e centre of
the plane is the inhabited earth, surrounded by ocean, beyond which lies
the paradise of Adam. The sun revolves round a conical mountain to the
north--round the summit in summer, round the base in winter, which
accounts for the difference in the length of the day. Cosmas is supposed
by some to have been a Nestorian. Although not to be commended from a
theological standpoint, the _Topographia_ contains some curious
information. Especially to be noticed is the description of a marble
seat discovered by him at Adulis (Zula) in Abyssinia, with two
inscriptions recounting the heroic deeds and military successes of
Ptolemy Euergetes and an Axumitic king. It also contains in all
probability the oldest Christian maps. From allusions in the
_Topographia_ Cosmas seems to have been the author of a larger
cosmography, a treatise on the motions of the stars, and commentaries on
the Psalms and Canticles. Photius (_Cod._ 36) speaks contemptuously of
the style and language of Cosmas, and throws doubt upon his
truthfulness. But the author himself expressly disclaims any claims to
literary elegance, which in fact he considers unsuited to a Christian
circle of readers, and the accuracy of his statements has been confirmed
by later travellers.

The _Topographia_ will be found in Migne, _Patrologia Graeca_,
lxxxviii.; an edition by G. Siefert is promised in the Teubner series.
See H. Gelzer, "Kosmas der Indienfahrer," in _Jahrbucher fur
protestantische Theologie_, ix. (1883) and C. R. Beazley, _The Dawn of
Modern Geography_, i. (1897). There is an English translation, with
introduction and notes, by J. W. McCrindle (1897), published by the
Hakluyt society.

COSMAS, of Prague (1045-1125), dean of the cathedral and the earliest
Bohemian historian. His _Chronicae Bohemorum libri iii._, which contains
the history and traditions of Bohemia up to nearly the time of his
death, has earned him the title of the Herodotus of his country. This
work, which his continuators brought down to the year 1283, is of the
highest value to historians in spite of the fact that its reputation for
disingenuousness and credibility has been greatly affected by the
critical attacks of J. Loserth (_Studien zu Cosmas von Prag_, Vienna,
1880, &c.).

The work was first published at Hanover in 1602, from the imperfect
Strassburg codex. A perfected edition was brought out at the same
place in 1607; this was reprinted, with notes by C