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D. i\ HUTCHINSON, .«,, « K88AV ON THE LOUD^S BAY •," " BIBLIC^N AUTHOR OF THE ^^^'^^ °" CHRISTIAN BAPTISM," IR PHVRT-" '•DISCOURSE ON CHRIsaiA^ CHART , ,^^^„ . « CHRISTIAN VTARVARE , CLASS THREE EDITIONS , CHRISTIAN ^.^itiON J BOOK ON RHETORIC, FIRST ^^D SECOND >, AND " THE GOOD OLD VTAY. "^'"' '"^''^'^''^Cn^iiu^am inde a condito mundo et turn potentia turn divimtas -[Paulus. THIRD EDITION. KINGSTON: ttJBLlSHED FOR SUBSCRIBERS. MDCCCLV. ,^.«J€l.aOs!:; PREFACE. « «o^o T have been solicited by nu- For '»='"y y^^^Via Ihe UMted States, and in Canada, to P""'^' ;°»™^"/J; the sublime soi- '^^ ^/orAsuIomy "nTl am B«e that they con^ j:rT«^ el t^Xg that so many able p^^^^^ Xv^nrXrt'^fXrrS^f^^t^r approba- '^l.^lhfn^ ra"ly comprehended ;ind of a practi- r^wSter By t£is I mean that the student partments of Astyonomical Study. li In pursuing the following pages the reader will very easily perceive that the method of com- municating truth ill this book is entirely new, and that though in ifttroJuciiig matter of an inierestino- character I have carefully thought for rayselj. I have at the same time, when proper and requi- site, quoted from learned authors on some difficult points, adopting their views and ideas as my own. So far as accuracy of facts and statements is concerned, I would just obserye that the subject of the following pages is for the most part found- ed upon my own observation and experience, and I am sure the reader will only have to examine the different facts embraced in this work to as- certain their truth and importance. This small volume being published in our own Province it is but reasonable to expect a widely extended patronage, and that every lover of our Country will duly encourage its own publications. The instructors of youth particularly are re- quested carefully to examine the following; pages, for the author flatters himself with the belief that it will meet wiili their most cordial reception. The author also believes that a vast amount of Astronomical knowledge will be found in its pages, and can be obtained by the student with but very little trouble or expense, and in a short time. To introduce as much matter as possible J have intentionally omitted Astronomical plates, because I am satisfied the Teacher or student can supply the deficiency in the use of the black- hoard, or he can furnish himself with Smith's i V. ;n which he. will find a very valuable Astronomy, in whicii ne >^ « ailierent lessons : amountot>lates a tac hed to the ^^^»-^^ ^^^^ so that their "\^^«;^^ '^^'l^^^^ .vould for present P \ f ^^^'j^;' ery well under- In omitting ^»^^"^' ^^''ti'h l^c^ 1««^ expense, a stands, ^^'e ^an «upply ^vlth much l ^ »^^^^ ^^^ large amount ot vauable matter jn ^^^^^^^.^ he otherwise msert,^ The ^^-^^^ ^^ .he to my numerous friends m \^ pmduf- Tnd interesting study of Astronomy. Kingston, October 9th, 1854. a8 AK ASTRONOMICAL PHlLOSOl^HY. PART L CHAPTER!. TiiP Btibiect of this smalltreatise is a subject mv own observations and experience, dul y re s'^eting at the -- ^^ ^-^Tl" "Lit IZtr TS-^i^o^S *all be the order n^f iSoJTnTtitg the general appearanee of the Heavens, a. cWed to any ordmavy °^T(ntend giving an expla.iatlon ol' the generalptoomL of the Heavens, as notified in the first division. 8 n III. I iuiciul pfiviuft aBrientilic arrangement X)i' the Heavenly liodies, and IV. I intend answering the inquiry, Arc the Heavenly bodies inhabited ? The -word Astronomy is taken from two Greek words, Astccr ovAsfron, a Star, and no- mos, a Law, and signifies that science which treats of the appearance, size, shape, arrange- ment, distances, motions, physical constitution and mutual influence of the Heavenly bodies. The very first thing which attracts the at- tention of even the untutored savage is what •we denominate the apparent motion of the Heavens. The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars appear to rise in a given direction, and to set Bome hours from thence in the opposite point of the Heavens: and though we term this re- volution which they seem to make around our earth and all pertaining to it every twenty- four hours, the apparent motion of the Heaven- ly bodies, yet to an ordinary mind capable of reflection, it is difficult to determine the real cause of this phenonema ; for, as on inspection we behold no motion in the earth, bo after a Bimilar examination we perceive no motion in the Heavens. As we gaze, all things seem per- fectly still, and to our vision there appears to be no motion at all. It is only by taking an observation from soru'i stationary object that 9 ^■hicUwc hve.vemi .... of Ws ^.o^vevel•. ^vo arc sure, Unit whou.ti ,.,,,,oi, "" beyond the pes J g « ^'f ^^l;, ;, , Glohe, ptopositwii : that ^'h'' ^^; " n is ccusetiLCilly vesting upon "o^hu'^a, d'J.aUt ^^^^^ 1^^^ ^^^ 'C"Sovlo«t.c',s ana rigbt nndcv o.-^ to the Cwn laws of PhUoBophy, according to to law of Gravitating attraetion, ,t must he Son -, there being notlung to support a upon which it could possibly «^t- v^o body for instance heavier than its own bulk ol at- moS oan possibly rest in the airanydi- S ftom the earth's surface ; hecause the at- tractive power of the earth would pull xt down . UlkerSannerlet a heavy ball be suspended bv a cord and itwiU hangiu a straight Ime but Sspend two balls within a given distance frorn S rther, and if of the same weight, instead • i 10 of being suspended in a straight line from the place to Avhich the cords are fastened they will mutually attract each other, the one moving to the other in a horizontal direction. Therefore if in the universe another body existed larger than the earth our globe would be moved to- wards that body in a straight line, but if a still larger body existed in an opposite direction, which is the case, then provided, what is the case again, the attraction of these two l3odies were proportionably balanced, the earth, in- stead of moving in a straight line, would move in a circular or eliT)ticle orbit : similar to the one in which our world now moves. At the poles of the earth the apparent motion of the heavens is remarkably different. "We have all heard of the continuation of perpetf day and night successively for some months the poles. Now this is occasioned from the fact, that instead of the sun's appearing to pasa over the heads of the inhabitants, as he does at the equator, and in some other places, he ap- pears to move for a number of months together all around their sky, beginnmg like a new moon at the dip of the horizon until, finally, he arises to his highest attitude, at which time he commences to recede again until at length he disappears as he came to illuminate the oppo- site region, and to give light to the inhabitants. ,.^5- /■\.' I le from the 1 they will I moving to Therefore sted larger moved to- lut if a still 3 direction, mat is the two l^odies earth, in- uldmovein : to the one rent motion jrent. We >fperpetT months 1 from the ring to pasa B he does at ces, he ap- :hB together mew moon b\he arises h tim'S he ( length he te the oppo- nhabitants. U This apnaient motion will be readily under- stood, when we reflect that the cart., is inhabi- ted o; all rides ; all matter naturally adhering to it hy attraction of gravitation: so that when the sun appears to pass over our heads if we im- aitne to ourselves the position of the North-po- ^is we can easily perceive him to pass around thSr heavens wMe at the same time he parses """TCSn, and moon, and stars are frequently darkened by either the shadow or the substance of 1" L heavenly bodiespassing between us and them. In the case of thesun and moon the™ phenomena are called eclipses, m the others they are called transits. Some of the feed stars are also surromided by apparent y small dark bodies, never seeri without the ai^ li a Telescope, which are evidently planets ^ volvmg around their respective lununanesa^ their centre, even as our own planets revolve around their common centre, the sun. CHAPTER 1 1 ■ Another peculiarity of the heavens, which deserves a place in these chapters, is, that while most of the stars appear stationary some . f^ I appear to wander from pavt to part and from constellation to constellation. Some of these wandering stars are visible to the naked eye, and others of them can only be discovered by means of a telescope. The one class we call fixed stars, from their fixed position with re- spect to each other, and the other we call planets, from the Greek planetes a wanderer, because they seem to change their position, and to wander from one cluster of stars to another. These planets when viewed through a telescope appear much larger than when seen with the naked eye, presenting to our vision their snowy poles and white capped mountains, their continents and their oceans : but the fixed stars are hardly ever increased in size, although viewed with the most powerful telescopes. Another class of these wandering stars are called comets from the Greek word Cometes which signifies hair, because of the resemblance its tail is supposed to bear to the hair of a woman's head. I shall direct the attention of the reader to these in another chapter. Within the period of the last one hundred and fifty years not less than ten new stars have made their appearance in our heavens, and thirteen in different constellations seem to have totally perished ; some of these have been seen Lcl from f these ed eye, sred by Tve call dth re- ve call nderer, losition, stars to ;hrough I when to our capped )ceans : lased m owerful ndering k word of the to the ect the smother luiidred rs have IS, and to have en seen m 13 burning in the middle of daylight, presenting aHhe appearances of a prodigious flame. This phenomenon will also he considered m its °"lSrt'«-t^''l phenomena of the heavM^B, the shooting or falling stars, as they „e geieraily denominated, occupy a consi- dSabfe portion in the history ol Astronomy. ToTscribe this is unnecessary, a« most of my readers have witnessed more or less of this awfully grand spectacle. An explanation of tWs pheSmeuou I siiall introduce in afuture chapter But what is more mterestmgly ™e isihe phenomenonof the descent to this wSof ours, of what is called meteoric stones. From some region or other in the wide range of creation these have fallen to our earth, and without a single cloud to darken the slqr this Zdrrful phenomenonhas beenknown totake Xe. Stones have fallen iix.m the weight of a ton to the weight of a very smaU fra^ent. But as most of my readers are aware of this. and as the truth of the phenomenonis notques- tioned, a proper cause for this wonderful effect will be assigned in its own place. To us a taiowledge, especiaUy of the northern p«tion of the heavens, for many of the neces- SuY purposes of life, is highly important.- Nnvigatiwand many other arts render a know- I, ' n Hi m§ i 1 m ,* 1 K 1 H 1 1 HK i r .- 14 meaning of very many portions of holy Scrip- inre. For instatice when God says to Job, " Cans't thou bind the sweet inflnenees of the Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion . -;- " Cans't thou bring forth Mazzaroth m his season ?" or " Cans't thou guide Arcturus with hi& Sons " " Knowest thou the Ordinances of Heaven?" Jobxxxvm., 31, 32, 33. Itwould be impossible here to understand him vvithout a previous knowledge of these constellations, it you take the trouble to look at the northern sky on a winter's night, your attention will be di- rected to a cluster of stars remarkable tor^tlieir brilliancy and beauty, and distinguished by ^e three beautiful stars known to some as the ^11 and the Yard. These belong to the Constella- tion of Orion. The three stars just referred to, most prominent for their brightness and beauty, and nearly in a straight line, being just one astronomical degree or two breadths ol the feun apart, these are called the bands of Orion. While in a North Easterly direction you will find the Pleiades or seven stars mentioned by God, and existing in what is denommated Taurus, the Bull. In another direction m the Northern Heavens you will readily perceive the stars known as the plough, and the dipper, from their resemblance to both these instru- ments. These stars belong to what is called 15 ledge of tlii» poition of our heavens aWolnlel)' Xpensabl i It also serves to g.w .u> t e IlrsaMaior or the Greater Bear. Uie hist two starTof the dipper are called pomtevshe- cluse they point to the North polar star which s Tout % breadths of the sun or thirty de- grees from them towards the honzon. The North polar star thus marked out ,s vei^ im- fortant'to mariners, as itpoints out to ap^itive certainty their precise distance from *« l-q"^" tor For while crossing the Equinoctial ne this star appears just visible at what iscaled the dip of the horizon, but every degree the m^rinfr sails from the «»«. to^"\*: ,^°f H pole, this star appears to nse two breadths o ?he un or one degree in the heavens ; so that for every two breadths of the sun it rises mfte Zenith themarinerknowshe is sixty Geograph- ical miles distant from the equator, and by thm rule he can tell his latitude in any one riart of the Northern hemisphere, until he sails to the north pole itself, at which time >t is visi- ble right over his head. From its northerly position, to us it never sets, and the whole hea- vens appear to pass around it every tw'enty- four hou... This is positive proof that our earth exists in a globular form, or is round. The north polar star belongs to the constella- tion denominated Ursa Minor or the Les^ser Ml J! M It III 16 Bear, so well known in the history of Astro- nomy. Thore is another thing which maybe impor- tant here to introduce, that although I men- tioned certain stars as stationary or fixed, yet the whole universe seems to he in motion around a common centre ; for within the last one hun- dred and fifty years those stars in the northern portion of the heavens have widened their re- lative positions while in the southern they have contracted tiieir distances, a plain proof of the curve which they form in moving around the central luminary of creation at present invisi- ble to us, and which at a proper time I shall also bring before the reader. ■: ? CHAPTER III. Hi U !»!i- An explanation of a few of the phenomena of the heavens to which I have just directed the attention of the reader, is the next thing to be considered : and as the apparent motion of the heavens was the first item noticed, it may be necessary to dwell upon this part of the subject for a short time. Now, that the apparent motion of the heavens is caused by the real motion of tlie earth, is rendered incon- I m' . 17 trovertible : because any other view of the sub. iect is as unphilosophical as it is unreasonab e- For a larsre body to move around a smaller one by the influence of its attraction, is an im- possibility which cannot be accomp ished with- out a continued miracle We all know the earth to be a much larger body than the moon, and we lust as well know that instead of the earth's moving ai^ound the moon, the moon being the smaller body, moves around the earth. Instead of the sun's moving around liis Tilanets the planets being the smaller bodies move around him, and in every known mstance in the whole universe this law of philosophy is observed with the utmost precision. I shall now content myself by making a selection ot the centre of our own system the sun, m order to give my reader, a distinct view of this sub- ject. Now all the ideas we can possibly form of the bulk of the whole universe are compara- tively nothing in comparison to the magnitude of this luminary. The orbit of the moon is distant from the earth about two hundred and forty thousand miles. Now, were the sun placed where the earth now is he would fill the extent of that orbit all arouhd the eatth, and two hundred and forty thousand miles beyond that again ; so that could we but grasp its aw- ful magnitude with our minds it would appear V 1: u ^ ilp^« 18 ftR a universe in itself. But indeed its bulk i« quite inconaprehensible. The diameter of this luminary is about eight hundred and eighty- seven thousand miles ; and consequently it con- tains a volume of matter equal to fourteen hun- dred thousand globes of the size of the earth . and yet it is but a mere atom in Creation: Now, that tte reader may form some just idea of the immense distance and bulk ot the sun, I will here observe that the diameter of the earth is known to be about eight thousand niiles, that is, four thousand miles to the East, and four thousand miles more to the West, from the spot on which any one stands. It is therefore evident that at noon when the sun is directly over our heads, or nearly so, he is just the half diameter of the earth or 4000 miles nearer to us than Vyhen he arose in the morn- ing, and yet he appears no larger at noon than he does at the time of his rising ; a plain proof of his immense distance and great bulk. Now it would be impossible according to the known laws of gravity for this immense body to move around this small globe of ours, for then con- trary to Philosophy the smaller would attract the greater with superior forces Nothing short of three miracles could accomplish this ; one, to perform the awful and inconceivable, journey around the earth in an orbit 95,000,000 ^ 1 10 , -In. .iktant from us in twenty-four hours, ftrmotfon TheBe three things would be na- turX impossible without a constant nmade t^ ploduc8^he Bup«rnatuval «ff«e\b« as^sug a miracle would be "^^^^^^n I the earth "' ^TtS r rtr ^d Tn tSg such a -i-cle a' would ^^^P^- *«„t*,^^^ *'^V^ hifpoUTe hath established the Te heavens by his understand.ng."-Jeir. 51 . ^ fc addition to the foregoing, if the motion In the heavens was real and not apparent all the heavenrtodies would not perform the revo- luTon in the same time, unless all were pre- ciselv the same distance from the earth. But Call know the moon is nearer to us than he Tun else the latter could not be echpsed by the former We all know the planets are nearer tXearth than the fixed stars, «nd that even amon,i. mnof drawn from the ship on the Ucean, » Iho C that a vessel after disappearing u^n Iho water may be Been again by a person nsmp tro^vatld point, and ^X -f ^J-^^*-, proeesB one may keep ^^^^^^P^J^a very ;:i::fhrter'a'rdm:stappearB2^^^^^ ranScrior. primary and seeondary a^m the same form, so that it ,^PP^«^ J^i^^fe- philosophy.just mentioned ^J f JJ^^g^ out the universe at large. It also '"V"" . ?he above remarks that our globe is m motion, ^dhytrese aseertained truths we are prepared for further investigation. CHAPTER V. ' There is perhaps no phenomena in the hea- ve™ more attracts the attention of mau- S than the ecUpses of the sun and m^^^^^ , ^ chanter therefore on this suhject wiU not De oK place. All the planets, whether they ri '-VvH' "1 11 ^ I 'Bill H -An 21 be primaries or secondaneS; are opaque spho- rical bodies, whicli receive their light and heat from the sun ; thai half of each \vhich is next the smi will be therefore illuminated, and the other balf will be dark : and each will project a dark shadow behind it, which, because the sun is much the largest body, must end in a point. The shadows of the planets are there- fore dark cones, whose lengths will be greater or lesser, according to the planet's magnitude and distance from the sun. The length of the earth's shadow is about one hundred and seven of its diameter, and that of the moon, thirty diameters of the earth. Now, since the moon's mean distance from the earth is also thirty di- ameters of the earth, therefore the moon's sha- dow at a mean distance will juSt reach the earth, but because her orbit round the earth is eliptical, and as a consequence she is nearer to the earth at one time than the mean distance, and at another time more remote, therefore her shadow will sometimes extend a little beyond the earth, and sometimes fall short of it; but the earth's shadow always extends far beyond the moon, as its length is three times and a half her distance, and its diameter at the moon is nearly equal to three of hers. Now the eclipses of the sua and moon are produced in a similar way. An eclipse of the le moou 25 iftoon is caused by the earth's falling in betwcfeW the moon and the sun, and thereby intercepting His light, or, in other words, an eclipse of the moon is caused by the moon's falling into the earth's shadow. An eclipse of the Bunispto- auced by the mioon's passing between the earth and the sun ; or, what is the same thing, by the moon's shadow strikingthe earth. In echp- kes of the moon that luminary absolutely loses its light; but in those of the sun he does not ^oso his light, the moon only intercepting it frbm the earth for the time : and therefore so- lar eclipses are more properly echpses ol the fearththanofthesun. There is another dif- ference between the two ; and that is, that the xnoon may be totally darkened for nearly two hours, but no more than a small part of he earth's surface can be totally deprived of th6 sun's rays, and that only for a few minutes. The eclipse of the sun can only happen at the change of the moon ; for in tliat case the tsun and moon being in conjunction, and the dark side of the moon turned to the earth, it she fall exactly between the sun and the earth, there is necessarily an eclipse. The eclipses of the moon can only happen at full inoon, when the sun being opposite to her, and her enhght- ened side tov/ard the earth, if she fall exactly into the earth's shadow, she consequently 86 '': i I must suffer aH eclipse, that is, lose iho Bun'» ^^Tlie obliquity of the moon's orbit on the plane of the " ecliptic, is the reason why there are not echpses at every new and full moon. The moon's orbit intersects the ecliptic at two opposite points, called her nodes. When these Ws are in a right line with the centre oi the 6un at new or full moon, the sun, raoou and earth ^re all in a right line; and if the moon be then new, her shadow falls on the earth : it full, the earth's shadow falls upon her ; and according to the moon's nearness to her nodes at new or full moon, the eclipse is more or less total. But if the sun and moon are more than seventeen degrees from either of her nodes at new moon, or the suu more than twelve dd- ^rees at full moon, no eclipse can happen : for the shadow of the moon will then pass by the earth, or the shadow of the earth pass by the moon. The number of eclipses in any one year, can- not be more than seven, nor less than two! In the latter case they will both be of the sun, and in the former five of them will be of the Bun, and two of them of the moon. The usual number however is four, two of the sun and two of the moon. The cause of this variety is ths accounted for by a celebrated writer upon 27 ih\» Riibiecl • ** Altbough the Bun usually pafisea !> either of them one tundred and seventy three days after passing the oAer he may therefore return to the same ""dem about three hundred and forty ='^<^tf ' ^T /once passed one node twice and tbe other once, Sng each time, at each, an echpse of k.th the sun and the moon, or six m all. And "welve lunations, or three t«f red a°d fifty foAirdaysfrom the first eclipse, « *«^« jLng of the year leave 'oo.™ &' ^^°°S Sew moon before the '^lof-.f^ *^«iS .since this new moon may fall into the edipt^ iimit, it is possible for the sun to be eclipsei Sn. Thus there may be seven echpses the ""^/Mian, as «*« aWe quotation we are to understand the Ume |lff' "8^°^ Tween two successive changes of the .noon which generally is about twenty-nine days and .half Now if the lunar and solar months were exactly equal throughout the year the moon's nodes would then always occupy the fame point in the ecliptic, and all the ec.pses vonld therefore happen in the same months of ll ! ii^i the year, and be as regular as tbe rising and setting of the sun. But in twelve of the moon'a months there are only about 354 days, and at this period the moon having passed through both her nodes, and having failed to acconi- plish her revolution around the sun, the result is that the moon's nodes fall back in the ecliptic about nineteen and a half degrees annually ; so that the eclipses happen sooner every year by about 19 days. The same celebrated writer as quoted- in the foregoing, says with respect to the time of eclipses: "As the moon passes from one of her nodes to the other in 173 days, there is just this period between two successive eclipses of the sun, or of the moon. At what- ever time of the year, then, we have eclipses at either node, we may be sure that in 173 days afterwards, we shall have eclipses at the other node. As the moon's nodes fall back in the ecliptic, at the rate of 19^® every year, they will complete a backward revolution entirely around the ecliptic to the same point again in 18 years, 225 days ; in which time there would be always a regular period of eclipses, if any complete number of lunations were finished without a remainder. But this never happens ; for if both the sun and moon should start from a line of conjunction with either of the nodes in any point of the ecliptic, the sun would per- 29 form eighteea annual revolutions and ^22« of "n(ftber, wbiletbe moon would perform 230 toations ;nd 850 of another, before the node "ould come around to the same P^t «« *« Idiptio again, so that the sun ''""W *«» ^e 138" from the node, and the moon 85» ftom 1 VuTafter 223 lunations, or 18 years, U davs 1 hours, 42 minules and 31 seconds, the sun ' moon and earth will return so nearly m tbe same position with respect to each other, that there will be a regular return of the same eclipses for many ages. This grand penod iTdiscovered by the Chaldeans, and by them called Saros. If, therefore, to the mean time of ,My eclipse, either of the sun or moon we add the Ch^dean period of 18 years and 11 days, „, shall have the return of the same ecl.pse. • This mode of predicting eclipses will hold good for a thousand years. In this period there are ^generally 70 eclipses, 41 of the sun and twen- ty-nine of the moon. iUi <■- nanmon " ■tT h^-iht 80 CHAPTER VI. • The next thing which demands 6btn0 expla« nation, or raiher a passing teflection, as an ei- planation cannot be given, is the disappeftt* ance of some of the stars in the different con- stellations, which has hitherto occupied so ttwxch of the attention of Astrononaers. When those stars are regarded as centres of their own re* spective systems, there seems to be some diffi- culty in understanding this wonderful pheno- menon. But let this be as it may,fact8 are stub« born things, and the conflagration of stars that are now missing in some of the constellationa is placed far beyond the bounds of a doubt or «upposition. " On the 8th of November, 1 572, two very notable Astronomers saw a star in the constellation of Cassiopia, which became all at once so brilliant, that it surpassed the splendor of the brightest planets, and might be seen even at noon day. Gradually this great brilliancy diminished, until the 15th of March, 1573, when, without moving from its place, it became utterly extinct. Its colour during this time exhibited all the phenomena of a prodigious flame — first it was of a dazzling white, then of a reddish yellow, and lastly of an ashy paleness, in which its light expired. It was seen for sixteen months." 'I! SI "The disappearance;' says a very learnjyi Astronomer, " of some stars may be the de^ struction of that system at the time appointed %v the Deity for the probation of its mhabitarits , and the appearance of new stars may be the formation of new systems for new races of beings, then called into existence to adore the worksof their Creator." " Thus'' says another writer, - we may conceive the Deity to havo been employed from all eternity, and thus he may continue to be employed for efldless ages ; forcing new systems of being to adore mm ; and transplanting beings already formed into hapipier regions, who will continue to rise higher andliigher in their enjoyments, and go on to xjontemplate system after system through the boundless universe." Another writer makes the following appropriate remark : " Asto those •stars which suddenly shine forth with a very- vivid lif^ht, and then immediately disappear, it is extremely probable that great conflagrations, produced by extraordinary causes, take place on their surface. This conjecture is confirmed hy their change of colour, which is analagous to that presented to us on the earth by those bodies which are set on fire and gradually ex- • tinguished. On the same subject another very .^inent man also observes, that "Worlds and fiystemi of worlds are not only perpetually sa mm creating, but also perpetually disappearing. It is an extraordinary fact, that within the period of the last century, not less than thirteen stars, in different constellations, seem to have totally perished, and ten new ones to have been created. In many instances it is unquea» tionable that the stars themselves — the sup^ posed habitation of other kinds or orders of intelligent beings, together with the different planets by which it is probable they were sur-^ rounded — have utterly vanished, and the spots they occupied in the heavens have become blanks I What has befallen other systems will assuredly befall our own. Of the time and the manner we L:now nothing ; but the fact is in- controvertible : it is foretold by revelation : ic is inscribed in the heavens : it is felt through the earth. Such is the awful and daily text ; What then ought to be the comment?" The disappearance, then, of so many stars, that for ages have adorned our nocturnal sky, is but an evidence that other worlds have pome to an end ; while the appearance of so many new stars proclaims the fact, that God is con- tinuing to create worlds, and rational beings upon them, to love him, to adore him, and to serve him. The telescope reveals to us among the stars striking evidences of this : cloudy particles of light, of an indefinite extent, are ill) 1 33 seen Bcattored through space, which luidouU- cdly give evidence they are yet a, thor chaot c state or as the matter of which our earth ,s omposed originally was, ':-*-t to and void"-that is, in a chaotic state before the laws appointed hy Almighty Heaven h.ought H to its present form. This theory tate it ior '^led^that the matter o*' ^^leh *«. ^ ^^ ■ Globes were created was made before they Reformed into world* at all. and this is m perfect accordance with the dmne intim^-ion. Thus in the whole six days' work of Earth s cie- ktion asrecorded in Genesis, although the work of each day is mentioned, in no one da> s it said that God created the matter ; a plain Moof that Moses understood that the matter of which our globe is composed had an existence previous to the creation of the earth m its pre- sent form. In accordance with this we read in ^2. 3 : " And God blessed the sevenA day, and sanctified it : because that lu it he had rested from all his work, which God crea. ted and vmde." In the original language it is ' which God created to make ; that is, which he created or brought into being mst, and made or fashioned atterwards into a 1 ho infcimerable forms and beings with wh.ch^tho universe is, in a'scnse, endlessly reploiiishou. 1 \-- ml S4 CHAPTER VII. The next thing which demands our atten- tion, and wliich shall be the subject of this chapter, is what is called the phenomenon of the Shooting Stars, which very frequently occurs in the month of November ; generally between the 1 4th and 20th. The first thing here neces- sary is to give a description of the phenomenon itself As early as A. D. 472, in the month of November, it was discovered in the heavens near Constantinople. One describing it says : " The siiy appeared to be on fire," that is with the flying meteors. A United States Commis- sioner gives the following information : " On the 12th of November, 1799, 1 was called up about 3 o'clock in the morning to see the shooting stars, as they are called. The phenomenon was grand and awful. The whole heavens ap-^ peared as if illummatpdwitli sky rockets, which disappeared only with the light of the sun, after day break. The meteors which, at one instant of time, appeared ap numerous as the stars, flew in all possible directions, except frojai the earth, toward which they all inclined more or less, and some of them descended perpendiou- larly over the vessel we were ^n, so that I was in constant expectation of theji falling on u».'*^ It ' i S5 Dr Smltli, of North Carolina, when milmg' ahout the phenomenon of shooting stars ni ]Xov, 13th 1833, gives an account of one that h« saw ds larg^ as the full moon when rising ''I Avas startled'* ^ays he, "by the splendid light in which the surrounding scene was exhibi ed, rendering even small objects quite visible Now if this bddy were but one mile distant from Dr. «mith it must haVe had a diameter ot 42 feet ; if 1 1 miles distant it must have had a diameter of 528 feet ; and if 110 tniles distant it must have had a diameter of one mile. We therefore know to a certainty that some, or many of the meteors were bodies of large sizd. It is said that at Poland, Ohio, ^luminous body was distinctly visible in the North East for morO than an hour. It was fery brilliant, m the fotm of a pruning hook, and apparently ^0 feet long and 18 inches koP.d. It gradually settled tov(rard the horizon until it disappeared. SiX Niagara Falls, a large, luminous body, shaped like a square table, was seen near the zenith, remaining for some time almost station- ary, emitting large streams of light. Invari- able changes of weather, from warm to cold either accompanied the meteoric shovi^ers, or immediately followed them. Now, in relation to these meteors, it is evi- dent to me that they do not belong to earth, i i;^ I ; 1 : ' ' ■1: it'll ae but to the region of Bpacc beyond the limits of our atmosphere. "We know by experience that all bodies in the atmosphere, and within the proper influence of tho earth's attraction, par- takes of that attraction, and arc therefore moved in common with the earth's motion. But instead of following the course of the earth, their motion was from cast to west ; therefore they being independent of the earth's rotation, and consequently at a very great dis- tance from it. And that those meteors exhib- ited the phenomena of combustion, they being converted into smoke, with intense light, it re- mains incontrovertible they were constituted of very light materials, else in their descent without combustion some would have felt the weight of their importance. I will close this chapter by transcribing the conclusion arrived at by Professor Olmsted, of Yale College. He says, " The meteors of November 13th, 1833, emanated from a nebulous body, which was then pursuing its way, along with the earth, around the sun ; that this body continued to revolve around the sun, in an elipticle orbit, but little inclined to the plane of the ecliptic, and having its aphelion near the orbit of the earth ; and, finally, that the body has a period of nearly six months, and that its perihelion is a little below the orbit of Mercury. This the- 37 ory at least accommodates itself to the remark, able fact, that almost all the phenomena ot this description which are known to have ^^appe^^d have occurred in the two opposite months ot April and November. A similar exhibition ot Xorsto that of November 1833, was ob- Srved on the same day of the jeek April oo 1803, at Richmond, Virginia; fetockbridge, Massachusetts ; and at Halifax m Bntish America. Another was witnessed m the au- ^mn of 1818, in the North Sea, when in the irguage of one of the observers, ''all the sur- rounding atmosphere was enveloped in one ex- pensive sea of fire, exhibiting the appearance of another Moscow in flames. The Professor proceeds in another commum. cation and says: "Innumerable small bodies, thus consisting of extremely light, thm combus- tible matter, existing together m space far be- yond the limits of the atmosphere, are beheved to compose a body of immense extent -which has been called the nebulous body. Only the skirts or extreme portions of this are brought down to the earth, while the entire extent oc- cupies many thousands, and perhaps several millions of miles. This nebulous body is m- ferred to have a revolution around tho sun, as well as the earth, and to come very near to the latter about the 13th of November each year c 1 I^!i WM This animal meeting every year, for several years in succession, could not take place unless the periodic time of the nebulous body is either' nearly a year, or half a year. Various reasons have induced the belief that half a year is the^ true period; but this point is considered as somewhat doubtful. The zodiacal light, a faint light that appears at different seasons of the year, either immediately preceding the mor- ning or following the evening twilight, ascend-" ing from the sun in a triangular formj is, with some deglree of probability^ though thought to be the nebulour body itself, although the existence* of such a body, revolving in the solar system, was inferred to be the cause of the meteoric showers, before any connection of it with the zodiacal light was even thought of." hi CHAPTER VIII. Having thus far given my own opinion and those of the learned upon that awfully grand spectacle, the meteoric shower of stars^ I now proceed to a subject equally as interesting : the descent of meteoric stones. Meteoric stones, says a v^ry respectable Astronomer, or what are. generally termed serolites, ar« stonei which. 19 ,iometimes faU from the upper region of the at- :^;Lre upon the earth. . T^f ™;, which they are composed, is for the most part me alic; but the ore of which it consists is not Tbe foiind in the same constituent propo^ions in any known substance upon the earth, iheir fall is generally preceded by a luminous ap- pea/anfe, a hisL| noise and -loud -^^^^^^^ and when found immediately after their de ^cent they are always hot, and usually covered wUh a bllck crust, indicating a state of exterior fusion. Their size varies ^^^m that of smail fragments of inconsiderable weight, to thatot the most ponderous masses. They have been found to weigh from 300 lbs. to several tons ; and they have descended to the earth with a force sufficient to bury them many teet under the surface. In some instances these showers have penetrated through the roofs of houses, and proved destructive to the inhabitants. There are but three views, 1 believe, enter- tained by Astronomers upon this subject; the first is that they have fallen from the atmos- pherc-henee the name serolites which has been ffiven to them ; the second is that they have been projected from Yolcanoes in the moon ; the third attributes them to the smaller Irag- ments of an exploded planet which once existed between the orbit ol Mars a:id Jupiter. Now 40 in relation to the above views on thia great subject it requires but little philosophical know- ledge to know that the first is untenable ; for how could large volumes of rock, the weight of whole tons, so many thousand times heavier than its own weight of air, be generated in out atmosphere ? Reason will at once decide, for whatever maybe thought of the descent of me- teoric stones in other respects, we are sure of this : that these stones have .been generated beyond the limits of our own atmosphere, yea farther, that they have had an existence in some part of space where the earth's attraction was far less powerful than the body to which they had originally been attached. The second theory is that they have been projected from some volcano in the moon. To allow this theory as just and reasonable is to take it for granted that such a volcano exists in this world, belonging to our next neighbors. But this is very far from being proved ; and until this is satisfactorily done we should seek for a rational explanation of this strange phenome- non from some other quarter. At least this ex- planation does not settle all doubts and enqui- ries respecting this wonderful phenomenon . The third view seems to be the most rational and reasonable of the whole ; viz : that they are the smaller fragments of an exploded" planet 41 which once existed hetween the orWtB of Mar. ""uJoSis subject a celehrated .vritet vej concFuSvely makes the following remarks "The sSfic Bode entertains the opimon that the pUnSary distances above Mercury formed a Geortricll series, each exterior orbit being doubled distance of its next interior one from the sun • a fact which obtains with remarkable SXssbetweenJupiter.Saturnandtosc^^^^^^ But this law seemed ^te interrupted between Mars and Jupiter. Hence he >»ff «^ J there was a planet wanting in that interval , wS now' happily supplied by the discovery of the ieastarfcyrm planets, occupywg the verj space where the unexplained vacancy present- e'i a strong objection to his theory. From these and other circumstances, n^ny eminent Astronomers are of opimon that these ten ptenets are the fragments of a large celestial body which once revolved between Mars and Jupiter, and which burst asunder by some tre- meWous convulsion, or some external violence Now granting the truth of this, (and I think it cannot very well be denied,) we have a clear explanation of the descent of Meteoric stones which aieto be regarded as the ftagmciits of that planet which once existed between the or- bits of Mars and Jupitei but which has long c8 41i since be^n exploded. These stones are parts of still smaller fragments which continue to move around our sun, and perhaps some of them around our earth, and which by the in- fluence of Earth's attraction when nearest our planet are brought down to its surface. This supposition is in perfect accordance with the account given of this wonderful phenomenon, at the commencement of the present chapter, and which seems to be the only rational ex- planation which can possibly be given. ■ CHAPTER IX. Jl BCISNTIFIC ▲RRA.NGEMKNT of THB HEAVBIfLT BODIBg. Of the worlds which roll above, below and around us in the universe of God there are, as has already been observed, Satellites, Planets, Comets and Central Luminaries denominated Suns and fixed Stars. Our own moon is a satellite attending the earth : the earth is its centre of motion. The earth is a planet re* volving rn an orbit around the sun : the sun is its centre of motion. The sun and fixed stars are luminaries revolving in orbits around the Throne of God : heaven is their centre of motion. I shall first treat of this central lu- *% *n!na of the whole croat'on which in the holy vens frem Us very gre ^ .^ ^^^ trVas^Kerior^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ earth dtaws our moon along "I*""'™ °™] :Znd the Bun, so the sun ^^-^l^^^ ''^ SrytE:A^ng:/^-^^.:2 Tom mth were bloWn out of existence the mot^would not pursue its P^e^e^t^""^,^ '£ having lost its centre of motion it T"W e^^f. he destroyed, or it would revolve in an orhit a^tmd Ze other superior body ; m like man- ^"^ithout a central sun. the umverse woiUd become a scene of bankruptcy and confusion: for it is this centre which keeps the whole ere- ation from being dashed to pieces. Now in WtL^ the moon, the earth, the Planets arjd their moons, and the fixed stars and their plan- etewe all ii^ rapid motion around th« central 44 i i a! luminary, I will j^^ie intrcJuce the following", taken from a work which is improperly styled Geography of the Heavens, by E. H. Burritt : "We have hitherto described the stars as being immovable and at rest ; but from a series of observations on double stars, Dr. Herschel found that a great many of them have changed their situations with regard to each other, that some perform revolutions about others, at known and regular periods, and that the motion of some is direct, while that of others is retrograde ; and that many of them have dark spots upon their surface, and turn on their axis like the sun. A remarkable change appears to be gradually taking place in the relative distances of the stars from each other in the constellation Her- cules. The stars in this region appear to be spreading farther and farther apart, while those in the opposite point of the heavens seem to close nearer and nearer together, in the same manner as when walking through a forest, the trees towards which we advance appear to be constantly separating, while the distance be- tween those which we leave behind is gradu- ally contracting. From this it is concluded that the sun, with all its retinue of planetary worlds, is moving through the regions of the universe toward some distant centre, or around some wide circumference at the rate of sixty or certam, *^ ^J^^^f ,4'„g^ ^h.oh we are at tjou ot ab^°l»to^Pace ur ,„cceeding this ">»'"«"* Vf^='""i;^f;,'^f,^i luminary, being age3 of eternity. ■>■"'»." •,,,,. only one enually attracted on all sides, is the ""'J ° w^^may regard as stationai^ or fixed, and it is the ce'^"\°.f"'tTa modem vniter gives us Upon this subject a modern mu b the following interesting 'f ^^^lo" ^ At tl« close of the meeting of *\^°y^o46 gir W- 1 „,„ nn the 14th of December, lb4t>, su vvu UamWton announced that he had just re- ceived torn Professor Madler, of Dorpat the rraordinary and '^l^^^^' "' ^^^ theTnX and directions o^^- P^X tions of the stars in various P«.t^»f *'/l™ combined with indications afiorded by he par aliases hitherto determined, and with the theTy of universal gravitation, Profes«» Mai- ler hL arrived at the conclusion that the Heiadesform the central group of our whole astral or sidereal system; including the Milky Way ad all the brighter stars b-t e^^tasive of the more distant nebute, and of the stars of which those nebul» may be compced. And i i»K! m! 46 ■within this central group itself he has been led to fix on the star Alcyone, otherwise known by the name of Tauri, as occupying exactly, or nearly the position of the centre of gravity, and as entitled to he called the central sun. Assuming Bessel's parallax of the star 61 Cygni, long since remarkable for its large pro- per motion, to be correctly determined, Madler proceeds to form a first approximate estimate of the distance of this central body from the pla- netary or solar system, and arrives at the pro- visional conclusion that Alcyone is pbout thir- ty-four million times as far removed from us, or from our own sun, as the latter luminary is from us. It would therefore, according to his estimation, be at least a million times as distant as the new planet, of which the theoretical or deductive discovery has been so great and beau- tiful a triumph of modern Astronomy, and so striking a confirmation of the law of Newton. The same approximate determination of dis- tance conducts to the result that the light of the central sun occupies more than five cen- turies in travelling thence to us. The enormous orbit which our own sun, with the earth and the other planets, is thus inferred to be describing about that distant tentre — ^not indeed under its influence alone, but by the combined attractions of all the stars which sue 47 nearer to it than we arc, aild which ate eati- "n"ed to amount to more than one h«n_dred and seventeen millions of masses, eaeh equal to the ^''^'he plane of this vast orbit of the sun ia iud^ed to have an incUnationof about eighty- C decrees to the ecUptic, or to the plane of tCammal orbit of the earth; andthelongi- tuL of the ascending node of th^ former orbit on the latter, is concluded to be nearly two hundred and thirty-seven degrees. CHAPTER X. rtlTt CENTRAL LUMINARY RECOGNIZED IN THE HOLt SCRIPTURES. "When incorrect notions on Astronomy pre* vailed even among the learned, the Greek and the Latin fathers attempted to improve the Bible on scientifical subjects ; but modern dis- coveries most incontestibly prove the mspira- tion of that Bible which ages ago, before they were even thought of, contained the very truth* 43 which modem philosophers claim to be th» result of recent investigation. When the inspired writers speak rf the heavens, they employ the most philosophic and Ae most el Jgant'expression. to '^^^^^-f^f to define them. The heavens m the Bib means the expanse, or the Vacaiit space, or Shror immensity. When they describe the Ens they are careful to distinguish thein ; S ^ the heaven of the bird_s, of the tempests, and of evil spirits; then the heaven of the stos ; and la.tly, the third heave" ^hich thev designate the heaven of heavens. &t, Paul mentions this part of the uiuverse when he says : " He knew a man that was caught UP to the third heavens, that is the central lu- JLiary of creation." This heaven is lepre- sented by the inspired writers as being aW trmost^distant stars and planets that twinkle i^'our evening sky. Thus while the Angels inform the men of Galilee that Jesus had as- cended up into heaven, St Paul informs u» that he had ascended far a,hove all heavens, that is above everything visible. This heaven then into which Jesus our Lord ascended at hr» ascension is far above all heavens, whether ac- mospherical or starry, and is therefore in the centre of all, is the cause of universal motion, and is the great fountain of hght, mi conse- the whole ef them, i o t"^ ^'^. . i„„ ^f the tain thee." Agam xt as said . He ham s Saf-^^JralwaUra his' tV^one in the S thf erse of universal motion umve^^ heavens in creation. i^ooxrpriq and Sraf^tely dwells, -*„f =^^ ^l^^^^, ft ahoTe the heavens, or as St. ^a^^^^'n"^ y .. fet above all heavens c" that w ai^e au thin-s visible, while at the same t™e it « m iSTheavens, that is in the centre oU^eJ^^ ZiB visible and invisible ; or in other words ZceX of the universe This P ace is un- doubtedly the heaven of the good .^^^^^^^ flpath or the lesurrecuon : tor it is 1^°^ P'^"- fX which Christ our Lf ^^^^ ^S Enoch andBlijahare, and where aUt"" **>?;• fhall be, when they shall w* Chnst w he «. "-x^ :iO CHAPTER XI. THE SUN. The Sun, b our system, is the representative of this central luminary : indeed the solar sys. tem is the universe in a mmiature scale , and the sun, to his whole system, is what heaven is to the whole universe of God's creation, t or as the planets have moons that revolve aground them as their centre, so the fixed stars and sun^ have planets revolving around them, and yet they fil revolve around the heaven of heavens as their common centre of motion. It has been remarked by a celebrated astronomer, that our Sun, from his immense bulk, is a universe m himself: for all the ideas we can possibly en- tertain of immensity is comparatively noOimg at «U to the bulk of this lummary. ThisMlk is about five hundred times larger than aU his planets and satellites taken together ; and were h^ placed where the earth is^ now, he would no^ only fill the orbit of the moon (240 000 miles distant from us), but over 240 000 miles beyond that again ; so th^t al- though his bulk can be.given in figures, i,t is very fex beyond the grasp pf tiie largest una- idnation to comprehend it, ox form anidea ^ It, ^Y^^ m the mind ; w\d y*% the vm *<> ci;e«r 51 for that wnicii wo atmosphere and luminous .=^tm»«P^f;,",- „ i„d thcusaua. of is kept in '•'O^'^^'^-'^^^XZ^^"^-'!^ «1°^"'"' miles of it are <=°°f"^,^ "?''"" u,„s arc seen alternately, '^^.^^l^J^.^^'^o m^Uco of dark spots ^vhi^f J^'t^, Jee but little is the ^»^y f-1^'- °; Jits atmosphere prevents known, as the gioij "' „„i;,,arv telescope. it being »=^™»<"l, *'i hfani the grand agent m every "^ vegetation, trees and colors to "{^^"'^-^"^"tTow^roduees wonder- and flowmg ^f/' J'"' ^j is not only an ^ays ^-^^Xten-the great eentre luminary emblem of heaven—t(ie g'^ ,.ecorded of all— but, m the holy bcnptureB, a, an emblem of Deity himself. mI'- S2 C II A P T E R ▼ 1 1 • OF THK PLANETa. The planets are known by their moving from constellation to constellation among Ac Sed stars, and have therefore received then^ name, which signifies wanderers. I«^ P~ relatiouBhip, the planets may I'e;'"^ to be our nearest neighbors. Begmmngat *e sun, the first or nearest planet is called Mercury. It is fKsin the n^eighborhood of the =-». as seen by astroBomers, and, bemg therefore eon~ l/immersed in the sun's rays but ve^ Uttie can possibly be known about it. With the exception of the asteroids, Mercury is the rX° of any of the planets yet known, and Tatlut sixteen times smaller than the earthy It revolves about its axis, from ^««t .^^ ««f*; ^ 24 hours 5 minutes 28 seconds, ^^ich makes its day about ten minutes longer than ours. It is aLut 37,000,000 of miles from the Bun and its year is a few minutes less than 88ot 2 days. Mercuryisknownto shine by bor- rowed light from the sun, from the fact, that, when viewed through a proper telescope, it ex- hibite aU the phases of the moon— except that it never appears quite full, because its enhght- ened heiniBphere is never turned directly to- "'vt Ve sun", being nlightened. and the op- ;:l*?derbeing d^U, prLs the plang^o the southern hemisphere. "n««^' jj tains is found nearly eleven !™l«!,^'g^: ^^^^^ the same ui . ^^^ g^, ^gar the sun it re- S'aiouuSesLe hght and heat ^a. Srearth does, and as a consequence the colors I^d S the foreste and surrounding scenery CaTastetingwithbeauty and grandeur. 54 OHAVTER XIII. VENUS. its orbit it seems to recede from he » fifths of a degree every day , aud it is^o seea east aud -«f ^^ .^i^ 1Z to move year of Venus, or the tiine . ^^^.thirds Lits orbit around the Q >s 224^ t J .^^^^^ days, and it is about 68,000 "UU ra ^^. fiom him, and moves m ^ts oAit at the ^^ ^ 80,000 miles ^n hour. Its day i» ^ 7 sec. long, or about 25 nnnutes sM ^^ ours ; while its year is only equal to o^ ""T^'Venus the sun appears about as large .,:!;"nIsraoes to *-f h ^d^cpuent- ly colors upon the planet are do ^ splendent *» J^ whill h"-— -*• seen rising '"^theeast wm ^^^ ting in the west, nor was it ^^^5J;\. -^ ^j meridian when the sun was either nsmg 65 setting -.by to it i.kno^*'*i*«"^^'^ tkl t JorHt of the ea% ^^^^^,.„g. The atmospheie of this plan ^y ^T ^'S: ^t «:nce is. it is loaded ^ith cloud -ih^^^^iJ^ ^Hh com- viewed in its pnpicai v. Mercuxv, pre- Lrahle difficulty. J^n"^' 1*^ ^"^ Vhen ,,ntsto us allthe phases ofjhemom.^^ ^ nearest to us ^l^^^Jl^l not that at that than when most distant,w ^^^ time its darkened ^'^"^P^^^^ rfits^rface illu- having hut a very ^'^^.P^X^ ^t the fuU it winated. Very g^-^^^^lyjas a consequence is lost in the solar ray , and as a is invisible to the earth. j the^ siir^ men viewed ^^*\Syof inequalities : face of Venus presents a variety OH ^^^ thatoftheeaith. Dl 56 I CHAPTER XIV THE EAUTH AND THE MOON. For a description of tbis world in whicli Tve live the reader must be referred to works pub- lisbed on this subject particularly. ^ It is only necessary to say that the ea i is the third pknet from the sun, and is the place from which Astronomers make all their o"bserva- tions. This earth is to its moon what the sun is to the earth, its centre of motion, by "whose superior attraction the moon is kept in. nearly a circular orbit. The moon makes one revolution upon its orbit around the earth in 29 d. 12 h. 44 m. 3 s., being the time from one new moon to another. Tbis is called her synodic revolution : but her revolution from any fixed star to the same star again is called her periodic or sidereal revolution. This is accomplished in 2'7d. 7 h. 43m. 11 and one-half seconds. The moon revolves but once upon its axis during the time it makes one revolu- tion around the earth : it follows therefore that it has but one day and night in its year, containing both together 29 d. 12 b.44 m, 3 seconds : for this reason we never see but one side of the moon. 57 As the moon onlightens the earth by re- flecting the light of the sun upon it so the earth enlightens that part of the moon pre- sented to it, and as but one side of the moon is ever presented to the inhabitants of the earth itahereforo follows that the inhabitants of the opposite side of the moon are deprived of the sight of our earth in their heavens, and that no doubt many travel from one side to the other on the moon's surface to behold an orb in their sky appearing to them thirteen times as large as our full moon does to us. ^ As the earth revolves upon its axis, its con- tinents and Islancis appear to the inhabitants of the moon like so many dark spots upon its sur- face, by which spots they can determine not only the period of the earth's rotation, just as we do that of the sun, but they can also find.the lon- gitude of their places, as wc find the latitude of ours. ,, " When viewed with a good telescope — says a celebrated astronomer — "the moon presents a most wonderful and interesting aspect. Be- sides the large dark spots, which are visible to the naked eye, we perceive extensive v^Hi^s, shelving rocks, and long ridges of eleva+ed mountains, projecting their shadows on the plains below. Single mountains occasionally rise to a groat height, while^ circular hollows f ; m 58 more than three miles deep, seem excavated in the plains. Her momitain scenery bears a striking resem- blance to th'^ towering sublimity and terrific ruggedness of the Alpine regions, or of the Ap- penines, after which some of her mountains have been named, and of the Cordilleras of our own continent. Huge masses of rock rising precipitously from the plains, lift their peaked summits to an immense height in the air, while shapeless crags hang over their projecting sides and seem on the eve of being precipitated into the tremendous chasm below. Around the base of these frightful eminences are strewed numerous loose and unconnected fragments, which time seems to have detached from their parent mass ; and when we examine the rents and ravines which accompany the overhanging clifls, the beholder expects every moment that they are to be torn from their base, and that the process of destructive separation, which he had only contemplated in its effects, is about to be exhibited before him in all its re- ality. The range of mountains called the Apennines which traverse a portion of the Moon's discfrOm north-east to south-west, and of which some parts are visible to the naked eye, rise with precipitous and craggy front from the level of 59 the Mare Imhrium or sea of showers— a name which is given to a lunar spot. In this extensive range are several ridges, whose summits have a perpendicular elevation of four miles and more ; and though they often descend to a much lower level, they present an inaccessible barrier on the north-east— while on the south-west they sink in gentle dechvity to the plains. There is one remarkable feature in the moon's surface which bears no analogy to any- thing observable on the earth. This is the cir- cular cavities which appear on every part of her disc. Some of these immense caverns are near- ly four miles deep and forty miles in diameter. They are most numerous in the south-western part. As they reflect the Sun's rays more copi- ously, they render this part of her surface more brilliant than any other. They present to us nearly the same appearance that our earth might be supposed to present to the moon if all our great lakes and seas were dried up. The number of remarkable spots on the moon, whose latitude and longitude have been accu- rately determined, exceeds 200, The number of seas and lakes, as they were formerly consid- ered, whose length and breadth are known, is between 20 and 30 ; while the number of peaks and mountains whose perpendical eleva- d2 ' i 'n r 60 t' It If "! tion varies from a fourth of a mile to flvomilei* in height, and whose basis,are from one to seveu- tj miles in length, is not less than 150. An idea of some of these scenes may be for- med by conceiving a plain of about 100 miles in circumference, encircled by a range of moun- tains of various forms, three miles in perpendic- ular height, and having a mountain near the centre, whose top reaches a mile-and-a-half above the level of the plain. From the top of this central mountain, the whole plain with all its scenery would be distinctly visible, and the view would be bounded only by a lofty amphi- theatre of mountains rearing their summits to the sky. The bright spots of the moon are the mountainous regions, while the dark spots are the plains or more level parts of her surface.—- There may be rivers or small lakes on this planet ; but it is generally thought by astrono- mers of the present day, that there are no seas or large collections of waters, as was formerly supposed. Some of these mountains and deep vallies are visible to the naked eye, and many more are visible through a telescope of but mod- erate powers. A telescope which magnifies only 100 times will show a spot on the moon's surface, whose diameter is 1233 yards; and one which magnifies 1000 times will enable us to perceive any enlightened object on her sur* 61 face whose dimensions are only 122 yards, which does not much exceed the dimensions ot Home of our puhUc edifices ; ^s, for nistance the Capitol at Washington or «t. Paul s Cathedral. Professoi Frawenhofer, of Munich, recently an- nounced that he had discovered a lunar cdihce rescmhling a fortification, together with several lines of ?oad. The celehrated Astronomer Schrocter conjectured the existence ot a great city on the east side of the moon, a httle north of her equator, an extensive canal m another place, and fields or vegetation m another. II A r T E U XV 01? MARS. Mars is t\ia fourth planet from the Sun, and is the first of the superior planets, its ovbit be- inervation3 it is most scientifically and justly concluded that these ten planets are the rejuains of a large body which once moved in an orbit between that of Mars and Jupiter ; and that through some in- ternal convulsion this large body was caused to burst assunder, by means of which the several masses of the different fragments were driven with suchibrce as caused each of them to move in au orbit of its own, accordii-g to the known ,« ; jji-'i Pa 4, 64 laws of gravitation. This, as I have explained before, vv^ill account for the descent of what is termed Meteoric stones to our earth : for it is evident that smaller masses in motion around the Sim, or some other body when in that part of their orbit nearest the earth, might be so powerfully attracted by our planet as to cause fragments to descend to its surface. CHAPTER XVII. JVriTER. H ■' '; Jupiter is the largest of the planets yet known. His diameter is 86,255 miles, being about 1300 miles larger than the earth's. His year is as long as 1 2 of ours, and he moves on his orbit at the rate of 30,000 miles an hour, and at the distance from the Sun of 490,000,000 of miles. He makes ?ne revolution on his axis in 9h., 5^m., 60s., whici: is the length of his day. Being at the distance of 400 millions of miles from the Sun, the light and heat received on Jupiter is about 27 times less than that re- ceived on the earth . When viewed through a telescope, he is perceived to have large belts appearing across his surface, which are observed frequently to change their position and appear- i' . 65 ancc. But very littlo ifi known concerning thcso belts, but it is altof^etlier likely that tliey arc caused by the rapid motion of the planet upon its axis, thereby causing the atmospheri- cal phenomena just referred to. lie is attend- ed by four moons, some of which always appear visible to the planet. As might be expected, behig at so great a distance from the sun, he is less powerlully attracted by that luminary, and as a consequence attraction of cohesion in this planet is not so powerful as in those planets which are nearer to their common centre — tho Sjui ; and the result is found to be that Jupiter is less dense than those planets referred to, be- ing about as light as our common cork, while some of them arc found to be as dense as lead. i I (ii.i ] H J f'i i CHAPTER XVIII. SATURN. Tlic orbit of Saturn is between the orbit of Jupiter and Herschel. It is distinctly visible to the naked eye, and is distinguished by its uniform and steady light. It is not difficult to trace its course in the heavens, as it is just two years and a half in passing a distinct constella- tion. Saturn i3 909 millions of miles distant ill 66 1 i> i:, hi i hi 1 ■ I' I! from the sun, being nearly twice the distance of Jupiter. It contains about 1100 times as much matter as the earth, and moves upon its orbit 22,000 miles an hour. Its year is about 29i of ours, but its day is only 10^ hours long, the one being nearly thirty times longer than ours, and the other shorter than ours by more than one-half. Dr Herschell perceived five belts upon its surface, three of them dark and two bright. The dark belts have a yellowish tinge and cover a broader zone of the planet than those of Jupiter. To the inhabitants of Saturn the sun appears 90 times less than he does to us, and consequently the planet re- ceives about nineteen times less light and heat than our earth does ; but evon this is said to be equal to the light of three thousand full moons, so that the inhabitants haye a sufficiency of light for every necessary purpose. Saturn is surrounded by two large rings of uncommon beauty and grandeur. They appear more brilliant than the planet itself, and are divided by a dark band which is nearly 3000 miles in breadth. The distance of Saturn from his inner ring is 21,000 miles, which places the ring about ten times nearer to the planet than our moon is to the earth, and it is about 20,000 miles broad. It is very evident that these rings were created for the benefit of intelligent n 67 Mnga upon tho eurfaoe of this planet : for theh obvious use is to reflect the light of the sun to a people that, owing to their great distance from this luminary, would comparatively be in darkness. The rings appear to the inhabitants of Saturn in a circle all across their heavens covering a zone equal in brtjadth to about one hundred of our moons. Besides these two great rings, Saturn enjoys the benefit of eight Satellites or moons, all of which revolve about him at difierent periods and distances. I will close this chapter with the remarks of a celebrated author : — "The va- rious aspects of the seven moons, ^ one rising above the horizon, while another is setting, and a third approaching to the Meridian ; one entering into an eclipse, and another emerging from one; one appearing as a crescent, and another with a gibbous phase ; and sometimes the whole of them shining in the same heinis- phere, in one bright assemblage. The majes- tic motion of the rings — at one time illumina- ting the sky with their splendor and eclipsing the stars, at another casting a deep shade over certain regions of the planet, and unveiling to view the wonders of the starry firmament- are scenes worthy of the majesty of the Divine Be- <^ Ihe ei;j;hth satellite has been but recently discovered. ii f. 68 ing to unfold, and of rational creatures to con- template. Such displays of wisdom and omnipotence lead us to conclude that the numerous splendid objects connected with this planet, were not created merely to shed their lustre on naked rocks and barren sands ; but that an immense population of intelligent Jbeings is placed in those regions, to enjoy the bounty and adore the good- ness of their Creator," CHAPTER XIX V HEHSCHEIi OR. rRANTJS, Herschel is the next planet in order from the Sun, and received its name from Dr Herschel who first discovered it to be a planet. It was observed however as far back as 1 690. It was seen eleven times by Lemonier, three times by Flamstead, once by Bradley, and once by May- er ; but so far from suspecting it to be a planet that they all registered it among the stars. — This oversight can be accounted for from the fact that this planet being at such an irhmense distance from the Sun, and having such a wide circle to travel, is scarcely perceivable to be in motion, it taking seven years to pass over one 69 single sign or constellation. When first seen by the Doctor in 1781, it was in the foot of Gemini ; so that it has not completed one re- volution on its orbit since it was first discovered to be a planet. "The inequalities, says a learn- ed writer, in the motions of Jupiter and Saturn, which could not be accounted for from the mu- tual attractions of these planets, led astrono- mers to suppose that there existed another planet beyond the orbit of Saturn, by whose action these irregularities were produced. This conjecture was confirmed March 13, 1781, when Dr Herschel discovered the motions of this body, and thus proved it to be a planet. — Herschel is attended by six Satellites or moons, which revtlve about him in different periods and at various distances. Four of them were discovered by Dr Herschel, and two by his sis- ter. Miss Caroline Herschel. It is possible that others remain yet to be discovered. Herschel's mean distance from the Sun is 1828 millions of miles— more than twice the mean distance of Saturn. His sidereal revolu- tion is performed in 84 of our years and one month, and his motion in his orbit is 15,000 miles an hour. He is supposed to have a rota- tion on his axis, in common with the other planets ; but astronomers have not yet been able to obtain any ocular proof of such a mo- i.l s I: % fc^li 70 tion. His diamoter is estimated at 34,000 miles, which would make his volume more thau eif^hty times larger than the earth's. To his inhabitants the sun appears only the l-368th part as largo as he does to us ; and of course they receive from him only that small propor- tion of light and heat. It may be shown, how- ever, that the 1 -368th part of the sun's light exceeds the illuminating power of 800 full moons. This added to the light they must re- ceive from their six Satellites, will render their days and nights far from cheerless." CHAPTER XX LHVERRIER OB, NEPTUNK, Leverrier is the most distant of all the planets from the Sun. It is distant from this central luminary, the sun, about 2,850,000,000 miles, and perlbrms its revolution around him in 164 of our years. Its diameter is about 40,000 miles. "The circumstances of the discovery of this planet, says Burret, are at once interesting and remarkable. Such is the regularity of the planetary motions, that astronomers are ena- 71 bled to predict with great accuracy, their future places in the heavens, and to construct tables, exhibiting their position for ages to come. Soon after the discoA^eryofHerschelin 1781, his orbit was computed, and a table constructed for determining his future position in the heav- ens. But instead of following the prescribed path, or occupying his estimated positions, he was found to be yielding to some mysterious and unaccountable influence, under which he was gradually leaving his computed orbit, and- faihng to meet the conditions of the ta bles. At first this discrepency betvieen the ob- served and. the estimated places of Herschel was charged upon the tables, and a new orbit, and new tables were computed, which it was thought could not fail to represent the future places of the planet. But these also seemed to be erroneous, as it was soon discovered that the computed and observed places did not agree, and the diflerence was becoming greater and greater every year. This was an anoma- ly in the movements of a planetary body. It was not strange that it should be subject to perturbations, from the attractive influence of the large planets Jupiter and Saturn, as these were known to act upon him, as well as upon each other, and the smaller planets producing perturbations in their orbits, but all this had I, if: [•4 ' i ; 1 ^it t|!l jf'fl* 72 been taken into the account in constructing the tables, and still the planet deviated from its prescribed path. To charge the discrepancy to the tables was no longer reasonable, though it was thought perhaps sufficient allowance had ii>')t been made in their computation for the disturbing influence of Jupiter and Saturn. To determine, M. Leverrier, of Paris, undertook a thorough discussion of the subject, and soon ascertained that the disturbing influence upon Herschel of all the known planets was not suf- ficient to account for the anomalous perturba- tions already described, and that they were probably caused by some unknown planet, re- volving beyond the orbit of Herschel. From the amount and effect of this disturbing influ- ence from an unknown source, the distance, magnitude, and position of the imaginary plan- et were computed. At this stage of the inves- tigation, Leverrier wrote to his friend Dr. Galle, of Berlin, requesting him to direct his telescope to that part of the heavens in which his calculations had located the new planet ; when lo I there he lay a thousand millions of miles beyond the orbit of Herschel, and yet within less than one degree uf the place point- ed out by Leverrier ! This » , as on the first of September, 1846. When M. Leverrier was eng^^ged in his pal- 73 culations at Paris. Mr. Adam«, a young matho- malician of Cambridge, England, was discus- sing the same great problem, and had arrived at similar results even before M. Leverrier, though entirely ignorant of each other's labors and conclusions. This seems to establish the fact that the new planet was discovered by calculation, though the failure of Mr. Adams to publish his conclusions cut off his right to the honor of the discovery. Since the discovery of this planet, it has been ascertained that it was seen as far back as 1795, though supposed to be a fixed star, and catalogued as such, and that all the irregulaii- ties of Hersehel, with which astronomers were so much perplexed, are perfectly accounted for by the influence of the new planet. On the 12th of October, 1846, Mr. Lassel, of Starfield, near Liverpool, discovered a sa- tellite attendant upon Leverrier, and also, as he supposes, one or more rings similar to those of Saturn ; but though the secondary has often been seen by others since, and has been made the basis of elaborate calculations respecting the mass of the primary, no further discovery of the rings has been made by any other ob^ II "■ il i fi 74 CHAPTER XXI. COMETS. IK I Of all the heavenly bodies the comets are the most interestingly peculiar. Their orbits are very eccentric. At one time, when nearest the sun, accordinf^ to Newtoii, they are 22,000 times hotter tlian red hot iron ; at another, when most distant iVom him, they are immer- sed in total darkness where the rays of the sun cannot reach them. That part of the comet which is more opaque and luminon- than the rest is called the r/Hclc2is. This is frequently surrounded by something of a cloudy or hairy appearance, and in many instances these con- stitute the whole orihe comet. Very frequently, however, they are attended by a long' train called the tail ; but some of them are without this appendage, and are not easily distinguished from the planets. Others again appear to be nothing more than globular masses of vapor. Very little is known with certainty of the composition of these bodies ; one thing is certain their composition generally appears to be notliing more than vapor, the tail being nothing but the vapor becoming mor© luminous and transparent when approach- 75 ing the suii. As tlie comets pass between ui and the iixed stars, thoir envelopes atid tails are so thin that stars of very small magnitude may be seen through them. While part of some appear to be solid, others again throughout every part, throughout their whole extent are perfectly transparent. Astronomers divide the comets into three classes: — 1st, those which have no nucleus, being transparent throughout their whole extent ; 2nd, those which have a transparent nucleus ; and 3rd, those having a nucleus which is solid and opaque. . In passing near or among the planets the comets are so ])ower fully attractel as to be drawn aside from their course, and in some in- stances through this means their orbits seem to have been entirely changed. This has been the case especially with regard to Jupiter which seems to be a perpetual stumbling block to them. It is very certain that Vslq comets con- tain but very little matter : for when passing near to any of the planets they produce no per- ceivable eliect on their motion. It is said that a comet in 1454 eclipsed the moon : so that it must have been very near the earth ; yet no sensible eiiect uas observed to be produced ei- their upon the earth or the moon. Dr. Herschel says — "The remarkable comet of 1770, which wai found to revolve in i, mo- i. i 7C ' i) ij derate elipse, in a period of about five years, actually got entangled among the satellites of Jupiter, and thrown out of its orbit by the at- tractions of ihat planet, and has not been heard of since," (Herschel p. 310) But in this ex- traordinary rencontre the satelhtes of Jupiter suflered not the least perceivabJe derangement. "A sufficient proof," says an author, "oi the ae- riform nature of the comet's mass." "That tlie luminous part cf a comet," says Sir John Herschel, " is something in the nature of a t^moke, log or cloud, suspended in a trans- parent atmosphere, is evident Irom a fac. which has been often noticed, viz=, that the portion of the tail where it comes \\p to, and surrounds the head, is yet separated from it by an inter- val less luminous ; as we often see one layer of clouds laid over another with a considerable clear space between them. It follows that these can only be regarded as great masses of thin vapor, susceptible of being penetrated through their whole substance by the sunbeams. "We have before observed", says Burrit, "that comets unlike the planets, observe no one direc- tion in their *rbits, but approach to and recede from their great centre of attraction in every possible direction. Nothing can be more sub- lime or better calculated to fill the mind with profound astonishment, than to contemplate the \§ 77 i'll revolution of comets, "while in that part of their orbits which comes within the sphere of the telescope, some seem to come up from the immeasurable depths below the ecliptic ; and having doubled the heavens' mifrhty cape, agaui plunge downward with their fiery trains, On the long travel of a thousand years. * Others appear to come down from the zen- ith of the universe to double their perihelion about the Sun, and then reasccnd far above all . human vision. Others are dashing through the ' solar system in all possible directions, and ap- parently without any undisturbed or undisturb- ing path prescribed by him who guides and sustains them all." In 1805, a comet known as Biela's comet, froiaM. Biela of Josephstadt, who determined the elements of its orbit, came very near the or- bit of the earth ; " so near," says an author, "that at the moment the centre of the comet is at the point nearest to the earth's path, the matter of the comet extends beyond that path and in- cludes a portion within it. Thus, if the earth were at that point of its orbit which is nearest to the path of the comei, at the same moment that the comet should be in that point of its •rbit which is nearest to the path of the earth, i3 % i I] r ■8 .If hi-, ,■! ii *, ! M rt=- the earth would be enveloped in the nebulous atmosphere of the comet. Willi respect to the efTcct which miglJ; he produced upon our atmosphere by such a cir- cumstance, it is impossible to oiler anything but the most vague conjecture. Kir John Herschel was able to distinguish stars as min- ute as ihe IGthor 17th mafvuilude throu":h the body of the comet I Hence it seems reasona- ble to infer, that the nebulous matter of which it is composed, must be infinitely more attenu- ated than our atmosphere; so thaL for every particle of cometary matter which we should inhale, we should inspire millions of particles . of atmospheric air. This is the comet which was to come in colli- sion with the earth, and to blot it from the solar syslem. In leturning to its perihelion, Nov. 26, 1832, it was computed that it would cross the earth's orbit at a distance only of 18,500 miles. It is evident that it the earth had been in that part of her orbit at the sa^rie lime with the comet, our atmosphere would have mingled with the atmosphere of the comet, and the two bodies perhaps have come in contact. But the comet passed the earth's orbit on the 26th Oc- tober, in the 8th degree of Sagittarius, and the earth did not arrive at that point until the 30th of Noveniber" which was 32 days afterwards. Hi I 79 It' we multiply the immbo I' of hours in 32 (lays by 68,000 (tlic velocity oi'tlie earth per hour) we shall Ihid that the earth, was more thau r»2,000,000 miles behhul the comet, when it crossed her orbit. Its nearest approach to^ the earth at any tunc was about Dl millious of miles; its nearest approach to the Sun was about 83 millions of miles. Its mean distance from the sun, or half the longest axis ol its or- bit, is oo? millions of miles, its eccentricity is 253 millions of miles, consequently it ir 507 millions of miles nearer ihf sun iu its perihelion than in its aphelion. The period of its siderial revolution is 24G0 days or about Oi years." i, ,, mi I CHAPTER XXII. THE fi::ed stars. From what has already been shown, it is evident that all the stars are subject to great physical revolutions. Several of them once distinguished for their brilliancy have totally disappeared in the heavens, others are now very conspicuous which were unknown to the an- cient astronomers. *'The periodical variations of brilliancy," says Burrit, " to which some «f the fixed stars are subject, may be reckoned 80 i> i \' ',': " ' } -I among the most remarkable of their phenomena. Several stars, formerly distinguished by their splendor, have entirely disappeared ; others are now conspicuous wdiich do not seem to have been visible to the ancient observers ; and there are some which alternately appear and disap- pear, or at least, of which the light undergoes great periodic changes. Some appear to be- come gradually more obscure, as Lkdta in the Great Bear ; others like Beta in the whale, to be increasing in brilliancy. Some stars have all at once blazed forth with great splendor, and after a gradual diminution of their light again become extinct. It is very evident that all this is caused by the revolution of all the stars about an axis. Upon this subject the el- der Herschel very properly remarks — "Such a motion may be as evidently proved as the diur- nal motion of the earth. Dark spots or larsfe portions 01 the surface, less luminous than the rest, turned alternately in certain directions, either toward or from us, will account for all the phenomena of periodical changes in the lustre of the stars, so satisfactorily, that we cer- tainly need not look for any other cause." In minutely examining the heavens with a good telescope, there are two things of some importance noticed by the observer. One is, there are dark spots seen upon the apparent 81 aurlace of certain lited stars not of a stationary character but of a pianetary nature. They ap- pear and disappearjust a.-s some of our planeta- ry satellites appear and disappear on the appa- rent surface of their res|)ecUve planets. The other is the existence of certain patches of light scattered here and there throng-hout the wide expanse of the heavens and assuming no par- ticular figure or without any special ibrrn and bearing evident marks of being in a chaotic state, very similar no doubt to the oriirmal state of the earth as represented in the Holy Scrip- tures — "without form, and void." The first of these can be very easily accounted for by un- derstanding that every fixed star is a sun equal no doubt in magnitude to our o.wn, and like our own gi-eat centre attended with plauel.s and their satellites. This great truth presents to our minds a magnificent view of the subject. AYe think our own system — the Sun, bis plan- ets and their satellites, with the comets — to bo a magniilcent proof of Divine power ; but every lixed star, however small to our vision, is a sun, and probably attended by as many planets as our own lifminary ; and thus as we gaze upon the heavens at night we have system after syst in, world after world and centre after centre presented for our contemplation. — Now, that each one of the fixed stars shmes hv J 82 its own light, and not by the light ot the »un, if evident from their position and distance. Si- rius, the nearest fixed star in the heavens is in- con oeivably more distant from the Sun than any of the planets, and yet it shines with as much brilliancy as Venus. Now we know that in proportion as the planets are diistant from the sun, their brilliancy diminishes, but here are stars inconceivably more dis! ant from him than Samrn, Jupiter or Herschel, and who yet shine with as much splendor as Venus or Mars. This could not be if they shone by the borrowed light of the Sun, and therefore it is evident they shine by their own native Hght, or else receive their light with the Sun from the central luminary of creation. Regarding them in the same light as we do our Sun, \ve are prepared to view them as so many centres of respective systeiiis, governing the motions of so many revolving planets, but being so very distant it is not pos- sible to perceive them with the naked eye. — But what may we lawfully conclude those dark spots to be ? They are evidently the solid matter of the planets belonging to the system of the particular star referred to, and presenting interesting evidence that infinite space is adorn- <^d with system after system to declare the glory, 'wisdom and majesty of the universal Lord. 83 The cloudy patches of light scattered through* out space can be no other than matter created to be moulded or fashioned into worlds, and are just now what the matter of our earth was before what is termed creation, ngreeableto that truth communicated to us in the sacred volume of Inspiration. as CHAPTER XXIII. HEAVENLY BODIES BEINS INHABITED. The subject of the piesent chapter shall bo an answer to the inquiry, — Are the heavenly bodies inhabited ? and shall embrace the scien- tific and scriptural evidence or testimony afibr- ded to further us in our investigation. In the great volunie of nature at large w^e are furnish- ed with a sober answer to the question ; as all the skill, wisdom and evident contrivance con- tained in this volume, proclaim in lasting ac- cents that they have had more than naked rocks and barren sands fur their object, viz : ra- tional, accountable and intelligent beings. The heavens and the earth both "declare the glory of God," and present evidence of his existence, proclaiming that existence as plainly as the truth is evident that there can \m no effect 84 s|i ' without a cause equal to that ellect produced. It would therefore be quite as reasouahlc tocon- ckide that the crystal palace in London sprung into existence without, an\'intellin:ence to bring it there ; as to suppose that our earth, or in fact any one of the lieavcnly bodies, could bring; itself forth into heing without the aid of a great orighial intelligence ; and if the existence of our own world incontestibly proves the exis- tence of a Creator, the circumstances associated with Earth's creation give evidence that the great. Original had. rational beings in contem- plation when he created it, for whom he adapt- ed it both as a place of habitation and enjoy- ment. iNow, at the time of creation, had the earth been so placed that the sun's rays might pass either above or beneath it, and not upon it, or was it so placed as to move around a dark body instead of a luminous one, these facts would present evidence that the Creator had no ref- erence to contemplated creatures when he cre- ated it ; but when we iind this world of ours to be so situated as to receive fully the light and heat of the sun, that it is literally teeming with blessings and comforts, with beauty and grandeur, we may very philosophically conclude that God contemplated beings to live upon it, capable of enjoyment when he created it. 85 Sliould an inquiry arise as to the de- sign of the Creiitor in plaoinp: the moon in the firmament of heave t:, the inspired historiap fiirnif^hes us with a suriicient answer. *' to gi\d light upon the earth," po that throiif^h Ihis medium the lio:ht of the sun is reflected upon us, aud by which means our winter months are far fromheinjx cheerless and dreary. Now it must appear evident to all that this well-directed apparatus was not created to dazzle the senseless ma:-.:", of this world, but evidently for the hencut ol beings "which we find to be upon it, and wliich appear to be contemplated at the time of creation. In addition to the forej2:oiniter could be de- signed to benefit the senseless matter of the planets. This is my second reason for belie- ving the planets to be inhabited. The ditfertnt planets are ascertained to have a variety of seasons as well as the earth. Like it they have their armual and diurnal motion, while as in the case of Mars, our next planeta- ry neighbor, the ^now is not only seen at its poles, but it is noticed literally by degrees to disappear as tlie planet emerges from a long night of a polar winter. We may therefore lawfully conclude that as we know day and night, summer and winter, to exist there, that the planets*have also spring and harvest; and all for the benefit, not of inert matter, but of intelligent beings. This is ray third reason for believing the planets ,0 be inhabited. The planets like our earth have each of them an atmosphere, have oceans and waters which arise by evapciation and form clouds; their surface presents ^s grent a variety of .1f^' ■tr.r.» ;!ii! i h M m ■ 90 scenery as our earth, and many of them mucla more so. The oceans aro plainly discernable on Mars, so are tho clouds on Venus. The mountains of Venus and the Moon, the rings of Saturn and the belts of Jupiter, with the diflferent moons of these last-mentioned planets lead us to conclude that the Creator had the happiness of living beings in contemplation when be created them. This is my fourth reason for believing the planetary bodies to be inhabited. At least it would be very unreason- able to conclude that while every inch of atmos- phere and drop of water is occupied by living animals which the microscope at any moment can reveal, that these great masses in the hea- vens are so many blanks with respect to life, mind and intelligence. CHAPTER XXIT. « TIK LKJHT or SACEBD SCEIPTURE ON THIS MTBJBCT. The great volume of nature, thus teaching us with regard to heavenly intelligence as we may here, for convenience sake, call the inhab- itants of other worlds, we are now prepared for the loftier disclosures of sacred revelation upon the «ame subject. The Bibl* teaches us poa- I ! m I 91 itivoly that the iiihabitunls of this little planet are not the only iutellifyeiiecs in exicsiciice, but that other orders of beings have been created by the same hand that createrl us. There are such persons as angels or messengers mentioned in the Bible, whose immediate residence is Heaven. Our Lord tells us there is joy in their presence over a siiuicr that rcpenteth, which implies that they are beings capable of joy, and that they are not sinners hke ourselves. To prove their existence is unnecessary, as every reader of the Bible is more or less ac- quainted with these lofty personages. In the eighth Psalm, as David, the Royal Psalmist, contemplated the magnificent extent of God's creation, he breaks out into the fol- lowing exr-lamation — "When I consider thy heavens the work of thy fi Hirers, the moon and the stars which thou hasi ordained, what is man that thou art miudful of him? and the son of man that thou visitest him ?" In this passage, David, evidently moved by Divine in- spiration, took a scientific viewof cr ation, and regarding the heavenly bodies as peoj ed with lofty intelligences, and then viewing man an a depraved and sinful being, he exclaims in wonder — "What is man that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man that thou visitest him ?" This would be what is tenned abom- Fl IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 M 22 2.0 U 11.6 n^'^ O^, m ($*■ .-?> ^7 -•'# niUBUgidpiUL, Sciences Corporation 33 WESi MAIN STRFET WEBMER.N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 92 bast, if the moon and the stars were not inhab- ited : for if living beings did not exist there, and our earth, the only globe inhabited, there would be no wonder at all that God would be mindful of man when he had no other beings to occupy his attention. We are also taught that God has established his throne in the Heavens and his kingdom ruleth over all'' Now the very- same fact is made known in this declaration: for the idea cannot be that God has estabhshed his throne amidst the silence of a nonpopulated region, where no beings exist to admire his glory and adore his majesty. But in the as- sertion "His kingdom ruleth over a//," the gre it truth is communicated, for there can be no kingdom without subjects, and no ruling with- out persons to rule. But his throne is estabhsh- ed miha Jltavens and his kingdom ruleth over all, which certainly implies that the all, over whom God rules, is not blind, unconscious mat- ter, but living, and thinking, and accountable beinofs. PABT II. LESSONS OF SHORT SENTENCES TO BE COMMIT- TED TO MEMORY. 1. Astronomy is that science wliicli treats of the appearance, size, shape, arrangement, dis- tances, motions, physical constitution, and mu- tual influence of the lieavenly bodies. 2. By the heavenly bodies are meant the Sun , the Moon, the Planets, the Comets, and the fix- ed Stars. 3. These arc divided into two classes — ^lu- minous and opaque. 4. A luminous body is a body that shines by its own light, but an opaque body shines only by reflectiug the light of a luminous one. 5 . The sun and the fixed stars in our heavens are luminous bodies, but the Moon, Planets, and Comets are opaque. 6 . These opaque bodies appear luminous to us only by reflecting the light of the sun. 7. The Sun, Moon, Planets and Comets con- stitute ^hat is called the solar system. 8. The sun is placed in the centre of this system, the planets and comets revolve around it at unequal distances. ,, 1 '. -l 'I i. 94 i: i lii if! 0. Tlitre are ihirty-seven known as belong- ing to this sj^stcm. 10. These are divided into four classes — pri- mary, secondary, inferior and supeiior. 11. A primary planet is a planet which re- volves around the Sun directly. 12. A secondary planet is a planet which revolves around its primary and with it around the Sun. 1 3 . The secondary planets are usually called satellites or moons. 14. There are eighteen primary planets, ten of which are called Asteroids or small planets. 1 5. The following are the names of the plan- ets, beginning Vv^ith the Sun, viz : — Mercury, Venus, the Earth, Mars, Vesia, Astrea, Juno, Ceres, Pallas, Hebe, Iris, Flora, Metis, Hygica, Jupiter, Saturn, Herschel and Neptune. 16. The Earth has one Moon ; Jupiter has four ; Saturn seven ; Herschel six ; and Nep- tune one. 17. The inferior planets are those whose or- bits are included within the circle of the earth's orbit. 18. The superior planets are those whoso orbits encircle the earth's orbit. 19. The inferior planets are Mercury and Venus — the rest are superior planets. iiii , i 95 ON ATTRACTION AND MOTION, 1. Attraction is that power with which the universe is kept in motion. 2. All bodies are attracted in. ipropoition to thequantity of matter they contain. \' 3. The primary planets have two motions, • called revolutions— one on their ./is and anoth- er around the Sun. ; 4. The axis of a planet is an imaginary straight line around which it turns. 5. The orbit of a planet is that course in which it revolves around the Sun. • .' 6. The Earth's orbit is called the ecliptic-^' because eclipses take place when the Moon is in its plane. . . 7. A secondary planet has three revolutions: one on its axis, another around its prima,ry, and the third with its primary around the! Sun. 8. The attractive force of a planet is that power by which it is kept in motion.^ 9 . There are two forces — the centripetal and^ centrifugal. , . i j 10. The centripetal is that force which draWs a body towards the centre, around^vhich it re- volves, n T 1 11. The centrifugal is that force which moves a body in a straight line. 12. The Sun exerti by its attraction a can- f2 'i 'n.\ 96 tripetai force upon its primary planets ftnd tometfl ; and the primary planets exert a cen- tripetal force upon their secondaries or moons. 13. These two forces cause the planets to move in circular or eliptical orbits. 14. A circle is a plain figure bounded by a .curve Hue, all parts of which are equally dis- tant from the centre. 15. An eclipse is an oblique view of a circle. THL SUN. 1 . The Sun is a large, luminous body which gives light and heat to the whole solar system. 2. The diameter of the Sun is 886,952 miles. It is 1,384,472 times larger than the earth. 3. The Sun is 500 times the bulk of all the planets taken together, and is supposed to be about 750 times their weight. 4. The Sun is about ninety-five millions of miles from the earth. 5. Ancient astronomers supposed it to be a large globe of fire, but at present it is proved to be an opaque body like the earth, surrounded by a luminous atmosphere. 6. The Sun has three motions — one on its axis, another around the centre of gravity of the solar system, and the third around the cen- tr« of the universe. \yi 7. Tiio snii revolves on its axis in about tweiity-iive davs and a haJf. 8. The revolution of the Sun on its axis is determined by sj)ots on its snri'aco, appearing first on the east fcfide, then passing over and ap- pealing on the west side. U. These sj)otB are supposed to be openings in the luminous atmosphere, v/hieh enable us to tic:, the dark body of the sun. 10. Tile atmosphere of the sun appears to bo in a continual and violent state of agitation, especially within about thirty degrees of the e([Liator. 11. Astronomers attribute this to a rarified atmosphere at the equator, producing violent storms and continual agitation. 12. The spots seen through the openings in the sun's atmosphere are constantly changing ; some appear and others disappear very suddenly. 13. The briglitness of the sun is greater than the most vivid flame — a fact Avhich } roves the atmosphere of the Sun to be intensely hot. 9 i --■'4 1 TRANSITS OF CERTAIN BODIES. 1. The transit of a heavenly body is its pas- sage across the meridian. 2. The passage of Mercury and Yenus across the sun's disc is called their transit. 3. By the disc of the sun or a planet i% meant I lii 9S that circular illuin'matea fiiuface wUlhU lo m. 4. Morciivy and Venus appear like black upols when movin*}: across the tSnn. 5. A transit always beji^ins on the east sicie of the sun, and terminates on the west side. rUE ZODIAC. 1 Tlic ZoHiae is a circular htlt in the Heav- ens,' slraccn degrees wide— eight degrees on eacii side cf the echpiic. ^ 2 The zodiac is divided into tweivc cqnal pads, called aliens or consiellalions ol'the zodi- ac . .1.1 ;;. Each ^iigu is divided into thirty degrees ; each dciirce hito sixty minutes ; each minute into six ly seconds. . , . , ., 4. The ecliptic is the great circle in the mid- dle of the zodiac. 5. The signs of the ecliptic and names oi the constcliatioiis of thezodiac are— Aries, Taurus. Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Oapricornus, Acuiarms, and i'lBces. G. These constellations and signs do not al- ways occupy the same place in the heavens :^ for 'the signs in the eclii)tic have fallen back oi the coMstellations about tliirty-one degrees. 7 . These constellations and signs correspond- ed to each other about twenty-two centuries ago. liiii 99 8. The falling back of the signs of the eclip- tic among the constellations is caused by the ^retrograde motion of the equinoxes. 9. The seasons depend upon the revolution of the earth from one equinox to the same again. 10. The; sun has an apparent motion in the ecliptic, hi an eastern direction around, the Heavens, during the year. 11. This is caused by the earth's moving around the Sun. . i^: i i j ! , 12. When for instance the earth is in the sign Aiies, the same appears in the opposite sign Libra. ^,, 13. As the earth moves round in the eclip- tic, the sun appears to move in the opposite, partof theh8av,eris, and in the opposite di?e9; tion from the motion of th^ earth. . 14. The Sun enters the sign Cancer wheg the north poie leans towards the Sun. This happens the 21st June, :. 15. At this time the earth enters the , sig?i Capricornus. i t -i '' 16. The Sun enters the signs Aries and Libra when the north pole leans sideways to the .mn. 17. The Sun enters the sign Capricornus when the north pole leans exactly from the sun. This.happens Dec. 22nd. 18. The equinoctial signs are Anes 21st ot March, Libra 23rd of September. te fc V: A I ill I I S :■ I ■: 100 19. Tho Solstitial signs are, Cancer 2 1st Juno. Capricornus 22nd of December. LONGITUDE. ETC. 1 . The signs of the ecliptic are divided into four divisions, according to the seasons. 2. The Spring signs are Aries, Taurus, Gem- ini ; the summer signs, Cancer, Leo, Virgo ; the autumnal signs, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius ; and the winter signs, Capricornus, Aquarius, Pisces. 3. Longitude in the Heavens is the distance from the first degree of the sign Aries, reckoned eastward on the ecliptic, and embracing the whole circumference of the heavens. 4. When the Sun enters Aries, it has no lon- gitude, but at that time the longitude of the earth is 180 degrees. 5. When the Sun enters Cancer, its longitude is 90 degrees, and the earth's at the same time is 270. 6. When the Sun enters Libra, its longitude is 180 degrees, and the earth at the same time has no longitude. Ill 101 T 11 k: I' I- AN E T S . MKIIOUIIV. 1 . Mercury is the nearest planet to t!ic sun ; it is twenty times less than the eartli, and re- volves around the tSun in two months and tweuty-eight days. 2. Very little is known of the planet Mercu- ry, it being mostly lost to visioa in the solar ray. VENUS. 1. Venus the second planet in the system is about as large as the earlli, and '.evolves around the sun in seven months and hiteen days. 2. Meieury and Venus are called inferior planets, becilusc the earth's orbit includes theirs. :>. The infeiior planets will soraetmies ap- pear east o[ the b?un and sometimes west, ac- cording to the part of their orbits they are in ; Avhen east they are evening stars, and when vilest they are morning stars. 4. Veiius, at most, Can set but four hours and a quarter after the Sun, and rise four hourr, and a cpuirters before him— and Mercury but two hours. 4 lOlJ 5. Vihcn they liso and st*t wiili llu^ sun, if tlioy be ill the rernole part of tlicii' oibit, wo call tliid llic Buiieiior coiij unci ion ; hut if" in tiie iiOLiicr^t part \vc call it tlio inlciio' CM'junclirn, at wliicli liuic if" lliey i'all exactly LeUvcen llio earth aiul the sun, t^uch a phenomena is called a transit, and the planet will appear on the buu's thric like a bhick spot. THE EARTH. 1. The Earth is th.c third planet frcni the snn — it moves round it in three hundred and s^ixty-flve dnys and six liours, nearly. L'. The wise Author of uatuie has cnuEcd a secondary planet, called ihc moon, to move round the earth in twenty-seven days and a half. The moon receives its li^iht and heat from the sun and reflects the former of these upon the earth. *fi. The earth is round like a globa or ball, a little flattened at the poles. We clearly dpiiionstraie tlie earth U, be round, Since such a Ibrm hitest for motion is found ; The hi^^her tiio eye is, the prospecfs more vast, And a ship's hull iippears not so soon as its inast. JloLind the earth the bold mariner often has been. And the rest of the planets are circular seen ; This, too, in all lunar eclipses is shown : For the sihadow is round on the face of the moon. The polar star sinks as we sail to the line, And canalw from a level must gently decline. 103 r 4. A description of the Earth belongs to the department of Geography. MARS. 1. The fourth planet from the Sun is called Mars. It is about ono-lifth as large as the earth, and moves round the Sun in something less than two years. 2. The diameter of Mars is 4189 miles, and its distance from the Sun 142 millions of miles. 3. Mars revolves on its axis in 24h., 39m., 22s., and it revolves around the Sun in one year and 321 days, moving in its orbit at the rate of 55,000 miles an hour. 4. The seasons of Mars are similar to those of the earth, but nearly twice as long — because this planet is nearly two of our years in revol- ving around the Sun. 5. Mars is surrounded with a very dense at- mosphere, causing it to appear of a rcdish and fiery color. 6. When viewed with a telescope, the out- lines of apparent continents and seas are dis- tinctly visible in Mars. 7. The seas of Mars appear of a greenish color, caused by contrast with the red colour ■>f the continents. II ^i W)l 104 y'h' 11 ■ V b i! : i^ -V- * , d. Mars frequently appears gibbous but nev- er horned like the moon. 9. A planet appears gibbous when we can see more than half, but not the whole, of the illu- minated surface. 10. Mars does not appear horned like the Moon, because it does not pass between us and the Sun. 11. Bright spots, supposed to be snow, are seen alternately at the poles of Mars. 12. These spots appear only in the winter of Mars, which proves them to be an accumula- tion of snow and ice which soon passes away when the planet emerges from a long night of a polar winter. 13. Mars has about half as much light and heat as the Earth. 14. The seasons of Mars are very similar to those of the earth, and the analogy between Mars and the earth is greater than the analo- gy between the Earth and any other planet of the solar system. , 15. Their diurnal motion, and of course the length of their days ^xid nights, are nearly the same ; the obliquity of their ecliplics, on which the seasons depend, is not very diflerent ; and of all the superior planets, the distance of Mars from the Sun is by far the nearest to tliat of the Earth. 105 IG. To a spectator on this planet, the earth will appear, alternately, as a morning and eve- ning star, and through a telescope would ex- hibit all the phases of the Moon, just as Mer- cury and Venus do to us. 17. Viewed through a telescope, the disc of Mars is diven^ified with numerous irregular and variable spots, and ornamented with zones and belts of varying briUiancy, that form and disappear by turns. 1 8 . Zones of intense brightness are to be seen n its polar regions, subject, however, to gradual changes. That of the southern pole is by far tb'5 most brilliant. 19. Dr Hcrschel supposes that they are pro- VI , iedby the reflection of the Sun's light from the frozen regions, and that the melting of these masses of polar ice is the cause of the variation in their magnititde and appearance- 20. He was confirmed in this opinion by ob- serving, that after the exposure of the luminous zone about the north pole to a summer of eight months, it was considerably decreased, while that on the south pole, which had been in to- tal darkness during eight months, had consid- erably increased. 2 1 The atmosphere of Mars is of an extraor - din".ry height and density. This accounts for the redness of this planet. f '1 :;; It 106 THE ASTEROIDS. 1 . In the solar system, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, we find a cluster of small planets, peculiarly distinguished from all the other planets of the system. 2. The dates of their discovery, and the names of their discoverers are the following : — Ceres, Jan. 1, 3 801, by M. Piazzi, of Palermo. Pallas,March 28,1802,by M. Olbers, of Bremen. Juno, S 'p. 11, 1804, by M. Harding, Bremen. Vesta, March 29, 1809, by M. Olbers, Bremen. Astrea, Dec. 8, 1845, by Ilencke of Dresden, Hebe, July 5, 1847, by Hencke of Dresden. Iris, August 13, 1847, by Hind, of London. Flora, October 18, 1847, by Hind of London. Metis, April 25, 1848, by Graham of Sligo. Hygiea, April 12, 1849, by Gasporis, Naples. 3. The scientific Bode entertained th« opin- ion, that the planetary distances above Mercu- ry, formed a geometrical series, each exterior orbit being double the distance of its nes:t infe- rior one from the sun. 4. This is precisely the case with Jupiter, Saturn and Herschel ; but the law seemed to be interrupted between Mars and Jupiter. 5. He therefore inferred that there was a planet wanting in that interval, which is now kappily supplied by the discovery of the ten i i: i^r H star-form planets, occupying the very space where the unexplained vacancy presented a strong objection to his theory. 6. These planets are much smaller in size than the older ones,they all revolve in nearly the same distances from the Sun, and perform their revolutions in nearly the same periods. 7. Their orbits are much more eccentric, and have a greater incUnation to the ecliptic, and all cross each other — so that there is a possibility that two of these bodies in the course of their revolutions may come in collision. 9. From these and other circumstances, it is evident that these ten planets are the frag- ments of a large celesti al body which once re- volved between Mars and Ju])iter, and which burst asunder by some tremendous convulsion, or some external violence. 10. Dr Brewster attributes the fall of mete- oric stones to the smaller iragments of these bodies happening to come within the sphere of the earth's attraction.— [BurriU's Class Book of Astronomy, 2^ag<^ ^^^-l 1 1 . Vesta appears like a star of the fifth or sixth magnitude, shining A^dth a pure, steady light, and is the only one of the asteroids which can be discerned with the naked eye. 12. Juno revolves around the Sun in 4 years and Ah months, at the mean distance of 254 i:'^ i' 1 108 millions of miles, moving in her orbit at the rate of 41,000 miles an hour. 13 Its diameter being estimated at 1393 miles, would make its magnitude 183 times less than the earth's. 14. Its light and heat are seven times less than that received upon our globe. 15. The eccentricity of its orbit is so great that its greatest flistance from the Sun is near- ly double its least distance — so that when it is in its perihelioti it is nearer the sun by 130 millions of miles than when it is in its aphc' lion. 16. This great eccentricity has a ctrrespond- ing effect upon its rate of motion, for being so much nearer,, and therefore being so much more powerfuly attracted by the Sun at one time than at another, it moves through that half of its orbit which is nearest the Sun, in one half of the time that it occupies in completing the other half. 17. Juno is surrounded by an atmosphere more dense than that of any of the other aster- oids*— a proof that it is capable of being inhab- ited. ■A. 18. Cere* revolves about the Sun in 4 years and 7 1-3 months, at the mean distance of 263^ millions of miles, moving in its orbit at the rate of 41,000 miles an hour. vm 109 )3 ^ J . 1 9. liti diameter k efetiinaied a* 1 682' iiMk, which makes ltd magnitude 125 tiitiMliei^ thiUi the earth's. ; '*^ 20. The intensity of the light aftd hpiak of this planet is about 7 1-2 timeg less than tbilt Ireceived upon this earth; ' ^^ • ^^ •' ■•'* j"^ SI'. Ceres shines with a ruddy calojr,/*lld appears to be only the size of a'^tar oC'tlte eighth magnitude ; it is therefore never seen with the naked eye, ^JTrr/a 22. It is surrounded by a species of cloudy tir mebuious lights which gives it f'|ome^hat jtiiei appearance of a comet j fortnitt g an ataadi- ipher6 675 miles in height^'^^ gitiyd;!)?*-!!. voiaib .;0j23.t Geres was the fikt discoveredf of thd Asteroids. At its discovery astronijmeir&dJit- hjratuiated theniselvesupon.the haafinony of the '!y stem' s being restored . They h ad long want- ted a planet to fill up the space between Mars rand Jupiter, in order in their eyes to make tile ^stem complete w -- ' - -^^^ 24. But the successive discoveries of Pallisfe .■jtrtd Jiitto again introduced confusion^ ctnd pre- <'jentp^ a difficulty whic>? they w6l:e tiriabUe to ;?olve, till Dr. Olbers i»tifegest^th6 idea that ttiiese^mall anomalous bodies were merdly the fragments of a larger planet 5 which had iacon exploded by some mighty convl^lsiouv i -' 25. Talias performs its revolution^around Gl •1^ f; ; 1 110 III, ii'a ill •M In- lbo8tinin4 years and 71 months, at the il9i9aii distaDOe of 264 millions of miles an hour. I,, 26. Its diameter is estimated at 2025 miles, ^ which 49 but little leBs than chat of our Moon. 27. Ceres and Pallas are nearly of equal fiiize, and they are situated at. equal distances ,'&watiith^.Srtm. vUu^ ^d ut ^imi^r^ JUPITER. '^'Hmx ^ih flh--f^' ybuchJrf mh^m. ■•■■■.. ' toil. Jupiter is the next planet in order from ^e Sun, and k the largest one which has been discovered, being about a thousand times larger jihali tlie earth, and five times more remote flKmitheSun. ) aiiioi^iai. 6il>2.; Jupiter may be readily distingiuii^d ik»n the fixed stars, by its peculiar splendor >wad ma^idtude, appearing to the naked eye ^^boEiost as resplendent as Venus, although it is more than seven times more distant from the -'9Un» .sr^;,'.;j;ie fJU' ■ . , i B. When its right ascension is less thaJa that ofthe^un, it is our morning star, and appears in the eastern hemisphere before the Sun ris^ ; when greater, it is our evening star, and lingein in the western hemisphere after Ihe Sun sete. 4. It is very easy to trace Jupit^ antiong the constellations of the Zodiac, for in whatever Ill •constellation it is seen to-day, one ywHi li©ttc« it will be seen equally advanced in the nexfr constellation — two years hence in the next and so on, being just a year in passing OYor one cone stellation. ; ; . 5. In I854i it passed through Sagittariut; in 1855 it passes through Capricomus ; 1856, Aquarius; 1857, Pisces; 1858, Aries; ISd^, Taurus; 1860, Gemini; 1861, Cancer. -^ 6* Jupiter revolves round the Sun in twelve years nearly, and has four sateUi.tes or moonff moving around ; they receive their light and, heat from the Sun, and reflect the same upov Jupiter, as our moon does upon the earth. It is also surrounded by dark circular spaces or^ zones, called its belts. xj^b?rr> 7. Jupiter is 485 milliotiB of miles frcxai ik^ Sun, and its diameter is 87,000 miles» It moves on its orbit 30,000 miles an honr. -•^f ' ■ 8. > Jupiter has no change of seasons, beoausa its axis is nearly perpendicular to the plane of its orbit, which causes the Sun to be always vertical at the equator. 9. The light belts which appear to surrounds Jupiter are supposed to be clouds which ai» thrown into parallel lines by the quick rotation of the planet upon its axis— while the dark belts which are seen are supposed to be ths^ body of the planet seen between the clouds. >*] i ■' i m « 112 ] \ i! f *:itlO. The^e belte change frequently, and itnnetimes the clouds break to pieces. «l iiiw Ji I til . Jupiter has twenty-seven times less light and heat than we have upon our earth. , i '>- 12. When Jupiter is in conjunction, he rikhn^ tetB, and comes to the meridian with the Sun ; but is never observed to make a transi*:, or pasfi QV^erthe Sun's disc ; when in opposition, he rises when the Sun sets, sets when the Sun. rises, and comes to the meridian at midnight, which never happens in the caiSe of an inferior planet. This proves that Jupiter revolves iirs an orbit which is exterior to that of the earth, d 13.' About the equatorial regions of Jupiteil there reigns perpetual summer, and at its poles: everlasting winter; but yet equal day and: equal ni^t at ieaoh.^Kl lira ;V:^^ >i 'ioUfjiul "" If 14. This arrangement evidently shows theri kind design of the Great Creator- — for had itSi axis been inelined to its orbit, like thiat of the ^rth,t h^s polar winters would have been altei^j nately a dieadful night of six years' darkness.?! 15. Some of Jupiter's moons are always visi-/ ble to the inhabitants, exhibiting in a Small scalejtnbst of the phenomena of the solar sys- i.16* MheA; !^cwed throtigh a telesccfpfs i}mkf> modns prosent 9X\ interesting and beaiiii^l'ltp^^ peajmnee.' ■.■■n •.&&if, ■•■ ^.•■- 5Mi.<>i'| c;.i:rK* ,J>^4 |m! 113 +dl 7. The first moon, or that nearest the plan- et, IB 259,000 miles diifetant trom its centre, and revolves around it in 42i hours, and appears at the surface of Jupiter four times larger than our mooii does to us. The second moon, being both smaller and farther distant, appears about the size of ours ; the third somewhat less ; an^ the fourth, which is more than a million of miles from him, and takes 16i days to revolve around hinn, appears only about one-third the diameter of our Moon. 18. These satellites suffer frequent eclipses from passing through Jupiter's shadow, in the same manner as our moon is eclipsed in passing through the Earth's shadow. ' • ^ io- 19. The three nearest moons fall into Jupi- ter's shadow, and are eclipsed in every revolu- tion ; but the orbit of the fourth is so much in- clined that it passes by its opposition two years in six without falling into the planet's shadow. 20. By means of these eclipses Astronomers have discovered that light is 8 min., 13 sees, in coming to ugfrom the Sun ; and thfey are ak6 enabled to determine the longitude of places 6h the Earth witk greatfer facility and exactness than by any other methods yet known.' ^^^^ 21 By a careful observe "Sn it was foijnd' that when the Earth is in tnat part of its orbi* which is nearest to Jupiter, the eclipses appear g2 m» iiiiiaMMHiJiMI 114 "1' I l!l!l :1 i- r. to happen 8 min. and 13 sec. Eooncr than the tables of eclipses i^edict ; and when in that part oi its orbit which is farther from Jupiter^ ft min, 13 sec. later than the tables predict. * . ,,,22. When these eclipses happen Booner than the tables predict, Jupiter is at its nearest ap- proach to the earth— when later, at its greatest distance : so that its difference in its distances from the earth, in the two cases, is the whole diameter of the Earth's orbit or about 190,000,- 000 of miles. Hence it is concluded that light is not instantaneous, but that it occupies 16 rain., 26 sec, in passing across the Earth's orbit— or the half of that 8 min., 13 sec, in coming from the Sun to the Earth, being near- ly 12,000,000 of miles a minute. 23. The revolutions of the satellites about Jupiter are precisely similar to the revolutioiiS of the planets about the sun. -''VfT ?i t- 4 ; f- «»]' 24. Jupiter when seen from its nearest sat- ellite, appears a thousand times larger than our moon does to us, exhibiting on a scale of incon- ceivable magnificence, the varying forms of a crescent, a half-moon, a gibbous phase, and a full appearanqe every 42 hours. ilnfiii f^rlt 15. In passing across the disc of Jupiter, one of its satellites has been known to loose all its light, as if undergoing an eclipse, until finally it became a black spot on the disc of the planet; 115 after passing light. ofl^ the disc it resumotl its s^ SATURN, 1. Saturn is Mtuated between the orbits of Jupiter and Herschel, and is distinctly visiblt? to the naked eye. 2. It may be eisily distinguished from the fixed stars by its pale, feeble and steady light. 3. From its slowness of motion it is two years and a half in passing over a single con- Btellatioti. 4. The moan distance of Saturn from the sun is 909 millions of miles. 5. Its diameter is about 82,000 miles, and it requires 291 of our years to complete its cir- cle round the sun, but its diurnal rotation on its axis is accomplished in 10 hours and a half. G. Its }■ ear therefore is nearly thirty times as long as ours, but its day is shorter by more than one half. 7. Its year contains 10,759 of our days and about 25,150 of its own. 8. The surface of Saturn like that of Jupi- ter is diversified with belts and dark spots. 9. Dr. Herschel perceived at some time five belts on its surface ; three of which were dark, and two bright. 11 I g^J 11 i 1' 1 1 no TO. Tlio dark belts have n yi^llowisli tinge, and generally »«over a bioailei' /one of ihu plan- et llian thoso ol' Jupiter, 1 1 . The sun appears 90 times less to the in- habitants of Saturn than he does to tlie inliabitr ants of the Earth, and therefore they receive 90 times less light and heat than wo do. ^ 12. Saturn irtovcs on its orbit at the rate of 22,000 miles an hour. in:13. Its night alternately at ihe poles is a- bout 15 of our years, and its axis leans lowards its orbit about 30 degrees. Its Ri?igs. 1. Saturn is surrounded by two large rr^i. centric rings, which are separated frcm en other, and also from the planet. 2. The matter of these rings is as solid as the planet itself, and they are observed to cast a stron^fT shadow upon the planet. 3. The l\y}d d the«e rings is more brilliant than t^v6 I :!i:^*t itself. 4. The rings turn around their centre of motion in the same time that Saturn turns on its axis. 5 The distance between Saturn and its in- ner ring is about 21,000 miles ; being less than a tenth part of the distance of our moon from the Earth. of 117 ],f». The interval between iho rings iB 3000 tnileg, and iho breailth of the inner ring in 20,- 000 miles. 7. This ring will present to the inhahitanta of Saturn a luminous zone, arching the whole concave vault from one hemisphere to the other with a broad girdle of light. 8. The obvious use of this double ring is to reflect light upon the planet in the absence of the sun. 9. The sun illuminates one side of it during 15 years, or one half of the period of the planet's revolution ; and during the next 15 years, the other side is enlightened in its turn. 10. When viewed from the middle zone of the planet, in the absence of the sun, the rings ^will appear like vast luminous arches, extend- ing along the canopy of heaven, from the east- ern to the western horizon; exceeding in breadth one hundred times the apparent diam- eter of our Moon. ;• Its Moons. I . Besides the rings, Saturn is attended with seven Satellites or Moons, which revolve around this planet at difierent periods and distances, and reciprocally reflect the Sun's rays on each other and on the nlanet. ■ 118 m r '[ {' ''Uh 2. The rings and moons illuminate tho nights of Saturn ; the Moons and Saturn enlighten the rings, and the planet and rings reflect theSun's beams on the Satellites. 3. The sixth and seventh are the smallest bf these Satellites, the first and second are the next smallest, the third is greater than the first and second, the fourth is the largest of them all, and the fifth surpasses the rest in brightness. 4. There is no planet in the solar system whose firmament presents such a variety of splendid and magnificent objects as that of Saturn. 5. The various aspects of the seven moons, one rising above the horizon, while another is setting, and a third approaching to the merid- ian— one entering into an eclipse and another^ emerging from one, one appearing as a crescent and another with a gibbous phase ; and some- times the whole of them skining in the same hemisphere in one bright assemblage . 6. The majestic motion of the rings, at one time illuminating the ^y with their splendour and eclipsing the stars, at another casting a deep shade over certain regions of the planet and unveiling to the inhabitants the wonders of the starry firmament— these are scenes wor- thy of the majesty of the Divine Being to un- fold, and of rational creatures to contemplate. 119 7. Suoh grand displays (4* Divine Wisdom Hud Omnipotence, lead us to conclude that the numerous splendid objects connected Avith this planet, were not created merely to shed their lustre on naked rocks and barren sands ; but that an immense population of intelligent be- ings is placed in those regions, to enjoy the bounty and adore the goodness of their great Creator. — Burr it. nERSCHEL. 1. Herschel is the next planet in order from the sun, beyond or above tSaturn. 2. To the naked eye it appears like a star of only the sixth or seventh magnitude, and of a pale, bluish white : but it can seldom be seen, except in a very fine, clear night, and in the absence of the Moon. 3. It requires just seven years to pass over one sign or constellation. 4. It was first seen by Dr. Herschel, in 1781 , it was then in the foot of Gemini — so th«t \% has not yet completed one revolution since it was first discovered to be a planet. 5. It was, however, observed as far back as 1 690. It was seen three times by Flamstead, once by Bradley, once by Mayer, and eleven times by [.emonnier, who registered it am-^ng ^1' I; 120 'i .! i ill I.I* 'i ! the stars — but not one of tliem siispocletl it to be a j)lanet. (3. Tho irregularities in the motion of Juj)i- tep and Saturn, which could not be accounted for from the mutual attractions of these planets, led Astronomers to suppose that there existed another planet beyond the orbit of Saturn, by whose action these irregularities were pro- duced. 7. This conjecture was confirmed March 13th, 1781, when Dr. Herschel discovered the motions of this body, arid thus proved it to be a planet. 8. Herschel is attended by six moons or sat- ellites, wliich revolve around it in ditlerwnt periods and at various distances. 9. Four of them were discovered by Dr. Herschel, and two more by his sister, Miss Caroline Herschel. 10. Herschel's mean distance from the gun is 1828 millions of miles — more than twice the mean distance of Saturn. 11. Its motion in its orbit is 16,600 miles an hour. 12. It is supposed like other planets to have a rotation on its axis ; but astronomers have not been able to obtain any ocular proof of such a motion. 13. Its diameter is estimated at 34,000 121 miiet, which would make its rolUifn^s rri^ than 80 times largeif than the Earth.* -^^^^''^^^ ««il4. To its inhabitants the Sun appeak btiiy^ tho 1-368 part as large as it does to us; atid Of course they only receive that small proporticrti of light and heat.; viioi ^.,u.u.a.';, >:.l ?/ .i. ^imU^ >...16. This light, Ifc^^Ver, addea^othe ligM they receive from their six satellites, will reii^ det their days and nights far from cheerlesir. ■f Kit LEVERRfER OR NEP*ruN»Jj-* '^'^ ®'*' ?f. f y f ■ i ^ :ffKf?'j]«f0 * f i. The pknet Leverrier or Neptune is the most distant of the primary planets, and in some respects one of the most interesting. '*'^ ^ 2. It is about 40,000 miles in diameter, i^ sit- uated at the mean distance of 2,850,000,000 of miles from the Sun, and revolves around this lummary in 164 of our years. nsoHiii >^fti.iYf/.^ 3. This planet is so remote that it would take a body moving at the rate of 30 miles an hour, over 20,000 years to reach it. 4. Such is the regularity of the planetary motions, that astronomers are enabled to pre- dict, with great accuracy, their future places in the heavens, and to construct tables exhib- iting their positions for ages to come; * j ' !" 5. Soon after the discovery of H^iSchferi^ 1781 , its orbit was computed, and a table con- 1. 122 H^ill^tedlbr determining its future position in the heavens, but instead of following the pre* 1^4 W path or occupying its estimated po- litipns, it was found to be yielding to some un* ^countable and mysterious influence, under which it was gradually leaving its computed ^rbit, and failing to meet the conditions of the t^n^es* • ■•,.;, I v'ijy 6. To determine the cause of this, M, LeW- rier, of Paris, undertook a thorough discussion of tie subject, and soon ascertained that the disturbing influence upon Herschel of all the )(|K>wn planets, was not sufficient to account for the anomalous perturbations already de- scribed, and that they were probablj caused by some unknown planet, revolving beyond the orbit of HerscM. ; h-^^rr- 7. J^romt^e amount and effect of this dis- turbing influence firora an unknown source, the distance, magnitude, and position of theim- a^iiMLry planet were computed. 8. At this stage of investigation, Leverrier ynt^t^ ^0 his friend Dr. Gralle of Berlin, request- ing! ^^"^ **^ direct his telescope to that part of the heavens in which his calculations had lo- cated the new planet, when lo I there it lay, one thousand millions of miles beyond the or- bit of Herschel, and yet within less than one degree of the place pointed out by Leverrier. 123 This was on tlio 1st of September, 1846. 9. At the very Bame lime Mr Adams, a young Mathematician of Cambridge, England, was .discussing the same great problem and had amved at similar results, even before M. Leverrier, although entirely ignorant of each, other's labors or conclusions. 10. Mr Adams' neglecting to publish his conclusions, cut off his right to the honor of the discovery. 11. Since the discovery of this planet, it has been ascertained that it was seen as far back as 1795, though supposed to be a fixed star.s and catalogued as such, and that all the irreg-? nlarities of Herschel, v^rith which astronomer* were so much perplexed, are perfectly account- ed for "by the influence of the new planet.VR e^3 : 12. On the 12th, of October, 1846, Mr Las- sell ofStaifield, near Liverpool, discovered a 5 satellite attendant upon JNeptunc. He sup- posed he also saw one or more rings around this planet similar to those belonging to Sat- urn — but this is very uncertain. .89am 08 lis dncuJi bi 'ieiommb 81 i' .'• Hfii&ii r.i tlhiVf ■ ■■' ■-■■^-'^ -■'■::• ' ''' nmti Bit .*' ■... An.; (i^O H; 124 ' i ! Il r,<« if iii l¥ SOLARSYSTEM, 0^ 1. Prom what is known it appears pliilW' aophically certain that every member of the solar system being necessary to the whole, they were therefore all created at the same lime — - all maintain their present stations and motion* and distances, by their mutual action on each othei"; ■ ..:.ii'\, ,...,. ....r.,..j:.:h 2. The solar system could not be where it is nor move as it does, nor appear as we see it unless every member of which it is composed were all coexistent. ' * col u 3. The presence of each appears essentialto the system, the Sun to them, they to the Sun, and all to each other. This fact is a strong indication that their formation was simultane- ous. -i«- i • : --oa THE MOON. 'Ht Uiimiil^idS 1 . The Moon is a satellite or secondary plan- et, revolving around the earth. 2. The moon is 49 times less than the earth. 3. Its diameter is about 2180 miles. 4. Its mean distance from the earth is about 240,000 miles. 125 6. It revolves around the earth in 27 day»^ 7 hours, 43min., Usee, 5deg., and it revolves upon its axis in the same time. 6. In consequence of the moon's revolving upon its axis and around the earth in the same time, the same side of the moon is always pre*- flented to us. "We have therefore never seen the opposite side of the moon. 7. The moon is supposed to ha more dense in one side than the other — therefore the centre of gravity not being in the centre of the Moon, she always presents the same side to the earth . 8. A lunation or lunar month is the time from one new ratonth to another. ; uij i r ^. The length of a lunation is 29day8,. 12h., 44m. 1 1 0. A lunation is longer than it takes the Moon to revolve around the earth, because thd earth is revolving round the Sun at the same time. 11. As the Moon revolves on its axis only once in its revolution around the earthy it con- tinually presents the same side to the earth, and there is, consequently, only one day land night in each revolution of the moon arocmd the earth, or the day and night would each be nearly 15 days long. 12. The Moon revolves around the earth from West to East. lJi{6 i h 13. It is caused to rise iu the east by the iiarth's revolving on its axis the same wayJ ^ 14. The Moon rises about 50 minntes later every day. 15. This is caused by the Moon's revolving around the earth from west to east^ flf 16. The phasesof t he Moon, from new* moon to new moon again, ifi caused by the mopii's le^- volving around the earth. . i . Dtfl?. When the Moon is between the Eairth and the Sun, and the dark side is presented to us we have what is called new mpon.j -v ai i.i'■'' *<^3Jw 23. The Moon appears to us as large as the Sun, because it is '400 times nearer to ub than ^ ..... the Sun* . i .i^ ' 24. By the phases of the Moon is meant 127 the various appearances which the moon pre- sents from new to full moon, and from full moon to new moon again. fiCLIPSES. ■I 1 . An eclipse is the interception of the SnrCn rays by some opake body. ,^ 2. Eclipses are divided, with respect to the^, body eclipsed, into two kinds: solar and lunar* ' 3 . A solar «?clipse is an eclipse of the sun, and a lunar eclipse is an eclipse of the moon. 4. A solar eclipse is caused by the moon's -no- between the Earth and Sun, and cast- ' ii ^ uadow upon the earth. t >clipse of the Sun can therefore only happoi:- at the time of new moon. ^ 6. An eclipse of the moon is caused by tho moon's passing through the earth *s shadow. 7. An eclipse of the moon can only happen at full moon. , r\_rrf' c r 8. Eclipses are divided^ with respect to the * amount eclipsed, into total and partial. 9. A total eclipse is an eclipse of the whole Sun, or Moon. 10. A partial eclipse is an ecHpse of only » part of thti Sun or Moon. 11. An annular eclipse is'iil^* eclipse ■ 1 . All opake bodies cast a shadow when the rays from any luminous body fall upon them. 129 2. If the sun were smaller than the earth, the earth's shadow would increase in diameter as the distance increases from the earth ; but if the sun and earth were of the same size, the shadow would be of the same size, no matter how great the distance from the earth. y. But as the sun is immensely larger than the earth, the earth's shadow terminates in a point at about 600,000 miles from the earth. 4. The moon revolves around the earth from one new moon to another in ^bout 29i days. — If the moon passed at every new moon CAu-ctly between the centres of the sun and the earth, we should have a great eclipse of the sun at every new moon, and a total eclipse of the moon at every full moon ; but the moon's orbit makes an angle with the plane of the ecliptic of about 5^ degrees, consequently one-half of the moon's orbit is above the ecliptip, and the other half below it. 5. The plane of the ecliptic is described by a line drawn from the centre of the Suri, passing through the centre of the earth, and extended to the heavens. ■ - %. The two opposite points where the moon's orbit cuts the plane of the ecliptic, are qalled the moon's nodes. 7. The nodes do not keep in the same po- sition witjhi respect to the earth apd the ^w> ! I'll ?} '•• »' Xi .' 0- i- ! '1- % . 130 ., but have a retrograde motion of about nineleen degrees in a year. 8. This causes the Moon, at New Moon, to be too high or too low, so that the Moon's shadow passes above the north pole or below the south pole, and there is therefore no eclipse, and at full moon the moon passes either above or below the earth's shadow. ,9. A total eclipse of the moon occurs when the whole of the-moon is immersed in the earth's shadow, but we occasionally have a partial eclipse of the moon, which is caused by the moon's being so high or so low as only to be partially immersed in the earth's shadow. 10. The number of eclipses in any one year cannot be less than two, nor more than seven. There are sometimes six, but the usual number IB four — two of the Sun and two of the Moon. 11. The following is a list of all the solar eclipses which will be visible in Europe and ^erica.^ing the present century : 1854 at 26 min. past 4 P.M. on 26th May, 1858 1859 1860 1861 1863 1865 K l( C< (( (I 14 32 23 30 10 (I 9. As the comets frequently pass between us and the fixed stars, their envelopes and tails are so thin that stars of very small magnitudes may be seen through them. 10. Some comets having no nucleus are transparent throughout their whole extent. 11. The nucleus of a comet sometimes ap- pears opaque, and it then resembles a planet. MM |;^^^| Hr.-f^^^^^^^M r^^^H 134 ii:^^ A FEW GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON ASTROLOGY.' Ancient Afetrology, from its connncction with the history of the past, deserves a passing reflec- tion ; and simply to inform the reader of some of the curiosities of this professed science, and without giving any opinion of my own as to its correctness, I will, in this closing Chapter, show how the ancient Magis, as they were called, prognosticated in relation to human na- tivities. Of the Birth of Children with respect to the ♦ age of the Moon. 'To be homonthe first day of the New Moors ■w-as reckoned very fortunate — for to such in astrology was promised prosperity in business^ sweetness of sleep, pleasantness of dreams, and a long life. A child bom on th§ second day of the 19ew MooH shall grow apace. On this day it m proper to go on messages, to trade by land or to sail on the sea, as also to put seed into the ground that it may thrive. It is also good to open a vein upon this day if there be occasion, h 135 ON child bom 0)i the third day of the moon shall die quickly, or at least be short-lived. On this day to begin any work of importance is very un- fortunate—for it seldom comes to a good con- clusion, and if any fall sick upon this day ho will hardly recover. On the fourth day of the moon, the child that is born shall prosper in the world and be of good repute. It is good to begin any enterprise upon this day—provided it be done with good advice and with depen- dence on the divine blessing. A person that falls sick upon this day will either recover or die in a short time. They that will may also on this day use phlebotomy. Thefijth day of the mmn is unfortunate and the child born therein is likely to die in infancy. On this day let no man do anything of great importance, for he will have no success — he that is in dan- ger and thinks to escape shall certainly be ta- ken ; he had better, therefore, be still as he is. If good council be given you to day, take it, but execute it to-morrow. You may, however, be bled on this day with good success. The child that is born on the dxth day of the m^on will be oflonff life, but very sickly unless prompt means and strict attention prevent it. To send children to school this day is very fortunate, and denotes they shall increase in learning. On the seventh day the child that is born may 136 II ft. 1. 1 pi 14 '€' I !■ ts'. 5 ^11' 1* live many years. To take Bick upon this day is dangerous, but if he have been long sick, by taking medicine upon this day, he will be like- ly to recover. A child born on the eighth day shall be in danger of dying young, but if he outlive his sickness he shall live long and arrive at a great estate. "Whatever business a man undertakes on this day shall prosper ; but it is cipecially good to buy cattle and to begin build- ings. He that falls sick upon this day shall re- cover, and a tbing that'* lost shall be found. On the ninth day a child that shall be born is very fortunate, enjoying long life and arriving at great riches. What you undertake this day will come to good issue. It is very dangerous to let blood upon this day. On the tenth day the child that is born shall be a great traveller, pass through many kingdoms and countries, and at last die at home in his old age . JDo noth- ing upon this day but what you want all paen to know, for the secrets of this day are gcDerally made known. Blood letting may be used this day with good success. A child that is born on the eleventh day of the moon shall be of good con- stitution, and very religious, shall be long-lived and of a lovely countenance. If a female she shall be much addicted to wisdom and learning. It is good to begin a journey upon this day, for it shall be prosperous, and also to marry for the 137 married couple ehall live happy all their lives, and be blest with many children. The twelfth day ojthe momJsage in allusion to the 12th sign or house of the zodiac, betokens nothing but sorrow and Avoe. The child born upon this day shall be given to wrathfulness, and subject to many afflictions. If there be occasion to let blood tjiis day, let it be towards the evening, and then it may do no harm. On the thit' teenth day the child that is born shall be of short life, and subject to much misery while it lives by reason of peevish crossness so that it cannot be pleased. To wed a wife upon this day is good, for she shall be both loving and obedient to her husband. The child that is bom on the fourteenth day of the moorCs age shall be an enemy to his country, which shall bring upon him his deserved end. On this day if you ask a kindness of either a friend or an enemy, it shall be granted you. Give proper medicine to a sick person and it shall restore him to his former health. The child that is born on the fifteenth day shall shortly die. Begin no work upon this day, for it is very un- fortunate. That which was lost yesterday will be found to-day. On the sixteenth day of the moant the child that is born shall be of ill maiineis and very unfortunate. Yet this is a good day for buying, selling or merchaj[idizing. If aman 138 f I, I f m be sick, and on this day change his habitation, he may recover and do well again. The child born on ihe seventeenth day of the moon will be foolish. To go on messages upon this day is unfortunate. Yet to contract matrimony, to compound physical preparations, and to take medicine are very good ; but by no means let blood upon this day. The child that ghall be born on the eighteenth dny (if a male) will be courageous, valiant and eloquent ; but if a fe- male, chaste and industrious, and shall come to honor in her old age. It is good to begin build- ings upon this day, and to send children to school ; but it is very dangerous to let blood. The child that is born on the nineteenth (if a male) will be renowned for wisdom and virtue, and thereby arrive to great honors ; but if a female she will be of a weak and sickly consti- tution. This day they that have occasion may bleed. The child that shall be bom on the twentieth day oj the moon shall be stubborn, quarrelsome and a great fighter, yet he shall arrive to riches. This is a good day for any manner of business. On the twenty-first day of tlie moon's age, the child that is born shall be witty and ingenious, yet he shall be addicted to stealing, which may be remedied by early training and cultivation, else he may be brought to the gallows. Abstain from bleeding on this 11 > t 139 a day at your peril. On the twenty-second day the child born shall be fortunate, and purchase a good estate — ^he shall also be of a cheerful countenance, comely and religious, and shall be well-beloved. Avoid going on a message upon this day ; neither remove from one place to another. Blood letting on this day may be profitable. The child born on the twenty third day shall be of an ungovernable spirit and shall give up himself to wandering abroad in the world. This day is generally prosperous for all kinds of business. On the twentyfawrth day of the moon a child then born shall be a prodigy in the world, and make all men admire at his surprising and wonderful actions, which shall exceed those of ordi ary persons. On the twenty-fifth day of the moony the child then bom shall be wicked, he shall encounter with many dangers. A very unfortunate day for all kinds of business. On the twenty-sixth daycf the T/won's age the child bom shall be very beautiful and amiable, but yet of an indifferent station in the world ; if it be a female a rich m*n marries her for her beauty. Let those who travel on this day beware of meeting those they don' t care for. Th« child that shall be born on the twenty-seventh day of the moon shj^U be of an affable temper and disposition that it will attract the love of every one with whom it U ,ji ii?l ^l,'ll 140 shall converse ; and yet if a man he shall never rise to any very great height in the world ; but if a woman, the sweetness of her disposition may advance her. On the twenty-eighth day ofth e moon's age,th.e child born shall be very fortunate. it is a very good day for business. How Persom may knoto under tvhich of the Twelve Signs they are born. He that is born under Aries is of a nature hot and dry, of a loud voice, inclined to cholar ; and if a woman she will at least have but few chil- dren. Overbearing, with black eye-brows, thick shoulders, middle stature, and of swarthy complexion. Those under Taurus are of a cold and dry constitution — very chaste, bonest and religious — melancholy and yet love pleasure — seldom angry, but if once aroused and provoked seldom reconciled — of short stature, well-set short legs, bull's neck, wide mouth and black hair. Those under Gemini are hot and moist — of fair and sanguine complexion — affable and courteous in their behaviour — wise and accoth- plished, with elegancy of speech and good de- livery — ^having brown hair, brisk and quick eyes, a large breast, long arms, hands and legs, and a tall, straight and well-set body. Those under Cancer are cold and moist, and of a phlegmatic constitution — of a low stature, 141 • blackish hair ; if it be a woman, it shows she will have children. Those under Leo are very choleric, of a shrill voice, and viciously inclined, much addicted to anger, and very subtile ; if a woman, unfruitful — of a generous and free tem- per, very courageous, of yellowish hair, broad shoulders, great head and eyes, of middle sta- ture, but a lusty body. Those under Virgo are cold and dry, of a melancholic constitution, fair countenance,courteous and yet selfish , the body spare, but of good proportion — of a broAvn com- plexion, but black hair and large eyes. Those under Libra are hot and moist, sanguine com- plexion, fair and of good proportion, of comely visage, well-favored, light brown hair, courteous, rosy cheeks, very slender. Those under Scorpio are cold and moist, and phlegmatic, a sickly constitution, yet very fruitful, very vicious and sometimes crooked in their bodies. Those un- dei Sagittary are hot and dry, choleric, fair, with brown hair and tall of stature. Those under Capricorn, cold and dry, melancholy, of a ravage and cruel nature, face lean and thin, and pale color. Those under Aquarius are of R sanguine complexion, countenance very ami- able and lovely, and of a chaste, honest and re- ligious nature. Those under Pisces are cold, moist and phlegmatic, of a short stature, often crooked and deformed, and ill-composed both in 142 I*- body and mind, pale and wan complexion, thick shouldered, sbort-necked and stooping. '•' By comparing themselves to what it, here written, persons may come to know under what sign Ihey were born. A Table of the Planetary Hours for every day in the week. 8CN. MON. TUES. Wkd. Thwrs. Fni. Satdf. PI. H. PI. H. PI. H. PI. H. PI. H. PL H. PI. H. Sol 1 Lu 1 Mars 1 Mer 1 Jup 1 Yen 1 Sat 1 Yen 2 Sat 2 Sol 2 Lu 2 Mars 2 Mer 2 Jup 2 Mer 3 Jup 3 Yen 3 Sat 3 Sol 3 Lu 3 Mars 3 Juno 4 Mars 4 Mer 4 Jup 4 Yen 4 Sat 4 Sol 4 Sat 5 Sol 5 Lu 5 Mars 5 Mer 5 Jup 5 Yen 5 Jup 6 Yen 6 Sat 6 Sol 6 Lu 6 Mars 6 Mer 6 Mer 7 Mer 7 Jup 7 Yen 7 Sat 7 Sol 7 Lu 7 Sol 8 Lu 8 Mars 8 Mer 8 Jup 8 Yen 8 Sat 8 Yen 9 Sat 9 Sol ; "m 9{ Mars 9 Mer 9 J*P 1 Mer 10 Jup 10 Yen 10 Sat lOj Sol 10 Lu 10 Mars 10 Lu 11 Mars 11 Mer 11 Jup 11 Yen 11 Sat 11 Sol 11 Sat 12 Sol 12 Lu 12 Mars 12 Mer 12 Jup 12 Yen 12 Jup 13 Yen 13 Sat 13 Sol 13 Lu 13 Mars 13 Mer 13 Margl4 Mer 14 Jup 14 Yen 14 Sat 14 Sol 14 Lu 14 Sol 15 Lu 15 Mars 15 Mer 15 Jup 15 Yen 15 Sat. 15 Yen IG Sat 16 Sol 16 Lu 16 Mars 10 Mer 16 Jup 16 Mer 17 Jup 17 Yen 17 Sat 17 S 1 17 Lu 17 Mars 17 Lu 18 Mm 18 Mer 18 Jup 18 Yen 18 Sat 18 Sol 18 iSat 19 Sol 19 Lu 19 Mars 19 Mer 19 Jup 19 Yen 19 Jup 20 Yen 20 Sat 20 Sol 20 Lu 20 Mars 20 Mer 20 Mars 21 Mer 21 Jup 21 Yen 21 Sat 21 Sol 21 Lu 21 Sol 22 Lu 22 Mars 22 Mer 22 Jup 22 Yen 22 Sat 22 Yen 23 Sat 23' Sol 23 Lu 23 Mars 23 Mer 23 Jup 23 Mer 24 Jup 2t lYen 24 Sat 2-1 Sol 24 Lu 24 Mars 24 I. " IT. ftt 1 ap 3 ara 3 3l 4 en 5 er 6 u 7 it 8 »P ars 10 pi 11 "en 12 Ler 13 u 14 at. 15 t^P 16 .ara 17 ol 18 en 19 .er 20 u 21 at 22 ip 23 [ara 24 ]4o This table is so easy, it needs little explana- tion. Its use is, to find out what planet rules any hour of the day, and every day of the week. As for example, i desire to know -what planet rules on Wednesday at 8 o'clock at night un- der the title of "Wed. I look for 20 which an- swers to 8 o'clock, by commencing the 13th hour on the list with 1 o'clock, 14, 2 o'clock &c.,for the natural day consists of 24 hours, and begins after midnight; 20 therefore answers to 8 o'clock at night, over against which you will find Sol, which shows that to be the hour of the Sun. And if you would know what planet rules at 7 in the morning, that day you will find against Venus 7, which shows that Venus rules that hour, and so of any other hour in the day. I shall now recorci the significations of the planetary hours of each planet, and what it portends to those that are born in them. The hour of Saturn is strong, and is good to all things that require strength — such as fight- ing and bearing burdens or the like, but for other th ings it is very evil. He that is bcm in the hour of Saturn is slow, dull and melancholy, of a dogged temper and disposition, black and swarthy of complexion, being quarrelsome, wrathful and very malicious. The hour of Jupiter is in all things good, and denotes peace, love and concord. He that k r .' i 'jr Ul 144 bom in the hour of Jupiter is of a ruddy and Bandy complexion, fair hair, well-proportioned body, and of a lovely countenance, his face rather broad than long, well-spoken and cour- teous, sober, just and religious. The hour of Mars is evil, and denotes the person born in it to be of a hot, choleric constitution, and of a robust, strong body^ soon angry and hard to be reconciled ; his face red, his eyes sparkling and fiery, much addicted to fighting and always ready for a quarrel which without much watching and prayer and faith will certainly bring him to a bad end. The hour of the Sun signifies great strength, and is very fortunate for Kings, Princes, and Governors. He that is born in this hour hath sharp eyes, brown hair, and a round face, and denotes one that is a great projector, aims at high things, but is often disappointed, and seldom brings his designs to pass. The hour of Venus is very propitious and fortunate, but it is better by night than day, es- pecially mid-day, for then the Sun covers it. He that is born in this hour hath fair hair, soft eyes, a little forehead, and round beard, very complaisant in his carriage, mighty amorous, and a great admirer of the opposite sex, much' addicted to spending money. The hour of Mercury is very good, but chiefly from the be- FA- ,. i'v il It ginning to the middle. lie that is bovii in tliia hour has a Btature inclining to tallncss, a sharp long face, long eyes and a long nose, his fore- head narrow, long beard, and thin hair, long arms and long fingers — of a good disposition and obliging temper — much given to reading and very desirous of knowledge, delighting to be among books — but falsehood is his bcsetment and his great temptation is to be light-fingered. In all cases by thoughtful, watchful prayer, the ^vil may be avoided. The hour of the Moou is both good and evil, according to the day — for from the 4th to the 17th it is good to those who are born under it ; but frtm the 17th to the 20th it is counted unfortunate to be born under it ; and from the 20th to the 27th very unhappy. He th^t is born in the hour of the moon, (especially upon her own day,) shall bo pale faced, of a thin meagre visage, with hol- low eyes, and of a middle stature : he appeara very obliging, but is crafty and deceitful ; he is very inconstant, what he cries up one hour he cries down the next : he is very malicious, and will never forget an affront once ofibred him. His constitution phlegmatic. Thus have I given the reader the judgment of the ancients, upon the planetary hours, and what they portend to those that are born un- der them, by which a person comparing himself I I p ;fi| 14 G with what is here set down, may easily know under what planet he was born. NOTE TO THE READEU. At the suggestion of several friends I insert these thoughts on Astrology, if for nothing more than to gratify the curiosity of some. I simply give them for information, feeling they can do no harm, without passing an opinion of my own, as to their merits. K?' f\ 'i 111 Ki i FINIS. TN THE COUNTIES I I D. B. BOOT H, CHEMIST & DRUGGIST, And General Dealer, Wholesale and Retail, hi Dry Goods, Groceries, Patent Medicines, Paints and Oils, Dye-Stuffs, Fancy Goods, &c., &c.,' &c. MILL-CREEK, C. W. Canton Tea Warehouse I A. FRIEL & CO., WHOlrESALE AND RETAIL DEALERS IN (Groceries, Crockcrg,tDtnc0, LIQUORS, FRUITS ^r., CORNER OF PRINCESS & ffi AGOT STS., KINGSTON, C. W. B^*Country Orders promptly attended to.^^gf Temperence Men, Know your Duty, and Pdtvonxse tlis TEMPERANCE BODSE, MILL CREEK* ATTENTION PAID TO ALL. Good Accommodations & Moderate Charges. JAMES ALLEN. lit it nl . ' G. W. ANDREWS, MERCHANT TAILOR ^ CLOTHIER 23 & 188 Princess Street, Kingston. READY - MADE CLOTHING STORE, 188, OPPOSITE THE Merchant Tailoring Establishment. Wholesale & Retail. Very Cheap. TERMS CASH. HORSEY & BROTHEE, Bell Hangers, Plumljers, ^ AND WIRE WORKERS, Tin, Sheet Iron and Copperware Manufacturers, and Dealers in Stoves, Hardware, &c. No. 172 Princess Street, KINGSTON, C. W. JAMES TWEDDELL, At the New Stand, No. 32 Princess St , Sign of the Indian Chief, And Next Door to Stenson^s City Hotel HAT MANUFACTURER, ' Dealer in Furs, &c., *«* The nighest Priee i» Gash paid for Shipping A. W. MURDOCH, Late Band Master, 71st Highla7id Light Infantry, KING STEEET, KINGSTON, DEALER IN Piano Fortes, Melodians, Violins, Gui- tars, Flutinas, Accordeons, Clarionets^ Flutes, S axe- Horns, Cornopians, and all other Musical Instruments. The latest Sheet Music received direct from Publighers on Publication. Sold at New York and Boston Prices. Kingston, June, 1855. John Duff, BOOKSELLER ^ STATIONER, King Street, near Princess Street, KINGSTON, Importer of English Goods and Sta- tioner i/. Orders for Books, Engravings, Maps, Instru- ments, &c., attended to. British and American Periodicals and Pam- pers, supplied to order. Blank Books, of any description, made to order. X \ Auctioneer ^- commission merchant. Dealer in all kinds of Goods, Broker, &c., Market Square, Kingston, Canada West. All orders Punctually atteiitlcd to. 3. Sootl), MILL CEEEK, C. W., SUCCESSOR TO P. D. BOOTH & CO., Still carries on the business of manufacturing Woolen Goods in all its branches, and continues to furnish hia customers with a good supply of Sattinettes, Clothe, Tweeds, various grades of Flannel, and Cassinieres, all of which he offers cheap for cash, at wholesale and retail. A liberal discount will be made to merchants, who are requested to call and examine for themselves, before purchasing elsewhere. JAMES McKECHNIE Begs leave to inform his old Friends, and Customers, with the Public in general, that he continues the tui b'i siiieis of TAILORING, In the Village of Mill Creek, C. W., and from his con- nection with the fashionable eslablishmects of New York, as well as Canada, he flatters himself he can give good satisfaction, both in regard to price and stvle. Cutting done on very reasonable terms. W. D. WARTMAN & CO., SPIKE'S CORNERS, C. W., Wholesale and Retail Dealers in Dnj Goods and Groceries, Hardware and Provisions, of nil descriptions, CHEAP i'OR CASH. €l)arlcs Clark, BAY OF QUINTE HOUSE, Corner of Brock and Bagot Streets, KINGSTON. Extensive Accommodation for Travellers. J. D. & J. RAMAGE, U)atcl)mQkcrs, Mtmt[kxs,$^L PRINCESS STREET KING STON, Watches, Clocks, Jewellery, Plated Ware and Fancy Goods. N. B. — AH kincJs of work promptly attended to, CLASS BOOK ON ENGUSH COMPOSITION AND PUB-. Lie ORATORY, 1 04 Pages, by the Rev. D. F. Hutchinson* Price IvS. 10H. An Excellent guide to yowng men. Orders addressed to the Author, King- gtoU; speedily answered.