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306 Pearls.
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in
allusion to the famous constellation of that name. This constellation
is of course unknown, by obserÂvation, to dwellers in the northern
hemisphere : and hence a description of it may be acceptable to the
English reader. The author has therefore applied for information to the
Right Hon. the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, whose observations at
the " Dun Echt observatory, in Aberdeenshire, are known in every part
of the world where science is cultivated. His lordship, with
characteristic courtesy, has most obligingly favoured us with the
following interesting letter :—
Carlton Club,
Pall Mill, S.W.
24th June, 1886. Dear Sir,
As I promised, I send you a few notes
on the constellation known as Crux Australis, or
" Southern Cross," and I hope that they may be of
service to you.
The
existence of this group of stars was not recognized as a separate
constellation by the ancients, and they were placed by Ptolemy and
'As-Sufi, the Arabian astronomer, as forming a foot of the Centaur.
The Arabic globes and catalogues of stars were known in early mediaeval times in Europe, and I
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