BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 



ginary likenesses, many of which, individually, ob- 

 tained the names of persons celebrated in antiquity, 

 were in general called constellations. 



The distances of the fixed stars from the earth is 

 supposed to be very great; so much so, that were a 

 cannon ball discharged from the nearest of them, it 

 is computed that it would take 7,000,000 years be- 

 fore it could reach the earth. So far, indeed, are 

 these luminous orbs removed from us, that their mag- 

 nitude cannot be increased by the best magnifiers ; 

 and, notwithstanding the great extent of the earth's 

 orbit or path round the sun, a fixed star does not ap- 

 pear to be nearer to us when the earth is in that part 

 of its orbit nearest to it, than it seemed to be w r hen 

 the earth was at the greatest distance, or 190,000,000 

 of miles farther removed from the star. 



Dr. Bradley calculates the nearest fixed star from 

 the earth to be 40,000 times the diameter of the 

 earth's orbit, and the distance of Draconis from 

 the earth to be 400,000 times that of the sun, or 

 38,000,000,000,000 miles ! 



As to the size of the fixed stars, some idea may 

 be formed from the vast distance at which they are 

 visible. Were the sun removed to as great a dis- 

 tance from us as we are from the nearest of these 

 stars, it is not probable that he would appear greater 

 to us, and the different apparent magnitudes of the 

 stars is supposed only to arise from their diiierent 

 distances. Indeed, from a comparison of the light 

 afforded by a fixed star to that of the sun. it has been 

 concluded that the fixed stars do not differ materi 



