50 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.— SUPPLEMENT. 



But the poet's soul so wearied of these astro- 

 nomical researches that the beautiful lines I have 

 quoted disappeared (more's the pity) from the 

 second and all later editions. Such exceptions, 

 indeed, prove the rule. Poets have been chary 

 in referring to astronomical researches and re- 

 sults, full though these have been of unspeakable 

 poetry; while, from the days of Homer to those 

 of Tennyson, the constellations which garland 

 the heavens have always been favorite subjects 

 of poetic imagery. 



It is not my present purpose, however, to dis- 

 cuss the poetic aspect of the constellations. I 

 propose to inquire how these singular figures first 

 found their way to the heavens, and, so far as 

 facts are available for the purpose, to determine 

 the history and antiquity of some of the more 

 celebrated constellations. 



Long before astronomy had any existence as 

 a science, men watched the stars with wonder 

 and reverence. Those orbs, seemingly countless 

 — which bespangle the dark robe of night — have 

 a charm and beauty of their own apart from the 

 significance with which the science of astronomy 

 has invested them. The least fanciful mind is 

 led to recognize on the celestial concave the em- 

 blems of terrestrial objects, pictured with more 

 or less distinctness among the mysterious star- 

 groupings. We can imagine that, long before 

 the importance of the study of the stars was rec- 

 ognized, men had begun to associate with certain 

 star-groups the names of familiar objects animate 

 or inanimate. The flocks and herds which the 

 earliest observers of the heavens tended would 

 suggest names for certain sets of stars, and thus 

 the Bull, the Ram, the Kids, would appear in the 

 heavens. Other groups would remind those early 

 observers of the animals from whom they had to 

 guard their flocks, or of those animals to whose 

 vigilance they trusted for protection ; and thus 

 the Bear, and the Lion, and the Dogs, would find 

 their place among the stars. The figures of men 

 and horses, of birds and fishes, would naturally 

 enough be recognized, nor would cither the im- 

 plements of husbandry or the weapons by which 

 the huntsman secured his prey remain unrepre- 

 sented among the star-groupings. And lastly, 

 the altar on which the first-fruits of harvest and 

 vintage were presented, or the flesh of lambs and 

 goats consumed, would be figured among the in- 

 numerable combinations which a fanciful eye can 

 recognize among the orbs of heaven. 



In thus suggesting that the first observers of 

 the heavens were shepherds, huntsmen, and hus- 

 bandmen, I am not advancing a theory on the 



difficult questions connected with the origin of 

 exact astronomy. The first observations of the 

 heavens were of necessity made by men who de- 

 pended for their subsistence on a familiarity with 

 the progress and vicissitudes of the seasons, and 

 doubtless preceded by many ages the study of 

 astronomy as a science. And yet the observa- 

 tions made by those early shepherds and hunters, 

 unscientific though they must have been in them- 

 selves, are full of interest to the student of mod- 

 ern exact astronomy. The assertion may seem 

 strange at first sight, but is nevertheless strictly 

 true, that, if we could but learn with certainty the 

 names assigned to certain star-groups before as- 

 tronomy had any real existence, we could deduce 

 lessons of extreme importance from the rough ob- 

 servations which suggested those old names. In 

 these days, when observations of such marvel- 

 ous exactness are daily and nightly made, when 

 instruments capable of revealing the actual con- 

 stitution of the stars are employed, and thousands 

 of observers are at work, it may seem strange to 

 attach any interest to the question whether half- 

 savage races recognized in such and such a star- 

 group the likeness of a bear, or in another group 

 the semblance of a ship. But though we could 

 learn more, of course, from exacter observations, 

 yet even such rough and imperfect records would 

 have their value. If we could be certain that in 

 long-past ages a star-group really resembled some 

 known object, we should have in the present re- 

 semblance of that group to the same object evi- 

 dence of the general constancy of stellar lustre, 

 or, if no resemblance could be recognized, we 

 should have reason to doubt whether other suns 

 (and, therefore, our own sun) may not be liable 

 to great changes. 



The subject of the constellation-figures as first 

 known is interesting in other ways. For instance, 

 it is full of interest to the antiquary (and most 

 of us are to some degree antiquaries) as relating 

 to the most ancient of all human sciences. The 

 same mental quality which causes us to look with 

 interest on the buildings raised in long-past ages, 

 or on the implements and weapons of antiquity, 

 renders the thought impressive that the stars 

 which we see were gazed on perhaps not less 

 wonderingly in the very infancy of the human 

 race. It is, again, a subject full of interest to 

 the chronologist to inquire in what era of the 

 world's history exact astronomy began, when 

 the moon was assigned her twenty-eight zodiacal 

 mansions, the sun his twelve zodiacal signs. It 

 is well known, indeed, that Newton himself did 

 not disdain to study the questions thus suggested ; 



