α_{2} Capricorni is the northern of two stars of the 4th magnitude (α and β Capricorni). It really consists of two stars visible to the naked eye. The second of these two stars (α_{1}) is not mentioned by Al-Sufi, but I find that, owing to proper motion, they were nearer together in his time (tenth century), and were evidently seen by him as one star. β Capricorni (about 3rd magnitude) is a very wide double star (3½, 6; 205"), which may be seen with any small telescope. The fainter star was found to be a close double by Burnham. At present β is brighter than α, although rated of the same brightness by Al-Sufi. Aquarius is the next "sign of the Zodiac." It is supposed to represent a man pouring water out of an urn or bucket. Other names given to this constellation were Aristæus, Ganymede, Cecrops, Amphora, Urna, and Aqua tyrannus. According to Dupuis it represents the 7th "labour of Hercules," which was his victory over the famous bull which ravaged Crete.[425] But the connection between a bull and a bucket is not obvious. Aquarius is represented in several places on the Egyptian monuments. Some of the ancient poets supposed that it represented Deucalion (the Noah of the Greek story of the Deluge); others thought that it represented Cecrops, who came to Greece from Egypt, built Athens, and was also called Bifornis. Others say that he was Ganymede, the cup-bearer of the gods. There is some difficulty about the identification of some of Al-Sufi's stars in Aquarius. His sixth star (Fl. 7) is nearly 10° south-west of β Aquarii, and is, Al-Sufi says, "the following of three stars in the left hand, and precedes the fourth [β] ... it is of the 6th magnitude. Ptolemy calls it third, but in reality it is very faint" [now about 6th magnitude]. The seventh [μ] is the middle one of the three and about 4½ magnitude, although Al-Sufi calls it "small fifth" [Ptolemy rated it 4]. The eighth star, ε, is the preceding of the three and about 3·8, agreeing closely with Al-Sufi's 4·3. Ptolemy rated it 3. This star is mentioned under the name _nou_ in the time of _Tcheou-Kong_ in the twelfth century B.C. Al-Sufi says, "These three stars are followed by a star of the 5th magnitude which Ptolemy has not mentioned. It is brighter than the sixth star" [Fl. 7]. This is evidently ν Aquarii. If, however, we plot Ptolemy's positions as given by Al-Sufi, it seems probable that _Ptolemy's_ sixth star was really ν, and that either μ or Fl. 7 was not seen by him. As Ptolemy called his seventh star 4th magnitude, and his sixth and eighth stars 3rd magnitude, some considerable change of brightness seems to have taken place in these stars; as ν is now only 4½ and Fl. 7 only a bright sixth. Variation was suspected in Fl. 7[426] by Gould. I found it very reddish with binocular in October, 1892. Burnham found it to be a close double star, the companion being about 12th magnitude at a distance of only 2". It is probably a binary.