Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-10-06

Il
southwest to northeast then passes nearly
overhead. In II or near II are the con-
stellations Ophiuchus. the Eagle. the Swan.
Cepheus. Cassiopeia, Perseus and Auriga
The Milky Way itself. simply a mass Of
Of every magnitude. particularly In the
neighborhood OF the Swan which may now
be seen nearly overhead.
The region on the northwestern side Of
the Milky Way contains the consultations
Hercules. the Tyre. the Northern Crown
the Dragon and the Two Bears.
In the southeast Is the monster constel-
lation Cetus. the Whale. remarkable not
less for its paucity OF stars than for its
great size; and directly south is the South
ern Fish. notable solely for its brilliant
star, Fomalhaut
Above the Whale and Fish runs the line
of the zodiacal ns-Sagittarius,
Capricorn, Aquarius. Pisces. Aries and Tau
rus; and between this line and the Milky
Way lie Andromeda and the winged horse.
Pegasus.
With the aid Of the planisphere one
should have little difficulty In locating all
Of these consultations. The Swan (Cyg-
nus may readily be recognized from the
croSs-like arrangement of its six brighter
stars. This asterism is, in fact, popularity
known as the Northern Cross, the star In
the head OF the Swan forming the foot of
the cross and the outer star in the southern
wing being omitted. The star In the tail
OF the Swan. Deneb Cygni. is considerably
brighter than the remaining FIVE and Is
sometimes regarded as OF the first magni-
tude the others being Of the second. 1t
will assist In Identifying this star to note
that 1t forms, with Vega, In the Tyre. and
Affair. In the Eagle q large isoceles trI-
angle, OF which Affair Is the apex. The
head Of the Swan is turned toward the
southwest, and the bird appears to be flying
or sailing along the course OF the Milky
Way.
1t Is hardly necessary to say that one
will seek In vain for the outlines of the
Swan as 1t Is represented here. The con-
stellation owes its name probably. to its
cross-like figure. this being a figure by
which a flying bird Is often represented In
a rough Way, one stroke forming the body
and a cross stroke the outspread wings.
The stars In the Eagle are somewhat
similarly grouped, and quite likely the two
stars which flank Affair We're originally the
Eagles wings, though no longer SO con-
sidered. At any rate. there is no bird to be
seen here such as is depicted on the chart.
Consultations and Their Names.
1t should be borne in mind that the pic
torial representations OF the consultations
found on our celestial charts have been
drawn by modern artists who seem to
have had an eye to the appearance OF the
chart rather than the appearance of the
heavens. None OF the ancient representa-
lions Of these fanciful objects. II any there
were, have come down to us, and the an
Client descriptions of them are extremely
vague. 1t Is In a great measure a matter
Of conjecture how the stars in any given
constellation were grouped originally. 1t
Is well. therefore, In our search for constel-
lations to be on our guard against being
misled by the pictorial representations Of
them. which are usually drawn to suit
their names rather than the actual con-
nguration OF the stars.
The sketches of Hercules and Cepheus
given in the planIsphere are designed to
illustrate this point The "Kneeler," thus
represented, Is certainly not q very i'm
posing figure. but he may be found among
the stars. and 80 may Cepheus.
Even the lovely Cassiopeia yields readily
to this treatment. Divested of the outlines
given her In the chart a figure remains,
which may pass Ter queen In n sitting
posture. provided ones Imagination is suf-
hcientiy active. although the head Ia even
more than classically small.
1t has already been shown. In a previous
article. how the skeleton" of the Great
Bear may be traced. 1t requires, however
lively Imagination to discover IL. and
perhaps the explanation Of this constella-
ton given by Prof. Max Muller. the emf
Lent philologist, affords a more satisfac-
tory solution OF this riddle Of the Ursa
Major.
According to Prof Muller the Great Bear
owes its origin to an egregious blunder
There Is no bear here and never has been
His account Of 1t is this:
An ancient Aryan designation of the
seven stars which form what we commonly
call the Great Dipper was the Seven
Rikshas" The word riksha, Prof. Muller
tells u.s. meant bright one" and was an
parently applied to all the stars. The Sew
en- Rikshas" meant. therefore simply the
Seven Stars" But other names for the
stars were also used In those primitive
times. and after a while the word riksha
ceased to be so used except with reference
to the remarkable group OF seven In the
north. This Is what happened in conse-
quence: The Hindoo branch Of the Aryan
family, still using this name. even after
having quite forgotten its original mean
ing, In the end COMPOUNDED the word rik-
sha with the word rishi. which meant
poet" and this constellation became
known among them as the Seven Rishis
or Seven Poets. q story being invented, of
course to explain how they go, their place
In the sky.
The Greeks were equally unfortunate, ac-