MADE USE OF IN ASTRONOMY. 435

Sobieski’s Shield, a northern constellation, consistingof eight stars.

Solstitial Points, are the two signs of the zodiac,Cancer and Capricorn, at which the ecliptic touchesthe tropics, and into which the fun enters on our longestand shortest days.

Southern Fish, a constellation in the southern hemi-sphere, composed of fifteen stars.

Southern Triangle, a constellation in the southernhemisphere, consisting of five stars.

Southing of the stars, the time when they culminate orcome to the meridian.

Spica Virginis, a fixed star of the first magnitude, inthe constellation Virgo.

Stars, (fixed,) those bodies which shine by their ownlight, and are not subject to motion.

Stationary, a planet is said to be stationary when ithas no apparent motion.

Style, the manner of reckoning time from some particu-lar period or remarkable event.

Superior Planets, are those which move at a fartherdistance from the sun than the earth, and are Mars, Ju-piter, Saturn, and the Georgium Sidus.

Synodical Month, the space of time from any newmoon to the following one, which is at a mean twenty-nine days, twelve hours, and forty-five minutes.

Sirius, a fixed star of the first magnitude, in the constel-lation Canis Major, which is the brightest in the heavens.

System, a number of bodies revolving round a commoncenter, as the planets and comets move round the fun.

Syzygies, those points of the moon’s orbit, in which sheis at the time of her new and full.

F f 2 Taurus,