Page:Star Lore Of All Ages, 1911.pdf/128

78 as "the Good Goer" or perhaps "sword," but figured as a coral bead, gem, or pearl. It was also known in India as "the outcast." As might be expected of so conspicuous a star, we find many of the Egyptian temples oriented to it.

Al-Biruni mentioned Arcturus as "the Second Calf of the Lion," the star Spica representing the First Calf. Allen states that this star has been identified with the Chaldeans' "Papsukal," the "Guardian Messenger," while according to Smith and Sayce, Arcturus was "the Shepherd of the Heavenly Flock," or "the Shepherd of the Life of Heaven," undoubtedly the Sib-zianna of the inscriptions. Strange to say the Eskimo title for the star, Sibwudli, has the same first syllable as the title of the Euphratean hieroglyphics.

Arcturus was long supposed by the ancients to be the nearest star to the earth. Its influence was always dreaded, as the writings of Aratos and Pliny testify, and its rising and setting were supposed to portend great tempests.

Hippocrates, who lived about 460, made much, says Allen of the influence of Arcturus on the human body, in one instance claiming that a dry season after its rising agrees best with those who are naturally phlegmatic, and that diseases are especially apt to prove critical in these days.

Astrologically those born under Arcturus were destined to have honour and riches conferred on them.

Arcturus is a remarkable star by reason of its rapid motion through space, indeed it may rightly be called "a runaway star." Since the days of Ptolemy it has moved over a distance equal to fully twice the moon's apparent diameter, and even to the naked eye it no longer fits the alignment with other stars which Ptolemy described. Its proper motion in miles per second is given by different authorities as anywhere from one hundred to three hundred miles.

There is also great discrepancy in the estimate of the brightness of Arcturus as compared with the sun. Prof.