Or the Watering-pot. Aquarius is only allowed to _reign_ till the 21st
of February. The former name of this Sign was Ganymede, who was taken up
for sheep-stealing by an eagle, who was noted for being the first beak
of his day. He was carried before Jupiter, who condemned him to pour out
the nectar at a free-and-easy, of which he was chairman, in Olympus; but
upon being detected mixing the grog of the gods, who always took their
liquor neat, Ganymede was, in consequence of his foolish propensity to
cold water, sentenced to take the _sobriquet_ of Aquarius, which, before
the Flood, was the Latin for Father Mathew.
Aquarius is the patron Sign of Vauxhall, which he makes his residence
during the summer months. Temperance and Teetotal people are born under
his benignant favour. Doctors, too, are his children owing to their
liberal use of _aqua pompaginis_. One half of the London milk is
supplied to the metropolis by Aquarius.