POPULAR ASTRONOMY 



103 



this deficiency in the light of Halley's 

 comet showed itself in the difficulty of 

 obtaining strong photographs. In this 

 respect it differed much from the 

 Morehouse comet of 1908. This 

 comet of two years ago, became at 

 best jnst visible to the naked eye, but 

 its tail showed remarkable changes in 

 appearance from night to night. In 

 fact this comet looked like one in full 

 vigor of youth, while Halley's comet, 

 with its two thousand year history, 

 appeared as in the midst of decrepit 

 old age. 



The present generation is still 

 waiting for a really magnificent comet 

 to visit us ! 



THE PLANETS. 



Observers of the morning skies 



shortly before sunrise will find Venus 

 and Saturn very interesting. Possess- 

 ors of telescopes will find the former 

 in the crescent phase, while the rings 

 of the latter show up well. Mars is 

 still in the evening sky, but faint and 

 hardly worth looking at. Telescope 

 owners will find Jupiter well worth 

 studying, the belts being speciallv fine 

 and beautiful. In the great 40-inch 

 telescope a few nights ago, seven belts 

 were counted. A good 4-inch tele- 

 scope should show most of them well. 

 Transits of the satellites can also be 

 readily observed. 



Uranus is in opposition, on the mer- 

 idian at midnight on July 16. Circles 

 on the telescope are needed to pick it 

 up. By sweeping in Sagittarius with 

 the help of the map it may be found. 



A Chapter of the Agassiz Association. (Incorporated I8j> and 1910.) The Law of Love, Not the Love of Law.' 



The Old Style of Mercy. 



In regard to human beings, the pass- 

 ing of the old style of mercy is thus 

 expressed in the June number of "The 

 Delineator:" 



In that dark period of the world 

 called "The Middle Ages," when life 

 pressed heavily on the average indi- 

 vidual, there sprang into existence any 

 number of agencies for the relief of 

 human suffering. They w r ere known in 

 a general way as Orders of Mercy. The 

 world has become much better since 

 then and there is apparently not so 

 much need for the vast array of ser- 

 vices which were formerly rendered, 

 but there is one which modern condi- 



tions have produced, and which our 

 philanthropists and lovers of charity 

 have overlooked until now, and it has 

 given rise to a new Order of Mercy." 



"The Delineator" then goes on to 

 tell of a Bureau of Social Service that 

 is an improvement on the Ancient 

 Order of Mercy. 



Humanity has long ago passed the 

 point of view where mercy is needed, 

 because we have come to the idea of 

 social equality. The oppressor and 

 the oppressed have been succeeded by 

 higher ideals. The age passed without 

 our fully realizing it. We saw not the 

 slipping away till the word Mercy in 

 relation to human beings was repug- 

 nant. 



