BOOK II. XV. 77-xvi. 79 



sphere <*), and never makes its rises simultaneously 

 with Jupiter except in two signs only, Cancer and Leo, 

 whereas the planet Mercury rarely makes its evening 

 rises in Pisces, and most frequently in Virgo, its 

 morning rises in Libra, and also its morning rises in 

 Aquarius, very rarely in Leo ; it does not make its re- 

 turn in Taurus and in Gemini, and not below the 25th 

 degree in Cancer; Gemini is the only sign in which 

 the moon makes conjunction with the sun twice, 

 Sagittarius the only one in which she does not meet 

 him at all, Aries the only one in which the old moon 

 and the new moon are visible on the same day or night 

 (and this too it has happened to few mortals to see, 

 hence Lynceus's reputation for keen sight) ; the 

 longest period of invisibiUty for the planets Saturn and 

 Mars is 170 days, for Jupiter 36 days ; the shortest 

 periods for all these are 10 days less ; Venus's period 

 is 69 days or at shortest 52, Mercury's 13 or at 

 longest 17. 



XVI. The colours of the planets vary with their coiwrs o, 

 altitudes, inasmuch as they are assimilated to the "'«i'^"''' 

 stars into whose atmosphere they come in rising, 

 and the circuit of another's path modifies their 

 colour in either direction as they approach, a colder 

 circuit to pallor, a hotter one to redness, a windy 

 one to a leaden colour, the sun and the intersection 

 of its orbit with theirs, and also the extremities 

 of their paths, changing them to black darkness. It 

 is true that each has its own special hue — Saturn 

 white, Jupiter transparent, Mai-s fiery, Lucifer 

 bright white, Vesper glaring, Mercury radiant, 

 the moon soft, the sun when rising glowing and 



emend sexangulas Jorrtias to the singular, this clumsily ex- 

 preased piece of geometry looks like an iuterpolation. 



223 



