ALBERT R. MANN..- LIBRARY AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY ^ LIBRARY ANNEX DATE DUE j s'vJIff «ft^„|^ . _.. 1- L 1 GAYLORD PRINTED IN U.S-A. Cornell University Library QB 55.P9 Myths and marvels of astronomy 3 1924 002 956 450 The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924002956450 ^S"^^^^^^^?^ ^^^H ^^^^H j -*4^ ^^^^« J / \ z / ^^^ 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 IMPRESSION LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON NEW YORK AND BOMBAY 1903 ^, All rights reserved @ Q sr ^r .^^^/ 7 PREFACE. The chief charm of Astronomy, with many, does not reside in the wonders revealed to us by the science, but in the lore- and legends connected with its history, the strange fancies with which in old times it has been associated, the half-forgotten myths to which it has given birth. In our own times also, Astronomy has had its myths and fancies, its wild inventions, and startling paradoxes. My object in the present series of papers has been to collect to- gether the most interesting of these old and new Astronomical myths, associating with them, in due proportion, some of the chief marvels which recent Astronomy has revealed to us. To the former class belong the subjects of the first four and the last five essays of the present series, while the remaining essays belong to the latter category. Throughout I have endeavoured to avoid tech- nical expressions on the one hand, and ambiguous phraseology (sometimes resulting from the attempt PREFACE. to avoid technicality) on the other. I have, in fact, sought to present my subjects as I should wish to have matters outside the range of my special branch of study presented for my own reading. RICHARD A. PROCTOR. CONTENTS. I. Astrology II. The Religion of the Great Pyramid III. The Mystery of the Pyramids . IV. Swedenborg's Visions of Other Worlds' . io6 V. Other Worlds and Other Universes . 135 VI. Suns in Flames . 160 VII. The Rings of Saturn ... .191 VIII. Comets as Portents . .... 212 IX. The Lunar Hoax 242 X. On some Astronomical Paradoxes . . . 268 XI. On some Astronomical Myths . . . 299 XII. The Origin of the Constellation-Figures , 332 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY L ASTROLOGY. Signs and planets, in aspects sextile, quartile, trine, conjoined, oi opposite ; houses of heaven, with their cusps, hours, and minutes ; Almuten, Almochoden, Anahibazon, Catahibazon ; a thousand terms of equal sound and significance. — Guy Mannering. . . . Come and see ! trust thine own eyes. A fearful sign stands in the house of life. An enemy : a fiend lurks close behind The radiance of thy planet — oh ! be warned ! — Coleridge. Astrology possesses a real interest even in these days. It is true that no importance attaches now even to the dis- cussion of the considerations which led to the rejection of judicial astrology. None but' the most ignorant, and there- fore superstitious, believe at present in divination of any sort or kind whatsoever. Divination by the stars holds no higher position than palmistry, fortune-telling by cards, or the indications of the future which foolish persons find in dreams, tea-dregs, salt-spilling, and other absurdities. But there are two reasons which render the history of astrology interesting. In the first place, faith in stellar influences was once so widespread that astrological terminology came e 2 MYTHS AND MARVELS Of ASTRONOMY. to form a part of ordinary language, insomuch that it is impossible rightly to understand many passages of ancient and mediaeval literature, or rightly to apprehend the force of many allusions and expressions, unless the significance of astrological teachings to the men of those times be recognised. In the second place, it is interesting to examine how the erroneous teachings of astrology were gradually abandoned, to note the way in which various orders of mind rejected these false doctrines or struggled to retain them, and to perceive how, with a large proportion of even the most civilised races, the superstitions of judicial astrology were long retained, or are retained even to this very day. The world has still to see some superstitions destroyed which are as widely received as astrology ever was, and which will probably retain their influence over many minds long after the reasoning portion of the com- munity have rejected them. Even so far back as the time of Eudoxus the pretensions of astrologers were rejected, as Cicero informs us (' De Div.' ii. 42). And though the Romans were strangely supersti- tious in such matters, Cicero reasons with excellent judg- ment against the belief in astrology. Gassendi quotes the argument drawn by Cicero against astrology, from the pre- dictions of the Chaldseans that Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey would die ' in a full old age, in their own houses, in peace and honour,' whose deaths, nevertheless, were 'violent, immature, and tragical.' Cicero also used an argument whose full force has only been recognised in modern times. ' What contagion,' he asked, ' can reach us from the planets whose distance is almost infinite?' It is singular that Seneca, who was well acquainted with the uniform character of the planetary motions, seems to have entertained no doubt respecting their influence. Tacitus expresses some doubts, but was on the whole inclined to believe in astrology. ASTROLOGY. 3 ' Certainly,' he says, ' the majority of mankind cannot be weaned from the opinion that at the birth of each man his future destiny is flxed; though some things may fall out differently from the predictions, by the ignorance of those who profess the art ; and thus the art is unjustly blamed, confirmed as it is by noted examples in all ages." Probably, the doubt suggested by the different fortunes and characters of men born at the same time must have ^ These reflections were suggested to Tacitus by the conduct of Thrasyllus (chief astrologer of the Emperor Tiberius), when his skill was tested by his imperial employer after a manner characteristic of that agreeable monarch. The story runs thus (I follow Whewell's version) : ' Those who were brought to Tiberius on any important matter, were admitted to an interview in an apartment situated on a lofty cliff in the island of Caprese. They reached this place by a narrow path, accompanied by a single freedman of great bodily strength ; and on their return, if the emperor had conceived any doubts of their trustworthiness, a single blow buried the secret and its victim in the ocean below. After Thrasyllus had, in this retreat, stated the results of his art as they concerned the emperor, Tiberius asked him whether he had calculated how long he himself had to live. The astrologer examined the aspect of the stars, and while he did this showed hesitation, alarm, increasing terror, and at last declared thai " The present hour was for him critical, perhaps fatal." Tiberius em- braced him, and told him "he was right in supposing he had been in danger, but that he should escape it," and made him henceforward his confidential counsellor.' It is evident, assuming the story to be true (as seems sufficiently probable), that the emperor was no match for the charlatan in craft. It was a natural thought on the former's part to test the skill of his astrologer by laying for him a trap such as the story indicates — a thought so natural, indeed, that it probably occurred to Thrasyllus himself long before Tiberius put the plan into practice. Even if Thrasyllus had not been already on the watch for such a trick, he would have been but a poor trickster himself if he had not detected it the moment it was attempted, or failed to see the sole safe course which was left open to him. Probably, with a man of the temper of Tiberius, such a counter-trick as Galeotti's in Quentin Durward womM have been unsafe. 4 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. occurred to msny before Cicero dwelt upon it. Pliny, who followed Cicero in this, does not employ the argument quite correctly, for he says that, ' in every hour, in every part of the world, are bom lords and slaves, kings and beggars.' But of course, according to astrological prin- ciples, it would be necessary that two persons, whose fortunes were to be alike, should be born, not only in the same hour, but in the same place. The fortunes and character of Jacob and Esau, however, should manifestly have been similar, which was certainly not the case, if their history has been correctly handed down to us. An astro- loger of the time of Julias Caesar, named PublKis Nigidius Figulus, used a singular argument against such reasoning. When an opponent urged the different fortunes of men bom nearly at the same instant, Nigidius asked him to make two contiguous marks on a potter's wheel which was revolving rapidly. When the wheel was stopped, the two marks were found to be far apart Nigidius is said to have received the name of Figulus (the potter), in remembrance of the story ; but more probably he was a potter by trade, and an astrologer only during those leisure hours which he could devote to charlatanry. St Augustine, who relates the story (which I borrow from Whewell's ' History of the Inductive Sciences '), says, justly, that the argument of Nigidius was as fragile as the ware made on the potter's wheel. The belief must have been all but universal in those days that at the birth of any person who was to hold an important place in the world's history the stars would either be ominously conjoined, or else some blazing comet or new star would make its appearance. For we know that some such object having appeared, or some unusual conjunction of planets having occurred, near enough to the time of Christ's birth to be associated in men's minds with that ASTROLOGY. 5 event, it came eventually to be regarded as belonging to his horoscope, and as actually indicating to the Wise Men of the East (Chaldaean astrologers, doubtless) the future greatness of the child then born. It is certain that that is what the story of the Star in the East means as it stands. Theologians differ as to its interpretation in points of detail. Some think the phenomenon was meteoric, others that a comet then made its appearance, others that a new star shone out, and others that the account referred to a conjunction of Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars, which occurred at about that time. As a matter of detail it may be men- tioned, that none of these explanations in the slightest degree corresponds with the account, for neither meteor, nor comet, nor new star, nor conjoined planets, would go before travellers from the east, to show them their way to any place. Yet the ancients sometimes regarded comets as guides. Whichever view we accept, it is abundantly clear that an astrological significance was attached by the narrator to the event. And not so very long ago, when astrologers first began to see that their occupation was passing from them, the Wise Men of the East were ap- pealed to against the enemies of astrology,' — very much as 1 The belief in the influence of the stars and the planets on the fortunes of the new-bom child was still rife when Shakespeare made Glendower boast : At my nativity The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes Of burning cressets ; know, that at my birth The frame and huge foundation of the earth Shook like a coward. And Shakespeare showed himself dangerously tainted with freethought in assigning (even to the fiery Hotspur) the reply : So it would have done At the same season, if your mother's cat Had kittened, though yourself had ne'er been bom. 6 MYTHS AND MARVELS OP ASTRONOMY. Moses was appealed to against Copernicus and Galileo, and more recently to protect us against certain relationships which Darwin, Wallace, and Huxley unkindly indicate for the human race divine. Although astronomers now reject altogether the doc- trines of judicial astrology, it is impossible for the true lover of that science to regard astrology altogether with contempt Astronomy, indeed, owes much more to the notions of believers in astrology than is commonly sup- posed. Astrology bears the same relation to modem as- tronomy that alchemy bears to modem chemistry. As it is probable that nothing but the hope of gain, literally in this case auri sacra fames, would have led to those laborious researches of the alchemists which first taught men how to analyse matter into its elementary constituents, and after- wards to combine these constituents afresh into new forms, so the belief that, by carefully studying the stars, men might acquire the power of predicting future events, first directed attention to the movements of the celestial bodies. Kepler's saying, that astrology, though a fool, was the daughter of a wise mother,' does not by any means present truly the relationship between astrology and astronomy. Rather we may say that astrology and alchemy, though foolish mothers, In a similar vein Butler, in Hudibras ridiculed the folly of those who believe in horoscopes and nativities : As if the planet's fii-st aspect The tender infant did infect In soul and body, and instil AJl future good and future ill ; Which in their dark fatalities lurking. At destined periods fall a-working, And break out, like the hidden seeds Of long diseases, into deeds, lu friendships, enmities, and strife, A-nd all th' emergencies of life. ' Preface to the Rudolphine Tables. ASTROLOGY. •] gave birth to those wise daughters, astronomy and chem- istry. Even this way of speaking scarcely does justice to the astrologers and alchemists of old times. Their views appear foolish in the light of modern scientific knowledge, but they were not foolish in relation to what was known when they were entertained. Modern analysis goes far to demonstrate the immutability, and, consequently, the non- transmutability of the metals, though it is by no means so certain as many suppose that the present position of the metals in the list of elements is really correct Certainly a chemist of our day would be thought very unwise who should undertake a series of researches with the object of discover- ing a mineral having such qualities as the alchemists attributed to the philosopher's stone. But when as yet the facts on which the science of chemistry is based were un- known, there was nothing unreasonable in supposing that such a mineral might exist, or the means of compounding it be discovered. Nay, many arguments from analogy might be urged to show that the supposition was altogether probable. In like manner, though the known facts of as- tronomy oppose themselves irresistibly to any belief in planetary influences upon the fates of men and nations, yet before those facts were discovered it was not only not un- reasonable, but was in fact, highly reasonable to believe in such influences, or at least that the sun, and moon, and stars moved in the heavens in such sort as to indicate what would happen. If the wise men of old times rejected the belief that ' the stars in their courses fought ' for or against men, they yet could not very readily abandon the belief that the stars were for signs in the heavens of what was to befall mankind. If we consider the reasoning now commonly thought valid in favour of the doctrine that other orbs besides our earth are inhabited, and compare it with the reasoning on 8 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. which judicial astrology was based, we shall not find much to choose between the two, so far as logical weight is concerned. Because the only member of the solar system which we can examine closely is inhabited, astronomers infer a certain degree of probability for the belief that the other planets of the system are also inhabited And because the only sun we know much about is the centre of a system of planets, astronomers infer that probably the stars, those other suns which people space, are also the centres of sys- tems ; although no telescope which man can make would show the members of a system like ours, attending on even the nearest of all the stars. The astrologer had a similar argument for his belief. The moon, as she circles around the earth, exerts a manifest influence upon terrestrial matter — the tidal wave rising and sinking S3mchronously with the movements of the moon, and other consequences depending directly or indirectly upon her revolution around the earth. The sun's influence is still more manifest ; and, though it may have required the genius of a Herschel or of a Stephenson to perceive that almost every form of terrestrial energy is derived from the sun, yet it must have been manifest from the very earliest times that the greater hght which rules the day rules the seasons also, and, in ruling them, provides the annual suppUes of vegetable food, on which the very existence of men and animals depends. If these two bodies, the sun and moon, are thus potent, must it not be supposed, reasoned the astronomers of old, that the other celestial bodies exert corresponding influ- ences ? We know, but they did not know, that the moon rules the tides efiectually because she is near to us and that the sun is second only to the moon in tidal influence be- cause of his enormous mass and attractive energy. We know also that his position as fire, light, and life of the earth and its inhabitants, is due directly to the tremendous heat ASTROLOGY. 9 with which the whole of his mighty frame is instinct. Not knowing this, the astronomers of old times had no sufficient reason for distinguishing the sun and moon from the other celestial bodies, so far at least as the general question of celestial influences was concerned. So far as particulars were concerned, it was not alto- gether so clear to them as it is to us, that the influence of the sun must be paramount in all respects save tidal action, and that of the moon second only to the sun's in other respects, and superior to his in tidal sway alone. Many writers on the subject of life in other worlds are prepared to show (as Brewster attempts to do, for example) that Jupiter and Saturn are far nobler worlds than the earth, because superior in this or that circumstance. So the ancient astronomers, in their ignorance of the actual con- ditions on which celestial influences depend, found abundant reasons for regarding the feeble influences exerted by Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars, as really more potent than those exerted by the sun himself upon the earth. They reasoned, as Milton afterwards made Raphael reason, that 'great or bright infers not excellence,' that Saturn or Jupiter, though ' in comparison so small, nor glist'ring ' to like degree, may yet 'of solid good contain more plenty than the sun.' Supposing the influence of a celestial body to depend on the magnitude of its sphere, in the sense of the old astron- omy (according to which each planet had its proper sphere, around the earth as centre), then the influence of the sun would be judged to be inferior to that of either Saturn, Jupiter, or Mars; while the influences of Venus and Mercury, though inferior to the influence of the sun, would still be held superior to that of the moon. For the ancients measured the spheres of the seven planets of their system by the periods of the apparent revolution of those bodies around the celestial dome, and so set the sphere of the lo MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. moon innermost, enclosed by the sphere of Mercury, around which in turn was the sphere of Venus, next the sun's, then, in order, those of Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. We can readily understand how they might come to regard the slow motions of the sphere of Saturn and Jupiter, taking respectively some thirty and twelve years to complete a revolution, as indicating power superior to the sun's, whose sphere seemed to revolve once in a single year. Many other considerations might have been urged, before the Copernican theory was established, to show that, possibly, some of the planets exert influences more effective than those of the sun and moon. It is, indeed, clear that the first real shock sustained by astrology came from the arguments of Copernicus. So long as the earth was regarded as the centre round which all the celestial bodies move, it was hopeless to attempt to shake men's faith in the influences of the stars. So far as I know, there is not a single instance of a believer in the old Ptolemaic system who rejected astrology absolutely. The views of Bacon — the last of any note who opposed the system of Copernicus ' — indicate the extreme limits to ' It U commonly stated that Bacon opposed the Copernican theory because he disliked Gilbert, who had advocated it. ' Bacon,' says one of his editors, ' was too jealous of Gilbert to entertain one moment any doctrine that he advanced.' But, apart from the incredible littleness of mind which this explanation imputes to Bacon, it would also have been an incredible piece of folly on Bacon's part to advocate an in- ferior theory while a rival was left to support a better theory. Bacon saw clearly enough that men were on their way to the discovery of the true theory, and, so far as in him lay, he indicated how they should proceed in order most readily to reach the truth. It must, then have been from conviction, not out of mere contradiction, that Bacon de- clared himself in favour of the Ptolemaic system. In fact, he speaks of the diurnal motion of the earth as ' an opinion which we can demon- strate to be most false;' doubtless having in his thoughts some such arguments as misled Tycho Brahe. ASTROLOGY. ii which a Ptolemaist could go in opposition to astrology. It may be worth while to quote Bacon's opinion in this place, because it indicates at once very accurately the posi- tion held by believers in astrology in his day, and the influence which the belief in a central fixed earth could not fail to exert on the minds of even the most philosophical reasoners. ' Astrology,' he begins, ' is so full of superstition that scarce anything sound can be discovered in it ; though we judge it should rather be purged than absolutely rejected. Yet if any one shall pretend that this science is founded not in reason and physical contemplations, but in the direct experience and observation of past ages, and therefore not to be examined by physical reasons, as the Chaldaeans boasted, he may at the same time bring back divination, auguries, soothsaying, and give in to all kinds of fables; for these also were said to descend from long experience. But we receive astrology as a part of physics, without attributing more to it than reason and the evidence of things allow, and strip it of its superstition and conceits. Thus we banish that empty notion about the horary reign of the planets, as if each resumed the throne thrice in twenty-four hours, so as to leave three hours supernumerary; and yet this fiction produced the division of the week, ' a thing so ancient and so universally received. Thus hke- wise we reject as an idle figment the doctrine of horoscopes, and the distribution of the houses, though these are the darUng inventions of astrology, which have kept revel, as it were, in the heavens. And lastly, for the calculation of 1 To Bacon's theological contemporaries this must have seemed a dreadful heresy, and possibly in our own days the assertion would be judged scarcely less harshly, seeing that the obsei-vance of the (so- called) Sabbath depends directly upon the belief in quite another origin of the week. Yet there can be little question that the week really had its origin in astrological formulse. 12 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. nativities, fortunes, good or bad hours of business, and the like fatalities, they are mere levities, that have little in them of certainty and solidity, and may be plainly confuted by physical reasons. But here we judge it proper to lay down some rules for the examination of astrological matters, in order to retain what is useful therein, and reject what is insignificant. Thus, i. Let the greater revolutions be re- tained, but the lesser, of horoscopes and houses, be rejected — the former being like ordnance which shoot to a great distance, whilst the other are but like small bows, that do no execution. 2. The celestial operations affect not all kinds of bodies, but only the more sensible, as humours, air, and spirits. 3. All the celestial operations rather extend to masses of things than to individuals, though they may obliquely reach some individuals also which are more sensible than the rest, as a pestilent constitution of the air affects those bodies which are least able to resist it. 4. All the celestial operations produce not their effects instan- taneously, and in a narrow compass, but exert them in large portions of time and space. Thus predictions as to the temperature of a year may hold good, but not with regard to single days. 5. There is no fatal necessity in the stars ; and this the more prudent astrologers have con- stantly allowed. 6. We will add one thing more, which, if amended and improved, might make for astrology — viz. that we are certain the celestial bodies have other influences besides heat and light, but these influences act not other- wise than by the foregoing rules, though they lie so deep in physics as to require a fuller explanation. So that, upon the whole, we must register as needed, ' an astrology written ' In Bohn's edition the word ' defective ' is here xised, entirely changing the meaning of the sentence. Bacon registers an Astrologia Sana amongst the things needed for the advancement of learning whereas lie is made to say that such an astrology mu»t be rer .stored a? defective. ASTROLOGY. ,3 in conformity with these principles, under the name of Astrologia Sana.' He then proceeds to show what this just astrology should comprehend — as, i,the doctrine of the commixture of rays ; 2, the effect of nearest approaches and farthest removes of planets to and from the point overhead (the planets, like the sun, having their summer and winter); 3, the effects of distance, ' with a proper enquiry into what the vigour of the planets may perform of itself, and what through their nearness to us; for,' he adds, but unfor- tunately without assigning any reason for the statement, ' a planet is more brisk when most remote, but more commu- nicative when nearest ;' 4, the other accidents of the planet's motions as they pursue Their wand'ring course, now high, now low, then hid, Progressive, retrograde, or standing still ; 5, all that can be discovered of the general nature of the planets and fixed stars, considered in their own essence and activity ; 6, lastly, let this just astrology, he says, ' contain, from tradition, the particular natures and altera- tions of the planets and fixed stars ; for ' (here is a reason indeed) ' as these are delivered with general consent, they are not lightly to be rejected, unless they directly contradict physical considerations. Of such observations let a just astrology be formed ; and according to these alone should schemes of the heavens be made and inter- preted' The astrology thus regarded by Bacon as sane and just did not differ, as to its primary object, from the false systems which now seem to us so absurd. ' Let this astrology be used with greater confidence in prediction,' says Bacon, ' but more cautiously in election, and in both cases with due moderation. Thus predictions may be 14 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. made of comets, and all kinds of meteors, inundations, droughts, heats, frosts, earthquakes, fiery eruptions, winds, great rains, the seasons of the year, plagues, epidemic diseases, plenty, famine, wars, seditions, sects, transmigra- tions of people, and all commotions, or great innovations of things, natural and civil. Predictions may possibly be made more particular, though with less certainty, if, when the general tendencies of the times are found, a good philosophical or political judgment applies them to such things as are most liable to accidents of this kind. For example, fiom a foreknowledge of the seasons of any year, they might be apprehended more destructive to olives than grapes, more hurtful in distempers of the lungs than the liver, more pernicious to the inhabitants of hills than valleys, and, for want of provisions, to monks than courtiers, eta Or if any one, from a knowledge of the influence which the celestial bodies have upon the spirits of mankind, should find it would affect the people more than their rulers, learned and inquisitive men more than the military, etc. For there are innumerable things of this kind that require not only a general knowledge gained from the stars which are the agents, but also a particular one of the passive subjects. Nor are elections to be wholly rejected, though not so much to be trusted as predictions ; for we find in planting, sowing, and grafting, observations of the moon are not absolutely trifling, and there axe many particulars of this kind. But elections are more to be curbed by our rules than predictions; and this must always be remembered, that election only holds in such cases where the virtue of the heavenly bodies, and the action of the inferior bodies also, is not transient, as in the examples just mentioned ; for the increases of the moon and planets are not sudden things. But punctuality of time should here be absolutely rejected. And perhaps ASTROLOGY. 15 there are more of these instances to be found in civil matters than some would imagine.' The method of inquiry suggested by Bacon as proper for determining the just rules of the astrology he advocated, was, as might be expected, chiefly inductive. There are, said he, ' but four ways of arriving at this science, viz. — i, by future experiments ; 2, past experiments ; 3, traditions ; 4, physical reasons.' But he was not very hopeful as to the progress of the suggested researches. It is vain, he said, to think at present of future experiments, because many ages are required to procure a competent stock of them. As for the past, it is true that past experiments are within our reach, ' but it is a work of labour and much time to procure them. Thus astrologers may, if they please, draw from real history all greater accidents, as inundations, plagues, wars, seditions, deaths of kings, etc., as also the positions of the celestial bodies, not according to fictitious horoscopes, but the above-mentioned rules of their revolu- tions, or such as they really were at the time, and, when the event conspires, erect a probable rule of prediction.' Traditions would require to be carefully sifted, and those thrown out which manifestly clashed with physical consi- derations, leaving those in full force which complied with such considerations. Lastly, the physical reasons wor- thiest of being enquired into are those, said Bacon, ' which search into the universal appetites and passions of matter, and the simple genuine motions of the heavenly bodies.' It is evident there was much which, in our time at least, would be regarded as wild and fanciful in the ' sound and just astrology' advocated by Bacon. Yet, in passing, it may be noticed that even in our own time we have seen similar ideas promulgated, not by common astrologers and fortune-tellers (who, indeed, know nothing about such matters), but by persons supposed to be well-informed in i6 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. matters scientific. In a roundabout way. a new astrology has been suggested, which is not at all unlike Bacon's ' astrologia sana,' though not based, as he proposed that astrology should be, on experiment, or tradition, or physical reasons. It has been suggested, first, that the seasons of our earth are aSected by the condition of the sun in the matter of spots, and very striking evidence has been collected to show that this must be the case. For instance, it has been found that years when the sun has been free from spots have been warmer than the average ; and it has also been found that such years have been cooler than the average : a double -shotted argument wholly irresistible, especially when it is also found that when the sun has many spots the weather has sometimes been exceptionally warm and sometimes exceptionally cold. If this be not considered suflScient, then note that in one country or continent or hemisphere the weather, when the sun is most spotted (or least, as the case may be), may be singularly hot, while in another country, continent, or hemisphere, the weather may be as singularly cold. So with wind and calm, rain and drought, and so forth. Always, whether the sun is very much spotted or quite free from spots, something unusual in the way of weather must be going on somewhere, demon- strating in the most significant way the influence of sun- spots or the want of sun-spots on the weather. It is true that captious minds might say that this method of reason- ing proved too much in many ways, as, for example, thus — always, whether the sun is very much spotted or quite free from spots, some remarkable event, as a battle, massacre, domestic tragedy on a large scale, or the like, may be going on, demonstrating in the most significant way the influence of sun-spots or the want of sun-spots on the passions of men — which sounds absurd. But the answer is twofold. Fii-st, such reasoning is captious, and secondly, it is not ASTROLOGY. 17 certain that sun-spots, or the want of them, may not in- fluence human passions ; it may be worth while to enquire into this possible solar influence as well as the other, which can be done by crossing the hands of the new fortune- tellers with a sufficient amount of that precious metal which astrologers have in all ages dedicated to the sun. That the new system of divination is not solely solar, but partly planetary also, is seen when we remember that the sun-spots wax and wane in periods of time which are manifestly referable to the planetary motions. Thus, the great solar spot-period lasts about eleven years, the suc- cessive spotless epochs being separated on the average by about that time ; and so nearly does this period agree with the period of the planet Jupiter's revolution around the sun, that during eight consecutive spot-periods the spots were most numerous when Jupiter was farthest from the sun, and it is only by going back to the periods preceding these eight that we find a time when the reverse happened, the spots being most numerous when Jupiter was nearest to the sun. So with various other periods which the ingenuity of Messrs. De la Rue and Balfour Stewart has detected, and which, under the closest scrutiny, exhibit almost exact agreement for many successive periods, preceded and followed by almost exact disagreement. Here, again, the captious may argue that such alternate agreements and dis- agreements may be noted in every case where two periods are not very unequal, whether there be any connection between them or not; but much more frequently when there is no connection : and that the only evidence really proving a connection between planetary motions and the solar spots would be constant agreement between solar spot periods and particular planetary periods. But the progress of science, and especially the possible erection of a new observatory for finding out (' for a consideration ') how sun-spots affect c l8 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. the weather, etc., ought not to be interfered with by cap- tious reasoners in this objectionable manner. Nor need any other answer be given them. Seeing, then, that sun- spots manifestly affect the weather and the seasons, while the planets rule the sun-spots, it is clear that the planets really rule the seasons. And again, seeing that the planets rule the seasons, while the seasons largely affect the well- being of men and nations (to say nothing of animals), it follows that the planets influence the fates of men and nations (and animals). Quod erat demonstrandum. Let us return, however, to the more reasonable astro- logy of the ancients, and enquire into some of the traditions which Bacon considered worthy of attention in framing the precepts of a sound and just astrology. It was natural that the astrologers of old should regard the planetary influences as depending in the main on the position of the celestial bodies on the sky above the person or place whose fortunes were in question. Thus two men at the same moment in Rome and in Persia would by no means have the same horoscope cast for their nativities, so that their fortunes, according to the principles of judicial astrology, would be quite different In fact it might happen that two men, born at the same instant of time, would have all the principal circumstances of their lives contrasted — planets riding high in the heavens of one being below the horizon of the other, and vice versA. The celestial sphere placed as at the moment of the native's birth was divided into twelve parts by great circles supposed to pass through the point overhead, and its oppo- site, the point vertically beneath the feet. These twelve divisions were called ' houses.' Their position is illustrated in the following figure, taken from Raphael's Astrology. ASTROLOGY. 19 j;2oon='Da2. LONG JOURNEYS Of. HONOR ^/VT KINDRED 4>" and SHORT JOURNEYS ' INHERITANCES Particular Significations OF THE Twelve Celestial Hotises, According to various Astrological Authors. Jiilia»niei)t. The first, called the Ascendant House, was the portion rising above the horizon at the east. It was regarded as the House of Life, the planets located therein at the moment of birth having most potent influence on the life and destiny of the native. Such planets were said to rule the ascendant, being in the ascending house ; and it is from this usage that our familiar expression that such and such an influence is 'in the ascendant' is derived. The next house was the House of Riches, and was one-third of the way from the east below the horizon towards the place of the sun at midnight. The third was the House of Kindred, 20 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. short journeys, letters, messages, etc. It was two-thirds of the way towards the place of the midnight sun. The fourth was the House of Parents, and was the house which the sun reached at midnight The fifth was the House of Children and Women, also of all sorts of amusements, theatres, banquets, and merry-making. The sixth was the House of Sickness. The seventh was the House of Love and Marriage. These three houses (the fifth, sixth, and seventh) followed in order from the fourth, so as to corre- spond to the part of the sun's path below the horizon, between his place at midnight and his place when descend- ing in the west. The seventh, opposite to the first, was the Descendant The eighth house was the first house above the horizon, l3dng to the west, and was the House of Death. The ninth house, next to the mid-heaven on the west, was the House of Religion, science, learning, books, and long voyages. The tenth, which was in the mid -heaven, or region occupied by the sun at midday, was the House of Honour, denoting credit, renown, profession or calling, irade, preferment, etc. The eleventh house, next to the mid-heaven on the east, was the House of Friends. Lastly, the twelfth house was the House of Enemies. The houses were not all of equal potency. The angular houses, which are the first, the fourth, the seventh, and the tenth — lying east, north, west, and south — were first in power, whether for good or evil. The second, fifth, eighth, and eleventh houses were called siiccedents, as following the angular houses, and next to them in power. The remain- ing four houses — viz. the third, sixth, ninth, and twelfth houses — were called cadents, and were regarded as weakest in influence. The houses were regarded as alternately masculine and feminine: the first, third, fifth, etc., being masculine ; while the second, fourth, sixth, etc. were feminine. ASTROLOGY. 21 The more particular significations of the various houses are shown in the accompanying figure from the same book. Knights, esquires, children of ene^ mies, sickness of servants, ene- , mies and wives of offspringr. / t i , \ J ^, -- , f Bi / JudEres, bre- a- \ death of fathers, lournevs /^u r . _ \ ^, ., ■' . ■'^ / thren of enemies, of brethren, enemies of enemies. servants, fathers of ene- \ friends of friends, mies, children of servants, \^ enemies of . ,/ sicknessof sons, deathof brethren, \ kings. / © a "^ n' 9 ^ friends of enemies, enemies of friends. Prophets, prayers, visions, omens, divine worship, wife's brethren, fathers of -/ p" servants, children's children, /^ £■ sickness of fathers, ene- mies of brethren. CELESTIAL DIAGRAM representing at one view the various symbolical significations of the Twelve Heavenly Houses; according to ancient manuscript writers of the twelfth century ; and not to be found in Authors. S. 3 (2 3 p " [, l-g j< > ^ ' ,■3 %%'■ V Dead men's goods, castles, treasure hid, > Sects ^\t^s ^^^ o^ ^'^ corpse in tiie grave, y/ dreams, \raoney of brethren, cliildren Z ^.^^^^ _ „ . 'churches, fathersV'fP"™""""'™"' ='=''-/ dice, brethre... , g S /of private enemies, sonsV^^s "f f"=ids, km^'s/t^^j^^^^ f^j^^^.^ money> ' ^ ^offriends, sickness of kings, \^'=""°''''"="^?/sickness of private enemies, ' enemies of the religious, trade of \° serv-/ enemies of friends, death of kings, "^ 'servants, private enemies of fathers. \^"*^' friends of enemies, enemies of servants. " It will be easily understood how these houses were dealt with in erecting a scheme of nativity. The position of the planets at the moment of the native's birth, in the several houses, determined his fortunes with regard to the various matters associated with these houses. Thus planets of good influence in the native's ascendant, or first house, signified generally a prosperous life ; but if at the same epoch a planet of malefic influence was in the seventh house, then the native, though on the whole prosperous, would be unfortunate in marriage. A good planet in the tenth house 22 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. signified good fortune and honour in office or business, and generally a prosperous career as distinguished firom a happy life ; but evil planets in the ninth house would suggest to the native caution in undertaking long voyages, or entering upon religious or scientific controversies. Similar considerations applied to questions relating to horary astronomy, in which the position of the planets in the various houses at some epoch guided the astrologer's opinion as to the fortune of that hour, either in the life of a man or the career of a State. In such inquiries, however, not only the position of the planets, etc., at the time had to be considered, but also the original horoscope of the person, or the special planets and signs associated with particular States. Thus if Jupiter, the most fortunate of all the planets, was in the ascendant, or in the House of Honour, at the time of the native's birth, and at some epoch this planet was ill-aspected or afflicted by other planets potent for evil in the native's horoscope, then that epoch would be a threatening one in the native's career. The sign Gemini was regarded by astrologers as espe- cially associated with the fortunes of London, and accord- ingly they tell us that the great fire of London, the plague, the building of London Bridge, and other events interesting to London, all occurred when this sign was in the ascend- ant, or when special planets were in this sign.^ 1 The astrologers were exceedingly ingenious in showing that their art had given warning of the great plague and fire of London. Thus, the star which marks the Bull's northern horn — and which is described by Ptolemy as like Mars — was, they say, exactly in that part of the sign Gemini which is the ascendant of London, in 1666. Lilly, how- ever, for whom they claim the credit of predicting the year of this calamity, laid no claim himself to that achievement ; nay, specially denied that he knew when the fire was to happen The story is rather curious. In 1 65 1 Lilly had published his Monarchy or no Monarchy, which contained a number of curious hieroglyphics. Amongst these ASTROLOGY. 23 The signs of the zodiac in the various houses were in the first place to be noted, because not only had these signs special powers in special houses, but the effects of the were two (see frontispiece) which appeared to portend plague and fire respectively. The hieroglyphic of the plague represents three dead bodies wrapped in death-clothes, and for these bodies two coffins lie ready and two graves are being dug ; whence it was to be inferred that the number of deaths would exceed the supply of coffins and graves. The hieroglyphic of the fire represents several persons, gentle- folk on one side and commonfolk on the other, emptying water vessels on a furious fire into which two children are falling headlong. The occurrence of the plague in 1665 attracted no special notice to Lilly's supposed prediction of that event, though probably many talked of the coincidence as remarkable. But when in 1 666 the great fire occurred, the House of Commons summoned Lilly to attend the committee ap- pointed to enquire Into the cause of the fire. ' At two of the clock on Friday, the 25th of October 1666,' he attended in the Speaker's chamber, • to answer such questions as should then and there be asked him.' Sir Robert Brooke spoke to this effect : ' Mr. Lilly, this com- mittee thought fit to summon you to appear before them this day, to know if you can say anything as to the cause of the late fire, or whether there might be any design therein. You are called the rather hither, because in a book of yours long since printed, you hinted some such thing by one of your hieroglyphics.' Unto which he replied : ' May it please your honours, after the beheading of the late king, considering that in the three subsequent years the Parliament acted nothing which concerned the settlement of the nation's peace, and seeing the gener- ality of the people dissatisfied, the citizens of London discontented, and the soldiery prone to mutiny, I was desirous, according to the best knowledge God had given me, to make enquiry by the art I studied, what might, from that time, happen unto the Parliament and nation in general. At last, having satisfied myself as well as I could, and perfected my judgment therein, I thought it most convenient to signify my intentions and conceptions thereof in forms, shapes, types, hierogljrphics, etc., without any commentary, that so my judgment might be concealed from the vulgar, and made manifest only unto the wise ; I herein imitating the examples of many wise philosophers who had done the like. Having found, sir, that the great city of London should be sadly afflicted with a great plague, and not long after with 24 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. planets in particular houses varied according to the signs in which the planets were situated. If we were to follow the description given by the astrologers themselves, not much insight would be thrown upon the meaning of the zodiacal signs. For instance, astrologers say that Aries is a vernal, dry, fiery, mascuUne, cardinal, equinoctial, diurnal, mov- able, commanding, eastern, choleric, violent, and quadru- pedalian sign. We may, however, infer generally from their accounts the influences which they assigned to the zodiacal signs. Aries is the house and joy of Mars, signifies a dry con- stitution, long face and neck, thick shoulders, swarthy complexion, and a hasty, passionate temper. It governs the head and face, and all diseases relating thereto. It reigns over England, France, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Lesser Poland, Syria, Naples, Capua, Verona, etc. It is a masculine sign, and is regarded as fortunate. Taurus gives to the native born under his auspices a stout athletic frame, broad bull-like forehead, dark curly hair, short neck, and so forth, and a dull apathetic temper, exceedingly cruel and malicious if once aroused. It governs the neck and throat, and reigns over Ireland, Great Poland, part of Russia, Holland, Persia, Asia Minor, the Archi- pelago, Mantua, Leipsic, etc. It is a feminine sign, and unfortunate. Gemini is the house of Mercury. The native of Gemini an exorbitant fire, I framed these two hieroglyphics, as represented in the book, which in effect have proved very tme.' ' Did you foresee the year?' said one. ' I did not,' said Lilly ; ' nor was desirous ; of that I made no scrutiny. Now, sir, whether there was any design of burn- ing the city, or any employed to that purpose, I must deal ingenuously with you, that since the fire I have taken much pains in the search thereof, but cannot or could not give myself the least satisfaction therein. I conclude that it was the finger of God only ; but what in- struments He used thereunto 1 am ignorant.' ASTROLOGY. 25 will have a sanguine complexion and tall, straight figure, dark eyes quick and piercing, brown hair, active ways, and will be of exceedingly ingenious intellect. It governs the arms and shoulders, and rules over the south-west parts of England, America, Flanders, Lombardy, Sardinia, Armenia, Lower Egypt, London, Versailles, Brabant, etc It is a masculine sign, and fortunate. Cancer is the house of the Moon and exaltation of Jupiter, and its native will be of fair but pale complexion, round face, grey or mild blue eyes, weak voice, the upper part of the body large, slender arms, small feet, and an effeminate constitution. It governs the breast and the stomach, and reigns over Scotland, Holland, Zealand, Burgundy, Africa, Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, Constantinople, New York, etc. It is a feminine sign, and unfortunate. The native bom under Leo will be of large body, broad shoulders, austere countenance, with dark eyes and tawny hair, strong voice, and leonine character, resolute and ambitious, but generous, free, and courteous. Leo governs the heart and back, and reigns over Italy, Bohemia, France, Sicily, Rome, Bristol, Bath, Taunton, Philadelphia, etc. It is a masculine sign, and fortunate. Virgo is the joy of Mercury. Its natives are 0/ moderate stature, seldom handsome, slender but compact, thrifty and ingenious. It governs the abdomen, and reigns over Turkey both in Europe and Asia, Greece, and Mesopo- tamia, Crete, Jerusalem, Paris, Lyons, etc It is a feminine sign, and generally unfortunate. Libra is the house of Venus. The natives of Libra are tall and well made, elegant in person, round-faced and ruddy, but plain-featured and 'inclined to eruptions that disfigure the face when old ; they' (the natives) ' are of sweet disposition, just and upright in dealing.' It governs the lumbar regions, and reigns over Austria, Alsace, Savoy, 26 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. Portugal, Livonia, India, Ethiopia, Lisbon, Vienna, Frank- fort, Antwerp, Charleston, etc. It is a masculine sign, and fortunate. Scorpio is, hke Aries, the house of Mars, ' and also his joy.' Its natives are strong, corpulent, and robust, with large bones, 'dark curly hair and eyes' (presumably the eyes dark only, not curly), middle stature, dusky com- plexion, active bodies ; they are usually reserved in speech. It governs the region of the groin, and reigns over Judsea, Mauritania, Catalonia, Norway, West Silesia, Upper Batavia, Barbar)% Morocco, Valentia, Messina, etc. It is feminine, and unfortunate. (It would appear likely, by the way, that astrology was a purely masculine science.) Sagittarius is the house and joy of Jupiter. Its natives are well formed and tall, ruddy, handsome, and jovial, with fine clear eyes, chestnut hair, and oval fleshy face. They are ' generally jolly fellows at either bin or board,' active, intrepid, generous, and obliging. It governs the legs and thighs,^ and reigns over Arabia Felix, Spain, Hungary, Moravia, Liguria, Narbonne, Cologne, Avignon, eta It is masculine, and of course fortunate. Capricorn is the house of Saturn and exaltation of Mars. This sign gives to its natives a dry constitution and slender make, with a long thin visage, thin beard (a generally goaty aspect, in fact), dark hair, long neck, narrow chin, and weak knees. It governs, nevertheless, the knees and hams, and reigns over India, Macedonia, Thrace and Greece, Mexico, Saxony, Wilna, Mecklenburgh, Brandenburg, and Oxford. It is feminine, and unfortunate. 1 Sir Toby "Belch and Sir Andrew Aguecheek were evidently not well taught in astrology. ' Shall' we set about some revels ? ' says the latter. 'What shall we do else?' says Toby; 'were we not bom under Taurus ?' ' Taurus, that's sides and heart,' says sapient Andrew. ' No, sir,' responds Toby, ' it's legs and thighs. Let me see thee caper. ' ASTROLOGY. 27 Aquarius also is the house of Saturn. Its natives are robust, steady, strong, healthy, and of middle stature ; deli- cate complexion, clear but not pale, sandy hair, hazel eyes, and generally an honest disposition. It governs the legs and ankles, and reigns over Arabia, Petraea, Tartary, Russia, Denmark, Lower Sweden, Westphalia, Hamburg, and Bremen. It is masculine, and fortunate. Pisces is the house of Jupiter and exaltation of Venus. Its natives are short, pale, thick-set, and round-shouldered (like fish), its character phlegmatic and effeminate. It governs the feet and toes, and reigns over Portugal, Spain, Egypt, Normandy, Galicia, Ratisbon, Calabria, etc. It is feminine, and therefore, naturally, unfortunate. Let us next consider the influences assigned to the various planets and constellations. Though we can understand that in old times the planets and stars were regarded as exercising very potent influences upon the fates of men and nations,' it is by no means easy to understand how astrologers came to assign to each planet its special influence. That is, it is not easy to understand how they could have been led to such a result by actual reasoning, still less by any process of observa- 1 'This is the excellent foppery of the world, that, when we are sick in fortune (often the surfeit of our own behavioiu:), we make guilty of our disasters the sun, moon, and stars : as if we were villains on necessity ; fools by heavenly compulsion ; knaves, thieves, and treacherous by spherical predominance ; drunkards, liars, and adul- terers, by inforced obedience of planetary influence ; and all that we are, evil, by a divine thrusting on.' — Shakespeare (King Lear). ' There are few things more remarkable, or to reasoning minds more inexplicable, than the readiness with which men undertook in old times, and even now undertake, to interpret omens and assign pro- phetic significance to casual events. One can understand that foolish persons should believe in omens, and act upon the ideas suggested by 28 MYTHS AND MAR VELS OF ASTRONOMY. the possibility of determining the special influences of the stars ; and we should have expected to find some scientific process adopted for the purpose. Yet, so far as can be judged, the influences assigned to the planets depended on entirely fanciful considerations. In some cases we seem almost to see the line along which the fancies of the old astrologers led them, just as in some cases we can perceive how mythological superstitions (which are closely related to astrological ideas) had their origin ; though it is not quite clear whether the planets were first regarded as deities with special qualities, and these qualities afterwards assigned to the planetary influences, or whether the planetary influences were first assigned, and came eventually to be regarded as the qualities of the deities associated with the several planets. It is easy, for instance, to understand why astrologers should have regarded the sun as the emblem of kingly power and dignity, and equally easy to understand why, to the sun regarded as a deity, corresponding qualities should have been ascribed ; but it is not easy to determine whether their superstitions. The difEculty is to comprehend how these super- stitions came into existence. For instance, who first conceived the idea that a particular line in the palm of the hand is the line of life ; and what can possibly have suggested so absurd a notion ? To whom did the thought first present itself that the pips on playing-cards are significant of future events ; and why did he think so ? How did the ' grounds ' of a teacup come to acquire that deep significance which they now possess for Mrs. Gamp and Betsy Prig ? If the believers in ihese absurdities be asked why they believe, they answer readily enough either that they themselves or their friends have known remarkable fulfilments of the ominous indications of cards or tea-dregs, which must of necessity be the case where millions of forecasts are daily made by these instructive methods. But the persons who first invented those means of divination can have had no such reasons. They must have possessed imaginations of singular liveliness and not wanting in in. genuity. It is a pity that we know so little of them. ASTROLOGY. 29 the astrological or the Sabaistic superstitions were the earlier. And in like manner of the moon and planets. There seems to me no sufficient evidence in favour of Whewell's opinion, that ' in whatever manner the sun, moon, and planets came to be identified with gods and goddesses, the characters ascribed to these gods and goddesses, regulated the virtues and powers of the stars which bear their names.' As he himself very justly remarks, 'We do not possess any of the speculations of the earlier astrologers; and we cannot, therefore, be certain that the notions which operated in men's minds when the art had its birth, agreed with the views on which it was afterwards defended.' He does not say why he infers that, though at later periods supported by physical analogies, it was originally suggested by mythological beliefs. Quite as probably mythological beliefs were suggested by astrological notions. Some of these beliefs, indeed, seem manifestly to have been so suggested ; as the character of the deity Mercury, from the rapid motions of the planet Mercury, and the difficulty of detecting it ; the character of Mars from the blood-red hue of the planet when close to the horizon, and so forth. Let us examine, however, the characteristics ascribed by astrologers to various planets. It is unfortunate for astrology that, despite the asserted careful comparison of events with the planetary positions preceding and indicating them, nothing was ever observed which seemed to suggest the possibility that there may be an unknown planet ruling very strongly the affairs of men. Astrologers tell us now that Uranus is a very potent planet ; yet the old astrologers seem to have got on very well without him. By the way, one of the moderns, the grave Raphael, gives a very singular account of the discov- ery of Uranus, in a book published sixteen years before Neptune was discovered by just such a process as Raphael 30 MYTHS AND MAR VELS OF ASTRONOMY. imagined in the case of Uranus. He says that Drs. Halley, Bradley, and others, having frequently observed that Saturn was disturbed in his motion by some force exerted from beyond his orbit, and being unable to account for the disturbance on the known principles of gravitation, pursued their enquiry into the matter, ' till at length the discovery of this hitherto unknown planet covered their labours with success, and has enabled us to enlarge our present solar system to nearly double its bounds.' Of course there is not a word of truth in this ; Uranus having been discovered by accident long after Halley and Bradley were in the grave. But the account suggests what might have been, and curiously anticipates the actual manner in which Neptune was discovered. Astrologers agree in attributing evil effects to Uranus. But the evil he does is always peculiarly strange, unaccount- able, and totally unexpected. He causes the native bom under his influence to be of a very eccentric and original disposition, romantic, unsettled, addicted to change, a seeker after novelty ; though, if the moon or Mercury have a good aspect towards Uranus, the native will be profound in the secret sciences, magnanimous, and lofty of mind. But let all beware of marriage when Uranus is in the seventh house, or afflicting the moon. And in general, let the fair sex re- member that Uranus is peculiarly hostile to them, and very evil in love. Saturn is the Greater Infortune of the old system ot astrology, and is by universal experience acknowledged to be the most potent, evil, and malignant of all the planets. Those born under him are of dark and pale complexion, with small, black, leering eyes, thick lips and nostrils, large ears, thin face, lowering looks, cloudy aspect, and seemingly melancholy and- unhappy; and though they have broad shoulders, they have but short lips and a thin beard ASTROLOGY. 31 They are in character austere and reserved, covetous, laborious, and revengeful; constant in friendship, and good haters. The most remarkable and certain character- istic of the Saturnine man is that, as an old author observes ' he will never look thee in the face.' ' If they have to love any one, these Saturnines,' says another old author, ' they love most constantly; and if they hate, they hate to the death.' The persons signified symbolically by Saturn are grandparents, and other old persons, day labourers, paupers, beggars, clowns, husbandmen of the meaner sort, and especially undertakers, sextons, and gravediggers. Chaucer thus presents the chief effects which Saturn produces in the fortunes of men and nations — Saturn himself being the speaker : — , . . . quod Satume My cours, that hath so wide for to turne, Hath more power than wot any man. Min is the drenching in the sea so wan, Min is the prison in the derke cote, Min is the strangel and hanging by the throte, The murmure and the cherles rebelling, The groyning, and the prive empoysoning, I do vengaunce and pleine correction, While I dwell in the signe of the leon ; Min is the mine of the high halles, The falling of the toures and of the walles Upon the minour or the carpenter : I slew Sampson in shaking the piler. Min ben also the maladies colde, The derke tresons, and the castes olde : My loking is the fader of pestilence. Jupiter, on the contrary, though Saturn's next neighbour in the solar system, produces effects of an entirely contrary kind. He is, in fact, the most propitious of all the planets, and the native born under his influence has every reason to be jovial in fact as he is by nature. Such a native will 32 MYTHS AND MAR VELS OF ASTRONOMY. be tall and fair, handsome and erect, robust, ruddy, and altogether a good-looking person, whether male or female. The native will also be religious, or at least a good moral honest man, unless Jupiter be afflicted by the aspects of Saturn, Mars, or Uranus ; in which case he may still be a jolly fellow, no man's enemy but his own — only he will probably be his own enemy to a very considerable extent, squandering his means and ruining his health by gluttony and intoxication. The persons represented by Jupiter (when he is not afflicted) are judges, counsellors, church dignitaries, from cardinals to curates, scholars, chancellors, barristers, and the highest orders of lawyers, woollendrapers (possibly there may be some astral significance in the wool- sack), and clothiers. When Jupiter is afflicted, however, he denotes quacks and mountebanks, knaves, cheats, and drunkards. The influence of the planet on the fortunes is nearly always good. Astrologers, who to a man reverence dignities, consider Great Britain fortunate in that the lady whom, with customary effusion, they term ' Our Most Gracious Queen,' was bom when Jupiter was riding high in the heavens near his culmination, this position promising a most fortunate and happy career. The time has passed when the fortunes of this country were likely to be affected by such things ; but we may hope, for the lady's own sake, that this prediction has been fulfilled. Astrologers assert the same about the Duke of Wellington, assigning midnight, May I, 1769, as the hour of his birth. There is some doubt both as to the date and place of the great soldier's birth ; but the astrologer finds in the facts of his life the means of removing all such doubts.' 1 Wellington lived too long for the astrologers, his death within the year having unfortunately been predicted by them many times during the last fifteen years of his life. Some astrologers were more cautious, however. I have before me his horoscope, carefully calcu- ASTROLOGY. 33 Next in order comes Mars, inferior only in malefic in- fluence to Saturn, and called by the old astrologers the Lesser Infortune. The native born under the influence of Mars is usually of fierce countenance, his eyes sparkling. or sharp and darting, his complexion fiery or yellowish, and his countenance scarred or furrowed. His hair is reddish or sandy, unless Mars chances to be in a watery sign, in which case the hair will be flaxen ; or in an earthly sign, in which case the hair will be chestnut. The Martialist is broad-shouldered, steady, and strong, but short,' and often bony and lean. In character the Martialist is fiery and lated, secundum artem, by Raphael in 1828, with results ' sufSciently evincing the surprising verity and singular accuracy of astrological calculations, when founded on the correct time of birth, and mathe- matically calculated. I have chosen,' he proceeds, ' the nativity of this illustrious native, in preference to others, as the subject is now living, and, consequently, all possibility of making up any fictitious horoscope is at once set aside ; thus affording me a most powerful shield against the insidious representations of the envious and ignorant traducer of my sublime science.' By some strange oversight, however, Raphael omits to mention anything respecting the future fortunes of Wellington, showing only how wonderfully Wellington's past career had corresponded with his horoscope. ^ 'I have still observed,' says an old author, 'that your right Martialist doth seldom exceed in height, or be at the most above a yard or a yard and a half in height' (which is surely stint measure). 'It hath been always thus,' said that right Martialist Sir Geoffrey Hudson to Julian Peveril ; ' and in the history of all ages, the clean tight dapper little fellow hath proved an overmatch for his burly antagonist. I need only instance, out of Holy Writ, the celebrated downfall of Goliath and of another lubbard, who had more fingers in his hand, and more inches to his stature, than ought to belong to an honest man, and who was slain by a nephew of good King David ; and of many others whom I do not remember ; nevertheless, they were all Philistines of gigantic stature. In the classics, also, you have Tydeus, and other tight compact heroes, whose diminutive bodies were the abode of large minds.' 34 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. choleric, naturally delighting in war and contention, but generous and magnanimous. This when Mars is well aspected ; should the planet be evil aspected, then will the native be treacherous, thievish, treasonable, cruel, and wicked. The persons signified by Mars are generals, soldiers, sailors (if he is in a watery sign), surgeons, chemists, doctors, armourers, barbers, curriers, smiths, carpenters, bricklayers, sculptors, cooks, and tailors. When afflicted with Mercury or the moon, he denotes thieves, hangmen, and 'all cut throat people.' In fact, except the ploughboy, who belongs to Saturn, all the members of the old septet, 'tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor, apothecary, ploughboy, thief,' are favourites with Mars. The planet's influence is not quite so evil as Saturn's, nor are the effects produced by it so long-lasting. ' The influence of Saturn,' says an astrol- oger, ' may be compared to a lingering but fatal consump- tion ; that of Mars to a burning fever.' He is the cause of anger, quarrels, violence, war, and slaughter. The sun comes next ; for it must be remembered that, according to the old system of astronomy, the sun was a planet Persons born imder the sun as the planet ruling their ascendant, would be more apt to be aware of the fact than Saturnine, Jovial, Martial, or any other folk, because the hour of birth, it remembered, at once determines whether the native is a solar subject or not. The solar native has generally a round face (like pictures of the sun in old books ot astronomy), with a short chin ; his com- plexion somewhat sanguine ; curling sandy hair and a white tender skin. As to character, he is bold and resolute desirous of praise, of slow speech and composed judgment ; outwardly decorous, but privately not altogether virtuous. The sun, in fact, according to astrologers, is the natural significator of respectability ; for which I can discover no reason, unless it be that the sun travelling always in the ASTROLOGY. 35 ecliptic has no latitude, and so solar folk are allowed none. When the sun is ill aspected, the native is both proud and mean, tyrannical and sycophantic, exceedingly unamiable, and generally disliked because of his arrogance and igno- rant pomposity. The persons signified by the sun are em- perors, kings, and titled folk generally, goldsmiths, jewellers, and coiners. When ' afflicted,' the sun signifies pretenders either to power or knowledge. The sun's influence is not in itself either good or evil, but is most powerful for good when he is favourably aspected, and for evil when he is afflicted by other planets. Venus, the next in order, bore the same relation to the Greater Fortune Jupiter which Mars bore to Saturn the Greater Ill-fortune. She was the Lesser Fortune, and her influence was in nearly all respects benevolent. The persons born under the influence of this planet are hand- some, with beautiful sparkling hazel or black eyes (but another authority assigns the subject of Venus, 'a full eye, usually we say goggle-eyed,' by which we do not usually imply beauty), ruddy lips, the upper lip short, soft smooth hair, dimples in the cheek and chin, an amorous look and a sweet voice. One old astrologer puts the matter thus pleasantly : — ' The native of Venus hath,' quoth he, ' a love- dimple in the chin, a lovely mouth, cherry lips, and a right merry countenance.' In character the native of Venus is merry 'to a fault,' but of temper engaging, sweet and cheerful, unless she be ill aspected, when her native is apt to be too fond of pleasure and amusement. That her influence is good is shown (in the opinion of Raphael, writing in 1828) by the character of George IV., 'our present beloved monarch and most gracious majesty, who was bom just as this benevolent star ' was in the ascendant ; 'for it is well known to all Europe what a refined and polished genuis, and what exquisite taste, the King of 36 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. England possesses, which therefore may be cited as a most illustrious proof of the celestial science ; a proof likewise which is palpably demonstrable, even to the most casual observer, since the time of his nativity is taken from the public journals of the period, and cannot be gainsaid.' ' This illustrious and regal horoscope is replete with wonder- ful verifications of planetary influence, and England cannot but prosper while she is blessed with the mild and benefi- cent sway of this potent monarch.' Strengthened in faith by this convincing proof of the celestial science, we proceed to notice that Venus is the protectrice of musicians, em- broiderers, perfumers, classic modellers, and all who work _ in elegant attire or administer to the luxuries of the great ; but when she is aflSicted, she represents ' the lower orders of the votaries of voluptuousness.' Mercury is considered by astrologers ' a cold, dry, melancholy star.' The Mercurial is neither dark nor fair, but between both, long-faced, with high forehead and thin sharp nose, ' thin beard (many times none at all), slender of body, and with small weak eyes ;' long slender hands and fingers are ' especial marks of Mercury,' says Raphael In character the Mercurial is busy and prattling. But when well affect- ed. Mercury gives his subjects a strong, vigorous, active mind, searching and exhaustive, a retentive memory, a natural thirst for knowledge.^ The persons signified by Mercury are astrologers, philosophers, mathematicians, poli- ticians, merchants, travellers, teachers, poets, artficers, men of science, and all ingenious, clever men. When he is ill affected, however, he represents pettifoggers, cunning vile persons, thieves, messengers, footmen, and servants, etc The moon comes last in planetary sequence, as nearest ^ It is likely that Swedenborg in his youth studied astrology, for in his visions the Mercurial folk have this desire of knowledge as their distinguishing characteristic. ASTROLOGY. 37 to the earth. She is regarded by astrologers as a cold, moist, watery, phlegmatic planet, variable to an extreme, and, like the sun, partaking of good or evil according as she is aspected favourably or the reverse. Her natives are of good stature, fair, and pale, moon-faced, with grey eyes, short arms, thick hands and feet, smooth, corpulent and phlegmatic body. When she is in watery signs, the native has freckles on the face, or, says Lilly, ' he or she is blub- cheeked, not a handsome body, but a muddling creature.' Unless the moon is very well aspected, she ever signfies an ordinary vulgar person. She signifies sailors (not as Mars does, the fighting-men of war-ships, but nautical folk generally) and all persons connected with water or any kind of fluid ; also all who are engaged in inferior and common offices. We may note, in passing, that to each planet a special metal is assigned, as also particular colours. Chaucer, in the Chanones Yemannes' Tale, succinctly describes the dis- tribution of the metals among the planets : — Sol gold is, and Luna silver we threpe ; Mars iren, Mercurie silver we clepe : Satumus led, and Jupiter is tin, And Venus coper, by my [the Chanones Yemannes'] faderkin. The colours are thus assigned : — to Saturn, black ; to Jupiter, mixed red and green ; to Mars, red ; to the sun, yellow or yellow-purple ; to Venus, white or purple ; to Mercury, azure blue ; to the moon, a colour spotted with white and other mixed colours. Again, the planets were supposed to have special in- fluence on the seven, ages of human life. The infant, ' mewling and puking in the nurse's arms,' was very appro- priately dedicated to the moist moon ; the whining school- boy (did schoolboys whine in the days of good Queen 38 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. Bess?) was less appropriately assigned to Mercury, the patron of those who eagerly seek after knowledge : then very naturally, the lover sighing like furnace was regarded as the special favourite of Venus. Thus far the order has been that of the seven planets of the ancient astrology, in supposed distance. Now, however, we have to pass over the sun, finding Mars the patron of mid life, appropriately (in this respect) presiding over the soldier full of strange oaths, and so forth ; the ' justice in fair round belly with good capon lined ' is watched over by the respectable sun ; maturer age by Jupiter ; and, lastly, old age by Saturn. Colours were also assigned to the twelve zodiacal signs — to Aries, white and red ; to Taurus, white and lemon ; to Gemini, white and red (the same as Aries) ; to Cancer, green or russet ; to Leo, red or green ; to Virgo, black speckled with blue ; to Libra, black, or dark crimson, or tawny colour ; to Scorpio, brown ; to Sagittarius, yellow, or a green sanguine (this is as strange a colour as the gris rouge of Molicre's L Atari) ; Capricorn, black or russet, or a swarthy brown ; to Aquarius, a sky- coloured blue ; to Pisces, white gUstening colour (like a fish just taken out of the water). The chief fixed stars had various influences assigned to them by astrologers. These influences were mostly asso- ciated with the imaginary figures of the constellations. Thus the bright star in the head of Aries, called by some the Ram's Horn, was regarded as dangerous and evil, denoting bodily hurts. The star Menkar in the Whale's jaw denoted sickness, disgrace, and ill-fortune, with danger from great beasts. Betelgeux, the bright star on Orion's right shoulder, denoted martial honours or wealth ; Bella- trix, the star on Orion's left shoulder, denoted military or civic honours ; Rigel, on Orion's left foot, denoted honours ; Sirius and Procyon, the greater and lesser Dog Stars, both ASTROLOGY. 39 implied wealth and renown. Star clusters seem to have portended loss of sight ; at least we learn that the Pleiades were ' eminent stars,' but denoting accidents to the sight oi blindness, while the cluster Prsesepe or the Beehive in like manner threatened blindness. The cluster in Perseus does not seem to have been noticed by astrologers. The variable star Algol or Caput Medusae, which marks the head of Gorgon, was accounted ' the most unfortunate, violent, and dangerous star in the heavens.' It is tolerably clear that the variable character of this star had been detected long before Montanari (to whom the discovery is commonly attributed) noticed the phenomenon. The name Algol is only a variation of Al-ghul, the monster or demon, and it cannot be doubted that the demoniac, Gorgonian character assigned to this star was suggested by its ominous change, as though it were the eye of some fierce monster slowly winking amid the gloom of space. The two stars called the Aselli, which lie on either side of the cluster Prsesepe, ' are said ' (by astrologers) ' to be of a burning nature, and to give great indications of a violent death, or of violent and severe accidents by fire. The star called Cor Hydrae, or the serpent's heart, denotes trouble through women (said I not rightly that Astrology was a masculine science ?) ; the Lion's heart, Regulus, implied glory and riches; Deneb, the Lion's tail, misfortune and disgrace. The southern scale of Libra meant bad fortune, while the northern was emi- nently fortunate. Astrology was divided into three distinct branches — the doctrine of nativities, horary astrology, and state astrology. The first assigned the rules for determining the general for- tunes of the native, by drawing up his scheme of nativity or casting his horoscope. It took into account the positions' of the various planets, signs, stars, etc., at the time of the native's birth; and as the astrologer could calculate the to MYTHS AND MAR VELS OF ASTRONOMY. movements of the planets thereafter, he could find when those planets which were observed by the horoscope to be most closely associated with the native's fortunes would be well aspected or the reverse. Thus the auspicious and un- lucky epochs of the native's life could be predetermined. The astrologer also claimed some degree of power to rule the planets, not by modifying their movements in any way, but by indicating in what way the ill effects portended by their positions could be prevented. The Arabian and Persian astrologers, having less skill than the followers of Ptolemy, made use of a different method of determining the fortunes of men, not calculating the positions of the planets for many years following the birth of the native, but assigning to every day after his birth a whole year of his life and for every two hours' motion of the moon one month. Thus the positions of the stars and planets, twenty-one days after the birth of the native, would indi- cate the events corresponding to the time when he would have completed his twenty-first year. There was another system called the Placidian, in which the eflFects of the positions of the planets were judged with sole reference to the motion of the earth upon her axis. It is satisfactory to find astrologers in harmony amongst each other as to these various methods, which one would have supposed likely to give entirely different results. ' Each of them,' says a modern astrologer, 'is not only correct and ap- proved by long-tried practice, but may be said to defy the least contradiction from those who will but take the pains to examine them (and no one else should deliver an opinion upon the subject). Although each of the above methods are different, yet they by no means contradict each other, but each leads to true results, and in many instances they each lead to the foreknowledge of the same event ■ in which respect they may be compared to the ascent of a ASTROLOGY. 41 mountain by different paths, where, although some paths are longer and more difficult than others, they notwithstand- ing all lead to the same object' All which, though plausible in tone labours under the disadvantage of being untrue. Ptolemy is careful to point out, in his celebrated work the ' Tetrabiblos,' that, of all events whatsoever which take place after birth, the most essential is the continuance of life. 'It is useless,' he says, 'to consider what events might happen to the native in later years if his hfe does not extend, for instance, beyond one year. So that the enquiry into the duration of Hfe takes precedence of all others.' In order to deal properly with this question, it is necessary to determine what planet shall be regarded as the Hyleg, Apheta, or Lord of Life, for the native. Next the Anareta, or Destroyer of Life, must be ascertained. The Anaretic planets are, by nature, Saturn, Mars, and Uranus, though the sun, moon, and Mercury may be endowed with the same fatal influence, if suitably afflicted. The various ways in which the Hyleg, or Giver of Life, may be afflicted by the Anareta, correspond to the various modes of death. But astrologers have always been singu- larly careful, in casting horoscopes, to avoid definite refer- ence to the native's death. There are but few cases where the actual day of death is said to have been assigned. One is related in Clarendon's ' History of the Rebellion.' He tells us that William Earl of Pembroke died at the age of fifty, on the day upon which his tutor Sandford had pre- dicted his decease. Burton, the author of the ' Anatomy of Melancholy,' having cast his own horoscope, and ascer- tained that he was to die on January 23, 1639, is said to have committed suicide in order that the accuracy of his calculations might not be called in question. A similar story is related of Cardan by Dr. Young (Sidrophel Vapulans), on the authority of Gassendi, who, however. 42 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. says only that either Cardan starved himself, or, being con fident in his art, took the predicted day for a fatal one, and by his fears made it so. Gassendi adds that while Cardan pretended to describe the fates of his children in his voluminous commentaries, he all the while never suspected, from the rules of his great art, that his dearest son would be condemned in the flower of his youth to be beheaded on a scaffold, by an executioner of justice, for destroying his own wife by poison. Horary astrology relates to particular questions, and is a comparatively easy branch of the science. The art of casting nativities requires many years of study ; but horary astrology 'may be well understood,' says Lilly, 'in less than a quarter of a year.' ' If a proposition of any nature,' he adds, ' be made to any individual, about the result of which he is anxious, and therefore uncertain whether to accede to it or not, let him but note the hour and minute when it was first made, and erect a figure of the heavens, and his doubts will be instantly resolved. He may thus in five minutes learn whether the affair will sue- ■ ceed or not : and consequently whether it is prudent to accept the offer made or not. If he examine the sign on the first house of the figure, the planet therein, or the planet ruling the sign, will exactly describe the party making the offer, both in person and character, and this may at once convince the enquirer for truth of the reality of the principles of the science. Moreover, the descending sign, etc, will describe his own person and character — a farther proof of the truth of the science.' There is one feature of horary astrology which is prob- ably almost as ancient as any portion of the science, yet which remains even to the present day, and will probably remain for many years to come. I refer to the influence which the planets were supposed to exert on the successive ASTROLOGY. 43 hours of every day — a belief from which the division of time into weeks of seven days unquestionably had its origin — though we may concede that the subdivision of the lunar month into four equal parts was also considered in selecting this convenient measure of time. Every hour had its planet. Now dividing twenty-four by seven, we get three and three over ; whence, each day containing twenty- four hours, it follows that in each day the complete series of seven planets was run through three times, and three planets of the next series were used. The order of the planets was that of their distances, as indicated above. Saturn came first, then Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury, and the Moon. Beginning with Saturn, as ruling the first hour of Saturn's day (Saturday), we get through the above series three times, and have for the last three hours of the day, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars. Thus the next hour, the first hour of the next day, belongs to the sun — Sunday follows Saturday. We again run three times through the series, and the three remaining hours are governed by the sun, Venus, and Mercury, — giving the moon as the first planet for the next day. Monday thus follows Sunday. The last three hours of Monday are ruled by the moon, Saturn, and Jupiter ; leaving Mars to govern the next day — Martis dies, Mardi, Tuesday or Tuisco's day. Proceeding in the same way, we get Mercury for the next day, Mercurii dies, Mercredi, Wednesday or Woden's day ; Jupiter for the next day, Jovis dies, Jeudi, Thursday or Thor's day ; Venus for the next day, Veneris dies, Vendredi, Friday or Freya's day ; and so we come to Saturday again. ' 1 It is singular that, when there is this perfectly simple explanation of the origin of the nomenclature of the days of the week, an explana- tion given by ancient historians and generally received, Whewell should have stated that ' various accounts are given, all the methods proceed- ing upon certain arbitrary arithmetical processes connected in some way 44 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. The period of seven days, which had its origin in, and derived its nomenclature from astrological ideas, shows by- its wide prevalence how widely astrological superstitions were once spread among the nations. As Whewell remarks (though, for reasons which will readily be understood he was by no means anxious to dwell upon the true origin oi the Sabbatical week), ' the usage is found over all the Easf; it existed among the Arabians, Ass3rrians, and Egyptians. The same week is found in India, among the Brahmins ; it has there also its days marked by the names of the heavenly bodies ; and it has been ascertained that the same day has, in that country, the name corresponding with its designation in other nations. . . . The period has gone on without interruption or irregularity from the earliest re- corded times to our own days, traversing the extent of with astrological views.' Speaking of the arrangement of the planets in the order of their supposed distances, and of the order in which the planets appear in the days of the week, he says, ' It would be difficult to determine with certainty why the former order was adopted, and how and why the latter was derived from it ' But, in reality, there is no difficulty about either point. The former arrangement corresponded precisely with the periodic times of the seven planets of the old Egyptian system (unquestionably far more ancient than the system adopted by the Greeks), while the latter springs directly from the former. Assign to the hours of the day, successively, the seven planets in the former order, continuing the sequence witliout interruption day after day, and in the course of seven days each one of the planets will have ruled the first hour of a day, in the order, — Saturn, the sun, the moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, and Venus. What arbitrary arithmeti- cal process there is in this it would be difficult to conceive. Arithmetic does not rule the method at all. Nor has any other method ever been suggested ; though this method has been presented in several ways, some arithmetical and some geometrical. We need then have no difficulty in understanding what seems so preplexing to Whewell, the universality, namely, of the notions ' which have produced this result,' for the notions were not fantastic, but such as naturally sprang from the ideas on which astrology itself depends. ASTROLOGY. 45 ages and the revolutions of empires ; the names of ancient deities, which were associated with the stars, were replaced by those of the objects of the worship of our Teutonic ancestors, according to their views of the correspondence of the two mythologies ; and the Quakers, in rejecting these names of days, have cast aside the most ancient exist ing relic of astrological as well as idolatrous superstition. Not only do the names remain, but some of the obser vances connected with the old astrological systems re- main even to this day. As ceremonies derived from Pagan worship are still continued, though modified in form, and with a different interpretation, in Christian and especially Roman Catholic observances, so among the Jews and among Christians the rites and ceremonies of the old Egyptian and Chaldean astrology are still continued, though no longer interpreted as of yore. The great Jewish Law- giver and those who follow him seem, for example, to have recognised the value of regular periods of rest (whether really required by man or become a necessity through long habit), but to have been somewhat in doubt how best to continue the practice without sanctioning the superstitions with which it had been connected. At any rate two dif- ferent and inconsistent interpretations were given in the earlier and later codes of law. But whether the Jews accepted the Sabbath because they believed that an All- powerful Being, having created the world in six days, required and took rest (' and was refreshed ') on the seventh, as stated in Exodus (xx. 11 and xxxi. 17), or whether they did so in remembrance of their departure from Egypt, as stated in Deuteronomy (v. 15), there can be no question that among the Egyptians the Sabbath or Saturn's day was a day of rest because of the malignant nature of the power- ful planet-deity who presided over that day. Nor can it be seriously doubted that the Jews descended from the old 46 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. Chaldeans, among whom (as appears from stone inscriptions recently discovered) the very word Sabbath was in use for a seventh day of rest connected with astrological observ- ances, were familiar with the practice even before their sojourn in Egypt. They had then probably regarded it as a superstitious practice to be eschewed like those idolatrous observances which had caused Terah to remove with Abra- ham and Lot from Ur of the Chaldees. At any rate, we find no mention of the seventh day of rest as a religious observance until after the Exodus. It was not their only religious observance having in reality an astrological origin. Indeed, if we examine the Jewish sacrificial system as de- 1 The following remarks by the Astronomer- Royal on this subject seem to me just, in the main. They accord with what I had said earlier in my essay on Saturn and the Sabbath of the Jews {' Our Place among Infinities,' nth essay). ' The importance which Moses attached to it [the hebdomadal rest] is evident ; and, with all reverence, I recognise to the utmost degree the justice of his views. No direction was given for religious ceremonial ' (he seems to have overlooked Numbers xxviii. 9, and cognate passages), ' but it was probably seen that the health given to the mind by a rest from ordinary cares, and by the opportunity of meditation, could not fail to have a most beneficial religious effect. But, to give sanction to this precept, the authority of at least a myth was requisite. I believe it was simply for this reason that the myth of the six days of creation was preserved. It is expressly cited in the first delivery of the commandments, as the solemn authority (Exodus xxxi. 17) for the command. It is remarkable that at the second mention of the commandment (Deuteronomy v.) no reference is made to the creation ; perhaps, after the complete estab- lishment of Jehovistic ideas in the minds of the Israelites, they had nearly lost the recollection of the Elohistic account, and it was not thought desirable to refer to it' (Aiiy, ' On the Early Hebrew Scriptures,' p. 17). It must be regarded as a singular instance of the persistency of myths, if this view be con-ect, that a myth which had become ob- solete for the Jews between the time of Moses and that of the writer (whoever he may have been) who produced the so-called Mosaic book of Deuteronoijiy, should thereafter have been revived, and have come to be regarded by the Jews themselves and by Christians as the Word of God. ASTROLOGY. 47 scribed in Numbers xxviii. and elsewhere, we shall find throughout a tacit reference to the motions or influences of the celestial bodies. There was the morning and evening sacrifice guided by the movements of the sun ; the Sabbath offering, determined by the predominance of Saturn ; the offering of the new moon, depending on the motions of the moon ; and lastly, the Paschal sacrifice, depending on the combined movements of the sun and moon — made, in fact, during the lunation following the sun's ascending passage of the equator at the sign of Aries. Let us return, however, after this somewhat long digres- sion, to astrological matters. Horary astrology is manifestly much better fitted than the casting of nativities for filling the pocket of the astro- loger himself; because only one nativity can be cast, but any number of horary questions, can be asked. It is on account of their skill in horary astrology that the Zadkiels of our own time have occasionally found their way into the twelfth house, or House of Enemies. Even Lilly himself, not devoting, it would seem, five minutes to inquire into the probable success of the affair, was indicted in 1655 by a half-witted young woman, because he had given judgment respecting stolen goods, receiving two shillings and sixpence, contrary to an Act made under and provided by the wise and virtuous King James, First of England and Sixth of Scotland. State astrology relates to the destinies of kingdoms, thrones, empires, and may be regarded as a branch of horary science relating to subjects (and rulers) of more than ordinary importance. In former ages all persons likely to occupy an import- ant position in the history of the world had their horo scopes erected ; but in these degenerate days neither the casting of nativities nor the art of ruling the planets 48 MYTHS AND MAR VELS OF ASTRONOMY. flourishes as it should do. Our Zadkiels and Raphaels publish, indeed, the horoscopes of kings and emperors, princes and princesses, and so forth; but their fate is as that of Benedict (according to Beatrice) — men ' wonder they will still be talking, for nobody marks them.' Even those whose horoscopes have been erected show no proper respect for the predictions made in their behalf. Thus the Prince of Wales being bom when Sagittarius was in the ascendant should have been, according to Zadkiel, a tall man, with oval face, ruddy complexion, somewhat dusky, and so forth ; but I understand he has by no means followed these direc- tions as to his appearance. The sun, being well aspected, prognosticated honours — a most remarkable and unlooked- for circumstance, strangely fulfilled by the event ; but then being in Cancer, in sextile with Mars, the Prince of Wales was to be partial to maritime affairs and attain naval glory, whereas as a field-marshal he can only win military glory. (I would not be understood to say that he is not quite as competent to lead our fleets as our battalions into action.) The House of Wealth was occupied by Jupiter, aspected by Saturn, which betokened great wealth through inheritance — a prognostication, says Professor Miller, which is not unlikely to come true. The House of Marriage was unsettled by the conflicting influences of Venus, Mars, and Saturn ; but the first predominating, the Prince, after some trouble in his matrimonial speculations, was to marry a Princess of high birth, and one not undeserving of his kindest and most affectionate attention, probably in 1862. As to the date, an almanack informs me that the Prince married a Danish Princess in March 1863, which looks like a most culpable neglect of the predictions of our national astrologer. Again, in May 1870, when Saturn was sta- tionary in the ascending degree, the Prince ought to have been injured by a horse, and also to have received a blow ASTROLOGY. 49 on the left side of the head, near the ear ; but reprehensibly omitted both these ceremonies. A predisposition to fever and epileptic attacks was indicated by the condition of the House of Sickness. The newspapers described, a few years since, a serious attack of fever ; but as most persons have some experience of the kind, the fulfilment of the pre- diction can hardly be regarded as very wonderful. Epileptic attacks, which, as less common, might have saved the credit of the astrologers, have not visited 'this royal native.' The position of Saturn in Capricorn betokened loss or disaster in one or other of the places ruled over by Capri- corn — ^which, as we have seen, are India, Macedonia, Thrace, Greece, Mexico, Saxony, Wilna, Mecklenburgh, Branden- burgh, and Oxford. Professor Miller expresses the hope that Oxford was the place indicated, and the disaster nothing more serious than some slight scrape with the authorities of Christchurch. But princes never get into scrapes with college dons. Probably some one or other of the ' hair- breadth 'scapes ' chronicled by the reporters of his travels in India was the event indicated by the ominous position of Saturn in Capricorn. A remarkable list of characteristics were derived by Zadkiel from the positions of the various planets and signs in the twelve houses of the ' royal native.' Some, of course, were indicated in more ways than one, which will explain the parenthetical notes in the following alphabetical table which Professor Miller has been at the pains to draw up from Zadkiel's predictions. The prince was to be ' acute, affectionate, amiable, amorous, austere, avaricious, bene- ficent, benevolent, brave, brilhant, calculated for govern- ment' (a quality which may be understood two ways), 'candid, careful of his person, careless, compassionate, courteous (twice over), delighting in eloquence, discreet, envious, fond of glory, fond of learning, fond of music, fond 50 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. of poetry, fond of sports, fond of the arts and sciences, frank, fall of expedients, generous (three times), gracious, honour- able, hostile to crime, impervious, ingenious, inoffensive, joyous, just (twice), laborious, liberal, lofty, magnanimous, modest, noble, not easy to be understood (!), parsimonious, pious (twice), profound in opinion, prone to regret his acts, prudent, rash, religious, reverent, self-confident, sincere, singular in mode of thinking, strong, temperate, unreserved, unsteady, valuable in friendship, variable, versatile^ violent, volatile, wily, and worthy.' Zadkiel concludes thus : — ' The square of Saturn to the moon will add to the gloomy side of the picture, and give a tinge of melancholy at times to the native's character, and also a disposition to look at the dark side of things, and lead him to despondency ; nor wiU he be at all of a sanguine character, but cool and cal- culating, though occasionally rash. Yet, all things con- sidered, though firm and sometimes positive in opinion, this royal native, if he live to mount the throne, will sway the sceptre of these realms in moderation and justice, and be a pious and benevolent man, and a merciful sovereign.' Fortunately, the time has long since passed when swaying the sceptre of these realms had any but a figurative mean- ing, or when Englishmen who obeyed their country's laws depended on the mercy of any man, or when even bad citizens were judged by princes. But -ne still prefer that princes should be well-mannered gentlemen, and therefore it is sincerely to be hoped that Zadkiel's prediction, so far as it relates to piety and benevolence, may be fulfilled, should this ' royal native ' live to mount the throne. As for mercy, it is a goodly quality even in these days and in this country ; for if the law no longer tolerates cruelty to men, even on the' part of princes, who once had prescribed rights in that direction, there are still some cruel, nay brutal sports in which ' royal natives ' might sometimes be ASTROLOGY. 51 tempted to take part. Wherefore let us hope that, even in regard to mercy, the predictions of astrologers respecting this ' royal native ' may be fulfilled. Passing however, from trivialities, let us consider the lessons which the history of astrology teaches us respecting the human mind, its powers and weaknesses. It has been well remarked by Whewell that for many ages ' mysticism in its various forms was a leading character both of the common mind and the speculations of the most intelligent and profound reasoners.' Thus mysticism was the opposite of that habit of thought which science requires, 'namely, clear ideas, distinctly employed to connect well-ascertained facts ; inasmuch as the ideas in which it dealt were vague and unstable, and the temper in which they were contem- plated was an urgent and aspiring enthusiasm, which could not submit to a calm conference with experience upon even terms.' We have seen what has been the history of one particular form of the mysticism of ancient and mediaeval ages. If we had followed the history of alchemy, magic, and other forms of mysticism, we should have seen similar results. True science has gradually dispossessed science falsely so called, until now none but the weaker minds hold by the tenets formerly almost universally adopted. In mere numbers, believers in the ancient superstitions may be by no means insignificant ; but they no longer have any influence. It has become a matter of shame to pay any attention to what those few say or do who not merely hold but proclaim the ancient faith in these matters. We can also see why this has been. In old times enthusiasm usurped the place of reason in these cases ; but opinions so formed and so retained could not maintain their ground in the presence of reasoning and experience. So soon as in- telligent and thoughtful men perceived that facts were against the supposed mysterious influences of the stars, the 52 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. asserted powers of magicians, the pretended knowledge of alchemists, the false teachings of magic, alchemy, and astrology, were rejected. The lesson thus learned respect- ing erroneous doctrines which were once widely prevalent has its application in our time, when, though the influence of those teachings has passed away, other doctrines formerly associated with them still hold their ground. Men in old times, influenced by erroneous teachings, wasted their time and energies in idle questionings of the stars, vain efforts to find Arcana of mysterious power, and to acquire magical authority over the elements. Is it altogether clear that in these our times men are not hampered, prevented to some degree from doing all the good they, might do in the short life-time allotted to them, by doctrines of another kind ? Is there in our day no undue sacrifice of present good in idle questionings? is there no tendency to trust in a vain fetishism to prevent or remove evils which energy could avert or remedy? The time will come, in my behef, when the waste of those energies which in these days are devoted (not merely with the sanction, but the high approval, of some of the best among us) to idle aims, will be deplored as regretfully — but, alas, as idly — as the wasted speculations and labours of those whom Whewell has justly called the most intelligent and profound reasoners of the ' stationary age' of science. The words with which Whewell closes his. chapter on the ' Mysticism of the Middle Ages' have their application to the mysticism of the nineteenth century : — ' Experience collects her stores in vain, or ceases to collect them, when she can only pour them into the flimsy folds of the lap of Mysticism, who is, in truth, so much absorbed in looking for the treasures which are to fall from the skies, that she heeds little how scantily she obtains, or how loosely she holds, such riches as she might find beside her.' THE RELIGION OF THE GREAT PYRAMID. 53 II. TBE RELIGION- OF THE GREAT PYRAMID. During the last few years a new sect has appeared which, though as yet small in numbers, is full of zeal and fervour. The faith professed by this sect may be called the religion of the Great Pyramid, the chief article of their creed being the doctrine that that remarkable edifice was built for the purpose of reveaUng — in the fulness of time, now nearly accomplished — certain noteworthy truths 1 to the human race. The founder of the pyramid religion is described by one of the present leaders of the sect as ' the late worthy John Taylor, of Gower Street, London ;' but hitherto the chief prophets of the new faith have been in this country Professor Smyth, Astronomer Royal for Scotland, and in France the Abbd Moigno. I propose to examine here some of the facts most confidently urged by pyramidalists in support of their views. But it will be well first to indicate briefly the doctrines of the new faith. They may be thus presented : The great pyramid was erected, it would seem, under the instructions of a certain Semitic king, probably no other than Melchizedek. By supernatural means, the architects were instructed to place the pyramid in latitude 30° north ; to select for its figure that of a square pyramid, carefully oriented ; to employ for their unit of length the sacred cubit corresponding to the 20,000,000th part of 54 MYTHS AND MAR VELS OP ASTRONOMY. the earth's polar axis ; and to make the side of the square base equal to just so many of these sacred cubits as there are days and parts of a day in a year. They were further, by supernatural help, enabled to square the circle, and symboUsed their victory over this problem by making the pyramid's height bear to the perimeter of the base the ratio which the radius of a circle bears to the circumference. Moreover, the great precessional period, in which the earth's axis gyrates like that of some mighty top around the perpendicular to the ecliptic, was communicated to the builders with a degree of accuracy far exceeding that of the best modern determinations, and they were instructed to symbolise that relation in the dimensions of the pyra- mid's base. A value of the sun's distance more accurate by far than modern astronomers have obtained (even since the recent transit) was imparted to them, and they embodied that dimension in the height of the pyramid. Other resuhs wh ich modern science has achieved, but w hich by merely hun^anjn eans the architects _of the pyram id could noThave obtained, were also supematurally communicated to them ; so that the true mean density of the earth, her true shape, the configuration of land and water, the mean temperature of the earth's surface, and so forth, were either symbolised in the great p)Tamid's position, or in the shape and dimen- sions of its exterior and interior. In the p3T:amid also were preserved the true, because supematurally communicated, standards of length, area, capacity, weight, density, heat, time, and money. The p)rramid also indicated, by certain features of its interior structure, that when it was built the holy influences of the Pleiades were exerted from a most effective position — the meridian, through the points where the ecliptic and equator intersect. [And as the pyramid thus significantly refers to the past, so also it indicates the future history of the earth, especially in showing when and THE RELIGION OF THE GREAT PYRAMID. 55 where the millennium is to beginJ Lastly, the apex or crowning stone of the pyramid was no other than the antitype of that stone of stumbling and rock of offence, rejected by builders who knew not its true use, until it was finally placed as the chief stone of the corner. Whence naturally, 'whosoever shall fall upon it' — that is, upon the pyramid religion — ' shall be broken ; but on whomsoever it shall fall it will grind him to powder.' If we examine the relations actually presented by the great p)Tamid — its geographical position, dimensions, shape, and internal structure — without hampering ourselves with the tenets of the new faith on the one hand, or on the other with any serious anxiety to disprove them, we shall find much to suggest that the builders of the p3?ramid were ingenious mathematicians, who had made some progress in astronomy, though not so much as they had made in the mastery of mechanical and scientific difficulties. The first point to be noticed is the geographical position of the great pyramid, so far, at least, as this position affects the aspect of the heavens, viewed from the pyramid as from an observatory. Little importance, I conceive, can be attached to purely geographical relations in considering the pyramid's position. Professor Smyth notes that the pyra mid is pecuharly placed with respect to the mouth of the Nile, standing ' at the southern apex of the Delta-land of Egypt.' This region being shaped like a fan, the pyramid, set at the part corresponding to the handle, was, he con- siders, 'that monument pure and undefiled in its religion through an idolatrous land, alluded to by Isaiah ; the monument which was both " an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof," and destined withal to become a witness in the latter days, and before the consummation of all things, to the same Lord, and to what He hath purposed upon man- •^ MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. kind.' Still more fanciful are some other notes upon the pyramid's geographical position : as (i.) that there is more land along the meridian of the pyramid than on any other all the world round ; (ii.) that there is more land in the latitude of the pyramid than in any other ; and (iii.) that the pyramid territory of Lower Egypt is at the centre of the dry land habitable by man all the world over. It does not seem to be noticed by those who call our attention to these points that such coincidences prove too much. It might be regarded as not a mere accident that the great pyramid stands at the centre of the arc of shore- Une along which lie the outlets of the Nile ; or it might be regarded as not a mere coincidence that the great pyramid stands at the central point of all the habitable land-surface of the globe ; or, again, any one of the other relations above mentioned might be regarded as something more than a mere coincidence. But if, instead of taking only one or other of these four relations, we take all four of them, or even any two of them, together, we must regard peculiarities of the earth's configuration as the result of special design which certainly have not hitherto been so regarded by geographers. For instance, if it was by a special design that the pyramid was placed at the centre of the Nile delta, and also by special design that the pyramid was placed at the centre of the land-surface of the earth, if these two relations are each so exactly fulfilled as to render the idea of mere accidental coincidence inadmissible, then it follows, of necessity, that it is through no merely accidental coincidence that the centre of the Nile delta lies at the centre of the land-surface of the earth ; in other words, the shore-line along which lie the mouths of the Nile has been designedly curved so as to have its centre so placed. And so of the other relations. The very fact that the four con- ditions can be fulfilled simultaneously is evidence that a THE RELIGION OF THE GREAT PYRAMID. 57 coincidence of the sort may result from mere accident^ Indeed, the peculiarity of geographical position which really seems to have been in the thoughts of the pyramid archi- tects, introduces yet a fifth condition which by accident could be fulfilled along with the four others. It would seem that the builders of the pyramid were anxious to place it in latitude 30°, as closely as their means of observation permitted. Let us consider what result they • achieved, and the evidence thus afforded respecting their skill and scientific attainments. In our own time, of course, the astronomer has no difficulty in determining with great exactness the position of any given latitude-parallel. But at the time when the great pyramid was built it must have been a matter of very serious difficulty to determine the position of any required latitude-parallel with a great degree of exactitude. The most obvious way of dealing with the difficulty would have been by observing the length of shadows thrown by upright posts at noon in spring and autumn. In latitude 30° north, the sun at noon in spring (or, to speak precisely, on the day of the vernal equinox) is just twice as far from the horizon as he is from the point vertically overhead ; and if a pointed post were set exactly upright at true noon (supposed to occur at the moment of the vernal or autumnal equinox), the shadow of the post would be exactly half as long as a line drawn from the top of the pole to the end of the shadow. But observations based on this principle would have presented many difficulties to the 1 Of course it may be argued that nothing in the world is the result of mere accident, and some may assert that even matters which are commonly regarded as entirely casual have been specially designed. It would not be easy to draw the precise line dividing events which all men would regard as to all intents and purposes accidental from those which some men would regard as results of special providence. But common sense draws a sufficient distinction, at least for our preseni purpose. 58 MYTHS AND MAR VELS OF ASTRONOMY. architects of the pyramid. The sun not being a point of light, but a globe, the shadow of a pointed rod does not end in a well-defined point The moment of true noon, which is not the same as ordinary or civil noon, never does agree exactly with the time of the vernal or autumnal equinox, and may be removed from it by any interval of time not exceeding twelve hours. And there are many other circumstances which would lead astronomers, like those who doubtless presided over the scientific preparations for building the great pyramid, to prefer a means of deter- mining the latitude depending on another principle. The stellar heavens would afford practically unchanging indica- tions for their purpose. The stars being all carried round the pole of the heavens, as if they were fixed points in the interior of a hollow revolving sphere, it becomes possible to determine the position of the pole of the star sphere, even though no bright conspicuous star actually occupies that point. Any bright star close by the pole is seen to revolve in a very small circle, whose centre is the pole itself Such a star is our present so-called pole-star ; and, though in the days when the great pyramid was built, that star was not near the pole, another, and probably a brighter star lay near enough to the pole' to serve as a pole-star, and to indicate by its circling motion the position of the actual pole of the heavens. This was at that time, and for many sub- 1 This star, called Thuban from the Arabian al-Thiiban, the Dragon, is now not veiy bright, being rated at barely above the fourth magnitude, but it was formerly the brightest star of the constellation, as its name indicates. Bayer also assigned to it the first letter of the Greek alphabet ; though this is not absolutely decisive evidence that so late as his day it retained its superiority over the second magnitude stars to which Bayer assigned the second and third Greek letters. In the year 2790 B.C., or thereabouts, the star was at its nearest to the true north pole of the heavens, the diameter of the little circle in which it then moved being considerably less than one-fourth the apparent THE RELIGION OF THE GREAT PYRAMID. 59 sequent centuries, the leading star of the great constellation called the Dragoa The pole of the heavens, we know, varies in position according to the latitude of the observer. At the north pole it is exactly overhead ; at the equator the poles of the heavens are both on the horizon ; and, as the observer travels from the equator towards the north or south pole of the earth, the corresponding pole of the heavens rises higher and higher above the horizon. In latitude 30° north, or one-third of the way from the equator to the pole, the pole of the heavens is raised one-third of the way from the horizon to the point vertically overhead ; and when this is the case the observer knows that he is in latitude 30°. The builders of the great pjnramid, with the almost con- stantly clear skies of Egypt, may reasonably be supposed to have adopted this means of determining the true position of that thirtieth parallel on which they appear to have de- signed to place the great building they were about to erect. It so happens that we have the means of forming an opinion on the question whether they used one method or the other ; whether they employed the sun or the stars to guide them to the geographical position they required. In fact, were it not for this circumstance, I should not have thought it worth while to discuss the qualities of either method. It will presently be seen that the discussion bears importantly on the opinion we are to form of the skill and attainments of the pyramid architects. Every celestial diameter of the moon. At that time the star must have seemed to all ordinary obsei-vation an absolutely fixed centre, round which all the other stars revolved. At the time when the pyramid was built this star was about sixty times farther removed from the true pole, revolving in a circle whose apparent diameter was about seven times as great as the moon's. Yet it would still be regarded as a veiy useful pole-star, especially as there are vciy few conspicuous stars in the neighbour- hood. 6o MYTHS AffD MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. object is apparently raised somewhat above its true position by the refractive power of our atmosphere, being most raised when nearest the horizon and least when nearest the point vertically overhead. This effect is, indeed, so marked on bodies close to the horizon that if the astro- nomers of the pyramid times had observed the sun, moon, and stars attentively when so placed, they could not have failed to discover the peculiarity. Probably, however, though they noted the time of rising and setting of the celestial bodies, they only made instrumental observations upon them when these bodies were high in the heavens. Thus they remained ignorant of the refractive powers of the air.* Now, if they had determined the position of the thirtieth parallel of latitude by observations of the noonday sun (in spring or autumn), then since, owing to refraction, they would have judged the sun to be higher than he really was, it follows that they would have supposed the latitude of any station from which they observed to be lower than it really was. For the lower the latitude the higher is the noonday sun at any given season. Thus, when really in latitude 30° they would have supposed themselves in a latitude lower than 30°, and would have travelled a little farther north to find the proper place, as they would have supposed, for erecting the great pyramid. On the other hand, if they determined the place from observations of the movements of stars near the pole of the heavens, they would make an error of a precisely opposite nature. For the higher the latitude the higher is the pole of the heavens ; and refraction, therefore, which apparently raises the pole of the heavens, gives to a station the appearance of being in a higher latitude than it really is, so that the observer ^ Even that skilful astronomer Hipparchus, who may be justly called the father of observational astronomy, overlooked this peculiarity, which Ptolemy would seem to have been the first to recognise. THE RELIGION OF THE GREAT PYRAMID. 61 would consider he was in latitude 30 north when in reality somewhat south of that latitude. We have only then to inquire whether the great pyramid was set north or south of latitude 30°, to ascertain whether the pyramid architects observed the noonday sun or circumpolar stars to determine their latitude ; always assuming (as we reasonably may) that those architects did propose to set the pyramid in that parti- cular latitude, and that they were able to make very accurate observations of the apparent positions of the celestial bodies, but that they were not acquainted with the refractive effects of the atmosphere. The answer comes in no doubtful terms. The centre of the great pyramid's base lies about one mile and a third south of the thirtieth parallel of latitude ; and from this position the pole of the heavens, as raised by refraction, would appear to be very near indeed to the required position. In fact, if the pyramid had been set about half a mile still farther south the pole would have seemed just right. Of course, such an explanation as I have here suggested appears altogether heretical to the pyramidalists. Accord- ing to them the p)n:amid architects knew perfectly well where the true thirtieth parallel lay, and knew also all that modem science has discovered about refraction ; but set the pyramid south of the true parallel and north of the position where refraction would just have made the appar- ent elevation of the pole correct, simply in order that the pyramid might correspond as nearly as possible to each of two conditions, whereof both could not be fulfilled at once. The pyramid would indeed, they say, have been set even more closely midway between the true and the apparent parallels of 30° north, but that the Jeezeh hill on which h is set does not afford a rock foundation any farther north 'So very close,' says Professor Smyth, 'was the great pyramid placed to the northern brink of its hill, that the 62 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. edges of the cliff might have broken off under the terrible pressure had not the builders banked up there most firmly the immense mounds of rubbish which came from their work, and which Strabo looked so particularly for 1800 years ago, but could not find. Here they were, however, and still are, utilised in enabling the great pyramid to stand on the very utmost verge of its commanding hill, within the limits of the two required latitudes, as well as over the centre of the land's physical and radial formation, and at the same time on the sure and proverbially wise foundation of rock.' The next circumstance to be noted in the position of the great pyramid (as of all the pyramids) is that the sides are carefully oriented. This, like the approximation to a particular latitude, must be regarded as an astronomical rather than a geographical relation. The accuracy with which the orientation has been effected will serve to show how far the builders had mastered the methods of astrono- mical observation by which orientation was to be secured The problem was not so simple as might be supposed by those who are not acquainted with the way in which the cardinal points are correctly determined. By solar obser- vations, or rather by the observations of shadows cast by vertical shafts before and after noon, the direction of the meridian, or north and south line, can theoretically be ascertained. But probably in this case, as in determining the latitude, the builders took the stars for their guide. The pole of the heavens would mark the true north ; and equally the pole-star, when below or above the pole, would give the true north, but, of course, most conveniently when below the pole. Nor is it difficult to see how the builders would make use of the pole-star for this purpose. From the middle of the northern side of the intended base they would bore a slant passage tending always from the posi- THE RELIGION OF THE GREAT PYRAMID. 63 tion of the pole-star at its lower meridional passage, that star at each successive return to that position serving to direct their progress ; while its small range, east and west of the pole, would enable them most accurately to deter- mine the star's true mid-point below the pole ; that is, the true north. When they had thus obtained a slant tunnel pointing truly to the meridian, and had carried it down to a point nearly below the middle of the proposed square base, they could, from the middle of the base, bore verti- cally downwards, until by rough calculation they were near the lower end of the slant tunnel ; or both tunnels could be made at the same time. Then a subterranean chamber would be opened out from the slant tunnel. The vertical boring, which need not be wider than necessary to allow a plumb-line to be suspended down it, would enable the architects to determine the point vertically below the point of suspension. The slant tunnel would give the direction of the true north, either from that point or from a point at some known small distance east or west of that point.' Thus, a line from some ascertained point near the mouth of the vertical boring to the mouth of the slant tunnel would lie due north and south, and serve as the required guide for the orientation of the pyramid's base. If this base extended beyond the opening of the slant tunnel, then, by continuing this tunnelling through the base tiers of the pyramid, the means would be obtained of correcting the orientation. This, I say, would be the course naturally suggested to ^ It would only be by a lucky accident, of course, that the direc- tion of the slant tunnel's axis and that of the vertical from the selected central point would lie in the same vertical plane. The object of the tunnelling would, in fact, be to determine how far apart the vertical planes through these points lay, and the odds would be great against the result proving to be zero. b4 MYTHS AND MAR VEl.S OF ASTRONOMY. astronomical architects who had determined the latitude in the manner described above. It may even be described as the only very accurate method available before the telescope had been invented. So that if the accuracy of the orienta- tion appears to be greater than could be obtained by the shadow method, the natural inference, even in the absence of corroborative evidence, would be that the stellar method, and no other, had been employed. Now, in 1779, Nouet, by refined observations, found the error of orientation measured by less than 20 minutes of arc, corresponding roughly to a displacement of the comers by about 37^ inches from their true position, as supposed to be deter- mined from the centre ; or to a displacement of a southern comer by S3 inches on an east and west line from a point due south of the corresponding northern corner. This error, for a base length of 9140 inches, would not be serious, being only one inch in about five yards (when estimated in the second way). Yet the result is not quite worthy of the praise given to it by Professor Smyth. He himself, how- ever, by much more exact observations, with an excellent altazimuth, reduced the alleged error from 20 minutes to only 4^, or to 9-40ths of its formerly supposed value. This made the total displacement of a southern corner from the true meridian through the corresponding northern corner, almost exactly one foot, or one inch in about twenty-one yards — a degree of accuracy rendering it practically certain that some stellar method was used in orienting the base. Now there is a slanting tunnel occupying precisely the position of the tunnel which should, according to this view have been formed in order accurately to orient the p5rramid's base, assuming that the time of the building of the pyramid corresponded with one of the epochs when the star Alpha DxaconisjEas distant 3° 42' from the pole of the heavens. In other words, there is a slant tunnel directed northwards THE RELIGION OF THE GREAT PYRAMID. 65 and upwards trom a point deep down below the middle of the pyramid's base, and inclined 26° 17' to the horizon, the elevation of Alpha Draconi s at its lower culmination when 3° 42' from the pole. The last epoch when the star was thus placed was cirdter 2160 B.C.; the epoch next before that was 3440 B.c Between these two we should have to choose, on the hypothesis that the slant tunnel was really directed to that star when the foundations of the pyramid were laid. For the next epoch before the earlier of the two named was about 28,000 B.C., and the pyramid's date cannot have been more remote than 4000 b.g The slant tunnel, while admirably fulfilling the require- ments suggested, seems altogether unsuited for any other. Its transverse height (that is, its width in a direction per- pendicular to its upper and lower faces) did not amount to quite four feet ; its breadth was not quite three feet and a half It was, therefore, not well fitted for an entrance passage to the subterranean chamber immediately under the apex of the pyramid (with which chamber it communi- cates in the manner suggested by the above theory). It could not have been intended to be used for observing meridian transits of the stars in order to determine sidereal time ; for close circumpolar stars, by reason of their slow motion, are the least suited of all for such a purpose. As Professor Smyth says, in arguing against this suggested use of the star, ' no observer in his senses, in any existing observatory, when seeking to obtain the time, would observe the transit of a circumpolar star for anything else than to get the direction of the meridian to adjust his instrument by.' (The italics are his.) It is precisely such a purpose (the adjustment, however, not of an instrument, but of the entire structure of the pyramid itself), that I have suggested for this remarkable passage — this 'cream-white, stone-lined, long tube,' where it traverses the masonry of the pyramid, 66 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. and below that dug through the solid rock to a distance of more than 350 feet. Let us next consider the dimensions of the square base thus carefully placed in latitude 30° north to the best of the builders' power, with sides carefully oriented. It seems highly probable that, whatever special purpose the pyramid was intended to fulfil, a subordinate idea of the builders would have been to represent symbolically in the proportions of the building such mathematical and astronomical relations as they were acquainted with. From what we know by tradition of the men of the remote time when the pyramid was built, and what we can infer from the ideas of those who inherited, however remotely, the modes of thought of the earliest astronomers and mathe- maticians, we can well believe that they would look with superstitious reverence on special figures, proportions, num- bers, and so forth. Apart from this, they may have had a quasi-scientific desire to make a lasting record of their dis- coveries, and of the collected knowledge of their time. It seems altogether probable, then, that the smaller unit of measurement used by the builders of the great Pyramid was intended, as Professor Smyth thinks, to be equal to the 500, 000,000th part of the earth's diameter, determined from their geodetical observations. It was perfectly within the power of mechanicians and mathematicians so experienced as they undoubtedly were — the pyramid attests so much — to measure with considerable accuracy the length of a degree of latitude. They could not possibly (always setting aside the theory of divine inspiration) have known anything about the compression of the earth's globe, and therefore could not have intended, as Professor Smyth supposes, to have had the 500,000,000th part of the earth's polar axis, as distinguished from any other, for their unit of length. But if they made observations in or near latitude 30° north THE RELIGION OF THE GREAT PYRAMID. 67 on the supposition that the earth is a globe, their probable error would exceed the difference even between the earth's polar and equatorial diameters. Both differences are largely exceeded by the range of difference among the estimates of the actual length of the sacred cubit, supposed to have contained twenty-iive of these smaller units. And, again, the length of the pyramid base-side, on which Smyth bases his own estimate of the sacred cubit, has been variously estimated, the largest measure being 9168 inches, and the lowest 9 II o inches. The fundamental theory of the pyramidaHsts, that the sacred cubit was exactly one 20,000,000th part of the earth's polar diameter, ad that the side of the base contained as many cubits and parts of a cubit as there are days and parts of a day in the tropical year (or year of seasons), requires that the length of the side should be 9140 inches, lying between the limits indi- cated, but still so widely removed from either that it would appear very unsafe to base a theory on the supposition that the exact length is or was 9140 inches. If the measures 9168 inches and 91 10 inches were inferior, and several excellent measures made by practised observers ranged around the length 9 1 40 inches, the case would be different. But the best recent measures gave respectively 9 1 1 o and 9130 inches; and Smyth exclaims against the unfairness of Sir H. James in taking 9120 as 'therefore the [probable] true length of the side of the great pyramid when perfect,' calling this 'a dishonourable shelving of the honourable older observers with their larger results.' The only other measures, besides these two, are two by Colonel Howard Vyse and by the French savants, giving respectively 9168 and 916344 inches. The pyramidalists consider 9140 inches a fair mean value from these four. The natural in- ference, however, is, that the pyramid base is not now in a condition to be satisfactorily measured ; and assuredly no 68 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. such reliance can be placed on the mean value 9140 inches that, on the strength of it, we should believe what other- wise would be utterly incredible, viz. that the builders of the great pyramid knew ' both the size and shape of the earth exactly.' ' Humanly, or by human science, finding it out in that age was, of course, utterly impossible,' says Professor Smyth. But he is so confident of the average value derived from widely conflicting base measures as to assume that this value, not being humanly discoverable, was of necessity ' attributable to God and to His Divine inspira- tion.' We may agree, in fine, with Smyth, that the builders of the pyramid knew the earth to be a globe ; that they took for their measure of length the sacred cubit, which, by ^heir earth measures, they made very fairly approximate to the 20,000,000th part of the earth's mean diameter; but there seems no reason whatever for supposing (even if the supposition were not antecedently of its very nature inad- missible) that they knew anything about the compression of the earth, or that they had measured a degree of latitude in their own place with very wonderful accuracy. ^ ' It may, perhaps, occur to the reader to inquire what diameter of the earth, supposed to be a perfect sphere, would be derived from a degree of latitude measured with absolute accuracy near latitude 30°. A degree of latitude measured in polar regions would indicate a diameter greater even than the equatorial ; one measured in equatorial regions would indicate a diameter less even than the polar. Near latitude 30° the measurement of a degree of latitude would indicate a diameter very nearly equal to the true polar diameter of the earth. In fact, if it could be proved that the builders of the pyramid used for their unit of length an exact subdivision of the polar diameter, the inference would be that, while the coincidence itself was merely acci- dental, their measurement of a degree of latitude in their own country had been singularly accurate. By an approximate calculation I find that, taking the earth's compression at 1-300, the diameter of the earth, estimated from the accurate measurement of a degree of latitude in the neighbourhood of the great pyramid, would have made the THE RELIGION OF THE GREAT PYRAMID. 69 But here a very singular coincidence may be noticed, or, rather, is forced upon our notice by the pyramidalists, who strangely enough recognise in it fresh evidence of design, while the unbeliever finds in it proof that coinci- dences are no sure evidence of design. The side of the pyramid containing 365-J- times the sacred cubit of 25 pyramid inches, it follows that the diagonal of the base contains 12,912 such inches, and the two diagonals together contain 25,824 pyramid inches, or almost exactly as many inches as there are years in the great precessional period. 'No one whatever amongst men,' says Professor Smyth after recording various estimates of the precessional period, ' from his own or school knowledge, knew anything about such a phenomenon, until Hipparchus, some 1900 years after the great pyramid's foundation, had a glimpse of the fact ; and yet it had been ruling the heavens for ages, and was recorded in Jeezeh's ancient structure.' To minds not moved to most energetic forgetfulness by the spirit of faith, it would appear that when a square base had been decided upon, and its dimensions fixed, with reference to the earth's diameter and the year, the diagonals of the square base were determined also; and, if it so chanced that they corresponded with some other perfectly independent rela- tion, the fact was not to be credited to the architects. Moreover it is manifest that the closeness of such a coinci- dence suggests grave doubts how far other coincidences can be relied upon as evidence of design. It seems, for instance, altogether likely that the architects of the pyramid took the sacred cubit equal to one 20,000,000th part of the earth's diameter for their chief unit of length, and intentionally assigned to the side of the pyramid's square base a length sacred cubit — taken at one 20,000,000th of the diameter — equal to 24-98 British inches ; a closer approximation than Professor Smyth's to the estimated mean probable value of the sacred cubit. 70 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. of just SO many cubits as there are days in the year ; and the closeness of the coincidence between the measured length and that indicated by this theory strengthens the idea that this was the builder's purpose. But when we find that an even closer coincidence immediately presents itself, which manifestly is a coincidence only, the force of the evidence before derived from mere coincidence '\^ pro tanto shaken. For consider what this new coincidence really means. Its nature may be thus indicated : Take the number of days in the year, multiply that number by 50, and increase the result in the same degree that the diagonal of a square exceeds the side — then the resulting number represents very approximately the number of years in the great precessional period. The error, according to the best modem estimates, is about one 57 5th part of the true period. This is, of course, a merely accidental coincidence, for there is no connection whatever in nature between the earth's period of rotation, the shape of a square, and the earth's period of gyration. Yet this merely accidental coincidence is very much closer than the other supposed to be designed could be proved to be. It is clear, then, that mere coincidence is a very unsafe evidence of design. Of course the pyramidalists find a ready reply to such reasoning. They argue that, in the first place, it may haVe been by express design that the period of the earth's rota- tion was made to bear this particular relation to the period of gyration in the mighty precessional movement : which is much as though one should say that by express design the height of Monte Rosa contains as many feet as there are miles in the 6000th part of the sun's distance.* Then, ' It is, however, almost impossible to mark any limits to what may be regarded as evidence of design by a coincidence-hunter. I quote the following from the late Professor De Morgan's Budget of Paradoxes. Having mentioned that 7 occurs less frequently than any other digit THE RELIGION OF THE GREAT PYRAMID. 71 they urge, the architects were not bound to have a square base for the pyramid ; they might have had an oblong or a triangular base, and so forth — all which accords very ill with the enthusiastic language in which the selection of a square base had on other accounts been applauded. Next let us consider the height of the pyramid. Accord- ing to the best modern measurements, it would seem that the height when (if ever) the pyramid terminated above in a pointed apex, must have been about 486 feet And from the comparison of the best estimates of the base side with the best estimates of the height, it seems very likely indeed that the intention of the builders was to make the height bear to the perimeter of the base the same ratio which the radius of a circle bears to the circumference. Remember- ing the range of difference in the base measures it might be supposed that the exactness of the approximation to this ratio could not be determined very satisfactorily. But as certain casing stones have been discovered which indicate with considerable exactness the slope of the original plane- surfaces of the pyramid, the ratio of the height to the side of the base may be regarded as much more satisfactorily determined than the actual value of either dimension. Of in the number expressing the ratio of circumference to diameter of a circle, he proceeds : ' A correspondent of my friend Piazzi Smyth notices that 3 is the number of most frequency, and that 3^ is the nearest approximation to it in simple digits. Professor Smyth, whose work on Egypt is paradox of a very high order, backed by a great quantity of useful labour, the results of which will be made available by those who do not receive the paradoxes, is inclined to see confirma- tion for some of his theory in these phenomena.' In passing, I may mention as the most singular of these accidental digit relations which I have yet noticed, that in the first 1 10 digits of the square root of 2, the number 7 occurs more than twice as often as either 5 or 9, which each occur eight times, l and 2 occurring each nine times, and 7 occurring no less than eighteen times. 72 Myths and mak vbls of astronomV. course the pyramidalists claim a degree of precision indi- cating a most accurate knowledge of the ratio between the diameter and the circumference of a circle ; and the angle of the only casing stone measured being diversely estimated at 51° 50' and 51° 52;^', they consider 50° 51' i4"3" the true value, and infer that the builders regarded the ratio as 3'i4r59 to i. The real fact is, that the modem estimates of the dimensions of the casing stones (which, by the way, ought to agree better if these stones are as weU made as stated) indicate the values 3 -14392 2 8 and 3 •13967 40 for the ratio ; and all we can say is, that the ratio reaUy used lay probably between these limits, though it may have been outside either. Now the approximation of either is not remarkably close. It requires no mathematical knowledge at all to determine the circumference of a circle much more exactly. ' I thought it very strange,' wrote a circle-squarer once to De Morgan {Budget of Paradoxes, p. 389), ' that so many great scholars in all ages should have failed in finding the true ratio, and have been determined to try myself.' ' I have been . informed,' proceeds De Morgan, ' that this trial makes the diameter to the circumference as 64 to 201, giving the ratio equal to 3-1410625 exactly. The result was obtained by the discoverer in three weeks after he first heard of the existence of the difficulty. This quadrator has since published a httle slip and entered it at Stationers' Hall. He says he has done it by actual measurement; and I hear from a private source that he uses a disc of twelve inches diameter which he rolls upon a straight rail.' The ' rolling is a very creditable one ; it is as much below the mark as Archimedes was above it. Its performer is a joiner who evidently knows well what he 15 about when he measures ; he is not wrong by i in 3000.' Such skilful mechanicians as the builders of the pyramid could have obtained a closer approximation still by mere TtlE RELIGION OF THE GREAT PYRAMID. 73 iheasurement Besides, as they were manifestly mathema- ticians, such an approximation as was obtained by Archi- medes must have been well within their power ; and that approximation Ues well within the limits above indicated. Professor Smyth remarks that the ratio was 'a quantity which men in general, and all human science too, did not begin to trouble themselves about until long, long ages, languages, and nations had passed away after the building of the great pyramid ; and after the sealing up, too, of that grand primeval and prehistoric monument of the patriarchal age of the earth according to Scripture.' I do not know where the Scripture records the sealing up of the great pyramid ; but it is all but certain that during the very time when the pyramid was being built astronomical ob- servations were in progress which, for their interpretation, involved of necessity a continual reference to the ratio in question. No one who considers the wonderful accuracy with which, nearly two thousand years before the Christian era, the Chaldaeans had determined the famous cycle of the Saros, can doubt that they must have observed the heavenly bodies for several centuries before they could have achievedl such a success ; and the study of the motions of the celestiall bodies compels ' men to trouble themselves ' about the- famous ratio of the circumference to the diameter. We now come upon a new relation (contained in \he dimensions of the pyramid as thus determined) which, by ai strange coincidence, causes the height of the pyramid to appear to symbolise the distance of the sun. There were 5813 pyramid inches, or 5819 British inches, in the height of the pyramid according to the relations already indicated. Now, in the sun's distance, according to an estimate recently adopted and freely used,^ there are 91,400,000 miles or ' I have substituted this value in the article ' Astronomy,' of the British Encyclopedia, for the estimate formerly used, viz. 95,233,055 74 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. 5791 thousand millions of inches — that is, there are approximately as many thousand millions of inches in the sun's distance as there are inches in the height of the pyramid. If we take the relation as exact we should infer for the sun's distance 5819 thousand millions of inches, or 91,840,000 miles — an immense improvement on the estimate which for so many years occupied a place of honour in our books of astronomy. Besides, there is strong reason for believing that, when the results of recent obser- vations are worked out, the estimated sun distance will be much nearer this pyramid value than even to the value 9 1,400,000 recently adopted. This result, which one would have thought so damaging to faith in the evidence from coincidence — nay, quite fatal after the other case in which a close coincidence had appeared by merest accident — is regarded by the pyramidalist as a perfect triumph for their faith. They connect it with another coincidence, viz. that, assuming the height determined in the way already indicated, then it so happens that the height bears to half a diagonal of the base the ratio 9 to 10. Seeing that the perimeter of the base symbolises the annual motion of the earth round the sun, while the height represents the radius of a circle with that perimeter, it follows that the height should sjTn- bolise the sun's distance. ' That line, further,' says Professor Smyth (speaking on behalf of Mr. W. Petrie, the discoverer of this relation), ' must represent ' this radius ' in the pro- portion of I to 1,000,000,000' (or ten raised to power w'«^), ' because amongst other reasons 10 to 9 is practically the shape of the great pyramid.' For this building ' has such an angle at the comers, that for every ten units its structure advances inwards on the diagonal of the base, it practically miles. But there is good reason for believing that the actual di.stance is nearly 92,000,000 miles. THE RELIGION OF THE GREAT PYRAMID. 75 rises upwards, or points to sunshine ' {sic) ' by nine. Nine, too, out of the ten characteristic parts (viz. five angles and five sides) being the number of those parts which the sun shines on in such a shaped pyramid, in such a latitude near the equator, out of a high sky, or, as the Peruvians say, when the sun sets on the pyramid with all its rays.' The coincidence itself on which this perverse reasoning rests is a singular one — singular, that is, as showing how close an accidental coincidence may run. It amounts to this, that if the number of days in the year be multiplied by 100, and a circle be drawn with a circumference containing 100 times as many inches as there are days in the year, the radius of the circle will be very nearly one i, 000,000,000th part of the sun's distance. Remembering that the pyramid inch is assumed to be one soo,ooo,oooth part of the earth's diameter, we shall not be far from the truth in saying' that, as a matter of fact, the earth by her orbital motion traverses each day a distance equal to two hundred times her own diameter. But, of course, this relation is altogether acci- dental. It has no real cause in nature.' Such relations show that mere numeric'»l coincidences, however close, have little weight as evidence, except where ' It may be matched by other coincidences as remarkable and as little the result of the operation of any natural law. For instance, the following strange relation, introducing the dimensions of the sun himself, nowhere, so far as I have yet seen, introduced among pyramid relations, even by pyramidalists : ' If the plane of the ecliptic were a true surface, and the sun were to commence rolling along that surface towards the part of the earth's orbit where she is at her mean distance, while the earth commenced rolling upon the sun (round one of his great circles), each globe turning round in the same time, — then, by the time the earth had rolled its way once round the sun, the sun would have almost exactly reached the earth's orbit. This is only another way of saying that the sun's diameter exceeds the earth's in almost exactly the same degree that the sun's distance exceeds the sun's diameter.' 76 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. they occur in series. Even then they require to be very cautiously regarded, seeing that the history of science records many instances where the apparent law of a series has been found to be falsified when the theory has been extended. Of course this reason is not quoted in order to throw doubt on the supposition that the height of the pyramid was intended to symboUse the sun's distance. That supposition is simply inadmissible if the hypothesis, according to which the height was already independently determined in another way, is admitted. Either hypothesis might be admitted were we not certain that the sun's distance could not possibly have been known to the builders of the pyramid ; or both hypotheses may be rejected : but to admit both is out of the question. j^onsidering the multitude of dimensions of length, surface, capacity, and position, the great number of shapes, and the variety of material existing within the pyramid, and considering, further, the enormous number of relations (presented by modern science) from among which to choose, can it be wondered at if fresh coincidences are being con- tinually recognised ? If a dimension will not serve in one way, use can be found for it in another ; for instance, if some measure of length does not correspond closely with any known dimension of the earth or of the solar system (an unlikely supposition), then it can be understood to typify an interval of time. If, even after trying all possible changes of that kind, no coincidence shows itself (which is all but impossible), then all that is needed to secure a coincidence is that the dimensions should be manipulated a little. Let a single instance suffice to show how the pyra- midalists (with perfect honesty of purpose) hunt down a coincidence. The slant tunnel already described has a transverse height, once no doubt uniform, now giving THE RELIGION OF THE GREAT PYRAMID. 77 various measures from 47 •14 pyramid inches to •47'32 inches, so that the vertical height from the known incU- nation of the tunnel would be estimated at somewhere between 52.64 inches and 52-85. Neither dimension corresponds very obviously with any measured distance in the earth or solar system. Nor when we try periods, areas, etc., does any very satisfactory coincidence present itself. But the difficulty is easily turned into a new proof of de- sign. Putting all the observations together (says Professor Smyth), ' I deduced 47*24 pyramid inches to be the trans- verse height of the entrance passage ; and computing from thence with the observed angle of inclination the vertical height, that came out 5276 of the same inches. But the sum of those two heights, or the height taken up and down, equals 100 inches, which length, as elsewhere shown, is the general pyramid linear representation of a day of twenty-four hours. And the mean of the two heights, or the height taken one way only, and impartially to the middle point between them, equals fifty inches ; which quantity is, there- fore, the general pyramid linear representation of only half a day. In which case, let us ask what the entrance passage has to do with half rather than a whole day ?' On relations such as these, which, if really intended by the architect, would imply an utterly fatuous habit of con- cealing elaborately what he desired to symbolise, the pyra- midalists base their belief that ' a Mighty Intelligence did both think out the plans for it, and compel unwilling and ignorant idolators, in a primal age of the world, to work mightily both for the future glory of the one true God of Revelation, and to establish lasting prophetic testimony touching a further development, still to take place, of the absolutely Divine Christian dispensation.' 78 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. III. I'HE MYSTERY OF THE PYRAMIDS. Few subjects of inquiry have proved more perplexing than the question of the purpose for which the pyramids of Egypt were built Even in the remotest ages of which we have historical record, nothing seems to have been known certainly on this point. For some reason or other, the builders of the pyramids concealed the object of these structures, and this so successfully that not even a tradition has reached us which purports to have been handed down from the epoch of the p3framids' constructioa We find, indeed, some explanations given by the earliest historians ; but they were professedly only hypothetical, like those advanced in more recent times. Including ancient and modern theories, we find a wide range of choice. Some have thought that these buildings were associated with the religion of the early Egyptians ; others have suggested that they were tombs ; others, that they combined the purposes of tombs and temples, that they were astronomical obser- vatories, defences against the sands of the Great Desert, granaries like those made under Joseph's direction, places of resort during excessive overflows of the Nile ; and many other uses have been suggested for them. But none of these ideas are found on close examination to be tenable as representing the sole purpose of the pyramids, and few of them have strong claims to be regarded as presenting THE MYSTERY OF THE PYRAMIDS. 79 even a chief object of these remarkable structures. The significant and perplexing history of the three oldest pyra- mids — the Great Pyramid of Cheops, Shofo, or Suphis, the pyramid of Chephren, and the pyramid of Mycerinus ; and the most remarkable of all the facts known respecting the pyramids generally, viz., the circumstance that one pyramid after another was built as though each had become useless soon after it was finished, are left entirely unexplained by all the theories above mentioned, save one only, the tomb theory, and that does not afford by any means a satisfactory explanation of the circumstances. I propose to give here a brief account of some of the most suggestive facts known respecting the pyramids, and, after considering the difficulties which beset the theories heretofore advanced, to indicate a theory (new so far as I know) which seems to me to correspond better with the facts than any heretofore advanced ; I suggest it, however, rather for consideration than because I regard it as very convincingly supported by the evidence. In fact, to ad- vance any theory at present with confident assurance of its correctness, would be simply to indicate a very limited acquaintance with the difficulties surrounding the subject. Let us first consider a few of the more striking facts recorded by history or tradition, noting, as we proceed, whatever ideas they may suggest as to the intended char- acter of these structures. It is hardly necessary to say, perhaps, that the history of the Great P)a:amid is of paramount importance in this inquiry. Whatever purpose pyramids were originally in- tended to subserve, must have been conceived by the builders of that pyramid. New ideas may have been superadded by the builders of later pyramids, but it is unlikely that the original purpose can have been entirely abandoned. Some great purpose there was, which the 8o MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. rulers of ancient Egypt proposed to fulfil by building very massive pyramidal structures on a particular plan. It is by inquiring into the history of the first and most massive of these structures, and by examining its construction, that we shall have the best chance of finding out what that great purpose was. According to Herodotus, the kings who built the pyra- mids reigned not more than twenty-eight centuries ago; but there can be little doubt that Herodotus misunderstood the Egyptian priests from whom he derived his information, and that the real antiquity of the pyramid-kings was far greater. He tells us that, according to the Egyptian priests, Cheops ' on ascending the throne plunged into all mannei of wickedness. He closed the temples, and forbade the Egyptians to offer sacrifice, compelling them instead to labour one and all in his service, viz., in building the Great Pyramid.' Still following his interpretation of the Egjrptian account, we learn that one hundred thousand men were employed for twenty years in building the Great P)rramid, and that ten years were occupied in constructing a cause- way by which to convey the stones to the place and in conveying them there. ' Cheops reigned fifty years ; and was succeeded by his brother Chephren, who imitated the conduct of his predecessor, built a p)rramid — but smaller than his brother's — and reigned fifty-six vears. Thus during one hundred and six years, the temples were shut and never opened.' Moreover, Herodotus tells us that ' the Egyptians so detested the memory of these kings, that they do not much like even to mention their names. Hence they commonly call the pyramids after Philition, a shepherd who at that time fed his flocks about the place.' ' After Chephren, Mycerinus, son of Cheops, ascended the throne, he reopened the temples, and allowed the people to resume the practice of sacrifice. He, too, left a pyra- THE MYSTERY OF THE PYRAMIDS. 81 mid, but much inferior in size to his father's. It is built, for half of its height, of the stone of Ethiopia,' or, as Pro- fessor Smyth (whose extracts from Rawlinson's translation I have here followed) adds ' expensive red granite.' ' After Mycerinus, Asychis ascended the throne. He built the eastern gateway of the Temple of Vulcan (Phtha) ; and, being desirous of eclipsing all his predecessors on the throne, left as a monument of his reign a pyramid of brick.' This account is so suggestive, as will presently be shown, that it may be well to inquire whether it can be relied on. Now, although there can be no doubt that Herodotus misunderstood the Egyptians in some matters, and in particular as to the chronological order of the dynasties, placing the pyramid kings far too late, yet in other respects he seems not only to have understood them correctly, but also to have received a correct account from them. The order of the kings above named corresponds with the sequence given by Manetho, and also found in monumental and hieroglyphic records. Manetho gives the names Suphis I., Suphis II., and Mencheres, instead of Cheops, Chephren, and Mycerinus ; while, according to the modem Egyptologists, Herodotus's Cheops was Shofo, Shufu, or Koufou ; Chephren was Shafre, while he was also called Nou-Shofo or Noum-Shufu as the brother of Shofo ; and Mycerinus was Menhere or Menkerre. But the identity of these kings is not questioned. As to the true dates there is much doubt, and it is probable that the question will long continue open ; but the determination of the exact epochs when the several pyramids were built is not very important ■ in connection with our present inquiry. We may, on the whole, fairly take the points quoted above from Herodotus, and proceed to consider the significance of the narrative, with sufficient confidence that in all essential, respects it is trustworthy. G, 82 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. There are several very strange features in the account In the first place, it is manifest that Cheops (to call the first king by the name most familiar to the general reader) attached great importance to the building of -his pyramid. It has been said, and perhaps justly, that it would be more interesting to know the plan of the architect who devised the pyramid than the purpose of the king who built it But the two things are closely connected. The architect must have satisfied the king that some highly important purpose in which the king himself was interested, would bi subserved by the structure. Whether the king was per- suaded to undertake the work as a matter of duty, or only to advance his own interests, may not be so clear. But that the king was most thoroughly in earnest about the work is certain. A monarch in those times would assuredly not have devoted an enormous amount of labour and material to such a scheme unless he was thoroughly con- vinced of its great importance. That the welfare of his people was not considered by Cheops in building the Great Pyramid is almost equally certain. He might, indeed, have had a scheme for their good which either he did not care to explain to them or which they could not under- stand. But the most natural inference from the narrative is that his purpose had no reference whatever to their welfare. For though one could understand his own subjects hating him while he was all the time working for their good, it is obvious that his memory would not have been hated if some important good had eventually been gained from his scheme. Many a far-seeing ruler has been hated while living on account of the very work for which his memory has been revered. But the memory of Cheops and his successors was held in detestation. May we, however, suppose that, though Cheops had not the welfare of his own people in his thoughts, his purpo.se THE MYSTERY OF THE PYRAMIDS. 83 was nevertheless not selfish, but intended in some way to promote the welfare of the human race ? I say his purpose, because, whoever originated the scheme, Cheops carried it out ; it was by means of his wealth and through his power that the pyramid was built This is the view adopted by Professor Piazzi Smyth and others, in our own time, and first suggested by John Taylor. ' Whereas other writers, says Smyth, ' have generally esteemed that the mysterious persons who directed the building of the Great Pyramid (and to whom the Egyptians, in their traditions, and for ages afterwards, gave an immoral and even abominable character) must therefore have been very bad indeed, so that the world at large has always been fond of standing on, kicking, and insulting that dead lion, whom they really knew not ; he, Mr. John Taylor, seeing how religiously bad the Egyptians themselves were, was led to conclude, on the contrary, that those they hated (and could never sufficiently abuse) might, perhaps, have been pre-eminently good; or were, at all events, of different religious faith from themselves.' ' Com- bining this with certain unmistakable historical facts,' Mr. Taylor deduced reasons for believing that the directors of the building designed to record in its proportions, and in its interior features, certain important religious and scientific truths, not for the people then living, but for men who were to come 4000 years or so after. I have already considered at length (see the preceding Essay) the evidence on which this strange theory rests. But there are certain matters connecting it with the above narrative which must here be noticed. The mention of the shepherd Philition, who fed his flocks about the place where the Great Pyramid was built, is a singular feature of Herodotus's narrative. It reads like some strange mis- interpretation of the story related to him by the Egyptian priests. It is obvious that if the word Philition did not 84 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. represent a people, but a person, this person must have been very eminent and distinguished — a shepherd-king, not a mere shepherd. Rawlinson, in a note on this portion of the narrative of Herodotus, suggests that Philitis was probably a shepherd-prince from Palestine, perhaps of Philistine de- scent, ' but so powerful and domineering, that it may be tra- ditions of his oppressions in that earlier age which, mixed up afterwards in the minds of later Egyptians with the evils inflicted on their country by the subsequent shepherds of better known dynasties, lent so much fear to their religious hate of Shepherd times and that name.' Smyth, somewhat modifying this view, and considering certain remarks of Manetho respecting an alleged invasion of Egypt by shepherd-kings, ' men of an ignoble race (from the Egyptian point of view) who had the confidence to invade our country, and easily subdued it to their power without a battle,' comes to the conclusion that some Shemite prince, ' a contemporary of, but rather older than, the Patriarch Abraham,' visited Egypt at this time, and obtained such influence over the mind of Cheops as to persuade him to erect the pyramid According to Smyth, the prince was no other than Melchizedek, king of Salem, and the influence he exerted was supernatural With such developments of the theory we need not trouble ourselves. It seems tolerably clear that certain shepherd-chiefs who came to Egypt during Cheops' reign were connected in some way with the designing of the Great Pyramid. It is clear also that they were men of a different religion from the Egyptians, and persuaded Cheops to abandon the religion of his people Taylor, Smyth, and the Pyramidalists generally, consider this suflScient to prove that the pyramid was erected for some purpose connected with religion. ' The pyramid,' in fine, says Smyth, 'was charged by God's inspired shepherd- prince, in the beginning of human time, to keep a certain THE MYSTERY OF THE PYRAMIDS. 85 message secret and inviolable for 4000 years, and it has done so \ and in the next thousand years it was to enun- ciate that message to all men, with more than traditional force, more than all the authenticity of copied manuscripts or reputed history ; and that part of the pyramid's useful- ness is now beginning.' There are many very obvious difficulties surrounding this theory ; as, for example (i.) the absurd waste of power in setting supernatural machinery at work 4000 years ago with cumbrous devices to record its object, when the same machinery, much more simply employed now, would effect the alleged purpose far more thoroughly ; (ii.) the enormous amount of human misery and its attendant hatreds brought about by this alleged divine scheme ; and (iii.) the futility of an arrangement by which the pyramid was only to sub- serve its purpose when, it had lost that perfection of shape on which its entire significance depended, according to the theory itself But, apart from these, there is a difficulty, nowhere noticed by Smyth or his followers, which is fatal, I conceive, to this theory of the pyramid's purpose. The second pyramid, though slightly inferior to the first in size, and probably far inferior in quality of masonry, is still a structure of enormous dimensions, which must have required many years of labour from tens of thousands of workmen. Now, it seems impossible to explain why Chephren built this second pyramid, if we adopt Smyth's theory respecting the first pyramid. For either Chephren knew the purpose for which the Great P3rramid was built, or he did not know it. If he knew that purpose, and it was that indicated by Smyth, then he also knew that no second pyramid was wanted. On that hypothesis, all the labour bestowed on the second pyramid was wittingly and wilfully wasted. This, of course is incredible. But, on the other hand, if Chephren did not know what was the purpose for which the Great 86 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. Pyramid was built, what reason could Chephren have had for building a pyramid at all ? The only answer to this ques- tion seems to be that Chephren built the second pyramid in hopes of finding out why his brother had built the first, and this answer is simply absurd. It is clear enough that whatever purpose Cheops had in building the first pyramid, Chephren must have had a similar purpose in building the second ; and we require a theory which shall at least explain why the first pyramid did not subserve for Chephren the purpose which it subserved or was meant to subserve for Cheops. The same reasoning may be extended to the third pyramid, to the fourth, and in fine to all the pyramids, forty or so in number, included under the general designa- tion of the Pyramids of Ghizeh or Jeezeh. The extension of the principle to pyramids later than the second is especially important as showing that the difference of religion insisted on by Smyth has no direct bearing on the question of the purpose for which the Great Pyramid itself was constructed. For Mycerinus either never left or else returned to the religion of the Egyptians. Yet he also built a pyramid, which, though far inferior in size to the pyramids built by his father and uncle, was still a massive structure, and relatively more costly even than theirs, be- cause built of expensive granite. The p)Tamid built by Asychis, though smaller still, was remarkable as built of brick ; in fact, we are expressly told that Asychis desired to eclipse all his predecessors in such labours, and accord- ingly left this brick pyramid as a monument of his reign. We are forced, in fact, to believe that there was some special relation between the pyramid and its builder, seeing that each one of these kings wanted a pyramid of his own. This applies to the Great Pyramid quite as much as to the others, despite the superior excellence of that structure. Or rather, the argument derives its chief force from the THE MYSTERY OF THE PYRAMIDS. 87 superiority of the Great Pyramid. If Chephren, no longer perhaps having the assistance of the shepherd-architects in planning and superintending the work, was unable to con- struct a pyramid so perfect and so stately as his brother's, the very fact that he nevertheless built a pyramid shows that the Great Pyramid did not fulfil for Chephren the purpose which it fulfilled for Cheops. But, if Smyth's theory were true, the Great Pyramid would have fulfilled finally and for all men the purpose for which it was built. Since this was manifestly not the case, that theory is, I submit, demonstrably erroneous. It was probably the consideration of this point, viz. that each king had a pyramid constructed for himself, which led to the theory that the pyramids were intended to serve as tombs. This theory was once very generally enter- tained. Thus we find Humboldt, in his remarks on American pjramids, referring to the tomb theory of the Egyptian pyramids as though it were open to no question. ' When we consider,' he says, ' the pyramidical monuments of Egypt, of Asia, and of the New Continent, from the same point of view, we see that, though their form is alike, their destination was altogether different. The group of pyramids of Ghizeh and at Sakhara in Egypt ; the triangular pyramid of the Queen of the Scythians, Zarina, which was a stadium high and three in circumference, and which was decorated with a colossal figure; the fourteen Etruscan pyramids, which are said to have been enclosed in the labyrinth of the king Porsenna, at Clusium — were reared to serve as the sepulchres of the illustrious dead. Nothing is more natural to men than to commemorate the spot where rest the ashes of those whose memory they cherish whether it be, as in the infancy of the race, by simple mounds of earth, or, in later periods, by the towering height of the tumulus. Those of the Chinese and of Thibet have 88 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. only a few metres of elevation. Farther to the west the dimensions increase ; the tumulus of the king Alyattes, father of Croesus, in Lydia, was six stadia, and that of Ninus was more than ten stadia in diameter. In the north of Europe the sepulchre of the Scandinavian king Gormus and the queen Daneboda, covered with mounds of earth, are three hundred metres broad, and more than thirty high.' But while we have abundant reason for believing that in Egypt, even in the days of Cheops and Chephren, extreme importance was attached to the character of the place of burial for distinguished persons, there is nothing in what is known respecting earlier Egyptian ideas to suggest the probability that any monarch would have devoted many years of his subjects' labour, and vast stores of material, to erect a mass of masonry like the Great Pyramid, solely to receive his own body after death. Far less have we any reason for supposing that many monarchs in succession would do this, each having a separate tomb built for him. It might have been conceivable, had only the Great Pyramid been erected, that the structure had been raised as a mausoleum for all the kings and princes of the dynasty. But it seems utterly incredible that such a building as the Great Pyramid should have been erected for one king's body only — and that, not in the way described by Humboldt, when he speaks of men commemorating the spot where rest the remains of those whose memory they cherish, but at the expense of the king himself whose body was to be there deposited. Besides, the first pyramid, the one whose history must be regarded as most significant of the true purpose of these buildings, was not built by an Egyptian holding in great favour the special religious ideas of his people, but by one who had adopted other views and those not belonging, so far as can be seen, to a people among whom sepulchral rites were held in exceptional regard THE MYSTERY OF THE PYRAMIDS. 89 A still Stronger objection against the exclusively tombic theory resides in the fact that this theory gives no account whatever of the characteristic features of the pyramids themselves. These buildings are all, without exceptira^ built on special astronomical principles. Their square bases are so placed as to have two sides lying east and west, and two lying north and south, or, in other words, so that their four faces front the four cardinal points. One can imagine no reason why a tomb should have such a position. It is not, indeed, easy to understand why any building at all, except an astronomical observatory, should have such a position. A temple perhaps devoted to sun-worship, and generally to the worship of the heavenly bodies, might be built in that way. For it is to be noticed that the peculiar figure and position of the pyramids would bring about the following relations : — When the sun rose and set south of the east and west points, or (speaking generally) between the autumn and the spring equinoxes, the rays of the rising and setting sun illuminated the southern face of the pyramid; whereas during the rest of the year, that is, during the six months between the spring and autumn equinoxes, the rays of the rising and setting sun illuminated the northern face. Again, all the year round the sun's rays passed from the eastern to the western face at solar noon. And lastly, during seven months and a half of each year, namely, for three months and three quarters before and after mid- summer, the noon rays of the sun fell on all four faces of the pyramid, or, according to a Peruvian expression (so Smyth avers), the sun shone on the pyramid 'with all his_ rays.' Such conditions as these might have been regarded as very suitable for a temple devoted to sun-worship. Yet the temple theory is as untenable as the tomb theory. For, in the first place, the pyramid form — as the pyramids were originally built, with perfectly smooth slant-faces, not terraced 90 MYTHS AND MAR VELS OF ASTRONOMY. into Steps as now through the loss of the casing-stones — was entirely unsuited for all the ordinary requirements of a temple of worship. And further, this theory gives no explanation of the fact that each king built a pyramid, and each king only. one. Similar difficulties oppose the theory that the pyramids were intended to serve as astronomical observatories. For while their original figure, however manifestly astronomical in its relations, was quite unsuited for observatory work, it is manifest that if such had been the purpose of pyramid-building, so soon as the Great Pyramid had once been built, no other would be needed. Certainly none of the pyramids built afterwards could have subserved any astronomical purpose which the first did not subserve, or have subserved nearly so well as the Great Pyramid those purposes (and they are but few) which that building may be supposed to have fulfilled as an astronomical observatory. Of the other theories mentioned at the beginning of this paper none seem to merit special notice, except per- haps the theory that the pyramids were made to receive the royal treasures, and this theory rather because of the atten- tion it received from Arabian literati, during the ninth and tenth centuries, than because of any strong reasons which can be suggested in its favour. ' Emulating,' says Professor Smyth, ' the enchanted tales of Bagdad,' the court poets of Al Mamoun (son of the far-famed Haroun al Raschid) ' drew gorgeous pictures of the contents of the pyramid's interior. . . All the treasures of Sheddad Ben Ad the great Antediluvian king of the earth, with all his medicines and all his sciences, they declared were there, told over and over again. Others, though, were positive that the founder-king was no other than Saurid Ibn Salhouk, a far greater one than the other ; and these last gave many more minute particulars, some of which are at least interesting to us in the present day, as proving that, amongst the Egypto- THE MYSTERY OF THE PYRAMIDS. 91 Arabians of more than a thousand years ago, the Jeezeh pyramids, headed by the grand one, enjoyed a pre-eminence of fame vastly before all the other pyramids of Egypt put together ; and that if any other is alluded to after the Great Pyramid (which has always been the notable and favourite one, and chiefly was known then as the East ppamid), it is either the second one at Jeezeh, under the name of the West pyramid; or the third one, distinguished as the Coloured pyramid, in allusion to its red granite, compared with the white limestone casings of the other two (which, moreover, from their more near, but by no means exact, equality of size, went frequently under the affectionate designation of " the pair ").' The report of Ibn Abd Alkohm, as to what was to be found in each of these three p)Tamids, or rather of what, according to him, was put into them originally by King Saurid, runs as follows : ' In the Western pyramid, thirty treasuries filled with store of riches and utensils, and with signatures made of precious stones, and with instruments of iron and vessels of earth, and with arms which rust not, and with glass which might be bended and yet not broken, and with strange spells, and with several kinds of alakakirs (magical precious stones) single and double, and with deadly poisons, and with other things besides. He made also in the East ' (the Great Pyramid) ' divers celestial spheres and stars, and what they severally operate in their aspects, and the perfumes which are to be used to them, and the books which treat of these matters. He put also into the coloured pyramid the commentaries of the priests in chests of black marble, and with every priest a book, in which the wonders of his profession and of his actions and of his nature were written, and what was done in his time, and what is and what shall be from the beginning of time to the end of it' The rest of this worthy's report relates 92 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. to certain treasurers placed within these three pyramids to guard their contents, and (like all or most of what I have already quoted) was a work of imagination. Ibn Abd Alkohm, in fact, was a romancist of the first water. Perhaps the strongest argument against the theory that the pyramids were intended as strongholds for the conceal- ment of treasure, resides in the fact that, search bemg made, no treasure has been discovered. When the workmen employed by Caliph Al Mamoun, after encountering mani- fold difficulties, at length broke their way into the great ascending passage leading to the so-called King's Chamber, they found ' a right noble apartment, thirty-four feet long, seventeen broad, and nineteen high, of polished red granite throughout, walls, floor, and ceiling, in blocks squared and true, and put together with such exquisite skill that the joints are barely discernible to the closest inspection. But where is the treasure — the silver and the gold, the jewels, medicines, and arms ? — These fanatics look wildly around them, but can see nothing, not a single dirhem anjrwhere. They trim their torches, and carry them again and again to every part of that red-walled, flinty hall, but without any better success. Nought but pure polished red granite, in mighty slabs, looks upon them from every side. The room is clean, garnished too, as it were, and, according to the ideas of its founders, complete and perfectly ready for its visitors so long expected, so long delayed. But the gross minds who occupy it now, find it all barren, and declare that there is nothing whatever for them in the whole extent of the apartment from one end to another ; nothing except an empty stone chest without a lid.' It is, however, to be noted that we have no means of learning what had happened between the time when the pyramid was built and when Caliph Al Mamoun's workmen broke their way into the King's Chamber. The place may, THE MYSTERY OF THE PYRAMIDS. 93 after all, have contained treasures of some kind; nor, in- deed, is it incompatible with other theories of the pyramid to suppose that it was used as a safe receptacle for treasures. It is certain, however, that this cannot have been the special purpose for which the pyramids were designed. We should find in such a purpose no explanation whatever of any of the most stringent difiSculties encountered in dealing with other theories. There could be no reason why strangers from the East should be at special pains to instruct an Egyptian monarch how to hide and guard his treasures. Nor, if the Great Pjnramid had been intended to receive the treasures of Cheops, would Chephren have built another for his own treasures, which must have included those gathered by Cheops. But, apart from this, how incon- ceivably vast must a treasure-hoard be supposed to be, the safe guarding of which would have repaid the enormous cost of the great Pyramid in labour and material ! And then, why should a mere treasure-house have the character- istics of an astronomical observatory? Manifestly, if the pyramids were used at all to receive treasures, it can only have been as an entirely subordinate though perhaps con- venient means of utilising these gigantic structures. Having thus gone through all the suggested purposes of the pyramids save two or three which clearly do not possess any claim to serious consideration, and having found none which appear to give any sufficient account of the history and principal features of these buildings, we must either abandon the inquiry or seek for some explana- tion quite different from any yet suggested. Let us con- sider what are the principal points of which the true theory of the pyramids should give an account. In the first place, the history of the pyramids shows that the erection of the first great pyramid was in all prob- ability either suggested to Cheops by wise men who visited 94 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. Egypt from the East, or else some important information conveyed to him by such visitors caused him to conceive the idea of building the pyramid. In either case we may suppose, as the history indeed suggests, that these learned men, whoever they may have been, remained in Egypt to superintend the erection of the structure. It may be that the architectural work was not under their supervision ; in fact, it seems altogether unlikely that shepherd-rulers would have much to teach the Egyptians in the matter of archi- tecture. But the astronomical peculiarities which form so significant a feature of the Great PjTramid were probably provided for entirely under the instructions of the shepherd chiefs who had exerted so strange an influence upon the mind of King Cheops. Next, it seems clear that self-interest must have been the predominant reason in the mind of the Egyptian king for undertaking this stupendous work. It is true that his change of religion implies that some higher cause in- fluenced him. But a ruler who could inflict such grievous burdens on his people in carrying out his purpose that for ages afterwards his name was held in utter detestation, cannot have been solely or even chiefly influenced by re- ligious motives. It affords an ample explanation of the behaviour of Cheops, in closing the temples and forsaking the religion of his country, to suppose that the advantages which he hoped to secure by building the pyramid de- pended in some way on his adopting this course. The visitors from the East may have refused to give their assist- ance on any other terms, or may have assured him that the expected benefit could not be obtained if the pyramid were erected by idolaters. It is certain, in any case, that they were opposed to idolatry ; and we have thus some means of inferring who they were and whence they came. We know that one particular branch of one particular THE MYSTER V OF THE PYRAMIDS. 95 race in the East was characterised by a most marked hatred of idolatry in all its forms. Terah and his family, or, probably, a sect or division of the Chaldaean people, went forth from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan — and the reason why they went forth we learn from a book of considerable historical interest (the book of Judith) to have been because ' they would not worship the gods of their fathers who were in the land of the Chaldasans.' The Bible record shows that members of this branch of the Chaldaean people visited Egypt from time to time. They were shepherds, too, which accords well with the account of Herodotus above quoted. We can well understand that persons of this family would have resisted all endea- vours to secure their acquiescence in any scheme associ- ated with idolatrous rites. Neither promises nor threats would have had much influence on them. It was a dis- tinguished member of the family, the patriarch Abraham, who said : ' I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread even to a shoe-latchet, and that I will not take anything that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich.' Vain would all the pro- mises and all the threats of Cheops have been to men of this spirit. Such men might help him in his plans, suggested, as the history shows, by teachings of their own, but it must be on their own conditions, and those condi- tions would most certainly include the utter rejection of idolatrous worship by the king in whose behalf they worked, as well as by all who shared in their labours. It seems probable that they convinced both Cheops and Chephren, that unless these kings gave up idolatry, the purpose, whatever it was, which the pyramid was erected to promote, would not be fulfilled. The mere fact that the Great Pyramid was built either directly at the sugges- 96 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. tion of these visitors, or because they had persuaded Cheops of the truth of some important doctrine, shows that they must have gained great influence over his mind. Rather we may say that he must have been so convinced of their knowledge and power as to have accepted with unquestion- ing confidence all that they told him respecting the par- ticular subject over which they seemed to possess so per- fect a mastery. But having formed the opinion, on grounds sufficiently assvured, that the strangers who visited Egypt and super- intended the building of the Great Pyramid were kinsmen of the patriarch Abraham, it is not very difficult to decide what was the subject respecting which they had such exact information. They or their parents had come from the land of the Chaldaeans, and they were doubtless learned in all the wisdom of their Chaldaean kinsmen. They were masters, in fact, of the astronomy of their day, a science for which the Chaldaeans had shown from the earliest ages the most remarkable aptitude. What the actual extent of their astronomical knowledge may have been it would be difficult to say. But it is certain, from the exact knowledge which later Chaldaeans possessed respecting long astro- nomical cycles, that astronomical observations must have been carried on continuously by that people for many hundreds of years. It is highly probable that the astro- nomical knowledge of the Chaldaeans in the days of Terah and Abraham was much more accurate than that possessed by the Greeks even after the time of Hipparchus. ' We see i It has been remarked that, though Hipparchus had the enormous advantage of being able to compare his own observations with those recorded by the Chaldaeans, he estimated the length of the year less correctly than the Chaldaeans. It has been thought by some that the Chaldaeans were acquainted with the true system of the universe, but \ do not know that there- are- sufficient grounds-for this supposition. THE MYSTERY OF THE PYRAMIDS. 97 indeed, in the accurate astronomical adjustment of the Great Pyramid, that the architects must have been skilful astronomers and mathematicians ; and I may note here, in passing, how strongly this circumstance confirms the opinion that the visitors were kinsmen of Terah and Abraham. All we know from Herodotus and Manetho, all the evidence from the circumstances connected with the religion of the pyramid-kings, and the astronomical evidence given by the pyramids themselves, tends to assure us that members of that particular branch of the Chaldaean family which went out from Ur of the Chaldees because, they would not worship the gods of the Chaldseans, extended their wanderings to Egypt, and eventually superintended the erection of the Great Pyramid so far as astronomical and mathematical relations were concerned But not only have we already decided that the pyramids were not intended solely or chiefly to subserve the purpose of astronomical observatories, but it is certain that Cheops would not have been personally much interested in any astronomical information which these visitors might be able to communicate. Unless he saw clearly that something was to be gained from the lore of his visitors, he would not have undertaken to erect any astronomical buildings at their suggestion, even if he had cared enough for their knowledge to pay any attention to them whatever. Most probably the reply Cheops would have made to any com- viunications respecting mere astronomy, would have run much in the style of the reply made by the Turkish Cadi, Imaum Ali Zadfe to a friend of Layard's who had appa- rently bored him about double stars and comets : ' Oh my Diodoras Siculus and ApoUonius Myndius mention, however, that they were able to predict the return of comets, and this implies that their observations had been continued for many centuries with great care and exactness. gS MYTHS AND MAR VELS OF ASTRONOMY. soul ! oh my lamb !' said Ali Zadfe, ' seek not after the things which concern thee not. Thou camest unto us, and we welcomed thee : go in peace. Of a truth thou hast spoken many words ; and there is no harm done, for the speaker is one and the listener is another. After the fashion of thy people thou hast wandered from one place to another until thou art happy and content in none. Listen, oh my son ! There is no wisdom equal unto the belief in God ! He created the world, and shall we liken ourselves unto Him in seeking to penetrate into the mysteries of His creation? Shall we say, Behold this star spinneth round that star, and this other star with a tail goeth and cometh in so many years ! Let it go ! He from whose hand it came will guide and direct it But thou wilt say unto me, Stand aside, oh man, for I am more learned than thou art, and have seen more things. If thou thinkest that thou art in this respect better than I am, thou art welcome. I praise God that I seek not that which I require not Thou art learned in the things I care not for ; and as for that which thou hast seen, I defile it Will much knowledge create thee a double belly, or wilt thou seek paradise with thine eyes?' Such, omitting the references to the Creator, would probably have been the reply of Cheops to his visitors, had they only had astronomical facts to present him with. Or, in the plenitude of his kingly power, he might have more decisively rejected their teaching by re- moving their heads. But the shepherd-astronomers had knowledge more attractive to offer than a mere series of astronomical dis- coveries. Their ancestors had Watched from the centres of their sleeping flocks Those radiant Mercuries, that seemed to move Carrying through aether in perpetual round Decrees and resolutions of the gods ; THE MYSTERY OF THE PYRAMIDS. 99 and though the visitors of King Cheops had themselves rejected the Sabaistic polytheism of their kinsmen, they had not rejected the doctrine that the stars in their courses affect the fortunes of men. We know that among the Jews, probably the direct descendants of the shepherd-chiefs who visited Cheops, and certainly close kinsmen of theirs, and akin to them also in their monotheism, the belief in as- trology was never regarded as a superstition. In fact, we can trace very clearly in the books relating to this people that they believed confidently in the influences of the heavenly bodies. Doubtless the visitors of King Cheops shared the belief of their Chaldean kinsmen that astrology is a true science, ' founded ' indeed (as Bacon expresses their views) ' not in reason and physical contemplations, but in the direct experience and observation of past ages.' Josephus records the Jewish tradition (though not as a tra- dition but as a fact) that ' our first father, Adam, was in- structed in astrology by divine inspiration,' and that Seth so excelled in the science, that, ' foreseeing the Flood and the destruction of the world thereby, he engraved the funda- mental principles of his art (astrology) in hieroglyphical emblems, for the benefit of after ages, on two pillars of brick and stone.' He says farther on that the Patriarch Abraham, 'having learned the art in Chaldsea, when he journeyed into Egypt taught the Egyptians the sciences of arithmetic and astrology.' Indeed, the stranger called Philitis by Herodotus may, for aught that appears, have been Abraham himself; for it is generally agreed that the word Philitis indicated the race and country of the visitors, regarded by the Egyptians as of Philistine descent and arriving from Palestine. However, I am in no way concerned to show that the shepherd-astronomers who induced Cheops to build the Great Pyramid were even contemporaries of Abraham and Melchizedek. What seems sufficiently obvious is all ^rmvM University, too MYTffS AND MAR VELS OF ASTRONOMY. that I care to maintain, namely, that these shepherd-astrono- mers were of Chaldasan birth and training, and therefore astrologers, though, unlike their Chaldsean kinsmen, they rejected Sabaism or star-worship, and taught the belief in one only Deity. Now, if these visitors were astrologers, who persuaded Cheops, and were honestly convinced themselves, that they could predict the events of any man's life by the Chaldaean method of casting nativities, we can readily understand many circumstances connected with the pyramids which have hitherto seemed inexplicable. The pyramid built by a king would no longer be regarded as having reference to his death and burial, but to his birth and life, though after his death it might receive his body. Each king would require to have his own nativity-pyramid, built with due symbolical reference to the special celestial influences affecting his fortunes. Every portion of the work would have to be carried out under special conditions, determined according to the mysterious influences ascribed to the different planets and their varying positions — now high, now low, then hid. Progressive, retrograde, or standing still. If the work had been intended only to afford the means of predicting the king's future, the labour would have been regarded by the monarch as well bestowed. But astrology involved much more than the mere prediction of future events. Astrologers claimed the power of ruling the planets — that is, of course, not of ruling the motions of those bodies, but of providing against evil influences or strengthen- ing good influences which they supposed the celestial orbs to exert in particular aspects. Thus we can understand that while the mere basement layers of the pyramid would Jfhaca, N. Y. THE MYSTERY OF THE PYRAMIDS. loi with due mystic observances, the further progress of build- ing the pyramid would supply the necessary means and indications for ruling the planets most potent in their influ- ence upon the royal career. Remembering the mysterious influence which astro- logers ascribed to special numbers, figures, positions, and so forth, the care with which the Great Pyramid was so propor- tioned as to indicate particular astronomical and mathe- matical relations is at once explained. The four sides of the square base were carefully placed with reference to the cardinal points, precisely like the four sides of the ordinary square scheme of nativity.' The eastern side faced the Ascendant, the southern faced the Mid-heaven, the western faced the Descendant, and the northern faced the Imum Coeli. Again, we can understand that the architects would 1 The language of the modern Zadkiels and Raphaels, though meaningless and absurd in itself, yet, as assuredly derived from the astrology of the oldest times, may here be quoted. (It certainly was not invented to give support to the theory I am at present advocating.) Thus runs the jargon of the tribe : ' In order to illustrate plainly to the reader what astrologers mean by the "houses of heaven," it is proper for him to bear in mind the four cardinal points. The eastern, facing the rising sun, has at its centre the first grand angle or first house, termed the Horoscope or ascendant. The northern, opposite the region where the sun is at midnight, or the cusp of the lower hea- ven or nadir, is the Imum Coeli, and has at its centre the fourth house. The western, facing the setting sun, has at its centre the third grand angle or seventh house or descendant. And lastly, the southern, facing the noonday sun, has at its centre the astrologer's tenth house, or Mid- heaven, the most powerful angle or house of honour.' ' And although,' proceeds the modern astrologer, ' we cannot in the ethereal blue discern these lines or terminating divisions, both reason and experience assure us that they certainly exist ; therefore the astrologer has certain grounds for the choice of his four angular houses ' (out of twelve in all) ' which, resembling the palpable demonstration they afford, are in the astral science esteemed the most powerful of the whole.' — Raphael's Manual of Astrology. , ' : ' ' 102 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. have made a circuit of the base correspond in length with the number of days in the year — a relation which, according to Prof P. Smyth, is fulfilled in this manner, that the four sides contain one hundred times as many pyramid inches as there are days in the year. The pyramid inch, again, is itself mystically connected with astronomical relations, for its length is equal to the five hundred millionth part of the earth's diameter, to a degree of exactness corresponding well with what we might expect Chaldaean astronomers to attain. Prof. Smyth, indeed, believes that it was exactly equal to that proportion of the earth's polar diameter — a view which would correspond with his theory that the archi- tects of the Great Pyramid were assisted by divine inspira- tion ; but what is certainly known about the sacred cubit, which contained twenty-five of these inches, corresponds better with the diameter which the Chaldean astronomers, if they worked very carefully, would have deduced from ob- servations made in their own country, on the supposition which they would naturally have made that the earth is a perfect globe, not compressed at the poles. It is not indeed at all certain that the sacred cubit bore any refer- ence to the earth's dimensions ; but this seems tolerably well made out — that the sacred cubit was about 25 inches in length, and that the circuit of the pyramid's base con- tained a hundred inches for every day of the year. Rela- tions such as these are precisely what we might expect to find in buildings having an astrological significance. Simi- larly, it would correspond well with the mysticism of astro- logy that the pyramid should be so proportioned as to make the height be the radius of a circle whose circumference would equal the circuit of the pyramid's base. Again, that long slant tunnel, leading downwards from the pyramid's northern face, would at once find a meaning in this astro- logical theory. The slant , tunnej^jointed__ta_the.p.ole:Staf- The mystery of The pyramids. 103 of Cheop s' time, when due northbelow thg_j^rue pole of the heavens! Ihis circumstance had no observational utility.' It could afford no indication of time, because a pole-star moves very slowly, and the pole-star ^jjfLrbp^r"' flay -mugt have^ been in .view, through that tunnel for more than an hour at a time. But, apart from the mystical significance which an astrologer would attribute to such a relation, it may be shown that this slant tunnel is precisely what the astrologer would require in order to get the horoscope correctly. Another consideration remains to be mentioned which, while strengthening the astrological theory of the pyramids, may bring us even nearer to the true aim of those who planned and built these structures. It is known also that the Chaldaeans from the earliest times pursued the study of alchemy in connection with astrology, not homing to jiiscover the philosopher's stone by cheinical investigations alone, %it by carryipg jrnj^^iirh investigations under special celestial influence. The hope of achieving this discovery, by which he would at once have had the means of acquiring illimitable wealth, would of itself account for the fact that Cheops expended so much labour and material in the erection of the Great Pyramid, seeing that, of necessity, success in the search for the philosopher's stone would be a main feature of his fortunes, and would therefore be astrologically indicated in his nativity-pyramid, or perhaps even be secured by fol' lowing mystical observances proper for ruling his planets. The elixir of life may also have been among the objects which the builders of the pyramids hoped to discover. It may be noticed, as a somewhat significant circum- stance, that, in the account given by Ibn Abd Alkohm of the contents of the various pyramids, those assigned to the Great Pyramid relate entirely to astrology and associated 104 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. mysteries. It is, of course, clear that Abd Alkohm drew largely on his imagination. Yet it seems probable that there was also some basis of tradition for his ideas. And certainly one would suppose that, as he assigned a treasurer to the East pyramid (' a statue of black agate, his eyes open and shining, sitting on a throne with a lance '), he would have credited the building with treasure also, had not some tradition taught otherwise. But he says that King Saurid placed in the East pyramid, not treasures, but 'divers celestial spheres and stars, and what they severally operate in their aspects, and the perfumes which are to be used to them, and the books which treat of these matters." But, after all, it must be admitted that the strongest evidence in favour of the astrological (and alchemical) theory of the pyramids is to be found in the circumstance that all other theories seem untenable. The pyramids were undoubtedly erected for some purpose which was re- garded by their builders as most important. This purpose certainly related to the personal fortunes of the kingly builders. It was worth an enormous outlay of money, labour, and material. This purpose was such, furthermore, 1 Arabian writers give the following account of Egyptian progress in astrology and the mystical arts : Nacrawasch, the progenitor of Misraim, was the first Egyptian prince, and the first of the magicians who excelled in astrology and enchantment. Retiring into Egypt with his family of eighty persons, he built Essous, the most ancient city of Egypt, and commenced the first dynasty of Misraimitish princes, who excelled as cabalists, diviners, and in the mystic arts generally. The most celebrated of the race were Naerasch, who first represented by images the twelve signs of the zodiac ; Gharnak, who openly described the arts before kept secret ; Hersall, who first worshipped idols ; Sehlouk, who worshipped the sun ; Saurid (King Saurid of Ibn Abd Alkohm's account), who erected the first pyramids and invented the magic mirror ; and Pharaoh, the last king of the dynasty, whose name was afterwards taken as a kingly title, as Ctesar later became a general impel ial title. THE MYSTERY OF THE PYRAMIDS. 105 that each king required to have his own pyramid It was in some way associated with astronomy, for the pyramids are built with most accurate reference to celestial aspects. It also had its mathematical and mystical bearings, seeing that the pyramids exhibit mathematical and symbolical peculiarities not belonging to their essentially structural requirements. And lastly, the erection of the pyramids was in some way connected with the arrival of certain learned persons from Palestine, and presumably of Chal- dsan origin. All these circumstances accord well with the theory I have advanced ; while only some of them, and these not the most characteristic, accord with any of the other theories. Moreover, no fact known respecting the pyramids or their builders is inconsistent with the astro- logical (and alchemical) theory. On the whole, then, if it cannot be regarded as demonstrated (in its general bearing, of course, for we cannot expect any theory about the pyramids to be established in minute details), the astro- logical theory may fairly be described as having a greater degree of probability in its favour than any hitherto advanced- io6 MYTHS AND MAR VELS OF ASTRONOMY. IV. SWEDENBORG'S VISIONS OF OTHER WORLDS. If it were permitted to men to select a sign whereby they should know that a message came from the Supreme Being, probably the man of science would select for the sign the communication of some scientific fact beyond the knowledge of the day, but admitting of being readily put to the test The evidence thus obtained in favour of a revelation would correspond in some sense to that depend- ing on prophecies ; but it would be more satisfactory to men having that particular mental bent which is called the scientific. Whether this turn of mind is inherent or the result of training, it certainly leads men of science to be more exacting in considering the value of evidence than any men, except perhaps lawyers. In the case of the student of science, St. Paul's statement that ' prophecies ' ' shall fail ' has been fulfilled, whereas it may be doubted whether evidence from ' knowledge ' would in like manner ' vanish away.' On the contrary, it would grow stronger and stronger, as knowledge from observation, from experi- ment, and from calculation continually increased. It can scarcely be said that this has happened vi'ith such quasi- scientific statements as have actually been associated with revelation. If we regard St. Paul's reference to knowledge as relating to such statements as these, then nothing could SWEDENBORG'S visions of other worlds. 107 be more complete than the fulfilment of his own prediction, 'Whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease ; whether there be know- ledge, it shall vanish away.' The evidence from prophecies fails for the exact inquirer, who perceives the doubts which exist (among the most earnest believers) as to the exact meaning of the prophetic words, and even in some cases as to whether prophecies have been long since fulfilled or re- late to events still to come. The evidence from ' tongues ' has ceased, and those are dust who are said to have spoken in strange tongues. The knowledge which was once thought supernatural has utterly vanished away. But if, in the ages of faith, some of the results of modem scientific research had been revealed, as the laws of the solar system, the great principle of the conservation of energy, or the wave theory of light, or if some of the questions which still re- main for men of science to solve had been answered in those times, the evidence for the student of science would have been irresistible. Of course he will be told that even then he would have hardened his heart ; that the inquiry after truth tending naturally to depravity of mind, he would reject even evidence based on his beloved laws of probability; that his 'wicked and adulterous generation seeketh " in vain " after a sign,' and that if he will not accept Moses and the prophets, neither would he believe though one rose from the dead Still the desire of the student of science to base his faith on convincing evidence (in a matter as important to him as to those who abuse him) does seem to have something reasonable in it after all. The mental qualities which cause him to be less easily satis- fied than others, came to him in the same way as his bodily quahties; and even if the result to which his mental training leads him is as unfortunate as some suppose, that training is not strictly speaking so heinously sinful that nothing short io8 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. of the eternal reprobation meted out to him by earthly judges can satisfy divine justice. So that it may be thought not a wholly unpardonable sin to speak of a sign which, had it been accorded, would have satisfied even the most exacting student of science. Apart, too, from all question of faith, the mere scientific interest of divinely inspired communications respecting natural laws and processes would justify a student of science in regarding them as most desirable messages from a being of superior wisdom and benevolence. If prophecies and tongues, why not knowledge, as evidence of a divine mission ? Such thoughts are suggested by the claim of some re- ligious teachers to the possession of knowledge other than that which they could have gained by natural means. The claim has usually been quite honest. The teacher of religion tests the reality of his mission in simple a priori confidence that he has such a mission, and that therefore some one or other of the tests he applies will afford the re- quired evidence. To one, says St. Paul, is given the word of wisdom ; to another, the word of knowledge ; to another, faith ; to another, the gift of healing ; to another, the work- ing of miracles ; to another prophecy ; to another, the dis- cerning of spirits ; to another, divers kinds of tongues : and so fortL If a man like Mahomet, who believes in his mission to teach, finds that he cannot satisfactorily work miracles — that mountains will not be removed at his bid- ding — then some other evidence satisfies him of the reality of his mission. Swedenborg, than whom, perhaps, no more honest man ever lived, said and believed that to him had been granted the discerning of spirits. ' It is to be observed,' he said, ' that a man may be instructed by spirits and angels if his interiors be so open as to enable him to speak and be in company with them, for man in his essence is a spirit, and is with spirits as to his interiors ; so that he SWEDENBORG' S VISIONS OF OTHER WORLDS. 109 whose interiors are opened by the Lord may converse with them, as man with man. This privilege I have enjoyed daily now for twelve years.' It indicates the fulness of Swedenborg's belief in this privilege that he did not hesitate to describe what the spirits taught him respecting matters which belong rather to science than to faith ; though it must be admitted that probably he supposed there was small reason for believing that his statements could ever be tested by the results of scientific researcL The objects to which his spiritual com- munications related were conveniently remote. I do not say this as desiring for one moment to suggest that he pur- posely selected those objects, and not others which might be more readily examined. He certainly believed in the reality of the communications he described. But possibly there is some law in things visionary, corresponding to the law of mental operation with regard to scientific theories ; and as the mind theorises freely about a subject little under- stood, but cautiously where many facts have been ascer- tained, so probably exact knowledge of a subject prevents the operation of those illusions which are regarded as super- natural communications. It is in a dim light only that the active imagination pictures objects which do not really exist ; in the clear light of day they can no longer be im- agined. So it is with mental processes. Probably there is no subject more suitable in this sense for the visionary than that of life in other worlds. It has always had an attraction for imaginative minds, simply because it is enwrapped in so profound a mystery; and there has been little to restrain the fancy, because so Uttle is certainly known of the physical condition of other worlds. Recently, indeed, a somewhat sudden and severe check has been placed on the liveliness of imagination which had enabled men formerly to picture to themselves the inhabit- no MYTHS AND MARVELS 02< ASTRONOMY. ants of other orbs in space. Spectroscopic analysis and exact telescopic scrutiny will not permit some speculations to be entertained which formerly met with favour. Yet even now there has been but a shght change of scene and time. If men can no longer imagine inhabitants of one planet because it is too hot, or of another because it is too cold, of one body because it is too deeply immersed in vaporous masses, or of another because it has neither atmo- sphere nor water, we have only to speculate about the unseen worlds which circle round those other suns, the stars ; or, instead of changing the region of space where we imagine worlds, we can look backward to the time when planets now cold and dead were warm with life, or forward to the distant future when planets now glowing with fiery heat shall have cooled down to a habitable condition. Swedenborg's imaginative mind seems to have fully felt the charm of this interesting subject. It was, indeed, because of the charm which he found in it, that he was readily persuaded into the belief that knowledge had been supernaturally communicated to him respecting it 'Be- cause I had a desire,' he says, ' to know if there are other earths, and to learn their nature and the character of their inhabitants, it was granted me by the Lord to converse and have intercourse with spirits and angels who had come from other earths, with some for a day, with some for a week, and with some for months. From them I have received information respecting the earths from and near which they are, the modes of life, customs and worship of their inhabit- ants, besides various other particulars of interest, all which, having come to my knowledge in this way, I can describe as things which I have seen and heard.' It is interesting (psychologically) to notice how the reasoning which had convinced Swedenborg of the existence of other inhabited worlds is attributed by him to the spirits. SWEDENBORG' S VISIONS OF OTHER WORLDS, ill ' It is well known in the other life,' he says, ' that there are many earths with men upon them ; for there (that is, in the spiritual life) every one who, from a love of truth and con- sequent use, desires it, is allowed to converse with the spirits of other earths, so as to be assured that there is a plurality of worlds, and be informed that the human race is not confined to one earth only, but extends to numberless earths. ... I have occasionally conversed on this subject with the spirits of our earth, and Ae result of our conversa- tion was that a man of enlarged understanding may con- clude from various considerations that there are many earths with human inhabitants upon them. For it is an inference of reason that masses so great as the planets are, some of which exceed this earth in magnitude, are not empty bodies, created only to be carried in their motion round the sun, and to shine with their scanty light for the benefit of one earth only ; but that they must have a nobler use. He who believes, as every one ought to believe, that the Deity created the universe for no other end than the existence of the human race, and of heaven firom it (for the human race is the seminary of heaven), must also believe that wherever there is an earth there are human inhabitants. That the planets which are visible to us, being within the boundary of our solar system, are earths, may appear from various considerations. They are bodies of earthy matter, because they reflect the sun's light, and when seen through the telescope appear, not as stars shining with a flaming lustre, but as earths, variegated with obscure spots. Like our earth, they are carried round the sun by a progressive motion, through the path of the Zodiac, whence they have years and seasons of the year, which are spring, summer, autumn, and winter ; and they rotate upon their axes, which makes days, and times of the day, as morning, midday, evening, and night. Some of them also have satellites. ti2 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. which perform their revolutions about their globes, as the moon does about ours. The planet Saturn, as being farthest from the sun, has besides an immense luminous ring, which supplies that earth with much, though reflected, light. How is it possible for any one acquainted with these facts, and who thinks from reason, to assert that such bodies are uninhabited?' Remembering that this reasoning was urged by the spirits, and that during *velve years Swedenborg's interiors had been opened in such sort that he could converse with spirits from other worlds, it is surprising that he should have heard nothing about Uranus or Neptune, to say nothing of the zone of asteroids, or again, of planets as yet unknown which may exist outside the path of Neptune. He definitely commits himself, it will be observed, to the statement that Saturn is the planet farthest from the sun. And elsewhere, in stating where in these spiritual communications the ' idea ' of each planet was conceived to be situated, he leaves no room whatever for Uranus and Neptune, and makes no mention of other bodies in the solar system than those known in his day. This cannot have been because the spirits from then unknown planets did not feel them- selves called upon to communicate with the spirit of one who knew nothing of their home, for he received visitors from worlds in the starry heavens far beyond human ken. It would almost seem, though to the faithful Swedenborgian the thought will doubtless appear very wicked, that the system of Swedenborg gave no place to Uranus and Nep- tune, simply because he knew nothing about those planets. Otherwise, what a noble opportunity there would have been for establishing the truth of Swedenborgian doctrines by revealing to the world the existence of planets hitherto un- known. Before the reader pronounces this a task beneath the dignity of the spirits and angels who taught Swedenborg SWEDENBORG'S VISIONS OF OTHER WORLDS. 113 it will be well for him to examine the news which they actually imparted. I may as well premise, however, that it does not seem to me worth while to enter here at any length into Sweden- borg's descriptions of the inhabitants of other worlds, because what he has to say on this subject is entirely imaginative. There is a real interest for us in his ideas respecting the condition of the planets, because those ideas were based (though unconsciously)-upon the science of his day, in which he was no mean proficient And even where his mysticism went beyond what his scientific attainments suggested, a psychological interest attaches to the workings of his imagination. It is as curious a problem to trace his ideas to their origin as it sometimes is to account for the various phases of a fantastic dream, such a dream, for in- stance, as that which Armadale, the doctor, and Midwinter, in ' Armadale,' endeavour to connect with preceding events. But Swedenborg's visions of the behaviour and appearance of the inhabitants of other earths have little interest, because it is hopeless to attempt to account for even their leading features. For instance, what can we make of such a passage as the following, relating to the spirits who came from Mercury? — 'Some of them are desirous to appear, not like the spirits of other earths as men, but as crys- talline globes. Their desire to appear so, although they do not, arises from the circumstance that the knowledges of things immaterial are in the other life represented by crystals.' Yet some even of these more fanciful visions signi- ficantly indicate the nature of Swedenborg's philosophy. One can recognise his disciples and his opponents among the, inhabitants of various favoured and unhappy worlds, and one perceives how the wiser and more dignified of his spiritual visitors are made to advocate his own views, and 114 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. to deride those of his adversaries. Some of the teachings thus circuitously advanced are excellent. For instance, Swedenborg's description of the inhab- itants of Mercury and their love of abstract knowledge contains an instructive lesson. 'The spirits of Mercury imagine,' he says, 'that they know so much, that it is almost impossible to know more. But it has been told them by the spirits of our earth, that they do not know many things, but few, and that the things which they know not are comparatively infinite, and in relation to those they do know are as the waters of the largest ocean to those of the smallest fountain ; and further, that the first advance to wisdom is to know, acknowledge, and perceive that what we do know, compared with what we do not know, is so little as hardly to amount to anything." So far we may suppose that Swedenborg presents his own ideas, seeing ' It is noteworthy how Swedenborg here anticipates a saying of Laplace, the greatest mathematician the world has known, save Newton alone. Newton's remark that he seemed but as a child who had gathered a few shells on the shores of ocean, is well known. Lap- lace's words, ' Ce que nous connaissons est peu de chose ; ce que nous ignorons est immense' were not, as is commonly stated, his last. De Morgan gives the following account of Laplace's last moments, on the authority of Laplace's friend and pupil, the well-known mathematician Poisson : 'After the publication (in 1825) of the fifth volume of the Mecanique Celeste, Laplace became gradually weaker, and with it musing and abstracted. He thought much on the great problems of existence, and often muttered to himself, " Qtiest-ce que t^est que tout cela I " After many alternations he appeared at last so permanently prostrated that his family applied to his favourite pupil, M. Poisson, to try to get a word from him. Poisson paid a visit, and after a few words of salutation, said, "J'ai une bonne nouvelle i vous annoncer : on a refu an Bureau des Longitudes une lettre d'AUemagne annon9ant que M. Bessel a verifie par I'observation vos decouvertes theoriques sur les satellites de Jupiter." Laplace opened his eyes and answered with deep gravity. " L'homme ne poursuit que des chimires." He never spoke again. His death tonk place March 5, 1827.' SWEDENBORG'S visions of other worlds. 115 that he is describing what has been told the Mercurial spirits by the spirits of our earth, of whom (during these spiritual conversations) he was one. But he proceeds to describe how angels were allowed to converse with the Mercurial spirits in order to convince them of their error. 'I saw another angel,' says he, after describing one such conversation, ' conversing with them ; he appeared at some altitude to the right ; he was from our earth, and he enu- merated very many things of which they were ignorant. . . . As they had been proud on account of their knowledges, on hearing this they began to humble themselves. Their humiliation was represented by the sinking of the company which they formed, for that company then appeared as a volume or roll, ... as if hollowed in the middle and raised at the sides. . . . They were told what that signi- fied, that is, what they thought in their humiliation, and that those who appeared elevated at the sides were not as yet in any humiliation. Then I saw that the volume was separated, and that those who were not in humiliation were remanded back towards their earth, the rest remaining.' Little being known to Swedenborg, as indeed little is known to the astronomers of our own time, about Mercury, we find little in the visions relating to that planet which possesses any scientific interest. He asked the inhabitants who were brought to him in visions about the sun of the system, and they replied that it looks larger from Mercury than as seen from other worlds. This of course was no news to Swedenborg. They explained further, that the in- habitants enjoy a moderate temperature, without extremes of heat or cold. ' It was given to me,' proceeds Sweden- borg, ' to tell them that it was so provided by the Lord, that they might not be exposed to excessive heat from their greater proximity to the sun, since heat does not arise from the sun's nearness, but from the height and density of the Ii6 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. atmosphere, as appears from the cold on high mountains even in hot climates ; also that heat is varied according to the direct or oblique incidence of the sun's rays, as is plain from the seasons of winter and summer in every region.' It is curious to find thus advanced, in a sort of lecture addressed to visionary Mercurials, a theory which crops up repeatedly in the present day, because the difficulty which suggests it is dealt with so unsatisfactorily for the most part in our text-books of science. Continually we hear of some new paradoxist who propounds as a novel doctrine the teaching that the atmosphere, and not the sun, is the cause of heat. The mistake was excusable in Swedenborg's time. In fact it so chanced that, apart from the obvious fact on which the mistake is usually based — the continued pre- sence, namely, of snow on the summits of high mountains even in the torrid zone — it had been shown shortly before by Newton, that the light fleecy clouds seen sometimes even in the hottest weather above the wool-pack or cumu- lus clouds are composed of minute crystals of ice. Seeing that these tiny crystals can exist under the direct rays of the sun in hot summer weather, many find it difiicult to understand how those rays can of themselves have any heating power. Yet in reality the reasoning addressed by Swedenborg to his Mercurial friends was entirely erroneous. If he could have adventured as far forth into time as he did into space, and could have attended in the spirit the lectures of one John Tyndall, a spirit of our earth, he would have had this matter rightly explained to him. In reality the sun's heat is as effective directly at the summit of the highest mountain as at the sea-level. A thermometer ex- posed to the sun in the former position indicates indeed a slightly higher temperature than one similarly exposed to the sun (when at the same altitude) at the sea-level. But the air does not get warmed to the same degree, simply SWEDUNBORG' S VISIONS OF OTHER WORLDS. 117 because, owing to its rarity and relative dryness, it fails to retain any portion of the heat which passes through it It is interesting to notice how Swedenborg's scientific conceptions of the result of the (relatively) airless condition of our moon suggested peculiar fancies respecting the lunar inhabitants. Interesting, I mean, psychologically : for it is curious to see scientific and fanciful conceptions thus un- consciously intermingled. Of the conscious intermingling of such conceptions instances are common enough. The effects of the moon's airless condition have been often made the subject of fanciful speculations. The reader will re- member how Scheherazade, in ' The Poet at the Breakfast Table,' runs on about the moon. ' Her delight was un- bounded, and her curiosity insatiable. If there were any living creatures there, what odd things they must be. They couldn't have any lungs nor any hearts. What a pity! Did they ever die ? How could they expire if they didn't breathe? Burn up? No air to burn in. Tumble into some of those horrid pits, perhaps, and break all to bits. She wondered how the young people there liked it, or whether there were any young people there. Perhaps nobody was young and nobody was old, but they were like mummies all of them — what an idea ! — two mummies making love to each other 1 So she went on in a rattling, giddy kind of way, for she was excited by the strange scene in which she found herself, and quite astonished the young astronomer with her vivacity.' But Swedenborg's firm belief that the fancies engendered in his mind were scientific reahties is very different from the conscious play of fancy in the passage just quoted. It must be remem- bered that Swedenborg regarded his visions with as much confidence as though they were revelations made by means of scientific instruments ; nay, with even more confidence, for he knew that scientific observations may be misunderstood, Ii8 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. whereas he was fully persuaded that his visions were mira- culously provided for his enlightenment, and that therefore he would not be allowed to misunderstand aught that was thus revealed to him. ' It is well known to spirits and angels,' he says, ' that there are inhabitants in the moon, and in the moons or satelUtes which revolve about Jupiter and Saturn. Even those who have not seen and conversed with spirits who are from them entertain no doubt of their being inhabited, for they, too, are earths, and where there is an earth there is man ; man being the end for which every earth exists, and without an end nothing was made by the Great Creator. Every one who thinks from reason in any degree enlightened, must see that the human race is the final cause of creation.' The moon being inhabited then by human beings, but being very insufficiently supplied with air, it necessarily follows that these human beings must be provided in some way with the means of existing in that rare and tenuous atmosphere. Tremendous powers of inspiration and expi- ration would be required to make that air support the life of the human body. Although Swedenborg could have had no knowledge of the exact way in which breathing supports life (for Priestley was his junior by nearly half a century), yet he must clearly have perceived that the quantity of air inspired has much to do with the vitalising power of the indraught. No ordinary human lungs could draw in an adequate supply of air from such an atmosphere as the moon's ; but by some great increase of breathing power it might be possible to live there : at least, in Swedenborg's time there was no reason for supposing otherwise. Reason, then, having convinced him that the lunar inhabitants must possess extraordinary breathing apparatus, and presumably most powerful voices, imagination presented them to him SWEDENBORG'S VISIONS OF OTHER WORLDS, ug accordingly. ' Some spirits appeared overhead,' he says, ' and thence were heard voices like thunder ; for their voices sounded precisely like thunder from the clouds after lightning. I supposed it was a great multitude of spirits who had the art of giving voices with such a sound. The more simple spirits who were with me derided them, which greatly surprised me. But the cause of their derision was soon discovered, which was, that the spirits who thundered were not many, but few, and were as little as children, and that on former occasions they (the thunderers) had terrified them by such sounds, and yet were unable to do them the least harm. That I might know their character, some of them descended from on high, where they thundered ; and, what surprised me, one carried another on his back, and the two thus approached me. Their faces appeared not unhandsome, but longer than those of other spirits. In stature they were like children of seven years old, but the frame was more robust, so that they were like men. It was told me by the angels that they were from the moon. He who was carried by the other came to me, applying himself to my left side under the elbow, and thence spoke. He said, that when they utter their voices they thunder in this way,' — and it seems likely enough that if there are any living speaking beings in the moon, their voice, could they visit the earth, would be found to differ very markedly from the ordinary human voice. ' In the spiritual world their thunderous voices have their use. For by their thun- dering the spirits from the moon terrify spirits who are in- clined to injure them, so that the lunar spirits go in safety where they will To convince me the sound they make was of this kind, he (the spirit who was carried by the other) retired, but not out of sight, and thundered in like manner. They showed, moreover, that the voice was thundered by being uttered from the abdomen like an 120 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. eructation. It was perceived that this arose from the cir- cumstance that the inhabitants of the moon do not, hke the inhabitants of other earths, speak from the lungs, but from the abdomen, and thus from air collected there, the reason of which is that the atmosphere with which the moon is surrounded is not like that of other earths.' In his intercourse with spirits from Jupiter, Swedenborg heard of animals larger than those that live on the earth. It has been a favourite idea of many believers in other worlds than ours, that though in each world the same races of animals exist, they would be differently proportioned; and there has been much speculation as to the probable size of men and other animals in worlds much larger or much smaller than the earth. When as yet ideas about other worlds were crude, the idea prevailed that giants exist in the larger orbs, and pygmies in the smaller. Whether this idea had its origin in conceptions as to the eternal fitness of things or not, does not clearly appear. It seems certainly at first view natural enough to suppose that the larger beings would want more room and so inhabit the larger dweUing-places. It was a pleasing thought that, if we could visit Jupiter or Saturn, we should find the human inhabitants there In bigness to surpass earth's giant sons ; but that if we could visit our moon or Mercury, or what- ever smaller worlds there are, we should find men Now less than smallest dwarfs, in narrow room Throng numberless, like that pygmssan race Beyond the Indian mount ; or fairy elves, Whose midnight revels, by a forest side Or fountain, some belated peasant sees, Or dreams he sees. Later the theory was started that the size of beings in various worlds depends on the amount of light received SWEDENBORG'S VISIONS OF OTHER WORLDS. 121 from the central sun. Thus Wolfius asserted that the in- habitants of Jupiter are nearly fourteen feet high, which he proved by comparing the quantity of sunlight which reaches the Jovians with that which we Terrenes receive. Recently, however, it has been noted that the larger the planet, the smaller in all probability must be the inhabit- ants, if any. For if there are two planets of the same density but unequal size, gravity must be greater at the surface of the larger planet, and where gravity is great large animals are cumbered by their weight. It is easy to see this by comparing the muscular strength of two men similarly proportioned, but unequal in height Suppose one man five feet in height, the other six ; then the cross section of any given muscle will be less for the former than for the latter in the proportion of twenty-five (five times five) to thirty -six (six times six). Roughly, the muscular strength of the bigger man will be half as great again as that of the smaller. But the weights of the men will be proportioned as 125 (five times five times five) to 216 (six times six times six), so that the weight of the bigger man exceeds that of the smaller nearly as seven exceeds four, or by three-fourths. The taller man exceeds the smaller, then, much more in weight than he does in strength ; he is accordingly less active in proportion to his size. Within certain limits, of course, size increases a man's effective as well as his real strengtL For instance, our tall man in the preceding illustration cannot lift his own weight as readily as the small man can lift his ; but he can lift a weight of three hundred pounds as easily as the small man can lift a weight of two hundred pounds. When we get beyond certain limits of height, however, we get absolute weakness as the result of the increase of weight. Swift's Brobdingnags, for instance, would have been unable to stand upright ; for they were six times as 122 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. tall as men, and therefore each Brobdingnag would have weighed 216 times as much as a man, but would have possessed only thirty-six times the muscular power. Their weight would have been greater, then, in a sixfold greater degree than their strength, and, so far as their mere weight was concerned, their condition would have resembled that of an ordinary man under a load five times exceeding his own weight As no man could walk or stand upright under such a load, so the Brobdingnags would have been powerless to move, despite, or rather because of, their enormous stature. Applying the general considerations here enunciated to the question of the probable size of creatures like ourselves in other planets, we see that men in Jupiter should be much smaller, men in Mercury much larger, than men on the earth. So also with other animals. But Swedenborg's spirit visitors from these planets taught differently. ' The horses of our earth,' he says, ' when seen by the spirits of Jupiter, appeared to me smaller than usual, though rather robust ; which arose from the idea those spirits had respecting them. They informed me that among them there are animals similar, though much larger ; but that they are wild, and in the woods, and that when they come in sight they cause terror though they are harm- less ; they added that their terror of them is natural or innate.'^ On the other hand the inhabitants of Mercury, who might be thirteen feet high yet as active as our men, appeared slenderer than Terrene men. ' I was desirous to know,' says Swedenborg, ' what kind of face and person the people in Mercury have, compared with those of the 1 The reason assigned by Swedenborg is fanciful enough. ' In the spiritual sense, ' he says, ' a horse signifies the intellectual principle formed from scientifics, and as they are afraid of cultivating the in- tellectual faculties by worldly sciences, from this comes an influx of fear. They care nothing for scientifics which are of human erudition.' SWEDENBORG" S VISIONS OF OTHER WORLDS. 123 people on our earth. There therefore stood before me a female exactly resembling the women on that earth. Her face was beautiful, but it was smaller than that of a woman of our earth ; she was more slender, but of equal height ; she wore a linen head-dress, not artfully yet gracefully disposed. A man also was presented. He, too, was more slender than the men of our earth ; he wore a garment of deep blue, closely fitted to his body without folds or flowing skirts. Such, I learn, were the personal form and costume of the humans of that earth. Afterwards there was shown me a species of the oxen and cows, which did not indeed differ much from those on our earth, except that they were smaller, and made some approach to the stag and hind species.' We have seen, too, that the lunar spirits were no larger than children seven years old. One passage of Swedenborg's description of Jupiter is curious. ' Although on that earth,' he says, ' spirits speak with men ' (i.e. with Jovian men) ' man in his turn does not speak with spirits, except to say, when instructed, that he will do so no more,' — ^which we should regard as a bull if it were not news from the Jovian spirit world. ' Nor is man allowed to tell any one that a spirit has spoken to him; if he does so, he is punished. Those spirits of Jupiter when they were with me, at first supposed they were with a man of their own earth ; but when in my turn I spoke with them, and thought of publishing what passed between us and so relating it to others, then, because they were not allowed to chastise me, they discovered they were with a stranger.' It has been a favourite idea with those who delight in the argument from design, that the moons of the remoter planets have been provided for the express purpose of making up for the small amount of sunlight which reaches those planets. Jupiter receives only about one twenty- 124 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. seventh part of the light which we receive from the sun ; but then, has he not four moons to make his nights glorious? Saturn is yet farther away from the sun, and receives only the ninetieth part of the light we get from the sun ; but then he has eight moons and his rings, and the nocturnal glory of his skies must go far to compensate the Saturnians for the small quantity of sunlight they receive. The Satumian spirits who visited Swedenborg were manifestly indoctrinated with these ideas. For they informed him that the nocturnal light of Saturn is so great that some Saturnians worship it, caUing it the Lord. These wicked spirits are separated from the rest, and are not tolerated by them. ' The nocturnal light,' say the spirits, ' comes from the immense ring which at a distance encircles that earth, and from the moons which are called the satellites of Saturn.' And again, being questioned further ' concerning the great ring which appears from our earth to rise above the horizon of that planet, and to vary its situations, they said that it does not appear to them as a ring, but only as a snow-white substance in heaven in various directions.' Unfortunately for our faith in the veracity of these spirits, it is certain that the moons of Saturn cannot give nearly so much light as ours, while the rings are much more effective as darkeners than as illuminators. One can readily calcu- late the apparent size of each of the moons as seen from Saturn, and thence show that the eight discs of the moons together are larger than our moon's disc in about the proportion of forty-five to eight. So that if they were all shining as brightly as our full moon and all full at the same time, their combined light would exceed hers in that degree. But they are not illuminated as our moon is. They are illuminated by the same remote sun which illuminates Saturn, while our moon is illuminated by a sun giving her as much light as we ourselves receive. Our moon then is SWEDENBORG" S VISIONS OF OTHER WORLDS. 125 illuminated ninety times more brightly than the moons of Saturn, and as her disc is less than all theirs together, not as one to ninety, but as sixteen to ninety, it follows that all the Saturnian moons, if full at the same time, would reflect to Saturn one-sixteenth part of the light which we receive from the full moon.' As regards the rings of Saturn, no- thing can be more certain than that they tend much more to deprive Saturn of light then to make up by reflection for ' Similar reasoning applies to the moons of Jnpiter, and it so chances that the result in their case comes out exactly the same as in the case of Saturn ; all the Jovian moons, if full together, would reflect only the sixteenth part of the light which we receive from the full moon. It is strange that scientific men of considerable mathematical power have used the argument from design apparently supplied by the satel- lites, without being at the pains to test its validity by the simple mathe- matical calculations necessary to determine the quantity of light which these bodies can reflect to the planets round which they travel. Brewster and Whewell, though they took opposite sides in the contro- versy about other inhabited worlds, agreed in this. Brewster, of course, holding the theory that all the planets are inhabited, very naturally accepted the argument from design in this case. Whewell, in opposing that theory, did not dwell at all upon the subjects of the satellites. But in his ' Bridgewater Treatise on Astronomy and General Physics,' he says, ' Taking only the ascertained cases of Venus, the Earth, Jupiter, and Saturn, we conceive that a person of common understanding will be strongly impressed with the persuasion that the satellites are placed in the system with a view to compensate for the diminished light of the sun at greater distances. Mars is an exception ; some persons might conjecture from this case that the arrangement it- self, like other useful arrangements, has been brought about by some wider law which we have not yet detected. But whether or not wt entertain such a guess (it can be nothing more), we see in other parts of creation so many examples of apparent exceptions to rules, which are afterwards found to be capable of explanation, or to be provided for by particular contrivances, that no one familiar with such contem- plations vrill, by one anomaly, be driven from the persuasion that the end which the arrangements of the satellites seem suited to answer is really one of the ends of their creation.' 126 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY the small amount of light which Saturn receives directly from the sun. The part of the ring which lies between the planet and the sun casts a black shadow upon Saturn, this shadow sometimes covering an extent of surface many times exceeding the entire surface of our earth. The shadow thus thrown upon the planet creeps slowly, first one way, then another, northwards and southwards over the illuminated hemisphere of the planet (as pictured in the 13th plate of my treatise on Saturn), requiring for its passage from the arctic to the antarctic regions and back again to the arctic regions of the planet, a period nearly equal to that of a generation of terrestrial men. Nearly thirty of our years the process lasts, during half of which time the northern hemisphere suffers, and during the other half the southern. The shadow band, which be it remembered stretches right athwart the planet from the extreme eastern to the extreme western side of the illuminated hemisphere, is so broad during the greater part of the time that in some regions (those corresponding to our temperate zones) the shadow takes two years in passing, during which time the sun can- not be seen at all, unless for a few moments through some chinks in the rings, which are known to be not solid bodies, but made up of closely crowded small moons. And the slow passage of this fearful shadow, which advances at the average rate of some twenty miles a day, but yet hangs for years over the regions athwart which it sweeps, occurs in the very season when the sun's small direct supply of heat would require to be most freely compensated by nocturnal light — in the winter season, namely, of the planet. More- over, not only during the time of the shadow's passage, but during the entire winter half of the Saturnian year, the ring reflects no light during the night time, the sun being on the other or summer side of the ring's . plane. ^ The only noc- ' The reader who cares enough about such subjects to take the SWEDENBORG" S VISIONS Of OTHpR WORLDS. 127 turnal effect which would be observable would be the oblitera- tion of the stars covered by the ring system. It is strange that, this being so, the spirits from Saturn should have made necessary trouble, can easily make a little model of Saturn and his ring system, which will very prettily illustrate the effect of the rings ■ both in reflecting light to the planet's darkened hemisphere and in cut- ting off light from the planet's illuminated hemisphere. Take a ball, say an ordinary hand-ball, and pierce it through the centre with a fine knitting-needle. Cut out a flat ring of card, proportioned to the ball as the ring system of Saturn to his ball. (If the ball is two inches in diameter, strike out on a sheet of cardboard two concentric circles, one of them with a radius of a little more than an inch and a half, the other with a radius of about two inches and three-eights, and cut out the ring between these two circles.) Thrust the knitting-needle through this ring in such a way that the ball shall lie in the middle of the ring, as the globe of Saturn hangs (without knitting-needle connections) in the middle of his ring system. Thrust another knitting-needle centrally through the ball square to the plane of the ring, and use this second needle, which we may call the polar one, as a handle. Now take the ball and ring into sunlight, or the light of a lamp or candle, hold- ing them so that the shadow of the ring is as thin as possible. This represents the position of the shadow at the time of Saturnian spring or autumn. Cause the shadow slowly to shift until it surrounds the part of the ball through which the polar needle passes on one side. This will represent the position of the shadow at the time of mid- winter for the hemisphere corresponding to that side of the ball. Notice that while the shadow is traversing this half of the ball, the side of the ring which lies towards that half is in shadow, so that a fly or other small insect on that half of the ball would see the darkened side of the ring. A Saturnian correspondingly placed would get no reflected sunlight from the ring system. Move the ball and ring so that the shadow slowly returns to its first position. You will then have illustrated the changes taking place during one half of a Saturnian year. Continue the motion so that the shadow passes to the other half of the ball, and finally surrounds the other point through which the polar needle passes. The polar point which the shadow before surrounded will now be seen to be in the light, and this half of the ball will illustrate the hemisphere of Saturn where it is midsummer. It will also be seen that the side of the ring towards this half of the 128 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. no mention of the circumstance ; and even more strange thai these spirits and others should have asserted that the moons and rings of Saturn compensate for the small amount of light directly received from the sun. Most certainly a Swedenborg of our own time would find the spirits from Saturn more veracious and more communicative about these matters, though even what he would hear from the spirits would doubtless appear to sceptics of the twenty-first century to be no more than he could have inferred from the known facts of the science of his day. But Swedenborg was not content merely to receive visits from the inhabitants of other planets in the solar system. He was visited also by the spirits of earths in the starry heaven ; nay, he was enabled to visit those earths himself. For man, even while living in the world, ' is a spirit as to his interiors, the body which he carries about in the world only serving him for performing functions in this natural or terrestrial sphere, which is the lowest.' And to certain men it is granted not only to converse as a spirit with angels and spirits, but to traverse in a spiritual way the vast distances which separate world from world and system from system, all the while remaining in the body. Sweden- borg was one of these. ' The interiors of my spirit,' he says, ' are opened by the Lord, so that while I am in the body I can at the same time be with angels in heaven, and not only converse with them, but behold the wonderful things which are there and describe them, that henceforth it may no more be said, "Who ever came from heaven to ball is now in tlie light, so that a small insect on this half of the ball would see the bright side of the ring. A Satumian correspondingly placed would get reflected sunlight, from the ring system both hy day and by night. Moving the ball and ring so that the shadow returns to its first position, an entire Saturnian year will have been illustrated. These changes can be still better shown with a Satumian orrery (see plate viii. of my Saturn), which can be very easily constructed. SWEDENBORG'S VISIONS OF OTHER WORLDS. 125 assuie us it exists and tell us what is there?" He who is unacquainted with the arcana of heaven cannot believe that man can see earths so remote, and give any account of them from sensible experience. But let him know that spaces and distances, and consequently progressions, exist- ing in the natural world, in their origin and first causes are changes of the state of the interiors ; that with angels and spirits progressions appear according to changes of state; and that by changes of state they may be apparently trans- lated from one place to another, and from one earth to another, even to earths at the boundaries of the universe ; so likewise may man as to his spirit, his body still remain- ing in its place. This has been the case with me.' Before describing his visits to earths in the starry heavens, Swedenborg is careful to indicate the probability that such earths exist. ' It is well known to the learned world,' he says, ' that every star is a sun in its place, remaining fixed like the sun of our earth.' The proper motions of the stars had, alas ! not been discovered in Swedenborg's day, nor does he seem to have been aware what a wild chase he was really entering upon in his spiritual progressions. Conceive the pursuit of Sirius or Vega as either sun rushed through space with a velocity of thirty or forty miles in every second of time ! To resume, however, the account which Swedenborg gives of the ideas of the learned world of his day. ' It is the distance which makes a star appear in a small form; consequently' (the logical necessity is not manifest, however) ' each star, like the sun of our system, has around it planets which are earths ; and the reason these are not visible to us is because of their immense distance and their having no light but from their own star, which light cannot be reflected so far as to reach us.' ' To what other end,' proceeds this most convincing reasoning, 'can be so immense a heaven with such a multitude of no MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY Stars? For man is the end for which the universe was created. It has been ascertained by calculation that sup- posing ther? were in the universe a million earths, and on every earth three hundred millions of men and two hundred generations within six thousand years, and that to every man or spirit was allotted a space of three cubic ells, the collec- tive number of men or spirits could not occupy a space equal to a thousandth part of this earth, thus not more than that occupied by one of the satellites of Jupiter or Saturn ; a space on the universe almost undiscernible, for a satellite is hardly visible to the naked eye. What would this be for the Creator of the universe, to whom the whole universe filled with earths could not be enough ' (for what ?), ' seeing that he is infinite.' However, it is not on this reasoning alone that Swedenborg relies. He tells us, honestly beyond all doubt, that he knows the truth of what he relates. ' The information I am about to give,' he says, 'respecting the earths in the starry heaven is from experi- mental testimony ; from which it will likewise appear how I was translated thither as to my spirit, the body remaining in its place.' His progress in his first star-hunt was to the right, and continued for about two hours. He found the boundary of our solar system marked first by a white but thick cloud, next by a fiery smoke ascending from a great chasm. Here some guards appeared, who stopped some of the company, because these had not, like Swedenborg and the rest, received permission to pass. They not only stopped those unfortunates, but tortured them, conduct for which terres- trial analogues might possibly be discovered. Having reached another system, he asked the spirits ol one of the earths there how large their sun was and how it appeared. They said it was less than the sun of our earth, and has a flaming appearance. Our sun, in fact, is larger SWEDENBORG'S VISIONS OF OTHER WORLDS. 131 than other suns in space, for from that earth starry heavens axe seen, and a star larger than the rest appears, which, say those spirits, ' was declared from heaven ' to be the sun of Swedenborg's earthly home. What Swedenborg saw upon that earth has no special interest. The men there, though haughty, are loved by their respective wives because they, the men, are good. But their goodness does not appear very manifest from anything in the narrative. The only man seen by Sweden- borg took from his wife ' the garment which she wore, and threw it over his own shoulders ; loosening the lower part, which flowed down to his feet like a robe (much as a man of our earth might be expected to loosen the tie-back of the period, if he borrowed it in like manner) he thus walked about clad.' He next visited an earth circling round a star, which he learned was one of the smaller sort, not far from the equator. Its greater distance was plain from the circum- stance that Swedenborg was two days in reaching it. In this earth he very nearly fell into a quarrel with the spirits. For hearing that they possess remarkable keenness of vision, he ' compared them with eagles which fly aloft, and enjoy a clear and extensive view of objects beneath.' At this they were indignant, supposing,' poor spirits, ' that he com- pared them to eagles as to their rapacity, and consequently thought them wicked.' He hastened to explain, however, that he ' did not liken them to eagles as to their rapacity, but as to sharpsightedness.' Swedenborg's account of a third earth in the star-depths contains a very pretty idea for temples and churches. The temples in that earth ' are constructed,' he says, of trees, not cut down, but growing in the place where they were first planted. On that earth, it seems, there are trees of an extraordinary size and height ; these they set in rows when 132 yiYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. young, and arrange in such an order that they may serve when they grow up to form porticoes and colonnades. In the meanwhile, by cutting and pruning, they fit and pre- pare the tender shoots to entwine one with another, and join together so as to form the groundwork and floor of the temple to be constructed, and to rise at the sides as walls, and above to bend into arches to form the roof In this manner they construct the temple with admirable art, elevating it high above the ground. They prepare also an ascent into it, by continuous branches of the trees, extended from the trunk and firmly connected together. Moreover, they adorn the temple without and within in various ways, by disposing the foliage into particular forms; thus they build entire groves. But it was not permitted me to see the nature of these temples, only I was informed that the light of their sun is let in by apertures amongst the branches, and is everywhere transmitted through crystals ; whereby the light falling on the walls is refracted in colours like those of the rainbow, particularly blue and orange, of which they are fondest. Such is their architecture, which they prefer to the most magnificent palaces of our earth.' Other earths in the starry heavens were visited by Swedenborg, but the above will serve sufficiently to illus- trate the nature of his observations. One statement, by the way, was made to him which must have seemed unlikely ever to be contravened, but which has been shown in our time to be altogether erroneous. In the fourth star-world he visited, he was told that that earth, which travels round its sun in 200 days of fifteen hours each, is one of the least in the universe, being scarcely 500 German miles, say 2000 English miles, in circumference. This would make its diameter about 640 Enghsh miles. But there is not one of the whole family of planetoids which has a diameter so great as this, and many of these earths must be less, than SWEDENBORG'S VISIONS OF OTHER WORLDS. 133 fifty miles in diameter. Now Swedenborg remarks that he had his information from the angels, 'who made a com- parison in all these particulars with things of a like nature on our earth, according to what they saw in me or in my memory. Their conclusions were formed by angelic ideas, whereby are instantly known the measure of space and time in a just proportion with respect to space and time else- where. Angelic ideas, which are spiritual, in such calcu- lations infinitely excel human ideas, which are natural.' He must therefore have met, unfortunately, with untruthful angels. The real source of Swedenborg's inspirations will be tolerably obvious — to all, at least, who are not Swedenbor- gians. But our account of his visions would not be com- plete in a psychological sense without a brief reference to the personal allusions which the spirits and angels made during their visits or his wanderings. His distinguished rival. Christian Wolf, was encountered as a spirit by spirits from Mercury, who ' perceived that what he said did not rise above the sensual things of the natural man, because in speaking he thought of honour, and was desirous, as in the world (for in the other world every one is like his former self), to connect various things into series, and from these again continually to deduce others, and so form several chains of such, which they did not see or acknowledge to be true, and which, therefore, they declared to be chains which neither cohered in themselves nor with the conclu- sions, calling them the obscurity of authority;' so they ceased to question him further, and presently left him. Similarly, a spirit who in this world had been a ' prelate and a preacher,' and ' very pathetic, so that he could deeply move his hearers,' got no hearing among the spirits of a certain earth in the starry heavens ; for they said they could tell ' from the tone of the voice whether a discourse came 134 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. from the heart or not ;' and as his discourse came not from the heart, ' he was unable to teach them, whereupon he was silent.' Convenient thus to have spirits and angels to confirm our impressions of other men, Hving or dead. Apart from the psychological interest attaching to Swedenborg's strange vision, one cannot but be strongly impressed by the idea pervading them, that to beings suitably constituted all that takes place in other worlds might be known. Modem science recognises a truth here ; for in that mysterious ether which occupies all space, messages are at all times travelling by which the history of every orb is constantly recorded. No world, however remote or insignificant ; no period, however distant — but has its history thus continually proclaimed in ever widen- ing waves. Nay, by these waves also (to beings who could read their teachings aright) the future is constantly indi- cated. For, as the waves which permeate the ether could only be situated as they actually are, at any moment, through past processes, each one of which is consequently indicated by those ethereal waves, so also there can be but one series of events in the future, as the sequel of the rela- tions actually indicated by the ethereal undulations. These, therefore, speak as definitely and distinctly of the future as of the past. Could we but rid us of the gross habiliments of flesh, and by some new senses be enabled to feel each order of ethereal undulations, even of those only which reach our earth, all knowledge of the past and future would be within our power. The consciousness of this underlies the fancies of Swedenborg, just as it underlies the thought of him who sang — There's not an orb which thou behold'st But in his motion Uke an angel sings, Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubim. But while this muddy vesture of decay Doth grossly close us in, we cannot h^ar it. OTHER WORLDS AND OTHER UNIVERSES. 135 OTHER WORLDS AND OTHER UNIVERSES. If any one shall gravely tell me that I have spent my time idly in a vain and fruitless inquiry after what I can never become sure of, the answer is that at this rate he would put down all natural philosophy, as far as it concerns itself in searching into the nature of such things. In such noble and sublime studies as these, 'tis a glory to arrive at probability, and the search itself rewards the pains. But there are many degrees of probable, some nearer to the truth than others, in the determining of which lies the chief exercise of our judgment. And besides the nobleness and pleasure of the studies, may we not be so bold as to say that they are no small help to the advancement of wis- dom and morality ? — HuYGHENS, Conjectures concerning the Planetary Worlds. The interest with which astronomy is studied by many who care Httle or nothing for other sciences is due chiefly to the thoughts which the celestial bodies suggest respecting life in other worlds than ours. There is no feeling more deeply seated in the human heart — not the belief in higher than human powers, not the hope of immortality, not even the fear of death — than the faith in realms of life where other conditions are experienced than those we are acquainted with here. It is not vulgar curiosity or idle fancy that sug- gests the possibilities of life in other worlds. It has been the conviction of the profoundest thinkers, of men of highest imagination. The mystery of the star-depths has had its charm for the mathematician as well as for the 136 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. poet ; for the exact observer as for the most fruitfiil theo- riser ; nay, for the man of business as for him whose life is passed in communing with nature. If we analyse the interest with which the generality of men inquire into astro- nomical matters apparently not connected with the question of life m other worlds, we find in every case that it has been out of this question alone or chiefly that that interest has sprung. The great discoveries made during the last few years respecting the sun for example, might seeni remote from the subject of life in other worlds. It is true that Sir William Herschel thought the sun might be the abode of living creatures ; and Sir John Herschel even suggested the possibility that the vast streaks of light called the solar willow-leaves, objects varying from two hundred to a thousand miles in length, might be living creatures whose intense lustre was the measure of their intense vitality. But modern discoveries had rendered all such theories untenable. The sun is presented to us as a mighty furnace, in whose fires the most stubborn elements are not merely melted but vaporised. The material of the sun has been analysed, the motions and changes taking place on his surface examined, the laws of his being deter- mined. How, it might be asked, is the question of life in other worlds involved in these researches ? The faith of Sir David Brewster in the sun as the abode of life being dispelled, how could discoveries respecting the sun interest those who care about the subject of the plurality of worlds ? The answer to these questions is easily found. The real interest which solar researches have possessed for those who are not astronomers has resided in the evidence afforded respecting the sun's position as the fire, light, and life of the system of worlds whereof our world is one. The mere facts discovered respecting the sun would be regarded as so much dry detail were they not brought directly into OTffEJi WORLDS AND OTHER UNIVERSES. 137 delation with our earth and its wants, and therefore with the wants of the other earths which circle round the sun ; but when thus dealt with they immediately excite attention and interest. I do not speak at random in asserting this, but describe the result of widely ranging observation. I have addressed hundreds of audiences in Great Britain and America on the subject of recent solar discoveries, and I have conversed with many hundreds of persons of various capacity and education, from men almost, uncultured to men of the highest intellectual power ; and my invariable experience has been that solar research derives its chief interest when viewed in relation to the sun's position as the mighty ruler, the steadfast sustainer, the beneficent almoner of the system of worlds to which our earth belongs. It is the same with other astronomical subjects. Few care for the record of lunar observations, save in relation to the question whether the moon is or has been the abode of living creatures. The movements of comets and meteors, and the discoveries recently made respecting their condi- tion, have no interest except in relation to the position of these bodies in the economy of solar systems, or to the possible part which they may at one time have performed in building up worlds and suns. None save astronomers, and few only of these, care for researches into the star- depths, except in connection with the thought that every star is a sun and therefore probably the light and fire of a system of worlds like those which circle around our own sun. It is singular how variously this question of life in other worlds has been viewed at various stages of astronomical progress. From the time of Pythagoras, who first, so far as is known, propounded the general theory of the plurality of worlds, down to our own time, when Brewster and Chalmers on the one hand, and Whewell on the other, have 13S MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. advocated rival theories probably to be both set aside for a theory at once intermediate to and more widely ranging in time and space than either, the aspect of the subject has constantly varied, as new lights have been thrown upon it from different directions. It may be interesting briefly to consider what has been thought in the past on this strangely attractive question, and then to indicate the view towards which modern discoveries seem manifestly to point — a view not likely to undergo other change than that resulting from clearer vision and closer approach. In other words, I shall endeavour to show that the theory to which we are now led by all the known facts is correct in general, though, as fresh knowledge is obtained, it may undergo modification in details. We now see the subject from the right point of view, though as science progresses we may come to see it more clearly and definedly. When men believed the earth to be a flat surface above which the heavens were arched as a tent or canopy, they were not likely to entertain the belief in other worlds than ours. During the earlier ages of mankind ideas such as these prevailed. The earth had been fashioned into its present form and condition, the heavens had been spread over it, the sun, and moon, and stars had been set in the heavens for its use and adornment, and there was no thought of any other world. But while this was the general belief, there was already a school of philosophy where another doctrine had been taught Pythagoras had adopted the belief of ApoUonius Pergaeus that the sun is the centre of the planetary paths, the earth one among the planets — a belief inseparable from the doctrine of the plurality of worlds. Much argument has been advanced to show that this belief never was adopted before the time of Copernicus, and unquestionably it must be admitted that the theory was not presented in OTHER WORLDS AND OTHER UNIVERSES. 139 the clear and simple form to which we have become accustomed. But it is not necessary to weigh the con- flicting arguments for and against the opinion that Pytha- goras and others regarded the earth as not the fixed centre of the universe. The certain fact that the doctrine of the plurality of worlds was entertained (I do not say adopted) by them, proves sufficiently that they cannot have believed the earth to be fixed and central. The idea of other worlds like our earth is manifestly inconsistent with the belief that the earth is the central body around which the whole universe revolves. That this is so is well illustrated by the fate of the unfortunate Giordano Bruno. He was one of the first disciples of Copernicus, and, having accepted the doctrine that the earth travels round the sun as one among his family of planets, was led very naturally to the belief that the other planets are inhabited. He went farther, and maintained that as the earth is not the only inhabited world in the solar system, so the sun is not the only centre of a system of inhabited worlds, but each star a sun like him, about which many planets revolve. This was one of the many heresies for which Bruno was burned at the stake. It is easy, also, to recognise in the doctrine of many worlds as the natural sequel of the Copernican theory, rather than in the features of this theory itself, the cause of the hostihty with which theologians regarded it, until, finding it proved, they discovered that it is directly taught in the books which they interpret for us so variously. The Copernican theory was not rejected — nay, it was even countenanced — until this particular consequence of the theory was recog- nised. But within a few years from the persecution of Bruno, GaUleo was imprisoned, and the last years of his life made miserable, because it had become clear that in setting the earth adrift from its position as centre of the 140 MYTHS AND MAR VELS OF ASTRONOMY. universe, he and his brother Copernicans were sanctioning the belief in other worlds than ours. Again and again, in the attacks made by clericals and theologians upon the Copernican theory, this lamentable consequence was in- sisted upon. Unconscious that they were advancing the most damaging argument which could be conceived for the cause they had at heart, they maintained, honestly but unfortunately, that with the new theory came the manifest inference that our earth is not the only and by no means the most important world in the universe^ a doctrine manifestly inconsistent (so they said) with the teachings of the Scriptures. It was naturally only by a slow progression that men were able to advance into the domain spread before them by the Copernican theory, and to recognise the real minute- ness of the earth both in space and time. They more quickly recognised the earth's insignificance in space, because the new theory absolutely forced this fact upon them. If the earth, whose globe they knew to be minute compared with her distance from the sun, is really circling around the sun in a mighty orbit many millions of miles in diameter, it follows of necessity that the fixed stars must lie so far away that even the span of the earth's orbit is reduced to nothing by comparison with the vast depths beyond which lie even the nearest of those suns. This was Tyclio Brahe's famous and perfectly sound argument against the Copernican theory. ' The stars remain fixed in apparent position all the time, yet the Copernicans tell us that the earth from which we view the stars is circling once a year in an orbit many millions of miles in diameter ; how is it that from so widely ranging a point of view we do not see widely different celestial scenery ? Who can believe that the stars are so remote that by comparison the span of the earth's path is a mere point?' Tycho's argu- OTHER WORLDS AND OTHER UNIVERSES. 141 ment was of course valid.' Of two things one. Either the earth does not travel round the sun, or the stars are much farther away than men had conceived possible in 'I'ycho's time. His mistake lay in rejecting the correct conclusion because simply it made the visible universe seem many millions of times vaster than he had supposed. Yet the universe, even as thus enlarged, was but a point to the universe visible in our day, which in turn will dwindle to a point compared with the universe as men will see it a few centuries hence ; while that or the utmost range of space over which men can ever extend their survey is doubtless as nothing to the real universe of occupied space. Such has been the progression of our ideas as to the position of the earth in space. Forced by the discoveries of Copernicus to regard our earth as a mere point compared with the distances of the nearest fixed stars, men gradually learned to recognise those distances which at first had seemed infinite as in their turn evanescent even by com- parison with that mere point of space over which man is able by instrumental means to extend his survey. Though there has been a similar progression in men's ideas as to the earth's position in time, that progression has not been carried to a corresponding extent. Men have not been so bold in widening their conceptions of time as in widening their conceptions of space. It is here and thus that, in my judgment, the subject of life in other worlds has been hitherto inconectly dealt with. Men have given up as utterly idle the idea that the existence of worlds is to be 1 Not 'of course' because Tycho used it, for, like other able students of scieBce, he made mistakes from time to time. Thus he argued that the earth cannot rotate on her axis, because if she did bodies raised above her surface would be left behind — an argument which even the mechanical knowledge of his o^u time should have sufficed to invali- date, though it is still used from time to time by paradoxers of oui own day. 142 MYTHS AND MAR VELS OF ASTRONOMY. limited to the special domain of space to which our eartli belongs ; but they are content to retain the conception that the domain of time to which our earth's history belongs, ' this bank and shoal of time ' on which the life of the earth is cast, is the period to which the existence of other worlds than ours should be referred. This, which is to be noticed in nearly all our ordinary treatises on astronomy, appears as a characteristic peculiarity of works advocating the theory of the plurality of worlds. Brewster and Dick and Chalmers, all in fact who have taken that doctrine under their special protection, reason respecting other worlds as though, if they failed to prove that other orbs are inhabited now, or are at least iww supporting life in some way or other, they failed of their purpose altogether. The idea does not seem to have occurred to them that there is room and verge enough in eternity of time not only for activity but for rest. They must have all the orbs of space busy at once in the one work which they seem able to conceive as the possible purpose of those bodies — the support of life. The argu- ment from analogy, which they had found effective in estab- lishing the general theory of the plurality of worlds, is for- gotten when its application to details would suggest that not all orbs are at all times either the abode of life or in some way subserving the purposes of life. We find, in all the forms of life with which we are acquainted, three characteristic periods — first the time of preparation for the purposes of Ufe ; next, the time of fitness for those purposes; and thirdly, the time of decadence tending gradually to death. We see among all objects which exist in numbers, examples of all these stages existing at the same time. In every race of living creatures there are the young as yet unfit for work, the workers, and those past work ; in every forest there are saplings, seed-bearing trees, and treea OTHER WORLDS AND OTHER UNIVERSES. 143 long past the seed-bearing period We know that planets, or rather, speaking more generally, the orbs which people space, pass through various stages of development, during some only of which they can reasonably be regarded as the abode of life or supporting life ; yet the eager champion of the theory of many worlds will have them all in these life- bearing or life-supporting stages, none in any of the stages of preparation, none in any of the stages of decrepitude or death. This has probably had its origin in no small degree from the disfavour with which in former years the theory of the growth and development of planets and systems of planets was regarded. Until the evidence became too strong to be resisted, the doctrine that our earth was once a baby world, with many millions of years to pass through before it could be the abode of life, was one which only the professed atheist (so said too many divines) could for a moment entertain ; while the doctrine that not the earth alone, but the whole of the solar system, had developed from a condition utterly unlike that through which it is now passing, could have had its origin only in the suggestions of the Evil One. Both doctrines were pronounced to be so manifestly opposed to the teachings of Moses, and not only so, but so manifestly inconsistent with the belief in a Supreme Being, that — that further argument was unneces- sar>-, and denunciation only was required. So confident were divines on these points, that it would not have been very wonderful if some few students of science had mistaken assertion for proof, and so concluded that the doctrines towards which science was unmistakably leading them really were inconsistent with what they had been taught to regard as the Word of God. Whether multiplied experi- ences taught men of science to wait before thus deciding, or however matters fell out, it certainly befell before very 144 MYTffS AND MA J! VELS OF ASTRONOMY. long that the terrible doctrine of cosmical development was supported by such powerful evidence, astronomical and terrestrial, as to appear wholly irresistible. Then, not only was the doctrine accepted by divines, but shown to be manifestly implied in the sacred narrative of the formation of the earth and heavens, sun, and moon, and stars ; while upon those unfortunate students of science who had not changed front in good time, and were found still arguing on the mistaken assumption that the development of our system was not accordant with that ancient narrative, freshly forged bolts were flung from the Olympus of orthodoxy. So far as the other argument — from the inconsistency of the development theory with belief in a Supreme Being — was concerned, the student of science was independent of the interpretations which divines claim the sole right of assigning to the ancient books. Science has done so much more than divinity (which in fact has done nothing) to widen our conceptions of space and time, that she may justly claim full right to deal with any difficulties arising from such enlargement of our ideas. With the theological difficulty science would not care to deal at all, were she not urged to do so by the denunciations of divines ; and when, so urged, she touches that difficulty, she is quickly told that the difficulty is insuperable, and not long after that it has no existence, and (on both accounts) that it should have been left alone. But with the difficulty arising from the widening of our ideas respecting space and time, science may claim good, almost sole, right to deal The path to a solution of the problem is not difficult to find. At a first view, it does seem to those whose vision had been limited to a contracted field, that the wide domain of time and space in which processes of development are found to take place is the universe itself, that to deny the formation of OTHER WORLDS AND OTHER UNIVERSES. (45 our earth by a special creative act is to deny the existence of a Creator, that to regard the beginning of our earth as a process of development is to assert that development has been in operation from the beginning of all things. But when we recognise clearly that vastness and minuteness, prolonged and brief duration, are merely relative, we per ceive that in considering our earth's history we have to deal only with small parts of space and brief periods of time, by comparison with all space and all time. Our earth is very large compared with a tree or an animal, but very small compared with the solar system, a mere point compared with the system of stars to which the sun belongs, and absolutely as nothing compared with the universe of space ; and in like manner, while the periods of her growth and development occupy periods very long-lasting compared with those required for the growth and development of a tree or an animal, they are doubtless but brief compared with the eras of the development of our solar system, a mere instant compared with the eras of the development of star-systems, and absolutely evanescent compared with eternity. We have no more reason for rejecting the belief in a Creator because our earth or the solar system is found to have developed to its present condition from an embryonic primordial state, than we have had ever since men first found that animals and trees are developed from the germ. The region of development is larger, the period of develop- ment lasts longer, but neither the one nor the other is infinite ; and being finite, both one and the other are simply nothing by comparison with infinity. It is a startling thought, doubtless, that periods of time compared with which the life of a man, the existence of a nation, nay, the duration of the human race itself, sink into insignificance, should themselves in turn be dwarfed into nothingness by comparison with periods of a still higher order. But the 146 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. thought is not more startling than that other thought which we have been compelled to admit — the thought that the earth on which we live, and the solar system to which it belongs, though each so vast that all known material objects are as nothing by comparison, are in turn as nothing com- pared with the depths of space separating us from even the nearest among the fixed stars. One thought, as 1 have said, we have been compelled to admit, the other has not as yet been absolutely forced upon us. Though men have long since given up the idea that the earth and heavens have endured but a few thousand years, it is still possible to believe that the birth of our solar system, whether by creative act or by the beginning of processes of development, belongs to the beginning of all time. But this view cannot be regarded as even probable. Although it has never been proved that any definite relation must subsist between time (occupied by events) and space (occupied by matter), the mind naturally accepts the belief that such a relation exists. As we find the universe enlarging under the survey of science, our conceptions of the duration of the universe enlarge also. When the earth was supposed to be the most important object in creation, men might reasonably assign to time itself (regarded as the interval between the beginning of the earth and the consummation of all things when the earth should perish) a moderate duration ; but it is equally reason- able that, as the insignificance of the earth's domain in space is recognised, men should recognise also the presumable insignificance of the earth's existence in time. In this respect, although we have nothing like the direct evidence afforded by the measurement of space, we yet have evidence which can scarcely be called in question. We find in the structure of our earth the signs of its formei condition. We see clearly that it was once intensely hot ! and we know from experimental researches on the cooling OTHER WORLDS AND OTHER UNIVERSES. 147 of various earths that many millions of years must have been required by the earth in cooling down from its former igneous condition. We may doubt whether Bischoff's re- searches can be relied upon in details, and so be unwilling to assign with him a period of 350 millions of years to a single stage of the process of cooling. But that the entire process lasted tens of millions and probably hundreds of millions of years cannot be doubted. Recognising such enormous periods as these in the development of one of the smallest fruits of the great solar tree of life, we cannot but admit at least the reasonableness of believing that the larger fruits (Jupiter, for instance, with 340 times as much matter, and Saturn with 100 times) must require periods still vaster, probably many times larger. Indeed, science shows not only that this view is reasonable, but that no other view is possible. For the mighty root of the tree of life, the great orb of the sun, containing 340 thousand times as much matter as the earth, yet mightier periods would be needed. The growth and development of these, the parts of the great system, must of necessity require much shorter time-intervals than the growth and development of the system regarded as a whole. The enormous period when the germs only of the sun and planets existed as yet, when the chaotic substance of the system had not yet blossomed into worlds, the mighty period which is to follow the death of the last surviving member of the system, when the whole scheme will remain as the dead trunk of a tree remains after the last leaf has fallen, after the last move- ment of sap within the trunk — these periods must be infi- nite compared with those which measure the duration of even the mightiest separate members of the system. But all this has been left unnoticed by those who have argued in support of the Brewsterian doctrine of a plurality of worlds. They argue as if it had never been shown that 148 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. every member of the solar system, as of all other such systems in space, has to pass through an enormously long period of preparation before becoming fit to be the abode of life, and that after being fit for life (for a period very long to our conceptions, but by comparison with the other exceed- ingly short) it must for countless ages remain as an extinct world. Or else they reason as though it had been proved that the relatively short life-bearing periods in the existence of the several planets must of necessity synchronise, instead of all the probabilities lying overwhelmingly the other way. While this has been (in my judgment) a defect in what may be called the Brewsterian theory of other worlds, a defect not altogether dissimilar has characterised the oppo- site or Whewellite theory. Very useful service was rendered to astronomy by Whewell's treatise upon, or rather against, the plurality of worlds, calling attention as it did to the utter feebleness of the arguments on which men had been content to accept the belief that other planets and other systems are inhabited. But some among the most power- fully urged arguments against that belief tacitly relied on the assumption of a similarity of general condition among the members of the solar system. For instance, the small mean density of Jupiter and Saturn had, on the Brew- sterian theory, been explained as .probably due to vast hollow spaces in those planets' interiors — an explanation which (if it could be admitted) would leave us free to believe that Jupiter and Saturn may be made of the same materials as our own earth. With this was pleasantly inter- mixed the conception that the inhabitant of these planets may have his ' home in subterranean cities warmed by central fires, or in crystal caves cooled by ocean tides, or may float with the Nereids upon the deep, or mount upon wings as eagles, or rise upon the pinions of the dove, that he may flee away and be at rest,' with much more in the OTHER WORLDS AND OTHER UNIVERSES. 149 same fanciful vein. We now know that there can be no cavities more than a few miles below the crust of a planet, simply because, under the enormous pressures which would exist, the most solid matter would be perfectly plastic. But while Whewell's general objection to the theory that Jupiter or Saturn is in the same condition as our earth thus acquires new force, the particular explanation which he gave of the planet's small density is open to precisely the same general objection. For he assumes that, because the planet's mean density is little greater than that of water, the planet is probably a world of water and ice with a cindery nucleus, or in fact just such a world as would be formed if a sufficient quantity of water in the same condition as the water of our seas were placed at Jupiter's greater distance from the sun, around a nucleus of earthy or cindery matter large enough to make the density of the entire planet thus formed equal to that of Jupiter, or about one-third greater than the density of water. In this argu- ment there are in reality two assumptions, of precisely the same nature as those which Whewell set himself to combat. It is first assumed that some material existing on a large scale in our earth, and nearly of the same density as Jupiter, must constitute the chief bulk of that planet, and secondly that the temperature of Jupiter's globe must be that which a globe of such material would have if placed where Jupiter is. The possibility that Jupiter may be in an entirely dif ferent stage of planetary life — or, in other words, that the youth, middle life, and old age of that planet may belong to quite different eras from the corresponding periods of our earth's life — is entirely overlooked. Rather, indeed, it may be said that the extreme probability of this, on any hypothesis respecting the origin of the solar system, and dts absolute certainty on the hypothesis of the development of that system, are entirely overlooked ISO MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. A fair illustration of the erroneous nature of the argu- ments which have been used, not only in advocating rival theories respecting the plurality of worlds, but also in deal- ing with subordinate points, may be presented as follows : Imagine a wide extent of country covered with scattered trees of various size, and with plants and shrubs, flowers and herbs, down to the minutest known. Let us suppose a race of tiny creatures to subsist on one of the fruits of a tree of moderate size, their existence as a race depending entirely on the existence of the fruit on which they subsist, while the existence of the individuals of their race lasts but for a few minutes. Furthermore, let there be no regular fruit season either on their tree or in their region of vegetable life, but fruits forming, growing, and decaying all the time. Let us next conceive these creatures to be possessed of a power of reasoning respecting themselves, their fruit world, the tree on which it hangs, and to some degree even respecting such other trees, plants, flowers, and so forth, as the limited range of their vision might be supposed to include. It would be a natural thought with them, when first they began to exercise this power of reasoning, that their fiiiit home was the most important object in existence, and themselves the chief and noblest of living beings. It would also be very natural that they should suppose the formation of their world to correspond with the beginning of time, and the formation of their race to have followed the formation of their world by but a few seconds. They would conclude that a Supreme Being had fashioned their world and themselves by special creative acts, and that what they saw outside their fruit world had been also specially created, doubtless to subserve their wants. Let us now imagine that gradually, by becoming more closely observant than they had been, by combining to- OTHER WORLDS AND OTHER UNIVERSES. 151 gether to make more complete observations, and above all by preserving the records of observations made by successive generations, these creatures began to . obtain clearer ideas respecting their world and the surrounding regions of space. They would find evidence that the fruit on which they lived had not been formed precisely as they knew it, but had undergone processes of development The distressing discovery would be made that this development could not possibly have taken place in a few seconds, but must have required many hours, nay, even several of those enormous periods called by us days. This, however, would only be the beginning of their troubles. Gradually the more advanced thinkers and the closest observers would perceive that not only had their world undergone processes of development, but that its entire mass had been formed by such processes — that in fact it had not been created at all, in the sense in which they had understood the word, but had grown. This would be very dreadful to these creatures, because they would not readily be able to dispossess their minds of the notion that they were the most important beings in the universe, their domain of space coextensive with the uni- verse, the duration of their world coextensive with time. But passing over the difficulties thus arising, and the persecution and abuse to which those would be subjected who maintained the dangerous doctrine that their fruit home had been developed, not created, let us consider how these creatures would regard the question of other worlds than their own. At first they would naturally be unwilling to admit the possibility that other worlds as important as their own could exist. But if after a time they found reason to believe that their world was only one of several belonging to a certain tree system, the idea would occur to them, and would gradually come to be regarded as some- [52 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. thing radre than probable, that those other fruit worlds, like their own, might be the abode of living creatures. And probably at first, while as yet the development of their own world was little understood, they would conceive the notion that all the fruits, large or small, upon their tree system were in the same condition as their own, and either inhabited by similar races or at least in the same full vigour of life-bearirig existence. But so soon as they re- cognised the law of development of their own world, and the relation between such development and their own requirements, they would form a different opinion, if they found that only during certain stages of their world's existence life could exist upon it If, for instance, they perceived that their fruit world must once have been so bitter and harsh in texture that no creatures in the least degree like themselves could have lived upon it, and that it was passing slowly but surely through processes by which it would become one day dry and shrivelled and unable to support living creatures, they would be apt, if their reasoning powers were fairly developed, to inquire whether other fruits which they saw around them on their tree system were either in the former or in the latter condi- tion. If they found reason to believe certain fruits were in one or other of these stages, they would regard such fruits as not yet the abode of life or as past the life-sup- porting era. It seems probable even that another idea would suggest itself to some among their bolder thinkers. Recognising in their own world in several instances what to their ideas resembled absolute waste of material or of force, it might appear to them quite possible that some, perhaps even a large proportion, of the fruits upon their tree were not only not supporting life at the particular epoch ol observation, but never had supported life and never would — that, through some cause or other, life would OTHER WORLDS AND OTHER UNIVERSES. 153 never appear upon such fruits even when they were ex- cellently fitted for the support of life. They might even conceive that some among the fruits of their tree had failed or would fail to come to the full perfection of fruit life. Looking beyond their own tree — that is, the tree to which their own fruit world belonged — they would perceive other trees, though their visual powers might not enable them to know whether such trees bore fruit, whether they were in other respects like their own, whether those which seemed larger or smaller were really so, or owed their apparent largeness to nearness, or their apparent smallness to great distance. They would be apt perhaps to generalise a little too daringly respecting these remote tree systems, concluding too confidently that a shrub or a flower was a tree system like their own, or that a great tree, every branch of which was far larger than their entire tree system, belonged to the same order and bore similar fruit They might mistake, also, in forgetting the probable fact that as every fruit in their own tree system had its own period oi life, very brief compared with the entire existence of the fruit, so every tree might have its own fruit-bearing season. Thus, contemplating a tree which they supposed to be like their own in its nature, they might say, ' Yonder is a tree system crowded with fruits, each the abode of many myriads of creatures like ourselves : ' whereas in reality the tree might be utterly unlike their own, might not yet have reached or might long since have passed the fruit-bearing stage, might when in that stage bear fruit utterly unhke any they could even imagine, and each such fruit during its brief life-bearing condition might be inhabited by living beings utterly unlike any creatures they could conceive. Yet again, we can very well imagine that the inhabitants of our fruit world, though they might daringly overleap (54 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. the narrow limits of space and time within which their actual life or the life of their race was cast, though they might learn to recognise the development of their own world and of others like it, even from the very blossom, would be utterly unable to conceive the possibility that the tree itself to which their world belonged had developed by slow processes of growth from a time when it was less even than their own relatively minute home. Still less would it seem credible to them, or even con- ceivable, that the whole forest region to which they belonged, containing many orders of trees differing altogether from their own tree system, besides plants and shrubs, and flowers and herbs (forms of vegetation of whose use they could form no just conception whatever), had itself grown ; that once the entire forest domain had been under vast masses of water — the substance which occasionally visited their world in the form of small drops ; that such changes were but minute local phenomena of a world infinitely higher in order than their own ; that that world in turn was but one of the least of the worlds forming a yet higher system ; and so on ad infinitum. Such ideas would seem to them not merely inconceivable, but many degrees beyond the widest conceptions of space and time which they could regard as admissible. Our position differs only in degree, not in kind, from that of these imagined creatures, and the reasoning which we perceive (though they could not) to be just for such creatures is just for us also. It was perfectly natural that before men recognised the evidences of development in the structure of our earth they should regard the earth and all things upon the earth and visible from the earth as formed by special creative acts precisely as we see them now. But so soon as they perceived that the earth is undergoing pro- cesses of development and has undergone such processes OTHER WORLDS AND OTHER UNIVERSES. 155 in the past, it was reasonable, though at first painful, to conclude that on this point they had been mistaken. Yet as we recognise the absurdity of the supposition that, because fruits and trees grow, and were not made in a single instant as we know them, therefore there is no Supreme Being, so may we justly reject as absurd the same argu- ment, enlarged in scale, employed to induce the conclusion that because planets and solar systems have been developed to their present condition, and were not created in their present form, therefore there is no Creator, no God. I do not know that the argument ever has been used in this form ; but it has been used to show that those who believe in the development of worlds and systems must of neces- sity be atheists, an even more mischievous conclusion than the other ; for none who had not examined the subject would be likely to adopt the former conclusion, but many might be willing to believe that a number of their fellow- men hold obnoxious tenets, without inquiring closely or at all into the reasoning on which the assertion had been based. But it is more important to notice how our views re- specting other worlds should be affected by those circum- stances in the evidence we have, which correspond with the features of the evidence on which the imagined inhabitants of the fruit world would form their opinion. It was natural that when men first began to reason about themselves and their home they should reject the idea of other worlds like ours, and perhaps it was equally natural that when first the idea was entertained that the planets may be worlds like ours, men should conceive that all those worlds are in the same condition as ours. But it would be, or rather it is, as unreasonable for men to maintain such an opinion now, when the laws of planetary development are under- stood, when the various dimensions of the planets are known, and when the shortness of the life-supporting period 156 MYTHS AND MAR VELS OF ASTRONOMY. of a planet's existence compared with the entire duration of the planet has been clearly recognised, as it would be for the imagined inhabitants of a small fruit on a tree to suppose that all the other fruits on the tree, though some manifestly far less advanced in development and others far more advanced than their own, were the abode of the same forms of life, though these forms were seen to require those conditions, and no other, corresponding to the stage of development through which their own world was passing. Viewing the universe of suns and worlds in the manner here suggested, we should adopt a theory of other worlds which would hold a position intermediate between the Brewsterian and the Whewellite theories. (It is not on this account that I advocate it, let me remark in passing, but simply because it accords with the evidence, which is not the case with the others.) Rejecting on the one hand the theory of the plurality of worlds in the sense implying that all existing worlds are inhabited, and on the other hand the theory of but one world, we should accept a theory which might be entitled the Paucity of Worlds, only that relative not absolute paucity must be understood. It is absolutely certain that this theory is the correct one, if we admit two postulates, neither of which can be reasonably questioned — viz., first, that the life-bearing era of any world is short compared with the entire duration of that world ; and secondly, that there can have been no cause which set all the worlds in existence, not simultaneously, which would be amazing enough, but (which would be infinitely more surprising) in such a way that after passing each through its time of preparation, longer for the large worlds and shorter for the small worlds, they all reached at the same time the life-bearing era. But quite apart from this antecedent probability, amounting as it does to absolute certainty if these two highly probably postulates are admitted, we have. OTHER WORLDS AND OTHER UNIVERSES. 157 the actual evidence of the planets we can examine — that evidence proving incontestably, as I have shown elsewhere, that such planets as Jupiter and Saturn are still in the state of preparation, still so intensely hot that no form of life could possibly exist upon them, and that such bodies as our moon have long since passed the life-bearing stage, and are to all intents and purposes defunct. But may we not go farther ? Recognising in our own world, in many instances, what to our ideas resembles waste — waste seeds, waste lives, waste races, waste regions, waste forces — recognising superfluity and superabundance in all the processes and in all the works of nature, should it not appear at least possible that some, perhaps even a large proportion, of the worlds in the multitudinous systems peopling space, are not only not now supporting life, but never have supported life and never will ? Does this idea differ in kind, however largely to our feeble conceptions it may seem to differ in degree, from the idea of the imagined creatures on a fruit, that some or even many fruits excell- ently fitted for the support of life might not subserve that purpose? And as those creatures might conceive (as we know) that some fruits, even many, fail to come to the full perfection of fruit life, may not we without irreverence conceive (as higher beings than ourselves may know) that a planet or a sun may fail in the making ? We cannot say that in such a case there would be a waste or loss of material, though we may be unable to conceive how the lost sun or planet could be utilised. Our imagined insect reasoners would be unable to imagine that fruits plucked from their tree system were otherwise than wasted, for they would conceive that their idea of the purpose of fruits was the only true one ; yet they would be altogether mistaken, as we may be in supposing the main purpose of planetary existence is the support of life. IS8 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. In like manner, when we pass in imagination beyond the limits of our own system, we may learn a useful lesson from the imagined creatures' reasoning about other tree systems than that to which their world belonged. Astro- nomers have been apt to generalise too daringly respecting remote stars and star systems, as though our solar system were a true picture of all solar systems, the system of stars to which our sun belongs a true picture of all star systems. They have been apt to forget that, as every world in our own system has its period of life, short by comparison with the entire duration of the world, so each solar system, each system of such systems, may have its own life-bearing season, infinitely long according to our conceptions, but very short indeed compared with the entire dvuration of which the life-bearing season would be only a single era. Lastly, though men may daringly overleap the Hmits of time and space within which their lives are cast, though they may learn to recognise the development of their own world and of others like it even from the blossom of nebu- losity, they sfeem unable to rise to the conception that the mighty tree which during remote aeons bore those nebulous blossoms sprang itself from cosmical germs. We are un- able to conceive the nature of such germs; the processes of development affecting them belong to other orders than any processes we know of, and required periods compared with which the inconceivable, nay, the inexpressible periods required for the development of the parts of our universe, are as mere instants. Yet have we every reason which analogy can afford to believe that even the development of a whole universe such as ours should be regarded as but a minute local phenomenon of a universe infinitely higher in order, that universe in turn but a single member of a system of such universes, and so on, even ad infinitum. To reject the belief that this is possible is to share the folly OTHER WORLDS AND OTHER UNIVERSES. 159 of beings such as we have conceived regarding their tiny world as a fit centre whence to measure the universe, while yet, from such a stand-point, this Kttle earth on which we live would be many degrees beyond the limits where for them the inconceivable would begin. To reject the belief that this is not only possible, but real, is to regard the few short steps by which man has advanced towards the un- known as a measurable approach towards limits of space, towards the beginning and the end of all things. Until it can be shown that space is bounded by limits beyond which neither matter nor void exists, that time had a beginning before which it was not and tends to an end after which it will exist no more, we may confidently accept the belief that the history of our earth is as evanescent in time as the earth itself is evanescent in space, and that nothing we can possibly learn about our earth, or about the system it be- longs to, or about systems of such systems, can either prove or disprove aught respecting the scheme and mode of government of the universe itself It is true now as it was in days of yore, and it will remain true as long as the earth and those who dwell on it endure, that what men know is nothing, the unknown infinite. t6o MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. VI. SUNS IN FLAMES. In November 1876 news arrived of a catastrophe the effects of which must in all probability have been disas- trous, not to a district, or a country, or a continent, or even a world, but to a whole system of worlds. The cata- strophe happened many years ago — probably at least a hundred — yet the messenger who brought the news has not been idle on his way, but has sped along at a rate which would suffice to circle this earth eight times in the course of a second. That messenger has had, however, to traverse millions of millions of miles, and only reached our earth November 1876. The news he brought was that a sun like our own was in conflagration ; and on a closer study of his message something was learned as to the nature of the conflagration, and a few facts tending to throw light on the question (somewhat interesting to ourselves) whether our own sun is likely to undergo a similar mishap at any time. What would happen if he did, we know already. The sun which has just met with this disaster — that is, which so suffered a few generations ago — blazed out for a time with several hundred times its former lustre. If our sun were to increase as greatly in Ught and heat, the creatures on the side of our earth turned towards him at the time would be destroyed in an instant Those on the dark or night hemisphere would not have to wait for their turn till the- SUJVS IN FLAMES. i6: earth, by rotating, carried them into view of the destroying sun. In much briefer space the effect of his new fires would be felt all over the earth's surface. The heavens would be dissolved and the elements would melt with fer- vent heat. In fact no description of such a catastrophe, as affecting the night half of the earth, could possibly be more effective and poetical than St Peter's account of the day of the Lord, coming ' as a thief in the night ; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein being burned up;' though I imagine the apostle would have been scarce prepared to admit that the earth was in danger from a solar conflagration. Indeed, according to another account, the sun' was to be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord came — a description corres- ponding well with solar and lunar eclipses, the most note- worthy ' signs in the heavens,' but agreeing very ill with the outburst of a great solar conflagration. Before proceeding to inquire into the singular and significant circumstances of the recent outburst, it may be found interesting to examine briefly the records which astronomy has preserved of similar catastrophes in former years. These may be compared to the records of accidents on the various railway lines in a country or continent. Those other suns which we call stars are engines working the mighty mechanism of planetary systems, as our sun maintains the energies of our own system; and it is a matter of some interest to us to inquire in how many cases, among the many suns within the range of vision, destruc- tive explosions occur. We may take the opportunity, later, to inquire into the number of cases in which the machinery of solar systems appears to have broken down. The first case of a solar conflagration on record is that i62 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. of the new star observed by Hipparchus some 2000 years ago. In his time, and indeed until quite recently, an object of this kind was called a new star, or a temporary star. But we now know that when a star makes its appearance where none had before been visible, what has really happened has been that a star too remote to be seen has become visible through some rapid increase of splendour. When the new splendour dies out again, it is not that a star has ceased to exist ; but simply that a faint star which had increased greatly in lustre has resumed its original condition. Hipparchus's star must have been a remark- able object, for it was visible in full daylight, whence we may infer that it was many times brighter than the blazing Dog-star. It is interesting in the history of science, as having led Hipparchus to draw up a catalogue of stars, the first on record. Some moderns, being sceptical, rejected this story as a fiction ; but Biot examining Chinese Chron- icles' relating to the times of Hipparchus, finds that in 134 B.a (about nine years before the date of Hipparchus's catalogue) a new star was recorded as having appeared in the constellation Scorpio. The next new star (that is, stellar conflagration) on 1 Chinese chronicles contain other references to new stars. The annals of Ma-touan-lin, which contain the official records of remark- able appearances in the heavens, include some phenomena which mani- festly belong to this class. Thus they record that in the year 173 a star appeared between the stars which mark the hind feet of the Cen- taur. This star remained visible from December in that year until July in the next (about the same time as Tycho Brahe's and Kepler's new stars, presently to be described). Another star, assigned by these annals to the year loi i, seems to be the same as a star referred to by Hepidannus as appearing A.D. 1012. It was of extraordinary brilli- ancy, and remained visible in the southern part of the heavens during three months. The annals of Ma-touan-lin assign to it a position low down in Sagittarius. SUJ^S IN FLAMES. 163 record is still more interesting, as there appears some reason for believing that before long we may see another outburst of the same star. In the years 945, 1264, and 1572, brilliant stars appeared in the region of the heavens between Cepheus and Cassiopeia. Sir J. Herschel remarks, that, ' from the imperfect account we have of the places of the two earlier, as compared with that of the last, which was well determined, as well as from the tolerably near coincidence of the intervals of their appearance, we may suspect them, with Goodricke, to be one and the same star, with a period of 312 or perhaps of 156 years.' The latter period may very reasonably be rejected, as one can perceive no reason why the intermediate returns of the star to visibility should have been overlooked, the star having appeared in a region which never sets. It is to be noted that, the period from 945 to 1264 being 319 years, and that from 1264 to 1572 only 308 years, the period of this star (if Goodricke is correct in supposing the three outbursts to have occurred in the same star) would seem to be diminishing. At any time, then, this star might now blaze out in the region between Cassiopeia and Cepheus, for more than 304 years have already passed since its last outburst As the appearance of a new star led Hipparchus to undertake the formation of his famous catalogue, so did the appearance of the star in Cassiopeia, in 1572, lead the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe to construct a new and enlarged catalogue. (This, be it remembered, was before the invention of the telescope.) Returning one evening (November 11, 1572, old style) from his laboratory to his dwelling-house, he found, says Sir J. Herschel, ' a group of country people gazing at a star, which he was sure did not exist an hour before. This was the star in question.' The description of the star and its various changes is more interesting at the present time, when the true nature I64 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. of these phenomena is understood, than it was even in the time when the star was blazing in the firmament. It will be gathered from that description and from what I shall have to say farther on about the results of recent observa- tions on less splendid new stars, that, if this star should reappear in the next few years, our observers wiU probably be able to obtain very important information from it The message from it will be much fuller and more distinct than any we have yet received from such stars, though we have learned quite enough to remain in no sort of doubt as to their general nature. The star remained visible, we learn, about sixteen months, during which time it kept its place in the heavens without the least variation. ' It had all the radiance of the fixed stars, and twinkled like them ; and was in all respects like Sirius, except that it surpassed Sirius in brightness and magnitude.' It appeared larger than Jupiter, which was at that time at his brightest, and was scarcely inferior to Venus. It did not acquire this lustre gradually, but shone forth at once of its full size and brightness, ' as if,' said the chroniclers of the time, ' it had been of instan- taneous creation.' For three weeks it shone with full splendour, during which time it could be seen at noonday ' by those who had good eyes, and knew where to look for it.' But before it had been seen a month, it became visibly smaller, and from the middle of December 1572 till March 1574, when it entirely disappeared, it continually diminished in magnitude. ' As it decreased in size, it varied in colour : at first its light was white and extremely bright ; it then became yellowish ; afterwards of a ruddy colour like Mars; and finished with a pale livid white resembUng the colour of Saturn.' All the details of this account should be very carefully noted. It will presently be seen that they are highly characteristic. SC/JVS IN FLAMES. 165 Those who care to look occasionally at the heavens to know whether this star has returned to view may be in- terested to learn whereabouts it should be looked for. The place may be described as close to the back of the star-gemmed chair in which Cassiopeia is supposed to sit — a little to the left of the seat of the chair, supposing the chair to be looked at in its normal position. But as Cassiopeia's chair is always inverted when the constellation is most conveniently placed for observation, and indeed as nine-tenths of those who know the constellation suppose the chair's legs to be the back, and vice vers&, it may be useful to mention that the star was placed somewhat thus with respect to the straggling W formed by the five chief stars of Cassiopeia. There is a star not very far from * the place here indicated, but rather nearer to the VV middle angle of the W. This, however, is not a bright star; and cannot possibly be mistaken for the expected visitant (The place of Tycho's star is indicated in my School Star- Atlas and also in my larger Library Atlas. The same remark applies to both the new stars in the Serpent-Bearer, presently to be described.) In August 1596 the astronomer Fabricius observed a new star in the neck of the Whale, which also after a time disappeared. It was not noticed again till the year 1637, when an observer rejoicing in the name of Phocyllides Holwarda observed it, and, keeping a watch, after it had vanished, upon the place where it had appeared, saw it again come into view nine months after its disappearance. Since then it has been known as a variable star with a period of about 331 days 8 hours. When brightest this star is of the second magnitude. It indicates a somewhat singular remissness on the part of the astro- nomers of former days, that a star shining so conspicuously for a fortnight, once in each period of 331^ days, should i66 MYTHS AND MAR VELS OF ASTRONOMY. for so many years have remained undetected. It may, perhaps, be thought that, noting this, I should withdraw the objection raised above against Sir J. Herschel's idea that the star in Cassiopeia may return to view once in 156 years, instead of once in 3 1 2 years. But there is a great difference between a star which at its brightest shines only as a second-magnitude star, so that it has twenty or thirty companions of equal or greater lustre above the horizon along with it, and a star which surpasses three-fold the splendid Sirius. We have seen that even in Tycho Brahe's day, when probably the stars were not nearly so well known by the community at large, the new star in Cassiopeia had not shone an hour before the country people were gazing at it with wonder. Besides, Cassiopeia and the Whale are constellations very different in position. The familiar stars of Cassiopeia are visible on every clear night, for they never set. The stars of the Whale, at least of the part to which the wonderful variable star belongs, are below the horizon during rather more than half the twenty-four hours ; and a new star there would only be noticed, probably (unless of exceeding splendour), if it chanced to appear during that part of the year when the Whale is high above the horizon between eventide and midnight, or in the autumn and early winter. It is a noteworthy circumstance about the variable star in the Whale, deservedly called Mira, or The Wonderful, that it does not always return to the same degree of bright- ness. Sometimes it has been a very bright second-magni- tude star when at its brightest, at others it has barely exceeded the third magnitude. Hevelius relates that dur- ing the four years between October 1672 and December 1676, Mira did not show herself at all ! As this star fades out, it changes in colour from white to red. Towards the end of September 1604, a new star made ^roVS IN FLAMES. 167 its appearance in the constellation Ophiuchus, or the Ser- pent-Bearer. Its place was near the heel of the right foot of ' Ophiuchus huge.' Kepler tells us that it had no hair or tail, and was certainly not a comet. Moreover, like the other fixed stars, it kept its place unchanged, showing unmistakably that it belonged to the star-depths, not to nearer regions. ' It was exactly like one of the stars, except that in the vividness of its lustre, and the quickness of its sparkling, it exceeded anything that he had ever seen before. It was every moment changing into some of the colours of the rainbow, as yellow, orange, purple, and red ; though it was generally white when it was at some distance from the vapours of the horizon.' • In fact, these changes of colour must not be regarded as indicating aught but the star's superior brightness. Every very bright star, when close to the horizon, shows these colours, and so much the more distinctly as the star is the brighter. Sirius, which surpasses the brightest stars of the northern hemisphere fuU four times in lustre, shows these changes of colour so conspicuously that they were regarded as specially charac- teristic of this star, insomuch that Homer speaks of Sirius (not by name, but as the ' star of autumn ') shining most beautifully ' when laved of ocean's wave ' — that is, when close to the horizon. And our own poet, Tennyson, fol- lowing the older poet, sings how the fiery Sirius alters hue, And bickers into red and emerald. The new star was brighter than Sirius, and was about five degrees lower down, when at its highest above the horizon, than Sirius when he culminates. Five degrees being equal to nearly ten times the apparent diameter of the moon, it will be seen how much more favourable the conditions were in the case of Kepler's star for those coloured scintillations i68 MYTHS AND MAR VELS OF ASTRONOMV. which characterised that orb. Sirius never rises very high above the horizon. In fact, at his highest (near midnight in winter, and, of course, near midday in summer) he is about as high above the horizon as the sun at midday in the first week in February. Kepler's star's greatest height above the horizon was little more than three-fourths of this, or equal to about the sun's elevation at midday on January 13 or 14 in any year. Like Tycho Brahe's star, Kepler's was brighter even than Jupiter, and only fell short of Venus in splendour. It preserved its lustre for about three weeks, after which time it gradually grew fainter and fainter until some time between October 1605 and February 1606, when it disappeared. The exact day is unknown, as during that interval the constellation ot the Serpent-Bearer is above the horizon in the day-time only. But in February 1606, when it again became possible to look for the new star in the night-time, it had vanished. It probably continued to glow with suffi- cient lustre to have remained visible, but for the veil of light under which the sun concealed it, for about sixteen months altogether. In fact, it seems very closely to have resembled Tycho's star, not only in appearance and in the degree of its greatest brightness, but in the duration of its visibility. In the year 1670 a new star appeared in the constellation Cygnus, attaining the third magnitude. It remained visible, but not with this lustre, for nearly two years. After it had faded almost out of view, it flickered up again for awhile, but soon after it died out, so as to be entirely invisible. Whether a powerful telescope would still have shown it is uncertain, but it seems extremely probable. It may be, indeed, that this new star in the Swan is the same which has made its appearance within the last few weeks ; but on this point the evidence is uncertain. SC/ATS m FLAMES. 169 On April 20, 1848, Mr. Hind (Superintendent of the Nautical Almanac, and discoverer of ten new members of the solar system) noticed a new star of the fifth magnitude in the Serpent-Bearer, but in quite another part of that large constellation than had been occupied by Kepler's star. A few weeks later, it rose to the fourth magnitude. But afterwards its light diminished until it became invisible to ordinary eyesight It did not vanish utterly, however. It is still visible with telescopic power, shining as a star of the eleventh magnitude, that is five magnitudes below the faintest star discernible with the unaided eye. This is the first new star which has been kept in view since its apparent creation. But we are now approaching the time when it was found that as so-called new stars con- tinue in existence long after they have disappeared from view, so also they are not in reality new, but were in existence long before they became visible to the naked eye. On May 12, 1866, shortly before midnight, Mr. Bir- mingham, of Tuam, noticed a star of the second magnitude in the Northern Crown, where hitherto no star visible to the naked eye had been known. Dr. Schmidt, of Athens, who had been observing that region of the heavens the same night, was certain that up to 11 p.m., Athens local time, there was no star above the fourth magnitude in the place occupied by the new star. So that, if this negative evidence can be implicitly relied on, the new star must have sprung at least from the fourth, and probably from a much lower magnitude, to the second, in less than three hours — eleven o'clock at Athens corresponding to about nine o'clock by Irish railway time. A Mr. Barker, of Lon- don, Canada, put forward a claim to having seen the new star as early as May 4 — a claim not in the least worth investigating, so far a.s the credit of first seeing the new star 170 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. is concerned, but exceedingly important in its bearing on the nature of the outburst affecting the star in Corona. It IS unpleasant to have to throw discredit on any definite assertion of facts ; unfortunately, however, Mr. Barker, when his claim was challenged, laid before Mr. Stone, of the Greenwich Observatory, such very definite records of obser- vations made on May 4, 8, 9, and 10, that we have no choice but either to admit these observations, or to infer that he experienced the delusive effects of a very singular trick of memory. He mentions in his letter to Mr. Stone that he had sent full particulars of his observations on those early dates to Professor Watson, of Ann Arbor University, on May 1 7 ; but (again unfortunately) instead of leaving that letter to tell its own story in Professor Watson's hands, he asked Professor Watson to return it to him : so that when Mr. Stone very naturally asked Professor Watson to furnish a copy of this important letter. Professor Watson had to reply, ' About a month ago, Mr. Barker applied to me for this letter, and I returned it to him, as requested, without preserving a copy. I can, however,' he proceeded, ' state positively that he did not mention any actual observation earlier than May 14. He said he thought he had noticed a strange star in the Crown about two weeks before the date of his first observation — May 14 — but not particularly, and that he did not recognise it until the 14th. He did not give any date, and did not even seem positive as to identity. . . . When I returned the letter of May 17, I made an endorsement across the first page, in regard to its genuine- ness, and attached my signature. I regret that I did not preserve a copy of the letter in question ; but if the original is produced, it will appear that my recollection of its contents is correct.' I think no one can blame Mr. Stone, if, on the receipt of this letter, he stated that he had not the 'slightest hesitation' in regarding Mr. SU^JVS IN FLAMES. 171 Barker's earlier observations as ' not entitled to the slightest CTedit'i It may be fairly taken for granted that the new star leapt very quickly, if not quite suddenly, to its full splendour. Birmingham, as we have seen, was the first to notice it, on May 12. On the evening of May 13, Schmidt of Athens discovered it independently, and a few hours later it was noticed by a French engineer named Courbebaisse. After- wards, Baxendell of Manchester, and others independently saw the star. Schmidt, examining Argelander's charts of 324,000 stars (charts which I have had the pleasure of map- ping in a single sheet), found that the star was not a new ' Still a circumstance must be mentioned which tends to show that the star may have been visible a few hours earlier than Dr. Schmidt supposed. Mr. IVI. Walter, surgeon of the 4th regiment, then stationed in North India, wrote (oddly enough, on May 12, 1867, the first anni- versary of Mr. Birmingham's discovery) as follows to Mr. Stone : — ' I am certain that this same conflagration was distinctly perceptible here at least six hours earlier. My knowledge of the fact came about in this wise. The night of the 12th of May last year was exceedingly sultry, and about eight o'clock on that evening I got up from the tea- table and rushed into my garden to seek a cooler atmosphere. As my door opens towards the east, the first object that met my view was the Northern Crown. My attention was at once arrested by the sight of a strange star outside the crown ' (that is, outside the circlet of stars forming the diadem, not outside the constellation itself). The new star ' was then certainly quite as bright — I rather thought more so — as its neighbour Alphecca, ' the chief gem of the crown. ' I was so much struck with its appearance, that I exclaimed to those indoors, "Why, here is a new comet ! " ' He made a diagram of the constellation, showing the place of the new star correctly. Unfortunately, Mr. Walter does not state why he is so confident, a year after the event, that it was on the 12th of May, and not on the 13th, that he noticed the new star. If he fixed the date only by the star's appearance as a second-magnitude star, his letter proves nothing ; for we know that on the 13th it was" still shining as brightly as Alphecca, though on the 14th it was perceptibly fainter. 172 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. one, but had been set down by Argelander as between the ninth and tenth magnitudes. Referring to Argelander's list, we find that the star had been twice observed — viz., on May i8, 1855, and on March 31, 1856. Birmingham wrote at once to Mr. Huggins, who, in con- junction with the late Dr. Miller, had been for some time engaged in observing stars and other celestial objects with the spectroscope. These two observers at once directed their telescope armed with spectroscopic adjuncts — the telespectroscope is the pleasing name of the compound instrument — to the new-comer. The result was rather startling. It may be well, however, before describing it, to indicate in a few words the meaning of various kinds of spectroscopic evidence. The light of the sun, sifted out by the spectroscope, shows all the colours but not all the tints of the rainbow. It is spread out into a large rainbow-tinted streak, but at various places (a few thousand) along the streak there are missing tints ; so that in fact the streak is crossed by a multitude of dark lines. We know that these lines are due to the absorptive action of vapours existing in the atmo- sphere of the sun, and from the position of the lines we can tell what the vapours are. Thus, hydrogen by its absorp- tive action produces four of the bright lines. The vapour of iron is there, the vapour of sodium, magnesium, and so oa Again, we know that these same vapours, which, by their absorptive action, cut off rays of certain tints, emit hght of just those tints. In fact, if the glowing mass of the sun could be suddenly extinguished, leaving his atmosphere in its present intensely heated condition, the light of the faint sun which would thus be left us would give (under spectro- scopic scrutiny) those very rays which now seem wanting. There would be a spectrum of multitudinous- bright lines, instead of a rainbow-tinted spectrum crossed by multi- S172\^S IN FLAMES. 173 tudinous dark lines. It is, indeed, only by contrast that the dark lines appear dark, just as it is only by contrast that the solar spots seem dark. Not only the penumbra but the umbra of a sunspot, not only the umbra but the nucleus, not only the nucleus but the deeper black which seems to lie at the core of the nucleus, shine really with a lustre far exceeding that of the electric light, though by contrast with the rest of the sun's surface the penumbra looks dark, the umbra darker still, the nucleus deep black, and the core of the nucleus jet black. So the dark lines across the solar spectrum mark where certain rays are relatively faint, though in reality intensely lustrous. Con- ceive another change than that just imagined. Conceive the sun's globe to remain as at present, but the atmosphere to be excited to many times its present degree of light and splendour : then would all these dark lines become bright, and the rainbow-tinted background would be dull or even quite dark by contrast This is not a mere fancy. At times, local disturbances take place in the sun which pro- duce just such a change in certain constituents of the sun's atmosphere, causing the hydrogen, for example, to glow with so intense a heat that, instead of its lines appearing dark, they stand out as bright lines. Occasionally, too, the magnesium in the solar atmosphere (over certain limited regions only, be it remembered) has been known to behave in this manner. It was so during the intensely hot summer of 1872, insomuch that the Italian observer Tacchini, who noticed the phenomenon, attributed to such local overheat- ing of the sun's magnesium vapour the remarkable heat from which we then for a time suffered. Now, the stars are suns, and the spectrum of a star is simply a miniature of the solar spectrum. Of course, there are characteristic differences. One star haS more hydrogen, at least more hydrogen at work absorbing its rays, and 174 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. thus has the hydrogen Unas more strongly marked than they are in the solar spectrum. Another star shows the lines of various metals more conspicuously, indicating that the glowing vapours of such elements, iron, copper, mercury, tin, and so forth, either hang more densely in the star's atmosphere than in our sun's, or, being cooler, absorb their special tints more effectively. But speaking generally, a stellar spectrum is like the solar spectrum. There is the rainbow-tinted streak, which implies that the source of light is glowing solid, liquid, or highly compressed vapor- ous matter, and athwart the streak there are the multitudin- ous dark lines which imply that around the glowing heart of the star there are envelopes of relatively cool vapours. We can understand, then, the meaning of the evidence obtained from the new star in the Northern Crown. In the first place, the new star showed the rainbow- tinted streak crossed by dark lines, which indicated its sun- like nature. But, standing out on that rainbow-tinted streak as on a dark background, were four exceedingly bright lines — lines so bright, though fine, that clearly most of the stains light came from the glowing vapours to which these lines belonged. Three of the lines belonged to hydrogen, the fourth was not identified with any known line. Let us distinguish between what can certainly be con- cluded from this remarkable observation, and what can only be inferred with a greater or less degree of probability. It is absolutely certain that when Messrs. Huggins and Miller made their observation (by which time the new star had faded from the second to the third magnitude), enor- mous masses of hydrogen around the star were glowing with a heat far more intense than that of the star itself within the hydrogen envelope. It is certain that the in- crease in the star's light, rendering the star visible which before had been far beyond the range of ordinary eyesight, SUN'S IN FLAMES. 175 was due to the abnormal heat of the hydrogen surrounding that remote sun. But it is not so clear whether the intense glow of the hydrogen was caused by combustion or by intense heat without combustion. The difference between the two causes of increased light is important; because on the opinion we form on this point must depend our opinion as to the probability that our sun may one day experience a similar catastrophe, and also our opinion as to the state of the sun in the Northern Crown after the outburst To illustrate the distinction in question, let us take two familiar cases of the emission of light. A burning coal glows with red light, and so does a piece of iron placed in a coal fire. But the coal and the iron are undergoing very different processes. The coal is burning, and will presently be con- sumed ; the iron is not burning (except in the sense that it is burning hot, which means only that it will make any combustible substance burn which is brought into contact with it), and it will not be consumed though the coal fire be maintained around it for days and weeks and months. So with the hydrogen flames which play at all times over the surface of our own sun. They are not burning like the hydrogen flames which are used for the oxy-hydrogen lantern. Were the solar hydrogen so burning, the sun would quickly be extinguished. They are simply aglow with intensity of heat, as a mass of red-hot iron is aglow ; and, so long as the sun's energies are maintained, the hydrogen around him will glow in this way without being consumed. As the new fires of the star in the Crown died out rapidly, it is possible that in their case there was actual combustion. On the other hand, it is also possible, and perhaps on the whole more probable, that the hydrogen surrounding the star was simply set glowing with increased lustre owing to some cause not as yet ascertained. 176 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. Let US see how these two theories have been actually worded by the students of science themselves who have maintained them. ' The sudden blazing forth of this star,' says Mr. Huggins, ' and then the rapid fading away of its light, suggest the rather bold speculation that in consequence of some great internal convulsion, a large volume of hydrogen and other gases was evolved from it, the hydrogen, by its combination with some other element,' in other words, by burning, ' giving out the light represented by the bright lines, and at the same time heating to the point of vivid incandescence the solid matter of the star's surface.' ' As the liberated hydrogen gas became exhausted ' (I now quote not Huggins's own words, but words describing his theory in a book which he has edited) 'the flame gradually abated, and, with the consequent cooling, the star's surface became less vivid, and the star returned to its original condition.' On the other hand, the German physicists, Meyer and Klein, consider the sudden development of hydrogen, in quantities sufficient to explain such an outburst, exceedingly unlikely. They have therefore adopted the opinion, that the sudden blazing out of the star was occasioned by the violent precipitation of some mighty mass, perhaps a planet, upon the globe of that remote sun, ' by which the momen- tum of the falling mass would be changed into molecular motion, or in other words into heat and Hght.' It might even be supposed, they urge, that the star in the Crown, by its swift motion, may have come in contact with one of the star clouds which exist in large numbers in the realms of space. ' Such a collision would necessarily set the star in a blaze and occasion the most vehement ignition of its hydrogen.' Fortunately, our sun is safe for many milhons of years to come from contact from any one of its planets. The SC/JVS IN FLAMES. 177 reader must not, however, run away with the idea that the danger consists only in the gradual contraction of planetary orbits sometimes spoken of. That contraction, if it is taking place at all, of which we have not a particle of evidence, would not draw Mercury to the sun's surface for at least ten million millions of years. The real danger would be in the effects which the perturbing action of the larger planets might produce on the orbit of Mercury. That orbit is even now very eccentric, and must at times become still more so. It might, but for the actual adjustment of the planetary system, become so eccentric that Mercury could not keep clear of the sun ; and a blow from even small Mercury (only weighing, in fact, 390 millions of millions of millions of tons), with a velocity of some 300 miles per second, would warm our sun considerably. But there is no risk of this happening in Mercury's case — though the unseen and much more shifty Vulcan (in which planet I beg to express here my utter disbelief) might, perchance, work mischief if he really existed. As for star clouds lying in the sun's course, we may feel equally confident. The telescope assures us that there are none immediately on the track, and we know, also, that, swiftly though the sun is carrying us onwards through space,' many millions of years must pass before he is among the star families towards which he is rushing. Of the danger from combustion, or from other causes of ignition than those considered by Meyer and Klein, it still remains to speak. But first, let us consider what new evidence has been thrown upon the subject by the observa- tions made on the star which flamed out last November. 1 The velocity of three or four miles per second inferred by the elder Struve must now be regarded (as I long since pointed out would prove to be the case) as very far short of the real velocity of our system's ftiotion through stellar space. N 178 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. The new star was first seen by Professor Schmidt, who has had the good fortune of announcing to astronomers more than one remarkable phenomenon. It was he who discovered in November 1866 that a lunar crater had dis- appeared, an announcement quite in accordance with the facts of the case. We have seen that he was one of the independent discoverers of the outburst in the Northern Crown. On November 24, at the early hour of 5.41 in the evening (showing that Schmidt takes time by the forelock at his observatory), he noticed a star of the third magnitude in the constellation of the Swan, not far from the tail of that southward-fl)dng celestial bird. He is quite sure that on November 20, the last preceding clear evening, the star was not there. At midnight its light was very yellow, and it was somewhat brighter than the neighbouring star Eta Pegasi, on the Flying Horse's southernmost knee (if ana- tomists will excuse my following the ordinary usage which calls the wrist of the horse's fore-arm the knee). He sent news of the discovery forthwith to Leverrier, the chief of the Paris observatory ; and the observers there set to work to analyse the light of the stranger. Unfortunately the star's suddenly acquired brilliancy rapidly faded. M. Paul Henry estimated the star's brightness on December 2 as equal only to that of a fifth -magnitude star. Moreover, the colour, which had been very yellow on November 24, was by this time ' greenish, almost blue.' On December 2, M. Cornu, observing during a short time when the star was visible through a break between clouds, found that the star's spectrum consisted almost entirely of bright lines. On December 5, he was able to determine the position of these lines, though still much interrupted by clouds. He found three bright lines of hydrogen, the strong (really double) line of sodium, the (really triple) line of magnesium, and two other lines. One of these last seemed to agree SUNS IN flah^es. 179 exactly in position with a bright line belonging to the corona seen around the sun during total eclipse.i The star has since faded gradually in lustre until, at present, it is quite invisible to the naked eye. We cannot doubt that the catastrophe which befell this star is of the same general nature as is that which befell the star in the Northern Crown. It is extremely significant that all the elements which manifested signs of intense heat in the case of the star in the Swan, are characteristic of our sun's outer appendages. We know that the coloured flames seen around the sun during total solar eclipse consist of glowing hydrogen, and of glowing matter giving a line so near the sodium line that in the case of a stellar spec- trum it would, probably, not be possible to distinguish one from the other. Into the prominences there are thrown from time to time masses of glowing sodium, magnesium, and (in less degree) iron and other metallic vapours. Lastly, in that glorious appendage, the solar corona, which extends for hundreds of thousands of miles from the sun's surface, there are enormous quantities of some element, whose nature is as yet unknown, showing under spectro- scopic analysis the bright line which seems to have appeared in the spectrum of the flaming sun in the Swan. ^ M. Comu's observations are full of interest, and he deserves con- siderable credit for his energy in availing himself of the few favourable opportunities he had for making them. But he goes beyond his pro- vince in adding to his account of them some remarks, intended ap- parently as a reflection on Mr. Huggins's speculations respecting the star in the Northern Crown. */,' says M. Comu, ' vdll not try to form any hypothesis about the cause of the outburst. To do so would be unscientific, and such speculations, though interesting, cumber science wofiiUy.' This is sheer nonsense, and comes very ill from an observer whose successes in science have been due entirely to the employment of methods of observation which would have had no existence had others been as unready to think out the meaning of observed facts as he appears to be himself. i8o MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. This evidence seems to me to suggest that the intense heat which suddenly affected this star had its origin from without. At the same time, I cannot agree with Meyer and Klein in considering that the cause of the heat was either the downfall of a planetary mass on the star, or the collision of the star with a star-cloudlet, or nebula, traversing space in one direction while the star swept onwards in another. A planet could not very well come into final conflict with its sun at one fell swoop. It would gradually draw nearer and nearer, not by the narrowing of its path, but by the change of the path's shape. The path would, in fact, become more and more eccentric ; until, at length, at its point of nearest approach, the planet would graze its primary, exciting an intense heat where it struck, but escaping actual destruction that time. The planet would make another circuit, and again graze its sun, at or near the same part of the planet's path. For several circuits this would continue, the grazes not becoming more effective each time, but rather less. The interval between them, however, would grow continually less and less. At last the time would come when the planet's path would be reduced to the circular form, its globe touching its sun's all the way round, and then the planet would very quickly be reduced to vapour, and partly burned up, its substance being ab- sorbed by its sun. But all the successive grazes would be indicated to us by accessions in the star's lustre, the period between each seeming outburst being only a few months at first, and becoming gradually less and less (during a long course of years, perhaps even of centuries), until the planet was finally destroyed. Nothing of this sort has happened in the case of any so-called new star. As for the rush of a star through a nebulous mass, that is a theory which would scarcely be entertained by any one acquainted with the enormous distances separating the St7MS IN FLAMES. I8i gaseous star-clouds properly called nebulae. There may be small clouds of the same sort scattered much more densely through space; but we have not a particle of evidence that this actually is the case. All we certainly know about star-cloudlets suggest that the distances separating them from each other are comparable with those which separate star from star, in which case the idea of a star coming into collision with a star-cloudlet, and still more the idea of this occurring several times in a century, is wild in the extreme. On the whole, the theory seems more probable than any of these, that enormous flights of large meteoric masses travel around those stars which thus occasionally break forth in conflagration, such flights travelling on exceedingly eccentric paths, and requiring enormously long periods to complete each circuit of their vast orbits. In conceiving this, we are not imagining anything new. Such a meteoric flight would differ only in degree not kind from meteoric flights which are known to circle around our own sun. I am not sure, indeed, that it can be definitely asserted that our sun has no meteoric appendages of the same nature as those which, if this theory be true, excite to intense periodic activity the sun round which they circle. We know that comets and meteors are closely connected, every comet being probably (many certainly) attended by flights of meteoric masses. The meteors which produce the celebrated November showers of falling stars follow in the track of a comet invisible to the naked eye. May we not reasonably suppose, then, that those glorious comets which have not only been visible but conspicuous, shining even in the day- time, and brandishing round tails which, like that of the 'wonder in heaven, the great dragon,' seemed to 'draw the third part of the stars of heaven,' are followed by much denser flights of much more massive meteors ? Now some i82 Myths and marvels of astronomy. among these giant comets have paths which carry them very close to our sua Newton's comet, with its tail a hundred millions of miles in length, all but grazed the sun's globe. The comet of 1843, whose tail, says Sir J. Herschel, ' stretched half-way across the sky,' must actually have grazed the sun, though but lightly, for its nucleus was within 80,000 miles of his surface, and its head was more than 160,000 miles in diameter. And these are only two among the few comets whose paths are known. At any time we might be visited by a comet mightier than either, travelling on an orbit intersecting the sun's surface, followed by flights of meteoric masses enormous in size and many in number, which, falling on the sun's globe with the enormous velocity corresponding to their vast orbital range and their near approach to the sun — a velocity of some 360 miles per second — would, beyond aU doubt, excite his whole frame, and especially his surface regions, to a degree of heat far exceeding what he now emits. We have had evidence of the tremendous heat to which the sun's surface would be excited by the downfall of a shower of large meteoric masses. Carrington and Hodg- son, on September i, 1859, observed (independently) the passage of two intensely bright bodies across a small part of the sun's surface — the bodies first increasing in bright- ness, then diminishing, then fading away. It is generally believed that these were meteoric masses raised to fierce heat by frictional resistance. Now so much brighter did they appear, or rather did that part of the sun's surface appear through which they had rushed, that Carrington supposed the dark glass screen used to protect the eye had broken, and Hodgson described the brightness of this part of the sun as such that the part shone like a brilliant star on the background of the glowing solar surface. Mark, also, the consequences of the downfall of those two bodies Sl7J\rS IN FLAMES. 183 only. A magnetic disturbance affected the whole frame of the earth at the very time when the sun had been thus disturbed. Vivid auroras were seen not only in both hemispheres, but in latitudes where auroras are very seldom witnessed. ' By degrees,' says Sir J. Herschel, ' accounts began to pour in of great auroras seen not only in these latitudes, but at Rome, in the West Indies, in the tropics within eighteen degrees of the equator (where they hardly ever appear) ; nay, what is still more striking, in South America and in Australia — where, at Melbourne, on the night of September 2, the greatest aurora ever seen there made its appearance. These auroras were accompanied with unusually great electro-magnetic disturbances in every part of the world. In many places the telegraph wires struck work. They had too many private messages of their own to convey. At Washington and Philadelphia, in America, the electric signal-men received severe electric shocks. At a station in Norway the telegraphic apparatus was set fire to ; and at Boston, in North America, a flame of fire followed the pen of Bain's electric telegraph, which writes down the message upon chemically prepared paper.' Seeing that where the two meteors fell the sun's surface glowed thus intensely, and that the effect of this acces- sion of energy upon our earth was thus well marked, can it be doubted that a comet, bearing in its train a flight of many millions of meteoric masses, and falling directly upon the sun, would produce an accession of light and heat whose consequences would be disastrous ? When the earth has passed through the richer portions (not the ac- tual nuclei, be it remembered) of meteor systems, the meteors visible from even a single station have been counted by tens of thousands, and it has been computed that millions must have fallen upon the whole earth. These were meteors following in the train of very small comets. If a 184 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. very large comet followed by no denser a flight of meteors, but each meteoric mass much larger, fell directly upon the sun, it would not be the outskirts but the nucleus of the meteoric train which would impinge upon him. They would number thousands of millions. The velocity of downfall of each mass would be more than 360 miles per second. And they would continue to pour in upon him for several days in succession, millions falling every hour. It seems not improbable that, under this tremendous and long-continued meteoric hail, his whole surface would be caused to glow as intensely as that small part whose brilliancy was so surprising in the observation made by Carrington and Hodgson. In that case, our sun, seen from some remote star whence ordinarily he is invisible, would shine out as a new sun, for a few days, while all things living on our earth, and whatever other members of the solar system are the abode of life, would inevitably be destroyed. The reader must not suppose that this idea has been suggested merely in the attempt to explain outbursts of stars. The following passage from a paper of considerable scientific interest by Professor Kirkwood, of Bloomington, Indiana, a well-known American astronomer, . shows that the idea had occurred to him for a very different reason. He speaks here of a probable connection between the comet of 1843 and the great sun-spot which appeared in June 1843. I am not sure, however, but that we may re- gard the very meteors which seem to have fallen on the sun on September i, 1859, as bodies travelling in the track of the comet of 1843 — ^just as the November meteors seen in 1867-8, 9, etc., until 1872, were bodies certainly following in the track of the telescopic comet of 1866. 'The opinion has been expressed by more than one astronomer,' he says, speaking of Carrington's observation, S17NS IN FLAMES. 185 ' that this phenomenon was produced by the fall of meteoric matter upon the sun's surface. Now, the fact may be worthy of note that the comet of 1843 actually grazed the sun's atmosphere about three months before the appearance of the great sun-spot of the same year. Had it approached but little nearer, the resistance of the atmosphere would probably have brought its entire mass to the solar surface. Even at its actual distance it must have produced consider- able atmospheric disturbance. But the recent discovery that a number of comets are associated with meteoric matter, travelling in nearly the same orbits, suggests the inquiry whether an enormous meteorite following in the comet's train, and having a somewhat less perihelion dis- tance, may not have been precipitated upon the sun, thus producing the great disturbance observed so shortly after the comet's perihelion passage.' There are those, myself among the number, who con- sider the periodicity of the solar spots, that tide of spots which flows to its maximum and then ebbs to its minimum in a little more than eleven years, as only explicable on the theory that a small comet having this period, and followed by a meteor train, has a path intersecting the sun's surface. In an article entitled ' The Sun a Bubble,' which appeared in the 'Cornhill Magazine' for October 1874, I remarked that from the observed phenomena of sun-spots we might be led to suspect the existence of some as yet undetected comet with a train of exceptionally large meteoric masses, travelling in a period of about eleven years round the sun, and having its place of nearest approach to that orb so close to the solar surface that, when the main flight is passing, the stragglers fall upon the sun's surface. In this case, we could readily understand that, as this small comet unquestionably causes our sun to be variable to some slight degree in brilliancy, in a period of about eleven years, so 186 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. some much larger comet circling around Mira, in a period of about 331 days, may occasion those alternations of brightness which have been described above. It may be noticed in passing, that it is by no means certain that the time when the sun is most spotted is the time when he gives out least light. Though at such times his surface is dark where the spots are, yet elsewhere it is probably brighter than usual ; at any rate, all the evidence we have tends to show that when the sun is most spotted, his energies are most active. It is then that the coloured flames leap to their greatest height and show their greatest brilliancy, then also that they show the most rapid and remarkable changes of shape. Supposing there really is, I will not say danger, but a possibility, that our sun may one day, through the arrival of some very large comet travelling directly towards him, share the fate of the suns whose outbursts I have described above, we might be destroyed unawares, or we might be aware for several weeks of the approach of the destroying comet. Suppose, for example, the comet, which might arrive from any part of the heavens, came from out that part of the star-depths which is occupied by the constella- tion Taurus — then, if the arrival were so timed that the comet, which might reach the sun at any time, fell upon him in May or June, we should know nothing of that comet's approach : for it would approach in that part of the heavens which was occupied by the sun, and his splen- dour would hide as with a veil the destroying enemy. On the other hand, if the comet, arriving from the same region of the heavens, so approached as to fall upon the sun in November or December, we should see it for several weeks. For it would then approach from the part of the heavens high above the southern horizon at midnight. Astronomers would be able in a few days after it was discovered to SUNS IN FLAMES. 187 determine its path and predict its dpwnfall upon the sun, precisely as Newton calculated the path of his comet and predicted its near approach to the sun. It would be known for weeks then that the event which Newton contemplated as likely to cause a tremendous outburst of solar heat, competent to destroy all life .upon the surface of our earth, was about to take place; and, doubtless, the minds of many students of science would be exercised during that interval in determining whether Newton was right or wrong. For my own part, I have very little doubt that, though the change in the sun's condition in consequence of the direct downfall upon his surface of a very large comet would be but temporary, and in that sense slight — for what are a few weeks in the history of an orb which has already existed during thousands of millions of years ? — yet the effect upon the inhabitants of the earth would be by no means slight I do not think, however, that any students of science would remain, after the catastrophe, to estimate or to record its effects. Fortunately, all that we have learned hitherto from the stars favours the belief that, while a catastrophe of this sort may be possible, it is exceedingly unlikely. We may estimate the probabilities precisely in the same way that an insurance company estimates the chance of a railway accident. Such a company considers the number of acci- dents which occur among a given number of railway journeys, and from the smallness of the number of acci- dents compared with the largeness of the number of journeys estimates the safety of railway travelling. Our sun is one among many millions of suns, any one of which (though all but a few thousands are actually invisible) would become visible to the naked eye, if exposed to the same conditions as have affected the suns in flames de- scribed in the preceding pages. Seeing, then, that during i88 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. the last two thousand years or thereabouts, only a few instances of the kind, certainly not so many as twenty, have been recorded, while there is reason to believe that some of these relate to the same star which has blazed out more than once, we may fairly consider the chance exceedingly small that during the next two thousand, or even the next twenty thousand years, our sun will be exposed to a catas- trophe of the kind. We might arrive at this conclusion independently of any considerations tending to show that our sun belongs to a safe class of system-rulers, and that all, or nearly all, the great solar catastrophes have occurred among suns of a par- ticular class. There are, however, several considerations of the kind which are worth noting. In the first place, we may dismiss as altogether unlikely the visit of a comet from the star-depths to our sun, on a course carrying the comet directly upon the sun's surface. But if, among the comets travelling in regular attendance upon the sun, there be one whose orbit intersects the sun's globe, then that comet must several times ere this have struck the sun, raising him temporarily to a destructive degree of heat. Now, such a comet must have a period of enormous length, for the races of animals now existing upon the earth must all have been formed since that comet's last visit — on the assumption, be it remembered, that the fall of a large comet upon the sun, or rather the direct pas- sage of the sun through the meteoric nucleus of a large comet, would excite the sun to destructive heat. If all living creatures on the earth are to be destroyed when some comet belonging to the solar system makes its next return to the sun, that same comet at its last visit must have raised the sun to an equal, or even greater intensity of heat, so that either no such races as at present exist had then come into being, or, if any such existed, thev must at that Sl7JfS IN FLAMES. 189 time have been utterly destroyed. We may fairly believe that all comets of the destructive sort have been eliminated. Judging from the evidence we have on the subject, the process of the formation of the solar system was one which involved the utilisation of cometic and meteoric matter; and it fortunately so chanced that the comets likely other- wise to have been most mischievous — those, namely, which crossed the track of planets, and still more those whose paths intersected the globe of the sun — were precisely those which would be earliest and most thoroughly used up in this way. Secondly, it is noteworthy that all the stars which have blazed out suddenly, except one, have appeared in a par- ticular region of the heavens — the zone of the Milky Way (aU, too, on one half of that zone). The single exception is the star in the Northern Crown, and that star appeared in a region which I have found to be connected with the Milky Way by a well-marked stream of stars, not a stream of a few stars scattered here and there, but a stream where thousands of stars are closely aggregated together, though not quite so closely as to form a visible extension of the Milky Way. In my map of 324,000 stars this stream can be quite clearly recognised j but, indeed, the brighter stars scattered along it form a stream recognisable with the naked eye, and have long since been regarded by astronomers as such, forming the stars of the Serpent and the Crown, or a serpentine streak followed by a loop of stars shaped like a coronet. Now the Milky Way, and the outlying streams of stars connected with it, seem to form a region of the stellar universe where fashioning processes are still at work. As Sir W. Herschel long since pointed out, we can recognise in various parts of the heavens various stages of development, and chief among the regions where as yet Nature's work seems incomplete, is the Galactic zone — igo MYTHS AND MAR VELS OF ASTRONOMY. especially that half of it where the Milky Way consists of irregular streams and clouds of stellar light. As there is no reason for believing that our sun belongs to this part of the galaxy, but on the contrary good ground for consider- ing that he belongs to the class of insulated stars, few of which have shown signs of irregular variation, while none have ever blazed suddenly out with many hundred times their former lustre, we may fairly infer a very high degree of probability in favour of the belief that, for many ages still to come, the sun will continue steadily to discharge his duties as fire, light, and life of the solar system. THE RINGS OF SA TURU. 191 VII. THE RIJVGS OF SATURN, The rings of Saturn, always among the most interesting objects of astronomical research, have recently been sub- jected to close scrutiny under high telescopic powers by Mr. Trouvelot, of the Harvard Observatory, Cambridge, U.S. The results which he has obtained afford very significant evidence respecting these strange appendages, and even throw some degree of hght on the subject of cosmical evolution. The present time, when Saturn is the ruHng planet of the night, seems favourable for giving a brief account of recent speculations respecting the Satur- nian ring- system, especially as the observations of Mr. Trouvelot appear to, remove all doubt as to the true nature of the rings, if indeed any doubt could reasonably be en- tertained after the investigations made by European and American astronomers when the dark inner ring had but recently been recognised. It may be well to give a brief account of the progress of observation from the time when the rings were first dis- covered. In passing, I may remark that the failure of Galileo to ascertain the real shape of these appendages has always seemed to me to afford striking evidence of the importance of carefiil reasoning upon all observations whose actual significance is not at once apparent If Galileo had been 1^2 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. thus careful to analyse his observations of Saturn, he could not have failed to ascertain their real meaning. He had seen the planet apparently attended by two large satellites, one on either side, ' as though supporting the aged Saturn upon his slow course around the sun.' Night after night he had seen these attendants, always similarly placed, one on either side of the planet, and at equal distances from it Then in 1 6 1 2 he had again examined the planet, and lo, the attendants had vanished, ' as though Saturn had been at his old tricks, and had devoured his children.' But after a while the attendant orbs had reappeared in their former positions, had seemed slowly to grow larger, until at length they had presented the appearance of two pairs of mighty arms encompassing the planet. If Galileo had reasoned upon these changes of appearance, he could not have failed, as it seems to me, to interpret their true meaning. The three forms under which the rings had been seen by him suflSced to indicate the true shape of the appendage. Be- cause Saturn was seen with two attendants of apparently equal size and always equi-distant from him, it was certain that there must be some appendage surrounding him, and extending to that distance from his globe. Because this appendage disappeared, it was certain that it must be thin and flat. Because it appeared at another time with a dark space between the arms and the planet, it was certain that the appendage is separated by a wide gap from the body of the planet So that Galileo might have concluded — not doubtfully, but with assured confidence — that the append- age is a thin flat ring nowhere attached to the planet, or, as Huyghens said some forty years later, Saturn ' annulo ciiigitur tenui, piano, nusquavi cohtzrente.' Whether such reasoning would have been accepted by the contemporaries of Galileo may be doubtful The generality of men are not content with reasoning which is logically sound, but require THE RINGS OF SATURN. 193 evidence which they can easily understand Very likely Huyghens' proof from direct observation, though in reality not a whit more complete and far rougher, would have been regarded as the first true proof of the existence of Saturn's ring, just as Sir W. Herschel's observation of one star actu- ally moving round another was regarded as the first true proof of the physical association of certain stars, a fact which Michell had proved as completely and far more neatly half a century earlier, by a method, however, which was ' caviare to the general.' However, as matters chanced, the scientific world was not called upon to decide between the merits of a discovery made by direct observation and one effected by means of abstract reasoning. It was not uhtil Saturn had been examined with much higher telescopic power than Galileo could employ, that the appendage which had so perplexed the Florentine astronomer was seen to be a thin flat ring, nowhere touching the planet, and considerably inclined to the plane in which Saturn travels. We cannot wonder that the discovery was regarded as a most interesting one. Astronomers had heretofore had to deal with solid masses, either known to be spheroidal, like the earth, the sun, the moon, Jupiter, and Venus, or presumed to be so, like the stars. The comets might be judged to be vaporous masses of various forms ; but even these were supposed to sur- round or to attend upon globe-shaped nuclear masses. Here, however, in the case of Saturn's ring, was a quoit- shaped body travelling around the sun in continual attend- ance upon Saturn, whose motions, no matter how they varied in velocity or direction, were so closely followed by this strange attendant that the planet remained always centrally poised within the span of its ring-girdle. To appreciate the interest with which this strange phenomenon was regarded, we must remember that as yet the law of o 194 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. gravity had not been recognised. Huyghens discovered the ring (or rather perceived its nature) in 1659, but it was not till 1666 that Newton first entertained the idea that the moon is retained in its orbit about the earth by the attractive energy which causes unsupported bodies to fall earthwards ; and he was unable to demonstrate the law of gravity before 1684. Now, in a general sense, we can readily understand in these days how a ring around a planet continues to travel along with the planet despite all changes of velocity or direction of motion. For the law of gravity teaches that the same causes which tend to change the direction and velocity of the planet's motion tend in precisely the same degree to change the direction and velocity of the ring's motion. But when Huyghens made his discovery it must have appeared a most mysterious circumstance that a ring and planet should be thus con- stantly associated — that during thousands of years no collision should have occurred whereby the relatively deli- cate structure of the ring had been destroyed. Only six years later a discovery was made by two English observers, William and Thomas Ball, which en- hanced the mystery. Observing the northern face of the ring, which was at that time turned earthwards, they per- ceived a black stripe of considerable breadth dividing the ring into two concentric portions. The discovery did not attract so much attention as it deserved, insomuch that when Cassini, ten years later, announced the discovery of a corresponding dark division on the southern surface, none recalled the observation made by the brothers Ball Cassini expressed the opinion that the ring is really divided into two, not merely marked by a dark stripe on its southern face. This conclusion would, of course, have been an assured one, had the previous observation of a dark division on the northern face been remembered. THE RINGS OF SATURN. 195 With the knowledge which we now possess, indeed, the darkness of the seeming stripe would be sufficient evidence that there must be a real division there between the rings ; for we know that no mere darkness of the ring's substance could account for the apparent darkness of the stripe. It has been well remarked by Professor Tyndall, that if the moon's whole surface could be covered with black velvet, she would yet appear white when seen on the dark back- ground of the sky. And it may be doubted whether a circular strip of black velvet 2000 miles wide, placed where we see the dark division between the rings, would appear nearly as dark as that division. Since we could only admit the possibility of some substance resembling our darker rocks occupying this position (for we know of nothing to justify the supposition that a substance as dark as lampblack or black velvet could be there), we are manifestly precluded from supposing that the dark space is other than a division between two distinct rings. Yet Sir W. Herschel, in examining the rings of Saturn with his powerful telescopes, for a long time favoured the theory that there is no real division. He called it the ' broad black mark,' and argued that it can neither indicate the existence of a zone of hills upon the ring, nor of a vast cavernous groove, for in either case it would present changes of appearance (according to the ring's changes of position) such as he was unable to detect It was not until the year 1790, eleven years after his observations had commenced, that, perceiving a corresponding broad black mark upon the ring's southern face, Herschel expressed a ' suspicion ' that the ring is divided into two concentric portions by a circular gap nearly 2000 miles in width. He expressed at the same time, very strongly, his belief that this division was the only one in Saturn's ring-system. A special interest attached at that time to the question 196 MY'IHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. whether the ring is divided or not, for Laplace had then recently published the results of his mathematical inquiry into the movements of such a ring as Saturn's, and, having proved that a single solid ring of such enormous width could not continue to move around the planet, had expressed the opinion that Saturn's ring consists in reality of many concentric rings, each turning, with its own proper rotation rate, around the central planet. It is singular that Herschel, who, though not versed in the methods of the higher mathematics, had considerable native power as a mathematician, was unable to perceive the force of Laplace's reasoning. Indeed, this is one of those cases where clearness of perception rather than profundity of mathematical insight was required. Laplace's equations of motion did not express all the relations involved, nor was it possible to judge, from the results he deduced, how far the stability of the Satumian rings depended on the real structure of these appendages. One who was well acquainted with mechanical matters, and sufficiently versed in mathematics to understand how to estimate generally the forces acting upon the ring-system, could have per- ceived as readily the general conditions of the problem as the most profound mathematician. One may compare the case to the problem of determining whether the action of the moon in causing the tidal wave modifies in any manner the earth's motion of rotatioa We know that as a mathe- matical question this is a very difficult one. The Astronomer Royal, for example, not long ago dealt with it analytically, and deduced the conclusion that there is no effect on the earth's rotation, presently however, discovering by a lucky chance a term in the result which indicates an effect of that kind. But if we look at the matter in its mechanical aspect, we perceive at once, without any pro- found mathematical research, that the retardation so hard THE RINGS OF SATURN. 197 to detect mathematically must necessarily take place. As Sir E. Beckett says in his masterly work, Astronomy with- out Mathematics, 'the conclusion is as evident without mathematics as with them, when once it has been suggested.' So when we consider the case of a wide flat ring surround- ing a mighty planet like Saturn, we perceive that nothing could possibly save such a ring from destruction if it were really one solid structure. To recognise this the more clearly, let us first notice the dimensions of the planet and rings. We have in Saturn a globe about 70,000 miles in mean diameter, an equatorial diameter being about 73,000 miles, the polar diameter 66,000 miles. The attractive force of this mighty mass upon bodies placed on its surface is equal to about one-fifth more than terrestrial gravity if the body is near the pole of Saturn, and is almost exactly the same as terrestrial gravity if the body is at the planet's equator. Its action on the matter of the ring is, of course, very much less, because of the increased distance, but still a force is exerted on every part of the ring which is comparable with the familiar force of terrestrial gravity. The outer edge of the outer ring lies about 83,500 miles from the planet's centre, the inner edge of the inner ring (I speak through- out of the ring-system as known to Sir W. Herschel and Laplace) about 54,500 miles from the centre, the breadth of the system of bright rings being about 29,000 miles. Between the planef s equator and the inner edge of the innermost bright ring there intervenes a space of about 20,000 miles. Roughly speaking, it may be said that the attraction of the planet on the substance of the ring's inner edge is less than gravity at Saturn's equator (or, which is almost exactly the same thing, is less than terrestrial gravity) in about the proportion of 9 to 20; or, still more roughly, the iimer edge of Saturn's inner bright ring is 198 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. drawn inwards by about half the force of gravity at the earth's surface. The outer edge is drawn towards Saturn by a force less than terrestrial gravity in the proportion of about 3 to 1 6 — say roughly that the force thus exerted by Saturn on the matter of the outer edge of the ring-system is equivalent to about one-fifth of the force of gravity at the earth's surface. It is clear, first, that if the ring-system did not rotate, the forces thus acting on the material of the rings would immediately break them into fragments, and, dragging these down to the planet's equator, would leave them scattered in heaps upon that portion of Saturn's surface. The ring would in fact be in that case like a mighty arch, each por- tion of which would be drawn towards Saturn's centre by its own weight. This weight would be enormous if Bessel's estimate of the mass of the ring-system is correct He made the mass of the ring rather greater than the mass of the earth — an estimate which I believe to be greatly in excess of the truth. Probably the rings do not amount in mass to more than a fourth part of the earth's mass. But even that is enormous, and subjected as is the material of the rings to forces varying fi-om one-half to a fifth of terres- trial gravity, the strains and pressures upon the various parts of the system would exceed thousands of times those which even the strongest material built up into their shape could resist The system would no more be able to resist such strains and pressures than an arch of iron spanning the Atlantic would be able to sustain its own weight against the earth's attraction. It would be necessary then that the ring-system should rotate around the planet. But it is clear that the proper rate of rotation for the outer portion would be very dif- ferent firom the rate suited for the inner portion. In order that the inner portion should travel around Saturn entirely THE RINGS OF SATURN. 199 relieved of its weight, it should complete a revolution in about seven hours twenty-three minutes. The outer por- tion, however, should revolve in about thirteen hours fifty- eight minutes, or nearly fourteen hours. Thus the inner part should rotate in little more than half the time required by the outer part. The result would necessarily be that the ring-system would be affected by tremendous strains, which it would be quite unable to resist. The existence of the great division would manifestly go far to diminish the strains. It is easily shown that the rate of turning where the division is, would be once in about eleven hours and twenty-five minutes, not differing greatly from the mean between the rotation-periods for the outside and for the inside edges of the system. Even then, however, the strains would be hundreds of times greater than the material of the ring could resist. A mass comparable in weight to our earth, compelled to rotate in (say) nine hours when it ought to rotate in eleven or in seven, would be subjected to strains exceeding many times the resistances which the cohesive power of its substance could afford. That would be the condition of the inner ring. And in like manner the outer ring, if it rotated in about twelve hours and three- quarters, would have its outer portions rotating too fast and its inner portions too slowly, because their proper periods would be fourteen hours and eleven hours and a half respectively. Nothing but the division of the ring into a number of narrow hoops could possibly save it from destruc- tion through the internal strains and pressures to which its material would be subjected. Even this complicated arrangement, however, would not save the ring-system. If we suppose a fine hoop to turn around a central attracting body as the rings of Saturn rotate around the planet, it may be shown that unless the hoop is so weighted that its centre of gravity is far from the 400 MYTHS AND MAR VELS OF ASTRONOMY. planet, there will be no stability in the resulting motions ; the hoop will before long be made to rotate eccentrically, and eventually be brought intq destructive collision with the central planet. It was here that Laplace left the problem. Nothing could have been more unsatisfactory than his result, though it was accepted for nearly half a century unquestioned. He had shown that a weighted fine hoop may possibly turn around a central attracting mass without destructive changes of position, but he had not proved more than the bare possibility of this, while nothing in the appearance of Saturn's rings suggests that any such arrangement exists. Again, manifestly a multitude of narrow hoops, so com- bined as to form a broad flat system of rings, would be constantly in collision inter se. Besides, each one of them would be subjected to destructive strains. For though a fine uniform hoop set rotating at a proper rate around an attracting mass at its centre would be freed fi-om all strains, the case is very different with a hoop so weighted as to have its centre of gravity greatly displaced. Laplace had saved the theoretical stability of the motions of a fine ring at the expense of the ring's power of resisting the strains to which it would be exposed. It seems incredible that such a result (expressed, too, very doubtingly by the distinguished mathematician who had obtained it) should have been accepted so long almost without question. There is nothing in nature in the remotest degree resembling the arrangement imagined by Laplace, which indeed appears on d priori grounds impossible. It was not claimed for it that it removed the original difficulties of the problem; and it introduced others fully as serious. So strong, how- ever, is authority in the scientific world that none ventured to express any doubts except Sir W. Herschel, who simply denied that the two rings were divided into many, as THE RINGS OF SATURN. 201 Laplace's theory required As time went on and the signs of many divisions were at times recognised, it was supposed that Laplace's reasoning had been justified ; and despite the utter impossibility of the arrangement he had suggested, that arrangement was ordinarily described as probably existing. At length, however, a discovery was made which caused the whole question to be reopened. On November 10, 1850, W. Bond, observing the planet with the telescope of the Harvard Observatory, perceived within the inner bright ring a feeble illumination which he was at a loss to understand. On the next night the faint light was better seen. On the isth, Tuttle, who was ob- serving with Bond, suggested the idea that the light within the inner bright ring was due to a dusky ring inside the system of bright rings. On November 25, Mr. Dawes in England perceived this dusky ring, and announced the dis- covery before the news had reached England that Bond had already seen the dark ring. The credit of the discovery is usually shared between Bond and Dawes, though the usual rule in such matters would assign the discovery to Bond alone. It was found that the dark ring had already been seen at Rome so far back as 1828, and again by Galle at Berlin in May 1838. The Roman observations were not satisfactory. Those by Galle, however, were sufficient to have established the fact of the ring's existence ; indeed, in 1839 Galle measured the dark ring. But very little atten- tion was attracted to this interesting discovery, insomuch that when Bond and Dawes announced their observation of the dark ring in 1850, the news was received by astro- nomers with all the interest attaching to the detection of before unnoted phenomena. It may be well to notice under what conditions the dark ring was detected in 1850. In September 1848 the ring had been turned edgewise towards the sun, and as rather Z02 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. more than seven years are occupied in the apparent gradual opening out of the ring from that edge view to its most open appearance (when the outline of the ring-system is an eclipse whose lesser axis is nearly equal to half the greater), it will be seen that in November 1850 the rings were but slightly opened. Thus the recognition of the dark ring within the bright system was made under unfavourable conditions. For four preceding years — ^that is, from the year 1846 — the rings had been as little or less opened ; and again for several years preceding 1846, though the rings had been more open, the planet had been unfavourably placed for observation in northern latitudes, crossing the meridian at low altitudes. Still, in 1838 and 1839, when the rings were most open, although the planet was never seen under favourable conditions, the opening of the rings, then nearly at its greatest, made the recognition of the dark ring possible ; and we have seen that Galle then made the discovery. When Bond rediscovered the dark ring, everything promised that before long the appendage would be visible with telescopes far inferior in power to the great Harvard refractor. Year after year the planet was becoming more favourably placed for observation, while all the time the rings were opening out. Accord- ingly it need not surprise us to learn that in 1853 the dark ring was seen with a telescope less than three inches and a half in aperture. Even so early as 1851, Mr. Hartnup, observing the planet with a telescope eight inches and a half in aperture, found that ' the dark ring could not - be overlooked for an instant' But while this increase in the distinctness of the dark ring was to be expected, from the mere fact that the ring was discovered under relatively unfavourable conditions, yet the fact that Saturn was thus found to have an appen- dage of a remarkable character, perfectly obvious even THE RINGS OF SATURN. J03 with moderate telescopic power, was manifestly most sur- prising. The planet had been studied for nearly two cen- turies with telescopes exceeding in power those with which the dark ring was now perceived. Some among these telescopes were not only of great power, but employed by observers of the utmost skill. The elder Herschei had for a quarter of a century studied Saturn with his great re- flectors eighteen inches in aperture, and had at times turned on the planet his monstrous (though not mighty) four-feet mirror. Schroter had examined the dark space within the inner bright ring for the special purpose of determining whether the ring-system is really disconnected from the globe. He had used a mirror nineteen inches in aperture, and he had observed that the dark space seen on either side of Saturn inside the ring-system not only ap- peared dark, but actually darker than the surrounding sky. This was presumably (though not quite certainly) an effect of contrast only, the dark space being bounded all round by bright surfaces. If real, the phenomenon signified that whereas the space outside the ring, where the satellites of the planet travel, was occupied by some sort of cosmical dust, the space within the ring -system was, as it were, swept and garnished, as though all the scattered matter which might otherwise have occupied that region had been either attracted to the body of the planet or to the rings. 1 But manifestly the observation was entirely inconsistent with the supposition that there existed in Schroter's time a dark or dusky ring within the bright system. Again, the elder Struve made the most careful measurement of the whole of the ring-system in 1826, when the system was as ' The same peculiarity has been noticed since the discovery of the dark ring, the space within that ring being observed by Coolidge and G. Bond at Harvard in 1856 to be apparently darker than the surround- ing sky. 204 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. well placed tor observation as in 1856 (or, in other words, as well placed as it can possibly be) ; but though he used a telescope nine inches and a half in aperture, and though his attention was specially attracted to the inner edge of the inner bright ring (which seemed to him indistinct), he did not detect the dark ring. Yet we have seen that in 1851, under much less favourable conditions, a less prac- tised observer, using a telescope of less aperture, found that the dark ring could not be overlooked for an instant It is manifest that all these considerations point to the con- clusion that the dark ring is a new formation, or, at the least, that it has changed notably in condition during the present century. I have hitherto only considered the appearance of the dusky ring as seen on either side of the planet's globe within the bright rings. The most remarkable feature of the appendage remains still to be mentioned — the fact, namely, that the bright body of the planet can be seen through this dusky ring. Where the dark ring crosses the planet, it appears as a rather dark belt, which might readily be mis- taken for a belt upon the planet's surface ; for the outUne of the planet can be seen through the ring as through a film of smoke or a crape veil. Now it is worthy of notice that whereas the dark ring was not detected outside the planet's body until 1838, nor generally recognised by astronomers until 1850, the dark belt across the planet, really caused by the dusky ring, was observed more than a century earlier. In 17 15 the younger Cassini saw it, and perceived that it was not curved enough for a belt really belonging to the planet Hadley again observed that the belt attended the ring as this opened out and closed, or, in other words, that the dark belt belonged to the ring, not to the body of the planet And in many pictures of Saturn's system a dark band is THE RINGS OF SATURN. 205 shown along the inner edge of the inner bright ring where It crosses the body of the planet. It seems to me that we have here a most important piece of evidence respecting the rings. It is clear that the inner part of the inner bright ring has for more than a century and a half (how much more we do not know) been partially transparent, and it is probable that within its inner edge there has been all the time a ring of matter ; but this ring has only within the last half-century gathered consistency enough to be discernible. It is manifest that the existence of the dark belt shown in the older pictures would have led directly to the detection of the dark ring, had not this appendage been exceedingly faint. Thus, while the observation of the dark belt across the planet's face proves the dusky ring to have existed in some form long before it was perceived, the same fact only helps to render us certain that the dark ring has changed notably in condition during the present century. The discovery of this singular appendage, an object unique in the solar system, naturally attracted fresh atten- tion to the question of the stability of the rings. The idea was thrown out by the elder Bond that the new ring may be fluid, or even that the whole ring-system may be fluid, and the dark ring simply thinner than the rest. It was thought possible that the ring-system is of the nature of a vast ocean, whose waves are steadily advancing upon the planet's globe. The mathematical investigation of the subject was also resumed by Professor Benjamin Pierce, of Harvard, and it was satisfactorily demonstrated that the stability of a system of actual rings of solid matter required so nice an adjustment of so many narrow rings as to render the system far more complex than even Laplace had sup- posed. ' A stable formation can,' he said, ' be nothing other than a very great number of separate narrow rigid 2o6 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. rings, each revolving with its proper relative velocity.' As was well remarked by the late Professor Nichol, ' If this arrangement or anything like it were real, how many new conditions of instability do we introduce. Observation tells us that the division between such rings must be ex- tremely narrow, so that the slightest disturbance by external or internal causes would cause one ring to impinge upon another; and we should thus have the seed of perpetual catastrophes.' Nor would such a constitution protect the system against dissolution. ' There is no escape from the difficulties, therefore, but through the final rejection of the idea that Saturn's rings are rigid or in any sense a solid formation.' The idea that the ring-system may be fluid came natu- rally next under mathematical scrutiny. Strangely enough, the physical objections to the theory of fluidity appear to have been entirely overlooked. Before we could accept such a theory, we must admit the existence of elements differing entirely from those with which we are familiar. No fluid known to us could retain the form of the rings of Saturn under the conditions to which they are exposed. But the mathematical examination of the subject disposed so thoroughly of the theory that the rings can consist of continuous fluid masses, that we need not now discuss the physical objections to the theory. There remains only the theory that the Saturnian ring- system consists of discrete masses analogous to the streams of meteors known to exist in great numbers within the solar system. The masses may be solid or fluid, may be strewn in relatively vacant space, or may be surrounded by vaporous envelopes ; but that they are discrete, each free to travel on its own course, seemed as completely demon- strated by Pierce's calculations as anything not actually admitting of direct observation could possibly be. The THE RINGS OF SATURN. 207 matter was placed beyond dispute by the independent analysis to which Clerk Maxwell subjected the mathemat- ical problem. It had been selected in 1855 as the subject for the Adams Prize Essay at Cambridge, and Clerk Maxwell's essay, which obtained the prize, showed conclu- sively that only a system of many small bodies, each free to travel upon its course under the varying attractions to which it was subjected by Saturn itself, and by the Satur- nian satelUtes, could possibly continue to girdle a planet as the rings of Saturn girdle him. It is clear that all the peculiarities hitherto observed in the Saturnian ring-system are explicable so soon as we regard that system as made up of multitudes of small bodies. Varieties of brightness simply indicate various degrees of condensation of these small satellites. Thus the outer ring had long been observed to be less bright than the inner. Of course it did not seem impossible that the outer ring might be made of different materials ; yet there was something bizarre in the supposition that two rings forming the same system were thus different in substance. It would not have been at all noteworthy if different parts of the same ring differed in luminosity- — in fact, it was much more remarkable that each zone of the system seemed uniformly bright all round. But that one zone should be of one tint, another of an entirely different tint, was a strange circumstance so long as the only available inter pretation seemed to be that one zone was made (through out) of one substance, the other of another. If this was strange when the difference between the inner and outer bright rings was alone considered, how much stranger did it seem when the multitudinous divisions in the rings were taken into account 1 Why should the ring-system, 30,000 miles in width, be thus divided into zones of different material ? An arrangement so artificial is quite unUke all 208 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. that is elsewhere seen among the subjects of the astro- nomer's researches. But when the rings are regarded as made up of multitudes of small bodies, we can quite readily understand how the nearly circular movements of all of these, at different rates, should result in the formation of rings of aggregation and rings of segregation, appearing at the earth's distance as bright rings and faint rings. The dark ring clearly corresponds in appearance with a ring of thinly scattered satellites. Indeed, it seems impossible otherwise to account for the appearance of a dusky belt across the globe of the planet where the dark ring crosses the disc. If the material of the dark ring were some partly transparent solid or fluid substance, the light of the planet received through the dark ring added to the light reflected by the dark ring itself, would be so nearly equivalent to the light received from the rest of the planet's disc, that either no dark belt would be seen, or the darkening would be barely discernible. In some positions a bright belt would be seen, not a dark one. But a ring of scattered satellites would cast as its shadow a multitude of black spots, which would give to the belt in shadow a dark grey aspect A considerable proportion of these spots would be hidden by the satellites forming the dark ring, and in every case where a spot was wholly or partially hidden by a satellite, the effect (at our distant station where the separate satellites of the dark ring are not discernible) would simply be to reduce fro tanto the darkness of the grey belt of shadow. But certainly more than half the shadows of the satellites would remain in sight ; for the darkness of the ring at the time of its discovery showed that the satellites were very sparsely strewn. And these shadows would be sufficient to give to the belt a dusky hue^ such as it presented when first discovered.^ > I cannot understand why Mr. Webb, in his interestine little THE RINGS OF SATURN. 209 The observations which have recently been made by Mr. Trouvelot indicate changes in the rmg- system, and especially in the dark ring, which place every other theory save that to which we have thus been led entirely out of the question. It should be noted that Mr. Trouvelot has employed telescopes of unquestionable excellence and vary- ing in aperture from six inches to twenty-sis inches, the latter aperture being that of the great telescope of the Wash- ington Observatory (the largest refractor in the world). He has noted in the first place that the interior edge of the outer bright ring, which marks the outer limit of the great division, is irregular, but whether the irregularity is permanent or not he does not know. The great division itself is found not to be actually black, but, as was long since noted by Captain Jacob, of the Madras Observatory, a very dark brown, as though a few scattered satellites travelled along this relatively vacant zone of the system. Mr. Trouvelot has further noticed that the shadow of the planet upon the rings, and especially upon the outer ring, changes continually in shape, a circumstance which he attributes to irregularities in the surface of the rings. For my own part, I should be disposed to attribute these changes in the shape of the planet's shadow (noted by other ob- servers also) to rapid changes in the deep cloud-laden atmosphere of the planet. Passing on, however, to less doubtful observations, we find that the whole system of rings has presented a clouded and spotted aspect during the last four years. Mr. Trouvelot specially describes this appearance as observed on the parts of the ring outside the work, Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes, says that the satellite theory of the rings certainly seems insufficient to account for the pheno- mena of the dark ring. It seems, on the contrary, manifest that the dark ring can scarcely be explained in any other way. The observa- tions recently made are altogether inexplicable on any other theory. P 210 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. disc, called by astronomers the ansa (because of their re- semblance to handles), and it would seem, therefore, that the spotted and cloudy portions are seen only where the background on which the rings are projected is black. This circumstance clearly suggests that the darkness of these parts is due to the background, or, in other words, that the sky is in reality seen through those parts of the ring-system, just as the darkness of the slate-coloured interior ring is attributed, on the satellite theory, to the background of sky visible through the scattered flight of satellites forming the dark ring. The matter composing the dark ring has been observed by Mr. Trouvelot to be gathered in places into compact masses, which prevent the light of the planet from being seen through those portions of the dark ring where the matter is thus massed together. It is clear that such peculiarities could not possibly present themselves in the case of a continuous solid or fluid ring-system, whereas they would naturally occur in a ring formed of multitudes of minute bodies travelling freely around the planet The point next to be mentioned is still more decisive. When the dark ring was carefully examined with powerful telescopes during the ten years following its discovery by Bond, at which time it was most favourably placed for observation, it was observed that the outline of the planet could be seen across the entire breadth of the dark ring. All the observations agreed in this respect. It was, indeed, noticed by Dawes that outside the planet's disc the dark ring showed varieties of tint, its inner half being darker than its outer portion. Lassell, observing the planet under most favourable conditions with his two-feet mirror at Malta, could not perceive these varieties of tint, which therefore we may judge to have been either not permanent or very slightly marked. But, as I have said, all observers agreed that the outline of the planet could be seen athwart the THE RINGS OF SATURN. 211 entire width of the dark ring. Mr. Trouvelot, however, has found that during the last four years the planet has not been visible through the whole width of the dark ring, but only through the inner half of the ring's breadth. It appears, then, that either the inner portion is getting continually thinner and thinner — that is, the satellites composing it are becoming continually more sparsely strewn — or that the outer portion is becoming more compact, doubtless by receiving stray satellites from the interior of the inner bright ring. It is clear that in Saturn's ring-system, if not in tht planet itself, mighty changes are still taking place. It may be that the rings are being so fashioned under the forces to which they are subjected as to be on their way to becoming changed into separate satellites, inner members of that system which at present consists of eight secondary planets. But, whatever may be the end towards which these changes are tending, we see processes of evolution taking place which may be regarded as typifying the more extensive and prob- ably more energetic processes whereby the solar system itself reached its present condition. I ventured more than ten years ago, in the preface to my treatise upon the planet Saturn, to suggest the possibility ' that in the variations perceptibly proceeding in the Saturnian ring-system a key may one day be found to the law of development under which the solar system has reached its present condition.' This suggestion seems to me strikingly confirmed by the recent discoveries. The planet Saturn and its appendages, always interesting to astronomers, are found more than ever worthy of close investigation and scrutiny. We may here, as it were, seize nature in the act, and trace out the actual progress of developments which at present are matters rather of theory than of observation. MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. VIII. COAfETS AS PORTENTS. The blazing star, Threat'ning the world with famine, plague, and war j To princes death ; to kingdoms many curses ; To all estates inevitable losses ; To herdsmen rot ; to ploughmen hapless seasons ; To sailors storms ; to cities civil treasons. Although comets are no longer regarded with supersti tious awe as in old times, mystery still clings to them. Astronomers can tell what path a comet is travelling upon, and say whence it has come and whither it will go, can even in many cases predict the periodic returns of a comet, can analyse the substance of these strange wanderers, and have recently discovered a singular bond of relationship between comets and those other strange visitants from the celestial depths, the shooting stars. But astronomy has hitherto proved unable to determine the origin of comets, the part they perform in the economy of the universe, their real structure, the causes of the marvellous changes of shape which they undergo as they approach the sun, rush round him, and then retreat. As Sir John Herschel has remarked : ' No one, hitherto, has been able to assign any single point in which we should be a bit better or worse off, materially speaking, if there were no such thing as a comet Persons, even thinking persons, have busied them COMETS AS PORTENTS. 213 selves with conjectures ; such as that they may serve for fuel for the sun (into which, however, they never fall), or that they may cause warm summers, which is a mere fancy, or that they may give rise to epidemics, or potato-blights, and so forth.' And though, as he justly says, ' this is all wild talking,' yet it will probably continue until astro- nomers have been able to master the problems respecting comets which hitherto have foiled their best efforts. The unexplained has ever been and will ever be marvellous to the general mind. Just as unexplored regions of the earth have been tenanted in imagination by anthropophagi and men whose heads Do grow beneath their shoulders, , so do wondrous possibilities exist in the unknown and the iU-understood phenomena of nature. In old times, when the appearance and movements of comets were supposed ts be altogether uncontrolled by physical laws, it was natural that comets should be regarded as signs from heaven, tokens of Divine wrath towards some, and of the interposition of Divine providence in favour o<^ others. As Seneca well remarked : ' There is no man so dull, so obtuse, so turned to earthly things, who does not direct all the powers of his mind towards things Divine when some novel phenomenon appears in the heavens. While all follows its usual course up yonder, familiarity robs the spectacle of its grandeur. For so is man made. However wonderful may be what he sees day after day, he looks on it with indifference ; while matters of very little importance attract and interest him if they depart from the accustomed order. The host of heavenly constellations beneath the vault of heaven, whose beauty they adorn, attract no attention; but if any unusual appearance be noticed among them, at once all 'eyes are turned heaven- 214 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMr. wards. The sun is only looked on with interest when he is undergoing eclipse. Men observe the moon only under like conditions. ... So thoroughly is it a part of our nature to admire the new. rather than the great The same is true of comets. When one of these fiery bodies of unusual form appears, every one is eager to know what it means ; men forget other objects to inquire about the new arrival ; they know not whether to wonder or to tremble ; for many spread fear on all sides, drawing from the pheno- menon most grave prognostics.' There is no direct reference to comets in the Bible, either in the Old Testament or the New. It is possible that some of the signs from heaven recorded in the Bible pages were either comets or meteors, and that even where in some places an angel or messenger from God is said to have appeared and delivered a message, what really happened was that some remarkable phenomenon in the heavens was interpreted in a particular manner by the priests, and the interpretation afterwards described as the message of an angel. The image of the ' flaming sword which turned every way' may have been derived from a comet ; but we can form no safe conclusion about this, any more than we can upon the question whether the ' horror of great dark- ness' which fell upon Abraham (Genesis xv. 12) when the sun was going down, was caused by an eclipse ;' or whether the going back of the shadow upon the dial of Ahaz was ' A gentleman, whose acquaintance I made in returning from America last spring, assured me that he had found demonstrative evidence showing that a total eclipse of the moon then occurred ; for he could prove that Abraham's vision occurred at the time of fall moon, so that it could not otherwise have been dark when the sun went down (v. 17). But the horror of great darkness occurred when the sun was going down, and total eclipses of the moon do not behave that way — at least, in our time. COMETS AS PORTENTS. 215 caused by a mock sun. The star seen by the wise men from the east may have been a comet, since the word trans- lated ' star' signifies any bright object seen in the heavens and is in fact the same word which Homer, in a passage frequently referred to, uses to signify either a comet or a meteor. The way in which it appeared to go before them, when (directed by Herod, be it noticed) they went to Bethlehem, almost due south of Jerusalem, would corre- spond to a meridian culmination low down — for the star had manifestly not been visible in the earlier evening, since we are told that they rejoiced when they saw the star again. It was probably a comet travelling southwards ; and, as the wise men had travelled from the east, it had very likely been first seen in the west as an evening star, wherefore its course was retrograde — that is, supposing it was a comet ' It may possibly have been an apparition of Halley's comet, following a course somewhat similar to that which it followed in the year 1835, when the perihelion passage was made on November 15, and the comet running southwards dis- appeared from northern astronomers, though in January it was ' received'' by Sir J. Herschel, to use his own expression, ' in the southern hemisphere.' There was an apparition of Halley's comet in the year 66, or seventy years after the Nativity ; and the period of the comet varies, according to the perturbing influences affecting the comet's motion, fi-om sixty-nine to eighty years. Homer does not, to the best of my recollection, refer ' It is not easy to understand what else it could have been. The notion that a conjunction of three planets, which took place shortly before the time of Christ's birth, gave rise to the tradition of the star in Ihe east, though propounded by a former president of the Astronomical Society, could hardly be entertained by an astronomer, unless he entirely rejected Matthew's account, which the author of this theory, being a clergyman, can scarcely have done. 2i6 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. anywhere directly to comets. Pope, indeed, who made very free with Homer's references to the heavenly bodies,' introduces a comet — and a red one, too ! — into the simile of the heavenly portent in Book IV. : — As the red comet from Saturnius sent To fright the nations with a dire portent (A fatal sign to armies in the plain, Or trembling sailors on the wintry main). With sweeping glories glides along in air, And shakes the sparkles from its blazing hair : Between two armies thus, in open sight. Shot the bright goddess in a trail of light. But Homer says nothing of this comet If Homer had introduced a comet, we may be sure it would not have shaken sparkles from its blazing tail Homer said simply that ' Pallas rushed from the peaks of heaven, like the bright star sent by the son of crafty-counselled Kronus (as a sign either to sailors, or the broad array ol the nations), from which many sparks proceed.' Strangely enough, Pingrd and Lalande, the former noted for his researches into ancient comets, the latter a skilfiil astronomer, agree in considering that Homer really referred to a comet, and they even regard this comet as an apparition of the comet ' As, for instance, when he makes Homer say of the moon that Around her throne the vivid planets roll. And stars unnumbered gild the glowing pole. It is difficult, indeed, to understand how so thorough an astronomer as the late Admiral Smyth could have called the passage in which these lines occur one of the finest bursts of poetry in our language, except on the principle cleverly cited by Waller when Charles II. upbraided him for the warmth of his panegyric on Cromwell, that ' poets succeed better with fiction than with truth.' Macaulay, though not an astro- nomer, speaks more justly of the passage in saying that this single passage contains more inaccuracies than can be found in all Words- worth's ' Excursion.' COMETS AS PORTENTS. 217 of 1680. They cite in support of this opinion the portent which followed the prayer of Anchises, ' ^neid,' Book II. 692, etc : 'Scarce had the old man ceased from praying, when a peal of thunder was heard on the left, and a star, gliding from the heavens amid the darkness, rushed through space followed by a long train of Ught ; we saw the star,' says .^neas, 'suspended for a moment above the roof, brighten our home with its fires, then, tracing out a bril- liant course, disappear in the forests of Ida ; then a long train of flame illuminated us, and the place around reeked with the smeU of sulphur. Overcome by these startling portents, my father arose, invoked the gods, and worshipped the holy star.' It is impossible to recognise here the description of a comet. The noise, the trail of Ught, the visible motion, the smell of sulphur, all correspond with the fall of a meteorite close by ; and doubtless Virgil simply introduced into the narrative the circumstances of some such phenomenon which had been witnessed in his own time. To base on such a point the theory that the comet of 1680 was visible at the time of the fall of Troy, the date of which is unknown, is venturesome in the extreme. True, the period calculated for the comet of 1680, when Pingr^ and Lalande agreed in this unhappy guess, was 575 years ; and if we multiply this period by five we obtain 2875 years, taking 1680 fi-om which leaves 1195 years B.C., near enough to the supposed date of the capture of Troy. Unfortunately, Encke (the eminent astronomer to whom we owe that determination of the sun's distance which for nearly half a century held its place in our books, but has within the last twenty years been replaced by a distance three millions of miles less) went over afresh the calcula- tions of the motions of that famous comet, and found that, instead of 575 years, the most probable period is about 8814 years. The difference amounts only to 8239 years; but 218 MYTHS AND MAR VELS OF ASTRONOMY. even this small difference rather impairs the theory o1 Lalande and Pingrd' Three hundred and seventy-one years before the Chris- tian era, a comet appeared which Aristotle (who was a boy at the time) has described. Diodorus Siculus writes thus respecting it; 'In the first year of the io2d Olympiad, Alcisthenes being Archon of Athens, several prodigies announced the approaching humiliation of the Lacedaemo- nians; a blazing torch of extraordinary size, which was compared to a flaming beam, was seen during several nights.' Guillemin, from whose interesting work on Comets I have translated the above passage, remarks that this same comet was regarded by the ancients as having not merely presaged but produced the earthquakes which caused the towns of Helice and. Bura to be submerged. This was clearly in the thoughts of Seneca when he said of this comet that as soon as it appeared it brought about the submergence of Bura and HeUce. ' It may be necessary to throw in here a few words of explanation, lest the non-astronomical reader should run away with the idea that the so-called exact science is a very inexact science indeed, so far as comets are concerned. The comet of 1 680 was one of those which travel on a very eccentric oitit. Coming, indeed, from out depths many times more remote than the path even of the remotest planet, Neptune, this comet approached nearer to the sun than any which astronomere have ever seen, except only the comet of 1843. When at its nearest its nucleus was only a sixth part of the sun's diameter from his surface. Thus the part of the comet's orbit along which astronomers traced its motion was only a small part at one end of an enormously long ovaL and very slight errors of observation were sufficient to produce very large errors in the determination of the nature of the comet's orbit. Encke admitted that the period might, so far as the comparatively im- perfect observations made in 1680 were concerned, be any whatever, from 805 years to many millions of years, or even to infinity — that is, the comet might have a path not re-entering into itself, but carrying the comet for ever away from the sun after its one visit to our system. COMETS AS PORTENTS, 219 In those times, however, comets were not regarded solely as signs of disaster. As the misfortunes of one nation were commonly held to be of advantage to other nations, so the same comet might be regarded very differ- ently by different nations or different rulers. Thus the comet of the year 344 b.c. was regarded by Timoleon of Corinth as presaging the success of his expedition against Corinth. 'The gods announced,' said Diodorus Siculus, ' by a remarkable portent, his success and future greatness ; a blazing torch appeared in the heavens at night, and went before the fleet of Timoleon until he arrived in Sicily.' The comets of the years 134 B.C. and 118 b.c were not regarded as portents of death, but as signalising, the former the birth, the latter the accession, of Mithridates. The comet of 43 B.C was held by some to be the soul of Julius Caesar on its way to the abode of the gods. Bodin, a French lawyer of the sixteenth century, regarded this as the usual significance of comets. He was, indeed, suffi- ciently modest to attribute the opinion to Democritus, but the whole credit of the discovery belonged to himself He maintained that comets only indicate approaching misfor- tunes because they are the spirits or souls of illustrious men, who for many years have acted the part of guardian angels, and, being at last ready to die, celebrate their last triumph by voyaging to the firmament as flaming stars. ' Naturally,' he says, ' the appearance of a comet is followed by plague, pestilence, and civil war; for the nations are deprived of the guidance of their worthy rulers, who, while they were alive, gave all their efforts to prevent intestine disorders.' Pingrd comments justly on this, saying that ' it must be classed among base and shameful flatteries, not among philosophic opinions.' Usually, however, it must be admitted that the ancients, like the men of the Middle Ages, regarded comets as har- 220 MYTHS AND MAR VELS OF ASTRONOMY. bingers of evil. ' A fearful star is the comet,' says Pliny, 'and not easily appeased, as appeared in the late civil troubles when Octavius was consul ; a second time by the intestine war of Pompey and Caesar ; and, in our own time, when, Claudius Csesar having been poisoned, the empire was left to Domitian, in whose reign there appeared a blazing comet.' Lucan tells us of the second event here referred to, that during the war 'the darkest nights were Ut up by unknown stars ' (a rather singular way of saying that there were no dark nights) ; 'the heavens appeared on fire, flaming torches traversed in all directions the depths of space ; a comet, that fearful star which overthrows the powers of the earth, showed its horrid hair.' Seneca also expressed the opinion that some comets portend mischief: ' Some comets,' he said, ' are wesy cruel and portend the worst misfortunes; they bring with them and leave behind them the seeds of blood and slaughter.' It was held, indeed, by many in those times a subject for reproach that some were too hard of heart to believe when these signs were sent. It was a point of rehgious faith that ' God worketh ' these ' signs and wonders in heaven.' When troubles were about to befall men, 'nation rising against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, with great earthquakes in divers places, and famines, and pesti- lences, and fearful sights,' then 'great signs shall there be from heaven.' Says Josephus, commenting on the obstinacy of the Jews in such matters, ' when they were at any time premonished from the lips of truth itself, by prodigies and other premonitory signs of their approaching ruin, they had neither eyes nor ears nor understanding to make a right use of them, but passed them over without heeding or so much as thinking of them ; as, for example, what shall we say of the comet in the form of a sword that hung over Jerusalem for a whole year together?' This was probably COMETS AS PORTENTS. 221 the comet described by Dion Cassius (Hist. Romati. bcv. 8) as having been visible between the months of April and December in the year 69 a.d. This or the comet of 66 a.d. might have been Halley's comet The account of Josephus as to the time during which it was visible would not apply to Halley's, or, indeed, to any known comet whatever; doubtless he exaggerated. He says : ' The comet was of the kind called Xipkias, because their tail resembles the blade of a sword,' and this would apply fairly well to Halley's comet as seen in 1682, 1759, and 1835 ; though it is to be remembered that comets vary very much even at successive apparitions, and it would be quite unsafe to judge from the appearance of a comet seen eighteen cen- turies ago that it either was or was not the same as some comet now known to be periodic. The comet of 79 a.d. is interesting as having given rise to a happy retort from Vespasian, whose death the comet was held to portend. Seeing some of his courtiers whisper- ing about the comet, ' That hairy star,' he said, ' does not portend evil to me. It menaces rather the king of the Parthians. He is a hairy man, but I am bald.' Anna Comnena goes even beyond Josephus. He only rebuked other men for not believing so strongly as he did himself in the significance of comets — a rebuke little needed, indeed, if we can judge from what history tells us of the terrors excited by comets. But the judicious daughter of Alexius was good enough to approve of the wisdom which provided these portents. Speaking of a remarkable comet which appeared before the irruption of the Gauls into the Roman empire, she says : ' This happened by the usua5 administration of Providence in such cases ; for it is not fit that so great and strange an alteration of things as was brought to pass by that irruption of theirs should be without some previous denunciation and admonishment from heaven.' Z22 MYTHS AND MAS VELS OF ASTRONOMY. Socrates, the historian (b. 6, c. 6), says that when Gainas besieged Constantinople, ' so great was the danger which hung over the city, that it was presignified and portended by a huge blazing comet which reached from heaven to the earth, the like whereof no man had ever seen before.' And Cedrenus, in his ' Compendium of History,' states that a comet appeared before the death of Johannes Tzimicas, the emperor of the East, which foreshadowed not alone his death, but the great calamities which were to befall the Roman empire by reason of their civil wars. In like manner, the comet of 45 1 announced the death of Attila, that of 455 the death of Valentinian. The death of Merovingius was announced by the comet of 577, of Chilperic by that of 584, of the Emperor Maurice by that of 602, of Mahomet by that of 632, of Louis the Debonair by that of 837, and of the Emperor Louis II. by that of 875. Nay, so confi- dently did men believe that comets indicated the approach- ing death of great men, that they did not believe a very great man could die without a comet So they inferred that the death of a very great man indicated the arrival of a comet ; and if the comet chanced not to be visible, so much the worse — not for the theory, but — for the comet 'A comet of this kind,' says Pingrd, 'was that of the year 814, presaging the death of Charlemagne.' So Guillemin quotes Pingrd ; but he should rather have said, such was the comet whose arrival was announced by Charlemagne's death — and in no other way, for it was not seen by mortal man. The reader who chances to be strong as to his dates may have observed that some of the dates above mentioned for comets do not accord exactly with the dates of the events associated with those comets. Thus Louis the De- bonair did not die in 837, but in 840. This, however, is a matter of very little importance. If some men, after their comet has called for them, are ' an unconscionable time in COMETS AS PORTENTS. 223 dying,' as Charles II. said of himself, it surely must not be considered the fault of the comet. Louis himself regarded the comet of 837 as his death-warrant; the astrologers admitted as much : what more could be desired ? The account of the matter given in a chronicle of the time, by a writer who called himself ' The Astronomer,' is curious enough : ' During the holy season of Easter, a phenomenon, ever fatal and of gloomy foreboding, appeared in the heavens. As soon as the emperor, who paid attention to such phenomena, received the first announcement of it, he gave himself no rest until he had called a certain learned man and myself before him. As soon as I arrived, he anxiously asked me what I thought of such a sign. I asked time of him, in order to consider the aspect of the stars, and to discover the truth by their means, promising to acquaint him on the morrow ; but the emperor, persuaded that I wished to gain time, which was true, in order not to be obliged to announce anything fatal to him, said to me : " Go on the terrace of the palace, and return at once to tell me what you have seen, for I did not see this star last evening, and you did not point it out to me ; but I know that it is a comet ; tell me what you think it announces to me." Then, scarcely allowing me time to say a word, he added : " There is still another thing you keep back : it is that a change of reign and the death of a prince are an- nounced by this sign.'' And as I advanced the testimony of the prophet, who said : " Fear not the signs of the heavens as the nations fear them," the prince, with his grand nature and the wisdom which never forsook him, said : " We must only fear Him who has created both us and this star. But, as this phenomenon may refer to us, let us acknowledge it as a warning from heaven."' Accordingly, Louis himself and all his court fasted and prayed, and he built churches and monasteries. But all was of no avail 224 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. In little more than three years he died ; showing, as the historian Raoul Glaber remarked, that ' these phenomena of the universe are never presented to man without surely announcing some wonderful and terrible event' With a range of three years in advance, and so many kings and princes as there were about in those days, and are still, it would be rather difificult for a comet to appear without announcing some such wonderful and terrible event as a royal death. The year looo a.d. was by all but common consent regarded as the date assigned for the end of the world. For a thousand years Satan had been chained, and now he was to be loosened for a while. So that when a comet made its appearance, and, terrible to relate, continued visible for nine days, the phenomenon was regarded as something more than a nine days' wonder. Besides the comet, a very wonderful meteor was seen. ' The heavens opened, and a kind of flaming torch fell upon the earth, leaving behind a long track of Ught like the path of a flash of lightning. Its brightness was so great that it frightened not only those who were in the fields, but even those who were in their houses. As this opening in the sky slowly closed men saw with horror the figure of a dragon, whose feet were blue, and whose head' [Uke that of Dickens's dwarf] 'seemed to grow larger and larger.' A picture of this dreadful meteor accompanies the account given by the old chronicler. For fear the exact likeness of the dragon might not be recognised (and, indeed, to see it one must ' make believe a good deal '), there is placed beside it a picture of a dragon to correspond, which picture is in turn labelled ' Serpens cum ceruleis pedibus.' It was considered very wicked in the year looo to doubt that the end of all things was at hand. But somehow the world escaped that time. COMETS AS PORTENTS. 225 In the year 1066 Halley's comet appeared to announce to the Saxons the approaching conquest of England by WiUiam the Norman. A contemporary poet made a singular remark, which may have some profound poetical meaning, but certainly seems a Uttle indistinct on the surface. He said that 'the comet had been more favourable to William than nature had been to Caesar ; the latter had no hair, but William had received some from the comet.' This is the only instance, so far as I know, in which a comet has been regarded as a peruquier. A monk of Malmesbury spoke more to the purpose, according to then received ideas, in thus apostrophising the comet : ' Here art thou again, cause of tears to many mothers ! It is long since I saw thee last, but I see thee now more terrible than ever ; thou threatenest my country with complete ruin,' Halley's comet, with its inconveniently short period of about seventy- seven years, has repeatedly troubled the nations and been regarded as a sign sent from Heaven : Ten million cubic miles of head. Ten billion leagues of tail, all provided for the sole purpose of warning one petty race of earth-folks against the evils likely to be brought against them by another. This comet has appeared twenty-four times since the date of its first recorded appearance, which some consider to have been 12 b.c., and others refer to a few years later. It may be interesting to quote here Babinet's description of the effects ascribed in 1455 to this comet, often the terror of nations, but the triumph of mathe- maticians, as the first whose motions were brought into recognisable obedience to the laws of gravity.' 1 For a portion of the passages which I have quoted in this essay I am indebted to Guillemin's 'Treatise on Comets,' a useful contributioD to the literature of the subject, though somewhat inadequate so far as exposition is concerned. Q 226 MYTHS AND MARVELS OF ASTRONOMY. ' The Mussulmans, with Mahomet II. at their head, were besieging Belgrade, which was defended by Huniade, surnamed the Exterminator of the Turks. Halley's comet appeared and the two armies were seized with equal fear. Pope Calixtus III., himself seized by the general terror, ordered public prayers and timidly anathematised the comet and the enemies of Christianity. He established the prayer called the noon Angelus, the use of which is continued in all Catholic churches. The Franciscans {Frlres Mineuri) brought 40,000 defenders to Belgrade, besieged by the conqueror of Constantinople, the destroyer of the Eastern Empire. At last the battle began ; it continued two days without ceasing. A contest of two days caused 40,000 combatants to bite the dust The Franciscans, unarmed, crucifix in hand, were in the front rank, invoking the papal exorcism against the comet, and turning upon the enemy that heavenly wrath of which none in those times dared doubt.' The great comet of 1556 has been regarded as the occasion of the Emperor Charles V.'s abdication of the imperial throne ; a circumstance which seems rendered a little doubtful by the fact that he had already abdicated when the comet appeared — a mere detail, perhaps, but suggesting the possibihty that cause and effect may have been interchanged by mistake, and that it was Charles's abdication which occasioned the appearance of the comet According to Gemma's account the comet was conspicuous rather from its great hght than from the length of its tail or the strangeness of its appearance. ' Its head equalled Jupiter in brightness, and was equal in diameter to nearly half the apparent diameter of the moon,' It appeared about the end of February, and in March presented a terrible appearance, according to Ripamonte. 'Terrific indeed,' says Sir J. Herschel, ' it might well have been to the mind COMETS AS PORTENTS. 227 of a prince prepared by the most abject superstition to receive its appearance as a warning of approaching death, and as specially sent, whether in anger or in mercy, to detach his thoughts from earthly things, and fix them on his eternal interests. Such was its effect on the Emperor Charles V., whose abdication is distinctly ascribed by many historians to this cause, and whose words on the occasion of his first beholding it have even been recorded — " His ergo indiciis me mea fata vocant " — the language and the metrical form of which exclamation afford no ground for disputing its authenticity, when the habits and education of those times are fairly considered.' It is quite likely that, having already abdicated the throne, Charles regarded the comet as signalling his retirement from power — an event which he doubtless considered a great deal too important to be left without some celestial record. But the words attributed to him are in all proba- bility apocryphal. The comet of 1577 was remarkable for the strangeness of its aspect, which in some respects resembled that of the comet of 1858, called Donati's. It required only the terror with which such portentous objects were witnessed in the Middle Ages to transform the various streamers, curved and straight, extending from such an object, into swords and spears, and other signs of war and trouble. Doubtless, we owe to the fears of the Middle Ages the strange pictures claiming to present the actual aspect of some of the larger comets. Halley's comet did not escape. It was compared to a straight sword at one visit, to a curved scimitar in 1456, and even at its last return in 1835 there were some who recognised in the comet a resemblance to a misty head. Other comets have been compared to sword.