26. The 'Sphere Solid' answers nearly to what we now call a globe. By help of a globe it is easy to find the ascensions of signs for _any latitude_, whereas by the astrolabe we can only tell them for those latitudes for which the plates bearing the almicanteras are constructed. The signs which Chaucer calls 'of right (i.e. direct) ascension' are those signs of the zodiac which rise more directly, i.e. at a greater angle to the horizon than the rest. In latitude 52°, Libra rises so directly that the whole sign takes more than 2¾ hours before it is wholly above the horizon, during which time nearly 43° of the equinoctial circle have arisen; or, in Chaucer's words, 'the more part' (i.e. a larger portion) of the equinoctial ascends with it. On the other hand, the sign of Aries ascends so obliquely that the whole of it appears above the horizon in less than an hour, so that a 'less part' (a smaller portion) of the equinoctial ascends with it. The following is a rough table of Direct and Oblique Signs, shewing approximately how long each sign takes to ascend, and how many degrees of the equinoctial ascend with it, in lat. 52°. _Oblique Degrees of the Time of | _Direct Degrees of the Time of Signs._ Equinoctial. ascending. | Signs._ Equinoctial. ascending. Capricornus 26° 1 h. 44 m. | Cancer 39° 2 h. 36 m. Aquarius 16° 1 h. 4 m. | Leo 42° 2 h. 48 m. Pisces 14° 0 h. 56 m. | Virgo 43° 2 h. 52 m. Aries 14° 0 h. 56 m. | Libra 43° 2 h. 52 m. Taurus 16° 1 h. 4 m. | Scorpio 42° 2 h. 48 m. Gemini 26° 1 h. 44 m. | Sagittarius 39° 2 h. 36 m. These numbers are sufficiently accurate for the present purpose. In ll. 8-11, there is a gap in the sense in nearly all the MSS., but the Bodley MS. 619 fortunately supplies what is wanting, to the effect that, at places situated on the equator, the poles are in the horizon. At such places, the days and nights are always equal. Chaucer's next statement is true for _all_ places _within the tropics_, the peculiarity of them being that they have the sun vertical twice in a year. The statement about the 'two summer and winters' is best explained by the following. 'In the tropical climates, ... seasons are caused more by the effect of the winds (which are very regular, and depend mainly on the sun's position) than by changes in the direct action of the sun's light and heat. The seasons are not a summer and winter, so much as recurrences of wet and dry periods, _two in each year_.'--English Cyclopædia; _Seasons, Change of_. Lastly, Chaucer reverts to places on the equator, where the stars all seem to move in vertical circles, and the almicanteras are therefore straight lines. The line marked _Horizon Rectus_ is shewn in fig. 5, where the _Horizon Obliquus_ is also shewn, cutting the equinoctial circle obliquely.