An endeavor has been made to arrange the constellations in this volume in the most easily-learned-without-effort way that could possibly be devised, and to present them in such a manner that the student will go out of doors with a picture of the position of the stars in his mind so that in more advanced study sky maps will acquire a new significance. First the stars in the vicinity of the North Star are discussed--the two starry Bears and _Draco_, the Dragon; then the great sky drama of Perseus and Andromeda, with _Cepheus_, the King of Ethiopia, _Cassiopeia_, the Queen, _Pegasus_, the Flying Horse and _Cetus_, the terrible Sea-monster; the "parade of the zenith constellations" led by _Leo_, the fierce Nemean Lion; the constellations on either side of this interesting spectacle; the four great southern stars, each noted enough to have the stage by itself, and the gorgeous winter program with the brilliant stars of the Giant _Orion_, _Taurus_, the Bull, and _Castor_ and _Pollux_, the Heavenly Twins. Whirling about the sun in the same plane as the earth are seven other planets. These planets resemble stars to the unaided eye but show a definite disk through the telescope. With but the expenditure of an idle moment now and then, who would not like to learn a few facts about Jupiter, a world with nine moons and a thousand times larger than the earth; Saturn, a globe surrounded by a magnificent ring and composed of such diaphanous material that it would float on water; Mars, with its mysterious surface markings; Venus, shrouded in the secret of its impenetrable atmosphere; the hundreds of tiny worlds, some but a few miles across, and even the raging sun itself with its hydrogen flames, spots, moving belts and other idiosyncrasies? These are only suggestions of what may be anticipated in our treasure hunt along the slopes of the sky, but every star that has once been found and called by name will stand forth from the multitude with a magnetic radiance that forever after thrills the discoverer with the pride of achievement. CHAPTER II AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STARS "_He who knows what sweets and virtues are in the ground, the waters--the planets, the heavens, and how to come at these enchantments, is the rich and royal man._" --_Emerson_. THE dome of the heavens with its constellations of stars turns westward at the rate of about 15 degrees an hour.