3«2 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [14:9— Dec, 1918 



In his celestial position, however, Orion is none the less defiant, 

 and still the hunter of the beast, for there he stands with club 

 uplifted and arm swathed with the lion's skin ready to slay the 

 mighty Bull, Taurus, who charging upon him, is bent on doing 

 to death our steadfast, fearless hero. The whole makes a magnifi- 

 cent picture of heroic proportions. 



The antiquity of the myth of Orion can better be comprehended 

 perhaps, when it is stated that the constellation is called by that 

 name, several times in the Bible; in the Book of Job in particular 

 it is mentioned with the Dipper or the "Seven Stars" and the 

 Pleiades. Amos, also made mention of Orion Ancient and Mod- 

 ern poetry makes many references to the hunter of the beast. 

 Aratus tells how Orion "flies to the utmost end of the earth" when 

 the Scorpion comes. Manilius wrote : 



"Near the twins behold Orion rise 

 His arms extended measure half the skies, 

 His stride no less." • 



This is a very splendid touch, betraying the mighty size of the 

 imperishable hunter. Milton has some ringing lines, that are 

 full of majesty in "Paradise Lost" on this subject; and in our 

 time, Tennyson was tireless in his use of Orion to grace some 

 of the finest music he has produced in his rich and flowing verse. 

 The stars of Orion's belt are familiar objects indeed, and as I 

 stated before are better known perhaps than any other star group 

 of the winter sky, with the exception of the Dipper. I wish to 

 speak of the belt here in connection with the sword, for the two 

 go together, and in the latter is found the great nebula which is 

 as astronomers tell us, one of the most astonishingly beautiful 

 things to be witnessed in the sky. The belt is made up of three 

 brilliant stars of the second magnitude, so evenly spaced as to 

 command our profound admiration. They are an excellent aid 

 to us in finding the most majestic star of our northern latitudes, 

 we have but to produce a straight line extending southward in 

 the direction they lay, and it will meet the noble Dog Star that 

 the Arabs called Al Shira, The Shining One. The fact too that 

 Orion's belt stars measure just three degrees, is of much use to 

 us, for by this heavenly ell, we can make many calculations among 

 the stars with great ease. The curved line of stars depending 

 from the belt of the giant form his sword, and while the stars 

 that compose it are not remarkably brilliant, the third from the 





