ASTRONOMICAL TEACHING. 123 



The moving picture of progress in any study has for 1845. 

 its background a series of ignorant guesses and foolish 

 conclusions. A specimen of what was taught as Astronomy 

 in the fourteenth century is not more grotesque and is 

 less simple than what was called teaching within our 

 own memory, and perhaps may still be so called in some 

 remote young ladies' school. Referring to the works of Astronomy 

 a class of authors who seem to think that the pretext fif 

 of writing for the especial instruction of young ladies is backl 

 more than a sufficient excuse for any amount of nonsense, 

 Mr. De Morgan adduces the following examples. The 

 book from which the extracts are made had reached its 

 fourteenth edition. 



Among the questions on Sagittarius are the following : 

 'To what sin were the Athenians addicted? What reflection 

 does Dr. Doddridge make on the occasion ? ' Apropos of the 

 constellation of Ursa Major is this question : * Who drove stags 

 in his phaeton instead of horses ? ' and the answer is, * Lord 

 Orford, who died in 1791.' The concatenation is that bears 

 can be tamed, and that Prince Radzivil drove them in his 

 carriage at Warsaw. On Musca the questions are, ' What are 

 the distinguishing characteristics of flies ? In what manner, 

 demonstrating his propensity to cruelty, did Domitian treat 

 them ? Hence what sarcasm was passed upon him ? How has 

 Sterne represented the humanity of a feigned character to a 

 fly ? How did contrary behaviour in a female (according 

 to Darwin) break off an expected matrimonial connection?' 



There were a few other books of a better sort pub- 

 lished, but they did not reach fourteen editions, and, 

 we may believe, seldom found their way into girls' 

 schools. 



There had existed from the year 1817 a Mathematical Old Mathe- 

 Society, or club, which met in Crispin Street, Spitalfields. society. 

 It was originally composed of working men, many of them 

 silk weavers, and among the early members had been 

 some men of known name. The conditions of member- 

 ship were that each member should have his pipe, his pot, 



