THE HEAVENS IN JULY 



55 



ful "roup of stars into our evening sky, 

 the constellation of Taurus will pre- 

 sent a region of unusual interest. 



Uranus is just on the borders of our 

 map, but is still very low down in the 

 southeast. 



Neptune is passed by the sun on 

 July 16 at 6 A. M., so that it is wholly 

 invisible to us throughout the month. 



THE MOTION OF THE MOON. 



The reader who observed the beauti- 

 ful occultation of Antares on the 26th 

 of last month was doubtless struck by 

 the extremely low position of the near- 

 ly full moon in the sky. It is at this 

 time of the year that the full moon 

 is always very low in the heavens, be- 

 cause our satellite when full always 

 lies in the opposite region of the 

 heavens from the sun, so that as the 

 sun is then highest in the heavens, the 

 moon is necessarily lowest. 



But the moon does not follow ex- 

 actly the same path among the stars 

 as that pursued by the sun; the latter 



is the path VUM, Figure 1, and ai 

 present the moon's path lies nearly five 

 degrees below this line in the region 

 of Antares and the star at L. Conse- 

 quently, although the full moons of 

 June and July are always very low in 

 the sky, those which occur this year 

 are even much lower than usual. 



In its monthly journey around the 

 heavens the moon will again pass over 

 Antares on the morning of July 24, but 

 unfortunately this will occur at about 

 5 o'clock A. M., after the moon has set 

 to all observers in the United States. 

 And on July 10 the nearly new moon 

 will pass over the Pleiades, hiding its, 

 principal star, Alcyone, and a great 

 number of the other stars of the clus- 

 ter from our view. This is always an 

 interesting and long anticipated astro- 

 nomical event, but this occultation will 

 also unfortunately not be visible to 

 us, for it will occur in the early even- 

 ing when the moon has set, but while 

 the sun is still shining in the sky. 



Flowers of the States. 

 In most instances, the state floral 

 emblems have been adopted by the vote 

 of the pupils of the public schools ol 

 their respective states. This compila- 

 tion is the result of many inquiries from 

 our readers. 



Alabama Goldenrod. 



Arizona Suwarro. 



Arkansas Apple blossoms. 



California California poppy. 



Colorado Columbine. 



Connecticut Mountain laurel. 



Delaware Peach blossoms. 



Florida Japan Camellia. 



Georgia Cherokee rose. 



Idaho Syringa. 



Illinois Rose. 



Indiana Corn. 



[owa Wild rose. 



Kansas Sunflower. 



Louisiana Magnolia. 



Maine Pine cone. 



Michigan Apple blossom. 



Minnesota Moccasin flower. 



Mississippi ___, Magnolia. 



Missouri Goldenrod. 



Montana Bitter-root. 



Nebraska Goldenrod. 



New Jersey Sugar Maple. 



Nevada Sage Brush. 



New York Moss rose. 



New Mexico __ Crimson Rambler rose. 

 North Carolina Chrysanthemum. 



North Dakota Goldenrod. 



Ohio Buckeye. 



Oklahoma Mistletoe. 



Oregon Oregon grape. 



Rhode Island Violet. 



South Carolina Carolina palmetto. 



South Dakota Pasque Flora. 



Texas Blue Bonnet. 



Utah Sago Lilv. 



Vermont Red Clover. 



Washington Rhododendron. 



Wisconsin Violet. 



The national flower has never, as 

 yet. been decided upon by universal 

 acclamation. But it is quite safe to 

 believe that it will be the columbine, 

 for good and sufficient reasons. In 

 a popular sense, the name columbine 

 is not far removed from Columbia, the 

 Goddess of Liberty and "the gem 01 

 the ocean" when standing for freedom 

 and justice. 



Columbine is derived from the Latin 

 columba, meaning a dove, and is em- 

 blematic of peace. Another account 

 says it is from aquila, an eagle, which, 

 by the way, is the crest symbolic of 

 America, as represented by the bald 

 eagle. 



The red spurs of the flower are said 

 to resemble the red stripes of "old 

 glory," and the red, white, and blue 

 varieties indicate the national colors. — 

 Suburban Life. 



