suivant que, 'according as

14. au signe du Zodiaque. The Zodiac is the circular bdt of the heavens in which the planets seem to move. It is divided into twelve parts, called by the names of the constellations that occupy them. Thèse constellations are the twelve signs of the Zodiac. Each answers to a month of the year.

NOTES. l6s

15. en ooajonotion, en opposition. A planet is in conjunction when its longitude (observed from the earth as centre) is the same as that of the sun; it is in opposition when it is fiirthest a^ay from the sun in longitude.

18. les douie malBonB du soleil. Astrologers called the signs of the Zodiac *the twelve houses of the sun.' Thèse 'houses' had names denoting the kind of fortune foretold by the sun being in one or other of them.

ao. £Edre le thème. The ' thème ' was the diagram on which the positions of the sun, moon and planets at the time of a man's birth were marked ; and from this the ' horoscope ' or forecast of his life could be deduced by traditional rules.

11, Tapparition d'une oomète. The author means» probably, as surely as the reappearance of a cornet is predicted now. In the Middle Ages cornets were regarded as subject to no law, and as portents announcing great disasters.