SCORPIO

, the Scorpion, the 8th sign of the zodiac, denoted by the character , being a rude design of the animal of that name.

The Greeks, who would be supposed the inventors of astronomy, and who have, with that intent, fathered some story or other of their own upon every one of the constellations, give a very singular account of the origin of this one. They tell us that this is the creature which killed Orion. The story goes, that the famous hunter of that name boasted to Diana and Latona, that he would destroy every animal that was upon the earth; the earth, they say, enraged at this, sent forth the poisonous reptile the Scorpion, which insignificant creature stung him, that he died. Jupiter, they say, raised the Scorpion to the heavens, giving him this place among the constellations; and that afterwards Diana requested of him to do the same honour to Orion, which he at last consented to, but placed him in such a situation, that when the Scorpion rises, he sets.

But the Egyptians, or whatever early nation it was that framed the zodiac, probably placed this poisonous reptile in that part of the heavens to denote that when the sun arrived at it, fevers and sicknesses, the maladies of autumn, would begin to rage. This they represented by an animal whose sting was of power to occasion some | of them; and it was thus they formed all the constellations.

The ancients allotted one of the twelve principal among their deities to be the guardian for each of the 12 signs of the zodiac. The Scorpion, as their history of it made it a fierce and fatal animal that had killed the great Orion, fell naturally to the protection of the god of war; Mars is therefore its tutelary deity; and to this single circumstance is owing all that jargon of the astrologers, who tell us that there is a great analogy between the planet Mars and the constellation Scorpio. To this also is owing the doctrine of the alchymists, that iron, which they call Mars, is also under the dominion of the same constellation, and that the transmutation of that metal into gold can only be performed when the sun is in this sign.

The stars in Scorpio, in Ptolomy's catalogue, are 24; in that of Tycho 10, in that of Hevelius 20, but in that of Flamsteed and Sharp 44.

Scorpion is also the name of an ancient military engine, used chiefly in the defence of walls, &c.

Marcellinus describes the Scorpion, as consisting of two beams bound together by ropes. From the middle of the two, rose a third beam, so disposed, as to be pulled up and let down at pleasure; and on the top of this were fastened iron hooks, where a sling was hung, either of iron or hemp; and under the third beam lay a piece of hair-cloth full of chaff, tied with cords. It had its name Scorpio, because when the long beam or tiller was erected, it had a sharp top in manner of a sting.

To use the engine, a round stone was put into the sling, and four persons on each side, loosening the beams bound by the ropes, drew back the erect beam to the hook; then the engineer, standing on an eminence, gave a stroke with a hammer on the chord to which the beam was fastened with its hook, which set it at liberty; so that hitting against the soft hair-cloth, it struck out the stone with a great force.