18&3.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



11 



THE FACE OF THE SKY. 



Feom Aobdst 3 TO August 17. 

 By F.R.A.S. 



A PERIOD of seemingly renewed solar activity renders the 

 study of the Sun's surface very interesting just now ; and no 

 clear day should be allowed to pass without directing the telescope 

 to his face. A representation of the night sky during the next 

 fourteen days will be found in Map VIII. of " The Stars in their 

 Seasons." Mercury sets after the Sun during the whole of August, 

 and may possibly be caught with the naked eye over the W. by N. 

 part of the horizon before 8 p.m. Venus is, for our present purpose, 

 invisible. Mars rises before midnight half way between the N.E. 

 and theN.E.-by-E. ; but he only looks like a bright red star. Jupiter 

 will not come into view until later. Saturn, though, rises between 

 11 and 12 p.m. during the earlier part of our specified period, and 

 between 10 and 11 p.m. during the latter part of it. His ring is 

 now so open as to be discernible in a comparatively small telescope. 

 Between the 9th and the 11th of August, and notably on the night 

 of the 10th, the Earth passes through a stream of those curious 

 meteorites which become visible to us on entering our atmosphere 

 as "shooting stars." Their apparition on the 10th gained for them 

 the appellation of St. Lawrence's tears. Tliey are now less poeti- 

 cally, but more scientifically, known as the Perseids, from the fact 

 of their paths all seeming to radiate from a point in the constel- 

 lation Perseus, forming a triangle with n) and y in that con- 

 stellation. As a rule, they leave more or less marked trains 

 of light in their wake. The most remarkable thing in con- 

 nection with this stream is, however, the fact that it travels 

 in the orbit of a small comet (II.) discovered in 1862. Unfortu- 

 nately, it will be moonlight during the earlier jiart of the night of 

 the 10th, but not during the whole of it. One occnltation of a 

 star by the Moon only will be observable during the fortnight 

 covered by these notes. It will occur on the evening of August 15, 

 when the 5^ mag. star p^ Sagittarii will disappear at the Moon's 

 dark limb at 7h. 25m., at an angle of 49° from her vertex, reappear- 

 ing at her bright limb, at a vertical angle of 297°, at 8h. 32m. p.m. 

 The Moon's age at noon on August 3 is 04 days, and quite ob- 

 viously, 14'4 days at the same hour on the 17th. She leaves Cancer 

 about 4 o'clock this afternoon, and passes into Leo, where she 

 remains until about 2 p.m. on the 4th, at which time she crosses 

 into Sextans. She takes until noon on the 5th to travel through 

 this, and then re-enters Leo, which she finally quits at 2 p.m. on 

 the 6th for Virgo. It occupies her until noon on the 10th to tra- 

 verse this great constellation, and at that time she passes over the 

 boundary into Libra. There she remains until about 1 a.m. on the 

 12th, when she enters the northern part of Scorpio. It takes her 

 about 13 hom-s to traverse this, and then at 2 p.m. on the 12th, 

 we find her in the southern part of Ophiuchus. Across this she 

 travels, and enters Sagittarius about 8 a.m. on the 14th. She does 

 not reach the confines of Capricornus until 6 p.m. on the 16th, and 

 at 10 o'clock the next morning moves into Aquarius. Wo there 

 leave her. 



^3araliov Column. 



[The following certainly seems worthy of a place in this column. 

 — R.P.] 



A NEW THEORY OF COPERNICUS. 

 To Mr. R. A Proctor Astronomer 



Sir. It appears you are estimated to be a star of the first magni- 

 tude in astronomical circles, therefore I beg to introduce to you a few 

 practical ]iroofs that the Copernican theory is the greatest, because 

 the most popular delusion under the sun. being by trade a carpen- 

 ter I know what a true triangle is. I have also had some experi- 

 ence in leveling building by the horizon of the sea. which by a long 

 straight ridge of a building may be seen to be iierfectly straight 

 and level for at least 30 miles, tlierofore. Can you explain the 

 mystery How it is possible if the earth were a globe 8,000 miles in 

 diameter, for the visible liorizou to present an unmistakable straight 

 and level lino for 30 or 40 miles, and at the same time bo sufficiently 

 convex in 20 miles to hide from view the top masts of a ship some 

 of which is no less than 140 ft high. ? Do the sea rise 140 ft in the 

 centre of 20 miles. ? if (w How can 30 miles of sea be a straight 

 lino. ? There is also a mystery respecting the supposition distance 

 of the sun from the earth. Do the rays of the sun shine forth 

 direct from the sun to the earth, if not. Can you explain what i)re- 

 vonts their doing so. ? But. it the rays come direct, the visible 

 oblique line of the sun's rays, tostifios that the now popular sup- 

 position distance of the sun "from the eartli is more than 9 1.9i)6-000. 



miles distance from the truth, which is truly a distance 

 of no mean importance, when we consider that on it is founded and 

 being reared up the greatest antagonistic heresy to the source of 

 Englands greatness that history has on record. An important 

 question may truly be asked. Was Copernicus the Anti-Christ. ? 

 'The question is worthy of your careful consideration, and even 

 refutation if its in your power to do so. the question may surprise 

 you. and well it may. when yon consider the marvellous rapidity 

 with which the supposition theory have spread itself over the face 

 of the whole civilised world. 



It has come in the latter days, with haste, even as a cloud cover- 

 ing the whole land with gross spiritual darkness. It has risen out 

 of the sea pure and simple, it requires no mystifying of the text to 

 prove its truth. It is in direct antagonism to the Spirit of the 

 Bible from Genesis to Revelation. It have extended its influence 

 over the whole civilised world». It have made rich many merchants 

 of the earth. It have made war with the Saints and overcome them. 

 Its advocates are constantly conjecturing something contrary to 

 their predecessors, and publicly exposing their suppositions to be 

 what they really were, hypothetical suppositions and nothing more. 



The foregoing characteristics are essentially the unmistakable 

 prophetic characteristics of the Anti-Christ, and his numerous 

 followers, they really agree in nothing except in trying to prove 

 the Bible untrue, their suppositions is in reality aa unmixable as 

 iron and clay. The theory presents mysteries greater than any 

 other known invention under the Sun. Therefore. I am open to 

 prove in any paper you may name, that the theory is a delusion 

 from three seperate positions. First, from the Bible. Second, 

 from the provable Level surface of the sea. and Third from the 

 provable distance of the sun from the earth by Architectural 

 measurements on the unerring triangulation principle, and I hereby 

 challenge you or any other man to produce proofs (in the same 

 paper) in favour of the theory First from the Bible. Second, from 

 the convex surface of the sea. and then produce your proofs that, 

 the Sun is 3 million or 95 million miles distant from the earth, 

 which of the two distances you may imagine has the greatest 

 number of substantial jjroofs. and in honour of Truth let the winner 

 of the challenge be the one who has the greatest number of sub- 

 stantial proofs in two out of the three suggested positions, an early 

 answer will oblidge Yours Resptly. Wm. Hardy. 



St. Helens. Isle. of. Wight. 



[It will be shown next, I suppose, that in Knowledge with its 

 far-wandering editor, sub-editor, and staff, its motto " Let Know- 

 ledge grow from more to more," and its monthly increase, there is 

 clear evidence of the approach of those latter days when, we are 

 told, "men shall run to and fro and Knowledge shall be increased." 

 — R. P.] 



" Let Knowledge grow from more to more." — Alfred Tennyson. 



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 and directed envelope be enclosed. 



DRESS REFORM (CORRECTIONS). 



Sir, — May I ask you kindly to allow me to fill up two omissions 

 in my article on " Dress Reform." The first occurs in the quota- 

 tion itrom my lecture. Between " decked out in beatitiful colours," 

 and " to which it has no claim," should be " which has given it 

 a pretension to beauty." 



The second omission makes the continuation of my paper almost 

 unintelligible, as the argument chiefly hinges on the words left out. 

 The 5th requirement, as laid down in the circular of the Associa- 

 tion is, " not departing too conspicuously from the ordinary dress 



