Cosmography

On the Parallel Circles.

Chapter V.

Parallels (which are also called segments) are circles having an equal distance from each other in every part, and never meeting, even if they could be extended to infinity. Although parallels may be drawn at will, we nevertheless (following Ptolemy) distinguish them by certain degrees of latitude in both solid and plane representations of the earth, as also appears in the following arithmetical or tabular figure. They are distant from each other by this interval, however: that the longest day of one parallel exceeds the longest day of another parallel by nearly a fourth part of an hour. The distance of the remaining parallels is to be imagined in the same proportion, both in the Northern and Southern parts.

A circular diagram of the Earth or celestial sphere enclosed in a rectangular frame with ornate floral and vine-like woodcut borders. The circle is divided by horizontal lines representing parallels. The cardinal directions are labeled: MERIDIES (top), SEPTENTRIO (bottom), ORIENS (left), and OCCIDENS (right). The central line is labeled AEQUINOCTIALIS. Above the equator, parallels are numbered 1 through 21 and labeled PARALLELI MERIDIONALES. Below the equator, parallels are numbered 1 through 21 and labeled PRALEL SEPTENTRIONALES. The numbers are arranged in a diagonal ascending/descending pattern across the horizontal lines.