v BELIEF AND EVIDENCE 121 



might have been corrected at once by observation of 

 an actual rainbow." 



Misconception as to the cause and character of many 

 common phenomena in Nature ; the tendency to accept 

 statements without inquiry into the credentials of the 

 author or independent investigation of the facts ; and 

 the view that science is an esoteric study beyond the 

 comprehension of most people, are almost as prevalent 

 now as they were in former times. The book of Nature 

 is open for all to read, yet few look into it and fewer try 

 to understand what is written. 



The sun rises and sets at different points on the 

 horizon every day, yet it is believed by the unobservant 

 to rise in the east and set in the west throughout the 

 year ; the starry heavens may be seen majestically 

 swinging around a point near the North Star every fine 

 night, but this apparent movement has escaped general 

 notice ; the horns of the new or old crescent moon 

 always point away from the sun, yet artists continually 

 paint the moon in unnatural positions at sunrise and 

 sunset ; rising and setting new or old moons are described 

 at impossible times by authors who ought to know better ; 

 the centre of a rainbow is always opposite the sun, and 

 there is always a regular succession of colours from red 

 to deep blue, the red being on the outside of the arc and 

 the blue inside in the case of a single rainbow, and in the 

 reverse order in the additional or secondary bow some- 

 times seen ; yet the colours are often wrongly described 

 or depicted, and a halo seen when facing the sun is mis- 

 taken for a rainbow, which can only be seen when the 

 observer has his back to the sun. 



Hasty conclusions are responsible for many mistaken 

 interpretations of natural incidents, even when pheno- 

 mena have been accurately observed. Before the days 



