Cerberus et Ramus
Hercules holds Ramus, the apple branch, and Cerberus, the three-headed monster, in his outstretched hand, as depicted by the English cartographer John Senex (1678–1740) on his chart of the northern celestial hemisphere, Stellarum Fixarum Hemisphaerium Boreale, published 1721/2. This chart was based on the pirated edition of John Flamsteed's unfinished star catalogue that had been published by Edmond Halley in 1712. Senex called the combined figure Ramus Cerberus, and it appeared again on his planisphere of the northern sky issued posthumously in 1746. Johann Bode adopted the combined figure on his Uranographia atlas of 1801 but changed its name to Cerberus et Ramus, and that is the name by which it became most widely known.
(Image courtesy Daniel Crouch Rare Books)
