Circĭnus
（
καρκίνος, διαβήτης). A compass. The compass used by
statuaries, architects, masons, and carpenters is often represented on the tombs of such
artificers, together with the other instruments of their profession or trade. The annexed
illustration exhibits two kinds of compasses, viz., the common kind used for drawing circles
and
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Circini. (Gruter, Corp. Inscript. ）
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measuring distances, and one with curved legs, probably intended to measure the
thickness of columns, cylindrical pieces of wood, or similar objects. The common kind is
described by the scholiast on Aristophanes, who compares its form with that of the letter A.
The mythologists supposed this instrument to have been invented by Perdix, who was the nephew
of Daedalus, and, through envy, thrown by him over the precipice of the Athenian Acropolis
(Ovid,
Met. viii. 251). Compasses of various forms were discovered in a
statuary's house at Pompeii.
