ame of the constellation is given; for
example, Vega is known as [a] Lyrae, meaning alpha of Lyra, Aldebaran
as [a] Tauri, alpha of Taurus, etc.

The twilight hour affords an excellent opportunity of fixing the
relative positions of the first-magnitude stars in the mind, for at
that time they alone, save the planets, are visible.

METEORS, OR SHOOTING-STARS.

As this work is designed primarily to cover what is observable in the
starlit heavens with the naked eye, the subject of meteors, or
shooting-stars, comes properly within its scope.

There are few persons, if any, who have not witnessed the sight of a
splendid meteor speeding across the sky, and such a sight always calls
forth exclamations of wonder and delight.

Apparently these evanescent wanderers in space are without distinctive
features, and baffle classification; but, like all that nature reveals
to us, they have been found, for the most part, to conform to certain
laws, and to bear certain marks of resemblance that permit of their
identification and classification.

By careful observation for over fifty years the meteors, generally
speaking, have been so arranged that they come under the head of one
of the nearly three hundred distinct showers which are now recognized
by astronomers.

Many of these showers are too feeble and faint to be worthy of the
attention of one not especially interested in the subject, but certain
ones are well worth observing. There is always a pleasure in being
able to recognize at a glance a certain definite manifestation of
nature, be it a rare flower or a flashing meteor.

The generally accepted theory respecting the meteors is that they were
all originally parts of comets now disintegrated, and the four
well-known showers of April 20th, August 10th and 14th, and November
27th, bear testimony to this theory.

The apparent velocity of the meteors is between ten and forty-five
miles a second, and their average height is about seventy-six miles at
first appearance, and fifty-one miles at disappearance. Occasionally a
meteor is so large and compact as to escape total destruction, and
falls to the earth. Specimens of these meteorites are to be found in
our best museums.

I have seen fit to divide the principal meteor showers into four
groups, according to the seasons in which they appear, and have placed
them respectively at the conclusion of each season's work on the
constellations.

By radiant point is meant th