It was Hipparchus. At least it was he who, confidently relying upon his observations, was the first to affirm that the sun remains longer in the northern than in the southern hemispheres; or, more accurately speaking, that its passage from the spring to the autumn equinox occupies 187 days, while from the autumn to the spring equinox the duration of its course is only 178 days 6 hours (nearly). The year of 365-1/4 days--that is, the Egyptian year, which was universally adopted by the ancient astronomers--was thus discovered to be really divided into two unequal portions, although, _theoretically_, the sun ought to occupy exactly the same space of time in passing from the spring to the autumn, as from the autumn to the spring equinox. * * * * * The fact pointed out and attested by Hipparchus had an influence which he never anticipated on the progress of science. In opposition to all the systems previously designed by man, it followed, in the first place, that the movement of the sun, in relation to a mean movement, must sometimes be accelerated, sometimes be retarded; that the solar arc described in a given time would be greater in winter than in summer. Astronomers who, trammelled by particular theories, were unable and unwilling to accept of any new light, immediately hastened to raise, as is invariably the case with those who defend a bad cause, a subsidiary and damaging question. They asked whether those inequalities of the sun's movement were real, or only apparent; whether they were more than a mere optical phenomenon, arising from the sun's position _vis-à-vis_ to an observer placed on the earth's surface. And they unhesitatingly pronounced in favour of the appearance, and against the reality. But man, says an old adage, is always punished after the manner of his sin. Dogmatic and obstinate authority involved our anti-revolutionary astronomers in fresh complications. Such is the case, too, very frequently, in the domain of theology! Does the sun--the sun as each of us beholds him--ever change his size? Does he ever shrink in his majestic proportions? Is the magnitude of his broad golden disc ever lessened? * * * * *