One half of the ecliptic is always above and one half below the horizon. The length of the night varies and depends upon the height above the horizon to which that half of the ecliptic will rise which rises at the commencement of night: in the same manner as the length of the day depends upon the height above the horizon to which that half of the ecliptic rises which rises with the Sun. "Illius oceano quantum submergitur alto Tantum telluris supereminet. Omnibus iste Unwilling seeks the dreary realms of night- Through half the night the struggle he maintains. The constellation Bootes is setting for about eight hours, but never totally disappears, his hand lying beyond the Arctic circle. Hence he may be called insatiable of light, especially when setting with the setting sun; and to struggle against quitting the visible heavens for more than half the night. PAGE 59. 636. Ος καὶ ἐπερχόμενος φοβέει μέγαν Ωρίωνα. 660. When SCORPIO rises with the bright Antar, The fabulous accounts of Orion are numerous and various. The one adopted by Aratus is this: Orion, a celebrated hunter of Greece, was invited by Œnopion, a petty king of Chios, to destroy the animals that overran his island, and greatly injured his vineyards. The mighty hunter nearly annihilated the beasts of chase, and thus, in poetical language, committed violence upon Diana, the Goddess of hunting. Orion was bitten by one of the poisonous reptiles with which these islands abounded, and which secreted themselves in the crevices of the rocks. Hence the Goddess was said to have cleft the earth, and brought forth a monster scorpion, which attacked and killed the huntsman. Horace makes a slight variation in this fable. According to him Orion was slain by an arrow from the bow of the virgin huntress: Homer represents him in the Elysian fields, following the same pursuits as he did upon earth : Ωρίωνα πελώριον εἰσενόησα Θῆρας ὁμοῦ εἰλεῦντα κατ ̓ ἀσφοδελὸν λειμῶνα· (Od. XI. 570.) Orion was classed by the ancients among the malignant constellations. He was considered as an originator of storms both at his rising and setting. Aristotle says, " Ωρίωνος δύσιν, καὶ ἀναToλnν Tapaɣwon." To this notion the poets frequently allude: 66 Quam subito adsurgens fluctu nimbosus Orion (Æn. 1. 534.) Quam multi Libyco volvuntur marmore fluctus, Nec sidus atrâ nocte amicum appareat (En. vII. 718.) (Hor. Ep. x.) According to some of the ancient writers Orion never sets. This can only be the case to those inhabitants of the globe who dwell within about 12 degrees of the North Pole. Virgil seems to have adopted this notion: Cum pedes incedit medii per maxima Nerei Stagna viam scindens, humero supereminet undas. ( En. x. 703.) The mistake has arisen from the poets applying to Orion the fables relating to Bootes. NOTES ON THE DIOSEMEIA. PAGE 64. 20. Γινώσκεις τάδε καὶ σύ· τὰ γὰρ συναείδεται ἤδη 25. These things thou know'st; and ancient men have told, How Sol and Luna part again to meet When the great cycle nineteen years complete. It At the end of nineteen years the Sun and Moon occupy nearly the same places in the Zodiac as each of them did at the commencement of that period. Hence all the appearances of the moon, in respect to the sun, return at the same places in the heavens, and at the same dates of the year. The discovery of this cycle is attributed to Meton, who wrote an account of it in a book called "Enneadecaterides," to which Aratus alludes. was adopted by the Athenians 433 years before the Christian æra to regulate their calendar, and to fix the days of their festivals, which depended in a great degree upon the state of the moon. They engraved the cycle in letters of gold on the walls of the temple of Minerva, and hence the number, which designates the year in this cycle, is called the golden number. PAGE 64. 22. Οσσα τ ̓ ἀπὸ ζώνης εἰς ἔσχατον Ωρίωνα 29. Thou knowest all the stars that night rolls round That is, all the stars which appear throughout the year. The ancients commenced the year with the rising of the belt of Orion together with the sun; that is, at the summer solstice. "Sed primæva Meton exordia sumpsit ab anno, (Fest. Avien. 49-50.) PAGE 70. 160. Σκέπτεο καὶ φάτνην· ἡ μέν τ' ὀλίγῃ εἰκυῖα “Ἐν τῷ Καρκίνῳ δύο αστέρες εἰσὶν, οἱ καλούμενοι ὄνοι· ὧν τὸ μεταξὺ τὸ νεφέλιον, ἡ φάτνη καλουμένη. τοῦτο δὲ ἐὰν ζοφῶδες γένηται, υδατικόν.” Again, (Theophrast.) “ ἡ τοῦ ὄνου φάτνη εἰ συνίσταται καὶ ζοφερὰ γίνεται, χειμῶνα σημαίνει.” PAGE 71. (Theophrast.) 177. Σῆμα δέ τοι ἀνέμοιο καὶ οἰδαίνουσα θάλασσα 200. And as the skies above, the waves below, “ Continuo, ventis surgentibus, aut freta ponti |