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here I muſt beg, that the more proficient in the science will not think I inſult their judgment, by laying down the firſt rudiments of it. I wish firſt to inform, and bring forward young minds, and then I mean to advance, and find amuſement for them, if not inſtruction.
The Circle of the Zodiac is divided into twelve parts, called Signs, and each ſign into 30°; their names and characters are as follow:
| ♈ | ♉ | ♊ | ♋ | ♌ | ♍ |
| Aries. | Taurus. | Gemini. | Cancer. | Leo. | Virgo. |
| ♎ | ♏ | ♐ | ♑ | ♒ | ♓ |
| Libra. | Scorpio. | Sagittary. | Capricorn. | Aquarius. | Piſces. |
The firſt ſix of these are called Northern Signs, and poſſeſs that half of the Ecliptic that is on the north ſide of the Equinoctial, beginning at the first point of Aries, and ending at the laſt point of Virgo; the latter ſix are called Southern Signs, and poſſeſs the Southern half of the Ecliptic, beginning at the firſt point of Libra, and end at the laſt degree of Pisces, where Aries begins again: and note, that theſe ſigns are different from the Conſtellations which bear their names; for, though they were formerly ſituated together, yet now, by a ſlow retrograde motion of the Equinoctial points, at the rate of about 50 ſeconds per year, or one degree in 72 years, the Conſtellation Aries is got into the Sign Taurus, and ſo of the reſt, till the Stars of Pisces are now in Aries; this motion is made upon the Poles of the Ecliptic, contrary to the ſucceſſion of the Signs, and is called the Preceſſion of the Equinoxes. The
