Tutor. I will give you an example or two conceive a line drawn from the star %, (in the last diagram) leaving в a little to the left, and it will pass through that very brilliant star A near the horizon towards the west.

James. I see the star, but how am I to know its name?

Tutor. Look on the

celestial

globe for the star %, and suppose the line drawn on the globe, as we conceived it done in the heavens, and you will find the star, and its name.

Charles. Here it is;-its name is Arcturus.

Tutor. Take the figure (see page 14), and place Arcturus at a, which is its relative position, in respect to the constellation of the Great Bear. Now if you conceive a line drawn through the stars g and b, and ex

tended a good way to the right, it will pass just above another very brilliant star. Examine the globe as before and find its name.

Charles. It is Capella, the goat.

Tutor.

Now, whenever you see any of these stars, you will know where to look for the others without hesitation.

James. But do they never move from their places?

Tutor. With respect to us, they seem to move together with the whole heavens. But they always remain in the same relative position, with respect to each other. Hence they are called fired stars, in opposition to the planets, which, like our earth, are continually changing their places, both with regard to the fixed stars and to themselves also.

Charles. I now understand pretty

well the method of acquiring a knowledge of the names and places of the

stars.

Tutor. And with this we will put an end to our present Conversation.

CONVERSATION III.

Of the Fixed Stars, and Ecliptic.

TUTOR. I dare say that you will have no difficulty in finding the north polar star, as soon as we go into the open air.

James.

I shall at once know where to look for that and the other stars, which you pointed out last night, if they have not changed their places.

Tutor. They always keep the same position with respect to each other, though their situation, with regard to the heavens, will be different at different seasons of the year,

and in different hours of the night. Let us go into the garden..:

མ

Charles. The stars are all in the same place as we left them last evening. Now, sir, if we conceive a straight line drawn through the two stars in the plough, which, in your figure (see page 14), are marked d and g, and to extend a good way down, it will pass or nearly pass through a very bright star, though not so bright as Arcturus or Capella, what is that called?

t

..

Tutor. It is a star of the second magnitude, and if you refer to the celestial globe, in the same way as you were instructed last night, you will find it is called Regulus or Cor Leonis, the Lion's Heart. By this method you may quickly discover the names of all the principal stars, and afterwards, with a little patience,