FOOTNOTES:

[1] The vocalization suggests the Heb. bosheth, "shame"; see BAAL.

[2] Add also the Hittites; for Sutekh, the Egyptian equivalent of the

male partner, see W.M. Muller, _Mitt. d. vorderasiat. Gesell._

(1902), v. pp. 11, 38. Astarte was introduced also into Egypt and had

her temple at Memphis. See also S.A. Cook, _Religion of Ancient

Palestine, Index_, s.v.

[3] Such figurines are in a sense the prototypes of the Venus of

Medici. On the influence of her cult upon that of the Virgin Mary,

see Rosch, _Studien u. Krit._ (1888), pp. 265 sqq.

[4] A model of an Astarte with ram's horns was unearthed by R.A.S.

Macalister at Gezer (_Pal. Explor. Fund, Quart. Statement_, 1903, p.

227 with figure facing).

ASTELL, MARY (1668-1731), English author, was born at

Newcastle-upon-Tyne. She was instructed by her uncle, a clergyman, in

Latin and French, logic, mathematics and natural philosophy. In her

twentieth year she went to London, where she continued her studies. She

published, in 1697, a work entitled _A Serious Proposal to the Ladies,

wherein a Method is offered for the Improvement of their Minds_. With

the same end in view she elaborated a scheme for a ladies' college,

which was favourably entertained by Queen Anne, and would have been

carried out had not Bishop Burnet interfered. The most important of her

other works was _The Christian Religion, as professed by a Daughter of

the Church of England_, published in 1705.

ASTER (Gr. [Greek: astaer], a star), the name of a genus of plants,

given from the fact of the flowers having a radiated or star-like

appearance (see below). The Greek word also provides many derivatives:

e.g. _asterism_ (Gr. [Greek: asterismos]), a constellation (q.v.);

_asteroid_ (Gr. [Greek: astero-eidaes], star-like), an alternative name

for planetoids or minor planets (see PLANET).

The genus of composite plants named aster (natural order _Compositae_)

is found largely in North America, and scattered sparingly over Asia,

Europe and South America. They are usually herbaceous perennials; their

flowers arranged in numerous heads (_capitula_) recall those of the

daisy, whence they are popularly known in England as Michaelmas daisies,

since many are in bloom about that time. They are valuable plants in a

garden, the various species flowering from late summer right on to

November or December. The only British species is _Aster Tripolium_,

found abundantly in saline marshes near the sea. One of the species,

_Aster alpinus_, grows at a considerable height on the mountains of

Europe. Some of them, such as _Aster spectabilis_ of North America, are

very showy. They are mostly easy to cultivate in ordinary garden soil,

and are readily propagated by dividing the roots in early spring. The

following are some of the better known forms:--_A. alpinus_, barely 1

ft. high, and _A. Amellus_, 1-1/2 ft., with its var. _bessarabicus_,

have broadish blunt leaves and large starry bluish flowers; _A.

longifolius_ var. _formosus_, 2 ft., bright rosy lilac; _A. acris_, 2 to

3 ft., with blue flowers in August; _A. ericoides_, 3 ft., with

heath-like leaves and masses of small white flowers; _A. puniceus_, 4 to

6 ft., blue or rosy-lilac; _A. turbinellus_, 2 to 3 ft., mauve-coloured,

are showy border plants; and _A. Novae-Angliae_, 5 to 6 ft.,

rosy-violet; _A. Novi-Belgii_, 3 to 6 ft., pale blue; _A. laevis_, 2 to

6 ft., blue-lilac; and _A. grandiflorus_, 3 ft., violet, are especially

useful from their late-flowering habit.

The China aster (_Callistephus chinensis_) is also a member of the order

_Compositae_. It is a hardy annual, a native of China, which by

cultivation has yielded a great variety of forms. Some of the best for

ornamental gardening are the chrysanthemum-flowered, the

paeony-flowered, the crown or cockade, the comet, and the globe-quilled.

Crown asters have a white centre, and dark crimson or purple

circumference, and are very beautiful. The colours range from white and

blush through pink and rose to crimson, and from lilac through blue to

purple, in various shades. They should be sown early in March in pans,

in a gentle heat, the young plants being quickly transferred to a cool

pit, and there pricked out in rich soil as soon as large enough, and

eventually planted out in the garden in May or June, in soil which has

been well worked and copiously manured, where they grow from 8 to 18

in. high, and flower towards the end of summer. They also make handsome

pot plants for the conservatory.

ASTERIA, or STAR-STONE (from Gr. [Greek: astaer], star), a name applied

to such ornamental stones as exhibit when cut _en cabochon_ a luminous

star. The typical asteria is the star-sapphire, generally a bluish-grey

corundum, milky or opalescent, with a star of six rays. (See SAPPHIRE.)

In red corundum the stellate reflexion is less common, and hence the

star-ruby occasionally found with the star-sapphire in Ceylon is among

the most valued of "fancy stones." When the radiation is shown by yellow

corundum, the stone is called star-topaz. Cymophane, or chatoyant

chrysoberyl, may also be asteriated. In all these cases the asterism is

due to the reflexion of light from twin-lamellae or from fine tubular

cavities or thin enclosures definitely arranged in the stone. The

_astrion_ of Pliny is believed to have been our moonstone, since it is

described as a colourless stone from India having within it the

appearance of a star shining with the light of the moon. All star-stones

were formerly regarded with much superstition.

ASTERID, a group of starfish. They are the starfish proper, and have the

typical genus _Asterias_ (see STARFISH).

ASTERISK (from Gr. [Greek: asteriskos], a little star), the sign * used

in typography. The word is also used in its literal meaning in old

writers, and as a description of an ornamental form (star-shaped) in one

of the utensils in the Greek Church.

ASTERIUS, of Cappadocia, sophist and teacher of rhetoric in Galatia, was

converted to Christianity about the year 300, and became the disciple of

Lucian, the founder of the school of Antioch. During the persecution

under Maximian (304) he relapsed into paganism, and thus, though

received again into the church by Lucian and supported by the Eusebian

party, never attained to ecclesiastical office. He is best known as an

able defender of the semi-Arian position, and was styled by Athanasius

the "advocate" of the Arians. His chief work was the _Syntagmation_, but

he wrote many others, including commentaries on the Gospels, the Psalms,

and Romans. He attended many synods, and we last hear of him at the

synod of Antioch in 341.

ASTERIUS, bishop of Amasia, in Pontus, c. 400. He was partly

contemporary with the emperor Julian (d. 363) and lived to a great age.

His fame rests chiefly on his _Homilies_, which were much esteemed in

the Eastern Church. Most of these have been lost, but twenty-one are

given in full by Migne (_Patrol. Ser. Gr._ xl. 164-477), and there are

fragments of others in Photius (_Cod._ 271). Asterius was a man of much

culture, and his works are a valuable contribution to our knowledge of

the history of preaching.

ASTHMA (Gr. [Greek: asthma], gasping, whence [Greek: asthmaino], I gasp

for breath), a disorder of respiration characterized by severe paroxysms

of difficult breathing (_dyspnoea_) usually followed by a period of

complete relief, with recurrence of the attacks at more or less frequent

intervals. The term is often loosely employed in reference to states of

embarrassed respiration, which are plainly due to permanent organic

disease of the respiratory organs (see RESPIRATORY SYSTEM: _Pathology_).

The attacks occur quite suddenly, and in some patients at regular, in

others at irregular intervals. They are characterized by extreme

difficulty both in inspiration and expiration, but especially in the

latter, the chest becoming distended and the diaphragm immobile. In the

case of "pure," "idiopathic" or "nervous" asthma, there is no fever or

other sign of inflammation. But where the asthma is secondary to disease

of some organ of the body, the symptoms will depend largely on that

organ and the disease present. Such secondary forms may be bronchitic,

cardiac, renal, peptic or thymic.

The mode of onset differs very markedly in different cases. In some the

attack begins quite suddenly and without warning, but in others various

sensations well known to the patient announce that an attack is

imminent. According to the late Dr Hyde Salter the commonest warning is

that of an intense desire for sleep, so overpowering that though the

patient knows his only chance of warding off the attack is to keep

awake, he is yet utterly unable to fight against his drowsiness. Among

other patients, however, a condition of unwonted mental excitement

presages the attack. Again the secondary forms of the disease may be

ushered in by flatulence, constipation and loss of appetite, and a

symptom which often attends the onset, though it is not strictly

premonitory, is a profuse diuresis, the urine being watery and nearly

colourless, as in the condition of hysterical diuresis. In the majority

of instances the attack begins during the night, sometimes abruptly but

often by degrees. The patient may or may not be aware that his asthma is

threatening. A few hours after midnight he is aroused from sleep by a

sense of difficult breathing. In some cases this is a slowly increasing

condition, not becoming acute for some hour or more. But in others the

attack is so sudden, so severe, that the patient springs from his bed

and makes his way at once to an open window, apparently struggling for

breath. Most asthmatics have some favourite attitude which best enables

them to use all the auxiliary muscles of respiration in their struggle

for breath, and this attitude they immediately assume, and guard fixedly

until the attack begins to subside. The picture is characteristic and a

very painful one to watch. The face is pale, anxious, and it may be

livid. The veins of the forehead stand out, the eyes bulge, and

perspiration bedews the face. The head is fixed in position, and

likewise the powerful muscles of the back to aid the attempt at

respiration. The breath is whistling and wheezing, and if it becomes

necessary for the patient to speak, the words are uttered with great

difficulty. If the chest be watched it is seen to be almost motionless,

and the respirations may become extraordinarily slowed. Inspiration is

difficult as the chest is already over-distended, but expiration is an

even far greater struggle. The attack may last any time from an hour to

several days, and between the attacks the patient is usually quite at

ease. But notwithstanding the intensely distressing character of the

attacks, asthma is not one of the diseases that shorten life.

In the child, asthma is usually periodic in its recurrence, but as he

ages it tends to become more erratic in both its manifestations and time

of appearance. Also, though at first it may be strictly "pure" asthma,

later in life it becomes attended by chronic bronchitis, which in its

turn gives rise to emphysema.

As to the underlying cause of the disease, one has only to read the many

utterly different theories put forward to account for it, to see how

little is really known. But it has now been clearly shown that in the

asthmatic state the respiratory centre is in an unstable and excitable

condition, and that there is a morbid connexion between this and some

part of the nasal apparatus. Dr Alexander Francis has shown, however,

that the disease is not directly due to any mechanical obstruction of

the nasal passages, and that the nose comparatively rarely supplies the

immediate exciting cause of the asthmatic attack. Paroxysmal sneezing is

another form in which asthma may show itself, and, curiously enough,

this form occurs more frequently in women, asthma of the more recognized

type in men. In infants and young children paroxysmal bronchitis is

another form of the same disease. Dr James Goodhart notes the connexion

between asthma and certain skin troubles, giving cases of the

alternation of asthma and psoriasis, and also of asthma and eczema. The

disease occurs in families with a well-marked neurotic inheritance, and

twice as frequently in men as in women. The immediate cause of an attack

may be anything or nothing. Dr Hyde Salter notes that 80% of cases in

the young date from an attack of whooping cough, bronchitis or measles.

In the general treatment of asthma there are two methods of dealing with

the patient, either that of hardening the individual, widening his range

of accommodation, and thus making him less susceptible, or that of

modifying and adapting the environment to the patient. These two methods

correspond to the two methods of drug treatment, tonic or sedative.

During the last few years the method of treatment first used by Dr

Alexander Francis has come into prominence. His plan is to restore the

stability of the respiratory centre, by cauterizing the septal mucous

membrane, and combining with this general hygienic measures. In his own

words the operation, which is entirely painless and insignificant, is

performed as follows:--"After painting one side of the septum nasi with

a few drops of cocaine and resorcin, I draw a line with a

galvano-cautery point from a spot opposite the middle turbinated body,

forwards and slightly downwards for a distance of rather less than half

an inch. In about one week's time I repeat the operation on the other

side." In his monograph on the subject, he classifies a large number of

cases treated in this manner, most of which resulted in complete relief,

some in very great improvement, and a very few in slight or no relief.

ASTI (anc. _Hasta_), a town and episcopal see of Piedmont, Italy, in the

province of Alessandria, situated on the Tanaro; it is 22 m. W. by rail

from Alessandria. Pop. (1901) town, 19,787; commune, 41,047. Asti has

still numerous medieval towers, a fine Gothic cathedral of the 14th

century, the remains of a Christian basilica of the 6th century, and the

octagonal baptistery of S. Pietro (11th century). It was the birthplace

of the poet Vittorio Alfieri. In ancient times it manufactured pottery.

It is now famous for its sparkling wine (_Asti spumante_), and is a

considerable centre of trade.

ASTLEY, JACOB ASTLEY, BARON (1570-1652), royalist commander in the

English Civil War, came of a Norfolk family. In 1598 he joined Counts

Maurice and Henry of Orange in the Netherlands, where he served with

distinction, and afterwards fought under the elector palatine Frederick

V. and Gustavus Adolphus in the Thirty Years' War. He was evidently

thought highly of by the states-general, for when he was absent, serving

under the king of Denmark, his company in the Dutch army was kept open

for him. Returning to England with a well-deserved reputation, he was in

the employment of Charles I. in various military capacities. As

"sergeant-major," or general of the infantry, he went north in 1639 to

organize the defence against the expected Scottish invasion. Here his

duties were as much diplomatic as military, as the discontent which

ended in the Civil War was now coming to a head. In the ill-starred

"Bishops' War," Astley did good service to the cause of the king, and he

was involved in the so-called "Army Plot." At the outbreak of the Great

Rebellion (1642) he at once joined Charles, and was made major-general

of the foot. His characteristic battle-prayer at Edgebill has become

famous: "O Lord, Thou knowest how busy I must be this day. If I forget

Thee, do not forget me. March on, boys!" At Gloucester he commanded a

division, and at the first battle of Newbury he led the infantry of the

royal army. With Hopton, in 1644, he served at Arundel and Cheriton. At

the second battle of Newbury he made a gallant and memorable defence of

Shaw House. He was made a baron by the king, and at Naseby he once more

commanded the main body of the foot. He afterwards served in the west,

and with 1500 men fought stubbornly but vainly the last battle for the

king at Stow-on-the-Wold (March 1646). His remark to his captors has

become as famous as his words at Edgehill, "You have now done your work

and may go play, unless you will fall out amongst yourselves." His

scrupulous honour forbade him to take any part in the Second Civil War,

as he had given his parole at Stow-on-the-Wold; but he had to undergo

his share of the discomforts that were the lot of the vanquished

royalists. He died in February 1651/2. The barony became extinct in

1668.

ASTLEY, SIR JOHN DUGDALE, Bart. (1828-1894), English soldier and

sportsman, was a descendant of Lord Astley, and son of the 2nd baronet

(cr. 1821). From 1848 to 1859 he was in the army, serving in the Crimean

War and retiring as lieutenant-colonel. He married an heiress in 1858,

and thenceforth devoted himself to horse-racing, pugilism and sport in

general. He succeeded to the baronetcy in 1873, and from 1874 to 1880

was Conservative M.P. for North Lincolnshire. He was a popular figure on

the turf, being familiarly known as "the Mate," and won and lost large

sums of money. Just before his death, on the 10th of October 1894, he

published some entertaining reminiscences, under the title of _Fifty

Years of my Life_.

ASTON, ANTHONY (fl. 1712-1731), English actor and dramatist, began to be

known on the London stage in the early years of the 18th century. He had

tried the law and other professions, which he finally abandoned for the

theatre. He had some success as a dramatic author, writing _Love in a

Hurry_, performed in Dublin about 1709, and _Pastora, or the Coy

Shepherdess_, an opera (1712). For many years he toured the English

provinces with his wife and son, producing pieces which he himself

wrote, or medleys from various plays fitted together with songs and

dialogues of his own.

ASTON MANOR, a municipal and parliamentary borough of Warwickshire,

England, adjoining Birmingham on the north-east. Pop. (1901) 77,326.

There are extensive manufactures, including those of motors and cycles

with their accessories, also paper-mills, breweries, &c., and the

population is largely industrial. Aston Hall, erected by Sir Thomas

Holte in 1618-1635, is an admirable architectural example of its period,

built of red brick. It stands in a large park, the whole property being

acquired by the corporation of Birmingham in 1864, when the mansion

became a museum and art gallery. It contains the panelling of a room

from the house of Edmund Hector, which formerly stood in Old Square,

Birmingham, where Dr Samuel Johnson was a frequent visitor. Aston Lower

Grounds, adjoining the park, contain an assembly hall, and the playing

field of the Aston Villa Football Club, where the more important games

are witnessed by many thousands of spectators. Aston Manor was

incorporated in 1903. The parliamentary borough returns one member. The

corporation consists of a mayor, 6 aldermen and 18 councillors. Area,

960 acres.

ASTOR, JOHN JACOB (1763-1848), American merchant, was born at the

village of Walldorf, near Heidelberg, Germany, on the 17th of July 1763.

Until he was sixteen he worked in the shop of his father, a butcher; he

then joined an elder brother in London, and there for four years was

employed in the piano and flute factory of an uncle, of the firm of

Astor & Broadwood. In 1783 he emigrated to America, and settled in New

York, whither one of his brothers had previously gone. On the voyage he

became acquainted with a fur-trader, by whose advice he devoted himself

to the same business, buying furs directly from the Indians, preparing

them at first with his own hands for the market, and selling them in

London and elsewhere at a great profit. He was also the agent in New

York of the firm of Astor & Broadwood. By his energy, industry and sound

judgment he gradually enlarged his operations, did business in all the

fur markets of the world, and amassed an enormous fortune,--the largest

up to that time made by any American. He devoted many years to carrying

out a project for organizing the fur trade from the Great Lakes to the

Pacific Ocean, and thence by way of the Hawaiian Islands to China and

India. In 1811 he founded at the mouth of the Columbia river a

settlement named after him Astoria, which was intended to serve as the

central depot; but two years later the settlement was seized and

occupied by the English. The incidents of this undertaking are the theme

of Washington Irving's _Astoria_. A series of disasters frustrated the

gigantic scheme. Astor made vast additions to his wealth by investments

in real estate in New York City, and erected many buildings there,

including the hotel known as the Astor House. The last twenty-five years

of his life were spent in retirement in New York City, where he died on

the 29th of March 1848, his fortune then being estimated at about

$30,000,000. He made various charitable bequests by his will, and among

them a gift of $50,000 to found an institution, opened as the "Astor

House" in 1854, for the education of poor children and the relief of the

aged and the destitute in his native village in Germany. His chief

benefaction, however, was a bequest of $400,000 for the foundation and

endowment of a public library in New York City, since known as the Astor

library, and since 1895 part of the New York public library.

See Parton's _Life of John Jacob Astor_ (New York, 1865).

His eldest son, WILLIAM BACKHOUSE ASTOR (1792-1875), inherited the

greater part of his father's fortune, and chiefly by judicious

investments in real estate greatly increased it. He was sometimes known

as the "Landlord of New York." Under his direction the building for the

Astor library was erected, and to the library he gave about $550,000,

including a bequest of $200,000. His son, JOHN JACOB ASTOR (1822-1890),

was also well known as a capitalist and philanthropist, giving liberally

to the Astor library.

The son of the last named, WILLIAM WALDORF ASTOR (1848- ), served in

the New York assembly in 1877, and in the state senate in 1880-81. He

was United States minister to Italy from 1882 to 1885. He published two

romances, _Valentine_ (1885) and _Sforza_ (1889). His wealth, arising

from property in New York, where also he built the New Netherland hotel

and the Waldorf hotel, was enormous. In 1890 he removed to England, and

in 1899 was naturalized. In 1893 he became proprietor of the _Pall Mall

Gazette_, and afterwards started the _Pall Mall Magazine_.

ASTORGA, EMANUELE D' (1681-1736), Italian musical composer, was born at

Naples on the 11th of December 1681. No authentic account of Astorga's

life can be successfully constructed from the obscure and confusing

evidence that has been until now handed down, although historians have

not failed to indulge many pleasant conjectures. According to some of

these, his father, a baron of Sicily, took an active part in the attempt

to throw off the Spanish yoke, but was betrayed by his own soldiers and

publicly executed. His wife and son were compelled to be spectators of

his fate; and such was the effect upon them that his mother died on the

spot, and Emanuele fell into a state of gloomy despondency, which

threatened to deprive him of reason. By the kindness of the princess

Ursini, the unfortunate young man was placed in a convent at Astorga, in

Leon, where he completed a musical education which is said to have been

begun in Palermo under Francesco Scarlatti. Here he recovered his

health, and his admirable musical talents were cultivated under the best

masters. On the details of this account no reliance can safely be

placed, nor is there any certainty that in 1703 he entered the service

of the duke of Parma. Equally untrustworthy is the story that the duke,

suspecting an attachment between hi? niece Elizabeth Farnese and

Astorga, dismissed the musician. The established facts concerning

Astorga are indeed few enough. They are: that the opera _Dafne_ was

written and conducted by the composer in Barcelona in 1709; that he

visited London, where he wrote his _Stabat Mater_, possibly for the

society of "Antient Musick"; that it was performed in Oxford in 1713;

that in 1712 he was in Vienna, and that he retired at an uncertain date

to Bohemia, where he died on the 21st of August 1736, in a castle which

had been given to him in the domains of Prince Lobkowitz, in Raudnitz.

Astorga deserves remembrance for his dignified and pathetic _Stabat

Mater_, and for his numerous chamber-cantatas for one or two voices. He

was probably the last composer to carry on the traditions of this form

of chamber-music as perfected by Alessandro Scarlatti.

ASTORGA, a city of N.W. Spain, in the province of Leon; situated near

the right bank of the river Tuerto, and at the junction of the

Salamanca-Corunna and Leon-Astorga railways. Pop. (1900) 5573. Astorga

was the Roman Asturica Augusta, a provincial capital, and the

meeting-place of four military roads. Though sacked by the Goths in the

5th century, and later by the Moors, it is still surrounded by massive

walls of Roman origin. A ruined castle, near the city, recalls its

strategic importance in the 8th century, when Asturias, Galicia and Leon

were the headquarters of resistance to the Moors. Astorga has been the

see of a bishop since the 3rd century, and was formerly known as the

City of Priests, from the number of ecclesiastics resident within its

walls. Its Gothic cathedral dates from the 15th century. The city

confers the title of marquis on the Osorio family, the ruins of whose

palace, sacked in 1810 by the French, are still an object of interest.

For the history, especially the ecclesiastical history, of Astorga,

see the anonymous _Historia de la ciudad de Astorga_ (Valladolid,

1840); with _Fundacion de la ... iglesia ... de Astorga_, by P.A.

Ezpeleta (Madrid, 1634); and _Fundacion, nombre y armas de ...

Astorga_, by P. Junco (Pamplona, 1635).

ASTORIA, a city, port of entry, and the county-seat of Clatsop county,

Oregon, U.S.A., on the Columbia river, 8 m. from its mouth. Pop. (1890)

6184; (1900) 8381, of whom 3779 were foreign-born (many being Finns,--a

Finnish weekly was established here in 1905), and 601 were Chinese;

(1910, census) 9599. It is served by the Astoria & Columbia River

railroad (Northern Pacific System), and by several coastwise and foreign

steamship lines (including that of the Oregon Railway & Navigation Co.).

The river here is about 6 m. wide, and the city has a water-front of

about 5 m. and a deep, spacious and placid harbour. By dredging and the

construction of jetties the Federal government has since 1885 greatly

improved the channel at the mouth of the river. The business portion of

the city occupies the low ground of the river bottom; the residence

portion is on the hillsides overlooking the harbour. Astoria is the port

of entry for the Oregon Customs District, Oregon; in 1907 its imports

were valued at $21,262, and its exports at $329,103. The city is

especially important as a salmon fishing and packing centre (cod,

halibut and smaller fish also being abundant); it has also an extensive

lumber trade, important lumber manufactories, pressed brick and

terra-cotta factories, and dairy interests. In 1905 the value of the

factory product was $3,092,628 (of which $1,759,871 was the value of

preserved and canned fish), being an increase of 41.8% in five years.

Astoria is the oldest American settlement in the Columbia Valley. It was

founded in 1811, as a depot for the fur trade, by John Jacob Astor, in

whose honour it was named. It was seized by the British in 1813, but was

restored in 1818. In 1821, while occupied by the North-West Fur Company,

it was burned and practically abandoned, only a few settlers remaining.

It was chartered as a city in 1876.

See Washington Irving's _Astoria; or Anecdotes of an Enterprise beyond

the Rocky Mountains_ (Philadelphia, 1836).

ASTRAEA, in Greek legend, the "star maiden," daughter of Zeus and

Themis, or of Astraeus the Titan and Eos, in which case she is

identified with Dike. During the golden age she remained among men

distributing blessings, but when the iron (or bronze) age came on, she

was forced to withdraw, being the last of the goddesses to quit the

earth. In the heavens she is amongst the signs of the zodiac as the

constellation Virgo. She is usually represented with a pair of scales

and a crown of stars.

Ov. _Met._ i. 150; Juv. vi. 19; Aratus, _Phaenomena_, 96.

ASTRAGAL (from the Gr. [Greek: astragalos], the ankle-joint), an

architectural term for a convex moulding. This term is generally applied

to small mouldings, "torus" (q.v.) to large ones of the same form. The

Lesbian astragal referred to by Vitruvius, bk. iv. ch. vi., was in all

probability an astragal carved with a bead and reel enrichment.

ASTRAKHAN, a government of S.E. Russia, on the lower Volga, bounded N.

by the governments of Samara and Saratov, W. by Saratov and the

government of the Don Cossacks, S. by Stavropol and Terek, and E. by the

Caspian Sea and the government of the Urals. Area, 91,327 sq. m., of

which 6730 sq. m. belong to the delta of the Volga and its brackish

lagoons, and 62,290 sq. m. are covered by the Kalmuck and Kirghiz

Steppes. The surface is a low-lying plain, except that in the west the

Ergeni Hills (500-575 ft.) form the water-parting between the Volga

basin and that of the Don. The climate is very hot and dry, the average

temperature for the year being 50 deg. Fahr., for January 21 deg., and

for July 78 deg., rainfall 7.3 in., but often there is no rain at all in

the summer. Pop. (1897) 1,005,460, of whom 132,383 were urban. The

Kalmucks (138,580 in 1897) and Kirghiz (260,000) are semi-nomads. In

addition to them the population includes nearly 44,000 Tatars, 4270

Armenians, with Poles and Jews. Fishing off the mouth of the Volga gives

occupation to 50,000 persons; the fish, chiefly herrings and sturgeon,

together with the caviare prepared from the latter, are sold for the

most part at Nizhniy-Novgorod. Over 300,000 tons of salt are extracted

annually from the lakes, principally those of Baskunchak and Elton.

Cattle-breeding is an important industry. Market-gardening (mustard,

water-melons, fruit) is on the increase; but pure agriculture is

relatively not much developed. The government is divided into five

districts, the chief towns of which are Astrakhan, Enotayevsk (pop. 2810

in 1897), Krasnyi-yar (4680), Chernyi-yar (5140), and Tsarev (8900).

The Kalmucks and Kirghiz have their own local administrations, and so

have the Astrakhan Cossacks (25,600).

ASTRAKHAN, a town of E. Russia, capital of the government of Astrakhan,

on the left bank of the main channel of the Volga, 50 m. from the

Caspian Sea, in 46 deg. 21' N. lat. and 48 deg. 5' E. long. Since the

growth of the petroleum industry of Baku and the construction of the

Transcaspian railway, Astrakhan has become an important commercial

centre, exporting fish, caviare, sugar, metals, naphtha, cottons and

woollens, and importing grain, cotton, fruit and timber, to the

aggregate value of L8,250,000 with foreign countries and of L14,500,000

with the interior of Russia. The town gives its name to the "fur" called

"astrakhan," the skin of the new-born Persian lamb, and so to an

imitation in rough woollen cloth. There is some tanning, shipbuilding

and brewing, and making of soap, tar and machinery. Astrakhan is the

chief port on the Caspian Sea and the headquarters of the Russian

Caspian fleet. The city consists of (1) the _kreml_ or citadel (1550),

crowning a hill, on which stand also the spacious brick cathedral

containing the tombs of two Georgian princes, the archbishop's palace

and the monastery of the Trinity; (2) the Byelogorod or White Town,

containing the administrative offices and the bazaars; and (3) the

suburbs, where most of the population resides. The buildings in the

first two quarters are of stone, in the third of wood, irregularly

arranged along unpaved, dirty streets. The city is the see of a Greek

Catholic archbishop and of an Armenian archbishop, and contains a

Lamaist monastery, as well as technical schools, an ichthyological

museum, the Peter museum, with ethnographical, archaeological and

natural history collections, a botanical garden, an ecclesiastical

seminary, and good squares and public gardens, one of which is adorned

with a statue (1884) of Alexander II. Vineyards surround the city.

Astrakhan was anciently the capital of a Tatar state, and stood some 7

m. farther north. After this was destroyed by the Mongol prince Timur

the Great in 1395, the existing city was built. The Tatars were expelled

about 1554 by Ivan IV. of Russia. In 1569 the city was besieged by the

Turks, but they were defeated with great slaughter by the Russians. In

1670 it was seized by the rebel Stenka Razin; early in the following

century Peter the Great constructed here a shipbuilding yard and made

Astrakhan the base for his hostilities against Persia, and later in the

same century Catherine II. accorded the city important industrial

privileges. In 1702, 1718 and 1767, it suffered severely from fires; in

1719 was plundered by the Persians; and in 1830 the cholera swept away a

large number of its people. In the middle ages the city was known also

as Jitarkhan and Ginterkhan. Pop. (1867) 47,839; (1900) 121,580. Eight

miles above Astrakhan, on the right bank of the Volga, are the ruins of

two ancient cities superimposed one upon the other. In the upper, which

may represent the city of Balanjar (Balansar, Belenjer), have been found

gold and silver coins struck by Mongol rulers, as well as ornaments in

the same metals. The older and scantier underlying ruins are supposed to

be those of the once large and prosperous city of Itil or Atel (Etel,

Idl) of the Arab geographers, a residence of the khan of the Khazars,

destroyed by the Russians in 969. (P. A. K.)

ASTROLABE (from Gr. [Greek: astron], star, and [Greek: labein], to

take), an instrument used not only for stellar, but for solar and lunar

altitude-taking. The principle of the astrolabe is explained in fig. 2.

There were two kinds,--spherical and planispheric. The earliest forms

were "armillae" and spherical. Gradually, from Eratosthenes to Tycho,

Hipparchus playing the most important part among ancient astronomers,

the complex astrolabe was evolved, large specimens being among the chief

observatory instruments of the 15th, 16th and even 17th centuries; while

small ones were in use among travellers and learned men, not only for

astronomical, but for astrological and topographical purposes. Nearly

every one of the modern instruments used for the observations of

physical astronomy is a part of the perfected astrolabe. A collection of

circles such as is the armillary sphere, if each circle were fitted with

a view-tube, might be considered a complete astrolabe. Tycho's armillae

were astrolabes. In fact the modern equatorial, and the altitude and

azimuth circle are astrolabes in the strictest and oldest meaning of the

term; and Tycho in one of his astrolabes came so near the modern

equatorial that it may be taken as the first of the kind.

[Illustration: PLATE.

FIG. 1.--PERSIAN ASTROLABE (c. 1712) INSCRIBED IN ARABIC.

FRONT, showing the _Rete_ or _Spider_, a network of star pointers.

Beneath the _Rete_, in a hollow, are four thin brass discs, called

Tables or Climates, engraved with projections of the sphere for

different latitudes.

BACK, showing graduations, parallelogram for measuring heights; and

other tables, together with the _Rule_ with sights (A) held by a

moveable pin (B), known as the _Horse_ or _Wedge_.]

[Illustration: FIG. 2.--Principle of the Astrolabe. If a solid circle be

fixed in any one position and a tube be pivoted on its centre so as to

move; and if the line C D be drawn upon the circle pointing towards any

object Q in the heavens which lies in the plane of the circle, by

turning the tube A B towards any other object P in the plane of the

circle, the angle BOD will be the angle subtended by the two objects P

and Q at the eye.]

[Illustration: From _Exercises_, by T. Blundeville.

FIG. 3.--Mariner's Astrolabe, A.D. 1594. Made of brass, or of heavy

wood: it varied in size from a few inches to 1 ft. in diameter.]

The two forms of the planispheric astrolabe most widely known and used

in the 15th, 16th and even 17th centuries were: (1) the _portable

astrolabe_ shown in fig. 1 (Plate). This originated in the East, and was

in early use in India, Persia and Arabia, and was introduced into Europe

by the Arabs, who had perfected it--perhaps as early as A.D. 700. It

combines the planisphere and armillae of Hipparchus and others, and the

theodolite of Theon, and was usually of brass, varying in diameter from

a couple of inches to a foot or more. It was used for taking the

altitudes of sun, moon and stars; for calculating latitude; for

determining the points of the compass, and time; for ascertaining

heights of mountains, &c.; and for construction of horoscopes. The

instrument was a marvel of convenience and ingenuity, and was called

"the mathematical jewel." Nevertheless it passed out of use, because

incapable of any great precision.

(2) The _mariner's astrolabe_, fig. 3, was adapted from that of

astronomers by Martin Behaim, c. 1480. This was the instrument used by

Columbus. With the tables of the sun's declination then available, he

could calculate his latitude by meridian altitudes of the sun taken with

his astrolabe. The mariner's astrolabe was superseded by John Hadley's

quadrant of 1731.

AUTHORITIES.--Chaucer, _Treatise on the Astrolabe_ (Skeat's edition of

Chaucer); J.J. Stoffler, _Elucidatio Fabrice ususque Astrolabii_, &c.;

Thomas Blundeville, _His Exercises_ (1594); F. Ritter, _Astrolabium_;

W.H. Morley, _Description of Astrolabe of Shah Husain_; M.L. Huggins,

"The Astrolabe" (_Astrophysical Journal_, 1894); _Penny Cyclopaedia_,

article "Astrolabe;" R. Grant, _History of Physical Astronomy_.

(M. L. H.)

ASTROLOGY, the ancient art or science of divining the fate and future of

human beings from indications given by the positions of the stars (sun,

moon and planets). The belief in a connexion between the heavenly bodies

and the life of man has played an important part in human history. For

long ages astronomy and astrology (which might be called astromancy, on

the same principle as "chiromancy") were identified; and a distinction

is made between "natural astrology," which predicts the motions of the

heavenly bodies, eclipses, &c., and "judicial astrology," which studies

the influence of the stars on human destiny. Isidore of Seville (d. 636)

is one of the first to distinguish between astronomy and astrology; nor

did astronomy begin to rid itself of astrology till the 16th century,

when, with the system of Copernicus, the conviction that the earth

itself is one of the heavenly bodies was finally established. The study

of astromancy and the belief in it, as part of astronomy, is found in a

developed form among the ancient Babylonians, and directly or indirectly

through the Babylonians spread to other nations. It came to Greece about

the middle of the 4th century B.C., and reached Rome before the opening

of the Christian era. In India and China astronomy and astrology are

largely reflections of Greek theories and speculations; and similarly

with the introduction of Greek culture into Egypt, both astronomy and

astrology were actively cultivated in the region of the Nile during the

Hellenistic and Roman periods. Astrology was further developed by the

Arabs from the 7th to the 13th century, and in the Europe of the 14th

and 15th centuries astrologers were dominating influences at court.

Even up to the present day men of intellectual eminence like Dr Richard

Garnett have convinced themselves that astromancy has a foundation of

truth, just as there are still believers in chiromancy or other forms of

divination. Dr Garnett ("A.G. Trent") insisted indeed that it was a

mistake to confuse astrology with fortune-telling, and maintained that

it was a "physical science just as much as geology," depending like them

on ascertained facts, and grossly misrepresented by being connected with

magic. Dr Garnett himself looked upon the study of biography in relation

to the casting of horoscopes as an empirical investigation, but it is

difficult in practice to keep the distinction clear, to judge by

present-day text-books such as those of Dr Wilde (_Primer of Astrology_,

&c.). Dr Wilde insists on there being "nothing incongruous with the laws

of nature in the theory that the sun, moon and stars influence men's

physical bodies and conditions, seeing that man is made up of a physical

part of the earth." There is an obvious tendency, however, for

astromancy to be employed, like palmistry, as a means of imposing on the

ignorant and credulous. How far the more serious claim is likely to be

revived in connexion with the renewal of research into the "occult"

sciences generally, it is still too early to speculate; and it has to be

recognized that such a point of view is opposed to the generally

established belief that astrology is either mere superstition or

absolute imposture, and that its former vogue was due either to

deception or to the tyranny of an unscientific environment. But if the

progress of physical science has not prevented the rehabilitation of

much of ancient alchemy by the later researches into chemical change,

and if psychology now finds a place for explanations of spiritualism and

witchcraft which involve the admission of the empirical facts under a

new theory (as in the case of the divining-rod, &c.), it is at least

conceivable that some new synthesis might once more justify part at all

events of ancient and medieval astromancy, to the extent of admitting

the empirical facts where provable, and substituting for the supposed

influence of the stars as such, some deeper theory which would be

consistent with an application to other forms of prophecy, and thus

might reconcile the possibility of dipping into futurity with certain

interrelations of the universe, different indeed from those assumed by

astrological theory, but underlying and explaining it. If this is ever

accomplished it will need the patient investigation of a number of

empirical observations by competent students unbiassed by any _parti

pris_--a difficult set of conditions to obtain; and even then no

definite results may be achieved.

The history of astrology can now be traced back to ancient Babylonia,

and indeed to the earliest phases of Babylonian history, i.e. to about

3000 B.C. In Babylonia as well as in Assyria as a direct offshoot of

Babylonian culture (or as we might also term it "Euphratean" culture),

astrology takes its place in the official cult as one of the two chief

means at the disposal of the priests (who were called _bare_ or

"inspectors") for ascertaining the will and intention of the gods, the

other being through the inspection of the liver of the sacrificial

animal (see OMEN). Just as this latter method of divination rested on a

well-defined theory, to wit, that the liver was the seat of the soul of

the animal and that the deity in accepting the sacrifice identified

himself with the animal, whose "soul" was thus placed in complete accord

with that of the god and therefore reflected the mind and will of the

god, so astrology is based on a theory of divine government of the

world, which in contrast to "liver" divination assumes at the start a

more scientific or pseudo-scientific aspect. This theory must be taken

into consideration as a factor in accounting for the persistent hold

which even at the present day astrology still maintains on many minds.

Starting with the indisputable fact that man's life and happiness are

largely dependent upon phenomena in the heavens, that the fertility of

the soil is dependent upon the sun shining in the heavens as well as

upon the rains that come from heaven, that on the other hand the

mischief and damage done by storms and inundations, to both of which the

Euphratean Valley was almost regularly subject, were to be traced

likewise to the heavens, the conclusion was drawn that all the great

gods had their seats in the heavens. In that early age of culture known

as the "nomadic" stage, which under normal conditions precedes the

"agricultural" stage, the moon cult is even more prominent than sun

worship, and with the moon and sun cults thus furnished by the "popular"

faith it was a natural step for the priests, who correspond to the

"scientists" of a later day, to perfect a theory of a complete accord

between phenomena observed in the heavens and occurrences on earth.

If moon and sun, whose regular movements conveyed to the more intelligent

minds the conception of the reign of law and order in the universe as

against the more popular notion of chance and caprice, were divine

powers, the same held good of the planets, whose movements, though more

difficult to follow, yet in the course of time came to be at least

partially understood. Of the planets five were recognized--Jupiter,

Venus, Saturn, Mercury and Mars--to name them in the order in which they

appear in the older cuneiform literature; in later texts Mercury and

Saturn change places. These five planets were identified with the great

gods of the pantheon as follows:--Jupiter with Marduk (q.v.), Venus with

the goddess Ishtar (q.v.), Saturn with Ninib (q.v.), Mercury with Nebo

(q.v.), and Mars with Nergal (q.v.). The movements of the sun, moon and

five planets were regarded as representing the activity of the five gods

in question, together with the moon-god Sin (q.v.) and the sun-god

Shamash (q.v.), in preparing the occurrences on earth. If, therefore, one

could correctly read and interpret the activity of these powers, one knew

what the gods were aiming to bring about. The Babylonian priests

accordingly applied themselves to the task of perfecting a system of

interpretation of the phenomena to be observed in the heavens, and it was

natural that the system was extended from the moon, sun and five planets

to the more prominent and recognizable fixed stars. That system involved

not merely the movements of the moon, sun and planets, but the

observation of their relative position to one another and to all kinds of

peculiarities noted at any point in the course of their movements: in the

case of the moon, for instance, the exact appearance of the new crescent,

its position in the heavens, the conditions at conjunction and

opposition, the appearance of the horns, the halo frequently seen with

the new moon, which was compared to a "cap," the ring round the full

moon, which was called a "stall" (i.e. "enclosure"), and more of the

like. To all these phenomena some significance was attached, and this

significance was naturally intensified in the case of such a striking

phenomenon as an eclipse of the moon. Applying the same method of careful

observation to the sun and planets, and later to some of the

constellations and to many of the fixed stars, it will be apparent that

the body of observations noted must have grown in the course of time to

large and indeed to enormous proportions, and correspondingly the

interpretations assigned to the nearly endless variations in the

phenomena thus observed. The interpretations themselves were based (as in

the case of divination through the liver) chiefly on two factors:--(1) on

the recollection or on written records of what in the past had taken

place when the phenomenon or phenomena in question had been observed, and

(2) association of ideas--involving sometimes merely a play upon

words--in connexion with the phenomenon or phenomena observed. Thus if on

a certain occasion the rise of the new moon in a cloudy sky was followed

by victory over an enemy or by abundant rain, the sign in question was

thus proved to be a favourable one and its recurrence would be regarded

as a good omen, though the prognostication would not necessarily be

limited to the one or the other of those occurrences, but might be

extended to apply to other circumstances. On the other hand, the

appearance of the new moon earlier than was expected was regarded as an

unfavourable omen--prognosticating in one case defeat, in another death

among cattle, in a third bad crops--not necessarily because these events

actually took place after such a phenomenon, but by an application of the

general principle resting upon association of ideas whereby anything

premature would suggest an unfavourable occurrence. A thin halo seen

above the new moon was pictured as a cap, and the association between

this and the symbol of royalty, which was a conical-shaped cap, led to

interpreting the phenomenon as an indication that the ruler would have a

successful reign. In this way a mass of traditional interpretation of all

kinds of observed phenomena was gathered, and once gathered became a

guide to the priests for all times.

Astrology in this its earliest stage is, however, marked by two

characteristic limitations. In the first place, the movements and

position of the heavenly bodies point to such occurrences as are of

public import and affect the general welfare. The individual's interests

are not in any way involved, and we must descend many centuries and pass

beyond the confines of Babylonia and Assyria before we reach that phase

which in medieval and modern astrology is almost exclusively dwelt

upon--genethliology or the individual horoscope. In Babylonia and

Assyria the cult centred largely and indeed almost exclusively in the

public welfare and the person of the king, because upon his well-being

and favour with the gods the fortunes of the country were dependent in

accordance with the ancient conception of kingship (see J.G. Frazer,

_The Early History of Kingship_). To some extent, the individual came in

for his share in the incantations and in the purification ritual through

which one might hope to rid oneself of the power of the demons and of

other evil spirits, but outside of this the important aim of the priests

was to secure for the general benefit the favour of the gods, or, as a

means of preparing oneself for what the future had in store, to

ascertain in time whether that favour would be granted in any particular

instance or would be continued in the future. Hence in "liver"

divination, as in astrology, the interpretations of the signs noted all

have reference to public affairs and events and not to the individual's

needs or desires. In the second place, the astronomical knowledge

presupposed and accompanying early Babylonian astrology is essentially

of an empirical character. While in a general way the reign of law and

order in the movements of the heavenly bodies was recognized, and indeed

must have exercised an influence at an early period in leading to the

rise of a methodical divination that was certainly of a much higher

order than the examination of an animal's liver, yet the importance that

was laid upon the endless variations in the form of the phenomena and

the equally numerous apparent deviations from what were regarded as

normal conditions, prevented for a long time the rise of any serious

study of astronomy beyond what was needed for the purely practical

purposes that the priests as "inspectors" of the heavens (as they were

also the "inspectors" of the sacrificial livers) had in mind. True, we

have, probably as early as the days of Khammurabi, i.e. c. 2000 B.C.,

the combinations of prominent groups of stars with outlines of pictures

fantastically put together, but there is no evidence that prior to 700

B.C. more than a number of the constellations of our zodiac had become

part of the current astronomy. The theory of the ecliptic as

representing the course of the sun through the year, divided among

twelve constellations with a measurement of 30 deg. to each division, is

also of Babylonian origin, as has now been definitely proved; but it

does not appear to have been perfected until after the fall of the

Babylonian empire in 539 B.C. Similarly, the other accomplishments of

Babylonian astronomers, such as their system or rather systems of moon

calculations and the drawing up of planetary tablets, belong to this

late period, so that the golden age of Babylonian astronomy belongs not

to the remote past, as was until recently supposed, but to the Seleucid

period, i.e. after the advent of the Greeks in the Euphrates Valley.

From certain expressions used in astrological texts that are earlier

than the 7th century B.C. it would appear, indeed, that the beginnings

at least of the calculation of sun and moon eclipses belong to the

earlier period, but here, too, the chief work accomplished was after 400

B.C., and the defectiveness of early Babylonian astronomy may be

gathered from the fact that as late as the 6th century B.C. an error of

almost an entire month was made by the Babylonian astronomers in the

attempt to determine through calculation the beginning of a certain

year.

The researches of Bouche-Leclercq, Cumont and Boll have enabled us to

fix with a considerable degree of definiteness the middle of the 4th

century B.C. as the period when Babylonian astrology began its triumphal

march to the west, invading the domain of Greek and Roman culture and

destined to exercise a strong hold on all nations and groups--more

particularly in Egypt--that came within the sphere of Greek and Roman

influence. It is rather significant that this spread of astrology should

have been concomitant with the intellectual impulse that led to the rise

of a genuine scientific phase of astronomy in Babylonia itself, which

must have weakened to some extent the hold that astrology had on the

priests and the people. The advent of the Persians, bringing with them a

conception of religion of a far higher order than Babylonian-Assyrian

polytheism (see ZOROASTER), must also have acted as a disintegrating

factor in leading to the decline of the old faith in the Euphrates

Valley, and we thus have the interesting though not entirely exceptional

phenomenon of a great civilization bequeathing as a legacy to posterity

a superstition instead of a real achievement. "Chaldaean wisdom" became

among Greeks and Romans the synonym of divination through the planets

and stars, and it is not surprising that in the course of time to be

known as a "Chaldaean" carried with it frequently the suspicion of

charlatanry and of more or less wilful deception. The spread of

astrology beyond Babylonia is thus concomitant with the rise of a truly

scientific astronomy in Babylonia itself, which in turn is due to the

intellectual impulse afforded by the contact with new forms of culture

from both the East and the West.

In the hands of the Greeks and of the later Egyptians both astrology and

astronomy were carried far beyond the limits attained by the

Babylonians, and it is indeed a matter of surprise to observe the

harmonious combination of the two fields--a harmony that seems to grow

more complete with each age, and that is not broken until we reach the

threshold of modern science in the 16th century. To the Greek astronomer

Hipparchus belongs the credit of the discovery (c. 130 B.C.) of the

theory of the precession of the equinoxes, for a knowledge of which

among the Babylonians we find no definite proof; but such a signal

advance in pure science did not prevent the Greeks from developing in a

most elaborate manner the theory of the influence of the planets upon

the fate of the individual. The endeavour to trace the horoscope of the

individual from the position of the planets and stars at the time of

birth (or, as was attempted by other astrologers, at the time of

conception) represents the most significant contribution of the Greeks

to astrology. The system was carried to such a degree of perfection that

later ages made but few additions of an essential character to the

genethliology or drawing up of the individual horoscope by the Greek

astrologers. The system was taken up almost bodily by the Arab

astronomers, it was embodied in the Kabbalistic lore of Jews and

Christians, and through these and other channels came to be the

substance of the astrology of the middle ages, forming, as already

pointed out, under the designation of "judicial astrology," a

pseudo-science which was placed on a perfect footing of equality with

"natural astrology" or the more genuine science of the study of the

motions and phenomena of the heavenly bodies.

Partly in further development of views unfolded in Babylonia, but

chiefly under Greek influences, the scope of astrology was enlarged

until it was brought into connexion with practically all of the known

sciences, botany, chemistry, zoology, mineralogy, anatomy and medicine.

Colours, metals, stones, plants, drugs and animal life of all kinds were

associated with the planets and placed under their tutelage. In the

system that passes under the name of Ptolemy, Saturn is associated with

grey, Jupiter with white, Mars with red, Venus with yellow, while

Mercury, occupying a peculiar place in Greek as it did in Babylonian

astrology (where it was at one time designated as _the_ planet _par

excellence_), was supposed to vary its colour according to changing

circumstances. The sun was associated with gold, the moon with silver,

Jupiter with electrum, Saturn with lead, Venus with copper, and so on,

while the continued influence of astrological motives is to be seen in

the association of quicksilver, upon its discovery at a comparatively

late period, with Mercury, because of its changeable character as a

solid and a liquid. In the same way stones were connected with both the

planets and the months; plants, by diverse association of ideas, were

connected with the planets, and animals likewise were placed under the

guidance and protection of one or other of the heavenly bodies. By this

curious process of combination the entire realm of the natural sciences

was translated into the language of astrology with the single avowed

purpose of seeing in all phenomena signs indicative of what the future

had in store. The fate of the individual, as that feature of the future

which had a supreme interest, led to the association of the planets with

parts of the body. Here, too, we find various systems devised, in part

representing the views of different schools, in part reflecting

advancing conceptions regarding the functions of the organs in man and

animals. In one system the seat of Mercury, representing divine

intelligence as the source of all knowledge--a view that reverts to

Babylonia where Nebo (corresponding to Mercury) was regarded as the

divine power to whom all wisdom is due--was placed in the liver as the

primeval seat of the soul (see OMEN), whereas in other systems this

distinction was assigned to Jupiter or to Venus. Saturn, taking in Greek

astrology the place at the head of the planets which among the

Babylonians was accorded to Jupiter-Marduk, was given a place in the

brain, which in later times was looked upon as the centre of soul-life;

Venus, as the planet of the passion of love, was supposed to reign

supreme over the genital organs, the belly and the lower limbs; Mars, as

the violent planet, is associated with the bile, as well as with the

blood and kidneys. Again, the right ear is associated with Saturn, the

left ear with Mars, the right eye in the case of the male with the sun

and the left eye with the moon, while in the case of the female it was

just the reverse. From the planets the same association of ideas was

applied to the constellations of the zodiac, which in later phases of

astrology are placed on a par with the planets themselves, so far as

their importance for the individual horoscope is concerned. The fate of

the individual in this combination of planets with the zodiac was made

dependent not merely upon the planet which happened to be rising at the

time of birth or of conception, but also upon its local relationship to

a special sign or to certain signs of the zodiac. The zodiac was

regarded as the prototype of the human body, the different parts of

which all had their corresponding section in the zodiac itself. The head

was placed in the first sign of the zodiac--the Ram; and the feet in the

last sign--the Fishes. Between these two extremes the other parts and

organs of the body were distributed among the remaining signs of the

zodiac, the neck being assigned to the Bull, the shoulders and arms to

the Gemini (or twins), the breast to Cancer, the flanks to Leo, the

bladder to Virgo, the buttocks to the Balance, the pubis to the

Scorpion, the thighs to Sagittarius, the knees to Capricorn, and the

limbs to Aquarius. Not content with this, we find the late Egyptian

astrologers setting up a correspondence between the thirty-six _decani_

recognized by them and the human body, which is thus divided into

thirty-six parts; to each part a god was assigned as a controlling

force. With human anatomy thus connected with the planets, with

constellations, and with single stars, medicine became an integral part

of astrology, or, as we might also put it, astrology became the handmaid

of medicine. Diseases and disturbances of the ordinary functions of the

organs were attributed to the influence of planets or explained as due

to conditions observed in a constellation or in the position of a star;

and an interesting survival of this bond between astrology and medicine

is to be seen in the use up to the present time of the sign of Jupiter,

which still heads medicinal prescriptions, while, on the other hand, the

influence of planetary lore appears in the assignment of the days of the

week to the planets, beginning with Sunday, assigned to the sun, and

ending with Saturday, the day of Saturn. Passing on into still later

periods, Saturn's day was associated with the Jewish sabbath, Sunday

with the Lord's Day, Tuesday with Tiw, the god of war, corresponding to

Mars of the Romans and to the Nergal of the Babylonians. Wednesday was

assigned to the planet Mercury, the equivalent of the Germanic god

Woden; Thursday to Jupiter, the equivalent of Thor; and Friday to Friga,

the goddess of love, who is represented by Venus among the Romans and

among the Babylonians by Ishtar. Astrological considerations likewise

already regulated in ancient Babylonia the distinction of lucky and

unlucky days, which passing down to the Greeks and Romans (_dies fasti_

and _nefasti_) found a striking expression in Hesiod's _Works and Days_.

Among the Arabs similar associations of lucky and unlucky days directly

connected with the influence of the planets prevailed through all times,

Tuesday and Wednesday, for instance, being regarded as the days for

blood-letting, because Tuesday was connected with Mars, the lord of war

and blood, and Wednesday with Mercury, the planet of humours. Even in

modern times travellers relate how, when an auspicious day has been

proclaimed by the astrologers, the streets of Bagdad may be seen running

with blood from the barbers' shops.

It is unnecessary here to give a detailed analysis of the methods of

judicial astrology as an art, or directions for the casting of a

horoscope, or "nativity," i.e. a map of the heavens at the hour of

birth, showing, according to the Ephemeris, the position of the heavenly

bodies, from which their influence may be deduced. Each of the twelve

signs of the zodiac (q.v.) is credited with its own characteristics and

influence, and is the controlling sign of its "house of life." The sign

exactly rising at the moment of birth is called the ascendant. The

benevolent or malignant influence of each planet, together with the sun

and moon, is modified by the sign it inhabits at the nativity; thus

Jupiter in one house may indicate riches, fame in another, beauty in

another, and Saturn similarly poverty, obscurity or deformity. The

calculation is affected by the "aspects," i.e. according as the planets

are near or far as regards one another (in conjunction, in semi-sextile,

semi-square, sextile, quintile, square, trine, sesqui-quadrate,

bi-quintile, opposition or parallel acclination). Disastrous signs

predominate over auspicious, and the various effects are combined in a

very elaborate and complicated manner.

Judicial astrology, as a form of divination, is a concomitant of natural

astrology, in its purer astronomical aspect, but mingled with what is

now considered an unscientific and superstitious view of world-forces.

In the _Janua aurea reserata quatuor linguarum_ (1643) of J.A. Comenius

we find the following definition:--"_Astronomus siderum meatus seu motus

considerat: Astrologus eorundem efficaciam, influxum, et effectum_."

Kepler was more cautious in his opinion; he spoke of astronomy as the

wise mother, and astrology as the foolish daughter, but he added that

the existence of the daughter was necessary to the life of the mother.

Tycho Brahe and Gassendi both began with astrology, and it was only

after pursuing the false science, and finding it wanting, that Gassendi

devoted himself to astronomy. In their numerous allusions to the subtle

mercury, which the one makes when treating of a means of measuring time

by the efflux of the metal, and the other in a treatise on the transit

of the planet, we see traces of the school in which they served their

first apprenticeship. Huygens, moreover, in his great posthumous work,

_Cosmotheoros, seu de terris coelestibus_, shows himself a more exact

observer of astrological symbols than Kircher himself in his _Iter

exstaticum_. Huygens contends that between the inhabitants of different

planets there need not be any greater difference than exists between men

of different types on the earth. "There are on the earth," continues

this rational interpreter of the astrologers and chiromancers, "men of

cold temperament who would thrive in Saturn, which is the farthest

planet from the sun, and there are other spirits warm and ardent enough

to live in Venus."

Those were indeed strange times, according to modern ideas, when

astrologers were dominant by the terror they inspired, and sometimes by

the martydom they endured when their predictions were either too true or

too false. Faith, to borrow their own language, was banished to Virgo,

and rarely shed her influence on men. Cardan (1501-1576), for instance,

hated Luther, and so changed his birthday in order to give him an

unfavourable horoscope. In Cardan's times, as in those of Augustus, it

was a common practice for men to conceal the day and hour of their

birth, till, like Augustus, they found a complaisant astrologer. But, as

a general rule, medieval and Renaissance astrologers did not give

themselves the trouble of reading the stars, but contented themselves

with telling fortunes by faces. They practised chiromancy (see

PALMISTRY), and relied on afterwards drawing a horoscope to suit. As

physiognomists (see PHYSIOGNOMY) their talent was undoubted, and

according to Vanini there was no need to mount to the house-top to cast

a nativity. "Yes," he says, "I can read his face; by his hair and his

forehead it is easy to guess that the sun at his birth was in the sign

of Libra and near Venus. Nay, his complexion shows that Venus touches

Libra. By the rules of astrology he could not lie."

A few salient facts may be added concerning the astrologers and their

predictions, remarkable either for their fulfilment or for the ruin and

confusion they brought upon their authors. We may begin with one taken

from Bacon's _Essay of Prophecies_:--"When I was in France, I heard from

one Dr Pena, that the queen mother, who was given to curious arts,

caused the king her husband's nativitie to be calculated, under a false

name; and the astrologer gave a judgment, that he should be killed in a

duell; at which the queene laughed, thinking her husband to be above

challenges and duels; but he was slaine, upon a course at tilt, the

splinters of the staffe of Mongomery going in at his bever." A favourite

topic of the astrologers of all countries has been the immediate end of

the world. As early as 1186 the earth had escaped one threatened

cataclysm of the astrologers. This did not prevent Stoffler from

predicting a universal deluge for the year 1524--a year, as it turned

out, distinguished for drought. His aspect of the heavens told him that

in that year three planets would meet in the aqueous sign of Pisces. The

prediction was believed far and wide, and President Aurial, at Toulouse,

built himself a Noah's ark--a curious realization, in fact, of Chaucer's

merry invention in the _Miller's Tale_.

Tycho Brahe was from his fifteenth year devoted to astrology, and

adjoining his observatory at Uranienburg the astronomer-royal of Denmark

had a laboratory built in order to study alchemy, and it was only a few

years before his death that he finally abandoned astrology. We may here

notice one very remarkable prediction of the master of Kepler. That he

had carefully studied the comet of 1577 as an astronomer, we may gather

from his adducing the very small parallax of this comet as disproving

the assertion of the Aristotelians that a solid sphere enveloped the

heavens. But besides this, we find him in his character of astrologer

drawing a singular prediction from the appearance of this comet. It

announced, he tells us, that in the north, in Finland, there should be

born a prince who should lay waste Germany and vanish in 1632. Gustavus

Adolphus, it is well known, was born in Finland, overran Germany, and

died in 1632. The fulfilment of the details of this prophecy suggests

that Tycho Brahe had some basis of reason for his prediction. Born in

Denmark of a noble Swedish family, a politician, as were all his

contemporaries of distinction, Tycho, though no conjuror, could foresee

the advent of some great northern hero. Moreover, he was doubtless well

acquainted with a very ancient tradition, that heroes generally came

from the northern frontiers of their native land, where they are

hardened and tempered by the threefold struggle they wage with soil,

climate and barbarian neighbours.

Kepler explained the double movement of the earth by the rotation of the

sun. At one time the sun presented its friendly side, which attracted

one planet, sometimes its adverse side, which repelled it. He also

peopled the planets with souls and genii. He was led to his three great

laws by musical analogies, just as William Herschel afterwards passed

from music to astronomy. Kepler, who in his youth made almanacs, and

once prophesied a hard winter, which came to pass, could not help

putting an astrological interpretation on the disappearance of the

brilliant star of 1572, which Tycho had observed. Theodore Beza thought

that this star, which in December 1573 equalled Jupiter in brilliancy,

predicted the second coming of Christ. Astronomers were only then

beginning to study variable and periodic stars, and disturbances in that

part of the heavens, which had till then, on the authority of Aristotle,

been regarded as incorruptible, combined with the troubles of the times,

must have given a new stimulus to belief in the signs in heaven.

Montaigne (_Essais_, lib. i. chap, x.) relates a singular episode in the

history of astrology. Charles V. and Francis I., who both bid for the

friendship of the infamous Aretino, surnamed the divine, both likewise

engaged astrologers to fight their battles. In Italy those who

prophesied the ruin of France were sure to be listened to. These

prophecies affected the public funds much as telegrams do nowadays. "At

Rome," Montaigne tells us, "a large sum of money was lost on the Change

by this prognostication of our ruin." The marquis of Saluces,

notwithstanding his gratitude to Francis I. for the many favours he had

received, including his marquisate, of which the brother was despoiled

for his benefit, was led in 1536 to betray his country, being scared by

the glorious prophecies of the ultimate success of Charles V. which were

then rife. The influence of the Medici made astrologers popular in

France. Richelieu, on whose council was Jacques Gaffarel (1601-1681),

the last of the Kabbalists, did not despise astrology as an engine of

government. At the birth of Louis XIV. a certain Morin de Villefranche

was placed behind a curtain to cast the nativity of the future autocrat.

A generation back the astrologer would not have been hidden behind a

curtain, but have taken precedence of the doctor. La Bruyere dares not

pronounce against such beliefs, "for there are perplexing facts affirmed

by grave men who were eye-witnesses." In England William Lilly and

Robert Fludd were both dressed in a little brief authority. The latter

gives us elaborate rules for the detection of a thief, and tells us that

he has had personal experience of their efficacy. "If the lord of the

sixth house is found in the second house, or in company with the lord of

the second house, the thief is one of the family. If Mercury is in the

sign of the Scorpion he will be bald, &c." Francis Bacon abuses the

astrologers of his day no less than the alchemists, but he does so

because he has visions of a reformed astrology and a reformed alchemy.

Sir Thomas Browne, too, while he denies the capacity of the astrologers

of his day, does not venture to dispute the reality of the science. The

idea of the souls of men passing at death to the stars, the blessedness

of their particular sphere being assigned them according to their

deserts (the metempsychosis of J. Reynaud), may be regarded as a

survival of religious astrology, which, even as late as Descartes's day,

assigned to the angels the task of moving the planets and the stars.

Joseph de Maistre believed in comets as messengers of divine justice,

and in animated planets, and declared that divination by astrology is

not an absolutely chimerical science. Lastly, we may mention a few

distinguished men who ran counter to their age in denying stellar

influences. Aristarchus of Samos, Martianus Capella (the precursor of

Copernicus), Cicero, Favorinus, Sextus Empiricus, Juvenal, and in a

later age Savonarola and Pico della Mirandola, and La Fontaine, a

contemporary of the neutral La Bruyere, were all pronounced opponents of

astrology.

In England Swift may fairly claim the credit of having given the

death-blow to astrology by his famous squib, entitled _Prediction for

the Year 1708, by Isaac Bickerstaff, Esq._ He begins, by professing

profound belief in the art, and next points out the vagueness and the

absurdities of the philomaths. He then, in the happiest vein of parody,

proceeds to show them a more excellent way:--"My first prediction is but

a trifle, yet I mention it to show how ignorant these sottish pretenders

to astrology are in their own concerns: it refers to Partridge the

almanac-maker. I have consulted the star of his nativity by my own

rules, and find he will infallibly die upon the 29th of March next about

eleven at night of a raging fever. Therefore I advise him to consider of

it and settle his affairs in time." Then followed a letter to a person

of quality giving a full and particular account of the death of

Partridge on the very day and nearly at the hour mentioned. In vain the

wretched astrologer protested that he was alive, got a literary friend

to write a pamphlet to prove it, and published his almanac for 1709.

Swift, in his reply, abused him for his want of manners in giving a

gentleman the lie, answered his arguments _seriatim_, and declared that

the evidence of the publication of another almanac was wholly

irrelevant, "for Gadbury, Poor Robin, Dove and Way do yearly publish

their almanacs, though several of them have been dead since before the

Revolution." Nevertheless a field is found even to this day for almanacs

of a similar type, and for popular belief in them.

To astrological politics we owe the theory of heaven-sent rulers,

instruments in the hands of Providence, and saviours of society.

Napoleon, as well as Wallenstein, believed in his star. Many passages in

the older English poets are unintelligible without some knowledge of

astrology. Chaucer wrote a treatise on the astrolabe; Milton constantly

refers to planetary influences; in Shakespeare's _King Lear_, Gloucester

and Edmund represent respectively the old and the new faith. We still

_contemplate_ and consider; we still speak of men as _jovial_,

_saturnine_ or _mercurial_; we still talk of the _ascendancy_ of genius,

or a _disastrous_ defeat. In French _heur_, _malheur_, _heureux_,

_malheureux_, are all derived from the Latin _augurium_; the expression

_ne sous une mauvaise etoile_, born under an evil star, corresponds

(with the change of _etoile_ into _astre_) to the word _malotru_, in

Provencal _malastrue_; and _son etoile palit_, his star grows pale,

belongs to the same class of illusions. The Latia _ex augurio_ appears

in the Italian _sciagura_, _sciagurato_, softened into _sciaura_,

_sciaurato_, wretchedness, wretched. The influence of a particular

planet has also left traces in various languages; but the French and

English _jovial_ and the English _saturnine_ correspond rather to the

gods who served as types in chiromancy than to the planets which bear

the same names. In the case of the expressions _bien_ or _mal lune_,

well or ill mooned, _avoir un quartier de lune dans la tete_, to have

the quarter of the moon in one's head, the German _mondsuchtig_ and the

English _moonstruck_ or _lunatic_, the fundamental idea lies in the

strange opinions formerly held about the moon.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--For the history of astrology with its affinities to

astronomy on the one hand, and to other forms of popular belief on the

other, the following works out of a large number that might be

mentioned are specially recommended:--A. Bouche-Leclercq,

_L'Astrologie grecque_ (Paris, 1899), with a full bibliography; Franz

Boll, _Sphaera_ (Leipzig, 1903); Franz Cumont, _Catalogus Codicum

Astrologorum Graecorum_ (Brussels, 1898; 7 parts published up to

1909); Franz Boll, "Die Erforschung der antiken Astrologie" (in _Neue

Jahrbucher fur das klassische Altertum_, Band xxi. Heft 2, pp.

103-126); Franz Cumont, _Les Religions orientates dans le paganisme

romain_ (Paris, 1907) (ch. vii. "L'Astrologie et la magie"); Alfred

Maury, _La Magie et l'astrologie a l'antiquite et au moyen age_ (4th

ed., Paris, 1877); R.C. Thompson, _Reports of the Magicians and

Astrologers of Nineveh and Babylon_ (2 vols., London, 1900); F.X.

Kugler, _Sternkunde und Sterndienst in Babel_ (Freiburg, 1907;--to be

completed in 4 vols.); Ch. Virolleaud, _L'Astrologie chaldeenne_

(Paris, 1905--to be completed in 8 parts--transliteration and

translations of cuneiform texts); Jastrow, _Religion Babyloniens und

Assyriens_ (Parts 13 and 14); also certain sections in

Bouche-Leclercq, _Histoire de la divination dans l'antiquite_ (Paris,

1879), vol. i. pp. 205-257; in Marcellin Berthelot, _Les Origines de

l'alchimie_ (Paris, 1885), pp. 1-56; Ferd. Hofer, _Histoire de

l'astronomie_ (Paris, 1846), pp. 1-90; in Rudolf Wolf, _Geschichte der

Astronomie_ (Munich, 1877), ch. i. See also the article by Ernst Riess

on Astrology in Pauly-Wissowa, _Realencyclopadie der klassischen

Altertumswissenschaft_, vol. ii. (Stuttgart, 1896). For modern and

practical astrology the following works may be found useful in

different ways: E.M. Bennett, _Astrology_ (New York, 1894); J.M.

Pfaff, _Astrologie_ (Bamberg, 1816); G. Wilde, _Chaldaean Astrology up

to date_ (1901); R. Garnett ("A.G. Trent"), "The Soul and the Stars,"

in the _University Magazine_, 1880 (reprinted in Dobson and Wilde,

_Natal Astrology_, 1893); Abel Haatan, _Traite d'astrologie

judiciaire_ (Paris, 1825); Fomalhaut, _Manuel d'astrologie spherique

el judiciaire_ (Paris, 1897). (M. Ja.)

ASTRONOMY (from Gr. [Greek: astron], a star, and [Greek: nemein], to

classify or arrange). The subject matter of astronomical science,

considered in its widest range, comprehends all the matter of the

universe which lies outside the limit of the earth's atmosphere. The

seeming anomaly of classifying as a single branch of science all that we

know in a field so wide, while subdividing our knowledge of things on

our own planet into an indefinite number of separate sciences, finds its

explanation in the impossibility of subjecting the matter of the heavens

to that experimental scrutiny which yields such rich results when

applied to matter which we can handle at will. Astronomy is of necessity

a science of observation in the pursuit of which experiment can directly

play no part. It is the most ancient of the sciences because, before the

era of experiment, it was the branch of knowledge which could be most

easily systematized, while the relations of its phenomena to day and

night, times and seasons, made some knowledge of the subject a necessity

of social life. In recent times it is among the more progressive of the

sciences, because the new and improved methods of research now at

command have found in its cultivation a field of practically unlimited

extent, in which the lines of research may ultimately lead to a

comprehension of the universe impossible of attainment before our time.

The field we have defined is divisible into at least two parts, that of

Astronomy proper, or "Astrometry," which treats of the motions, mutual

relations and dimensions of the heavenly bodies; and that of

Astrophysics (q.v.), which treats of their physical constitution. While

it is true that the instruments and methods of research in these two

branches are quite different in their details, there is so much in

common in the fundamental principles which underlie their application,

that it is unprofitable to consider them as completely distinct

sciences.

Speaking in the most comprehensive way, and making an exception of the

ethereal medium (see AETHER), which, being capable of experimental

study, is not included in the subject of astronomy, we may say that the

great masses of matter which make up the universe are of two kinds:--(1)

incandescent bodies, made visible to us by their own light; (2) dark

bodies, revolving round them or round each other. These dark bodies are

known to us in two ways: (a) by becoming visible through reflecting the

light from incandescent bodies in their neighbourhood, (b) by their

attraction upon such bodies.

The incandescent bodies are of two classes: stars and nebulae. Among the

stars our sun is to be included, as it has no properties which

distinguish it from the great mass of stars except our proximity to it.

The stars are supposed to be generally spherical, like the sun, in form,

and to have fairly well-defined boundaries; while the nebulae are

generally irregular in outline and have no well-defined limits. It is,

however, probable that the one class runs into the other by

imperceptible gradations. In the relation of the universe to us there is

yet another separation of its bodies into two classes, one comprising

the solar system, the other the remainder of the universe. The former

consists of the sun and the bodies which move round it. Considered as a

part of the universe, our solar system is insignificant in extent,

though, for obvious reasons, great in practical importance to us, and in

the facility with which we may gain knowledge relating to it.

Referring to special articles, SOLAR SYSTEM, STAR, SUN, MOON, &c. for a

description of the various parts of the universe, we confine ourselves,

at present, to setting forth a few of the most general modern

conceptions of the universe. As to extent, it may be said, in a general

way, that while no definite limits can be set to the possible extent of

the universe, or the distance of its farthest bodies, it seems probable,

for reasons which will be given under STAR, that the system to which the

stars that we see belong, is of finite extent.

As the incandescent bodies of the universe are visible by their own

light, the problem of ascertaining their existence and position is

mainly one of seeing, and our facilities for attacking it have

constantly increased with the improvement of our optical appliances. But

such is not the case with the dark bodies. Such a body can be made known

to us only when in the neighbourhood of an incandescent body; and even

then, unless its mass or its dimensions are considerable, it will evade

all the scrutiny of our science. The question of the possible number and

magnitude of such bodies is therefore one that does not admit of

accurate investigation. We can do no more than balance vague estimates

of probability. What we do know is that these bodies vary widely in

size. Those known to be revolving round certain of the stars are far

larger in proportion to their central bodies than our planets are in

respect to the sun; for were it otherwise we should never be able to

detect their existence. At the other extreme we know that innumerable

swarms of minute bodies, probably little more than particles, move round

the sun in orbits of every degree of eccentricity, making themselves

known to us only in the exceptional cases when they strike the earth's

atmosphere. They then appear to us as "shooting stars" (see METEOR).

A general idea of the relation of the solar system to the universe may

be gained by reflecting that the average distance between any two

neighbouring stars is several thousand times the extent of the solar

system. Between the orbit of Neptune and the nearest star known to us is

an immense void in which no bodies are yet known to exist, except

comets. But although these sometimes wander to distances considerably

beyond the orbit of Neptune, it is probable that the extent of the void

which separates our system from the nearest star is hundreds of times

the distance of the farthest point to which a comet ever recedes.

We may conclude this brief characterization of astronomy with a

statement and classification of the principal lines on which

astronomical researches are now pursued. The most comprehensive problem

before the investigator is that of the constitution of the universe. It

is known that, while infinite diversity is found among the bodies of the

universe, there are also common characteristics throughout its whole

extent. In a certain sense we may say that the universe now presents

itself to the thinking astronomer, not as a heterogeneous collection of

bodies, but as a unified whole. The number of stars is so vast that

statistical methods can be applied to many of the characters which they

exhibit--their spectra, their apparent and absolute luminosity, and

their arrangement in space. Thus has arisen in recent times what we may

regard as a third branch of astronomical science, known as _Stellar

Statistics_. The development of this branch has infused life and

interest into what might a few years ago have been regarded as the most

lifeless mass of figures possible, expressing merely the positions and

motions of innumerable individual stars, as determined by generations of

astronomical observers. The development of this new branch requires

great additions to this mass, the product of perhaps centuries of work

on the older lines of the science. To the statistician of the stars,

catalogues of spectra, magnitude, position and proper motions are of the

same importance that census tables are to the student of humanity. The

measurement of the speed with which the individual stars are moving

towards or from our system is a work of such magnitude that what has yet

been done is scarcely more than a beginning. The discovery by improved

optical means, and especially by photography, of new bodies of our

system so small that they evaded all scrutiny in former times, is still

going on, but does not at present promise any important generalization,

unless we regard as such the conclusion that our solar system is a more

complex organism than was formerly supposed.

One characteristic of astronomy which tends to make its progress slow

and continuous arises out of the general fact that, except in the case

of motions to or from us, which can be determined by a single

observation with the spectroscope, the motion of a heavenly body can be

determined only by comparing its position at two different epochs. The

interval required between these two epochs depends upon the speed of the

motion. In the case of the greater number of the fixed stars this is so

slow that centuries may have to elapse before motion can be deduced.

Even in the case of the planets, the variations in the form and position

of the orbits are so slow that long periods of observation are required

for their correct determination.

The process of development is also made slow and difficult by the great

amount of labour involved in deriving the results of astronomical

observations. When an astronomer has made an observation, it still has

to be "reduced," and this commonly requires more labour than that

involved in making it. But even this labour may be small compared with

that of the theoretical astronomer, who, in the future, is to use the

result as the raw material of his work. The computations required in

such work are of extreme complexity, and the labour required is still

further increased by the fact that cases are rather exceptional in which

the results reached by one generation will not have to be revised and

reconstructed by another; processes which may involve the repetition of

the entire work. We may, in fact, regard the fabric of astronomical

science as a building in the construction of which no stone can be added

without a readjustment of some of the stones on which it has to rest.

Thus it comes about that the observer, the computer, and the

mathematician have in astronomical science a practically unlimited field

for the exercise of their powers.

In treating so comprehensive a subject we may naturally distinguish

between what we know of the universe and the methods and processes by

which that knowledge is acquired. The former may be termed general, and

the latter practical, astronomy. When we descend more minutely into

details we find these two branches of the subject to be connected by

certain principles, the application of which relates to both subjects.

Considering as general or descriptive astronomy a description of the

universe as we now understand it, the other branches of the subject

generally recognized are as follows:--

_Geometrical_ or _Spherical Astronomy_, by the principles of which the

positions and the motions of the heavenly bodies are defined.

_Theoretical Astronomy_, which may be considered as an extension of

geometrical astronomy and includes the determination of the positions

and motions of the heavenly bodies by combining mathematical theory with

observation. Modern theoretical astronomy, taken in the most limited

sense, is based upon _Celestial Mechanics_, the science by which, using

purely deductive mechanical methods, the laws of motion of the heavenly

bodies are derived by deductive methods from their mutual gravitation

towards each other.

_Practical Astronomy_, which comprises a description of the instruments

used in astronomical observation, and of the principles and methods

underlying their application.

_Spherical or Geometrical Astronomy._

In astronomy, as in analytical geometry, the position of a point is

defined by stating its distance and its direction from a point of

reference taken as known. The numerical quantities by which the distance

and direction, and therefore the position, are defined, are termed

_co-ordinates_ of the point. The latter are measured or defined with

regard to a fixed system of lines and planes, which form the basis of

the system.

The following are the fundamental concepts of such a system.

(a) An origin or point of reference. The points most generally taken

for this purpose in astronomical practice are the following:--

(1) The position of a point of observation on the earth's surface. We

conceive its position to be that occupied by an observer. The position

of a heavenly body is then defined by its direction and distance from

the supposed observer.

(2) The centre of the earth. This point, though it can never be

occupied by an observer, is used because the positions of the heavenly

bodies in relation to it are more readily computed than they can be

from a point on the earth's surface.

(3) The centre of the sun.

(4) In addition to these three most usual points, we may, of course,

take the centre of a planet or that of a star in order to define the

position of bodies in their respective neighbourhoods.

Co-ordinates referred to a point of observation as the origin are

termed "apparent," those referred to the centre of the earth are

"geocentric," those referred to the centre of the sun, "heliocentric."

(b) The next concept of the system is a fundamental plane, regarded as

fixed, passing through the origin. In connexion with it is an axis

perpendicular to it, also passing through the origin. We may consider

the axis and the plane as a single concept, the axis determining the

plane, or the plane the axis. The fundamental concepts of this class

most in use are:--

(1) When a point on the earth's surface is taken as the origin, the

fundamental axis may be the direction of gravity at that point. This

direction defines the vertical line. The fundamental plane which it

determines is horizontal and is termed the plane of the horizon. Such

a plane is realized in the surface of a liquid, a basin of

quicksilver, for example.

(2) When the centre of the earth is taken as origin, the most natural

fundamental axis is that of the earth's rotation. This axis cuts the

earth's surface at the North and South Poles. The fundamental plane

perpendicular to it is the plane of the equator. This plane intersects

the earth's surface in the terrestrial equator. Co-ordinates referred

to this system are termed equatorial. A system of equatorial

co-ordinates may also be used when the origin is on the earth's

surface. The fundamental axis, instead of being the earth's axis

itself, is then a line parallel to it, and the fundamental plane is

the plane passing through the point, and parallel to the plane of the

equator.

(3) In the system of heliocentric co-ordinates, the plane in which the

earth moves round the sun, which is the plane of the ecliptic, is

taken as the fundamental one. The axis of the ecliptic is a line

perpendicular to this plane.

(c) The third concept necessary to complete the system is a fixed line

passing through the origin, and lying in the fundamental plane. This

line defines an initial direction from which other directions are

counted.

[Illustration: FIG. 1.]

The geometrical concepts just defined are shown in fig. 1. Here O is

the origin, whatever point it may be; OZ is the fundamental axis

passing through it. In order to represent in the figure the position

of the fundamental plane, we conceive a circle to be drawn round O,

lying in that plane. This circle, projected in perspective as an

ellipse, is shown in the figure. OX is the fixed initial line by which

directions are to be defined.

Now let P be any point in space, say the centre of a heavenly body.

Conceive a perpendicular PQ to be dropped from this point on the

fundamental plane, meeting the latter in the point Q; PQ will then be

parallel to OZ. The co-ordinates of P will then be the following three

quantities:--

(1) The length of the line OP, or the distance of the body from the

origin, which distance is called the radius vector of the body.

(2) The angle XOQ which the projection of the radius vector upon the

fundamental plane makes with the initial line OX. This angle is called

the Longitude, Right Ascension or Azimuth of the body, in the various

systems of co-ordinates. We may term it in a general way the

longitudinal co-ordinate.

(3) The angle QOP, which the radius vector makes with the fundamental

plane. This we may call the latitudinal co-ordinate. Instead of it is

frequently used the complementary angle ZOP, known as the polar

distance of the body. Since ZOQ is a right angle, it follows that the

sum of the polar distance and the latitudinal co-ordinates is always

90 deg. Either may be used for astronomical purposes.

It is readily seen that the position of a heavenly body is completely

defined when these co-ordinates are given.

One of the systems of co-ordinates is familiar to every one, and may

be used as a general illustration of the method. It is our system of

defining the position of a point on the earth's surface by its

latitude and longitude. Regarding O (fig. 1) as the centre of the

earth, and P as a point on the earth's surface, a city for example, it

will be seen that OZ being the earth's axis, the circle MN will be the

equator. The initial line OX then passes through the foot of the

perpendicular dropped from Greenwich upon the plane of the equator,

and meets the surface at N. The angle QOP is the latitude of the place

and the angle NOQ its longitude. The longitudes and latitudes thus

defined are geocentric, and the latitude is slightly different from

that in ordinary use for geographic purposes. The difference arises

from the oblateness of the earth, and need not be considered here.

The conception of the co-ordinates we have defined is facilitated by

introducing that of the celestial sphere. This conception is embodied

in our idea of the vault of heaven, or of the sky. Taking as origin

the position of an observer, the direction of a heavenly body is

defined by the point in which he sees it in the sky; that is to say,

on the celestial sphere. Imagining, as we may well do, that the radius

of this sphere is infinite--then every direction, whatever the origin,

may be represented by a point on its surface. Take for example the

vertical line which is embodied in the direction of the plumb line.

This line, extended upwards, meets the celestial sphere in the zenith.

The earth's axis, continued indefinitely upwards, meets the sphere in

a point called the Celestial Pole. This point in our middle latitudes

is between the zenith and the north horizon, near a certain star of

the second magnitude familiarly known as the Pole Star. As the earth

revolves from west to east the celestial sphere appears to us to

revolve in the opposite direction, turning on the line joining the

Celestial Poles as on a pivot.

As we conceive of the sky, it does not consist of an entire sphere but

only as a hemisphere bounded by the horizon. But we have no difficulty

in extending the conception below the horizon, so that the earth with

everything upon it is in the centre of a complete sphere. The two

parts of this sphere are the visible hemisphere, which is above the

horizon, and the invisible, which is below it. Then the plumb line not

only defines the zenith as already shown, but in a downward direction

it defines the nadir, which is the point of the sphere directly below

our feet. On the side of this sphere opposite to the North Celestial

is the South Pole, invisible in the Northern Terrestrial Hemisphere

but visible in the Southern one.

The relation of geocentric to apparent co-ordinates depends upon the

latitude of the observer. The changes which the aspect of the heaven

undergoes, as we travel North and South, are so well known that they

need not be described in detail here; but a general statement of them

will give a luminous idea of the geometrical co-ordinates we have

described. Imagine an observer starting from the North Pole to travel

towards the equator, carrying his zenith with him. When at the pole

his zenith coincides with the celestial pole, and as the earth

revolves on its axis, the heavenly bodies perform their apparent

diurnal revolutions in horizontal circles round the zenith. As he

travels South, his zenith moves along the celestial sphere, and the

circles of diurnal rotation become oblique to the horizon. The

obliquity continually increases until the observer reaches the

equator. His zenith is then in the equator and the celestial poles are

in the North and South horizon respectively. The circles in which the

heavenly bodies appear to revolve are then vertical. Continuing his

journey towards the south, the north celestial pole sinks below the

horizon; the south celestial pole rises above it; or to speak more

exactly, the zenith of the observer approaches that pole. The circles

of diurnal revolution again become oblique. Finally, at the south pole

the circles of diurnal revolution are again apparently horizontal, but

are described in a direction apparently (but not really) the reverse

of that near the north pole. The reader who will trace out these

successive concepts and study the results of his changing positions

will readily acquire the notions which it is our subject to define.

We have next to point out the relation of the co-ordinates we have

described to the annual motion of the earth around the sun. In

consequence of this motion the sun appears to us to describe annually

a great circle, called the ecliptic, round the celestial sphere, among

the stars, with a nearly uniform motion, of somewhat less than 1 deg.

in a day. Were the stars visible in the daytime in the immediate

neighbourhood of the sun, this motion could be traced from day to day.

The ecliptic intersects the celestial equator at two opposite points,

the equinoxes, at an angle of 23 deg. 27'. The vernal equinox is taken

as the initial point on the sphere from which co-ordinates are

measured in the equatorial and ecliptic systems. Referring to fig. 1,

the initial line OX is defined as directed toward the vernal equinox,

at which point it intersects the celestial sphere.

The following is an enumeration of the co-ordinates which we have

described in the three systems:--