And sweet zephyrs bear you minstrelsy,
To the Eternal God.”
Pennsylvania (Girard).—At Girard, Pa., a little town of about one thousand inhabitants, the C. L. S. C. members of the Class of ’82 organized a local circle in 1878. The circle was reorganized in October, 1882, and at present has a membership of thirty-four, five of whom were graduated with the Class of ’82; four are of the Class of ’83, twenty-one of the Class of ’86, and the other four are local members. The object of our circle is to hold together and help the regular members of the C. L. S. C.; hence we have not made our meetings public, and admit local members only on condition that they read at least one hour a week of the required reading. Most of our work, aside from reading and study at home, is done in sub-local circles, of three or four members each, who meet about once a week, talk over their special work, and bring difficulties and results to the regular monthly meeting.
Pennsylvania (Houtzdale).—This is a community of about eight thousand people. The Philomathic Circle was organized November 28, 1882. We now have succeeded in reading up with the advance, and are taking a review. The membership has been limited to twenty-five, because we are obliged to meet at the houses of the members. We are looking forward to the time when we can have a regular place of meeting and increase the membership. There are many here who would like to join us.
Pennsylvania (Bradford).—The Bryant branch of the C. L. S.C. was organized in November. We have nine regular and several local members. Thus far the meetings have been very prosperous, and out of nine members we have had an average attendance of eight. We have some hope of increasing the numbers of our circle, as another circle here has been broken up and several members have expressed a desire to join us. At our last meeting we voted to have a critic appointed at each meeting, who shall take notes, and at the end of each exercise shall bring his criticisms before the circle.
Pennsylvania (Erie).—We commend to local circles everywhere the following excellent plan for studying the geography of the heavens, sent us by Prof. H. A. Strong, of Erie:—At the beginning of the study of astronomy, the circle took up the subject of celestial geography, and intend to pursue it the entire two months until the map of the heavens becomes as well outlined as that of the earth. We turned to the chart of the heavens given on pages 201, etc., in Warren’s Astronomy, and entered on the study of these celestial maps immediately. We had no trouble with the circumpolar constellations as given in figure 67 of the text-book. These were readily found in the heavens above, traced and mastered. But further on we find the other constellations are described and located in the heavens for September and November, and such location only confused and led astray for the present study. Our researches in the heavens were well nigh blocked, when we had the good fortune to find a chart of the entire heavens that removed all our difficulties and made the study of the stars easy and delightful. This chart is entitled a “Movable Planisphere of the Heavens,” the work of Henry Whitall, 130 Grand St., New York, adapted as an atlas to go with Burritt’s “Geography of the Heavens,” and the chart was copyrighted in the year 1862. The perfection of this atlas of the heavens is that it can be so arranged by a simple adjustment as to show the visible heavens, with the position of all the constellations, and the names of all the principal stars, for any observer in any hour or any night of the whole year. It is a key that unlocks the heavens, and any layman can use it. The chart consists of two circular boards about fifteen inches in diameter attached to each other, with the upper one pivoted upon and revolving about the lower one. The lower and immovable board has painted upon it the geography of the starry heavens as divided into constellations, and the upper board being set for any night of the month shows what constellations are rising, setting, on the meridian, or in any part of the firmament. Actual trial has proved its use and success as compass and guide book. Such a method in this study gives a delight that only trial can reveal. Astronomy thus studied illumines the page of inspiration; and the works of God explain the Word of God. Such readings of the heavens gem with added lustre the divine question, “Canst thou bind the sweet influences of the Pleiades or loose the bands of Orion?”