The seven stars of the Plough belong to the constellation (or star group) called Ursa Major, or the Greater Bear; while the Pole-star belongs to the constellation called Ursa Minor, or the Lesser Bear. Two other stars, also belonging to Ursa Minor, are shown in the picture, at 1, with their proper Greek letters, B (Beta) and y (Gamma). They are called the "Guardians of the Pole," because they circle around it as though keeping watch and ward over the axle-end of the great star-dome. The best way, perhaps, to remember where the Guardians are to be looked for, is to notice that the four stars, e, 8, and B of the Plough are nearly in a straight line, and that if a square be supposed to be set up on this line, as shown in Fig. 4 (on the side toward the pole), the Fig 4-Showing how the Guardians of the Pole may be Guardians lie close to that corner of the square which is opposite the pointers. You cannot easily fall into any error as to the four stars of the Plough, or Dipper, to be used in thus finding the Guardians of the Pole, for they are the only four which lie nearly in a straight line. But to make assurance doubly sure, notice that the star (, which lies at one end of the line of four stars, has a companion close by (as shown in Fig. 4). Thus we have at one corner of the square the * * This little star is called by country folks in England "Jack-by-theMiddle-Horse," the stars e, f, and representing the three horses of Pointers, at another the double star (, and at the next corner the Guardians. The Plough, as I have said, is in position I at about six o'clock in the evening of December 21st. The Pole-star is at this time placed as at 1, a little above and to the right (or east) of the true pole. The Guardians are at 1. The Plough is now at its lowest; but, as the picture shows, all the seven stars are visible at all places in the latitude of Philadelphia. The dotted line, however, which represents the horizon of New Orleans, shows that in that latitude only one star of the seven can be seen, namely a, the pointer nearest to the pole. This star is so bright, that even as far south as New Orleans my description of the position of the Plough will serve as a sufficient guide to find the pole, if only the southerner who uses it notices how Fig. 3 presents the stars of the Plough or Dipper, which for him lie below the horizon. If this method should not suffice, then let him look for the seven stars two hours later, by which time all the other stars except and will have moved round so far toward position 11 as to be visible at New Orleans,— and y lying almost on a horizontal line very near indeed to the horizon. If on any night toward the end of December, you were to watch the northern heavens from about six o'clock, when the Plough or Dipper is as at I Fig. 3, until about midnight, you would see the group move steadily round till it had reached the position marked II. The Guardians of the Pole would by that time have reached the position II, and the Pole-star, though it would seem to you to be in the same position as at the beginning, would in reality have shifted from 1 to 2. If you still went on watching, you would find that by about six in the morning the Plough would have gone round in the direction shown by the arrows until it was in the position marked III, high up above the pole and not very far from the point overhead. If your watch had begun earlier in the the "wain," or wagon. The small star was a test of eyesight among the Arabians. It is, however, very easily seen. The star is called Mizar, its companion Alcor. evening, say at about five, when the sky is already quite dark (in December), you would have seen the Plough in a position between I and IV (but nearer to I); and in the course of the entire night,—that is, from evening twilight until daybreak, the Plough would have gone more than half-way round, from this last-named position to a position somewhat farther round (in the direction shown by the short arrows) than Il.. But in order to see the Plough in these different positions, and also in that portion of its course (on either side of IV) which in December it traverses during the daytime, it is not necessary to keep a long watch upon the group, or to study the heavens during those "wee sma' hours avont the twal" wherein the professional astronomer does the best part of his work. If you come out in the evening (say about eight) once or twice a week on clear nights, all through the winter half of the year, and a little later during the summer months, you will see the Dipper and all the polar groups carried right round the pole. For though, speaking generally, it may be said that they complete a circuit once in every day, yet in reality they gain about four minutes' motion in the twentyfour hours, and thus get further on, little by little, night after night-gaining an hour's motion in about a fortnight, two hours' motion in a month, twelve hours' motion (or half the complete circuit) in half a year, until finally, at the end of the year, they have gained a complete circuit. Thus at eight o'clock on or about November 22nd, the Plough is at I, the Guardians of the Pole are at I, and the Pole-star is at I. At eight o'clock on or about February 19th, the Plough is at II, the Guardians are at II, the Polestar is at 2. At the samne hour on or about May 21st, the Plough is at III, the Guardians are at III, the Pole-star is at 3. And lastly at the same hour on or about August 23rd, the Plough is at IV, the Guardians are at Iv, the Pole-star is at 4. It is because of this steady turning motion or rotation around the poles of the heavens, that the stars of the Plough (say, for instance, the pointers) form as it were a clock* in the sky by which an astronomer at any rate, though also any one who is willing to give a little attention to the matter, can tell the hour within a few minutes on any night in the year. A few observations made in this way on a few nights during the course of the year, will give a clearer idea of the steady motion of the star-dome (resulting in reality from the earth's steady rotation on her axis) than any amount of description either in books or by word of mouth. * We find traces in the writings of old times that the stars were used to show the time. For instance, the “first carrier” in Shakspeare's “First Part of King Henry IV." (act ii. scene 1) says, "An't be not four by the day, I'll be hanged; Charles' Wain is over the new chimney." Charles' Wain being the group of seven bright stars which is commonly called in England "the Plough" and in America "the Dipper." THE STARS FOR JANUARY. LOOKING northward (see map, p. 36) we see that Draco (the Dragon) occupies the region due north immediately under Ursa Minor," the Little Bear." The full proportions of the Dragon are clearly and conveniently shewn (except in the southern parts of the United States,-for the horizon of New Orleans conceals from view the two bright stars y and ß, which anciently formed the head of the great monster). In those modern maps which show the constellation figures, the Dragon is represented differently, and generally somewhat as in Fig. 5 (knots and all). But you cannot imagine the stars to form a dragon or a snake, in that way. Now we may be sure that the ancients, when they called a group of stars by any name, really imagined some resemblance between the star-group and the figure after which they named it. I have heard it said that the liveliest imagination cannot form figures of familiar objects out of the stars; but this is certainly a mistake, for I know that when I was a lad, and before I had learned to associate the stars with the constellations at present in use, I used to imagine among the stars the figures of such objects as I was most familiar with. In the constellation of the Swan, I saw a capital kite. In the Great Bear I saw the figure of a toy very common at that time in England, representing a monkey that passed over the top of a pole. The three stars forming the handle of the Plough (1, 5, and €) made the tail of the monkey; and if you look at the Great Bear in the position it now occupies in the early |