July 



1S82.J 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



145 



those with which this fine 'constellation abounds. Purely 

 telescopic pairs fairly swarm in it, and may be picked up 

 everywhere by simply sweeping the sky. At least seven 

 well-determined variable stars, too, are numbered among 

 its constituents ; and in addition to the two clusters of 

 stars of which we have given a short description above, it 

 contains two planetary nebulie and many interesting 

 fields of stars. It will prove a very treasure-house to the 

 incipient observer. 



Libra, situated beneath a part of Serpens {vide p. 21), need 

 not detain us long. Its two principal stars, a- and /J, have 

 \ery distant comites ; but can scarcely be legitimately called 

 "double." About 5^° to the south by east of n the observer 

 will find 212 of Piazzi's hour XIV. It is just visible to 

 the naked eye. It forms a pretty but very easy pair with 

 a moderate power. This is really a triple star, but the 

 third component is hopelessly beyond our aperture. 

 fi Librre is an extremely close pair, but is said to have 

 been seen by Burnham with a 2 J, -inch achromatic. Its 

 appearance, as exhibited in an English 3-inch telescope, 

 is shown in fig. 43. It is not marked in the map on 

 p. G2G, but is a little more than 2" to the north and west of 

 a. About 6° west-south-west of // Serpentis will be found 

 Struve 1962 Libra?, a pretty and delicate, but not difficult, 

 object The remaining double stars (of which there are a 

 good many) in this constellation are all invisible to the 

 naked eye. Before quitting it we must look at that 

 beautiful object, 5 of Messier's catalogue — a fine cluster of 

 stars crowded into a nebulous-looking object. This lies 

 nearly 9° to the south-west of a Serpentis, and forms a 

 rudely-equilateral triangle with that star and jx in the same 

 constellation. 



Fi.s;. i: 



100 Uerculi; 



fi Libra- 



X Opl 



Below Hercules, and straggling Ln and out of Serpens, 

 Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius, we find Ophiuchus, or the 

 Serpent-bearer. The Serpent borne by this gentleman we 

 have already described on p. 21. We now turn to its 

 carrier himself. fnlike Hercules, the major part of 

 Ophiuchus appears meagre and barren to the naked eye. 

 It, however, resembles that constellation in being replete 

 with objects of telescopic interest. Beginning with p', 

 which is, by the way, terribly low down, we find a beau- 

 tiful close pair of stars, with a pretty contrast between the 

 pale yellow of the larger one and the blue of its companion; 

 the pair forming the apex of a triangle with two other 

 conspicuous stars. \ will tax the observer's powers and 

 those of his instrument to the utmost This is a binary 

 star, with a period of 231 years ; its components are very 

 slightly opening just now. Fig. (1 gives some idea of it 

 as seen as a merely oval object, with a high power under 

 the finest definition. Some 3"^ north- west of i; a new star 

 blazed out in 1848, subsequently fading to practical invi- 

 sibility in small instruments. This neighbourhood should 

 be watched. 10° due east of Antares will be found 3G 

 Ophiuchi, a pretty and fairly easy pair. It is too close to 

 the horizon, though, for fine definition in these latitudes. 39 

 will be found 1° north-west of (i in Ophiuchus. It is very 

 nearly as badly situated as the last star. The components 



are not very close; but their colours are tine. Another 

 star, much better placed, which may be looked at for the 

 colours of its components, is 67,41° east-south-cast of (i 

 Ophiuchi. It is very wide, though. 7, a most interesting 

 binary object, will, like ,\, prove a crucial test for the 

 observer. It will need an instrument of the highest class, 

 a high power, a very sharp eye, and an excellent night to 

 do anything with it ; and even with these advantages it 

 will only appear, like ,\, as a misshapen star. 70 Ophiuchi, 



Fij,'. 15.— 70 Opliiuchi. 



G" to the eastsouth-east of /3, is an interesting pair, shown 

 in fig. 4."). The colour of the smaller star is believed, with 

 some reason, to be variable. It used to be violet or purple, 

 and is now yellowish. Ophiuchus is remarkably rich in 

 nebulous-looking star clusters. As they are not marked 

 in the map on p. 62G, our directions for finding them will, 

 we fear, appear somewhat vague. Beginning with 12 

 Messier, we shall find this about 8° 1.5' north-west by 

 west of f. 10 Messier is nearly half-way between /j Libra; 

 and a Aquila\ Messier 19 lies 71° due east from Antares ; 

 9 Messier will be found 3° south east of »; Ophiuchi. About 

 G.V° to the south-by-west of y lies 14 Messier; while, 

 finally, 23 Messier Ophiuchi, a fine cluster, will he found 

 about 5° north-west of /i Sagittarii. 



A GHOST STORY. 



PREMISING that my personal belief in Ghosts is of 

 the same kind and amount as that which I profess in 

 the existence of the Plucnix or the Hippogrift', I should 

 like to relate an absolutely true story of a circumstance or 

 adventure which occurred to an old friend of my own, for 

 the purpose of eliciting, if possible, some consistent ex- 

 planation of it from some of your readers who are interested 

 in psychology. I shall disguise the names of the actor (or 

 actors) in the strange history I am about to relate (I have 

 forwarded the real ones to the Editor) but nothing else. 



During the first half of the present century, Francis and 

 Horace Jones (two sons of Captain Jones, of the Royal 

 Navy, who was drowned in the St Lawrence River) 

 emigrated to New Zealand. After undergoing various 

 vicissitudes foreign to the purpose of tliis narrative, they 

 settled down to farming, and built themselves a log-house 

 at one extremity of a clearing in tlie bush. The only other 

 occupants of this clearing (for, oddly, the natives never 

 came near it) were, what tliey called, some Scotch " Shep- 

 herds," but who were in reality great sheep-farmers and 

 stock- raisers. Between these Scotchmen and the Joneses 

 an intimacy naturally sprang up. Now one night — and of 

 all nights in the year it was Christmas eve — Horace Jones 

 went over to spend a few hours with these Scotchmen. 1 

 need not say that whisky toddy formed a prominent 

 feature in the celebration, and they toasted all those dear 

 to them, who were removed by the semi circumference of 

 the globe, sang " Auld Lang Syne," and, in fact, had a 

 good deal more than "a wee drap" in their " Ee," when 



