The earliest temporary star of which we have any reliable information seems to be one which is recorded in the Chinese annals of Ma-tuan-lin, as having appeared in the year 134 B. C. in the constellation Scorpio. Its position seems to have been somewhere between the stars Beta and Rho of Scorpio. Pliny informs us that it was the sudden appearance of a new star which induced the famous astronomer Hipparchus to form his catalogue of stars, the first ever constructed. As the date of Hipparchus’s catalogue is 125 B. C., it seems highly probable that the new star referred to by Pliny was the same as that recorded by the Chinese astronomer as having appeared nine years previously. A new star is said to have appeared in the year 76 B. C. between the stars Alpha and Delta in the Plow, but the accounts are vague. In 101 A. D., a small “yellowish-blue” star is said to have appeared in the “sickle” in Leo, but its exact position is not known. In 107 A. D., a new star is mentioned near Delta, Epsilon and Eta in Canis Major, three bright stars southeast of Sirius. In 123 A. D., another new star is recorded by Ma-tuan-lin to have appeared between Alpha Herculis and Alpha Ophiuchi. The Chinese annals record that on December 10, 173 A. D., a brilliant star appeared between Alpha and Beta Centauri in the Southern Hemisphere. It remained visible for eight months, and is described as resembling “a large bamboo mat!”—a curious description. There is at present, close to the spot indicated, a known variable star—R Centauri—of which the period seems to be long and the variation of light irregular. Possibly an unusually bright maximum of this variable star formed the star of the Chinese annals, or perhaps the variable star is the remnant of the outburst which took place in the First Century. The variable is a very reddish star, and at present varies from about the sixth to the tenth magnitude. A new star is recorded in the year 386 A. D. as having appeared between Lambda and Phi Sagittarii. Near the position indicated, Flamsteed observed a star, No. 65 of his catalogue, which is now missing; and it has been conjectured that the star seen by Flamsteed may possibly have been a return of the star mentioned in the Chinese annals. Cuspianus relates that a star as bright as Venus appeared near Altair in 389 A. D., during the reign of the Emperor Honorius, and that he had himself seen it. There is some doubt, however, about the exact date, as other accounts give the year 388 or 398. The star seems to have disappeared in about three weeks. In the year 393 A. D., another strange star is recorded in the tail of Scorpio. An extraordinary star is said to have been seen near Alpha Crateris in 561 A. D. Here again a known variable and red star—R Crateris—is close to the position indicated by the ancient records.