seasons. The sun gives to Neptune but To the light and heat which we receive. Tough at the extreme of the solar system, 2,650 milius of miles beyond us, the same heavens bend above, the same starry sky is seen by night—the Milky Way is no nearer to the eye, the fixed stars shine no more brightly. The planets, however, are all too near the sun to be seen, except Saturn and Uranus. The Neptunian astronomers, if there be ary, are well situated for observing the orbits of corts, and for measuring the annual parallax of the stars, since they have an orbit of 5,500 million miles in diameter, and hence the angle must be 30 times as great as that which the terrestrial orbit affords. TELESCOPIC FEATURES.-On account of the recentness of the discovery of this planet and its immense distance, nothing is known of its rotation or physical features. Satellites.-Neptune has one moon, at nearly the same distance from it as our own moon is from the earth. The revolution of this about the planct, which is accomplished in about six days, has furnished the materials for calculating the mass of Neptune. METEORS AND SHOOTING STARS. DESCRIPTION.-All are familiar with those luminous bodies that flash through our atmosphere as if the stars were indeed falling from heaven. Different names have been applied to them, although the distinction is not very definite. (1) Aerolites are those stony masses which fall to the earth. (2) Shooting Stars are those evanescent brilliant points that sud seasons. The sun gives to Neptune but rob the light and heat which we receive. Tough at the extreme of the solar system, 2,650 milius of miles beyond us, the same heavens bend above, the same starry sky is seen by night-the Milky Way is no nearer to the eye, the fixed stars shine no more brightly. The planets, however, are all too near the sun to be seen, except Saturn and Uranus. The Neptunian astronomers, if there be ary, are well situated for observing the orbits of cois, and for measuring the annual parallax of the stars, since they have an orbit of 5,500 million miles in diameter, and hence the angle must be 30 times as great as that which the terrestrial orbit affords. TELESCOPIC FEATURES.-On account of the recentness of the discovery of this planet and its immense distance, nothing is known of its rotation or physical features. Satellites.-Neptune has one moon, at nearly the same distance from it as our own moon is from the earth. The revolution of this about the planct, which is accomplished in about six days, has furnished the materials for calculating the mass of Neptune. METEORS AND SHOOTING STARS. DESCRIPTION.-All are familiar with those luminous bodies that flash through our atmosphere as if the stars were indeed falling from heaven. Different names have been applied to them, although the distinction is not very definite. (1) Aerolites are those stony masses which fall to the earth. (2) Shooting Stars are those evanescent brilliant points that sud denly dart through the higher regions of the air, leaving a fiery train behind. (3) Meteors are luminous bodies which have a sensible diameter and a spherical form. They frequently pass over a great extent of country, and are seen for some seconds of time. Many leave behind a train of glowing sparks ; others explode with reports like the discharge of artillery, the pieces either continuing their course, or falling to the earth as aërolites. Some meteors, doubtless, after having favored us with a transient illumination, pass on into space; some are vaporized; while others are burned and the ashes and fragments fall to the ground. AEROLITES. The fall of aerolites is frequently mentioned and well authenticated. Chinese records tell of one as long ago as in 616 B. C., which, in its fall, broke several chariots and killed ten men. A block of stone, equal to a full wagon-load, fell in the Hellespont, B. c. 465. By the ancients, these stones were held in great repute. The Emperor Jehangire, it is related, had a sword forged from a mass of meteoric iron which fell in the Punjab in 1620. In 1795, a mass was seen, by a ploughman, to descend toward the earth at a spot not far from where he was standing. It threw up the soil on every side, and penetrated some distance into the solid rock beneath. In 1807, a shower of stones, one weighing 200 lbs., fell at Weston, Connecticut. These aerolites are sometimes seen to plunge downward into the earth, and are found while yet glowing. A mass thus fell in |