“Other few
Before the Archer under his forefeet
Led round in circle roll without a name.”[449]
But the constellation was known by the names Caduceus, Orbiculus, Corona Sagittarii, etc. The ancient poets relate that Bacchus placed this crown in the sky in honour of his mother Semele.[450] Others say that it represents the crown conferred on Corinne of Thebes, famous as a poet.
The small constellation Piscis Australis, or the Southern Fish, lies south of Capricornus and Aquarius. In the most ancient maps it is represented as a fish drinking the water which flows from the urn of Aquarius.
A good many constellations have been added to the heavens since the days of Al-Sufi, and notes on some of these may be of interest.
Camelopardalis.—This constellation first appears on a celestial planisphere published by Bartschius in the year 1624. It was not formed by Bartschius himself, but by the navigators of the sixteenth century. It lies south of Ursa Minor, north of Perseus and Auriga, east of Draco, and west of Cassiopeia. It contains no star brighter than the 4th magnitude.
Lynx.—This constellation is south of Camelopardalis and Ursa Major, and north of Gemini and Cancer. It was formed by Hevelius in 1660, and he called it the Lynx, because, he said, it contained only faint stars and “it was necessary to have the eyes of a lynx” to see them! Some of them were, however, observed by Ptolemy and Al-Sufi, and are mentioned by the latter under Ursa Major.
Canes Venatici, or the Hunting Dogs.—This was formed by Hevelius in 1660. It lies south of the Great Bear’s tail, north of Coma Berenices, east of Ursa Major, and west of Boötis. Its brightest stars α (12) and β (8) were observed by Al-Sufi, and included by him in the “extern” stars of Ursa Major.
Coma Berenices.—This constellation lies between Canes Venatici and Virgo. Although it was not included among the old forty-eight constellations of Ptolemy, it is referred to by Al-Sufi as the Plat, or Tress of Hair, and he included its stars Flamsteed 12, 15, and 21 in the “extern” stars of Leo. It was originally formed by the poet Callimachus in the third century B.C., but was not generally accepted until reformed by Hevelius. Callimachus lived at Alexandria in the reigns of Ptolemy Philadelphus and Ptolemy Euergetes, and was chief librarian of the famous library of Alexandria from about B.C. 260 until his death in B.C. 240. Eratosthenes was one of his pupils. The history of the constellation is as follows: Berenice, wife of Ptolemy Euergetes, made a vow, when her husband was leaving her on a military expedition, that if he returned in safety she would cut off her hair and consecrate it in the temple of Mars. Her husband returned, and she fulfilled her vow. But on the next day the hair had disappeared—stolen from the temple—and Conon the mathematician showed Ptolemy seven stars near the constellation of the Lion which did not belong to any constellation. These were formed into a constellation and called Berenice’s Hair. Conon is referred to by Catullus in the lines—
“Idem me ille Conon cœleste numine vidit
E. Berenico vertice Cæsariem.”