the old Arabian picture, drawn in the eleventh century, we find the Little Bear turned the other way. His tail still lies toward the Pole-star, but his feet lie toward the Great Bear, -the fore-feet at the stars 4 and 5; so that the Bears come into their natural attitude simultaneously. The accompanying picture (Fig. 18) is copied from the very rough drawing of the Arabian astronomers, except that the stars are represented a little more clearly than in their drawing. Only six stars are

shown. The bear is not a very good-looking one, still he is more like a bear than the long-tailed creature in the account of the stars for March. To say the truth, astronomy cannot be said to distinguish itself pictorially, though serious confusion would follow a sudden changing of its familiar representations.

The constellation Cassiopeia (Fig. 19) is well placed in May for observation, and I therefore give here a brief account of this ancient star-group.

According to Hyginus, Cassiopeia and Cepheus were placed in the heavens with their heads turned from the pole, so as to swing head downward beneath it, because Cassiopeia boasted that her beauty surpassed that of the Nereids. It is convenient to keep this in mind, not because her error of judgment (she had not even seen the Nereids) was of much importance, but as a help to the memory. The star, the remotest from the pole of all shown in our northern map as belonging to Cassiopeia, marks her head; and her queenly robes flow toward and 50, though in most pictures of Cassiopeia a raised dais is placed where these stars are. The figure shows the position of the lady with respect to the

stars.

Fig. 20.-Two views of Cassiopeia's Chair.

You will see that, in order to make it agree with the constellation as now seen, the picture must be inverted. Flammarion, in his book on the heavens, strangely mistakes the position of the chair. I quote from Mr. Blake's work based on Flammarion's, and for the most part a translation; but possibly the error is Mr. Blake's. He says "the chair is composed principally of five stars, of the third magnitude, arranged in the form of an M. A smaller star, of the fourth magnitude (*), completes the square formed by the three, B, a, and y. The figure thus formed has a fair resemblance to a chair or throne, & and forming the back; and hence the justification for its popular name." But, apart from the

agreement of all the old authorities as to the position of the chair, there can be no doubt that the six leading stars of the constellation show a much closer resemblance to a chair, having ẞ and a for the back, or like the first picture in Fig. 20; that, too, is the shape of ancient chairs. People who lived in the years B.C. did not loll; like Mrs. Wilfer in more recent times, they were "incapable of it." Now the group of stars placed as in the second drawing of Fig. 20 forms an unmistakably easy chair.

It is useful to remember the letters corresponding to the brighter stars, and any aid to the memory, however absurd in itself, is worth 'noticing if it helps to recall the arrangement of the letters. It will be observed that the five leading stars of Cassiopeia have the first five letters of the Greek alphabet. To remember their order, notice that, beginning with the top rail of the chair, they follow thus, ß, a, y, d, and, making the word "bagde," or, in sound, "bagged." I have myself found this aid to the memory so often useful, that I do not hesitate to mention it, like those others relating to the heads of Cepheus and Hydra. (I add, in passing, that the head of Cassiopeia, like that of Cepheus, has a star in it.) It is not with the least idea of raising a laugh about these absurd combinations that I mention them; though I can see no reason on earth why science should be studied always with a serious face. But these little helps to the memory, or others like them which the student can make for himself, are often very useful.

γ

For instance, I proceed to note that the two stars and € of Cassiopeia point toward a most wonderful and beautiful cluster of stars, lying about twice as far from 8 as d does from y. If you remember the names of the five leading stars, this direction at once shows you where to look for the cluster, without referring anew to any map. Of course, the northern map belonging to this paper also shows you how to find the cluster, which is marked in its proper place. But it is well to remember the way in which & and y point to it. In the sky, the cluster can only just be seen on clear nights as a

small round mist. If, however, you turn a small telescope, or even a good opera-glass, upon it, you will see that it is sparkling all over with stars. In a powerful telescope, it is one of the most wonderful objects you can imagine. You see at a single view, in that little spot of misty light, more stars-that is to say, more suns-than the unaided eye can see in the whole sky on the darkest and clearest night!

The constellation Perseus, or the Rescuer of Andromeda, is now approaching the region below the pole, and in England is fairly well seen when thus placed. But in the greater part of the United States, the southern half of the constellation passes below the horizon as it approaches the northern sky. It will be well, therefore, for American students to look for Perseus half an hour, or even an hour, earlier than the times mentioned in the northern Chart, noticing that the stars y and 8-of Cassiopeia-or, better, the stars and d—point toward Perseus. It is impossible to mistake the beautiful festoon of stars, ŋ, y, a, d, μ, and λ, with other smaller stars shown in the northern map, which form the northern half of the constellation Perseus. In the section for June I shall give a brief account of the constellation, and especially of the star Algol, one of the most remarkable variable stars in the whole heavens.

For the present, however, we must turn toward the southern heavens, p. 117.

E.

The zodiacal constellation for the month is Virgo, or the Virgin (Fig. 21). The maiden is usually represented as an angel, her head between the stars o and v, and marking the upper part of the wing, while the other wing has its tip near She has in her hand an ear of corn, whose place is marked by the bright star, Spica, so that the young lady's feet lie on a part of the constellation beyond the range of the map. It is easy to recognize the constellation by the bright star Spica, and the corner formed by the five third magnitude. stars, e, d, y, 7, and B. For some cause or other,—a celestial reason, no doubt, since no earthly reason can be imagined, this corner was called by Arabian astronomers

"the retreat of the howling dog." The order of these star letters is nearly identical with that of the five stars of the same magnitude in Cassiopeia-Begde instead of Bagde. According to the ancients, Virgo represented Ceres, or Isis,

or Erigone, or the Singing Sibyl, or some one else," as Admiral Smyth conveniently adds; some of the moderns have recognized in her the Virgin Mary. Most probably she was at first intended to represent a gleaner in the field,