142 Crimson Star. 



■ 



of an 18-feet telescope,, or 3 Q \ th in a 6-feet, so that, all the 

 diversities and imperfections of instruments and of sight and 

 of judgment considered, the real wonder is, not that there 

 should be so much discrepancy, "but that there should be so 

 much agreement, in the results. It is obviously a question of 

 testimony, and can only be decided by the patient accumulation 

 and judicious selection of materials. All, therefore, who 

 possess the means of measurement should endeavour to turn 

 them to good account in the cause, and though the rough 

 attempts of beginners can only give approximate results, yet 

 we must remember that there was a time when Struve, and 

 Smyth, and Dawes, and Secchi were beginners. 



[ CEIMSON STAE. 



Independently of its conuection with our recent remarks 

 on the colours of stars, the following striking object will be 

 found worthy of a search from its intrinsic beauty. In p. 115 

 of our Yol. vi. mention has been made of Crimson Stars, but 

 no especial instance was given. Such an one has, however, 

 been obligingly pointed out to me by Mr. Knott, the first 

 known recorder of its colour, in Oct., 1861, though not the 

 discoverer of its existence, as it stands JSTo. 1442 in the 

 18th hour of R.A. in Weisse's edition of BesseFs Zones. 

 Observers whose instruments are provided with circles will hit 

 upon it in E.A. 18h. 57m. lis., D.S. 5° 53' ; but it maybe 

 readily found without such assistance by means of its neigh- 

 bour 12 Aquilce. That star has been mentioned in p. 116 of 

 our volume already cited, as the nearest of two a little sp X 

 Antinoi, the latter being a 3-mag. star, easily recognized 

 from its position immediately nf the upper part of the hazy 

 brightness of Sobieski's Shield ; it is, in fact, the brightest for 

 a considerable distance round it, and has only one competitor, 

 S Aquilce, along the track of the Milky Way, between itself and 

 Al Tair. Its next sp neighbour, 12 Aquilce, 6-mag., having 

 been identified, and placed in the centre of the field, we must 

 sweep steadily on the parallel to the E. Having passed several 

 small stars, barely exceeding 10-mag., which are plentiful in 

 this region, we come to a star about 8-mag., having (if 

 the field is a large one) on the 1ST. an irregular line of three 

 brighter stars lying nearly E. and W., and another brighter 

 star sf. We then sweep on as far again in the same parallel 

 to about 40' of arc from 12 Aquilce, when we come upon our 

 object standing conspicuous among several very minute atten- 

 dants. Its aspect is singular and striking, especially as con- 

 trasted with its whiter neighbours. The disk is of n rather 

 feeble red, the intensity of light serving, perhaps, to make its 



