February 15, 1894] 



NA TURE 



367 



calculation to become acquainted with the fact that about 

 2000 years ago this period of invisibility occurred nearly 

 a month earlier. 



A very interesting point relating to the Pleiades is 

 the great number of different names which have been 

 applied to them, and also the curious myths which have 

 arisen from time to time. A most interesting account of 

 these has recently been published by M. Richard Andrce,i 

 who has brought together a mass of matter relating to both 

 names and myths. First, with regard to the names 

 which were used when referring to the cluster. The general 

 words defined them as a heap, troop, host of dancers, 

 sieve, &c. ; sometimes the simple word "many" was 

 adopted. One finds them spoken of as herds, or hosts 

 of animals, birds, such as hen with chickens, parrots, 

 doves, &c. The simplest expressions really used meant 

 "mass," and an examination of the records confirms 

 this view. 



In observing the Pleiades anyone would remark how 

 closely they are packed together. This closeness led 

 early peoples, no doubt, to refer to them as a host or herd 

 of animals, and hence the well-known name, " the hen 

 with her chickens." 



Among many foreign names for this, we have in Ger- 

 man, Der Glucke mit ihren Kiichlein ; in Danish, aften- 

 hone (evening hens) ; in French, la poussiniere ; in 

 Italian, gallinette, &c. Instead of a host of animals, we 

 have a host of people referred to, such as, for instance, in 

 the Solomon Islands, where they are called " togo ni 

 samu," meaning a company of maidens. The North 

 American Indians have also known them under the name 

 of " dancers." 



It may be thought that a natural name by which 

 they would be known would give some idea of the num- 

 ber of stars in the group ; this was often the case, only 

 with different names, for a'very good pair of eyes could 

 distinguish seven stars, while generally only six were 

 counted. The word for the Pleiades, for instance, in old 

 high German was " thaz sibunstirri " (seven stars), while 

 that of the South Americans, "cajupal," meant six stars. 

 Again, in Cook's Islands the word " Tau-ono" (six) was 

 used, while the Greeks had a special name for each of the 

 seven stars. 



Seeing that so much importance has been attached to 

 the Pleiades by peoples of all countries, it is natural 

 to find that the number of myths is by no means few ; 

 this is shown to be the case by examining the records of 

 the ancient Greeks, the peoples from East Asia, South 

 Sea Islands, America, &c. 



To describe a few briefly, let us refer first to that which 

 we owe to the Greeks. The Pleiades in this myth were 

 the daughters of Atlas and Pleione, each one of which 

 bore a separate name. The Hyades, for soitow at the 

 death of their sisters, or, as others say, at the destiny of 

 their father. Atlas, killed themselves and became fixed as 

 a constellation in the heavens. Another myth, by Pindar, 

 describes them as the comrades of Artemis, who were 

 turned into doves, and eventually into stars. 



A myth of much interest is that of the Dyaks, and the 

 Malays of Borneo. They say the Pleiades were six 

 chickens followed by their mother, who remained always 

 invisible. At one time there were seven chickens in all. 

 One chicken paid a visit to the earth, and there received 

 something to eat, at which the hen got so angry as to 

 threaten to destroy both the chicken and the people on 

 the earth. Fortunately the latter were saved by the con- 

 stellation of Orion, leaving only six chickens in the 

 brood. At that period of the year when the Pleiades are in- 

 visible, the Dyaks say that the hen broods her chickens, 

 while at the time of visibility "the cuckoo calls." 



The South Sea islanders have a myth which has some 

 originality about it. It is to the effect that the Pleiades 



1 See Globus, Cd. Ixiv. No. 22, " Die Plejaden im Mythus und in ihrer 

 Beziehung zuiii Jahresbeginn und Landbau." 



NO. 1268, VOL. 49] 



were originally a single star, which shone with such a 

 clear lustre as to incur the envy of the god Tane, who 

 was in league with the stars Aldebaran and Sirius, and 

 followed the Pleiades. Trying to save himself in a stream, 

 the course of which Sirius had so diverted as to bring 

 him close to Tane again, he was broken up into six 

 bright stars by Tane himself, who hurled Aldebaran 

 at him. 



The blacks of Victoria, Australia, have a myth in which 

 the Pleiades are considered a host of young wives who 

 play with the young men. The myth of the Kamilaroi 

 blacks is as follows : The Pleiades were once pretty 

 maidens on the earth, who were followed by some young 

 men called the Beriberi. To get away from the latter the 

 girls climbed trees, and thence sprang into the heavens, 

 where they were transformed into shining bodies ; one 

 maiden who remained behind was termed "gurri gurri," 

 the shy one, and she is represented by the least bright star 

 in the group. The Beriberi were eventually placed in the 

 heavens, where they appear in the girtle and boomerang 

 in the constellation of Orion. 



These and many other myths, all of great interest, 

 are mentioned by M. Andree. They inform us to a cer- 

 tain extent of the characters of the different nations. 

 Much might be learnt also about the origin of the various 

 tribes of people, by seeing if the different myths can be 

 traced back to an initial one. Those of the North Ameri- 

 can tribes, for instance, seem to have a common origin. 

 In some instances the Pleiades were undoubtedly 

 looked upon as a god who, besides regulating the year and 

 looking after the fruitfulness, was the ruler of all meteoro- 

 logical and astronomical appearances. Hesiod refers to 

 the rising of the Pleiades as the time for harvest, while 

 the period about which they disappeared for some time 

 he termed ploughing time. Forty days and nights were 

 they invisible, appearing again only as soon as the sickle 

 was sharp. Another very well-known use made of the 

 visibility and invisibility of the Pleiades was the regula- 

 tion of the traffic of ships in Greece, hence probably the 

 Greek word for to sail, TvKenv . The rising of this group 

 of stars was the commencement, so to speak, of the ship- 

 ping season, their disappearance denoting its conclusion. 

 At Rome, also, the same practice was in vogue. 



Enough has been said to attract the reader's atten- 

 tion to some of the numerous interesting references 

 about this group of stars. The nineteenth century 

 has already seen the end of many a myth which 

 has been solidly upheld ; but as science advances, facts 

 take the place of myths, and although much of the 

 romance may appear to be lost, one always looks back at 

 them with delight. Few stars, perhaps, have been so 

 shrouded in myth as the Pleiades, and the unravelment 

 of these myths has been the source of pleasure to many. 



NOTES. 



A MEETING of the International Meteorological Committee' 

 has been arranged to take place at Upsala, commencing 

 August 20. Since the meeting at Munich in 1891, four new 

 members have been added to the committee — Mr. William 

 Davis, Cordoba ; Mr. John Eliot, Calcutta ; Mr. R. L. J. 

 Ellery, F.R.S., Melbourne; and Dr. A. Paulsen, Copenhagen. 

 The last named has replaced Dr. Lang, Munich, who died last 

 year. 



The arrangements for the sixth session of the International 

 Geological Congress have now been made. The meeting will 

 be held at Zurich, from August 29 to September 2. The pre- 

 sident is Prof. E. Renevier ; Pi'of. A. Heim is vice-president, 

 and Prof. H. ^Golliez, of Lausanne, is secretary. The sub- 

 scription is twenty-five francs, which should be sent to M. 

 Casp. Escher-Hess, Bahnhofstrasse, Zurich. In addition to the 



