Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-08-01
THE DOG DAYS."
Strong Hold of the Superstitious on the
Modern Mind.

The notion Oh tne uoB udSs 10 wv
hoary to loose its hold easily upon
race partial to traditions Of astral In
fiuence in human affairs, and some al
manac makers. like those happy NOR
tails who rush in where angels fear
to tread" announce in cheerful conf
dence that these dies caniculares,
as the old Romans termed them, are
upon US. But what, and which, are
the dog days?" Every computer OF
domestic calendars is law unto him.
self with respect to this particular
season, for the best of reasons-the
season itself is at sea.
In fact, 1t cannot be otherwise, for,
like the movable feasts" Of the
church, its astronomical setting. upon
which 1t entirely depends, is a per-
petually varying quantity.
In midwinter, conspicuous among
the brilliant star groups Of the south
ern sky, is visible the constellation of
CAMS Major-the Greater Dog. Its
bright, particular star, Sirius, though
not so brilliant as some Of the planets
Is the most lustrous Of all the starry
host, and therefore easily the emperor
of the train. For ages 1t has been
known as the dog star" In ancient
mythology CAMS Major and CAMS
Minor the lesser Dog-embracing
the bright star Procyon c'going before
the dog,") were assigned to the
mighty hunter Orion to serve him In
the chase. The stars Of midwinter
nights are the stars that beam upon
us. all unnoticed, on midsummer days
and hence at this season the imperial
Sirius, together with his canine as
sociate, Procyon, shines all the day In
sunny azure.
The Romans OF the olden time an
nually sacrificed a dog to Sirius, hop
ing to win his favor toward their
fields and fiocks. The Egyptians, long
before, gave the closest attention to
the rising Of Sirius, for in theil
thought it was associated with the
veal or woe of their land 1t augured
the rising of the Nile. Sirius" indi-
Gated the propitious time for sowing.
Unfortunately for votaries Of the
"signs' in planting and other astro-
logical vagaries, the time Of the rising
Of Sirius varies with the latitude; be-
sides it varies in the same latitude
as decades and centuries go or
owing to the procession of the equi-
noxes. Hence 1t will not answer to
hitch the wagon of seasonal hypothe-
sis to a star.
So intimately did the ancients asso-
ciate the heliacal rising Of Sirius with
events Of Importance to the land thai
they even instituted a heliacal year
Various dates have been assigned by
tradition as the first dog day. and va
rious periods as constituting the sea-
son. 1t has been claimed that 1t COM
menced in the remote past on August
and lasted forty days, until Septem-
ber IA. AS few as thirty days are
sometimes cited, and as many as fifty
four. Pliny refers the commencement
Of the dog days TO the heliacal rising
of Procyon, which seems at least ap-
propriate as being canicular, and
which occurred July 10. 1t would seem
that forty days was regarded as the
period in most cases, twenty days be-
fore and twenty days after the helia-
cal rising of Sirius.
But whatever the variations Of testi-
mony there Is generally agreement
with Hippocrates, who may be styled
the father Of astronomy. to whom
Ptolemy was greatly indebted for pio-
neer work in the science. He atfirms
that the dog days were In the very
hottest part of summer. And it is
known that the Egyptians were In
great dread Of the extreme heat and
blightage who cling to venerable ira
ditions will not be embarrassed about
the uncertainty Of a few days. but
will contentedly ascribe the swelterine
weather likely to be encountered to the
malign influence of the great dog
Sirius.