Teacher's Leaflet. I183 



and you will find a bright star that will almost make the fourth comer, 

 but it is just a little too far away so that the figure thus formed is some- 

 what kite-shaped instead of square. This star is Procyon or the Little 

 Dog Star. 



(6). Which is the brighter, the Great or the Little Dog Star? 



(7). Do you see another fainter star near Procyon? 



(8). Why is Procyon called the Little Dog Star? 



(0). Note a pair of stars which shine like two bright eyes about 

 half way between the bowl of the big dipper and Orion. These are 

 called the Heavenly twins. What do you know about them? 



Facts for teachers. — If a line from Aldebaran passes through the belt of Orion 

 and just about as far on the other side, it will reach the Great Dog Star following 

 at Orion's heels. This is Sirius, the most brilliant of all the stars in our skies, 

 and changing with ever changing colors, sometimes blue, at others purple or rosy 

 or white; it is a comparatively young star, and is estimated by Proctor to have 

 a diameter of about 12,000,000 miles, fourteen times that of our sun; it is only 

 eight and one-half light years from us and is the most celebrated star in literature. 

 The ancients knew it, the Egyptians worshiped it. Homer sang of it, and it has 

 had its place in the poetry of all ages. Procyon, the Little Dog Star, so called 

 perhaps because it trots up the eastern skies a little ahead of the magnificent 

 Dog Star, gives out eight times as much light as our sun, and is only ten light 

 years from us. It has a fainter companion about three or four degrees to the 

 northwest of it. 



The Heavenly twins are two stars, set like glowing eyes in a region of the 

 sky where there are no bright stars, are just a little closer together than the pointers 

 of the Big Dipper; and they formed a pair to which the ancients gave the names 

 of Castor and Pollux. Pollux is the brighter of the two and is the most south- 

 ward one. They were named after two beautiful twin boys, who loved each other 

 so much that after they were dead they were placed in the skies where they could 

 be always near each other. The twin stars are supposed to exert a benign influence 

 on oceans and seas and are beloved by sailors. Although they seem to us so near 

 together they are separated by a space of which we cannot conceive and are going 

 in opposite directions. 



References.— " The Friendly Stars," Martin, $1.25. "The Plani- 

 sphere," Thomas Whitaker, Bible House, New York, $.83. "Stories 

 of Starland," Proctor, $.50. " Starland," Ball, $1.00. "The Stars 

 in Song and Legend," Porter, $.50. " Storyland of Stars," Pratt, $.50. 



TURKEYS. 



Benjamin Franklin has been credited with the expressed opinion 

 that it is the turkey and not the eagle that should be America's national 

 bird. It is native to the country, it is beautiful as well as useful, and 

 it is a typical American in its pride and love of freedom. Certainly the 



