222 



EECEEATIVE SCIENCE. 



who directs his reverent attention to God's 

 glorious works ; and we shall now conclude 

 these few observations on the humble house- 

 spider, by quoting the lines of one* whom the 

 consideration of its habits inspired with a sen- 

 timent of religious awe and veneration : — 



" See how threads with threads entwine ; 

 If the evening wind alone 

 Breathe upon it, all is gone. 

 Thus within the darkest place 

 Creative wisdom thou may'st trace ; 



Feeble though the insect be, 



Still He speaks through that to thee. 



" As within the moonbeam I, 

 God in glory sits on high, 

 Sits where countless planets roll. 

 And from thence controls the whole. 

 There, with threads of thousand dyes, 

 Life's bewildering web he plies, 

 And the Hand that holds them all 

 Let's not even the feeblest fall." 



Liverpool, 



James Samuelsojt. 



THE CONJUNCTION OF THE PLANETS JUPITEE AND VENUS, ON THE 

 MOENINC OF JULY 21st, 1859. 



The year 1859 was, on the whole, poor in 

 astronomical occurrences. In this respect it 

 offered a' strong contrast to its immediate 

 predecessor ; for, in • 1858, astronomers were 

 gratified by the discovery of four new aste- 



Telescopic Viev>- > : t Approximation. 



roids, the return of two known comets, and 

 the unexpected appearance of four unknown, 

 one of which was the ever memorable " Do- 

 nati," as well as by the occurrence of a lunar 

 and solar eclipse, visible from this country. 

 * Oehlenschlager. 



In 1860, whatever chance visitors may come, 

 we have again a lunar and solar eclipse to 

 expect, both visible from England, and the 

 latter total in Spain and Africa. But last 

 year (1859) only one comet and one asteroid 

 rewarded the explorers of the heavens ; and 

 though four solar eclipses occurred, none 

 were total, and all were invisible in England, 

 being displayed only to that select assemblage 

 of observers likely to view them in the far 

 Southern Ocean, or from Siberia, the northern 

 part of North America, and Greenland ; and 

 the two lunar eclipses were announced to be 

 visible from Australia and Asia. 



The occultation of Saturn by the Moon, 

 on May 8th, was the occurrence most nearly 

 resembling an eclipse, visible from this coun- 

 try, and carefully it was observed when the 

 day came. But there was one more pheno- 

 menon to be seen in the year 1859, and that 

 one of rare occurrence, namely, the unusually 

 near approach (in apparent position) of the 

 planets Jupiter and Venus, at about a quarter 

 to four o'clock, on the morning of July 21st. 

 This was foretold in the " Nautical Almanac" 

 of the year, in the following not very exciting 

 terms : — 



"July 20, 14" 45'" ? d 2^ .... 90° I'S." 

 The attractive " Illustrated London Alma- 



