CIRCLE. 



515 



dele. 



Circle, 

 Circuit*. 



Circle. 



The stars * Aquilae, Arietis, and * Ophiuchi, are pro- 

 bably determined within a second of the truth ; but Mr 

 Pond met with some discordances in these stars which he 

 does not comprehend. Future observations will shew, whe- 

 ther theseareaccidental.orarise from some periodical cause. 



Those stars marked * were determined with the qua- 

 drant, its error having been ascertained by comparison 

 with the circle, by other stars having nearly the same de- 

 clinat'on. 



In the fourth column, Mr Pond has annexed the de- 

 gree of uncertainty, or maximum of error, to which he 

 conceives the results to be liable. These numbers not 

 being derived from any strict mathematical process, must 

 only be considered as indicating the opinion he has formed 



n the subject. When the observations themselves an: 

 published, we shall havean opportunity of stating at length 

 the grounds of this opinion. 



We are sorry that it is not in our power at present to 

 communicate to our readers a complete account of Mi 

 Pond's new method of determining the position of an 

 instrument by means of the preceding Catalogue of Stars j 

 but as that distinguished astronomer is at present en- 

 gaged in drawing up a paper on this subject for the Royal 

 Society, we shall be able to give a full account of it in ano- 

 ther part of our work. It completely supersedes every 

 other method, and renders the cumbersome apparatus of 

 levels and plumblinea completely unnecessary in fixed 

 observatories. 



C I R 



C f RCLE, among the many fanciful analogies, which 

 have been drawn by the ancients and moderns from the 

 circle, or from lines drawn in and about it, it may be 

 right here to mention the application of it to music by 

 the late Mr Harrison, the time piece maker, who adopt- 

 ed a scale of temperament, wherein the major third has 

 the same ratio to the octave, as the diameter of a circle 

 has to its circumference; in which case III = 194.7776? 

 X + 4f +l~m, in Mr Far.-y's notation, or III 2^S 

 very nearly. See HARRISON'S Temperament of the Musi- 

 cal Scale, (j) 



CIRCLE. See GEOMETRY. 



CIRCUITS, in law, are the journeys or rounds made 

 by the supreme judges twice a year, for distributing jus- 

 tice in the different counties of the kingdom. In Eng- 

 land, the circuits take place in the respective vacations 

 after Hilary and Trinity terms ; and the counties of that 

 part of the kingdom, are distributed into six districts or 

 circuits, viz. 1st, The Midland circuit ; containing the 

 counties of Northampton, Rutland, Lincoln, Notting- 

 ham, Derby Leicester, and Warwick. 2d, Norfolk; 

 containing Bucks, Bedford, Huntingdon, Cambridge, 

 Norfolk, and Suffolk. 3d, Home ; Hertford, Essex, 

 Kent, Sussex, and Surrey. 4th, Oxford; B-rks, Ox- 

 ford, Hereford, Salop, Gloucester, Monmouth, Stafford, 

 and Worcester. 5th, Western ; Southampton, Wilts, 

 Dorset, Cornwall, Devon, and Somerset. And 6th, 

 The Northern; containing York, Durham, Northum 

 berland, Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Lancashire. 

 Wales is divided into two circuits, south and north. 



Scotland is distributed into three circuits the North- 

 ern, comprehending the counf.es of Inverness, Ross, El- 

 gin, Caithness, Sutherland, Cromarty, Nairn, Aberdeen, 

 Banff, Kinkardine, Perth, Forfar, Fife, and the stewartries 



C I R 



of Orkney and Zetland ; the Southern, comprehending 

 Roxburgh, Berwick, Selkirk, Peebles, Dumfries, Ayr, 

 Wigton, and the stewarty of Kirkudbright ; and the 

 WaterUt comprehending Stirling, Clackmannan, Kin- 

 ross, Lanark, Dumbarton, Renfrew, Argyle, and Bute. 

 The periods, at which the Scotch judges perform their 

 journeys, are some time in the course of the spring and 

 autumn vacations of the court of session. See ASSIZES. 



CIRCULAR PARTS. See TRIGONOMETRY. 



CIRCULATION OF THE BLOOD. See ANATOMY, 

 vol. iv p. 807, vol. ii. p. 18, and PHYSIOLOGY. 



CIRCUMCISION, denotes the practice of cutting 

 off the preputium or foreskin of the penis. 



This practice was adopted universally among the Jews, 

 and was also introduced partially, if not universally, 

 among some other nations. The sacred scriptures carry 

 the antiquity of this practice much farther back than 

 any other writings. It it) first mentioned in the 17th 

 chap, of Genesis, and is stated as the sign or symbol of the 

 covenant which God made with Abraham. This is my 

 covenant which ye shall keep between me and you, and 

 thy S' ed after t/iee ; evi-ry nutn-c/iild among you shall be 

 circumcised. And ye. aliall circumcise the Jlesh of your 

 foretkm; and it slia.l br a token of the covenant betwixt 

 me am' you ; and he that is eight days old s/tall he cir- 

 cumcised. 



Among the later Jews the ceremony was performed 

 with much solemnity, in the synagogue, on the eighth 

 day, ds God had appointed. Two seats with silk cush- 

 ions were placed, the one for the god-father, who was to 

 hold the child, the other for Elias, who was supposed 

 to be present at the ceremony. The child was brought 

 to the door of the synagogue by the god-mother ac- 

 companied with other females, none of whom were per- 



Circular 



