2o8 The Natural History 



The erection for the former should, if possible, be 

 placed within sight of some window in the common 

 sitting parlour ; because men, at that dead season of the 

 year, are usually within doors at the close of the day ; 

 while that for the latter might be fixed for any given spot 

 in the garden or outlet : whence the owner might con- 

 template, in a fine summer's evening, the utmost extent 

 that the sun makes to the northward at the season of the 

 longest days. Now nothing would be necessary but to 

 place these two objects with so much exactness, that the 

 westerly limb of the sun, at setting, might but just clear 

 the \yinter heliotrope to the west of it on the shortest 

 day ; and that the whole disc of the sun, at the longest 

 day, might exactly at setting also clear the summer 

 heliotrope to the north of it. 



By this simple expedient it would soon appear that 

 there is no such thing, strictly speaking, as a solstice; 

 for, from the shortest day, the owner would, every clear 

 evening, see the disc advancing, at its setting, to the 

 westward of the object ; and, from the longest day, 

 observe the sun retiring backwards every evening at its 

 setting, towards the object westward, till, in a few nights, 

 it would set quite behind it, and so by degrees to the 

 west of it : for when the sun comes near the summer 

 solstice, the whole disc of it would at first set behind the 

 object : after a time the northern limb would first appear, 

 and so every night gradually more, till at length the 

 whole diameter would set north of it for about three 

 nights ; but on the middle night of the three, sensibly 

 more remote than the former or following. When 

 beginning its recess from the summer tropic, it would 

 continue more and more to be hidden every night, till at 

 length it would descend quite behind the object again; 

 and so nightly more and more to the westward. 



