tor, in the head of the Whale, beams within a few degrees of the western horizon; as also Aries; while Cassiopeia occupies a north-westerly direction, though somewhat lower than in January. Deneb, in the Swan, verges on the horizon, a little westward of the north point; Vega, conspicuous in the Lyre, gleams at a short distance eastward. About 18° above the horizon the head of Draco may be discovered in a N.N.E. direction; the Great Bear has attained a higher elevation, and the Pointers are in a direction N.N.E. Cor Caroli recalls to mind the eventful era to which it owes its name, and appears in a direction east by north, about midway between the zenith and horizon.

Other constellations also deserve brief notice, as conspicuous in the present month. Hydra, of which the largest star is Alphard, or Cor Hydræ, may be discerned about 28° above the horizon, in a S.S.E. direction, beaming in its own calm beauty, and nearly alone. S.S.W. is Regulus, one of the largest stars in the constellation Leo, and within half a degree of the ecliptic. This splendid star may be readily distinguished, from being the largest and the lowest among a group of five or six stars that form a curve or figure somewhat resembling a sickle. Eastward of Regulus is the Lion's tail; and eastward, also, is the constellation Virgo, although many of its stars are still beneath the horizon: such as have risen are midway between Coma Berenices on the north, and Corvus on the south the former consists of a cluster of small stars, lying nearly due east, and about midway between the zenith and horizon. Arcturus, the chief star in Boötes, may be discerned east by north of Coma Berenices, though at a low elevation. Farther to the north, and even nearer to the horizon, is Corona Borealis, or the northern crown: the principal star is called Alphacca-it is of the third magnitude, and 11° east by north of Boötes. This elegant constellation is easily distinguished by its six principal stars, which somewhat resemble a wreath or crown.

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The sun enters the first point of Aries on the 21st of March, at which period commences the vernal equinox, although the sun is actually in the constellation Pisces; it follows, therefore, that the sign Aries does not correspond with the constellation that bears its name, and in solving this problem, which is necessary to be understood, we cannot do better than avail ourselves of the explanation given by the Rev. Lewis Tomlinson, M.A. :"When the sun, for instance, is said to be in Aries, it simply means that he is situated between the earth and that zodiacal constellation; and when, in olden times, he was about coming between the earth and Aries, that position was called the first point of Aries. But, in order to obtain a greater precision in naming the position of the source of light at any other period, Chaldean observers of the stars divided the circle described by him into twelve equal parts, without any very strict regard to coincidence between those parts and the clusters of stars from which they were named. Each portion was further divided into thirty equal parts, called degrees, by which arrangement the position of the sun could be determined with great accuracy. This apparent motion of the sun is from west to east, or from the sign of Aries to Pisces, and results from the progress of the earth in the same direction.'

Ages passed on; and men observant of the stars discovered that the sun did not occupy the same position in the constellation Aries on the 21st of March as ancient astronomers had noted: they discovered, also, that the

difference was occasioned, not by a motion of the stars, but by a change in the point of the earth's orbit, at which the two hemispheres are equally exposed to the sun, and which is generally described as that where the plane of the equator cuts the plane of the ecliptic. This point is called the equinox, because day and night are everywhere equal when the sun is at the point of intersection. The precession of the equinoxes is a term that frequently occurs; it signifies this motion of the equinox, but ought rather to be termed the recession, because they appear to travel backward, while the signs go forward, and is caused by the attraction of the sun and moon for the mass of terrestrial matter at the equator. The precession is, however, so exceedingly slow, that two thousand years have been occupied in the receding of the equinoctial points through one sign, or thirty degrees, from the point where it was fixed by Hipparchus, the father of astronomy. If, therefore, the reader should chance to meet, in astronomical works or almanacs, with such expressions as, "the Moon is in Aries," or "a conjunction will take place in Libra," he must look for this event in the cluster of stars forming those constellations, although assured that the sun, or moon, or planets, are much nearer to him than the constellations that form a kind of background, and to which they apparently belong.

Astronomers of the olden times, who determined the twelve divisions of the heavens, and marked the clusters of stars peculiar to each, gave to the three constellations, through which the sun passes during the spring, names of such animals as they most especially valued. The first was called Aries, or the Ram; the second, Taurus, or the Bull; the third, Gemini, or the Twin Goats, which were afterwards changed by the Greeks into Castor and Pollux.

These names, originally applied as they stood connected with events relating to pastoral life, gradually acquired a sacred character. Shepherds were, undoubtedly, the first astronomers; they often guided their course at night over the vast plains of Egypt and Chaldea by the stars; they observed the connection which subsisted between the passage of the sun through different portions of the heavens, and named the stars within his range after the objects most familiar to their sight. Hence their zodiac displayed the beautiful constellations above mentioned, associated with the animals by which they were surrounded, and simply recalling images of rural occupation.

It was otherwise in after years; their descendants distinguished each by characteristic attributes, and learned to regard them as objects of superstitious and idolatrous veneration.

Pan, therefore, in the earliest mythologies, is portrayed with the insignia of the goat, and Libyan Jupiter with the horns of the ram; Osiris, or the sun, assumed the same character during the vernal equinox; and both Jupiter and Minerva, whom men in after ages idolatrously worshipped, claimed alike the ægis, or goat-skin, for a breastplate.

Much of history and tradition is associated with the mention of this constellation, or rather, perhaps, of the animal from which it derives a name. The Macedonians were denominated Egeadeæ, or the goats' people, at least

two hundred years before the era of the prophet Daniel; and such is the origin of so strange an appellation. Those who departed from the worship of the true God seem to have been given up to the wildest imaginings: they consulted oracles, and followed whatever vague or ambiguous directions were suggested by craft or policy. Hence it was that Coranus, the first King of Greece, when going with a large company of people to seek a settlement in Macedonia, was commanded by an oracle to take the goats for his guides to empire. He accordingly followed a herd of these creatures, that hastened to shelter themselves from a violent storm; but the country being open, and neither rocks nor woods within reach, they went on till they came to Egessa: at that place, accordingly, Coranus halted, and commenced the building of a city: he made the goats his standards, and called the city Egea, or the goats' town; and the people Ægeadeæ, or the goats' people. The city, thus singularly founded, became in after years the burying-place of the Macedonian kings; and moreover, Alexander the Great, mindful of its singular origin, gave to his infant son, who was born there, the name of Alexander Ægus, or the son of the goat.

We have thought it desirable to give the letters of the Greek alphabet, as they continually occur on celestial charts :

"How beautiful the scene! Ten thousand stars
Move in the heavens at their own free will.'
The moon, her higher destiny to fill,

Rideth resplendent as the shield of Mars!

The sea beneath is tranquil as a child

Hush'd by caresses on its mother's breast,
There sleeping like a statue that doth rest,
By dreams unmoved."
EDWARD MOXON.

APRIL is a charming month for star-gazing; the nights are less cold and frosty than in March, but the constellations sparkle with equal beauty.

Look towards the Pole-star, and hold that part of the starry circle uppermost which is opposite to the beginning of April. You will readily perceive that such stars as are delineated on the upper portion appear not far from the zenith, or nearly overhead; others, on the lower part, seem verging on the horizon; those to the right occupy situations eastward; those on the left, positions westward, though differing in elevations. At a considerable height above the Pole-star are the two pointers

of the Great Bear; and at nearly an equal distance beneath shines the constellation Cassiopea. Westward of the Ethiop queen is stationed Perseus, of which Algenib is the chief star; and both are at only a small elevation above the northern horizon. Eastward of Cassiopeia is Cepheus, presenting a kind of square or rhombus, formed of four stars, two of the third and two of the fourth magnitude, among which Alderamin is the most conspicuous. Stars further to the east, and holding a more elevated position, mostly pertain to the constellation Draco, or the Dragon, coiling at apparently a short distance from the Pole-star; and nearly due east is the star Etanim, belonging to this constellation: Westward, or on the left hand, and almost opposite to Etanim, are bright stars composing the constellation Auriga. Among these Capella and Alajoth shine conspicuous: the former appears nearly W. by S. from the Pole-star, at a considerable elevation; with Menkalina, pertaining also to Auriga, and beaming eastward. The chief stars connected with the Great Bear, although figured as guides amongst the starry glitter, are too well known to render any further description necessary.

Such are the prominent constellations which diversify the northern part

of the heavens about the beginning of this pleasant month, when stars and flowers delight equally the astronomer and botanist. There are also several brilliant stars of the first magnitude which require notice. Look, therefore, E. by S., and the beauteous star Arcturus may be seen in the constellation Boötes, about midway between the horizon and the zenith: north-east appears a star of not less beauty-Vega or Lyra, elevated 20° above the horizon, in a direction nearly opposite Capella. Deneb, pertaining to the Swan, shines farther north, and at a lower elevation than the Lyre. Midway between the western horizon and the zenith, yet verging to the west, Castor and Pollux recall the thoughts to a period of remote antiquity. Further down, and nearly on the horizon, almost due west, are Betelgeux and Ballatrix, in the shoulders of Orion, who has partially descended below the horizon. South-west, and midway between Pollux and the horizon gleams Procyon, a star of the first magnitude, in Canis Minor, or the Lesser Dog.

With reference to such among the heavenly luminaries as are depicted in the circle, it must be held in mind that they are perpetually visible, leading a circling dance above the horizon, and having the Pole-star as their

centre.

It is likewise desirable to remember that, as the observer is supposed to be in 52° north latitude, all stars within 52° of the pole never descend below the horizon, varying as the weeks roll on; at one time seemingly above the pole, and even near the zenith; at another, even below that point, and verging near the northern horizon. When riding high, they appear to move from east to west; when otherwise, from west to east. Such as are near the Pole-star describe small circles; such as take a wider range necessarily describe larger ones; but their periods of apparent revolution are the same-that is, 23h. 56m. 4sec.

Such stars as we have thought it desirable to represent are prominent and obvious in the heavens; others might have been introduced, but they would tend to perplex beginners; and in order most readily to estimate apparent distances between the stars, as also from the horizon, it will be found a great assistance to bear in mind that the space between the two pointers comprises exactly 5o, and between Dubhe, nearest to the pole, and the Polestar, 290.

We recommend our readers to make a pasteboard circle, as the one we have pictured, though much larger, and copy the stars thereon; to obtain, also, a square board, or piece of thick pasteboard, and form a larger circle of months and days, the lesser circle being affixed to the larger, about the centre, so as to move readily. An astronomical clock may be thus obtained for pointing out the hours of the night, and showing the positions of the circumpolar stars at any hour of the day or night. The idea is suggested by a most ingenious planetarium, to which we are indebted for much

instruction.

Our last two chapters spoke concerning the mythological history of some distinguished constellations; we shall now refer to the phenomena of double stars in each, as discovered by the aid of telescopes, premising our remarks by saying that little was known with regard to this interesting subject till Sir William Herschel commenced his extensive observations on the sidereal heavens. Astronomers were, indeed, previously aware that double stars held an interesting place among their brethren, but they had not extended