Metropolis weekly gazette. (Metropolis, Ill.) 1???-19??, 1914-10-09
DOG DAYS AND WAR
Many Supersiitlous People AS
sociate the Two.
Belief Hss - Rssls In Fact, But
From e-elent lines the Star
= Sirius hsc Been -'amed
for cals.-tfles. se-9ss4 :


over will chafse the smonster Cam
ity, the incalculable catastrophe.
against the dog star.
When fiiss sun Al ardent and the air
is sultryy AZ must oftAii be!:tbe cpndit
ton of the weather In our temperate
zone during mid and late summer,
many persons are prone TO speak ofl
the period OF 3sxcessive. warmth and
moisture as the season ofd'dog days..
They are sgisJpg voice to an ancient
superstition. The same. thing has
been said since the human race was
young aha 1he phrase. or It's equiva-
lent hsssvesme ,tEIpplngly from meas
tongues ever since rscUrdeds history
began.
YefiFi8ai sgperHtitiop.. 1t has no
basis. in faet II is flghfent of the
fancy. Dog days have no relation
to dogs nor have dogs any relation
to dog days. There Is the same rela-
.tiep between excessively hot weather
and 2apH athat !. therey-.is between
the .ssnnire kfhlle uf " eather aud
men. There Il egreat danger Of
heat prostratiui. there il a thirst
for ynpre water and suffering II
II cannot be had. and There Is an IN.
creased demand Tor shade and reat-
From the time that the eastern
ssshepherds watched the skies NJ night
aud drew a more or less fancifni like
ness between groups Of stars and ob-
jects known on the earth there was a
constellation called CAMS Major. or
the Greater Dog The brightest STAR
OF the heavens WAS IN the moath OF
that constellation. which 10 some
imaginations possessed resemblance
20 the outline OF a dog. That star in
the constellation OF the dog came 70
be called the dog star. II has another
name. which Is Sirius. II has been
estimated that this star has more than
thirteen times the magnitude Of our
sun.
II was a superstition with the early
jewellers IN the hot portions OF the
world. and there. civilization devel-.
oped arst. that the rising OF the dog
star with the sun produced pestllen-.
tiaI heat As this event occurred in
the summer, there was often pesti-
lensial heat. but the dog star could
not logically be charged with that mis-
fortune. There was great heat be-
cause II was the tins when great heat
might be-. expected. and with exces-
sive heat often rame pestiIence be-
case OF the Ignorance % the people In
matters OF sanitation. hygiene and
medicine. The dog star had no moro
to do with intense heat OF MID or late
summer OF with tho sfxzards OF July
and August than comets have to DO
with war
In the time of the Romans, or In
those ages when the Romans we're
sufficiently advanced 20 think OF as
Economical concerns. they called the
bright star In the constellation 81 the
greater dog scsnlcuiar.". which was
their Eay Of saying that II was the
dog siar ln the dog constellation. The
days or the nights when that star was
conspicuous In the sky they caffed
! dies canicular or canicrilar dayz--or
dog star dnys. a ..
Then. because II had received the
name Of dog star. the popular mind
conceived that II ~ ar related, to the
dog. and as the stars and the moon
had influence over men. way the dog
star had fnhashse oysv dogs.
In the hot season when this star
was IN the sky. and x 'desfkent Wild
with thirst it,wax .thes dog star that
did st., The dog. star got the blame
for the hot weather and the madden.
ink, thirst. OF the dog Men died an
agoiiizsngs death sometimes after hay-
| ing been bitten BY a dog. This ter
rible disease came finally to have the
name on hydrophobia or rabies When
piup was bitten during the brilliant
ascendancy OF the dog star the mat.
ter caused wide. comment and the
Blame wss laid on the star. II the
death. occurred at any other time, peo-
pie were very sorry for the victim. but
they did pot connect the occurrence
with the star.
And so the superstition has come
down through the centuries. Modern
statistIcians who have dealt with
such things can prove that rabies Is
commoner. or more frequent, at other
times than during dog days" and
just what days are dog days is not
easy TO define. An astronomer could
answer. Thes canicular days OF the
Romano were 40. There were 20
canicular days before and 20 after
the rising OF the dog star. and the ris.
ing was described as the heliacal
rising meaning the time when the
star, after being practically In con-
junction with the sun and invisible,
energies from the light so as to be
visible in the morning before sunrise.