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night during this month the magnificence of the Milky Way exceeds all description. Below Cygnus the naked eye can plainly see two branches which here diverge till they are lost in the southern horizon. The constellation Aquila, or the Eagle, on the edge of the Milky Way-consisting of three stars, of which the central star is the brightest-may be seen under Cygnus. Over our heads the Milky Way may be traced till it becomes invisible in the north-east. This magnificent girdle will form a striking object during the ensuing autumn. To admire the splendour of this section of the

Fig. 1.-The Square of Pegasus.

heavens we do not require the largest telescopes, as a small objectglass, 24 inches diameter, with a low magnifying power, will bring to light a large number of minute shining points, and lead the enraptured observer ardently to covet the possession of a larger instrument to penetrate still farther into the depths of infinite space. How true are the words of Milton!

"A broad and ample road, whose dust is gold,

And pavement stars, as stars to us appear;

Seen in the galaxy that Milky Way Like to a circling zone powdered with stars."

With reference to the map given in page 386, a few remarks are necessary. The five stars in the upper left-hand corner belong to the constellation Dolphin. At the extreme lower edge is the star Vega, in Lyra. The central stars belong to Cygnus, or the Swan. Between Lyra and the Dolphin, in the constellation Vulpecula, is a magnificent nebula, called the "Dumb Bell," and its appearance, as seen in Lord Rosse's telescope, is shown in fig. 2.

Admiral Smyth, an excellent observer, likens it to "a double-headed shot." This object may be detected by a small telescope as a hazy cloud, but Lord Rosse's giant reflector, 54 feet long and 6 feet diameter, exhibits it as a most astonishing object, "myriads on myriads of suns bewildering the mind and dazzling the eye with insufferable splendour." What must be the distance and dimensions of this wondrous congregation of gems, if the largest telescope in the world can only barely resolve its brightest parts into individual stars?

"And these are suns!-vast, central, living fires,

Lords of dependent systems, kings of worlds,

That wait as satellites upon their power, And flourish in their smile. Awake, my soul,

And meditate the wonder! Countless suns

Blaze round thee, leading forth their countless worlds!

Worlds-in whose bosoms living things rejoice,

And drink the bliss of being from the fount

Of all-pervading love. What mind can know,

What tongue can utter, all their multitudes,

Thus numberless in numberless abodes? Known but to thee, blest Father! thine they are,

Thy children, and thy care, and none o'erlooked of thee!"

During this month, and for the rest of the year, the most conspicuous celestial object worthy of notice is the brilliant planet Jupiter. This is one of the primary or superior planets, so called because their orbits enclose that of the earth, and therein differing from the two inferior planets, Mercury and Venus, which are nearer to the sun than the earth. From the earliest ages of astronomy Jupiter has been known as a planet, and doubtless his superior lustre caused the name of the leading mythological deity to be applied to him. There is an observation of Jupiter reported by Ptolemy, dating as far back as the 83rd year after the death of Alexander the Great, when the planet eclipsed a star in Cancer. At certain periods Venus attains to a

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greater degree of brilliancy than Jupiter, but is never seen far from the west when the sun has set, or in the east before sunrise. Like Mars, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and the family of small planets, Jupiter may be seen in all parts of the heavens, and is not, like Mercury and Venus, inseparably connected with the sun. In almanacks, the planets are usually distinguished by certain signs, and it may be useful to give here the probable explanation of these signs:

Merry, represented by an entwined Caducean rod, supposed to be carried by that divinity.

9 l'eas, represented by the mirror of the goddess of beauty.

or 3 The Earth, represented by a globe.

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Fig. 2.-The "Dumb Bell" Nebula, as seen in Lord Rosse's Telescope.

8 Mars, represented by the emblems of the god of war-a shield and spear.

4 Jupiter, represented by the Greek Zeta, the initial letter of the word Zeus, god.

h Saturn, represented by a scythe, the emblem of Chronos, or Time, the Greek name of Saturn.

Uranus, formerly called Herschel, represented by the first letter of the name of that celebrated astronomer, by whom the planet was discovered in 1781.

Neptune is represented by a trident.

Besides these there are ninety small planets or asteroids revolving round the sun between Mars and Jupiter. Four of these are thus represented:

His diameter is 89,100 miles, while that of our globe is 7,900 miles. His distance from the sun varies from 400,000,000 to 590,000,000 miles, which causes a considerable difference in his apparent magnitude at various times. Round his vast orbit this huge planet moves at the hourly velocity of 29,900 miles. To accomplish a complete revolution round the sun, Jupiter occupies 11 years 315 days. The axial revolntion, which determines the length of a Jovian day, is performed in the incredibly short space of 9 hours, 55 minutes, 50 seconds. From this

we deduce the striking fact of the rapid motion of the equatorial portions of this planet, which are carried round at the rate of 26,000 miles per hour, about 3,000 times swifter than the earth's rotation in 24 hours.

The time of axial revolution was determined, soon after the invention of the telescope, by observing the change of place of certain spots on the planet's disc. It has been estimated that there are 24,000,000,000 square miles on the surface of Jupiter, which vast space would afford ample room for the accommodation of nearly 7,000,000,000

of inhabitants, or more than 8,000 times the present population of the earth. A globe so vast, replenished with such a number of intellectual beings, revolving with such amazing velocity round its axis, moving forward in its annual course 30,000 miles an hour, carrying with it four moons, presents to the imagination an idea at once wonderful and sublime, and displays a scene of wisdom and omnipotence worthy of the infinite perfections of its Creator. The late Rev. Dr. Dick, to whom we are indebted for the preceding sentence, remarks, "In consequence of Jupiter's rapid motion, the days and nights will be proportionably short. The sun will appear to move through the whole celestial hemisphere in less than five hours, and all the planets and constellations will appear to move with the same rapidity; so that the apparent motions of all these bodies will be perceptible to the eye when contemplating them only for a few moments, excepting those near the polar regions. The sky of this planet will therefore assume an air of sublimity, in consequence of all the bodies its contains appearing to sweep so rapidly round, and to change their positions in so short a space of time. As Jupiter moves round the sun in 4,332 of our days, and round its axis in 9 hours 56 minutes, there will be 10,470 days in the year of that planet."

Jupiter is attended by four moons, which were unknown till the time of their discovery by Galileo in 1610. It requires a very small telescope, with low power, to see these satellites, although the higher magnifiers are,

of course, preferable. A power of 20 will very slightly augment the disc of the planet, and show the moons like stars of the seventh magnitude. Many persons have fancied they could detect these faint objects with the naked eye. The traveller Brydone, from the summit of Mount Etna, regretted the absence of Jupiter from the clear sky of that elevated region, as he felt certain he could have seen the satellites. The missionary Perkins, at Oroomiah, in Persia, tries to persuade his readers into the same conclusion. Those who have looked at Jupiter through an ordinary telescope, and have noticed how extremely close these faint objects are to the planet's brilliant disc, will dissent from the opinion of both Perkins and Brydone. There are some interesting remarks on this subject in Humboldt's work, "Physical Description of the Heavens," which our readers will do well to peruse. The following table exhibits the sizes and distances of Jupiter's moons :

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The first satellite revolves round Jupiter in 1 day 18 hours; the second, in 3 days, 13 hours; the third, in 7 days 3 hours; and the fourth, in 16 days 16 hours. Sir W. Herschel, from a long course of observations, inferred that the satellites rotate upon their axes in the time of one synodical revolution round Jupiter. These moons are frequently eclipsed, which circumstance renders them peculiarly valuable for determining the longitude at sea. The Nautical Almanack gives the time when these phenomena are seen at Greenwich; and if an observation be made at sea, the difference of time when the eclipse takes place from that at Greenwich, will give the difference of longitude, and thus enable the mariner to determine the position of his vessel.

Römer, a Danish astronomer, about the year 1675, by noticing the eclipses of the satellites of

Jupiter, determined the important fact that light occupies eight minutes in travelling from the sun to the earth. When Jupiter is in the furthest part of his orbit from the earth, the eclipses take place after the computed moment, and the contrary fact is observed when the planet is nearest to us.

Jupiter is one of the finest telescopic objects in the heavens, and on it an ordinary instrument takes most effect. As soon as the eye is directed to the field of view, the most inexperienced observer cannot fail to remark the disproportion between the equatorial and polar diameters. The most recent measures make the ratio of the polar to the equatorial diameter as 947 to 1,000. This planet, therefore, appears to be considerably broader at the equator than at the poles. Another peculiarity of Jupiter is the brilliant streaks of light crossing the disc, usually termed "the belts." In a small telescope two of these bands are generally visible, but in some of the larger telescopes the surface is sometimes covered with belts. Fig. 3 shows the belts of Jupiter, and the comparative sizes of the planets with the sun. It is certain that vast changes are continually taking place on this large and distant planet, of the nature of which we are profoundly ignorant. Dr. Dick remarks, "It is pretty evident that the dark stripes or belts are the real body of the planet, and the bright spaces between them are either clouds in its atmosphere, or circular zones, liable to variation, which surround the planet at a certain distance from its body. Some have insinuated that the changes among the belts are owing to great physical convulsions Occasionally taking place on the surface of Jupiter-an opinion altogether improbable." This eminent author has some instructive observations on the appearance of the heavens from this planet or its moons, which want of space forbids our quoting. This, however, is the substance. To a spectator in Jupiter, Saturn will appear sometimes larger and at other times smaller than to us, being occasionally 1,400,000,000

miles distant. Mars will scarcely be seen, while Uranus will appear about the same size as to spectators on our globe. The Earth, Mercury, and Venus will, of course, be invisible, from their comparatively small size and distance. Eclipses of the four moons and of the sun will occur very frequently. Contemplated from any of the satellites, there must be a wonderful variety in the celestial scenery. To the first moon Jupiter will appear to fill almost the entire sky, sometimes shining as a crescent, a half-moon, or presenting a full en

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Fig. 3. Comparativo Sizes of the Planets with the Sun.

lightened hemisphere. What a scene of magnificence must be presented when the huge bulk of this planet appears as a full moon to a spectator on the first satellite! Similar appearances occur on the other three moons. The length of day will vary in a striking degree in each of these bodies. But space forbids further remarks, and we must refer the reader to this instructive work for a full description of the subject. London. E. W. B.

MISSIONARY CHRONICLE

OF THE

Methodist New Connexion.

AUGUST, 1867.

TREASURER, H. ATHERTON, ESQ., LEES, NEAR MANCHESTER. SECRETARY, REV. S. HULME, ALTRINCHAM, CHESHIRE.

THE income from the English Circuits is £163. 16s. 10d. more than last year, and a balance of £841. 11s. 10d. remains in the hands of the Treasurer. Unwilling to involve the Society in debt the Committee have abstained from promoting the erection of chapels at Stockton, Ladywood, and Peckham. These projects have been long kept in abeyance, but cannot be longer delayed without serious injury to our cause; yet had they been carried forward, not only would the balance have been absorbed but a debt of equal amount would have been incurred. The sending out of Messrs. Hodge and Thompson to China, and the extension of the Mission by the wonderful work of God at Laou Ling, have greatly increased our expenditure in this department, nor can we reasonably expect that it will be less in future years. The establish

ment of a new station 140 miles from Tientsin has necessitated the employment of additional agents, and the fitting up of rooms for public worship, and so far from making this enlarged expenditure a ground of complaint, we should thankfully accept it as a duty coincident with the great honour which God has conferred upon us. Our young brethren

are

commending themselves to the confidence and prayers of our churches by the earnestness with which they devote themselves to the acquisition of the language, while the many minor services in which they voluntarily engage for the temporal and spiritual good of the people indicate the spirit of apostolic missionaries.

The history of the past year suggests much to excite our warmest gratitude to God; and what to us is more important, suggests many reasons for enlarged liberality and more fervent prayer. "Be not weary in well doing." Our work is great, and if the love of Christ constrains us, we shall feel it not so much a duty as a privilege to give our money, and shall be ready to deny ourselves of even lawful things that we may have the more to give. The Committee present their cordial thanks to local officers, committees, and collectors, for their valuable services; also to the superintendents and teachers, with the scholars and friends, of our sabbath schools, for their continued co-operation. We are entering upon another ecclesiastical year, let us resolve to crowd into its fleeting days as much work for God as our ability and opportunities will permit. Here the young and old, the rich and poor, may be workers together with God. If all classes, actuated by a spirit of holy zeal, bring their contributions of money and service, God will bless us and prosper the work of our hands upon us.

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