Today | News | Books | Recipes Adventure | Science Fiction | Ghost stories | Poetry | Children | History Booky not much considered. In the present case, we are assisted by Chaucer's express statement in sect. 22. l. 6. The true latitude of Oxford is between 51° 45' and 51° 46'. § 26. 8-11. It is singular that this sentence, obviously wanted, should appear only in one MS., and has, accordingly, been omitted in all previous editions. There can be no doubt about the genuineness of it, as it so exactly gives the right sense, and happily supplies the words 'right orisonte' in l. 11; thus enabling the author to say, as in l. 21 he _does_ say--'this _forseid_ righte orisonte.' 16. _this figure._ Here occurs, in some of the MSS., a diagram representing a circle, i.e, a disc of the astrolabe, with straight lines drawn across it from left to right. 17. _assensiouns in the righte cercle._ This exactly answers to our modern 'right ascension.' We hence obtain the true origin of the phrase. 'Right ascension' was, originally, the ascension of stars at places situate _on the equator_, and was most conveniently measured along the equatorial circle, by observation of the times of transit of the various stars across the meridian. In other latitudes, the ascension of every degree of the _zodiac_ could be easily tabulated by observing what degree of the equator came to the meridian with the said degree of the zodiac; see l. 20. It hence appears that, whilst persisting in using 'longitudes' and reckoning along the zodiac, the ancients were obliged, in practice, to refer the degrees of longitude to the equator. The modern method of recognizing this necessity, and registering right ascensions as of more importance than longitudes, is a great improvement. The ancients were restrained from it by their unnecessary reverence for the zodiac. Cf. Ptolemy's Almagest, lib. i. c. xiii. § 29. Chaucer omits to say that the experiment should be made when the sun is very nearly on the meridian. Otherwise, the confusion of the azimuth with the hour-angle might cause a considerable error. § 30. 3. That the phrase 'wey of the sonne' really means the sun's apparent _diurnal_ course in this conclusion, may be further seen by consulting the Latin of Messahala. Cf. the Critical Note on p. 236. § 31. In my footnote, I have used the expression 'it does not mean, _as it should_, the zenith point.' I mean--'as, according to our modern ideas, it should';--for the derivation of _zenith_ shews that the meaning used in this proposition is the older meaning of the two. See note above to i. 19. 7 (p. 357). 6. _24 parties._ These 24 parts were suggested by the 24 hours of the day. The '32 parts' used by 'shipmen' are due to the continual halving of angles. Thus, the four cardinal points have points half-way between them, making eight points; between which, we can insert eight more, making sixteen; and between these, sixteen more, making thirty-two. Hence the 32 points of the compass. § 33. 5. We should probably insert _or south_ after the word _north_. Such an insertion is authorised by MSS. B. and C. § 34. 3. That 'upon the mones syde' means nearly in the same azimuth as the moon, is apparent from l. 11 below, where Chaucer says that some treatises make no exception even if the star is _not_ quite in the same azimuth. This was certainly a rough mode of observation. § 35. 9. _right side_, East side. See i. 6. 1 (p. 179). 18. _episicle_, epicycle. To account for the planetary motions, epicycles were invented. The moon, for instance, was supposed to revolve round a _moving_ centre, which centre itself moved round the earth in a perfect circle. This came a little nearer to the true motion in some instances, but was hopelessly wrong, and nothing could be made of it, even when a _second_ epicycle, revolving about a centre which moved in the _first_ epicycle, was superadded. All that Chaucer says here is, that, whilst the centre of the moon's epicycle had a direct motion, the moon's motion in the epicycle itself was a reverse one, unlike that of the other planetary bodies. The subject is hardly worth further discussion, so I merely refer the reader to the Almagest, lib. iv. c. 5; and lib. ix. c. 5. § 36. The 'equations of houses' means the dividing of the sphere into _equal_ portions, and the right numbering of those portions or houses. The most important house was the first, or ascendent, just rising; the next in importance was the tenth, which was just coming on the meridian; then come the seventh or descendent, just about to set, and the fourth, just coming to the line of midnight. The next in importance were the _succedents_, or houses immediately following these, viz. the second, the eleventh, the eighth, and the fifth. The least important were the third, twelfth, ninth, and sixth. See Fig. 14. § 37. 18. _thise 3 howsez._ That is, the nadirs of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th houses give the houses that 'follow,' i.e. the 8th, 9th, and 10th. The word 'follow' here seems to refer, not to position, but to the order in which the houses may most conveniently be found. Chaucer omits to add that the beginnings of the 5th and 6th houses can be found in a similar way, because it is sufficiently evident. It is all from Messahala. § 38. 1. _for warping, the brodere the bettre._ This may mean, either (1) to prevent warping, the thicker the better; or (2) to prevent the errors arising from warping (for fear of warping), the larger the better. I believe the latter to be the true interpretation; for it is better thus to guard against possible errors than to make the plate very thick and, at the same time, small. Besides which, the usual meaning of _brodere_ is _wider, larger, more ample_. Indeed, we find the very expression 'non sit tamen nimis parvus' in the 4th section of the Practica Chilindri of John Hoveden, published by the Chaucer Society; which see. 8. _fro the centre_, i.e. sticking up above the centre, the length of the wire being equal to a fourth of the diameter, or half the radius, of the circle. This proportion would do for many days in the year; but in the summer time, the pin would bear to be rather longer. Still, we need not alter the text. Cf. the Critical Note on p. 237. 10. _any-thing_, i.e. ever so little; so _ony-thyng_ in l. 13; cf. § 17. 6. § 39. Though MS. A is rather corrupt here, there is little doubt about the corrections to be made. See the Critical Notes, p. 237. 19. That is, the latitude, or breadth, of a climate, or belt, is measured along a line which goes from North to South as far as the earth extends; so that the latitude of the _first_ climate, for example, is measured from the beginning of it to the end of the same, in a due northerly direction. Other authors, he explains, reckoned the latitude of a climate always from the equinoxial line, instead of from the parallel of latitude which terminated the climate immediately to the south of it. Thus the latitude of the fourth climate might mean, either the breadth of that belt _itself_, or the _whole_ breadth from the equator to the Northe |