THE SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC. These may be divided into north and south. The first six, from Aries to Virgo, are northern; the latter six, from Libra to Pisces, are southern: this is because the Sun and planets, when in the first six, are north of the equator, and when in the last six they are south of that line. When the Sun is in northern signs he is longer above the Earth than below, and the days are longer than the nights; when he is in the southern signs, he remains longer below the horizon than above, and the nights are longer than the days.
Of course, when any planet is in a mirth sign it remains longer above the Earth than below; and, vice versa, when it is in a south sign its stay is longer below the Earth.
Each point of the zodiac rises and sets once every twentyfour hours, occasioned by the earth turning round on its axis once every day; therefore, when any given point be rising, the opposite point must be setting.
As the zodiac consists of 360 degrees from the first point of Aries until you come to that point again, and as these are divided into twelve portions or signs, they must consist of thirty degrees each.
 | Title: Merry's museum, Volumes 5-6. Volume 743 of American periodical series, 1800-1850. Publisher: I.C. & J.N. Stearns, 1843. Original from: Princeton University Digitized: May 19, 2008. Subjects: Literary Criticism / Children's Literature Signs of the Zodiac. In a former number of the Museum, I have told you about the "Zodiac, but as I wish to make ou remember all about it, I will just give you Mr. Cruickshanks' notions on the subject. ~e is a merry fellow in London, and thus he draws the twelve signs, in his sportive humor :— This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired. This applies to the United States, where Works published prior to 1978 were copyright protected for a maximum of 75 years. See Circular 1 "COPYRIGHT BASICS" PDF. Works published before 1923, in this case 1843, are now in the public domain. |
It is found that each of these signs, when it rises at the birth of an individual, possesses a certain influence to produce a particular form of body, and some peculiar mental inclinations. There is no reason to suppose, however, that the influence of Aries, or any other sign, proceeds merely from that sign alone; but it is more probable that when that sign is rising, tlie whole face of the heavens is such as to produce a certain effect. This may be caused as much by the distant stars in the milky way (that large shining band seen in the heavens on a fine night, which consists of innumerable millions of stars, and of which our Sun is supposed to be one) as by any others. In fact, Ptolemy speaks of these effects being produced by the "ambient," which means the entire of the heavens, and not the ascending sign alone.
