24 NA TURE-STUD Y RE VIEW [17:1— Jan., 1921 



that hour of the evening when the woodthrush is finishing his 

 vocalizing and the whippoorwill gives his first clear call. 



Altair is comparatively near to the earth being about ninty-foiir 

 trillion of miles away which is much farther away than the sim. 

 On account of the latter 's nearness we receive many times as much 

 light from it as from Altair. But in reality Altair gives off nearly 

 ten times as much light as the sun. It has been said that this star 

 is approaching the earth at the rate of twenty-seven miles a second 

 but even at such a tremendous speed it would be more than a 

 hundred thousand years before Altair could possibly reach the 

 position the earth now occupies. 



Just thirteen hours elapse between the rising and the setting of 

 Altair and as it remains so low in the sky it may be seen throughout 

 its entire passage from a comfortable posture. In the order of 

 brightness among stars it is classified as the eleventh. 



The Dolphin 



Delphinus, the Dolphin, an attractive star cluster in the shape 

 of a diamond is just east of Aquila and a trifle north of Altair. 



Although there are said to be eighteen 

 stars in the group only five are clearly 

 seen. Three of these are a trifle varia- 

 ble, one is a double star and another is 

 suspected of being a triple star. 



Another name for this constellation 

 The Dolphin or Job's Coffin is Job's Coffin. But why such a name 



should be applied is impossible to 

 imagine. Of course in very early times men felt that the stars 

 exerted a very mysterious influence. They noted their rising and 

 setting and tried to find out what composed them. They classified 

 them into groups and gave each the name of some figure or animal 

 according to the position of the stars composing the group. There 

 is a real reason for the name "dolphin" which comes from the old 

 myth told for generations concerning this constellation. 



Arion, a famous lyric poet and musician, and a native of Lesbos 

 went to Italy where his art enabled him to amass a fortune. In 

 Sicily he once won a valuable prize which was coveted by some 

 sailors as he was returning home. He was seized but begged to 

 be allowed to play on his flute and as he did so many dolphins 



