ON THE NOMENCLATURE OF THE STARS. 35 



these spaces he introduced new figures, or constellations, many of which are 

 still retained. But the greatest innovator on this system was Bode, who al- 

 though no great observer himself, has, in his catalogue and in his maps, filled 

 the heavens with a host of new figures and constellations that were by no 

 means requisite, and that tend only to annoy and confuse, without presenting 

 one single advantage. 



In these remarks I have reference only to the constellations in the northern 

 hemisphere ; or, at least, to those constellations only that are visible in the 

 northern latitudes, which, of course, include many of the southern stars. 

 When the southern ocean however was visited by European navigators in 

 the sixteenth century, a map of the portion of the heavens, there visible and 

 not hitherto described, became requisite and was soon formed : but it was 

 not till the time of Halley that any catalogue or map of the southern constel- 

 lations could be depended upon. The constellations that were adopted or 

 introduced on this occasion were in some measure altered and increased in 

 the last century by Lacaille, who has, at the same time, encroached on the 

 boundaries of the former constellations, which, although situate to the south- 

 ward, had been tolerably well defined and agreed upon by the northern as- 

 tronomers; whereby he has created much confusion and ambiguity. For 

 this reason, and in order to remove such confusion of terms and identity, it 

 has been considered requisite to revise also the constellations and nomencla- 

 ture introduced by Lacaille. I shall however again advert to this subject 

 when I have gone through the proposed revision of the northern constella- 

 tions. 



When Hevelius formed his catalogue of stars, he at the same time con- 

 structed maps of the constellations, in which they were to be respectively 

 placed. By this method he in some measure preserved an uniformity in his 

 classifications and arrangements, and obviated any considerable distortion of 

 the boundaries of the constellations, having himself defined the limits. But 

 Flamsteed did not possess this advantage, since his maps were not constructed 

 till long after his catalogue had been formed, and indeed not till many years 

 after his decease : and as Hevelius's maps were not published till after Flam- 

 steed had commenced his observations with the mural quadrant, the ' Urano- 

 metria' of Bayer was the only authority to which he could refer even for an 

 approximate classification of any new stars that he might observe. This 

 however appears to have been often done either without due consideration 

 and attention, or from ignorance of the true limits; and the name of a con- 

 stellation was frequently written down, in the margin of the observation- 

 book, as that which, at the time of observation, Flamsteed supposed to be the 

 true constellation under review ; but which afterwards, when the observations 

 came to be reduced and arranged, have been found to be incorrect. An in- 

 spection of Flamsteed's manuscript books, at the Royal Observatory at Green- 

 wich, and indeed the second volume of his ' Historia Coelestis,' will fully con- 

 firm this remark. The consequence has been that several of the stars in his 

 catalogue have been inadvertently arranged and classed under erroneous con- 

 stellations : and our modern map-makers (instead of correcting these obvious 

 errors in due time, and in a proper manner, or of laying down any general 

 principle, on which the boundaries might be constructed and drawn, in all 

 cases of new discoveries) have suffered the evil not only to continue, but to 

 increase to such a degree by subsequent innovations, that the celestial maps 

 have at length become a system of derangement and confusion. For, a prac- 

 tice seems to have been adopted that whenever a modern astronomer has, in 

 his catalogue, inadvertently introduced a star which he has designated by an 

 erroneous constellation, the map-maker, or globe-maker (probably through 



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