fringe of dead driftwood round the margin which must go far to excuse the title which so many ages have attached to the lake, and which we may be sure it will never lose."-Smith's Dictionary of the Bible.

To those of our youthful readers who wish to know more of this remarkable part of the earth, we recommend the small volume published by the Tract Society, entitled, "The Jordan and the Dead Sea."

B

SCIENCE FOR CHILDREN.

CHAPTER XVIII.-ASTRONOMY.

EFORE closing our account of the heavenly bodies, we wish to say a little about star-clusters and the Milky Way. We have something also to say about the strange substance called Nebula, to which reference was made in this Magazine two or three months ago. Frequently, when the sky is clear in the night-time, there may be seen a belt of pale light spanning the heavens over our heads, and so dividing them into two nearly equal portions; the name of this belt is the Milky Way. ANNIE. "I have frequently observed a long, broad, and uneven line of light in the sky, and wondered what it was.”

"The telescope shows it to consist of many thousands of stars, which are either so small and close together, or else so far away from us that we fail to see them distinctly: the naked eye can perceive only a dim trace of brightness. Very powerful telescopes have been used in scanning the Milky Way, and the result shows that it includes not less than eighteen million stars."

BERTHA. "Will you please tell us what star-clusters are ?

"They are companies of stars so near to each other, or so distant from the earth, that when viewed by the naked eye they appear as only one star, but when examined through powerful telescopes are found to consist of many stars grouped together. The seven stars called Pleiades, spoken of in the Book of Job, furnish us with a beautiful instance of a star-cluster; when seen through a good telescope their number is found to be ten times greater than they appear to the naked eye. Not less beautiful is the Crab-cluster in the constellation Taurus, or the Bull."

ANNIE. "Why is it called the Crab-cluster ?"

"Because the many stars of which it is composed are grouped together in a form closely resembling the shell and claws of a crab. This cluster is so far away from us that through ordinary telescopes

it appears only as bright mist, and the most powerful instruments are needed to show that it consists of unnumbered stars. In the constellation, the Fox and the Goose, there appears a light mist, like a dumbbell in shape; this also is found to consist of many very distant stars: it is called the Dumb-bell cluster. The constellation, Perseus, also contains a richly-beautiful cluster formed by the assemblage of many bright suns.

HERBERT. "You have mentioned a substance called Nebula, will you please tell us what it is?"

"It is a luminous gas, very light and cloud-like in appearance, but in a state of glowing brightness. The word nebula signifies a little cloud, and at the first it was applied to every cloud-like appearance, either to the naked eye or through a telescope, so that many a star-cluster was formerly called a nebula. But when large and powerful glasses came into use, and some of the cloud-like appearances were found to be groups of solid stars, it became needful to make a distinction, and the name is now applied only to those cloudy masses of light which do not appear to be solid but gaseous."

HERBERT. "Are there many such cloudy masses?”

"Yes: they are numerous and variously shaped. The Spiral Nebula is one of the most remarkable because of its peculiar appearance. It consists of a very bright centre with streamers of pale light extending around and enfolding it."

ANNIE. "What other peculiar forms are there visible?"

"There is the Fish-mouth nebula in the constellation of Orion, which bears a close resemblance to the head of a fish. Of late years this nebula has been the cause of much wonder and discussion amongst astronomers on account of their not being able to decide whether it was a cluster of stars or a mass of luminous cloud. The best time for viewing it is in the clear frosty evenings of January, when it appears to the naked eye like a small cloud of mist surrounding the middle star in the sword of Orion. On the application of the telescope it is found that there are many stars instead of one, and the whole are enclosed in a luminous mist. Now many astronomers believed that if they possessed telescopes of greater power, this mist would be found not to be composed of nebula, but small stars. Yet when Sir John Herschel viewed it through his telescope, eighteen inches in width, though its beauty was greatly increased, its general appearance was the same. Lassell's telescope, two feet in diameter, gave a like result. Even Lord Rosse's threefeet reflector failed to reveal anything different from the luminous

cloud; still, many astronomers held to the opinion that glasses of greater power would be certain to show that it consisted of stars, and that the appearance like a cloud of mist was due to their immense distance; nor was the opinion changed even when Lord Rosse had constructed his massive six-feet speculum, and viewed it through that without discovering the slightest trace of a star. Within the last few years, however, the question has been set to rest by other means, and the cloud-like appearance has been proved to arise from the presence of true nebula.”

HERBERT. "By what means has this proof been obtained?"

"By means of the spect-ro-scope, a very clever instrument, used for the purpose of examining rays of light. Just as it is possible for a child to take a toy in pieces in order to see what it is made of, so is it possible for an astronomer to separate light into its various parts, and to show by what the light is produced. This wonderful instrument has convinced men of science that the nebula in Orion consists merely of luminous gas, and not of stars, as some had supposed."

BERTHA. "Does any one know what sort of gas it is?"

"No one knows much about it, for they have only lately obtained the proof of which I have spoken; but many astronomers believe that all the stars in the heavens once existed in a gaseous state, like the nebula seen through our telescopes now, and that they have gradually become solid in something like the same way that steam condenses into water, and then becomes solid ice. This opinion was held by the great English astronomer, Sir W. Herschel; but it is by no means likely that such an opinion can be generally received without much stronger evidences than those existing at present."

THE EDITOR'S DESK.

QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 1. The meaning of Job xvii., 6.

2. The Authorship of the Book of Job.

3. The meaning of John iii., 13.

J. H. Basford, Beswick, Manchester, inquires; (1.) To whom Job alludes in the words, "He hath made me also a byword of the people," xvii., 6; (2.) Who was the author of the Book of Job; (8.) What is the meaning of John iii., 13., "No man hath ascended up to heaven," &c.

ANSWERS. QUERY 1.—If our friend turns to Job xxx., 9., he will see a recurrence of the expression in a connection that renders its allusion in the former instance unmistakable.

Job, after deploring that he has become the "song" and the byword of "base men," "viler than the earth," goes on to say, 66 They abhor me, and spare not to spit in my face. Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, and they have also let loose the bridle before me.'

From this we learn that Job looked upon the derision and mockery of the people as being a part of the divinely-permitted affliction which was to be the test of the uprightness of his character, and of his faith in the justness and benevolence of his Maker, and in that sense attributed it to God.

QUERY 2.-It is not known who wrote the Book of Job. Speculation has given us not a small number of possible authors, among them being Job, Elihu, Moses, Solomon, Ezra, Isaiah, Ezekiel.

The commonly-received opinion is that Moses wrote the book, or what is more probable, constructed it from existing records during his sojourn in the land of Midian. (Exodus ii., 15; iv., 20.)

To form a conclusion as to which of the many theories advanced respecting the origin and authorship of the Book of Job is the most credible and worthy of acceptation is a matter of no little difficulty; but if there be one which more than any other commends itself to our favour we think it is that which assigns the composition of the book to Job himself.

QUERY 3.-We take the meaning of John iii., 13., to be exactly that which would appear to be the meaning of the passage on a first glance at it.

That "no man hath ascended up to heaven" is undoubtedly true in the most literal sense.

"Heaven" here stands for the glorious region which we know is distinguished by an unceasing manifestation of the presence of the Divine Being, and we also know that He dwells in "the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see.” (1 Timothy vi., 16.)

When, therefore, we speak of our deceased friends having departed to "heaven" we do not use the word in its exact meaning, but merely to denote that blessed abode which we are told God has prepared for the habitation of His people when they quit this earth.

That there exists some other destination than "heaven" for the righteous dead, where they await the Resurrection and Final Judgment for their complete reward, is implied from Acts ii., 34., where we read that David is not yet ascended into the heavens.

The particular nature of this intermediate state need not be a subject of concern with us. Seeing we have an assurance of the presence of the Lord with us during its continuance nothing more can be wanted to make it a condition of unimaginable bliss.

4. Reconciliation of Matt. x., 34., and Luke ix., 56.

DEAR SIR,-Will you please explain the following passages-Matthew x., 34, and Luke ix., 56 ? An answer will oblige

ANSWER. We suppose what our correspondent wishes us to do is to reconcile the seeming inconsistency of the two utterances :"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword."-Matthew x., 34.

"The Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them."-Luke ix., 56.

There is no doubt that the object and ultimate result of the religion founded by the Lord Jesus Christ is "peace on earth," for the angelic chorus which heralded its establishment in the world did so in the words "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men.' Thus proclaiming its spirit to be charac

teristically one of peace.

We do not then think that when Christ administered to His followers the caution contained in the former of the two passages before us, "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth," &c., His words are to be understood in any sense that would imply qualification of the prior declaration that his mission was 66 not to destroy men's lives, but to save them."

They would be taken by His hearers as a grave warning against the delusive expectation that the aims of the Gospel would immediately, or even rapidly, be accomplished. "To give peace on earth" was one of the pronounced and most eminent objects of "Messiah's reign," yet its attainment would not be presently manifest. The obstructiveness of the elements on which the Gospel would have to work had not been adequately estimated. So formidable, however, was this that to overcome it would necessitate an intense and prolonged struggle. To bring men "into the kingdom of God" an immense change in the courses of human thought would have to be effected. Collision of mind with mind would be produced, and conflict of thought with thought could not but make itself felt in the various relationships of society. Dis-harmony in these would be created. Even the sacred unity of the family circle would be broken. "There shall be five in one house divided, three against two and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father. A man's foes shall be they of his own household.-Luke xii., 52, 53. Matthew x., 36.

For a time, therefore, the true character of the Gospel as a power for the establishment of order and peace among men on the most admirable and only certain basis, namely love between man and man, would not only be obscured but even belied by the results immediately consequent on its introduction; and we think it was to apprise His disciples of this fact that it might not be a cause of stumbling to them that our Lord spoke the words contained in Matthew x., 34, 36, and in the parallel part of Luke, xii., 49, 53.

5. The time taken in building Nebuchadnezzar's palace. DEAR SIR,- Will you please tell me, through the JUVENILE INSTRUCTOR,