\nstar of the Magi which had returned, and that it announced the second\ncoming of Jesus Christ.\n\nThe seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were filled with new\npredictions of great variety.\n\nEven our own century has not been without such. A religious work,\npublished in 1826, by the Count Sallmard Montfort, demonstrated\nperfectly that the world had no more than ten years to exist. \"The\nworld,\" he said, \"is old, and its time of ending is near, and I believe\nthat the epoch of that terrible event is not far off. Jacob, the chief\nof the twelve tribes of Israel, and consequently of the ancient Church,\nwas born in 2168 of the world, _i.e._, 1836 B.C. The ancient Church,\nwhich was the figure of the new, lasted 1836 years. Hence the new one\nwill only last till 1836 A.D.\"\n\nSimilar prophecies by persons of various nations have in like manner\nbeen made, without being fulfilled. Indeed, we have had our own\nprophets; but they have proved themselves incredulous of their own\npredictions, by taking leases that should _commence_ in the year of the\nworld's destruction.\n\nBut we have one in store for us yet. In 1840, Pierre Louis of Paris\ncalculated that the end would be in 1900, and he calculated in this\nway:--The Apocalypse says the Gentiles shall occupy the holy city for\nforty-two months. The holy city was taken by Omar in 636. Forty-two\nmonths of years is 1260, which brings the return of the Jews to 1896,\nwhich will precede by a few years the final catastrophe. Daniel also\nannounces the arrival of Antichrist 2,300 days after the establishment\nof Artaxerxes on the throne of Persia, 400 B.C., which again brings us\nto 1900.\n\nSome again have put it at 2000 A.D., which will make 6,000 years, as\nthey think, from the creation; these are the days of work; then comes\nthe 1,000 years of millennial sabbath.\n\nWe are led far away by these vain speculations from the wholesome study\nof astronomy; they are useful only in showing how by a little latitude\nthat science may wind itself into all the questions that in any way\naffect the earth.\n\nIndeed, since the world began, the world will doubtless end, and\nastronomers are still asked how could it be brought about?\n\nCertainly it is not an impossible event, and there are only too many\nways in which it has been imagined it might occur.\n\nThe question is one that stands on a very different footing from that it\noccupied before the days of Galileo and Copernicus. _Then_ the earth was\nbelieved to be the centre of the universe, and all the heavens and stars\ncreated for it. _Then_ the commencement of the world was the\ncommencement of the universe, its destruction would be the destruction\nof all. _Now_, thanks to the revolution in feeling that has been\naccomplished by the progress of astronomy, we have learned our own\ninsignificance, and that amongst the infinite number of stars, each\nsupporting their own system of inhabited planets, our earth occupies an\ninfinitesimally small portion, and the destruction of it would make no\ndifference whatever--still less its becoming uninhabitable. It is an\nevent which must have happened and be happening to other worlds, without\naffecting the infinite life of the universe in any marked degree.\n\nNevertheless, for ourselves, the question remains as interesting as if\nwe were the all in all, but must be approached in a different manner.\n\nNumerous hypotheses have been put forth on the question but they may\nmostly be dismissed as vain.\n\nBuffon calculated that it had taken 74,832 years for the earth to cool\ndown to its present temperature, and that it will take 93,291 years\nmore before it would be too cold for men to live upon it. But Sir\nWilliam Thomson has shown that the internal heat of the earth, supposed\nto be due to its cooling from fusion, cannot have seriously modified\nclimate for a long series of years, and that life depends essentially on\nthe heat of the sun.\n\nAnother hypothesis, the most ancient of all, is that which supposes the\nearth will be destroyed by fire. It comes down from Zoroaster and the\nJews; and on the improbable supposition of the thin crust of the earth\nover a molten mass, this is thought possible. However, as the tendency\nin the past has been all the other way, namely, to make the effect of\nthe inner heat of the earth less marked on the surface, we have no\nreason to expect a reversal.\n\nA third theory would make the earth die more gradually and more surely.\nIt is known that by the wearing down of the surface by the rains and\nrivers, there is a tendency to reduce mountains and all high parts of\nthe earth to a uniform level, a tendency which is only counteracted by\nsome elevating force within the earth. If these elevating forces be\nsupposed to be due to the internal heat--a hypothesis which cannot be\nproved--then with the cooling of the earth the elevating forces would\ncease, and, finally, the whole of the continent would be brought beneath\nthe sea and terrestrial life perish.\n\nAnother interesting but groundless hypothesis is that of Adhemar on the\nperiodicity of deluges. This theory depends on the fact of the unequal\nlength of the seasons in the two hemispheres. Our autumn and our winter\nlast 179 days. In the southern hemisphere they last 186 days. These\nseven days, or 168 hours, of difference, increase each year the coldness\nof the pole. During 10,500 years the ice accumulates at one pole and\nmelts at the other, thereby displacing the earth's centre of gravity.\nNow a time will arrive when, after the maximum of elevation of\ntemperature on one side, a catastrophe will happen, which will bring\nback the centre of gravity to the centre of figure, and cause an immense\ndeluge. The deluge of the north pole was 4,200 years ago, therefore the\nnext will be 6,300 hence. It is very obvious to ask on this--_Why_\nshould there be a _catastrophe_? and why should not the centre of\ngravity return _gradually_ as it was gradually displaced?\n\nAnother theory has been that it would perish by a comet. That it will\nnot be by the shock we have already seen from the light weight of the\ncomet and from experience; but it has been suggested that the gas may\ncombine with the air, and an explosion take place that would destroy us\nall; but is not that also contradicted by experience?\n\nAnother idea is that we shall finally fall into the sun by the\nresistance of the ether to our motion. Encke's comet loses in\nthirty-three years a thousandth part of its velocity. It appears then\nthat we should have to wait millions of centuries before we came too\nnear the sun.\n\nIn reality, however, we are simply dependent on our sun, and our destiny\ndepends upon that.\n\nIn the first place, in its voyage through space it might encounter or\ncome within the range of some dark body we at present know nothing of,\nand the attraction might put out of harmony all our solar system with\ncalamitous results. Or since we are aware that the sun is a radiating\nbody giving out its heat on all sides, and therefore growing colder, it\nmay one day happen that it will be too cold to sustain life on the\nearth. It is, we know, a variable star, and stars have been seen to\ndisappear, or even to have a catastrophe happen to them, as the kindling\nof enormous quantities of gas. A catastrophe in the sun will be our own\nend.\n\nFontenelle has amusingly described in verse the result of the sun\ngrowing cold, which may be thus Englished:--\n\n \"Of this, though, I haven't a doubt,\n One day when there isn't much light,\n The poor little sun will go out\n And bid us politely--good-night.\n Look out from the stars up on high,\n Some other to help you to see;\n I can't shine any longer, not I,\n Since shining don't benefit me.\n\n \"Then down on our poor habitation\n What numberless evils will fall,\n When the heavens demand liquidation,\n Why all will go smash, and then all\n Society come to an end.\n Soon out of the sleepy affair\n His way will each traveller wend,\n No testament leaving, nor heir.\"\n\nThe cooling of the sun must, however, take place very gradually, as no\ncooling has been perceived during the existence of man; and the growth\nof plants in the earliest geological ages, and the life of animals,\nprove that for so long a time it has been within the limits within which\nlife has been possible--and we may look forward to as long in the\nfuture.\n\nIt is not of course the time when the sun will become a dark ball,\nsurrounded by illuminated planets, that we must reckon as the end of the\nearth. Life would have ceased long before that stage--no man will\nwitness the death of the sun.\n\n[Illustration: PLATE XVI.--THE END OF THE WORLD.]\n\nThe diminution of the sun's heat would have for its natural effect the\nenlargement of the glacial zones! the sea and the land in those parts of\nthe earth would cease to support life, which would gradually be drawn\ncloser to the equatorial belt. Man, who by his nature and his\nintelligence is best fitted to withstand cold climates, would remain\namong the last of the inhabitants, reduced to the most miserable\nnourishment. Drawn together round the equator, the last of the sons of\nearth would wage a last combat with death, and exactly as the shades\napproached, would the human genius, fortified by all the acquirements of\nages past--give out its brightest light, and attempt in vain to throw\noff the fatal cover that was destined to engulf him. At last, the earth,\nfading, dry, and sterile, would become an immense cemetery. And it would\nbe the same with the other planets. The sun, already become red, would\nat last become black, and the planetary system would be an assemblage of\nblack balls revolving round a larger black ball.\n\nOf course this is all imaginary, and cannot affect ourselves, but the\nvery idea of it is melancholy, and enough to justify the words of\nCampbell:--\n\n \"For this hath science searched on weary wing\n By shore and sea--each mute and living thing,\n Or round the cope her living chariot driven\n And wheeled in triumph through the signs of heaven.\n Oh, star-eyed science, hast thou wandered there\n To waft us home the message of despair?\"\n\nIn reality, as we know nothing of the origin, so we know nothing of the\nend of the world; and where so much has been accomplished, there are\nobviously infinite possibilities enough to satisfy the hopes of every\none.\n\nWhile some stars may be fading, others may be rising into their place,\nand man need not be identified with one earth alone, but may rest\ncontent in the idea that the life universal is eternal.\n\n\nTHE END.\n\n\n\n\nLONDON: P. CLAY, SONS, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS.\n\n\n\n\nTRANSCRIBER'S NOTES:\n\n\n1. Passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_.\n\n2. Images have been moved from the middle of a paragraph to the closest\nparagraph break.\n\n3. The original text includes Greek characters. For this text version\nthese letters have been replaced with transliterations, for example,\n[Greek: a] represents first Greek letter alpha.\n\n3. The original text includes certain symbols for planets and zodiac\nsigns. For this text version these symbols are replaced by text name\nof the corresponding symbol. For example, [symbol: sun] replaces the\nsymbolic representation of sun.\n\n4. In this text version, fractions are represented using hyphen and\nforward slash. For example, 3-1/2 stands for three and a half.\n\n5. Certain words use oe ligature in the original.\n\n6. Obvious errors in punctuation and a few misprints have been silently\ncorrected.\n\n7. Other than the corrections listed above, printer's inconsistencies in\nhyphenation and ligature usage have been retained.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
","title":"Astronomical Myths: Based on Flammarions's \"History of the Heavens\"","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":95319}