Page:The Music of the Spheres.djvu/107

 all three seen clearly, one could depend on the weather not to spoil any plans for that particular evening.

In the days of Aratus, 270, this advice as to how to judge the weather by means of the tiny cloud on the back of Cancer, the Crab, was taken so seriously that he gave it in quite extensive detail in his poem Phenomena:

In English folklore, Præsepe is called the Beehive, although this name was likely given it after telescopes were invented and it was seen that the dim light was resolved into a multitude of little flecks, like a hive of golden bees.

Præsepe passes the meridian about 9 P. M. on March 15th or 2 o'clock A. M. on the morning of January 1st. It is best seen on a clear night when the moon is absent from the sky, and a glass of any kind will make it more interesting.

Both the Crab and the Hydra, who also has a constellation in the sky, are quaint ways of commemorating the adventures of Hercules, but his fierce Nemean lion is the most important just at this instant, so on with the line of floats!