team of dogs in pursuit of a
bear. The group is receding from us at the rate of thirteen miles a
second and has a common eastward motion of about ten seconds a
century.

[Illustration: TAURUS]

ORION ([)o]-r[=i]'-on)--THE GIANT HUNTER. (Face South.)

LOCATION.--Orion is considered the finest constellation in the
heavens. A line drawn from Nath to [z] Tauri (the tips of the Bull's
horns), and extended 15[deg], strikes the brilliant Betelgeuze in Orion,
known as the martial star. It forms the northeast corner of a
conspicuous parallelogram. The splendid first-magnitude star Rigel is
diagonally opposite Betelgeuze, and the girdle and sword of the Hunter
lie within the parallelogram, a very striking group. The former is
represented by three bright stars in a line 3[deg] long known as the
"Three Stars," because there are no other stars in the heavens that
exactly resemble them in position and brightness.

In the sword there is the most remarkable nebula in the heavens. It
may be seen with an opera-glass and in a telescope it is a wonderful
sight. Bellatrix is called the Amazon star. Note the contrasting
colours of [a] and [b].

About 9[deg] west of Bellatrix are eight stars in a curved line running
north and south. These point out the Lion's skin held in the Hunter's
left hand.

Below [l] there are two stars forming a triangle with it. Flammarion
calls this region the California of the sky.

The celestial equator passes nearly through [d].

Orion was worshipped in China during the one thousand years before our
era, and was known to the Chinese as the "White Tiger."

The Eskimos see in the Belt stars the three steps cut by some
celestial Eskimo in a steep snow bank to enable him to reach the top.

[Illustration: ORION]

LEPUS (l[=e]'-pus)--THE HARE. (Face South.)

LOCATION.--Lepus crouches under Orion's feet. Four stars in the
constellation form an irregular and conspicuous quadrilateral.

[g] is a beautiful double of a greenish hue.

Four or five degrees south of Rigel are four faint stars which are in
the ear of the hare. They can be seen on a clear night with the naked
eye.

The curved line of three stars [th], [[^e]], and [z], are in the back of
the hare.

Lepus is about 18[deg] west of Canis Major, and, by reason of the earth's
motion, the Great Dog seems to be pursuing the Hare around the
heavens.

The first-magnitude stars that are visible in the winter season in
this latitude pr