ZODIAC

(Gr.?a;?/av, dim. of ^aiov, animal; because the constellations of the ecliptic are for the most part represented in celestial charts by the figures of animals.) An imaginary zone or belt in the heavens, extending to about 8° or 9° on each side of the ecliptic, which divides it in the middle. No use is made of the zodiac in astronomy; the name only indicates that region of the heavens within which the apparent motions of the sun, moon, and all the greater planets are confined. Three of the new planets, Juno, Ceres, and Pallas, have inclinations which exceed the limits of the ancieut zodiac, and are therefore sometimes called extra-zodiacal planets; but "Vesta is also sometimes included in the same description. See Planet. The zodiac is divided into twelve equal parts, called signs; which are designated by the names of the constellations with the places of which the signs anciently corresponded. They are Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sag it tar i us, Capric or nus, Aquarius, and Pisces. The signs are counted from the vernal equinox, one of the points in which the equator intersects the ecliptic; whence, in consequence of the regre ion of the equinoctial points, their position with respect to the constellations or fixed stars is greatly different from what it was in remote ages. Some time prior to Hipparch us, the first points of the constellations Aries and Libra corresponded to the vernal and autumnal equinoxes; those of Cancer and Capricorn to the summer and winter solstices: at^resent, the difference is about 30°. The vernal equinox now happens in the constellation Pisces, the summer solstice in Gemini, the autumnal equinox in Virgo, and the winter solstice in Sag it tar i us; but the vernal equinox always corresponds to the first point of the sign Aries, 1340 ZOHAR. the summer solstice to the first of Cancer, and so on. On this account it is nece ary to distinguish between the signs of the zodiac, which follow the motiims of the equinoctial points, and the constellations of the zodiac, which are immoveable in the celestial sphere. It has been supposed that the constellations of the zodiac were invented in Egypt in a very remote age, and that they had a reference to the divisions of the seasons and the agriculture of that country at the time of their invention. If we go back to a period about 2500 before Christ, the constellations Aquarius and Pisces, at the season of the overflow of the Nile, would be diametrically opposite to the sun, and would consequently rise at sunset. Virgo, usually represented as a woman with an ear of corn in her hand, would be the constellation rising at sunset in the time of the harvest in Egypt. Such conjectures, however, it is easy to conceive, are at best extremely uncertain. Representations of the zodiac have been found in several Egyptian temples, and also in other eastern countries, which have given rise to much discu ion. (See Dupuis, Me'?noire sur IOrigine du Zodiaquej Biot, Recherches sur T Astronomic Egypticnne; Montucla, His to ire des Math. torn. i.; Bailly, His to ire de VAstr, Ancienne.) [s. 1353]