1 62 Trees, Stars, and Birds 



they often spent much of the night with no roof over 

 them but the great vault of heaven, and clouds or mist 

 rarely obscured the stars. These ancient peoples, there- 

 fore, had many opportunities for observing the heavenly 

 bodies, and although they possessed no telescopes they 

 learned more about astronomy than most persons now- 

 adays know. They knew what bright stars and what 

 groups of stars could be seen in the east at a certain 

 season. They could compute when the moon would rise, 

 when there would be a new moon, and when an eclipse. 

 They knew the polestar and that it is always in the north, 

 and from their knowledge of astronomy they knew the di- 

 rections and how to guide themselves across uncharted 

 wastes. 



How to know the heavenly bodies. Some fields of 

 study are too wide to be passed over in a short time. 

 They are rich enough for us to visit again and again. 

 Only in this way can we see and appreciate the treasures 

 that are there stored. We cannot become well ac- 

 quainted with more than a few kinds of trees or birds in 

 a single month. We may come to know them better as 

 long as we have health to enjoy life. The same is true of 

 the stars. The student might read the chapters in this 

 book on the stars in an hour or two. It would be more 

 profitable for him to read them a little at a time. The 

 stars cannot all be seen to advantage at any one season. 

 To study them most conveniently one should look at 

 them night after night through the different months of 

 the year. 



It would be well to begin the study of the stars and 

 constellations sometime in the fall, when a clear sky 



