HE Telescope, one of the noblest instruments devised by-man for the enlargements of his natural faculties, is an indispensable aid to the student of Astronomy. The wonders and beauties of the heavens are indeed in a measure revealed to the unaided vision of the observer: he may gaze upon the stars which stud the firmament, lost in the effort to conceive their number or their magnitude, and admiring their fantastic groupings and varied splendours : he may survey the Milky Way, that glorious zone which, like the flying robes of infinite space, spans the heavens ; and he may in the study of the motions of the Sun, the Moon, and the brighter planets, find ample scope for wonder and admiration.

But, armed with the “magic tube” of the Astronomer, a new power has been granted to him, and, like a modern Columbus, he sails through the ether of space, while regions hitherto unknown are revealed to his enlarged vision. The glittering points shown by the Telescope are found to be a thousand-fold more numerous than those visible to the naked eye; and where a single star was apparent, a binary or trinary system is often disclosed, with all its beauties of contrasted colours and orbital motion. In the far distant realms of space nebulae are discovered, and resolved into clouds of stars, or found to consist of glowing gas; our knowledge of these strange world nuclei would be exceedingly small without the assistance of the Telescope. The shining zone of the Milky Way, when investigated with telescopic aid, is found to consist of innumerable stars aggregated together ; and we gaze with delight upon its brilliant fields, in which the bright points shine like gorgeous jewels upon the canopy of heaven. The planets, wanderers across the celestial vault, are full of interest; attendant Moons are discerned, circulating around their primaries, suspended in space as lovely miniatures of the solar system of which they form a part. Transported to the neighbourhood of the Sun, we examine his surface, and detect, in the

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