William Tyler Olcott

“ According to Macrobius, the Chaldeans named the constellation "the Wild Goat," because that animal in feeding always ascends the hills, and is naturally a climbing animal. The sun in like manner when it arrives at Capricornus begins to mount the sky, and hence the goat was adopted as a symbol of the apparent climbing motion of the sun, while the fish-tail was significant of the rains and floods of the winter season. ”

“ Thus we find nations widely separated, and at a very remote time, with a common notion respecting an inconspicuous star group. Such a grotesque figure, recognised in common by different nations, is too great a coincidence to savour of individual creation. ”

“ Early in the 19th century it was found that the planet Uranus was straying widely from its predicted positions. Two astronomers, Adams in England, and Le Verrier in France, working independently and without each other's knowledge, endeavoured to ascertain the causes of the perturbations, basing their calculations on the supposition that an undiscovered planet beyond Uranus was the disturbing factor. ”