him than we are ourselves. You will always find her, when she is visible, either in the western sky soon after sunset, or else in the eastern sky a little while before sunrise.

Mercury may be seen in the same manner; but as this small world is still closer to the Sun than Venus, he

COMPARATIVE SIZES OF JUPITER AND EARTH

is much oftener lost in the Sun's radiance. At the best of times he is less easy to find, because he is so small, and also because he rises such a short time before the Sun, and sets such a short time after him.

Next to Venus in brightness, as seen by us, comes Jupiter, often a most beautiful sight. When you notice a particularly bright body, not twinkling like a star, but shining with a strong and steadfast light, in a part

of the sky where Venus cannot be because it is too distant from the rising or setting sun, you may feel pretty sure that you are gazing on Jupiter.

The pathway of Jupiter round the sun, unlike that of Venus, is a great deal farther away than our own. You should go to an almanac for news as to his whereabouts in any special month, since he can be seen in many parts of the sky, though, as said above, he may often be recognised simply by his brilliance. And when you have found him, you may follow his movements too by night, for a good while if the weather permits.

Mars also may be seen in various parts of the sky; for the pathway of Mars, like that of Jupiter, lies outside the pathway of Earth.

Quite a small world is this interesting little globe, much smaller than Earth, though not so small as Mercury. He is one of our nearest celestial friends, while Jupiter decisively the biggest member of the Sun's family-lies far away.

Saturn, the next in size after Jupiter, a most lovely and marvellous world, is so very distant, and in consequence is often so very dim, that he may be less easily found by a beginner. The two outer planets, Uranus and Neptune, can only be seen with the help of a telescope.

Of all these brother and sister worlds, none perhaps has awakened keener interest with people generally than Mars. At one time much popular talk went on about the possibilities of intercourse with Martian people— supposing that any such people exist. Flag-wagging had even been suggested as a mode of interchanging ideas-till one authority stated that a flag, to be seen there, would have to be about the size of Ireland !

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PART III

THE SILVER MOON

I. OUR PLACID COMPANION

ALL the world knows her, round-faced and calm, serene and distant, yet faithful in comradeship. She never wanders very far away. She never seeks another fellow-traveller.

We may count securely upon her, for she is regular in her habits, and is sure to be in those parts of our sky where she is expected by those who understand her ways. If at such times we fail to see her, that is the result of earthly mists which rise between; not her fault.

To be sure, she does not shine at one and the same hour upon all parts of this round globe. Manifestly, it would be impossible. When she is on one side of the solid Earth, she cannot be on the other side also. And when she happens to be in the same part of the sky as the Sun, her light is smothered by his greater radiance. But still she goes on, travelling around and with her big companion, keeping always over a certain belt of Earth's surface, within a definite distance north or south of the equator.

And if she is sometimes large and bright, and sometimes only a narrow sickle of light, that, again, is not her

fault. She cannot shine except on the side which is turned towards the Sun and reflects his brightness, since she has no light whatever of her own. If that side which faces the Sun is turned partly away from Earth, we see only a portion of it-half-Moon, or quarterMoon, or a mere slender bow, as the case may be. And when it is turned wholly away, as at New Moon, we see nothing of her.

These changes are called "phases," and perhaps you

know Jean Ingelow's lines, as supposed to be spoken by

a child of seven

"O Moon, in the night I have seen you sailing

And shining, so round and low;

You were bright, ah, bright; but your light is failing -
You are nothing now but a bow.

"You Moon, have you done something wrong in Heaven,
That God has hidden your face?

I hope, if you have, you will soon be forgiven,
And shine again in your place."

For a little child now, as for a grown man of ancient days with complete ignorance of astronomy, no reasons exist, or did exist, why the round Moon should thus alter her shape, week after week, month after month.

Have you ever seen a piece of magnesium-wire set alight in a dark room? If so, you may have noticed

two things-first, the dazzling brilliance of the burning wire; second, the lesser brightness of all around, including people's faces. That burning wire shone, as the sun shines, by its own radiant light. But the faces and walls and ceiling shone as the moon shines, by a reflection of the light given to them.

Half of the Moon shines always in the blaze of sunlight poured upon it; but not the whole of that half can always be seen by us; and this, as already said, is why we see often a mere crescent of light; not because the Moon has a less bright face than usually, but because most of that face is turned away, so that we only catch a glimpse of one edge of its brightness.

Still, we must remember that all the while the whole round Moon is there, a solid globe, half-bright, half-dark. A friend 1 once sent to me a Christmas card, and wrote with it: "Two stars, actually, in the Moon! Times can't be improving, as we are so fond of imagining; for Coleridge only spoke of one bright star' within the horned Moon's nether tip;' and now, in 1884, some one was found capable of putting two stars in the Moon!

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The artist who designed the said card, having sketched a crescent-moon in the sky, proceeded to place a couple of stars inside the crescent. He utterly forgot that the crescent-shape is filled with the solid dark body of the Moon. A star might lie just in that direction, far, far away beyond the Moon, but no one on Earth could see it, because the Moon would lie between. And no star in all the Universe ever comes between the Moon and the Earth.

1 Lady Huggins, wife cf the great spectroscopist.