Daily Davenport gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1854-1855, 1855-08-22
Fog DAYS.

Dictionary says, "they are certain days in
July and August, commonly from the 24th
Of the former to the 2Sth of the latter, which
are very hot, the dog.star increasing the
heat, and vulgarly reckoned unwholesome. :"
The dog-days, says Chambers, precedc and
follow the heliscal rising Of the star Sirius,
| in the constellation Of the Great Dog, in
the morning, which, in Pliny's time. was
the 18th Of July.
Even IN modern, as well as ancient times,
this cheated term" has been connected with
the appearance Of this star in The morning;
though the extreme heat is palpably the e.
fort OF the continued high position Of the
sun. Now the fact is known, that the Dog
Star cannot increase the heat, because, by
the procession of the equinoxcs, its heliacal
rising will, in few thousand years, take
place in the depth Of winter. 1t now oc-
ours the lattar end OF August.
But the star suffers and 50 does its name
sakes, the canine race, from vulgar idea
that il increases the liability Of dogs to ra-
bies. At Argos, festival was expressly
Instituted for the killing Of dogs q, this sea
son, and the institution seems TO be pre-
served, Mt the present time IN our cities.
DR.. Hutton remafkf, that some authors
day this star first rises in the morning, the
sea boi!s, the wine turns sour, dogs begin TO
grow mad, the bile increases and initiates,
and all animals grow languid; slso, "the dis
enses it usually occasions in men, are burn
ing fever, Mysteries, and phrensies." The
Romans sacrificed brown dog every year
TO Cunicula, at his first rising, to appease
his rage. Sirius, it is to be remarked, is
iiardly near enough TO this earth, to produce
such effects us to increase the heat Of Sum
mer. Sirius is supposed TO be the nearest
Of the fixed stars TO us, but merely because
it is the most brilliant, and it has been
reckoncd TO give us only one twenty mil.
lionth part Of the light Of the sun: and sup
posing il TO be OF the same size, and every
other way alike, it should be distant from
our earth not less than 100000, 900 ,000.-
600 COO. according to Chambers figures.
Again, ii has been found that Sirius is so
distant, that an angle formed between it
and the two eXtremIties Of the ear'h's orb I,
is too small TO be appreciated. Were it so
much as a second, or the 3GU0th part OF n de-
gree it could be appreciated BY the nice in
strumerts OF the present day. but i is not
even this, and hence it is concluded that
Sirius must be at least 10 300 600 900 of
miles distant, however much more. Sap
posing this to be its distance its light
would take three years 10 reach us, and
cannon ball from II more than bali million
of yenrs. We are about as much in duneer
OF { Cann0nade from IL, rs we are Of an in
crease OF heat from the same source. AT
its distance, its rays cannot add sen.ibly 10
the heat OF our summer, nor cause the dogs
TO 20 mad
This absurdity, that the rising Of Sirius
increases summer heats and produces rabies
in dogs, is not Of Egyptian origin, though
the Egy ptians typiied the Star AS dog, and
hence it has got the name Of the dog-star,
and the reputation SO banetul to canine Sc
curly.
"The Egyptians were taught" says the
wrter,"by long experience and observation,
that as soon as particular star, (ihe one in
question: becomes visible, the Nile would
overflow its banks; and they accordingly,
upon It's very first appearance, retreu,ed to
their terraces, where they remained I'LL the
inundation had subsided This star was
therefore called by them Siton---i e. the
Nile, as is !Sirios in Greek and Sirius in
Latin; and from the warning it afforded
them, they typiied it as a Dog, or IN most
cases, as man with u dogs hesd:-ihat
faithful animal having been, even in those
times, distinguished tor his peculiar qualities
Of wa ching over the affairs Of man, and ai-
fnrding warning of approaching danger.
The name assigned to this star by the Egyp-
tians, was Ihanut or 1agant, the dog, and
i'll latter times, Sothis, Ihotis or Thoi, each
bearing the like Specification; but it was
lief, for the subsequent ignorance of thuse