102 
plii^y's katueal histoet. 
[Book 11. 
CHAP. 69. (69.) THAT THE EABTH IS IN THE MIDDLE OE 
THE WOELD. 
It is evident from undoubted arguments, tliat tlie earth is 
in the middle of the universe \ but it is the most clearly 
proved by the equality of the days and the nights at the equi- 
nox^. It is demonstrated by the quadrant^, which affords 
the most decisive confirmation of the fact, that unless the 
earth vras in the middle, the days and nights could not be 
equal ; for, at the time of the equinox, the rising and setting 
of the sun are seen on the same line, and the rising of the 
sun, at the summer solstice, is on the same line with its 
setting at the winter solstice ; but this could not happen if 
the earth was not situated in the centre 
CHAP. 70. (70.) — OE THE OBLIQUITY OE THE ZONES^ 
The three circles^, which are connected with the above- 
mentioned zones, distinguish the inequalities of the seasons ; 
these are, the solstitial circle, which proceeds from the part 
of the Zodiac the highest to us and approaching the nearest 
to the district of the north ; on the other side, the brumal, 
which is towards the south pole ; and the equinoctial, which 
traverses the middle of the Zodiac. 
CHAP. 71. — OE THE I]S"EQirALITY OE CLIMATES. 
The cause of the other things which are worthy of our 
admiration depends on the figure of the earth itself, which, 
together with all its waters, is proved, by the same argu- 
ments, to be a globe. This certainly is the cause why the 
stars of the northern portion of the heavens never set to us, 
and why, on the other hand, those in the south never rise, 
and again, why the latter can never be seen by the former, 
the globe of the earth rising up and concealing them. The 
1 " Mundi totius." ' " ^quinoctii paribus horis." 
3 Dioptra. " Grrsece SioTTTpa, instrumentum est geometricum, un 
quart de cercle, quo apparentes rerum inter se distantise anguli apertura 
dijudicantur." Alexandre, in Lemaire, i. 384. 
^ This title does not correspond with the contents of the chapter. 
5 « Tropici duo, cum sequinoctiali circulo j" Hardouin, in Lemaire, i. 
384. 
I 
