54 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



people reproach me with indolence I shall reply: 'Ah! if you but 

 knew the history of the fixed stars ! ' " 



It is certainly true that a contemplation of the unthinkable vastness 

 of the universe, in the midst of which we dwell upon a speck illumi- 

 nated by a spark, is calculated to make all terrestrial affairs appear 

 contemptibly insignificant. We can not wonder that men for ages 

 regarded the earth as the center, and the heavens with their lights as 

 tributary to it, for to have thought otherwise, in those times, would 

 have been to see things from the point of view of a superior intelli- 

 gence. It has taken a vast amotmt of experience and knowledge to 



NORTH 



■ «^fe/rt/. 



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♦Co O 





'^Gl\^L 





V.r.O^^ 



mc/sKUSTPAL' 



SOUTH 

 Map 1. 



convince men of the parvitude of themselves and their belongings. 

 So, in all ages they have applied a terrestrial measure to the universe, 

 and imagined they could beliold human affairs reflected in the heavens 

 and human interests setting the gods together by the ears. 



This is clearly shown in the story of the constellations. The tre- 



