xv CONJUNCTION THEOR Y ERRONEO US 289 



the extent of its immense length the whole quarter 

 of the sky which we call the Milky Way. How 

 many planets must have combined to occupy with 

 an unbroken line of fire such a long tract of the 

 sky? 



XVI 



I HAVE refuted the argument ; I must now discredit 

 its authors. It requires no great effort to strip 

 Ephorus of his authority ; he is a mere chronicler. 

 Some of his class seek to recommend their narrative 

 by incredible stories, and by their marvels try to 

 interest the reader, who would probably soon find 

 some other occupation if he were called on to wade 

 through their tedious narrative of ordinary events. 

 Some, again, are too credulous, some too careless, 

 some are deluded, some delighted, by falsehood. 

 The former do not shun it, the latter go in quest of 

 it. The whole clan of them have this in common ; 

 they fancy their work cannot merit approval, and 

 become popular unless they freely interlard it with 

 lies. Ephorus is not a person of any scrupulous 

 honour; he is often duped, often he tries to dupe. For 

 example, he asserts that the great comet which, by 

 its rising, sank Helice and Buris, which was carefully 

 watched by the eyes of the whole world since it 

 drew issues of great moment in its train, split up 

 into two stars ; but nobody besides him has re 

 corded it. Who, I wonder, could observe the 

 moment at which the comet broke up and was 

 resolved into two parts ? And if there is any one 

 who saw it split up into two, how is it that no one 

 saw it first formed out of the two ? And why did 

 Ephorus not add the names of the two stars into 



u 



