Witness of the Stars

To the late Miss Rolleston, however, belongs the honour of collect-ing a mass of information bearing on this subject; but, published as it was, chiefly in the form of notes, unarranged and unindexed, it was suited only for, but was most valuable to, the student. She it was who performed the drudgery of collecting the facts presented by Albumazer, the Arab astronomer to the Caliphs of Grenada, 850 a.d.; and the Tables drawn up by Ulugh Beigh, the Tartar prince and astronomer, about 1450 a.d., who gives the Arabian Astronomy as it had come down from the earliest times. Modern astronomers have preserved, and still have in common use, the ancient names of over a hundred of the principal stars which have been handed down; but now these names are used merely as a conven-ience, and without any reference to their significance. This work is an attempt to popularize this ancient information, and to use it in the interests of truth. For the ancient astronomical facts and the names, with their signifi-cation, I am, from the very nature of the case, indebted, of course, to all who have preserved, collected, and handed them down; but for their interpretation I am alone responsible.