The equinoctial is a great circle, the two poles whereof are the two poles of the earth. The one which is in the direction of Ursa Minor called also Banát u'n Naạsh, is the north pole. The constellation of the Kid* is adjacent to it. The other is the south pole.* When the sun passes over this circle, night and day are of equal length in all places, either actually or approximately, and this occurs in the first of Aries and Libra. From this imaginary circle being drawn upon the concave surface of the magnus orbis, a great circle is delineated upon the earth which divides it into two-halves north and south, the periphery being called the equatorial line where night and day are always equal.

The horizon is of two kinds, the real and the sensible, and the latter is to be understood in two ways. The first is a circle parallel to the real hori­zon and contiguous to the surface of the earth. The second is a circle which divides the visible portion of the sphere from the invisible, and this hori­zon is also called the visible, the radial and the horizon of vision. The zenith and nadir are its two poles, which vary with the spectator and his position. The real horizon is a great circle, having the same two poles, and the distance of the first sensible horizon from the real, is half the earth's diameter, and by this the real horizon is obtained.* And as the equatorîal line divides the earth into two halves, the northern and the southern, the circle of the real horizon divides those two halves again into two, an upper and a lower. Thus by these two circles, the earth is apportioned into four quarters, an upper and lower northern, and similar southern divisions. The Greeks supposed the northern quarter only to be above water, but they have determined this by no proof. Its creation was assigned to the power of the Sun, in order that animal life to which breathing is a necessity, might secure the capacity to exist and the wondrous power of human speech become manifest. Through the force of the celestial light and the accretional properties of matter in the upper regions, and by the action of the winds and the commotion of the seas, lofty mountains and marvel­lous configurations of hills and profound abysses were produced. And because the tendency of water is to flow downwards and the earth thereby becomes viscous, the fermentation of heat and the disintegrating process of time caused the rise of mountainous ranges.

When the sun culminates in the northern signs of the ecliptic from Aries to Virgo, its lowest declination from the equator will necessarily occur in the southern signs. From Libra to Pisces are the signs culminating in the winter solstice. At this time* the sun is nearest the sphere of the earth and the warmth is excessive, the heat absorbing moisture as may be witnessed by experiment with a lamp. The solstice continues in the same sign during 2,100 years and the entire revolution is made in 25,200 years, one-half of this period being occupied in the northern and the other in the southern signs.* It is now in the 3rd degree of Cancer and the opposite solstitial point is in the same degree of Capricorn. It is this ecliptic movement that has caused the northern quarter of the globe to become terra firma. Its superficial area, according to the ancients, is 5,090,000 and according to the moderns 3,678,233½ farsakh. The rule to find this is to multiply the diameter by ¼ of the circumference and the product will be the measurement of the quarter of the globe,* or divide the superficial area of the whole globe by 4 and the quotient gives the area of the quarter. There is a difference of opinion as to whether the quarter of the globe was created terra firma or became so at a later period. The majority incline to the latter belief from the consideration of the proximity of the solstitial points. They affirm that the whole of the fourth part of the globe was terra firma, but that now a great part of it is sub­merged such as the Eternal Islands, Greece and other places.

The <Greek> is declared not to extend in latitude beyond the com­plement of the greatest declination of the Sun from the equator* which is 66° 29' 43," as animal life could not exist beyond this point from the severity of the cold. The superficial area of the <Greek> is taken by the ancients from the equatorial line to a place whose latitude is equal to the complement of the sun's greatest declination from the equator. Accord­ing to the Gúrgáni Canon, the superficial area is 4,668,502@7/60 farsakh and according to the moderns 3,370,992¾ farsakh. Some say that a portion of the upper southern quarter adjoining the northern quarter is terra firma but not inhabited. Others affirm that it is inhabited as far as 10° south. Ptolemy* in his Geography allows 16° 25' and near the Zanj and Abyssinian, further still. A few even suppose that the other three-fourths of the globe are also above water and inhabited.

Ancient traditions relate that Alexander after his conquest of the northern quarter of the globe, desiring to obtain some information of the remaining quarters and of the seas thereof, named several bold and scientific explorers for this duty, and supplying them, confident in their provi­dential mission in the pursuit of knowledge, with six months' provisions, embarked them in a sea-going vessel. After sailing day and night, through the period mentioned, they fell in with some vessels, but from diversity of tongues they were unable to understand each others' intentions. A fight ensued and Alexander's party was victorious. With some of the captives they intermarried. The children of these marriages spoke the languages of both their parents and from these nurslings of life it was discovered that a certain prince had despatched this band also with the same object, and after a three months' continuous sail the encounter had taken place. But this account is disputed.* In other ancient writings it is related that Alexander sent out a party of scientific men thorougly pro­ficient in the knowledge of various languages, on an expedition by sea with provisions for three years. They were instructed to sail eastwards for a period of a year and a half towards the rising places of the stars, and then to return and relate their experiences. This party after sailing the appointed time reached a flourishing coast and they learnt that they had penetrated to the country of Bactria. Alexander for a time appointed some of his ministers to the government of this province.

At the present day, those of more exact information declare that the south is inhabited in the same way as the north. Of late years the Euro­peans have discovered an extensive and populous insular continent which they have called the New World. Some shattered vessels had been here driven ashore. A man mounted on horseback was seen by the inhabitants. Mistaking the man and his horse for a single animal they were overcome by fear and the country fell an easy capture.