ncillu'i- ihi^ Academy iioi' ;iiiy one of its Sctlioiis Ikis been in session 

 siinf ihc last aiiiuial meeting, until January. 



Our Inst monthly assembly of the Academy session for this season 

 was held on the third of this month, and a lar^e and attentive aucH- 

 ence Hstened to a most ehxiuent and instructive address by Mr. B. R. 

 Haumgardt. 



At the close of the meetinjf the auditors were presented with an 

 exhibition b\- Mr. Mars F. Baunifj^ardt, the accomplished Chairman 

 of our Astronomical section which undoubtedly is unique in the 

 entire history of scientific discovery and practical demonstration. 



He had prepared a chart, upon a graduated and exact scale, of 

 tlie winter sky as seen by us, and each of the constellations, with all 

 its predominant suns was shown in all its beauty. 



The river Eridanus with its streams of stars, near which 

 "Stands great Orion, who so kens not him in cloudless night 

 Gleaming aloft, shall cast his eyes in vain 

 To find a brighter sign in all the heaven." 



Glowing with the brilliance of eternal fires are seen the great suns 

 Bellatrix and Betelgeuse in his shoulders, beautiful Kegel in his foot, 

 Saiph in his knee, the little group of stars in his head, the three 

 bright stars in his belt and the downward hanging row in his sword, 

 in the center of which is that great nebula. With his upraised club 

 and his shield of lion's skin that sparkles with a curved row of little 

 stars, he awaits the attack of the angry Taurus, with blazing Alde- 

 baran in the Hyades of his head, its curving horns each tipped with a 

 brilliant sun and the silvery twinkling of the Pleiades in the shoulder. 



Canis major, Canis minor. Castor and Pallux appear in all their 

 glorious brilliancy. 



All the great suns and the multitudes of smaller stars, which are 

 indicated in their nomenclature by Greek letters, were shown upon 

 the chart by an application of radium, and when the lights were 

 turned off and Stygian darkness prevailed in the auditorium, the 

 details of this chart shone with brilliancy of the flashing diamond. 



In October last, Mr. Baumgardt had prepared a lecture upon 

 Radium, the history of its discovery and production, with a practical 

 demonstration of its properties, which was intended for the Astroni- 

 mical Section, but, owing to the orders forbidding public assemblies, 

 it had to be deferred. It is probable that notice will be given in a 

 near future of a meeting of the Astronomical Section, at which all 

 members of this Academy will be welcomed. 



^/-VO^dmdav Oo 



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