rs of the Southern Heavens, some of which are
equally deserving of admiration.

[Illustration: FIG. 10.--The Constellations of the Zodiac: summer and
autumn; Capricorn, Archer, Scorpion, Balance, Virgin, Lion.]

It should in the first place be noted that the signs of the Zodiac and
the Southern Constellations are not, like those which are circumpolar,
perpetually visible at all periods of the year. Their visibility depends
on the time of year and the hour of the night.[4]

In order to admire the fine constellations of the North, as described
above, we have only to open our windows on a clear summer's evening, or
walk round the garden in the mysterious light of these inaccessible
suns, while we look up at the immense fields in which each star is like
the head of a celestial spear.

But the summer is over, autumn is upon us, and then, too soon, comes
winter clothed in hoar-frost. The days are short and cold, dark and
dreary; but as a compensation the night is much longer, and adorns
herself with her most beautiful jewels, offering us the contemplation of
her inexhaustible treasures.

[Illustration: FIG. 11.--The Constellations of the Zodiac: winter and
spring; Crab, Twins, Bull, Ram, Fishes, Water-Carrier.]

First, let us do homage to the magnificent Orion, most splendid of all
the constellations: he advances like a colossal giant, and confronts the
Bull.

This constellation appears about midnight in November, in the
south-eastern Heavens; toward eleven o'clock in December and January,
due south; about ten in February, in the south-east; about nine in
March, and about eight in April, in the west; and then sets below our
horizon.

[Illustration: FIG. 12.--Orion and his celestial companions.]

It is indisputably the most striking figure in the sky, and with the
Great Bear, the most ancient in history, the first that was noticed:
both are referred to in the ancient texts of China, Chaldea, and Egypt.

Eight principal stars delineate its outline; two are of the first
magnitude, five of the second, and one of the third (Fig. 12). The most
brilliant are Betelgeuse ([alpha]) and Rigel ([beta]): the former
marking the right shoulder of the Colossus as it faces us; the second
the left foot. The star on the left shoulder is [gamma] or Bellatrix, of
second magnitude; that of the right foot, [chi], is almost of the third.
Three stars of second magnitude placed obliquely at equal distances from
each other, the first or hig