TO KNOW THE STARRY HEAVENS 
97 
South of the Equator. 
In the August-September, 1920, 
number of “Popular Astronomy,” pub- 
lished at Northfield, Minnesota, Mr. S. 
C. Hunter of New Rochelle, New York, 
has a very interesting article, “South 
of the Equator.” We wish we had 
room for the entire article, but the fol- 
lowing quotations give so good a taste 
of the spirit of the whole that I am 
sure our readers will want to send for 
a copy. 
“We eagerly sought for a glimpse of 
that much lauded asterism of the south- 
ern skies, the far famed Southern 
Cross. We were not immediately re- 
warded, however, as it was rising late. 
In fact so late that it could not be 
found until we were across the equator, 
and even then it was at first only dimly 
discernible in the horizon mists. But 
as we continued our southward jour- 
ney, it rose higher and higher on the 
Milky Way, and soon we were able to 
study at leisure this most popular of 
all objects in the southern hemisphere. 
“To say that it was disappointing will 
not be surprising. Nearly everyone 
seeing it for the first time seems to 
agree about this. The impression is 
unavoidable that its chief claim to fame 
must rest in the tradition which clus- 
ters about it in song and story. 
“Perhaps the general impression of 
topsy-turvydom is the most striking 
sensation experienced by the northern 
observer who visits the Southern 
Hemisphere for the first time. It is 
very difficult to get accustomed to the 
violent displacement of familiar objects 
in the sky. Orion standing upside down 
and directly overhead is one of the ap- 
parent abnormities. Then the unusual 
course of the sun as he sweeps in his 
diurnal circle northward, instead of 
southward. It also gives one a start 
to observe the young moon in the north- 
west, with the horns pointing appar- 
ently northeast. 
“It is all very well to tell about these 
things and to try and explain them, but 
there is nothing quite equal to the shock 
of making their acquaintance for the 
first time by actual observation. 
% % 
“We looked at the wonderful Kappa 
Crucis, otherwise known as the ‘Jewel 
Casket.’ Words seem quite inadequate 
to describe the startling telescopic 
cluster here disclosed, as it is always 
difficult to express color verbally, espe- 
cially when it sparkles with the peerless 
brilliancy of a dewdrop in the morning 
sun. Here was a handful of bright 
liquid points of colored fire scattered 
upon a dark background, looking for 
all the world as if they had been just 
carelessly dropped there. The chief 
feature is a pendant of three stars in 
close alignment, as if Beta Cygni con- 
tained a third star, bright red, between 
the golden and blue one. The other 
surrounding stars vary in degrees of 
red, yellow and white. There is, of 
course, nothing like this anywhere else 
in the heavens and it can never be for- 
gotten by anyone fortunate enough to 
see it. 
;fc ^ 
“But after all it is the glory of the en- 
tire visible heavens which appeals to the 
imagination of the thoughtful observer, 
and the wonders disclosed by telescope 
and camera are enough in all con- 
science, whether to the north or south, 
for endless speculation and theory to 
explain anew the processes of crea- 
tion.” 
Popular Lecturer on Astronomy. 
Miss Mary Proctor, daughter of 
the distinguished English astronomer, 
Richard Proctor, paid a flying visit to 
this country in July to arrange for a 
lecture tour in 1921 ; she sailed for Eng- 
land on July 24. She will lecture in 
England and Wales this summer, and 
in 1922 will go to Australia. Miss Proc- 
tor’s lectures are entirely devoted to 
astronomy, covering the latest discov- 
eries in that field, and are illustrated 
with the best photographs that have 
ever been made of celestial objects. 
During the four years of the great war 
Miss Proctor was engaged in govern- 
ment work in England. She will find 
a most cordial welcome on her return 
to this country. — The Monthly Even- 
ing Sky Map. 
Miss Proctor was for many years an 
assistant of the present editor of this 
magazine in editing “The Observer,” 
published at Portland, Connecticut. 
Chorizema. 
In orange doublet and kirtle of rose, 
This little floweret fairly glows. 
—Emma Peirce. 
