THE STARS FOR MAY. TOWARD the north (p. 116), we now see the Plough, or Dipper raised directly above the Pole-star; the constellation of the Great Bear occupying a much wider region of the sky. The Little Bear, which last month had passed just above the horizontal position, has its length now in the position of the minute hand of a clock eight or nine minutes past the hour. Since I wrote the account of the stars for April, I have come across a singular Arabian picture of a part of the northern heavens, from which it would seem that anciently the two Bears had their feet in the same direction. From the picture of the Little Bear, shown in Fig. 13, you will see that the feet of the animal are toward the stars n and or away from the Great Bear; and the feet of the Great Bear are toward μ, λ, etc., of that constellation, or away from the Little Bear. So that the Bears are back to back; ولا Fig. 18.-Ancient view of Ursa Minor. and whenever one is placed, as in Nature, with his plantigrade feet lowermost, the other has his legs wildly waving above him, which, on the whole, seems absurd. Now, in |