disturbed when compared with the others that are uniform, are still allied
to their circulation and that, having thus learned and being naturally
possessed of a correct reasoning faculty, we might, _by imitating the
uniform revolutions of divinity_, set right our own silly wanderings and
blunders."

There are two portions of Plato's cosmology to which I wish particularly
to draw attention, because of the striking examples that exist, showing
that the views therein expressed and suggestions given, were independently
carried into practice in ancient times, in widely separated countries. One
is the suggestive attempt to figure the Cosmos by geometrical images, a
method which had been carried out by the pyramid-builders and Amenophis
III and suggests an explanation for the origin and meaning of the
geometrical decoration that prevailed at one period of antiquity. The
other is the association of time with the principles of numbers, the most
remarkable exemplifications of which are furnished by the Egyptian, Hindu,
Chinese, Mexican and Maya cyclical systems, founded upon the associations
of divisions of time and numerals, and even and uneven numbers with
day-names, etc.

Having hastily noted some features of Plato's Cosmos let us next obtain an
insight into the ideas associated with Polaris and the Septentriones by
the ancient Greeks and their neighbors, before and after Plato's time. I
gratefully acknowledge my indebtedness to Mr. Richard Hinckley Allen's
"Star-names and their meanings" (New York, 1899), for the following
valuable information and at the same time express my regret that his
useful work was unknown to me when I wrote the preceding portion of my
investigation.(120)

"Ursa Minor was not mentioned by Homer or Hesiod for, according to Strabo,
it was not admitted among the constellations of the Greeks until about 600
B.C. when Thales, inspired by its use in Phoenicia, his probable
birthplace, suggested it to the Greek mariners in place of its greater
neighbor which till then had been their sailing guide. Thence its title
Phoenice and Ursa Phoenicia. But it also shared, with Ursa Major, the titles
Septentrio, Aratos, Amaxa, Aganna and Helice. It also bore the 'early and
universal title' Kynosura or Cynosura, usually translated 'the Dog's
Tail,' the origin of which is uncertain, Bournouf asserting that 'it is in
no way associated with the Greek word for dog.' Cox identified the word
with Lycosura (meaning tail or