Mr. Wicksteed suggests reading “elevatio” instead of “declinatio,” and apparently deletes the “non,”[632] and Dr. Moore seems to read the same way,[633] for both agree in interpreting as follows:—the author is stating an argument that the elevation of land (in only one hemisphere) might be due to the moon’s coming nearer to Earth in one part of her orbit, owing to its eccentricity; to which he replies that if that were the cause the elevation would be greater in the south than here in the north, because the moon is nearer to the earth when she goes south. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [632] Note on this passage in “Temple” Dante. [633] _Studies in Dante_, ii. p. 339. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is supposed to imply a belief that the moon is always in perigee[634] when south of the equator, whereas the fact that her perigee revolves all round the zodiac was as well known to Ptolemy and Alfraganus as it is to modern astronomers. The interpretation therefore convicts the author of the _Quæstio_ of so serious and inexplicable a blunder that these commentators find themselves obliged to consider it as evidence either that it was not written by Dante, or that his knowledge of astronomy was much less extensive than has been supposed. It is suggested that there may have been a popular fallacy in his time that the moon was like the sun in this respect—although to know that the sun has a perigee, and that it is situated in the south, requires some acquaintance with astronomy! However, Dr. Moore has searched Alfraganus and other works in vain to find a suggestion of this kind. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [634] Nearest Earth. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration: Fig. 52. The moon’s epicycle and deferent. (The dotted line represents the southern half of the deferent).]