re she is at her mean distance,
while the earth commenced rolling upon the sun (round one of his great
circles), each globe turning round in the same time,--then, by the time
the earth had rolled its way once round the sun, the sun would have
almost exactly reached the earth's orbit. This is only another way of
saying that the sun's diameter exceeds the earth's in almost exactly the
same degree that the sun's distance exceeds the sun's diameter.'

[24] It has been remarked that, though Hipparchus had the enormous
advantage of being able to compare his own observations with those
recorded by the Chaldaeans, he estimated the length of the year less
correctly than the Chaldaeans. It has been thought by some that the
Chaldaeans were acquainted with the true system of the universe, but I do
not know that there are sufficient grounds for this supposition.
Diodorus Siculus and Apollonius Myndius mention, however, that they were
able to predict the return of comets, and this implies that their
observations had been continued for many centuries with great care and
exactness.

[25] The language of the modern Zadkiels and Raphaels, though
meaningless and absurd in itself, yet, as assuredly derived from the
astrology of the oldest times, may here be quoted. (It certainly was not
invented to give support to the theory I am at present advocating.) Thus
runs the jargon of the tribe: 'In order to illustrate plainly to the
reader what astrologers mean by the "houses of heaven," it is proper for
him to bear in mind the four cardinal points. The eastern, facing the
rising sun, has at its centre the first grand angle or first house,
termed the Horoscope or ascendant. The northern, opposite the region
where the sun is at midnight, or the _cusp_ of the lower heaven or
nadir, is the Imum Coeli, and has at its centre the fourth house. The
western, facing the setting sun, has at its centre the third grand angle
or seventh house or descendant. And lastly, the southern, facing the
noonday sun, has at its centre the astrologer's tenth house, or
Mid-heaven, the most powerful angle or house of honour.' 'And although,'
proceeds the modern astrologer, 'we cannot in the ethereal blue discern
these lines or terminating divisions, both reason and experience assure
us that they certainly exist; therefore the astrologer has certain
grounds for the choice of his four angular houses' (out of twelve in
all) 'which, resembling the palpable demonstration they