Introduction to Astronomy

the weeks of the lunar cycle original: "lunationis" through its waxings and wanings. Many also maintain, through numerous experiments, that different weather conditions are assigned to the various mansions of the Moon The "Lunar Mansions" are 28 divisions of the sky that the moon passes through each month, used in ancient astrology to predict weather and fortune. according to their diverse qualities: such as clear skies from one, clouds from another, rain from a third, and so forth. ¶ After the Sun and Moon, certain influences of all the stars are then established; although they are not as widely recognized by the common people as the power of the great lights, it is nevertheless not unknown even to the commoner that the qualities of the seasons are altered during the increases and decreases of the stars through a certain participation with the Sun and Moon. If this participation were not the cause of these movements, one summer would never be hotter than another, nor one winter colder than another. It is certain, therefore, that for all nations throughout every climate, the generation and corruption of things are moved by the alterations of the seasons. Moreover, the cause of such alterations exists in the Sun, the Moon, and the company of the stars. This was first preserved in the memory of posterity through the experiments of our ancestors, who led long lives of vigilant investigation. Secondly, it was established by comparing known things to those less obvious, with human ingenuity bridging the gap through the relatedness of nature. Since, therefore, ingenuity more readily grants the reason, it seems it must be asserted that experiments and causes are not unsuitable in the investigation of things. For every craft has, in its own kind, a trust and faith in experiments passed down from the past to the things that follow. Thus indeed the farmer, the shepherd, and the sailor, each in their own duty, know the favorable or unfavorable hours from the positions of certain stars. The farmer indeed for sowing and grafting original: "insitionibus"; the shepherd for the mating of flocks and herds, to ensure stable conceptions and healthy births. The sailor likewise foresees friendly and hostile winds through the experiments of the past; for all of whom the experiments of stable and serious investigation through the movements of the elements, the alterations of the seasons, and the courses of the Sun, Moon, and stars provide certainty. In grafting, indeed, the farmer foreknows from the hour and the time of the grafting among the types of trees: that these will increase in growth, those will accelerate their fruit, others will be abundant in fruit, and others in various different ways. If we seek from him the basis of his argument, he offers nothing other than the use of experiments. This is no different from the predictions of midwives, in which experiments bear trust. For being experienced, they first foreknow whether a woman is pregnant. Secondly, they discern the sex; then also from the firstborn—which they call "virginal births"—foreseeing whether that mother will bear more children, they even count the number of future births. For when a suspicion of pregnancy is held and it must be discerned by experiment, they note the tips of the breasts. If these appear swollen and embraced likely referring to the darkening or enlargement of the areola, and she herself is of a changed color, with deep-set eyes, a sharp gaze, and the whites of the eyes full and turgid, they consider it certain that she is pregnant. To discern the sex: they handle the womb of the pregnant woman, and if they feel it full, round, agile, and firm, and she herself is of a clear complexion, they predict a male; if it is oblong, loose, and sluggish, and she herself is of a spotted color, they declare a female, with the tips of the breasts testifying—tending toward a reddish color in the case of a male, and toward a dark color in a female. In another way also: for if the milk of the pregnant woman is taken between the fingers and felt to be thick and viscous, it is a sign of a male; if thin and liquid, a female. Likewise in another way: for the milk of the pregnant woman is poured upon an iron mirror and placed evenly in the rays of the Sun. If within an hour it flows together into the likeness of a pearl, it signifies a male; if flowing apart and spread out, a female. Concerning...