A forty-day period extending from July 4 to August 11; given by some authorities as from July 20th to August 27. It was considered by the ancients to be the hottest period of the year. They reckoned the commencement from the heliacal rising of Sirius (the Dog Star). Hesiod placed the ending of the period at 50 days after the Summer solstice. Mars, the planet associated with heat, conjoined Sirius during the serious drought and hot spell of mid-July 1937.
ASTROLABE ENCYCLOPEDIA
