232 ASTRONOMYANDTHEBIBLE
peculiaritiesoftheirownwhichservetorankthemby
themselves.
'TheregionaboutOrionisperhapsthemostwon-
derful of these apparently favored places. Spectro-
scopic analysis, aswellas thegeneral appearanceof
thelucidstarsinthatpartofthesky,warrantstheir
beingthus setapart underthe specific denomination
ofthe'Orionstars.'
''Itisthepartofthevisibleuniversetowhichone
wouldmostwillinglypayavisitifhumanpersonality
could quitthisHttle earth;just aswe aredrawn to
thatside ofagarden wherethemagnificenceofthe
flowers showsthatthe soilisricherandits products
moreabundantandsplendidthanelsewhere.
"Thisbegemmedportionoftheskyis roughlyde-
limited by seven or eight of the fineststars in the
heavens, allofthefirstmagnitude, andmarkingthe
cornersof animmensehexagonwith Orion situated
notfarfromitscenter.
"Itisaspectaclewellworthlookingat,andonethat
requires theuse of no optical instrument whatever.
"The northernmost point of thegreat hexagonis
indicated bythebeautifulmilk-white star Capellain
the constellation Auriga. At the northwest corner
shinestherose-redAldebaran,intheHyades,onthe
foreheadofTaurus. Thesouthwestcornerisillumi-
natedbyRigel,thegleamingwhitestarinthefootof
Orion. Then,over inthesouthwestblazesandscin-
tillatestheimperialSirius. AboveSiriusis Procyon,
slightly yellowish white; and above Procyon,at the
northeast corner, are theTwins, Castor and Pollux,