ZEN 
the mericiian altitude of any heavenly ob- 
ject ; or it is the remainder, when the me- 
ridian altitude is subtracted from ninety 
degrees. 
ZENO, in biography, a Greek philoso- 
pher of considerable eminence, was born in 
the isle of Cyprus. He was founder of the 
Stoics, a sect which had its name from that 
of a portico at Athens, where Zeno was ac- 
customed to deliver his discourses. The fe- 
ther of our philosopher was a merchant, but 
readily seconded his son’s inclinations, and 
devoted him to the pursuits of literature. 
In the way of business he had frequent oc- 
casion to visit Athens, w'here he purchased 
for his son several of the most renowned 
works of the celebrated Socratic philoso- 
phers. These Zeno read with avidity, aad 
determined to visit the city where so much 
wisdom was found. Upon his fiist arrival 
in Athens, going accidentally into the shop 
of a bookseller, he took up the commenta- 
ries of Xenophon, with the perusal of which 
he was so much delighted, that he asked 
the bookseller where he might meet with 
such men. Crates, the cynic philosopher, 
was at that moment passing by ; the book- 
seller pointed to him, and said, follow, that 
man. He immediately became his disciple, 
but was soon dissatisfied with his doctrine, 
and joined himself to other philosophers, 
whose instructions were more accordant to 
bis way of thinking. Zeno staid long with no 
master ; he studied under all the most cele- 
brated teachers, with a view of collecting 
materials from various quarters for a new 
system of his own. I'o this Polerao alluded 
, when he saw Zeno coming into his school ; 
“ I hm no stranger,” said he, “ to your Phe- 
nician arts, I perceive that your design is to 
creep slily into my garden, and steal away 
the fruit.” From this period Zeno avowed 
his intention of becoming the founder of a 
new sect. The place which he chose for 
bis school was the painted porch, the most 
famous in Athens. Zeno excelled in that 
kind of subtle reasoning which was in his 
time very popular. Hence his followers 
were very numerous, and from the highest 
ranks in society. Among these was Anti- 
gonus Gouates, king of Macedon, who ear- 
nestly solicited him to go to his court. He 
possessed so large a share of esteem among 
the Athenians, that on account of his inte- 
grity, they deposited the keys of their cita- 
del iri his hands : they also honoured him 
with a golden crown and a statue of brass. 
He lived to the age of 98, and at last, in 
ponsequence of an accident, voluntarily put 
„ZEU 
an end to his life. As he was walking is 
his school, he fell down and broke his 
finger, by which, it is said, he was so much 
affected, that, striking the earth, he ex- 
claimed, “ Why am I thus importuned ? I 
obey thy summons,” and immediately went 
and strangled himself. In morals, the prin- 
cipal difference betw'een the cynics and the 
stoics was, that the former disdained the 
cultivation of nature, the latter affected to 
rise above it. In physics, Zeno received his 
doctrine from Pythagoras and Heraclitus, 
through the channel of the Platonic scliool. 
See Academies, Cynics, &c. 
ZEOLITE, in mineralogy, a species of 
the flint genus, divided into five subspecies, 
viz. the mealy, fibrous, radiated, foliated, 
and cubic zeolite, distinguished from each 
other by fracture, hardness, and lustre. 
The mealy is yellow, or reddish-white, is 
found in Iceland, Ferro islands, Sweden, 
and in some parts of Scotland, particularly 
in the isle of Skye ; it consists of 
Silica 50 
Alumina 20 
Lime 8 
Water 22 
too 
The other sub-species vary iu their pro- 
portions of the same substances. The cu- 
bic intumesces like borax before the blow- 
pipe, and melts readily into cellular glass, 
and during fusion emits a phosphoric light. 
With acid it forms a jelly. It occurs in 
rocks of the newest floetz trap, (See Rock) 
as amygdaloid, basalt, wacce, porphyry, 
slate, and greenstone. All the different 
sub-spe<ues of zeolite are found in Scotland, 
and in the neighbouring islands. They are 
also met w’ith in great perfection and beauty 
in Iceland, the Ferro islands, and in several 
parts of Sweden : and in many parts of Ger- 
many, and in the East Indies. 
ZEUS, the dory, in natural history, a ge- 
nus of fishes of the order Thoracici. Gene- 
ric character ; head compressed, sloping 
down ; upper lip arched by a transverse 
membrane; tongue in most species sub- 
ulate : body compressed, broad, somewhat 
rhomboid, thin, and of a bright colour, gill- 
membrane with seven perpendicular raj's, 
the lowest transverse ; rays of the first dor- 
sal fin filamentous. There are eight spe- 
cies, of wliich the following are the prin- 
cipal. 
Z. faber, or the common dory, has ^ 
large oval dusky spot on each side of the 
