The heavenly bodies occur frequently in heraldry, and include the Sun, 'in his glory,' or 'eclipsed;' the Moon, 'incressant,' 'in her complement,' 'decressant,' and 'in her detriment,' or eclipse; stars and comets. The _crescent_ was the standard of the Saracens during the crusades, as it is of their successors, the Turks, at this day. As one of the antient laws of chivalry enacted that the vanquisher of a Saracen gentleman should assume his arms, it is not remarkable that the crescent was, in the latter Crusades, often transferred to the Christian shield; although we must reject the notion that the infidels bore regular heraldric devices. It is probable, however, that their bucklers were ornamented in various ways with their national symbol. Several authentic instances of arms with crescents borne by English families from that early date, are to be found. Most of the families of Ellis, of this country, bear a cross with four or more crescents, derived from Sir Archibald Ellis, of Yorkshire, who went to the Holy Land. From a miraculous event said to have happened during the Crusade under Rich. I. to Sir Robert Sackville, the noble descendants of that personage still bear an _estoile_, or star, as their crest. The ELEMENTS also furnish armorial charges, as flames of fire, rocks, stones, _islands_, thunderbolts, clouds, rainbows, water, and fountains. These last are represented by azure roundles charged with three bars wavy argent. In the arms of Sykes, of Yorkshire, they are called _sykes_--that being a provincialism for little pools or springs. The antient family of Gorges bore a _gurges_, or whirlpool, an unique instance, I believe, of that bearing.