GREAT STARS OF THE NORTHERN WINTER' SKY. 363 



The mention of no less than three of the finest of 

 those constellations which we may see still glittering 

 in the celestial vault, after the lapse of some 3000 

 years, is remarkable and also unique in the Sacred 

 Writings. The Pleiades as we know, with their cluster 

 of seven little stars, * still appear unchanged in the 

 constellation of Taurus. The giant Orion, of the Arab 

 astronomers, which almost every child can point out, 

 still shines the greatest and grandest of all the con- 

 stellations, high in the zenith, in Biblical lands. A 

 line drawn through its belt, on the opposite side from 

 the sword, takes the eye close to a large V, on top 

 of one of whose sides, not far from the Pleiades, is 

 seen a bright and ruddy star " Aide bar an" (Alpha of 

 Taurus) which is much used for Nautical observations ; 

 whilst Arcturus, of the constellation " Bootes, " the 

 brightest gem of the strictly northern heavens, is at 

 once found by following an imaginary continuation of 

 the curve of the tail of the great bear (Ursa Major], 

 which leads us straight, and without the possibility of 

 any mistake, to Arcturus. f The somewhat obscure 

 allusion to " his sons " is supposed to refer to neigh- 

 bouring and attendant stars, in all probability to those 

 of the " Great Bear " itself, as the name seems to imply ; 

 the word " Mazzaroth " is of doubtful interpretation 

 but Dr. Smith in his Dictionary of the Bible believes 

 it to be a general name for the "signs of the zodiac." 



In view of the numberless dangers, difficulties, and 



* Only six of these stars are visible to the naked eye, of which the 

 star "Alcyone" is the brightest. This constellation is however much 

 brighter and more clearly visible in the Southern Hemisphere, than it 

 is in the Northern. 



f The name is derived from the Greek UQKtos, 'bear' and OVQ<X, 'tail.' 

 See Dr. Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, Vol. ii. (Article " Maz- 

 zaroth"), p. 281. 



