The Southern Cross Pearl. 307 



think that there is little doubt but that Dante was 

 acquainted with them when he used the following 

 lines in the Ptirgatorio, canto i., lines 22-4. 



" lo mi volsi a man'destra, e posi mente 

 Ali'altro polo, e vidi quatro stelle 

 Non viste mai fuor' ch'alla prima gente." 



The last line would probably allude to the few 

 travellers who had gone so far to the south that the 

 group was seen by them. 



The first notice of it in modern times occurs 

 in the letters of the great Florentine traveller, 

 Corsali, where he speaks of it as the " Croce mara- 

 vigliosa," in 1515. Again, Pigafetta notices it in his 

 account of the voyage to South America, under tho 

 leadership of Magellan, in 1520-22. 



It was considered then to be of a good omen, 

 and had much mystic effect on the crew of the ship. 

 It was first figured as a separate constellation by 

 Bayer, in his atlas engraved in 1648, and is there 

 noted as a new constellation. 



It has gained its reputation solely on account 

 of its form, as its component stars are small, and it 

 is insignificant in comparison with others in the 

 southern heavens. Only eight stars are visible to 

 the naked eye. One of these, however, though 



