In the square zodiac, then, there is an immense amount of astronomy. In the round zodiac, found in another temple (_see_ p. 18), there are some points which at once claim our attention. There is, first, a mythological figure of a cow in a boat, and, near it, another mythological figure, which the subsequent reading of inscriptions has proved to represent the constellation Orion. In the centre of the zodiac we have a jackal, and there is very little doubt that it represents the constellation which we now call the Little Bear, which then, as now, was near the pole. Not far away, we get the leg of an animal; this, we now know, was a constellation called the Thigh, and there seems to be absolutely no question that it represents the constellation which we now call the Great Bear. Again, close by is another mythological form, which we know represents the Hippopotamus. This was made up out of some of the group of stars which forms the present constellation Draco. There are also two hieroglyphs which subsequent research has proved to represent setting stars and rising stars, so that, whatever may have been the date of this round zodiac of Denderah, it is clear that we are dealing with a time when the stars had been classed in constellations, one of which, the constellation Orion, even survives to our own day. It is little to be wondered at that, when these revelations first burst upon the scientific world, great excitement was produced. It was obvious that we had to do with a nation which had very definite ideas of astronomy, and that the astronomy was very closely connected with worship. It was also certainly suggested by so many animal forms, that we had to do with a people whose condition was not unlike that of the American Indians--to take a well-known instance--at the beginning of this century, one in which each tribe, or clan, had chosen a special animal _totem_. It so happened that, while these things were revealing themselves, the discussions concerning them, which took place among the scientific world of France, were partly influenced by the writings of a man of very brilliant imagination and of great erudition. I refer to Dupuis, according to whose views an almost fabulous antiquity might be assigned to ancient traditions in general and astronomical traditions in particular. It is needless to say, however, that there were others to take the extreme opposite view--who held the opinion that his imagination had run away with his learning.