the inclination of the Moon's orbit, and the obliquity of the ecliptic. The number of stars ascertained to be variable is fifteen, and those suspected to be so, thirty-seven: the most remarkable of the former d. h. m. S. 2 20 40 50 7 4 15 0 A Star in Sobieski's shield. 5 to 7.8 62 days. Cephei is subject to a periodic variation of 5 days, 8 hrs. 37 min. 30 sec. in the following order:-It continues at its greatest brightness about 1 day, 13 hrs.; it gradually declines in 1 day, 18 hrs.; is at its greatest obscuration about 1 day, 12 hrs.; and increases in 13 hrs. its maximum and minimum of brightness is that between the third and fourth, and between the fourth and fifth magnitudes. In the years 1783, 1784, 1785, Pollux in Gemini was observed to be considerably brighter than Castor; in Flamstead's time, the reverse was the case, he making Castor of the first, and Pollux of the second magnitude. On these mysterious points (the appearance and disappearance of some stars, and the gradual decrease and augmentation of light in others) it is highly probable, that not only the present age, but future generations, will continue to remain in obscurity: every particular connected with the fixed stars so nearly approaches to infinity, that nothing short of Infinite Wisdom can direct the intellectual powers in the development of its sublimities. To this subject the following beautiful lines afford an appropriate conclusion: The LOST STAR: by L. E. L. A light is gone from yonder sky, Will that star leave a lonely place, No: few will miss its lovely face, And none think heaven less bright! What wert thou star of, vanished one? Thy beauty from the east is gone: Its frank glad thoughts, its stainless truth, Of hope?-and was it to express In sign how it will fade? An echo flung the winds among, Or didst thou sink as stars whose light The fair moon renders vain? The rest shine forth the next dark night, Thou didst not shine again. Didst thou fade gradual from the time The first great curse was hurled, Till, lost in sorrow and in crime, Forgotten and departed star! A thousand glories shine Round the blue midnight's regal car, Who then remembers thine? Save when some mournful bard, like me, Dreams over beauty gone, And in the fate that waited thee, Reads what will be his own. Literary Souvenir, 1828. The Naturalist's Diary For JULY 1829. Receded hills afar of softened blue, Tall bowering trees, through which the sunbeams shoot Sure, 'tis a lovely scene. There, knee-deep, stand, Blackwood's Magazine. THIS delightful view of rural scenery, painted by the hand of a master (our friend and correspondent Delta), admirably depicts much of the scenery of this, generally, agreeable month. How pleasant is the morning ramble at this season, before the great heats begin! how grand a spectacle is the uprising of the King of Day!' but how few know any thing of his splendour, but in the description of the poets. Let us not, then, consume in sleep those hours which might have been usefully devoted to study or recreation,-to an acquaintance with the beauties and wonders of Nature. Awake thee, my lady-love! The sun through the bower peeps Behold how the early lark Springs from the corn! Hark, hark, how the flower-bird Winds her wee horn! The swallow's glad shriek is heard The stock-dove is murmuring Loud as she dare! Apollo's winged bugleman But peals his loud trumpet-call Then wake thee, my lady-love! Bird of my bower! The Wakening. [ By Felicia Hemans. ] G. DARLEY. How many thousands are wakening now! And some, in the gloomy convict-cell, To the dull deep note of the warning-bell, While the bright sun mounts in the laughing sky. Though fearful or joyous, though sad or sweet, Amulet for 1828 All is vigour and activity in the vegetable kingdom in this month, and the most patient observer of Nature is almost bewildered by the countless profusion of interesting objects. The garden affords many gay inmates, as lilies, pinks, carnations; and marigolds, and poppies of various colours, which are now in blossom. Speedwell (Veronica) is in perfection. Towards the middle of the month, the spiked willow, hyssop, and the bell-flower (Campanula), have their flowers full blown. The virginian sumach now exhibits its scarlet tufts of flowers upon its bright green circles of leaves. The berries of the mountain ash turn red. Lavender and jessamine are now in blossom. The scarlet lychnis is in bloom, and, with its rich coronets of flowers growing on a tall slender stem, adds greatly to the beauty of the garden. Among the flowers of summer, we must not forget to mention the evening primrose (Ænothera biennis). This plant bears its primrose-coloured flowers on branches of three or four feet in height, and hence it is called the tree-primrose, or evening star, because the flowers regularly burst open and expand in the evening, between six and seven o'clock. The DIAL of FLOWERS. [By Mrs. Hemans.] "Twas a lovely thought to mark the hours, By the opening and the folding flowers Thus bad each moment its own rich hue, And its graceful cup or bell, In whose coloured vase might sleep the dew Like a pearl in an ocean-shell. To such sweet signs might the time have flowed In a golden current on, Ere from the garden, man's first abode, The glorious guests were gone. |