418 



CONSTELLATIONS CONSTITUTION. 



from the hieroglyphics of the Kyptians, nml trans- 

 mitted, with some alterations, from tin m lothet; reeks. 

 Many of the figures that occur among our present 

 constellations were originally Egyptian. The names 

 which the Chinese ana Japanese give to the groups of 

 stars forming our constellations are very dillcreni 

 from those which we have given them. Some Ara- 

 bians, too, though they received their astronomy 

 from tlie G reeks, changed the names of (lie constella- 

 tions, from a superstitious notion, that it was unlaw- 

 ful to draw any human figure. The zeal of some 

 Christian philosophers has induced them to endea- 

 vour to drive the heathen deities and heroes from the 

 skies. The venerable Bede gave the names of the 

 twelve apostles to the twelve signs of the zodiac. 

 Judas Si-lnl Icrius, in 1(527, completed the reformation, 

 and gave Scripture names to all the constellations in 

 the heavens. \\eigelius, professor of mathematics 

 in the university of Jena, made a new order of con- 

 stellations, converting the firmament into ceelum 

 heraldicum, and introducing tlie arms of all the prin- 

 ces of Europe among tlie constellations. The more 

 intelligent astronomers, however, never approved of 

 innovation, because it tended to introduce confusion 

 into the science. The old constellations, therefore, 

 are, for the most part, still retained. 



Ptolemy enumerates, in his Almagest, forty-eight 

 constellations, which are still called the Ptolenuean. 

 They are the following: 1. The twelve signs of tlie 

 eodiac (see Ecliptic). 2. Twenty-one constellations 

 found in the northern hemisphere the Great Bear 

 (Ursa Major, the Wain), the Little Bear (Ursa Mi- 

 nor}, Perseus, the Dragon, Cepheus, Cassiopeia, 

 Andromeda, Pegasus, Equulus (Horse's Head), the 

 Triangle, the Wagoner (Auriga), Bootes, the Nor- 

 thern Crown (Corona Borealis), Ophiuchus, the 

 Serpent (Serpentarius), Hercules, the Arrow (Sagitta), 

 the Lyre, the Swan (Cygnus), the Dolphin, the 

 Eagle (AquUd). 3. Fifteen constellations in the 

 southern hemisphere Orion, the Wliale (Cetus), 

 Eridanus, tlie Hare (Lepus), the Great Dog ( Cants 

 Major), the Little Dog (Canis Minor), Hydra, the 

 Cup (Crater), the Crow (Corvus), the Centaur, the 

 Wolf (Lupus), the Altar (Ard), the Southern Fish, 

 (Piscis Aiistralis) , the Argo, the Southern Crown 

 (Corona Australis). 



The poets of antiquity very ingeniously connected 

 the most popular tables of mythology with the dif- 

 ferent constellations. Some of the constellations, 

 however, have been changed; and the ancients 

 sometimes even added new ones, such as the 

 Hair of Berenice (Coma Berenices), and the Anti- 

 nous. Much still remained for modern astrono- 

 mers to do. Hevelius introduced the twelve follow- 

 ing new constellations : the Shield of Sobiesky, the 

 Squirrel, Camelopardalus, the Sextant, the Grey- 

 hounds, the Little Lion, the Lynx, the Fox and the 

 Goose, the Lizard, the Little Triangle, Cerberus, 

 and Mons Maenalus. When the Europeans began to 

 navigate the southern hemisphere, many new stars of 

 course appeared to them, which they never had seen 

 In Europe. Thus twelve new constellations were 

 added in the 16th century the Indians, Crane, 

 Poenix, Fly, Southern Triangle, Bird of Paradise, 

 Peacock, American Goose, Hydrus or Water-Snake, 

 Sword-Fish, Flying-Fish, Chamaeleon. Halley, in 

 1675, during his stay at St Helena, added the Royal 

 Oak (Robur Carolinum) ; and Lacaille, in 1750, during 

 his stay at the cape of Good Hope, added the four- 

 teen following : Officina Sculptoria, Fornax Chemi- 

 ca, Horologium, Reticulus Rhomboidalis, Equuleus 

 Pietorius, Caela Praxitelis, Pyxis Nautica, Octans 

 Hadleianus, Machina Pneumatica, Circinus (the 

 Compass), Quadra Euclidis, Telescope, Microscope, 

 aiid Table Mountain. To these have been added 



the Lapland Reindeer, the Hermit., the Brandenburg 

 Sceptre, tlie Telescope of llerschel, the Shield of 

 Poniatowsky or Taurus Poniatowsky, the Ilonot.r of 

 Frederic, and others which cannot well be enumerat- 

 ed here, as their names have not be sanctioned by all 

 nations. Thus the professors of Leipsic made of a 

 part of Orion tlie constellation of Napoleon, but it did 

 not come into use. The different stars of a constella- 

 tion are marked by Greek letters. Several have a !M> 

 particular names. They are also divided according 

 to their apparent magnitude ; thus we speak of stars 

 of the first, second, and third, up to the sixth magni- 

 tude. The last are tlie smallest visible to the naked 

 eye. One of the best works on astrognosy, in tin- 

 present state of this science, is Bode's Anleitung zur 

 Kenntniss ties geslirnten Himmels, 9th edition, Berlin, 

 1823, with plates (Guide to the Knowledge of the 

 Starry Heavens). On the subject of the constella- 

 tions and astrognosy of the ancients, the same author 

 has written, in his Ptolemceus, Beobachtung und 

 Beschreibung der Gestirne, Berlin, 1795 (Ptolemy, Ob- 

 servation and Description of the Stars). For infor- 

 mation respecting celestial globes, see Globe. 



CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY ; the first conven- 

 tion of the delegates of the French nation, (June 17. 

 1789), consisting of 600 deputies of the third estate, 

 300 of the nobility, and 300 of the clergy. The fa- 

 mous oath taken in the tennis court, June 20, 1789, 

 not to dissolve until they had completed a constitu- 

 tion for their country, is one of the noblest displays 

 of the spirit of a nation bent on recovering and secur- 

 ing its liberty. See France. 



CONSTITUTION, in medicine; the general con- 

 dition of the body, as evinced by the peculiarities in 

 the performance of its functions : such are the pecu- 

 liar predisposition to certain diseases, or liability of 

 particular organs to disease, the varieties in diges- 

 tion, in muscular power and motion, in sleep, in the 

 appetite, &c. Some marked peculiarities of constitu- 

 tion are observed to be accompanied with certain ex- 

 ternal characters, such as a particular colour and 

 texture of the skin, and of the hair, and also with a 

 peculiarity of form and disposition of mind ; all of 

 which have been observed from the earliest times, ami 

 divided into classes, and which received names, dur- 

 ing the prevalence of the humoral pathology, tliat 

 they still retain. See Temperament. 



CONSTITUTION, in the Roman church; a de- 

 cree of the pope in matters of doctrine. In France, 

 however, this name has been applied, by way of emi- 

 nence, to the famous bull Unigenitus (q. v.). Apos- 

 tolic constitutions is the name given to a collection of 

 ecclesiastical laws and regulations ascribed erroneous- 

 ly to Clement I. Their contents betray a later origin. 

 No father of the church, before the fourth century, 

 mentions them. Epiphanius is the first who speaks of 

 them as a genuine work of the apostles, though he 

 does not pretend to deny the doubts which many per- 

 sons entertained respecting their genuineness. The 

 Trullan council (692) considered only part of them 

 genuine, and rejected the collection on account of the 

 interpolations which it had experienced. Most prob- 

 ably this collection was made in the third century, 

 and compounded of regulations already existing, and 

 others invented by the compiler, who was an adver- 

 sary of the Gnostics (q. v.). But it is still very dubious 

 whether the collection, which we have at present under 

 the above name, is the same mentioned by the fathers 

 of the church. The Catholics themselvesare suspicious 

 of them. The Dictionnaire de Theologie says of them, 

 Ces Constitutions prttendues apostoliques sentent, dans 

 plusieurs endroits, CArianisme, renferment des ana- 

 chrcmismes et des opinions singulieres sur plusieurs 

 points de la religion. 



CONSTITUTION; the fundamental law of a 



