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Title: Myths and Marvels of Astronomy

Author: Richard A. Proctor

Release Date: September 8, 2008 [EBook #26556]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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Transcriber's Note

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is found at the end of the text.

[Illustration: LILLY'S HIEROGLYPHS (PUBLISHED IN 1651)]

MYTHS AND MARVELS
OF ASTRONOMY

BY
RICHARD A. PROCTOR

AUTHOR OF

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

_NEW EDITION_

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

_Printed by_ BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO

_At the Ballantyne Press_

PREFACE.

The chief charm of Astronomy, with many, does not reside in the 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 together 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 technical expressions on the one
hand, and ambiguous phraseology (sometimes resulting from the attempt
to avoid technicality) on the other. I have, in fact, sought to present
my subjects as I shoul