Let _Z_♈_z_♎ be the Earth, _ZFRz_ it’s Axis, _abcde_ &c. the Equator, _ABCDE_ &c. the northern half of the Ecliptic from ♈ to ♎ on the side of the Globe next the eye, and _MNOP_ &c. the southern half on the opposite side from ♎ to ♈. Let the points at _A_, _B_, _C_, _D_, _E_, _F_, &c. quite round from ♈ to ♈ again bound equal portions of the Ecliptic, gone through in equal times by the real Sun; and those at _a_, _b_, _c_, _d_, _e_, _f_, &c. equal portions of the Equator described in equal times by the fictitious Sun; and let _Z_♈_z_ be the Meridian. As the real Sun moves obliquely in the Ecliptic, and the fictitious Sun directly in the Equator, with respect to the Meridian, a degree, or any number of degrees, between ♈ and _F_ on the Ecliptic, must be nearer the Meridian _Z_♈_z_, than a degree, or any corresponding number of degrees on the Equator from ♈ to _f_; and the more so, as they are the more oblique: and therefore the true Sun comes sooner to the Meridian whilst he is in the quadrant ♈ _F_, than the fictitious Sun does in the quadrant ♈ _f_; for which reason, the solar noon precedes noon by the Clock, until the real Sun comes to _F_, and the fictitious to _f_; which two points, being equidistant from the Meridian, both Suns will come to it precisely at noon by the Clock. Whilst the real Sun describes the second quadrant of the Ecliptic _FGHIKL_ from ♋ to ♎; he comes later to the Meridian every day, than the fictitious Sun moving through the second quadrant of the Equator from _f_ to ♎; for the points at _G_, _H_, _I_, _K_, and _L_ being farther from the Meridian than their corresponding points at _g_, _h_, _i_, _k_, and _l_, they must be later of coming to it: and as both Suns come at the same moment to the point ♎, they come to the Meridian at the moment of noon by the Clock. In departing from Libra, through the third quadrant, the real Sun going through _MNOPQ_ towards ♑ at _R_, and the fictitious Sun through _mnopq_ towards _r_, the former comes to the Meridian every day sooner than the latter, until the real Sun comes to ♑, and the fictitious to _r_, and then they both come to the Meridian at the same time. Lastly, as the real Sun moves equably through _STUVW_, from ♑ towards ♈; and the fictitious Sun through _stuvw_, from _r_ towards ♈, the former comes later every day to the Meridian than the latter, until they both arrive at the point ♈, and then they make noon at the same time with the clock. [Sidenote: A Table of the Equation of Time depending on the Sun’s place in the Ecliptic. PLATE VI.]