728 THE UNIVERSE. 



notwithstanding the attempts which have been made to 

 reform it. Towards tlie eiglith century some theological 

 astronomers, scandalized at seeing all the divinities of 

 Olympus scattered over the vault of heaven, attemjoted to 

 depose them, and to substitute for mythological designa- 

 tions, names borrowed from the sacred writings. But this 

 attempt, of which Bede was the promoter, failed com- 

 pletely. However, those curious in such matters quote 

 calendars wherein St. Peter replaces the Eam, St. Andrew 

 the Bull, while David, Solomon, and the three kings of 

 the Magi, have also their places. Sir John Herschel, 

 more exact, looking at the difficulties presented by at- 

 tempts to settle the boundaries of the constellations with 

 accuracy, proposed to trace simple quadrilaterals on the 

 celestial sphere, and to class the stars in each of them. 

 But this system met with no success. 



Guided hj calculations and instruments of admirable 

 precision, the astronomer in our days boldly penetrates to 

 the spheres scattered towards the confines of immensity. 

 He weighs them and calculates their volume and density, 

 as if they were placed on the scale of his balance. 



Modern science draws ample supplies from its splendid 

 storehouses, whilst in its cradle all was wanting but 

 genius ! Hipparchus and Ptolemy had no instrument to 

 scrutinize the heavens with. The astronomers of the 

 Renaissance, such as llegiomontanus, Copernicus, Tyclio- 

 Braht^, and Kepler, Avere scarcely more favoiu'ed, and yet 

 how many immoilal discoveries do we owe to them! 

 They seem with their lynx-eyes to have seen or divined 

 everything.^ 



The first telescope made, Galileo's feeble instrument, 



^ Tlie first telescope which was coDstruoted of large dimensions was that of 

 Sir William Herschel. He discovered the sixth satellite of Saturn with it. The 



