96 
NATURE STUDY. 
Ham. Methinks, it is like a weasel. 
Pol. It is backed like a weasel. 
Ham. Or, like a whale. 
Pol. Very like a whale.” 
Turning now toward the northeast one can discern a magnifi¬ 
cent twinkler of the first magnitude about thirty degrees above 
the horizon. This is the star Capella, the Goat, and is the prin¬ 
cipal one in the constellation Auriga, the charioteer, or wagoner. 
On pictorial maps this constellation is represented by the figure 
of a man in a reclining posture, with a goat and two kids in his 
left hand and a bridle in his right. Near Capella, may be seen 
three stars of lesser magnitude only a few degrees apart form¬ 
ing a small, sharp-pointed isosceles triangle which marks the 
position of the kids. 
“ See next the goatherd with, his kids; he shines 
With seventy stars, deducting only four, 
Of which Capella never sets to us; 
And scarce a star with equal radiance beams 
Upon the earth.” — Eudosia. 
Institute Work. 
With the return of autumn the set, recognized work of the 
Manchester Institute of Arts and Sciences has been resumed. 
For one disposed to the contemplation of such matters, it is 
interesting also to note how the influence of the Institute work 
has extended through the summer. The pages of Nature Study 
have told how some of the members have interested themselves, 
the birds at Martha’s Vineyard, the shed-building ants at Ithaca, 
the birds observed during a tour in Europe, the ways and do¬ 
ings of graceful garter snakes, the visit of a humming-bird to 
blossoms held in the hand — these and many other things in 
nature have been observed and written about. But behind all 
this is the great body of silent members, who have observed and 
collected, always with the Institute in mind, but have not as yet 
written of their observations. 
