168 
HAROLD’S DISCUSSIONS. 
the vernal equinox. The meridian passing through 
this point is called the zero meridian, from which, 
eastward, celestial longitude is reckoned, and ex¬ 
pressed in hours, minutes, and seconds, right ascen¬ 
sion. Thus the star Arietis, in the Earn, is 1 h., 47 
min., 29 sec., right ascension (1890). Stars farther 
east are in greater right ascension. 
The constellations of the zodiac are undoubtedly 
of Egyptian origin. The Bull represented the sacred 
Egyptian Apis; the Earn represented Jupiter Am¬ 
mon; the Goat, the god Mendes, and so on. The 
Greeks adopted the figures and invented stories of 
their own. 
