ling wonders, that he might verify his convictions. LITTLE 

 When the first yellow star appeared in the west, Gali- JOURNEYS 

 leo turned his tube upon it, and behold ! instead of twink- 

 ling points of light, he saw a round mass a world 

 moving through space, and not a scintillating object 

 with five points. The twinkling spikes, or points, were 

 merely an optical illusion of the unaided senses. 

 Galileo made no secret of his invention. It was called 

 "Galileo's Tube," but some of the priests called it 

 Galileo's "Magic Tube." 



Yet it marked an era in the scientific world. Galileo 

 endeavored constantly to improve his instrument; and 

 from a threefold magnifying power, he finally made 

 one that magnified thirty-two times. 

 Galileo made hundreds of telescopes, and sold them at 

 moderate prices to any one who would buy. He ex- 

 plained minutely the construction of the instrument, 

 showing how it was made in accordance with the nat- 

 ural laws of optics. His desire was to dissipate the 

 superstition that there was something diabolical, or 

 supernatural about the "Magic Tube" that in fact, 

 it was not magic, and the operator had no peculiar 

 powers ; you had simply to comply with the laws of 

 nature, and any one could see for himself. 

 It is hard for us, at this day, to understand the opposi- 

 tion that sprang up against the telescope. We must 

 remember that at this time the belief in witchcraft, 

 fairies, sprites, ghosts, hobgoblins, magic and super- 

 natural powers was common. Men who believe in mir- 

 acles make poor scientists. There were books about 



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