The aphetic, or vital places in every horoscope, are in number five, viz. the whole space of the first, seventh, ninth, and tenth houses, computed by oblique ascension or descension, to reach five degrees preceding the cusp of each house, and twenty-five degrees beneath it: as also the half of the eleventh house, or the half of the stars semidiurnal are above the cusp of the horoscope. Consequently the " lord of life", as the Arabian Astrologers term the Hyleg, cannot be chosen when in either the limits of the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, or eighth houses, or in the first half of the eleventh house. If the be in either of these places by day, he must bo chosen in preference to all others, as the planet who shall assume the important office of Hyleg (or apheta,) and if the birth be by night, then the must be chosen; but if neither of these planets should be found in aphetical places, the horoscope or ascendant must be chosen as Hyleg.

To determine the possibility of Life, the student (having selected the Hyleg) must well observe, whether it be strong and free from malignant configurations especially of Saturn, Mars, or Herschel; for according to the strength and fortitude of the " Giver of life", so will be the radical constitution, and the concomitant effects. If the Hyleg be much afflicted, the child will not survive its infant state. If afflicted by aspect, and at the same time assisted by powerful rays, life will be in danger under operating directions, but may be preserved by extreme caution and peculiar medical aid. In all cases therefore the duration of life is judged from the Hyleg, and when two planets, the and (there cannot be more) contend, by being both in proper places, for the Hylegiacal prerogative, both must be chosen; but the " supreme" of the two, or that planet who claims the most essential dominion must be elected as the most powerful. The ancients besides the luminaries, attributed the same effects to the and planets haying dominion in the preceding lunations, but repeated experience warrants us in rejecting that theory, and affirming that there can be no other Hyleg than what is before described. The Hyleg being chosen, and the probable length or shortness of life deduced from its position, or configurative rays, the next consideration will be of that planet to which is attributed the office.