![]() Such, however, is strangely not the case Sir James Clarke Ross did not see it until he was 8° south of the equator, and in longitude 30° W. But if the earth is a globe, Sigma Octantis a south pole star, and the Southern Cross a southern circumpolar constellation, they would all be visible at the same time from every longitude on the same latitude, as is the case with the northern pole star and the northern circumpolar constellations. ![]() Another thing is certain, that from and within the equator the north pole star, and the constellations Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, and many others, can be seen from every meridian simultaneously whereas in the south, from the equator, neither the so-called south pole star, nor the remarkable constellation of the Southern Cross, can be seen simultaneously from every meridian, showing that all the constellations of the south-pole star included-sweep over a great southern arc and across the meridian, from their rise in the evening to their setting in the morning. But they have not instituted special experiments, regardless of results, to ascertain the real and absolute movements of the southern constellations. ![]() ![]() They see the stars move from towards the east towards the west, and they are satisfied. It is scarcely polite to contradict the statements made, but it is certain that persons who have been educated to believe that the earth is a globe, going to the southern parts of the earth do not examine such matters critically. Here, however, we are met with the positive assertion that there is a very small star (of about the sixth magnitude) in the south, called Sigma Octantis, round which all the constellations of the south revolve, and which is therefore the southern polar star. If then the zenith stars of all the places on the earth, where special observations have been made, rise from the morning horizon to the zenith of an observer, and descend to the evening horizon, not in a plane of the position of such observer, but in an arc of a circle concentric with the northern centre, the earth is thereby proved to be a plane, and rotundity altogether disproved-shown, indeed, to be impossible. The same is also the case from Cape of Good Hope, Sydney and Melbourne in Australia, in New Zealand, in Rio Janeiro, Monte Video, Valparaiso, and other places in the south. If now we carefully watch in the same way the zenith stars from the Rock of Gibraltar, the very same phenomenon is observed. It is undeniable that upon a globe zenith stars would rise, pass over head, and set in the plane of the observer's position. If we remain all night, we shall observe the same stars rising towards our position from the north-east, showing that the path of all the stars between ourselves and the northern centre move round the north pole-star as a common centre of rotation just as they must do over a plane such as the earth is proved to be. The same thing may be seen from the top of Primrose Hill, near Regent's Park, London from Hampstead Heath or Shooter's Hill, near Woolwich. If we do the same on Woodhouse Moor, near Leeds, or on any of the mountain tops in Yorkshire or Derbyshire, the same phenomenon is observed. For in-stance, if we stand with our backs to the north, on the high land known as "Arthur's Seat," near Edinburgh, and note the stars in the zenith of our position, and watch for several hours, the zenith stars will gradually recede to the north-west. But all the stars visible from London rise and set in a way which is not compatible with the doctrine of rotundity. The farthest south visible from England, the rising is more to the east and south-east, and the setting to the west and south-west. Those further away southwards rise north-north-east, and set south-south-west still further south they rise east by north, and set west by north. Those nearest to it, as the "Great Bear," &c., &c., are always visible in England during their whole twenty-four hours' revolution. It is known to every observer that the north pole star is the centre of a number of constellations which move over the earth in a circular direction. This is another instance of the sacrifice of truth, and denial of the evidence of our senses for the purpose of supporting a theory which is in every sense false and unnatural. It has often been urged that the earth must be a globe, because the stars in the southern "hemisphere" move round a south polar star in the same way that those of the north revolve round "Polaris," or the northern pole star. The following is an excerpt from Zetetic Astronomy: Earth Not a Globe (by Samuel Birley Rowbotham):
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