DO KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 
rose, or mottled with soft gray, while shades of purple, brown, and delicate green 
are interspersed. Never before did we behold the variety of tone and tint, the 
flood of light we see this night. Never did our giant brother seem so near, so 
grand in proportions, so symmetrical in equipoise. His four satellites are bright- 
ly beaming on his left, and bear testimony to the power of the telescope by pre- 
senting disks instead of points. The famous red spot is wanting in the view. 
We mourn its absence, for, since 1878, its well known features have become as 
familiar and firmly fixed as if they were a permanent feature on the planet's 
disk. 
What shall we see next? is the question now discussed, for the extreme cold 
has congealed the oil,' and the monster refuses to move. His eye is turned to 
the meridian, and no effort will make him swerve one inch to the right or left. 
In this emergency, a member of the party volunteered to mount to the top of the 
pier and lubricate with fresh oil the joints of the giant. The plan is successful, 
and, with many a shriek and groan, the lower end of the tube rises and the upper 
end falls, until the Cyclopean eye points to the great Nebula in Orion. 
The little wisp of cloud haze visible to the naked eye is transformed into 
one of the most glorious visions that ever breaks upon the entranced eye of the 
observer. The most wonderful nebula the northern sky reveals lies before us, 
filling the whole field of view and suffused by a light that never was seen on sea 
or shore. Now we appreciate the power of the great telescope, the triumph of 
the optician's art. For definition is of little consequence in observing the shad- 
owy nebula. Light is needed, and light comes. 
The delicacy of the celestial glow that pervades the scene is beautiful be- 
yond comparison. The central point of interest is the famous trapezium, con- 
sisting of four bright stars and two smaller ones. Around this sextuple group 
radiate what seem to be the head and branching horns of some huge animal, the tra- 
pezium occupying the open mouth, and surrounding a space of sky within which 
reigns the blackness of darkness Spiral curves of nebulous haze fill in the field 
of view, the radiating mass being of a delicate green tint, while dotted over the 
shadowy haze are many brilliant stars, throwing an element of life into the form- 
less void and helping to light up this scene of loveliness and grandeur which no 
pencil may paint nor pen describe. We feel, while with reverent eyes we gaze 
upon the picture, that we are looking within the eternal gates, and enjoying a 
glimpse of the glory to be revealed, that " eye hath not seen nor ear heard " 
It is said that no one can look upon the Apollo without standing erect and 
feeling a sense of the divinity inherent in human nature. But what is this mas- 
terpiece of Greek art, chiseled by human hands from a block of marble in com- 
parison with this creation from Nature's fashioning hand brought near to mortal 
eyes by telescopic art ! Where but in the heavens shall we find such an exhibi- 
tion of majesty, vastness and celestial grace as is symbolized in the great Nebula 
of Orion, beaming with suns, peopled with ghostly shadows, and glowing with 
light that is hundreds of years old when it reaches us ! Our earth and her brother 
planets will have cooled down to dead worlds, the Sun's fires will be quenched 
