-i9 I 4- I 9 I 5-] The Story of the Constellations. 197 



Win. Peck's ' Hand-Book and Atlas of Astronomy.' Mr Peck 

 proposes an Egyptian source for the constellation figures, and 

 his theory is worked out with great ingenuity. Mr W. E. 

 Maunders ' Astronomy without a Telescope,' and his ' Astro- 

 nomy of the Bible/ contain a great deal of most valuable 

 information. I must express my indebtedness to Mr 

 Maunder's works, from which I have drawn largely for 

 the information in this paper. Mr Peck has himself kindly 

 allowed me to make use of several of the plates in his work 

 above referred to. Mr Maunder says — 



" Though the constellations were designed and mapped out 

 by astronomers, astronomical convenience was not observed. 

 Six obvious rules should have been followed. 1. The con- 

 stellations should have been roughly of equal size. 2. They 

 should have conformed as far as possible to the natural con- 

 figuration of the stars. 3. They should have been compact, 

 not sprawling and irregular. 4. The forms should have been 

 distinctive, without repetition. 5. They should not inter- 

 mingle. 6. They should have covered the whole visible sky. 

 All these rules, except the second, are violated persistently. 

 Ursa Major and Argo, for instance, occupy very large spaces. 

 Hydra sprawls across 100° of longitude. Of the 48 figures, 

 which may be reckoned as increased to 54 by subordinate 

 figures, 38 are the repetitions, more or less frequent, of 

 ■eleven forms. There are 10 men, 4 women, 2 centaurs, 

 4 fishes, 4 serpentine monsters, 2 goats, 2 bears, 2 crowns, 

 2 streams, 2 dogs, and four birds including 2 eagles. Whilst 

 of intermingled constellations we have Ophiuchus sharing the 

 same stars as Hercules for his head, his foot plunged right 

 into the head of the Scorpion, and his body inextricably 

 mixed up with the coils of the Serpent. In general, the 

 natural configuration of the stars gives us no clue whatever to 

 the origin of the constellation figures." 



A peculiar use, however, has been made of the constella- 

 tion figures, and of the wandering in and out of the signs of 

 the Zodiac by the Sun, Moon, and the Planets. The pseudo- 

 science of astrology, which had its basis in astronomical 

 observations, and its origin in the worship of the heavenly 

 bodies, was adopted by a crafty priesthood as a means of 

 reading future events. The planets and the constellations 



