Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1877-01-04
A Talk About the Stars.
IT is very pleasant to know the stars
to be able, like Milton's hermit, to
ssc;+ and riohtIy smell

IT is very pleasant to know the stars
to be able, like Millions hermit, to
sit and rightly spell
Of every star that heaven doth show"
And it is not at all difficult to learn all
the chief star groups-or consultations, as
they are called-if only the learner goes
properly to work Perhaps | ought rather
to say, if the teacher goes properly to
work | remember, when | was boy
about twelve years old, being very much
perplexed by the books Of astronomy, and
the star-charts, from which | tried to learn
the stars. There was g BOnnycastle's
Astronomy, 2 with very pretty picture of
one Observation-Disclosures which,
if one looked very carefully, one could
perceive stars, though these were nearly
lost in the carefully shaded picture of the
Chained Lady herself. Another book
which [ found in my fathers library
showed a series of neat pictures Of all the
chief consultations, but gave no clear in
formation as to their whereabouts. And
the charts which | found were not at all
easy to understand, being, in fact, the
usual star-charts, which give no informa-
ton whatever about the places of star
groups on the sky of any place or at any
time. So that it was only by working
my way from the Great Bear to constella-
tions close by it, then to others close by
these, and so on, that slowly learned the
CHIEF star groups.
Now the ancients, when they called a
group Of stars by any name, really imag
med some resemblance between the star
group and the figure after which they
named it. / have heard it said that the
liyeliest imagination cannot form figures
OF familiar objects out of the stars; but
fIiS IL n V11SI1Kp- for | Know
that when was lad, and before | had
learned to associate the stars with
the consultations at present in use,
/ used to imagine among the stars
the figures of such objects as
I was most familiar with. In the constel-
lation Of the Swan I saw a capital kite lit
is there to this,day) In the Great Bear,
/ saw the figure of toy very common at
that time in England, representing a
monkey that passed over the top of a
pole. The three stars forming the handle
of the Dipper made the tail of the monkey;
and if you look at the Dipper in the po-
sitiOn it now occupies in the early even
ing, you viii readily see the figure of a
climbing monkey. In Perseus | could
see garland of flowers such as my sisters
used to make. Orion was a climbing
giant when rising, but took the attitude of
to the West. In the Serpent-Bearer and
Serpent | saw mOnstrOus sword, shaped
like the curved saber which Saladin
welded and so forth. No doubt, in the
infancy Of astronomy, or perhaps of the
world itself, men were fanciful in the
same way and the figures they assigned
to the star-groups really seemed pictured
in the sky. The idea of separating the
consultations one from another WIS
much later one than that of merely nam
ing the more remarkable star groups. If
one set Of stars seemed to resemble any
object, and another set to resemble an
other object, | think the corresponding
names would have been given even
though some stars of oneset were included
with the other set In fact, / think this
very constellation of the Dragon seems to
me to show that our modern constellation
figures have been laI gelyreduCed in extent
You may, perhaps, think that it mat
tcrs very little what figures the ancients
really imagined among the stars But
you will be disposed to think differently
when | mention that the supposed want of
resemblance moan between the stars groups
and the figures assigned to them, has led
some to form the bold idea that there was
once strong resemblance, but that some
stars have gone out, others have shone
forth more strongly or are altogether new,
and that thus the resemblance has been
destroyed. When we remember that our
sun is only one among the vast number of
suns, it becomes rather serious matter
for the inhabitants of the earth if so many
suns have really changed For, in that
case, our sun may soon change in his
turn, and either broil us up with excess of
heat, or leave us to perish miserably from
extremity of cold However, l think the
explanation which have given shows
that the resemblance formerly imagined
still remains, and that it is only because
modern astronomy has locked the dimen-
sions of the old figures that theyn longer
correspond with their names. PROT. r..
4. Proctor, in So. Nicholas for Jaauary.
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