20 PHCENIC1AN DISCO VERIES. 



or " the spiral," as in the famous passage in the " Argonauta/' 

 of Apollonius Rhodius, 



" Night in the east poured darkness ; on the sea 

 The wakeful sailor to Orion's star 

 And Helice turned heedful," - 



and Ursa Minor, Cynosura, that is, the dog's tail, Manilius,* 

 a Latin poet, who wrote at the beginning of the Christian era, 

 goes on to say : 



"At one of the extremities of the world's axis are two 

 constellations, well known to the hapless mariner: they are 

 his guides when the bait of gain impels him across the 

 ocean. Helice is the larger, and describes the larger circle : 

 it is recognised by its seven stars, which rival one another in 

 splendour; and by this it is that the Greeks steer their barks. 

 The smaller, Cynosura, describes a lesser circle : it is inferior 

 both in size and lustre ; but, according to the witness of the 

 Tyrians, is of greater importance. For the Phoenicians no 

 safer guide exists when they seek to approach a coast invisible 

 from the high seas." 



The testimony of Manilius is confirmed by that of Aratus 

 and Strabo. The pseudo-Eratosthenes, in his book on the 

 constellations, refers to Ursa Minor under the name of 3>o/v/xj, 

 the "Phoenician." It appears, then, to be established that 

 the Phoenicians were the first to group a constellation of the 

 same general outline as Helice, the Little Bear, or Ursa Minor. 

 But that, as we have already explained, the two constellations 

 do not lie in the same direction, every one may see : 

 * Manilius, " Astronomicon," Book i., 291 -300. 



