Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1888-04-21
TIE MILKY WAY.
ITS ORIGIN AS ACCOUNTED FOR
IN VARIOUS LEGENDS.

The Story as Told In Greek FabI.-Tbe
| sheaf of Straw-Saxon Tradition-Ths
! Bushmen's Beiief-MeteoroIogica icaI Phe-
nomena-Forecasts.
The brilliant appearai 70 and prominent
color of the Milky Way have not failed to
give rise to many curic us names and To
many legends as TO its rrigin.
According to the Greek fable, it was
produced by the milk of Hera Juno.
| Children born of Jupiter's illicit amours
could only inherit divine honors if suckled
| by this lawful spouse of the great Olym-
| plan god Hercules was thus introduced
to the goddess, who became so angered
when she discovered the substitute infant
| that she threw him from her breast and
the milk flew across the sky, forming the
galaxy. Ilyginus says the Latin legend
substituted Ops, spouse of Saturn, fer
Juno and the occasion was the presenta-
tion of a stone to her for the true child.
A Sicilian legend says the milk was from
the Madonna'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
Wallacha, relates that Venus purloined
sheaf of straw one night from st. Peters
mills, and in her hasty flight toward her
celestial abode scattered il across the sky,
where we see it now on cloudless nights.
A Dalmatian tradition ascribes the loss of
the straw to St. Peter himself, and calls
the galaxy ''the Straw of St. Peter" Ac-
cording to a Crotian legend, it was caused
by a man who. having stolen sheaf OF
straw from his foster father, was hasten
ing away with his burden, when the bun
die broke and the straw scattered about.
To recall for ever the theft. God placed
the straw in the heavens, where it still
gltters. The name given TO the galaxy in
Servia and Albania is "Godfathers
Straw" Similar traditions must have
given rise 10 names bestowed upon IL In
other countries. 1t is known as the
"Strawy" in Boznia; as the STRAW
Road" in Sandman, in Magyar, in Modern
Hebrew, Coptic and Ethiopian; as the
"Hoad of the Straw" in Arab, Rabyle and
Syriac, and as the Scattering of the
Straw" in the Magyar dialect. An Ar
menian appellation is ''Stealer Of Straw"
and Persian titles are Path of the Car
riers of the Cut Straw" and Way of Car,
rying Chaff.
The peculiar whiteness of the Milky
Way is also evidently referred to in it its
Transylvanian name of the" "Floury Way"
and its Westphalian titles, the Road to
Mill" and the SANDY Path" There are
other legends TO account for its appear
ance A Saxon tradition relates that the
world took fire some ages ago and burned |
until it was consumed. God gathered to-
gether the cinders and united them in
fpr I,-l t,l
leaving whitish brilliancy, in the midst |
of which still burn some live Goals. About |
the entire heavens are dispersed other |
burning embers. Sometimes spark |
shoots from hidden bunch of them, be- |
coming a shooting star,
Bushmen say the galaxy is formed Of |
ashes cast there long ago by young |
woman, SO that her parents might he able |
to find their way home. Another legend |
assigns different origin TO it, A young |
woman, angry with her stingy mother be, |
cause she would give her but a small |
quantity of certain red nut to eat, cast |
quantities of it from her into the sky, |
wnere it became the stars and the Milky |
Way.
Like the rainbow and other prominent |
celestial appearances the Milky Way is |
connected in popular tradition with |
meteorological phenomena. In West |
phalia 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.r and in Picardy it is called |
"Foot of the Wind" Tahitians call the
bright band "Flying Cloud" and solid
Cloud" 1t is Band of the Aurora" in
Magyar lands, and the Evening Ray in
Westphalia In the latter country the
galaxy is said to be in the middle of the
world and the sun stops there regularly
at meridian. II is also believed to turn
with the sun, and hence first appears
from the quarter in which the sun has
set. Similar notions of the cosmograph-
ical Importance of the Milky Way prob
ably gave il its Arab name Mother OF
Heaven" An old Arab poet alludeS 10
It as the "Mother of the Confused Stars.
Appearing only by night, prognostica-
tions 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 fall during the coming
winter If by the end of 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 will fall long be-
fore Christmas. If the whole band is
very bright, snow will fall before and
after Christmas. Icelanders also prog
nosticate the winter weather from the APP
pearance of the Milky Way in autumn.
In our own country, many people believe
that the edge of the Milky Way which
Is the brightest indicates the direction
from which the approaching storm will
Gomez S Bassett in Globe Democrat