called by Virgil, "Astræa's balance." Others suppose that Jupiter made Themis the goddess of love and justice, and placed her balance among the constellations. 10. SCORPIO: Antares of the 1st, and 8 of the 2nd magnitude, are the principal stars in this constellation. This is supposed to be the Scorpion which stung to death the boasting hunter Orion; on account of which, Jupiter placed the Scorpion among the constellations. According to Ovid, this serpent was produced by the earth, to punish Orion for his vanity in boasting that there was not on earth any animal which he could not conquer. 11. SAGITTARIUS: There are no stars of the 1st or 2nd magnitude in this constellation. It is supposed that Sagittarius took its name from Chiron, the famous Centaur, who had changed himself into a horse, to elude the jealous inquiries of his wife Rhea. Chiron was famous for his knowledge of music, medicine, and shooting. He taught mankind the use of plants and medicinal herbs; and instructed in all the polite arts the greatest heroes of his age. He taught Æsculapius physic; Apollo music; Hercules astronomy; and was tutor to Achilles. Being accidentally wounded by Hercules with a poisoned arrow, and the wound being incurable, and the cause of excruciating pains, Chiron begged of Jupiter to deprive him of immortality. His prayers were propitious, and he was therefore placed by that god among the constellations of the zodiac, under the name of Sagittarius, the Archer. Some, however, assert that Crocus, a famous hunter, (not the youth mentioned by Ovid, who, for love of the nymph Smilax, was changed into a flower,) was, at the request of the Muses, metamorphosed into this sign. 12. CAPRICORNUS: In this constellation there are no stars of the first or second magnitude; nor any remarkable star of the third. Capricornus is supposed to be Pan, the god of shepherds, of huntsmen, and of all the inhabitants of the country, who fleeing from the giant Tiphon into the river Nile, transformed himself into a sea-goat, upon which account Jupiter placed him among the constellations. Others suppose this constellation to be the goat Amalthea, which fed Jupiter with her milk. 13. AQUARIUS; Scheat of the third magnitude, is the principal star in this constellation. Aquarius is supposed to be the famous Ganymede, a beautiful youth of Phrygia, son of Tros, king of Troy. He was taken up to heaven by Jupiter, under the figure of an eagle, as he was tending his father's flock on Mount Ida; and he became the cup-bearer of the gods, in place of Hebe, the goddess of youth, who had been dismissed from this office by Jupiter, because she fell down a little disorderly as she was pouring nectar at a grand festival. 14. PISCES: In this constellation there is only one star of the 3d, and none of the 1st or 2nd magnitude. These are said to be the fishes into which Venus and her son Cupid transformed themselves, to avoid the fury of Typhon when he assailed heaven. There are various other opinions relating to this constellation. See Francœur's Uranographia, or Traite Elementaire D'Astronomie. QUESTIONS. How many stars of the first magnitude are there in the zodaical constellations, and what are they called? What effect has the recession of the equinoctial points upon the constellations of the zodiac ? Name the circumstances. Of what magnitude are the principal stars in Aries, and what are they called ? Of what magnitude are the principal stars in Taurus and what are they called? Of what magnitude are the principal stars in Ge mini, and what are they called? Of what magnitude is the most remarkable star in Cancer, and what is its name ? Of what magnitude are the principal stars in Leo, and what are they called ? Of what magnitude are the principal stars in Virgo, and what are they called ? What is the most remarkable star in Libra called? Of what magnitude are the principal stars in Scorpio, and what are they called ? Are there any remarkable stars in Sagittarius? Of what magnitude is the principal star in Aquarius, and what is it called ? Of what magnitude is the principal star in Pisces? CHAPTER III. Of the northern constellations, and fables relative to them. 1. In the northern constellations, which are thirty-seven in number, there are six remarkable stars of the first, twelve of the second, and three of the third magnitude. The names of the northern constellations and of the most remarkable stars in each, are given in the second table of the preceding Chapter. The student should commit those names to memory. 2. ANDROMEDA: Mirach and Almaach both o the second magnitude, are the principal stars in this constellation. Andromeda is represented on the celestial globe by the figure of a woman almost naked, having her arms extended, and chained by the wrist of her right arm to a rock. She was the daughter of Cepheus, king of Æthiopia, who in or der to preserve his kingdom, was obliged to tie her naked to a rock, near Joppa, now Jaffa, in Syria, to be devoured by a sea monster; but she was rescued by Perseus, in his return from the conquest of the Gorgons, who turned the monster into a rock by showing it the head of Medusa. She was made a constellation after her death, by Minerva. The fable of Andromeda and the sea monster has been explained by supposing that she was courted by the captain of a ship, who attempted to carry her away, but was prevented by the interposition of another more successful rival. 3. PERSEUS: Algenib and Algol, both of the 2nd magnitude, are the principal stars in this constellation. Perseus is represented on the globe with a sword in his right hand, the head of Medusa in his left, and wings at his ankles. Perseus was the son of Jupiter and Danäe, the daughter of Acrisius. He was no sooner born, than he was thrown into the sea with his mother Danäe; but being driven upon the coast of the island of Seriphos, one of the Cyclades, they were found by a fisherman called Dictys, and carried to Polydectes, the king of the place. They were treated with great humanity, and Perseus was intrusted to the care of the priests of Minerva's temple. At a sumptuous entertainment given by Polydectes to his friends, and to which Perseus was invited, he promised to bring that monarch the head of Medusa, the only one of the Gorgons who was subject to immortality. To equip him for this arduous task, Pluto lent him his helmet, which had the wonderful power of making its bearer invisible: Minerva the goddess of wisdom, furnished him with her buckler, which was as resplendent as glass; and he received from Mercury wings and the telaria, with a short dagger made of diamonds. According to some, it was from Vulcan he received the telaria or Herpe, which was in form like a scythe. Thus equipped, he cut off the head of Medusa, and from the blood which dropped from it in his passage through the air, sprung innumerable serpents which have ever since invested the sandy deserts of Lybia. Diodorus and others explain the fable of the Gorgons, by supposing that they were a warlike race of women near Amazon, whom Perseus, with the help of a large army, totally destroyed. The Abbe Bannier is of opinion that the Gorgons dwelt in that part of Lydia which was afterwards called Cyrenaica. He makes their father Phorcys to have been a rich and powerful prince, and engaged in a lucrative commerce. Perseus, he supposes, made himself master of a part of his fleet, and some of his riches, &c. See Lemprier's Classical Dictionary, Anthon's Ed. 4. AURIGA: Capella, a very remarkable star of the first magnitude, and 8 of the 2d, are the principal stars in this constellation. Auriga is represented on the celestial globe, by the figure of a man in a kneeling or sitting posture, with a goat and her kids in his left hand, and a bridle in his right. The Greeks give various accounts of this constellation; some suppose it to be Erichthonius, the fourth king of Athens, and son of Vulcan and Minerva; he was very deformed, and his legs resembled the tails of serpents; he is said to have invented chariots, and the manner of harnessing horses to draw them. Others say that Auriga is Mirtilus, a son of Mercury and Phœtusa; who was charioteer to Enomaus, king of. Pisa in Elis, and so experienced in riding and the management of horses, that he rendered those of Enomaus the swiftest in all Greece. But as neither of those fables seems to account for the goat and her kids, it has been supposed that they refer to Amalthœa, daughter of Melissus, king of Crete, who, in conjunction with her sister Melissa, fed Jupiter with goat's milk. 5. URSA MAJOR: In the Great Bear, there are seven very conspicuous stars, four of which, α, β, γ and d, form a trapezium, in the body; and the other three, ε, ζ and η, make a curve line in the tail of thet |