ed in stable equilibrium by their mutual
attraction--

Mystical dance, which yonder starry sphere
Of planets and of fixed in all her wheels
Resembles nearest; mazes intricate,
Eccentric, intervolved, yet regular
Then most, when most irregular they seem;
And in their motions harmony divine
So smooths her charming tones that God's own ear
Listens delighted.--v. 620-27.

All the natural phenomena with which we are familiar would, in the case
of planets revolving round the component suns of a multiple system, be
of a different kind or altogether absent. Instead of being illumined by
one sun, those worlds would, at certain times, have several suns--some
more distant than others--above their horizons, and upon very rare
occasions, if ever, would there be an entire absence of all of those
orbs from their skies. Consequently there would be no year such as we
are familiar with; no regular sequence of seasons similar to what is
experienced on Earth; no alternation of day and night, for there would
be '_no night there_,' though, in the absence of the primary orb, the
light emitted by distant suns, whilst sufficient to banish night, and
beyond comparison brighter than the Moon when at full, would, in the
diminution of its intensity from that of noonday, be as grateful a
change as that of from day to night which occurs on our globe.

Should those suns be differently coloured, each emitting its own
peculiar shade of light as it appears above the horizon, the varied
aspects of the perpetual day enjoyed by the inhabitants of those
circling worlds present to the imagination harmonies of light and shade
over which it is pleasant to linger.

TEMPORARY, PERIODICAL, AND VARIABLE STARS.--It may seem remarkable that
among so many thousands of stars which spangle the firmament, there
should occur no very perceptible change or variation in their aspect
and brilliancy. From age to age they present the same appearance, shine
with the same undiminished splendour, and rise and set with the same
regularity. So that from time immemorial the stars have been regarded by
mankind as the embodiment of all that is eternal and unchangeable. Yet,
the serenity of the celestial regions does not always remain
undisturbed--at occasional times a 'Nova,' or new star, blazes forth
unexpectedly in the heavens, and perplexes astronomers; and, after
shining with a varying degree of brilliancy for a few weeks or months,
gradually