SCOUTING FOR GIRLS 
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the Woodcrafter may select the number needed to qual- 
ify, namely, the Little Bear, or Little Dipper, the Big* 
Dipper or Big Bear, Cassiopeia’s Chair, the Bull, Orion’s 
Hound, Orion’s Little Dog, the Pleiades and the Hyades ; 
the Lyre (later). 
The Moon 
The moon is one-fourth the diamenter of the earth, 
about one-fiftieth of the bulk, and is about a quarter of a 
million miles away. Its course, while very irregular, is 
nearly the same as the apparent course of the sun. It is 
a cold solid body, without any known atmosphere, and 
shines by reflected sunlight. 
The moon goes around the earth in twenty-seven and a 
quarter days. It loses about fifty-one minutes in twenty- 
four hours ; therefore it rises that much later each suc- 
cessive night on the average, but there are wide devia- 
tions from this average, as, for example, the time of 
the Harvest and Hunter’s moons in the fall, when the 
full moon rises at nearly the same time for several nights 
in succession. 
According to most authorities, the moon is a piece of 
the earth that broke away some time ago ; and it has 
followed its mother around ever since. 
The Stars as Tests of Eyesight 
In the sky are several tests of eyesight which have 
been there for some time and are ‘likely to be. The first 
is the old test of Mizar and Alcor. Mizar, the Horse, 
is the star at the bend of the handle of the Dipper. Just 
above it is a very small star that astronomers call Alcor, 
or the rider. 
The Indians call these two the “Old Squaw and the 
Papoose on Her Back.” In the old world, from very 
ancient times, these have been used as tests of eyesight. 
To be able to see Alcor with the naked eye means that 
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