14 THE WORJL1). ' 



serene night, and now the stars, which the brilliancy of day had; 

 eclipsed, shine forth in all their splendor, and perhaps that fairest 

 one of them all, the evening' star, adorns the western sky. As 

 we look over the heavens, we notice here and there a group, or as 

 the astronomer calls them, a constellation, with which we have 

 been familiar from childhood. If we look upon the winter sky, 

 we recognize Orion, with his bright belt, and the Pleiades or seven 

 stars, or turning to the north, the great dipper or Charles' wain, 

 being a part of the constellation " Ursa Major," or the " Great 

 Bear." As the eye wanders over these familiar objects, another 

 sight bursts upon the delighted vision. The full-orbed moon rises 

 majestically over the eastern hills, and in the increasing light, 

 the lesser stars fade away. The evening star, no longer brilliant,, 

 is now ready to set below the western horizon, and stars, which at 

 the commencement of night, w%re to the east of the meridian, are 

 now in the mid heaven. If we turn to' the north we find a change 

 there, the cluster or group called the dipper, which we will sup- 

 pose, at the commencement of our observation was almost 

 parallel with the horizon, as shown in this figure, has moved 



eastward, and evidently performed a part of a revolution aboni 

 some unknown centre. If we prolong our observations we find 

 this group, and all the rest of the heavens apparently revolving 

 around one star, which seems not to move at all. This star is 

 called the pole, or polar star, and is nearly m. a line with the two 

 bright stars at the end of the dipper as shown at a and b in the 

 above diagram, and about five times their distance, from the nearest 

 one. Meanwhile, the lunar orb, with all its beautiful diversity of 



