20 
Astronomical Section. 
Mr. P. E. Vizard gave the two following Courses 
of Lectures :-— 
Thursday, February 5th.—‘‘ History of the Pro- 
gress of Astronomy.” 
Early Notions; Astronomy of the Egyptians, Greeks, Hindus ; 
Astronomy of the Bible; Crystalline Spheres; Cycles and 
Epicycles; Ancient Astronomers, Hipparchus, Ptolemy ; 
Birth and Progress of Modern Astronomy; The Tele- 
scope; Copernicus; Tycho Brahé; Kepler; Galileo; 
Newton ; etc. 
Thursday, February t19th.—‘‘ Lunar Super- 
stitions.”’ 
Superstitions about first seeing the New Moon; as to things 
done when the Moon is waxing or waning; as to the 
effect of Moonlight during sleep (‘‘lunatic,” ‘ moon- 
struck”’ etc.); as to death occurring at the turn of the 
tide; belief that changes of the Moon affect the Weather ; 
Moon lying on her back; the ‘ April Moon” ; belief that 
the Moon dissipates clouds; the ‘‘ Man in the Moon”; 
Moon appearing larger when near the horizon, etc. 
Thursday, March 5th.—‘‘ Celestial Measure- 
ments.” 
How Distances of Heavenly Bodies are Measured; Parallax ; 
Velocity of Light ; the Sun’s Distance; various methods 
of calculation; transit of Venus; The Moon’s distance; 
Distances of the Fixed Stars; How Sizes of Celestia 
Bodies are measured; How they are Weighed; How 
Positions of Heavenly Bodies are indicated; Declination 
and Right Ascension, etc. 
Thursday, March roth.—‘‘ The Sun.” 
What it is to the Earth; its Distance; Size; Weight; Rota- 
tion; Heat; Constitution; the Sun’s Place among the 
“‘Stars’’; its Movement in Space; Eclipse of the Sun; 
Theories as to the Sun’s Future. 
