30 OUR PHYSICAL WORLD 



with the power of being filled with whatever its possessor might 

 desire, whence it was called the horn of plenty or cornucopia. 

 These kids were supposed to be a very unpropitious sign. 



Tempt not the winds, forewarned of dangers nigh, 

 When the Kids glitter in the western sky. 



CALLIMACHUS, third century, B.C. 



FIG. 16. Auriga, the Charioteer 



About 9:30 Christmas night or 7:30 a month later, the 

 Pleiades are on the meridian not far north of the zenith. This 

 group of stars is likely as well known as the Big Dipper. There 

 are six or seven stars visible to the naked eye, grouped somewhat 

 as a Little Dipper. Six stars are plainly visible, the seventh 

 only to very good eyes. The one dim star was long ago very 

 much brighter, so the cluster is also known as the " Seven 



