LIGHT, HEAT AND LIFE : HOW EVOLVED 111 



unpalatable, that, like the weary listener to the 

 dry, dull sermon of the missionary, who said : 



"If I were a cannibal from Timbuctoo, 

 I would eat that missionary and his hymnbook too." 



Doubtless he thought the hymnbook would be 

 excellent dessert after such a dry meal; and some 

 readers of scientific works find most any kind of 

 dessert refreshing after partaking of the mental 

 pabulum of dry statistics and technical terms to 

 be found in many scientific works. 



Our American Indian is never dull or unpoetic in 

 his conception of the Universe. He sees God in the 

 lightning, hears Him in the thunder ; and according 

 to him the " Milky Way " is the " Path of souls " lead- 

 ing to the villages in the sun. Along this pathway 

 travel the spirits of the dead, and the brighter 

 stars are "the campfires for the solitary journey 

 to the land of the hereafter." 



The Japanese term the Milky Way "the silver 

 river of heaven." And the ancient Greeks con- 

 sidered the blue dome of the sky a crystal globe 

 where dwelt the Olympian gods. 



No science should be dry, and above all astron- 

 omy should lift us to empyrean heights where we 

 may tread among the stars. 



