426 
PRIMITIVE ASTRONOMY. 
BY THE EDITOR. 
“rt ''HIS is a fine, clear night, sir; is it not?” 
J- “ Indeed it is : and how brightly that star shines above 
all the rest.” 
“ It does ; pray what star may that be, sir ?” 
“ Why, it is called Jupiter : correctly speaking, it is not a 
star ; but I dare say you know as well as I do that it is a world 
like the one on which we live.” 
“ A world, sir ! No ! Then have navigators really gut as 
far as that ?” 
This is no imaginary dialogue ; the speakers were a Liverpool 
cab-driver and the writer of these lines. 
Three or four hours’ confinement in a crowded saloon had 
induced us to seek the cool evening air, on our return home 
from a place of public entertainment; and leaving our companions 
to occupy the inside of the vehicle, we selected the less dignified 
but more airy seat beside the driver, and were accordingly 
favoured with an excellent opportunity, had we been so disposed, 
to deliver a popular lecture on astronomy to a limited, but 
attentive and inquiring auditory ! 
The refreshing breeze from the Atlantic, and the cloudless, 
starlight night, had not, however, operated in this direction; 
they had so raised our spirits, that when the last exclamation 
escaped from our companion, our first impulse was to laugh 
outright at the absurdity; but am instant’s reflection showed 
us that such a state of ignorance, even in an uneducated cab- 
driver, should rather move to pity than to merriment ; and we 
endeavoured, as well as we were able, to make our companion 
understand, that it is impossible for human beings to breathe 
and live beyond the limits of our atmosphere, and that our 
knowledge of the nature and position of the star which shone 
so brightly in the heavens, was the result of reasoning’, aided 
by the employment of philosophical instruments. 
But what a deplorable illustration did this man present of the 
ignorance still existing in this our boasted land and day of 
enlightenment, when “Working Men’s Institutes” are the 
