LILLY'S HIEROGLYPHS (PUBLISHED IN 1651)

MYTHS AND MARVELS
OF ASTRONOMY

BY
RICHARD A. PROCTOR

AUTHOR OF
"ROUGH WAYS MADE SMOOTH," "THE EXPANSE OF HEAVEN," "OUR PLACE
AMONG INFINITIES," "PLEASANT WAYS IN SCIENCE,"
ETC., ETC.

NEW EDITION


LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
LONDON, NEW YORK, AND BOMBAY
1896

Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co

At the Ballantyne Press

PREFACE.

The chief charm of Astronomy, with many, does not reside in the wondersrevealed to us by the science, but in the lore and legends connectedwith its history, the strange fancies with which in old times it hasbeen associated, the half-forgotten myths to which it has given birth.In our own times also, Astronomy has had its myths and fancies, its wildinventions, and startling paradoxes. My object in the present series ofpapers has been to collect together the most interesting of these oldand new Astronomical myths, associating with them, in due proportion,some of the chief marvels which recent Astronomy has revealed to us. Tothe former class belong the subjects of the first four and the last fiveessays of the present series, while the remaining essays belong to thelatter category.

Throughout I have endeavoured to avoid technical expressions on the onehand, and ambiguous phraseology (sometimes resulting from the attemptto avoid technicality) on the other. I have, in fact, sought to presentmy subjects as I should wish to have matters outside the range of myspecial branch of study presented for my own reading.

RICHARD A. PROCTOR.

CONTENTS.