I70 



NA TURE 



{Dec. 2 2, 1887 



Brahe. It suddenly appeared brighter than any of the 

 stars, and brighter than Jupiter, though not brighter than 

 Venus. This star remained visible for nearly two years. 

 Its colour changed as it grew dimmer : first it was white, 

 then yellow, then red, and finally, according to the record, 

 exhibited a leaden hue like the planet Saturn. Tycho 

 Brahe imagined it generated from the ethereal sub- 

 stance of which he held the Milky Way to be com- 

 posed, and when it disappeared it was thought to have 

 dissolved spontaneously from some internal cause. 



It is not a gratifying thing to find, when we come to 

 inquire further into the state of public feeling at the time 

 vi^hen Tycho's star appeared, that after all we have ad- 

 vanced very little beyond the sixteenth century in matters 

 relating to superstition. The world was to end in 1532, 

 according to Simon Goulart, because a mountain in 

 Assyria had been seen to open, and exposed to the gaze 

 of those present a scroll with letters written in Greek 

 stating that the end of the world was at hand. 



Goulart was followed by a famous astrologer, Leovitius, 

 who put on the date to 1584 ; and Gayon reports that the 

 fright at that time was almost universal, and the churches 

 would not hold those who sought shelter in them. 



This end of the world mania v/as not confined to the 

 unlearned, for a famous mathematician, Stoffler, who was 

 actually engaged on the reform of the calendar under- 

 taken by the Council of Constance, put down the end for 

 February 1524. According to him, the end was to be by 

 water and not by fire, and the basis of his prediction was 

 that Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars would then be together in 

 the sign Pisces It was a rare time for the boat-builders, 

 for many " arks " were built ; a doctor of Toulouse, 

 named Auriol, making himself immortal by building the 

 biggest. 



Stoffler and Regiomontanus were not, however, dis- 

 couraged by the fact that not a drop of rain fell during 

 the whole of that month in Central Europe : they merely 

 put the date on to 1588. 



It must be remembered that in those days of unusual 

 superstition these predictions were carried broadcast 

 through the land, and it was the consternation of the 

 ignorant which caused everybody to believe that Tycho's 

 star, which appeared in 1572, was really the star of 

 Bethlehem, returned to announce the second coming of 

 Christ. 



But as a matter of fact this star of Tycho's is really 

 connected with the present excitement, and again the 

 idea of the return of the star of Bethlehem has been 

 associated with it — although the year 1572 passed off 

 quite quietly, and the planet still survives — for the follow- 

 ing reasons. The star appeared between the constellations 

 of Cassiopeia and Cepheus — that is, in the same part of 

 the heavens in which in former times, in 945 and 1264, 

 similar appearances had been recorded. Argelander, 

 who inquired into the matter, found a loj-magnitude star 

 catalogued by D'Arrest, but seen some years before, when 

 the same part of the heavens (R.A. 4h. 19m. 58s., Decl. 

 -}- 63° 23' 55") was under scrutiny. It was suggested, 

 therefore, that the star in question might be a variable 

 one with a period of 314 years : this would very closely 

 account for appearances in the years o, 945, 1264, 1672, 

 and 18S7 ! and if it were really the star of Bethlehem, it 

 would be naturally seen about Christmas-time. Nothing 



is more curious than to watch how a piece of scientific 

 knowledge has thus settled down to form a nucleus for a 

 haze of sensational nonsense. 



But it is not impossible that, after all, we are really 

 again in presence of the star of Bethlehem ; for if 

 we read the account in St. Matthew, and assume that 

 some celestial body is really alluded to, and not a 

 miraculous appearance similar to those recorded by St. 

 Luke (chapter ii. 8-15), then it would seem that Venus, 

 as she has been seen lately — that is, at her maximum 

 brightness — will do as well as any other, and there is 

 no necessity to assume either a " new star," or a comet, 

 as giving rise to the phenomena recorded. 



We give that part of the narrative which chiefly con- 

 cerns us, and it is necessary to bear in mind that Bethle- 

 hem lies nearly due south of Jerusalem, and is about five 

 miles distant. 



"... There came wise men /r(7;« ///^ ^<;^J/ to Jerusalem, 

 saying, . . . we have seen his star zV///i;^i?.a!.yA . . . When 

 they had heard the king, they departed [to Bethlehem] ; 

 and, lo, the star, which they saw [had seen] in the east, 

 went before them, till it came and stood over where 

 the young child was. When they saw the star, they 

 rejoiced." 



The fact that the star was stated to be seen " in the 

 East" would imply that it was not seen anywhere else. 

 This is best explained by supposing a morning observa- 

 tion of a body soon rendered invisible by the light of the 

 sun. A star seen in the East at evening would be visible 

 all night, and could no longer be properly designated as 

 a "star in the East." This is against the views which 

 have been held and supported by Kepler, to the effect 

 that a conjunction of superior planets was in question ; 

 and indeed they have already been demolished by Prof. 

 Pritchard. 



If we assume that the star was Venus at maximum 

 brightness seen in the East in the morning, and that it 

 rose, say, two hours before the sun, it would be about south 

 at 10 a.m. It would seem not improbable that the journey 

 to Bethlehem should be made before noon. The gather- 

 ing of the priests and scribes would probably last till sun- 

 down, and it would be natural that the journey should be 

 undertaken next morning. Journeys in the East are not 

 generally now, and were probably not then, undertaken 

 in the evening. The latter part of the extract indicates 

 that the "wise men " did not see the star till they got 

 to Bethlehem, and that the statement that " the star went 

 before them " is rather an attempted explanation of its 

 change of place than a reference to any actual observation. 



The simple facts, then, seem to be that the "wise men" 

 — no wiser, it would appear, than the average Englishman 

 of the present day, in astronomical matters — being struck 

 by the exceeding brilliancy of Venus, which they did not re- 

 cognize, felt sufficient interest in it, or, more probably, were 

 so soundly frightened at it, that they went to the nearest 

 important town, Jerusalem, to find out something about it. 

 It has been assumed that the Magi came irom a. great 

 distance, but there is nothing to justify this, apparently ; 

 and if we go beyond the record at all we may as well 

 accept them at once as Melchior, Balthazar, and Jasper, 

 the kings respectively of Nubia, Chaldea, and Tarshish, 

 whose bones are supposed to be at Cologne, though their 

 connection with the Biblical narrative is not clear, as it 



