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Other writers say that Bootes invented the chariot, and that Auriga was the son of Mercury, and charioteer to Enomaus, king of Pisa, and so experienced, that he rendered his horses the swiftest in all Greece. But as neither of these fables seems to account for the goat and her kids, it has been supposed that they refer to Amalthea and her sister Melissa, who fed Jupiter, during his infancy, with goat's milk, and that, as a reward for their kindness, they were placed in the heavens. But there is no reason assigned for their being placed in the arms of Auriga, and the inference is unavoidable, that mythology is at fault on this point.

Jamieson is of opinion that Auriga is a mere type or scientific symbol of the beautiful fable of Phaeton, because he was the attendant of Phoebus at that remote period when Taurus opened the year.

TELESCOPIC OBJECTS.

1. a AURIGE (Capella)-A fine star with two distant companions, on the right shoulderblade of Auriga; R. A. 5h. 04m. 53s.; Dec. N. 45° 49′ 07′′. A 1, bright white; B 12, pale blue; C 9, grey.

2. B AURIGE (Menkalina)—▲ bright star in the left shoulder, with a distant companion; R. A. 5h. 47m. 48s.; Dec. N. 44° 55' 3". A 2, yellow; B 10%, bluish.

3. A RICH CLUSTER of minute stars, on the left 44' 9" A singular figure, somewhat like a cross. through ẞ Tauri, and about 7° beyond.

thigh; R. A. 5h. 18m. 41s.; Dec. N. 35° Find by a line from Rigel, northwards

4. A RESOLVABLE NEBULA; R. A. 5h. 20m. 51s.; Dec. N. 84° 06′ 9′′. Situated in a rich field of minute stars.

CAMELOPARDALUS (THE CAMELOPARD).—MAP VI.

88. This constellation was made by Hevelius out of the unformed stars which lay scattered between Perseus, Auriga, the head of Ursa Major, and the Pole star. It is situated directly N. of Auriga and the head of the Lynx, and occupies nearly all the space between these and the pole. It contains 58 small stars; the five largest of which are only of the 4th magnitude.

89. The principal star lies in the thigh, and is about 20° from Capella, in a northerly direction. It marks the northern boundary of the temperate zone; being less than one degree S. of the Arctic circle. There are two other stars of the 4th magnitude, near the right knee, 12° N. E. of the first mentioned. They may be known by their standing 1° apart and alone.

The other stars in this constellation are too small, and too much scattered to invite observation.

HISTORY.

The Camelopard is so called from an animal of that name, peculiar to Ethiopia. This animal resembles both the camel and the leopard. Its body is spotted like that of the leopard. Its neck is about seven feet long, its fore and hind legs from the hoof to the second joint, are nearly of the same length; but from the second joint of the legs to the body, the fore legs are so long in comparison with the hind ones, that no person could sit upon its back without instantly sliding off, as from a horse that stood up on his hind feet.

TELESCOPIC OBJECTS.-Alpha? Beta? Cluster? Nebulæ ?

88. Origin of Camelopardalus? Situation and extent? Number and size of its stars? 89. Where is its principal star? The next two? How known? HISTORY.-Any mythological story? What said of the animal?

TELESCOPIC OBJECTS.

1. a CAMELOPARDALI-A neat DOUBLE STAR between the hind feet of the animal, half way between a Persei and d in the head of Auriga; R. A. 4h. 19m. 23s.; Dec. N. 53° 33 3" A 7%, white; B 8, sapphire blue.

2. Another close DOUBLE STAR, between the hind feet; R. A. 4h. 27m. 18s.; Dec. N. 53° 09. A 5%, yellow; B. 7%, pale blue.

3. A very delicate DOUBLE STAR in the animal's hind hoof; R. A. 4h. 44m. 28s.; Dec. N 53° 29' 3". A 5, white; B 18, orange.

4. A fine DOUBLE STAR in the lower part of the back of the neck; R. A. 4h. 46m. 19s. Dec. N. 79° 01′ 8′′. A 5%, light yellow; B 9, pale blue. 5. A bright PLANETARY NEBULA, of a bluish nind flank of the animal, R. A. 4h. 53m. 29s. rich field of small stars.

white tint, about 60" in diameter, in the Dec. N. 60° 23' 5". A curious body, in a

CHAPTER IV.

CONSTELLATIONS ON THE MERIDIAN IN FEBRUARY.

THE LYNX.-MAPS III. AND VI.

90. THIS constellation, like that of the Camelopard, exhibits no very interesting features by which it can be distinguished. It contains only a moderate number of inferior stars, scattered over a large space N. of Gemini, and between Auriga and Ursa Major.

91. The whole number of stars in this constellation is 44, including only three that are so large as the 3d magnitude. The largest of these, near the mouth, is in the solstitial colure, 14° N. of Menkalina, in the E. shoulder of Auriga. The other two principal stars are in the brush of the tail, 3° S. W. of another star of the same brightness in the mouth of the Lesser Lion, with which it makes a small triangle. Its centre is on the meridian at 9 o'clock on the 23d, or at half-past 7 on the 1st of February.

TELESCOPIC OBJECTS.

1. A close DOUBLE STAR, in the nose of the Lynx; R. A. 6h. 07m. 51s.; Dec. N. 59° 25' 8" About 80° from the Pole star, on a line toward Sirius. A 6, and B 7, both white. An elegant but difficult object.

2. A close DOUBLE STAR in the eye of the Lynx, between Dubhi and Capella; R. A. 6h 88m. 57s.; Dec. N. 59° 37' 6". A 5%, golden yellow; B 7, purple. A delicate and pretty object.

3. A coarse TRIPLE STAR on the animal's lower jaw; R. A. 6h. 12m. 50s.; Dec. N. 58" 29' 7". A. 6, orange tinge; B 13, blue; and C 9, pale garnet.

4. A ROUND NEBULA, in the Lynx, or fore paws of Leo Minor; R. A. 9h. 14m. 32s. Dec. N. 35° 11' 9". It is pale white, sparkling in the centre.

TELESCOPIC OBJECTS.-Alpha? What other double stars? Nebula?

90. Describe the Lynx? Situation? 91. Number and size of its stars? Where is the largest situated? The other two principal stars?

TELESCOPIC OBJECTS.-What double stars? Triple? Nebula

TELESCOPIUM HERSCHELLII (HERSCHEL'S TELESCOPE).—

MAP III.

92. About midway between the body of the Lynx and Gemini, may be seen the rude figure of a refracting Telescope, with its stand. It was made out of a few informed stars, by Abbé Hell, in honor of Sir William Herschel, but is now generally discarded. It is retained on the map more as a matter of history than to perpetuate it as a constellation.

Не

GEMINI (THE TWINS).-MAP III.

93. This constellation represents, in a sitting posture, the twin brothers, Castor and Pollux. It is the third sign, but fourth constellation in the order of the Zodiac, and is situated south of the Lynx, between Cancer on the east, and Taurus on the west.

94. The plane of the Ecliptic passes through the centre of Gemini; and as the earth moves round in her orbit from the first point of Aries to the same point again, the sun, in the meantime, will appear to move through the opposite signs, or those which are situated right over against the earth, on the other side of her orbit. Accordingly, if we could see the stars as the sun appeared to move by them, we should see it passing over the constellation Gemini between the 21st of June and the 23d of July; but we seldom see more than a small part of any constellation through which the sun is then passing, because the feeble lustre of the stars is obscured by the superior effulgence of the sun.

When the sun is just entering the outlines of a constellation on the east, its western limit may be seen in the morning twilight, just above the rising sun. So when the sun has arrived at the western limit of a constellation, the eastern part of it may be seen lingering in the evening twilight, just behind the setting sun. Under other circumstances, when the sun is said to be in, or to enter, a particular constellation, it is to be understood that that constellation is not then visible, but that those opposite to it are. For example: whatever constellation sets with the sun on any day, it is plain that the one opposite to it must be then rising, and continue visible through the night. Also, whatever constellation rises and sets with the sun to-day, will, six months hence, rise at sun-setting, and set at sun-rising. For example: the sun is in the centre of Gemini about the 6th of July, and must rise and set with it on that day; consequently, six months from that time, or about the 4th of January, it will rise in the east, just when the sun is setting in the west, and will come to the meridian at midnight; being then exactly opposite the sun. And as the stars gain upon the sun at the rate of two hours every month, it follows that the centre of this constellation will, on the 17th of February, come to the meridian three hours earlier, or at 9 o'clock in the evening.

The sun is in the vernal equinox about the 21st of March, from whence it advances

92. What said of Herschel's Telescope? Why perpetuated on the map? 93. How 18 Gemini represented? Its order in the signs, &c.? Situation? 94. How with respect to the Ecliptic? What result from this fact? What remarks respecting the sun and constellations?

through one sign or constellation every succeeding month thereafter; and that each constellation is one month in advance of the sign of that name: wherefore, recho Pisces in March, Aries in April, Taurus in May, and Gemini in June, &c., beginning with each constellation at the 21st, or 22d of the month.

95. Gemini contains 85 stars, including two of the 2d, three of the 3d, and six of the 4th magnitudes. It is readily recognized by means of the two principal stars, Castor and Pollux, of the 1st and 2d magnitudes, in the heads of the Twins, about 41° apart.

There being only 11 minutes' difference in the transit of these two stars over the meridian, they may both be considered as culminating at 9 o'clock about the 24th of February. Castor, in the head of Castor, is a star of the 1st magnitude, 4° N. W. of Pollux, and is the northernmost and the brightest of the two. Pollux is a star of the 2d magnitude, in the head of Pollux, and is 4° S. E. of Castor. This is one of the stars from which the moon's distance is calculated in the Nautical Almanac.

"Of the famed Ledean pair,

One most illustrious star adorns their sign,
And of the second order shine twin lights."

96. The relative magnitude or brightness of these stars has undergone considerable changes at different periods; whence it has been conjectured by various astronomers that Pollux must vary from the 1st to the 3d magnitude. But Herschel, who observed these stars for a period of 25 years, ascribes the variation to Castor, which he found to consist of two stars, very close together, the less revolving about the larger once in 342 years and two months.

Bradley and Maskelyne found that the line joining the two stars which form Castor was, at all times of the year, parallel to the line joining Castor and Pollux; and that both of the former move around a common centre between them, in orbits nearly circular, as two balls attached to a rod would do, if suspended by a string affixed to the centre of gravity between them.

"These men," says Dr. Bowditch, "were endowed with a sharpness of vision, and a power of penetrating into space, almost unexampled in the history of astronomy."

97. About 20° S. W. of Castor and Pollux, and in a line nearly parallel with them, is a row of stars 3° or 4° apart, chiefly of the 3d and 4th magnitudes, which distinguish the feet of the Twins. The brightest of these is Alhena, in Pollux's upper foot; the next small star S. of it, is in his other foot; the two upper stars in the line next above Gamma, mark Castor's feet.

This row of feet is nearly two-thirds of the distance from Pollux to Betelguese in Orion, and a line connecting them will pass through Alhena, the principal star in the feet. About two thirds of the distance from the two in the head to those in the feet, and nearly parallel with them, there is another row of three stars about 6° apart, which mark the knees.

95. Number of stars in Gemini? Magnitudes? How recognize this constellation ? What said of the culmination of Castor, and of Pollux? 96. Are they variable? What did Bradley and Maskelyne ascertain? Remark of Bowditch? 97. What constitute the feet of Gemini ? Alhena ? How situated? What mark the knees?

98. There are, in this constellation, two other remarkable parallel rows, lying at right angles with the former; one, leading from the head to the foot of Castor, the brightest star being in the middle, and in the knee; the other, leading from the head to the foot of Pollux, the brightest star, called Wasat, being in the body, and Zeta, next below it, in the knee.

Wasat is in the ecliptic, and very near the center of the constellation. The two stars, Mu and Tejat, in the northern foot, are also very near the ecliptic; Tejat is a small star of between the 4th and 5th magnitudes, 2° W. of Mu, and deserves to be noticed because it marks the spot of the summer solstice, in the tropic of Cancer, just where the sun is on the longest day of the year, and is, moreover, the dividing limit between the torrid and the N. temperate zone.

Propus, also in the ecliptic, 2° W. of Tejat, is a star of only the 5th magnitude, but rendered memorable as being the star which served for many years to determine the position of the planet Herschel, after its first discovery.

HISTORY.

Castor and Pollux were twin brothers, sons of Jupiter, by Leda, the wife of Tyndarus, king of Sparta. The manner of their birth was very singular. They were educated at Pallena, and afterwards embarked with Jason in the celebrated contest for the golden fleece, at Colchis; on which occasion they behaved with unparalleled courage and bravery. Pollux distinguished himself by his achievements in arms and personal prowess, and Castor in equestrian exercises and the management of horses; whence they are represented, in the temples of Greece, on white horses, armed with spears, riding side by side, their heads crowned with a petasus, on whose top glitters a star. Among the ancients, and especially among the Romans, there prevailed a superstition that Castor and Pollux often appeared at the head of their armies, and led on their troops to battle and to victory.

"Castor and Pollux, first in martial force,

One bold on foot, and one renown'd for horse.

Fair Leda's twins in time to stars decreed,

One fought on foot, one curb'd the fiery steed."— Virgil.

"Castor alert to tame the foaming steed,

And Pollux strong to deal the manly deed."-Martial.

The brothers cleared the Hellespont and the neighboring seas from pirates after their return from Colchis; from which circumstance they have ever since been regarded as the friends and protectors of navigation. In the Argonautic expedition during a violent storm, it is said two flames of fire were seen to play around their heads, and immediately the tempest ceased, and the sea was calm. From this circumstance, the sailors inferred, that whenever both fires appeared in the sky, it would be fair weather; but when only one appeared, there would be storms.

St. Paul, after being wrecked on the island of Melita, embarked for Rome "in a ship whose sign was Castor and Pollux;" so formed, no doubt, in accordance with the popular belief that these divinities presided over the science and safety of navigation.

They were initiated into the sacred mysteries of Cabiri, and into those of Ceres at Eleusis. They were invited to a feast at which Lynceus and Idas were going to celebrate their nuptials with Phoebe and Telaria, the daughters of Leucippus, brother to Tyndarus. They became enamored of the daughters, who were about to be married, and resolved to supplant their rivals: a battle ensued, in which Castor killed Lynceus, and was himself killed by Idas. Pollux revenged the death of his brother by killing Idas; but being himself immortal and most tenderly attached to his deceased brother, he was unwilling to survive him; he therefore entreated Jupiter to restore him to life, or to be deprived himself of immortality; wherefore, Jupiter permitted Castor, who had been slain, to share the immortality of Pollux; and consequently as long as the one was upon earth, so long was the other detained in the infernal regions, and they alternately lived and died every day. Jupiter also further rewarded their fraternal attachment by changing them both

98. What other remarkable rows of stars in Gemini? Situation of Wasat? Of Tejat? Of Propus?

HISTORY.-Myth of the parentage of Gemini? Their achievements? Roman superstition? That of sailors? Allusion of St. Paul? Story of the fatal wedding?

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