ANCIENT CROWNS). 
57 L 
plate of brass, with a hole in the centre of it ; through this hole, from 
a beam in the ceiling, comes the north pole, a round iron rod about 
three inches long, and supports the upper parts of the sphere to its 
proper elevation for the latitude of Cambridge ; the lower part of the 
sphere, so much of it as is invisible in England, is cut off ; and the 
lower or southern ends of the meridians, or truncated semicircles, 
terminate over, and are screwed down to, a strong circle of oak, of 
about thirteen feet diameter, which when our sphere is put into mo- 
tion, runs upon large rollers of lignum vitae, in the manner that the 
tops of some windmills are made to turn round. Upon the iron me- 
ridians is fixed a zodiac of tin, painted blue, whereupon the ecliptic 
and heliocentric orbits of the planets are drawn, and the constella- 
tions and stars traced : the Great and Little Bear, and Draco, w^ere 
the first painted, in their places round the north pole ; the rest of the 
constellations were afterw^ards added ; the whole is turned round with 
a small winch, with no more labour than it takes to wind up a jack, 
though the weight of the iron, tin, and w'ooden circle, is about lOOOlb. 
When made use of, a planetarium w'ill be placed in the middle. The 
whole, with the floor, is well supported with a frame of large timber.” 
— ^This curious piece of mechanism has been since improved ; all the 
constellations and stars of the northern hemisphere, visible at Cam- 
bridge, are painted in their proper places, upon plates of iron joined 
together, which form one concave surface. 
Ancient Crowns, . 
The first were no more than a bandelet drawn round the head, and 
tied behind, as we still see it represented in medals round the heads of 
Jupiter, the Ptolemies, and the kings of Syria. Afterwards they con- 
sisted of two bandelets ; by degrees they took branches of trees, of 
various kinds ; at lefigth they added flowers, insomuch that Claudius 
Saturninus says, there was not any plant whereof crowns had not 
been made. The woods and groves were searched to find different 
crowns for the several deities ; and they were used not only in the 
statues and images of the gods by the priests in sacrificing, and by 
kings and emperors, but also on altars, temples, doors of houses, 
sacred vessels, victims, ships, &c. In scripture there is frequent 
mention of crowns, and the use of them seems to have been very 
common among the Hebrews. The high-priest wore a crowm, which 
was a fillet of gold, placed upon the forehead, and tied with a ribbon, 
of hyacinth colour or azure blue. It seems that private priests, and 
even common Israelites, wore also a sort of crowns, since God com- 
manded Ezekiel not to take off his crown, nor assume the marks of 
one in mourning. This crown w'as only a ribbon or fillet, with 
which the Jews, and several people in the East, girt their heads. 
The Roman emperors had four kinds of crowns, still seen on me- 
dals, viz. a crowm of laurel, a radial or radiating crown, a crown 
adorned with pearls and precious stones, and the fourth a bonnet or 
kind of cap, something like the mortier. The Romans had also 
various kinds of crowns, which they distributed as rewards of 
merit ; which were considered as marks of nobility to the wearers. 
