The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-04-11
THE MILKY WAY.
IT'S ORIGIN AS ACCOUNTED FOR
IN VARIOUS LEGENDS.

The story ~ ioiu w ''i''h '""' '"'
shoaf Of straw-saxon Tradition-The
Eu,hmen', BeIief-,Ieteorologica Pho
nomema-Torecasts
The brilliant appearance and prominent
color IL the Milky WAY have not failed to
give rise % many curious names and to
many LEGENDS as to its origin
According To- the Greek fable, 1t was
produced by the milk OF llerl Juno.
Children born OF Jupiter Illicit amourS
cOuld only inherit divine hOuur5 II sucked
by this lawful spouse Of the great Olym-
pian god Hercules was thus introduced
10 the goddess who became So Angered
when she discovered the substitute infant
that She threw him from her breast, ard
the milk flew across the sky forming the
galaxy lygiuus says the LATIN legend
substituted ops, spouse Of Saturn, Tor
Juno. and the occasion was the prc-cnta-
ton IL stone to her Tor the true child
A Siciiau legend says the mill, was from
the Madouna's breast, lost while she
searched for Jesus
A curious class Of legends accounts for
the creation of the bright band Of stars
across The heavens. One of these, from
Wallache relates that Venus purio.ned %
sheaf of straw one night from - Peters
mills. and in her hasty light toward her
celestial abode scattered 10 across the sky
where we see II now On clJudiess nights
\ Dalmatian tradition ascrbes the loss OF
the straw % -. Peter himself. and calls
the galaxy "the Straw OF st. Peter. Ac-
cOrd.ng 90 Cr0t.an legend, IL was caused
by man who, having stolen sheaf OF
D. g.. f... flst l..r.f IF Oh.
ing away with his burden, when the bun
de broke and the straw scattered about
TO recall for ever the thctt God placed
the strtV, IN tie heavens. where IL still
Clitter- The name given 10 the galaxy IN
Serya and Albania IS "Goitather's
Straw Similar traditions mus, have
given rise 10 names bestowed upon lt IN
other countries II is known It's the
"STawy' In RoznIai as the STRAW
Road .n Sandman ia Magyar, ia Modern
Hebrew Coptic and Ethiopian o5 the
Road al the straw ia Arab. Habyleand
Syr.ac. and rs the Scattering OF the
straw in the Magyar dialect. An Ar
mcuian appel lt.9u is ".;'ea,cr VI Straw '
and Persian titles ere path of the Car
rier8 0f The Gas straw and Way OF Car
ryug Cualt
The peculiar Nyhuouc>s of the Milky
WAY j. also evidently rsllrrcl to in Tits
Trausylyauiau name of The. ioury Way
anil its WcstUhalau titles. The Road 20
Mil" and tic sandy Path There afe
other Legends 10 account Tor its appear
auCc a ~1N0n tradition rcl0te5 tAat the
world took lle some ages ago. and burned
ultil il was consumed. Cod -atuegcd to-
e..her the cindcr- md united them in "A
lu.r0w They went out lule by little.
leaving q whirsh brlliaucg iG the midst
I'll which sull burn some live Goals. Ab0ul
Ill. entire heavens are dispersed other
bu,uiuz cmbrrs Sometimes spark
shoots n0m hidden bunch ot thom be-
coming - shooting star
Bushmeu say the galaxy Is formed of
ashes cast there l0nE ag0 by Young
7 woman. so chat her parents might be able
10 nnl their way home. Another legend
ns,i.us different origin % b. y young
woman. angry wi,h her stngy mother bee
cause size would give her bat small
quantity of certain red nut 10 eat, cast
| quantities Of it from her into tie Sky,
/ where 10 became tie stars and the Milky
Way.
Like the rainbow and other prominent
celestial appearances the Milky Way is
connected iu popular tradition with
/ meteorological phenomena III West
phalE. it Is called the Weather stripe
'Weather street and Weather Tree
and is also given the name OF Wind
/ free a Welsh name for it was Road
of the Wind, and in Picardy it Is called
/ Foot OF the Wind Iahtians call the
bright band Flying Cloud and solid
/ Cloud " II IS Band Of the Aurora in
7 Magyar lands. and the Evening Ray in
/ Westphalia In the latter country the
+ galaxy Is said % BE- m tho middle of Tie
world and the sun stops there regularly
al meridian n IS also believed TO turn
with the sun, and hence first appears
/ from the quarter IN which Tie sun has
SET similar notions of the clsmograph-
/ ical inheritance Of the Milky Way prob
/ ably gave ], it5 Arab name Mother OF
Heaven An old Arab poet ailudes 10
il as the Mother Of the Confused stars"
Appearing only by night, prOgnostica-
tons drawn from the luminous way are
not so numerous as in the case Of the
rainbow EsthOnians Judge by the more
or less brilliant appearance OF the amount
OF snow that Will TALL during the coming
winter II by the end 81 September the
northern end of the galaxy is very brill
liant, snow will not fall until Christmas IS
past: but il the south end is more brill
liant in appearance. snow viii fall long be-
4 fore Christmas. II the whole band is
very bright, snow viii fall before and
after Christmas. lcelauders also prog
nos.icate the winter weather from The ap
+ pearance Of the Milky Way IN autumn.
IN our own country, many people believe
THAI the edge Of Tie Milky Way which
IS the brightest indicates the direction
from which the approaching storm will
come H. > Bassetl IA Globe Democrat.
Ostrich Farming ~ Africa.
Tho chicken feathers are first plucked