r spectra being
those of hydrogen, and these are seen as broad and diffused bands, so
that the spectrum we see resembles that of the brightest star of the
heavens, Sirius.

There can be little doubt but that the leaders of the group are actually
greater, brighter suns than Sirius itself. We do not know the exact
distance of the Pleiades, they are so far off that we can scarcely do
more than make a guess at it; but it is probable that they are so far
distant that our sun at like distance would prove much too faint to be
seen at all by the naked eye. The Pleiades then would seem to be a most
glorious star-system, not yet come to its full growth. From the
standpoint of modern science we may interpret the "chain" or "the sweet
influences" of the Pleiades as consisting in the enfolding wisps of
nebulosity which still, as it were, knit together those vast young suns;
or, and in all probability more truly, as that mysterious force of
gravitation which holds the mighty system together, and in obedience to
which the group has taken its present shape. The question, if asked us
to-day, would be, in effect, "Canst thou bind together by nebulous
chains scores of suns, far more glorious than thine own, and scattered
over many millions of millions of miles of space; or canst thou loosen
the attraction which those suns exercise upon each other, and move them
hither and thither at thy will?"

FOOTNOTES:

[217:1] _Glossary of Greek Birds_, pp. 28, 29.

[221:1] R. H. Allen, _Star Names and their Meanings_, p. 401.

[223:1] _Berachoth_, fol. 59, col. 1.

[229:1] _The System of the Stars_, 1st edit., pp. 230-232.

CHAPTER VII

ORION

_K[)e]s[=i]l_, the word rendered by our translators "Orion," occurs in
an astronomical sense four times in the Scriptures; twice in the Book of
Job, once in the prophecy of Amos, and once, in the plural, in the
prophecy of Isaiah. In the three first cases the word is used in
conjunction with _K[=i]mah_, "the Pleiades," as shown in the preceding
chapter. The fourth instance is rendered in the Authorized Version--

"For the stars of heaven and the constellations
(_K[)e]s[=i]lim_) thereof shall not give their light."

The Hebrew word _K[)e]s[=i]l_ signifies "a fool," and that in the
general sense of the term as used in Scripture; not merely a silly,
untaught, feckless person, but a godless and an impious one. Thus, in
the Book of Proverbs, Divine Wisdom is represented as appealing