double [epsilon] Hydræ. This star is the middle one of a group of three,
lying between Pollux and Al Fard rather nearer the latter. The
components of [epsilon] Hydræ are separated by about 3-1/2" (see Plate
3). The primary is of the fourth, the companion of the eighth magnitude;
the former is yellow, the latter a ruddy purple. The period of [epsilon]
Hydræ is about 450 years.

The constellation Leo Minor, now due east and about midway between the
horizon and the zenith, is well worth sweeping over. It contains several
fine fields.

Let us next turn to the western heavens. Here there are some noteworthy
objects.

To begin with, there are the Pleiades, showing to the naked eye only six
or seven stars. In the telescope the Pleiades appear as shown in Plate
3.

The Hyades also show some fine fields with low powers.

Aldebaran, the principal star of the Hyades, as also of the
constellation Taurus, is a noted red star. It is chiefly remarkable for
the close spectroscopic analysis to which it has been subjected by
Messrs. Huggins and Miller. Unlike Betelgeuse, the spectrum of Aldebaran
exhibits the lines corresponding to hydrogen, and no less than eight
metals--sodium, magnesium, calcium, iron, bismuth, tellurium, antimony,
and mercury, are proved to exist in the constitution of this brilliant
red star.

On the right of Aldebaran, in the position indicated in Plate 1, Map I.,