826 Extracts from the Mohit. [Oct. 



same on all points of the globe; in some years the year will be an in- 

 tercalar one for places of great longitude, but not for places of lesser 

 longitude, in which the intercalar year is only to come on in the follow- 

 ing year ; this is evident to all persons of sound understanding. But 

 to go on with the subject, if you add to the fundament of fundaments 

 the sum of 172 you obtain the fundament of the constellations of the 

 zodiacus ; if this sum be greater then the number of the solar year you 

 subtract it, and the remainder is the fundament. For this operation 

 there is no regard for the intercalar year ; you subtract the fundament 

 of the constellations from the broken lunar year, and if this cannot be, 

 you subtract it from the solar year, add what remains to the broken 

 lunar year, subtract from the whole the solar year, and obtain by 

 this operation in the remainder the number of the days of the zodiacal 

 year; you assign to each of the twelve constellations its number of 

 days, and the sun shall be in the degree of the constellation in which 

 your calculation ends, the number of the degrees are 

 Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, 



31 31 31 32 31 31 



Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius, Pices, 



30 30 29 29 30 30. 



For example, if you wish to know in which degree the sun is to be 

 found in the year 961, you proceed in the following way. We know 

 by what has been said that the fundament of fundaments in this year 

 is 288 ; add to it 172 it makes 460, subtract from it the number of 

 the solar year, 365 days, there remain 95, which you subtract from 

 the broken lunar year if you can ; as it is impossible in this year to 

 throw away the first of Ramazan, you make the subtraction so that 

 one month is perfect and the other deficient, and counting also the 

 first of Ramazan you obtain 237 ; from this you subtract the above- 

 mentioned 95, there will remain 142; of this sum you assign 31 degrees 

 to Aries, 31 to Taurus, 31 to Gemini, 32 to Cancer, and the remain- 

 ing 17 to Leo, so that the sun is to be found in the seventeenth degree 

 of Leo; the constellation of Cancer has in our days 32 degrees, 



although ALiyai y\ Aboo Nassr Ferahi mentions in the , ,Laj 



Nessab the following distinction : 



XXXI and XXXI, XXXI, XXXII, XXXI, XXXI, are six months 



XXX, XXX, XXIX and XXIX, XXX, XXX, are the short months 



But this agrees with the time when the sun in its greatest height is in 

 Gemini, now the sun being in its greatest height in Cancer, this has 





