ting and placed in the hands of any other pupil, they will answer nearly the same end. This is the method which I nave pursued in this work. The descriptive part of it, at least, was not composed by the light of the sun, principally, nor of a lamp, but by the light of the stars themselves. Having fixed upon the most conspicuous star, or group of stars, in each constellation, as it passed the meri. dian, and with a pencil carefully noted all the identifying circumstances of position, bearing, brightness, number and distance—their geometrical allocation, if any, and such other descriptive features as seemed most worthy of notice, I then returned to my room to transcribe and classify these memoranda in their proper order; repeating the same observations at different hours the same evening, and on other evenings at various periods, for a succession of years; always adding such emendations as subsequent observations matured. To satisfy myself of the applicability of these descriptions, I have given detached portions of them to different pupils, and sent them out to find the stars; and I have generally had the gratification of hearing them report, that "every thing was just as I had described it." If a pupil found any difficulty in recognizing a star, I re- Xamined the description to see if it could be made better, and when I found it susceptible of improvement, it was made on the spot. It is not pretended, however, that there is not yet much room for improvement; for whoever undertakes to delineate or describe every visible star in the heavens, assumes a task, in the accomplishment of which, he may well claim some indulgence.

The maps which accompany the work, in the outlines and arrangement of the constellations, are essentially the same with those of Dr. Wollaston. They are projected upon the same principles as maps of Geography, exhibiting a faithful portraiture of the heavens for every month, and consequently for every day in the year, and do not require to be rectified, for that purpose, like globes.

They are calculated, in a good measure, to supersede the neces sity of celestial globes in schools, inasmuch as they present a more natural view of the heavenly bodies, and as nearly all the problems which are peculiar to the celestial globe, and a great number besides, may be solved upon them in a very simple and satisfactory manner. They may be put into the hands of each individual in a class at the same time, but a globe cannot be. The student may conveniently hold them before his eye to guide his survey of the heavens, but a globe he cannot. There is not a conspicuous star in the firmament which a child of ten years may not readily find by their aid. Besides, the maps are always right and ready for use, while the globe is to be rectified and turned to a particular meridian; and then if it be not held in that position for the time being, it is liable to be moved by the merest accident or breath of wind.

There is another consideration which renders an artificial globe of very little avail as an auxiliary for acquiring a knowledge of the stars while at school. It is this:-the pupil spends one perhaps two weeks, in solving the problems, and admiring the figures on it, in which time it has been turned round and round a hundred times; it is then returned safely to its case, and some months afterwards, or it may be the next evening, he directs his eye upwards to recog

nize his acquaintance among the stars. He may find hitself able to rccollect the names of the principal stars, and the unconta forms by which the constellations are pictured out; but which or all the positions he has placed the globe in, is now so present to his mina that he is enabled to identify it with any portion of the visible her vers?

He looks in vain to see,

"Lions and Centaurs, Gorgons, Hydras rise,
And gods and heroes blaze along the skies."

He finds, in short, that the bare study of the globe is one thing and that of the heavens quite another; and he arrives at the con clusion, that if he would be profited, both must be studied and com pared together. This, since a class is usually furnished with but one globe, is impracticable. In this point of view also, the maps are preferable.

I have endeavoured to teach the Geography of the heavens in nearly the same manner as we teach the Geography of the earth What that does in regard to the history, situation, extent, popula tion and principal cities of the several kingdoms of the earth, I have done in regard to the constellations; and I am persuaded, that a knowledge of the one may be as easily obtained, as of the other. The systems are similar. It is only necessary to change the terms in one, to render them applicable to the other. For this reason, I have yielded to the preference of the publisher in calling this work "Geography of the Heavens," instead of URANOGRAPHY, or some other name more etymologically apposite.

That a serious contemplation of those stupendous works of the Most High, which astronomy unfolds, is calculated above all other departments of human knowledge, to enlarge and invigorate the powers of religious contemplation, and subserve the interests of rational piety, we have the testimony of the most illustrious characters that have adorned our race.

If the work which I now submit, shall have this tendency, I shall not have written in vain. Hitherto, the science of the stars has been but very superficially studied in our schools, for want of proper helps. They have continued to gaze upon the visible heavens without comprehending what they saw. They have cast a vacant eye upon the splendid pages of this vast volume, as children amuse themselves with a book which they are unable to read. They have caught here and there, as it were a capital letter, or a picture, but they have failed to distinguish those smaller characters on which the sense of the whole depends. Hence, says an eminent English Astronomer, "A comprehensive work on Descriptive Astronomy, detailing, in a popular manner, all the facts which have been ascertained respecting the scenery of the heavens, accompanied with a variety of striking delineations, accommodated to the capacity of youth, is a desideratum." How far this desirable end is acccmplished by the following work, I humbly leave to the publ. to decide.

Hartford, Feb. 1833.

INTRODUCTION.

ADVANTAGES OF THE STUDY OF ASTRONOMY

BY

THOMAS DICK, LL. D.

ASTRONOMY is a science which has, in all ages, engaged the attention of the poet, the philosopher, and the divine, and been the subject of their study and admiration. Kings have descended fron, their thrones to render it homage, and have sometimes enriched it with their labours; and humble shepherds, while watching their flocks by night, have beheld with rapture the blue vault of heaven, with its thousand shining orbs moving in silent grandeur, till the morning star announced the approach of day.-The study of this science must have been co-eval with the existence of man. For there is no rational being who, for the first time, has lifted his eyes to the nocturnal sky, and beheld the moon walking in brightness among the planetary orbs and the host of stars, but must have been struck with awe and admiration at the splendid scene, and its sublime movements, and excited to anxious inquiries into the nature, the motions, and the destinations of those far-distant orbs. Compared with the splendour, the amplitude, the august motions, and the ideas of infinity which the celestial vault presents, the most resplendent terrestrial scenes sink into inanity, and appear unworthy of being set in competition with the glories of the sky.

Independently of the sublimity of its objects, and the pleasure arising from their contemplation, Astronomy is a study of vast utility, in consequence of its connexion with terrestrial arts and sciences, many of which are indebted to the observations and the principles of this science for that degree of perfection to which they have attained.

Astronomy has been of immense utility to the science of

GEOGRAPHY;

for it is chiefly in consequence of celestial observations that the true figure of the earth has been deinonstrated and its density as certained. It was from such observations, made on the mountain Schehallien in Scotland, that the attraction of mountains was deermined. The observations, were made by taking the meridian distances of different fixed stars near the zenith, first on the south, and afterwards on the north side of the hill, when the plumb line of

the Sector was found, in both cases, to be deflected from the perpendicular towards the mountain; and, from calculations founded on the quantity of this deflection, the mean density of the earth was ascertained. It was likewise by means of celestial observations that the length of a degree of the meridian was measured, and the circumference of the globe, with all its other dimensions accurately ascertained; for, to ascertain the number of degrees between any two parallels on the Earth's surface, observations must be taken, with proper instruments, of the sun or of the stars, at different stations; and the accurate measurement of the terrestrial distance between any two stations or parallels, partly depends on astronomical observations combined with the principles and operations of Trigonometry. So that without the aids of his science. the figure and density, the circumference and diameter of our terrestrial habitation, and the relative position of places on its surface, could never have been ascertained.

Astronomy is likewise of great utility to the art of

NAVIGATION;

without a certain knowledge of which the mariner could never have traced his course through pathless oceans to remote regionsthe globe would never have been circumnavigated, nor an intercourse opened between the inhabitants of distant lands. It is of essential importance to the navigator, not only to know the situation of the port to which he is bound, but also to ascertain with precision, on what particular portion of the terraqueous globe he is at any time placed-what course he is pursuing-how far he has travelled from the port at which he embarked-what dangerous rocks or shoals lie near the line of his course-and in what direction he must steer, in order to arrive, by the speediest and the safest course, to his destined haven. It is only, or chiefly, by astronomical obser vations that such particulars can be determined. By accurately observing the distance between the moon and certain stars, at a particular time, he can calculate his distance East or West from a given meridian; and, by taking the meridian altitude of the sun or of a star, he can learn his distance from the Equator or from the poles of the world. In such observations, a knowledge of the constellations, of the polestar, and of the general positions of all the stars of the first and second magnitude, is of particular importance; and, therefore, a navigator who is unacquainted with the science of the heavens, ought never to be appointed to conduct a ship through the Indian, the Atlantic, or the Pacific oceans, or through any portions of the sea which is not within sight of land. By the observations founded on astronomical science, which have been made in different regions, by mariners and travellers of various descriptions, the latitudes and longitudes of the principal places on the globe, and their various bearings and relations have been determined, so that we can now take a view of the world we inhabit in all its multifarious aspects, and direct our course to any quarter of it, either for business, for pleasure, or for the promotion of philanthropic objects. Thus, Astronomy has likewise become of immense utility io Trade and Commerce, in opening up new emporiums for our