THE YOUNG GENTLEMAN AND LADY'S PHILOSOPHY. PART IV. CONTAINING The Defcription and Use of the CELESTIAL and TERRESTRIAL GLOBES, MAPS, and PLANISPHERES. DIALOGUE I. The Defcription of the CELESTIAL GLOBE, and its FURNITURE. A$ S our laft Converfation finifhed our Speculation on the Atmosphere, we are brought, by our propofed Method, to a View of the artificial Globes.- -And that Nothing may be wanting to give you a perfect Idea of the moft wonderful and obvious Parts of Nature, I mean, the Frame and Conftitutions of the Heavens and the Earth, and all their fenfible Motions and Phænomena I have provided a Pair of GLOBES for that Purpose, twenty-eight Inches Diameter.-And here they are This is called the Celestial Globe, and that the Terreftrial. Euphrof. I am infinitely obliged to you, Cleonicus, for the Care and Trouble you have on my Account.VOL. II. B They They are very beautiful Things indeed! And I question not but they are of equal Ufe.As we cannot confider the Ufes of both at once, pray which do we begin with? Cleon. The Celestial Globe, my Euphrofyne, for that remains to finish our practical View of the Heavens.We at first contemplated the Theory of the Mundane Syftem-then we took an actual Survey of the feveral Bodies which compofed it, and their Motions, by the Telescope; -after this, we affayed the Doctrine of the Sphere;-and then confidered, under a more immediate View, the various Motions and Affections of the Heavenly Bodies, in themselves, and in regard of each other, in the Orrery; —and now it remains, that we contemplate the fame Thing in regard to the Earth (or its Inhabitants) only, which is to be done by the Celestial Globe; whofe Superficies represents the conftellated Canopy of the Heavens, and its Rotation about its Axis, the apparent diurnal Motions of the Sun, Moon, and Stars.--And hence this Globe has the Name Celestial. Euphrof. I must wait till you are more particular in the Ufes of this fine Inftrument;-at prefent I obferve moft of the Circles of the Sphere upon it,--and several Figures of Men, Women, Horfes, Dogs, Serpents, Fishes, Crowns, &c. painted thereon, which, I fuppofe, are all fignificant, when understood. Cleon. True, Sifter; here are all the Circles of the Sphere; and it is little different from the Sphere, in any Thing more than having a continued Surface, and the Conftellations painted thereon. Euphrof. Yes, here is this broad Horizon, with feveral Circles upon it-pray, what Circles are they? Cleon. There are five Circles on the Horizon, viz. (1) The inmoft, or that next the Globe, is the Circle of Amplitudes or Azimuths, and divided each Way from Eaft and Weft, towards North and South, into 90 Degrees. (2) The Circle containing the 32 Points of the Compass. (3) The Calendar of Months and Days, according to the New Stile. (4) The Zodiac, with the Signs and Degrees of the Ecliptic, adapted thereto. (5) The Calendar for the Old Stile adjusted to the Ecliptic;the Ufes of all thefe you will fee more particularly hereafter. Euphrof. Very good, Cleonicus: and as to the other Circles on its Surface; the Equinoctial, the Ecliptic, the Tropics, and Polar Circles, I fhall trouble you with no Queftions concerning them, having had a perfect KnowJedge of them from the Sphere.-But these other Circles, which run athwart and cross the Globe, and cut each other, what are they? Cleon. They are of two Sorts, viz. Circles of Longitude, which pafs through the Poles of the Ecliptic, and therefore at right Angles to the Ecliptic; of th fe there are 12, which terminate the 12 Signs; and divide the Surface of the Globe into 12 equal Parts; thefe equal Parts in the Heavens were called the Celestial Houfes by Ptolemy and other ancient Aftrologers, The other Sort are called Circles of Declination; thefe all pafs through the Poles of the World, and cut the Equinoctial at right Angles at every 30th Degree; they are alfo 12 in Number, and divide the Surface of the Globe into other 12 equal Parts, which were in the Heavens accounted the 12 Celestial Houfes by that Aftrologer, but other Aftrologers in after Times invented other Divifions of the Heavens for their Houses, as their Fancies and Superftition fuggefted. Euphrof. How came they to call thefe Divisions Houfes? And what did they intend thereby? Cleon. In ancient Times, when the World was very ignorant, Superftition was all the Fashion; and Impofture a venerable Thing. Then was the Time for the Men of Front; they invented Schemes and Figures of the Heavens to amuse and furprize the Vulgar, making them believe the Stars were the very Minifters of Fate, having a governing Influence over all Things below. Hear how folemnly Manilius talks on this Subject. When Nature order'd this vaft Frame to rife, } Had fill'd with Stars; and made Earth, Water, Air, That Concord might thefe diffring Parts controul, And Leagues of mutual Aid fupport the Whole;. That nothing which the Skies embrace might be The ftrange and various Intercourfe of Fate. Lib. III. And every Thing of this Kind was facred which they faid; yea, fo credulous were the unthinking Vulgar, that Nothing could be advanced too monftrous and ridiculous for them not to believe. Thus a modern French Aitrologer is gibed by Hudibrafs Cardan believ'd great States depend Upon the Tip o' th' Bear's Tail's End, And as to the Impofture and Nonfenfe of antient Soothfayers, fee it merrily ridiculed in his 3d Canto of Part II. But we make too long a Digreffion, were it not that fo impious and fcandalous a Pretenfion cannot be too much ridiculed and exploded. Euphrof. I do not underftand Aftrology, and if its Pretenfions are fuch as you infinuate, it must indeed be a vain and prefumptuous Thing, and borders very nearly on Blafphemy. But to the Subject of the Globe; what are thofe various Figures of Men, Beafts, &c. on the Surface, and why are they painted there? Cleon. They are all imaginary Beings, and have their Exiftence no where but on the Surface of the artificial Globe they were contrived for the fake of Memory and Comprehenfion; and are of very great Antiquity. For the Stars appearing, as it were, confufedly diffeminated or trewed over the vaft concave Expanfe of Heaven, could not without fome Artifice be well comprehended by the Mind, or remembered with refpect to Magnitude and Situation. To have given Names to each Star, would have been too great a Burthen to the Memory; and to reduce them all to Catalogues, and point them out by their Places, was a Work of Ages, as I have fhewed you before. The only Expedient therefore to facilitate the Knowledge Knowledge of the Stars, was to confider and distribute them into various Companies, or Collections, and the better to fix the Idea of thefe in the Mind, they invested them with the Figures and Characters drawn from Men, Beafts, and Things, as would beft fit and fuit with each: And to these they properly gave the Name of Conftellations, or Afterifms; and painted them on their Globes and Machines. Concerning which, thus Manilius. Now Conftellations, Mufe, and Signs rehearse, Book I. Euphrof. How many Conftellations are there in all? Clean. They are reckoned 56 in Number; viz. 12 in the Zodiac; 29 on the North of the Zodiac; and 25 on the South Side thereof. Euphrof. What are the Names of thofe in the Zodiac? Cleon. The very fame with the Names of the Signs; as Aries, Taurus, Gemini, &c. which you know very well already. Euphrof. I do, without a Repetition;--but what Names do thofe bear in the northern Hemisphere ? Cleon, The 29 Northern Constellations, are 1. Urfa Minor, or the leffer Bear. 2. Urfa Major, or the greater Bear, 3. Draco, or the Dragon. 4. Cepheus. 5. Cygnus, or the Swan. 6. Perfeus.. 7. Andromeda. 8. Auriga, or the Waggoner. 9. Coma Berenices, or Berenice's Hair. 10. Bootes. II. Corona Septentrionalis, or Northern Crown. 12. Hercules. 13. Lyra, or the Harp. 14. Aquila cum Antinoo; the Eagle with Antinous. |