The zodiac is a band or belt, measuring about 14 degrees in breadth, but, as Venus sometimes appears to have more than her real latitude, it is more correctly considered to be 18 degrees in breadth. The _ecliptic_, or path of the Sun, passes exactly through the centre of the zodiac, longitudinally. The ancients divided the zodiac into _ten signs_--Libra being omitted altogether, Virgo and Scorpio being merged into one, thus: Virgo-Scorpio. This accounts for the similarity of their symbols, [Virgo] [Scorpio]. Ptolemy divides the zodiac into twelve equal parts, of 30 degrees each. He says: "The beginning of the whole zodiacal circle (which in its nature as a circle can have no other beginning or end capable of being determined) is, therefore, assumed to be the sign Aries, which commences at the vernal equinox in March." One of the many objections urged against Ptolemy's system of astrology is that the signs are continually moving from their positions; but Ptolemy seems to have been aware of this motion of the signs, and has met this objection by what he says in the twenty-fifth chapter of the first book of the _Tetra-biblos_, where he makes it clear that the respective influences he ascribes to the twelve signs were considered by him to belong rather to the _places_ they occupied in the ambient than to the stars of which they are composed; and he especially speaks of the _ambient_ as producing the effects attributed to the respective signs of the zodiac when in the ascendant in a nativity; thus his astrology is just as applicable to modern astronomy as it was to his own. The signs have been divided into four _triplicities_, thus: _fiery_ [Aries], [Leo ], [Sagittarius]; _earthy_, [Taurus], [Virgo], [Capricorn]; _airy_, [Gemini], [Libra], [Aquarius]; and _watery_, [Cancer], [Scorpio], [Pisces]. The _bicorporal_, or double-bodied, signs are [Gemini], [Pisces], and the first half of [Sagittarius]. The _fruitful_ signs are [Cancer], [Scorpio], [Pisces]; the barren signs are [Gemini], [Leo], and [Capricorn]. These descriptions are useful in showing the modifications brought to bear (by the sign ascending) on the planet's influence. But, when no planets are in or near the ascendant at birth, the following descriptions of the temperament and form of body produced by each sign ascending at birth should be used. Aries ([symbol]) is a hot and fiery sign and produces a lean body, spare and strong, large bones, grey eyes, with a quick glance and sandy or red-coloured hair. The temper is violent. It governs the head and face; its colour is white. Taurus ([symbol]) differs greatly, in its effects, from the preceding sign; it is cold and dry, and gives a broad brow and thick lips. A person born under it is melancholy and slow to anger but, when roused, furious and difficult to be appeased. It governs the neck and throat; its colour is red.