44 PLimr's KATUEAL HISTOET, [Book n. 



on the latitude of the planets and the obliquity of the zodiac. 

 It is through this belt that the stars which I have spoken of 

 are carried, nor is there any part of the world habitable, ex- 

 cept what lies under it^ ; the remainder, which is at the poles, 

 being in a wild desert state. The planet Venus alone exceeds 

 it by 2 degrees, which we may suppose to be the cause why 

 some animals are produced even in these desert regions of 

 the earth. The moon also wanders the whole breadth of the 

 zodiac, but never exceeds it. Next to these the planet Mer- 

 cury moves through the greatest space ; yet out of the 12 de- 

 grees (for there are so many degrees of latitude in the zodiac-), 

 it does not pass through more than 8, nor does it go equally 

 through these, 2 of them being in the middle of the zodiac, 

 4 in the upper part, and 2 in the lower part^. I^Text to these 

 the Sun is carried through the middle of the zodiac, winding 

 unequally through the two parts of his tortuous circuit ■*. 

 The star Mars occupies the four middle degrees ; Jupiter 

 the middle degree and the two above it ; Saturn, like the 



refers in the story of Phaeton, where he is describing the daily path of 

 the sun ; Metam. ii. 63-67. 



1 " quam quod illi subjacet ;" under this designation the author obvi- 

 ously meant to include the temperate zones, although it technically ap- 

 phes only to the part between the tropics. It is scarcely necessary to 

 remark, that modem discoveries have shown that this opinion respecting 

 the Arctic zone is not strictly correct. 



2 The breadth of the zodiac, which was limited by the ancients to 12 

 degrees, has been extended by the modem astronomers to 18, and would 

 require to be much farther extended to include the newly discovered 

 planet. Herschel's Astronomy, § 254. 



8 There is considerable difficulty in ascertaining the meaning of the 

 terms employed by our author in describing the course of the planet 

 Mercury tlu-ough the zodiac ; " medio ejus," " supra," and " infra." 

 Hardouin's comment is as follows : " Duas zodiaci partes seu gradus 

 pererrat, quum ipse per medium incedit signiferum : supra, quum deflectit 

 ad Aquilonem, per quatuor ahas ejusdem partes vagatur : infra, quum 

 descendit ad Austrum, discedit duabus." Lemaire, ii. 271, 272. But 

 Marcus has shown that the opinion of Hardotiin is inadmissible and in- 

 consistent with the facts ; Ajasson, ii. 338-341. He proposes one, which 

 he conceives to be more connect, but we may probably be led to the con- 

 clusion, that the imperfect knowledge and incorrect opinions of our au- 

 thor on these subjects must render it impossible to afford an adequate 

 explanation. 



* " flexuoso draconum meatu ;" Poinsinet remarks, " Les Grrecs 



appeEaient dragons les bracelets, les hausse-cols, les chainettes, et gen4- 

 ralement tout ce qui avait une figm*e armiUaire ;" i. 79, 80. 



