CH. III. SIGJVS OF THE ZODIAC. 19 



or circle of animals. The names of the twelve signs are : 

 I. Aries ^ the Ram ; 2. Taurus^ the Bull ; 3. Gemini, the 

 Twins j 4. Cancer, the Crab ; 5. Leo, the Lion ; 6. Virgo^ 

 the Virgin ; 7. Libra, the Balance ; 8. Scorpio, the Scorpion; 

 9. Sagittarius, the Archer; 10. Capricornus, t\iQ. Goat; 11. 

 Aquarius, the Water-bearer ; 12. Pisces, the Fishes. 



It was by no means an easy thing to trace the sun's path 

 among the stars, because the sun and the stars are never in 

 sight at the same time, so they were obliged to notice the 

 constellations as they appeared close to the sun after he sank 

 at night or before he rose in the morning. These, they found, 

 varied a little each night, till when a whole year had passed 

 away, all the twelve signs had been in turn close to the sun, and 

 the round began again. Thus they learnt that the sun passed 

 over each of the twelve signs in the course of the year ; and 

 they thought from this that the sun travelled round the sky 

 while the earth stood still in the middle. We know now 

 that it is the sun which stands still in the middle while the 

 earth moves round, and it is worth while to make an experi- 

 ment to see how the Greeks were deceived. 



Put twelve chairs round in a circle to represent the 

 signs of the Zodiac, and put yourself in the middle for a 

 person standing on the earth. Then swing a ball round you 

 just on a level with the chairs. You will see that the ball 

 passes between you and each chair as it makes a circle round 

 you. The Greeks believed that the sun moved round in 

 this way between us and the stars. But now to represent 

 what really takes place, change places with the ball. Hang 

 the ball (the sun) up in the middle just on a level with the 

 chairs, and walk round it. Keep your eye fixed on the ball, 

 and you will see it will pass between you and each chair, 

 just as it did before. The effect is the same, though it is 



