On Parallel Circles.

CHAPTER V.

Decorative drop cap PParallels (which are also called segments) are circles having an equal distance from one another at every point, and they never intersect, even if they could be extended to infinity. Although parallels can be drawn at will, we divide them (in imitation of Ptolemy) by certain degrees of latitude, both in solid and flat representations of the earth: which also appears in the following arithmetical or tabular figure. However, they are separated from each other by such an interval that the longest day of one parallel exceeds the longer day of the other parallel by nearly a quarter of an hour. The distance of the remaining parallels is to be imagined with the same relationship, both in the Northern and Southern parts.

Parallels, what they are and how they are separated from one another.

Behold the diagram of the division of Parallels.

A circular diagram represents the Earth divided by parallels, with the Equator labeled "EQUATOR". The diagram is framed by four allegorical figures representing the cardinal directions: East, West, South, and North.