In my lecture on “The Evolution of the God Idea” I have already pointed out how the earliest religious conceptions arose from this study; and in my “Popular Faith Unveiled” I have endeavoured to show that, in naming the constellations, the ancients adopted the wise device of giving to groups of stars the names of the particular earth productions or earth phenomena that happened to take place at the time when such star groups made their appearance in the heavens. Now, it is a very remarkable fact that in those ancient countries of which we have any exact knowledge the heavenly bodies received very similar and, in many instances, identical names, which is just what we should expect if the above theory of the naming be correct. Take the zodiac, for example, which is the line of the apparent annual circuit of the sun, and we find that in Egypt, India, Persia, and Greece it was divided into twelve portions of 30 degrees each, the whole circuit consisting of 360 degrees; and the equivalent signs bore a wonderful similarity to each other. In the old Indian zodiac published in the “Philosophical Transactions” of 1772 the signs are as follows, commencing at the vernal equinoxial point:—Ram, Bull, Man with two shields, Crab, Lion, Virgin, Balances, Scorpion, Bow and Arrow, Monster with goat’s head and fish’s hindquarters, Urn, Fish. In the Indian zodiac published by Sir W. Jones they are as follows:—Ram, Bull, Youth and Damsel, Crab, Lion, Virgin in a boat, holding an ear of rice-corn, Man holding the balances, Scorpion, Centaur shooting with a bow and arrow, Monster with antelope’s head and fish’s hindquarters, Man carrying a water-pot on his shoulder, Two Fishes. The ancient Persian zodiacal signs were: Lamb, Bull, Twins, Crab, Lion, Ear of Corn, Balances, Scorpion, Bow, Goat, Pitcher of Water, Two Fishes. In the zodiac depicted on the ceiling of the Egyptian temple of Isis at Dendera the following are the signs:—Ram, Bull, Twins, Beetle, Lion, Virgin holding an ear of corn, Balances, Scorpion, Centaur shooting with bow and arrow, Monster with goat’s head and fish’s hindquarters, Man pouring water from two water-pots, Two Fishes. In Kircher’s Egyptian zodiac the signs are:—Man with ram’s horns, Bull, Twins, Hermes with head of an Ibis, Lion, Virgin holding an ear of corn, Man holding the balances, Man with serpents for legs and having a serpent twisted round his body, Centaur shooting with bow and arrow, Monster with goat’s head and fish’s hindquarters, Man with an urn from which water was falling, Woman with fish’s tail. Ancient Greek zodiacs had the following signs:—Ram, Bull, Twins, Crab, Lion, Virgin, Balances, Scorpion, Centaur shooting with bow and arrow, Goat with fish’s hindquarters, Canobus with his pitcher of water, Two Fishes. The Romans followed the Greeks, and these signs have since remained unchanged in all modern zodiacs, being now known under the following names:—Aries, the ram; Taurus, the bull; Gemini,