"Too tired!" said Harry. "I am never too tired to listen to you." JUPITER. Oh! that it were my doom to be The spirit of yon beauteous star, Dwelling up there in purity, Alone, as all such bright things are; My sole employ to pray and shine, To light my censer at the sun! Moore: Loves of the Angels. A LESSON IN ASTRONOMY. The solar system puzzled us, Miss Mary said she thought it would, And so she gave us each a name, And made it all into a game, And then we understood. Theresa, with her golden hair All loose and shining, was the sun, And 'round her Mercury and Mars, Venus, and all the other stars Stood waiting, every one. I was the earth, with little Nell Beside me for the moon so round, And Saturn had two hoops for rings, And Mercury a pair of wings, And Jupiter was crowned. Then when Miss Mary waved her hand, Each slow and stately in our place, We circled round the sun until A comet, that was little Will, Came rushing on through space. He darted straight into our midst, He whirled among us like a flash, The stars went flying, and the sun, And laughing, breathless, wild with fun, The "system" went to smash. --Youth's Companion. THE GIANT PLANETS. THE PLANET SATURN. Harry had spent a most delightful evening looking through Uncle Robert's telescope at the little moons of Jupiter, and he also had seen the planet Saturn, with its rings and moons. Next evening when his sister came to talk with him he had many questions to ask her. First of all he wanted to know what the rings were made of. [Illustration: THE RINGED PLANET SATURN.] "Millions of little moons," replied his sister. "I wish you could see Saturn and its rings through the great telescope at the Lick Observatory. It makes such a pretty picture. Like Jupiter, the planet Saturn is surrounded by clouds; but they are tinted with blue at the poles, yellow elsewhere, and dotted here and there with brown; purple, and red spots. Around the center is a creamy white belt. Then, there are eight moons that accompany Saturn in its journey around the sun; but they give very little light to the planet, since if they could all be full together they would give but a sixteenth part of the light we receive from the moon." "Why is that?" asked Harry. THE PLANET URANUS.