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Dracothe Dragon

Urania's Mirror 1825. The Dragon surrounding the Little Bear, Ursa Minor

Contents:1. Clues to the meaning of this celestial feature2. The fixed stars in this constellation3. History_of_the_constellation3. The Draconic Transverse

Clues to the meaning of this celestial feature

DracoDraco is Latin for 'dragondragon' from Greek dracon. 'Dragon' seems to be a term for any mysterious snakelikecreature in mythology. Dragons are often depicted as having a snake body on four feet. There is no fossilevidence for dragons ever having existed.

"'The tree of the Summit' was a type of the Celestial Pole, Seat of Judgment, and was guarded by thecelestial serpent, the constellation DracoDraco" [1]. "The constellation Ursa Minor which contains the Polestar,Polaris, as is now drawn enclosed on three sides by the coils of DracoDraco; formerly it was almost entirely so"[Allen, Star Names, under Ursa Minor]. This pole, or the constellation Ursa Minor, was also imagined as atree, and DracoDraco, or the DragonDragon LadonLadon, is seen as guarding either the constellation Ursa Minor, or the treein the garden of the Hesperides. LadonLadon, representing DracoDraco, was the serpent-like dragon that twined roundthe tree in the Garden and guarded the golden apples, while tormenting the Titan Atlas (maybeCamelopardalis) as he held the heavens on his shoulders.

There are three known myths of dragons There are three known myths of dragons that relate to this constellationthat relate to this constellation

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ANDROMEDA

ANTLIA

APUS

AQUARIUS

AQUILA

ARA

ARGO NAVIS

ARIES

AURIGA

BOOTES

CAELUM

CAMELOPARDALIS

CANCER

CANIS MAJOR

CANIS MINOR

CANES VENATICI

CAPRICORNUS

CARINA

CASSIOPEIA

CENTAURUS

CEPHEUS

CETUS

CHAMAELEON

CIRCINUS

COLUMBA

COMA BERENICES

CORONA AUSTRALIS

CORONA BOREALIS

CORVUS

CRATER

CRUX

CYGNUS

DELPHINUS

DORADO

DRACO

EQUULEUS

ERIDANUS

FORNAX

GEMINI

GRUS

There are three known myths of dragons There are three known myths of dragons that relate to this constellationthat relate to this constellation

1. One is the dragon, LadonLadon, who guards the apples in the land of the Hesperides [2]. Ladon was a River-God of northern Arkadia (Arcadia), in the Peloponnesos [3]. This is in the general direction of Ursa Minor,who represents Arcas, from which the name Arcadia derives.

2. "Some also say this Draco was thrown at Minerva (Athene) by the Gigantes (Giants), when she foughtthem. Minerva snatched its twisted form and threw it to the stars, and fixed it at the very pole of heaven. Andso to this day it appears with twisted body, as if recently transported to the stars." [Hyginus, Astronomica 2.34] "Today we see him forever asleep as the much-knotted, battered, and twisted Draco" [5]. [Minerva threwthe dragon to the stars — or slung it. A German word for snake is Schlange "which is probably related to'sling'", Old English *slang ‘a snake, sinuous, snakelike, long and narrow and winding’ and slingan ‘twistoneself, creep’ [6, p.195], cognates are sling and slink, from Indo-European *slengwh- 'To slide, make slide,sling, throw', and maybe slang (casual speech).]

3. The dragon slain by Cadmus at Thebes: Boeotian Thebes, the City of the Dragon. (Allen, p.209).

See Barry Long's feature excerpted from the book; The Origins of Man and the Universe. Subtitle: The MythThat Came to Life, The DraconicDraconic Syndrome... The character of myth and the Draconic Transverse (Draco).

DracoDraco from the Latin dracondracon, Greek drakondrakon, from drakdrak, 'monster with the evil eye', cognate with Greekderkomaiderkomai 'I see', derkesthaiderkesthai, 'to look at', Sanskrit darcdarc (see), Avestic darstisdarstis (sight), Old Irish dercderc (eye),Old English torhttorht, and Old High German zorahtzoraht, from the Indo-European root *derkderk- 'To see'. Derivatives:dragondragon, dragoondragoon, drakedrake22 (a mayfly or drake fly used as fishing bait), draconiandraconian (harsh, strict, drastic),tarragontarragon (Artemisia dracunculus, from Greek drakontion ‘dragonwort’, New Latin tarchon), ranklerankle (to causepersistent feelings of bitterness, resentment, or anger, from draoncle, 'abscess, festering sore'. The notion isof an ulcer caused by a snake's bite). [Pokorny derk- 213. Watkins] Other related words: DraculaDracula,DracaenaDracaena, mandrakedrake, Mandragoradragora, snapdragondragon.

The longanlongan treetree, 'dragon eyes' from Chinese long, dragon, is so named because of the fruit's resemblanceto an eyeball when it is shelled. The black seed shows through the translucent flesh like a pupil/iris. Seepicture.

The root *derkderk- should relate to the 'drakondrakon-breeding DirkeDirke', a fountain of Thebes [5]. DerketisDerketis (orDercetisDercetis) identified with Dirke which is interpreted as coming from this root; 'to look upon, see, shine(derkô)' [6]. DirkeDirke was the second wife of Lycus (after he abandoned his first wife Antiope), she was jealousof Antiope and had her imprisoned and ill-treated. Antiope escaped and found her sons Amphion and Zethus.In revenge for their mother's mistreatment Amphion and Zethus had Dirke tied to the horns of a wild bull anddraggeddragged (drag,drag, from Old English dragandragan, is not a recognized cognate of 'dragon') to death over rocks.Dionysus made the famous spring, DirkeDirke, near Thebes in Boeotia, spring up from her body.

DercetisDercetis is also referred to as the Philistine DercetoDerceto [7], or DerketoDerketo, was said to have thrown herself into alake near Ascalon, on which she was changed into a fish or mermaid. The Greeks recognized AtargatisAtargatisunder the name DerketoDerketo, known in Syria as TirgataTirgata, also known as Dea Syria, 'Goddess of Syria'.

"And there appeared another wonder. In heaven; and behold a great red dragondragon... and his tail drewdrew thethird part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth...." (Rev. 12:3-4).

The words dragdrag and drawdraw comes from the Indo-European root *dhraghdhragh- 'To draw, drag on the ground'.Rhyming variant of *traghtragh-. Derivatives: drawdraw, drawerdrawer, (these words from Old English dragan, to draw, pull),dragdrag (from Old Norse draga, to draw, pull, or Old English dragan), draydray (from Old English draege, dragnet),draftdraft (from Middle English draught, a pull, from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse *drahtr, drattr, actof drawing), dredgedredge. [Pokorny dheragh- 257. Watkins]

“The dragondragon (dracodraco) is the largest of all the snakes, or of all the animals on earth. The Greeks call itdrakondrakon, whence the term is borrowed into Latin so that we say draco. It is often drawndrawn out of cavesand soars aloft, and disturbs the air. It is crested, and has a small mouth and narrow pipes throughwhich it draws breath and sticks out its tongue. It has its strength not in its teeth but in its tail, and itcauses injury more by its lashing tail than with its jaws. Also, it does not harm with poison; poison isnot needed for this animal to kill, because it kills whatever it wraps itself around. Even the elephant withhis huge body is not safe from the dragon, for it lurks around the paths along which the elephants areaccustomed to walk, and wraps around their legs in coils and kills them by suffocating them. It is bornin Ethiopia and India in the fiery intensity of perpetual heat.” [The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville, 7thcentury AD, p.255.]

"Today we see him forever asleep as the much-knotted, battered, and twisted Draco" [8]. To wake a sleepingdragon is to awake a dormant power.

"Dr. John Tanke has theorized that the words dragondragon and draugrdraugr might be related. He notes that both theserpent and the spirit serve as jealous guardians of the graves of kings or ancient civilizations. DragonsDragons thatact as draugardraugar appear in Beowulf as well as in the stories of Siegfried" [9]. DraugrsDraugrs seem to be dreamdreamcharacters or characters from a vision as described here. The word dreamdream is related to Old Norse draugrdraugr,German traum, 'dream', Old Saxon bi-driogan, 'to deceive', Old High German triogan, 'to lie', from the Indo-European root *dhreughdhreugh- 'To deceive'. [Pokorny 2. dhreugh- 276. Watkins] With Australian aboriginals,

HERCULES

HOROLOGIUM

HYDRA

HYDRUS

INDUS

LACERTA

LEO

LEO MINOR

LEPUS

LIBRA

LUPUS

LYNX

LYRA

MENSA

MICROSCOPIUM

MONOCEROS

MUSCA

NORMA

OCTANS

OPHIUCHUS

ORION

PAVO

PEGASUS

PERSEUS

PHOENIX

PICTOR

PISCES

PISCIS AUSTRINUS

PUPPIS

PYXIS

RETICULUM

SAGITTA

SAGITTARIUS

SCORPIUS

SCULPTOR

SCUTUM

SERPENS

SEXTANS

TAURUS

TELESCOPIUM

TRIANGULUM

TRIANGULUM AUSTRALIS

TUCANA

URSA MAJOR

URSA MINOR

VELA

VIRGO

VOLANS

European root *dhreughdhreugh- 'To deceive'. [Pokorny 2. dhreugh- 276. Watkins] With Australian aboriginals,creation is the DreamingDreaming.

According to Carl Jung, "the structure of a dreamdream is similar to a dramadrama", dreams are drawndrawn from our lifeexperiences and those past experiences that ranklerankle us influence our dreaming (rankle from the same rootas dragon; *derkderk- 'To see'.)

In Sanskrit *derk- became darsanam, 'seeing, meeting'. In Hinduism DarshanDarshan refers to a sight or glimpse ofa holy personage, such as a guru [12]. darshanadarshana, refers to any of the six schools of Hindu philosophy(literally, 'views').

Greek dorkasdorkas, a gazelle (so called in reference to its large bright eyes), from derkesthaiderkesthai, perfect dedorkadedorka,see, look at. DrakeDrake and dragondragon are of the same ult. origin. 'dedorka' , 'have seen' 'I see' [13, p.116]. [Thereis no English cognate word in the IE *derk root referring to 'sight' or 'see', but there is the word 'gaze' (a wordof unknown origin) in 'gazelle' which is a translation of the Greek dorkas?]

The word draconiandraconian came into being to describe to the nature of DracoDraco, an Athenian legislator. Draco (620B.C.) produced a comprehensive set of laws for the city-state, perhaps the first such written code of laws inEuropean history, a code mostly concerned with criminal law [12]. His laws were considered harsh (ordrastic); anything from stealing a head of cabbage to murder merited the death penalty under the DraconianDraconiancode. These days, Draco is identified with anything harsh, out-dated, or oppressive [13].

In modern Albania DjallDjall is the name of the Devil. He is also called DreqiDreqi from the Latin dracodraco [14]. The 'OldSerpent' (believed to be Draco), in the Garden of Eden, is often interpreted as the 'Devil', (or sometimesSatan). ''DraculaDracula' in the Wallachian language means 'devil'. Stoker copied this into his notes for Dracula,which suggests that this was probably why he chose the name. The later meaning of 'devil' probably derivesfrom the medieval association of the devil with the image of the dragon, as in St George slaying the dragon"[15].

The Bible in Revelation 12:7-9 says:

"And the great dragon was cast out, That Old Serpent, called The Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth thewhole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him" [16].

The word DragomanDragoman (not a recognized cognate of dragondragon) is a guide or an interpreter in countries whereArabic, Turkish, or Persian is spoken, ultimately from Akkadian targumanutargumanu, 'interpreter' (from ragamuragamu, 'tocall'). Ladon Ladon (the dragondragon slain by Herakles and identified with Draco), was said to have had a hundredheads and that the heads spoke with a multitude of voices in many languages. The TargumTargum (related to theword dragoman) is the Aramaic translations or paraphrasings of the Hebrew Scriptures of the Bible, fromHebrew tirgem, 'he interpreted, translated'. Dreams Dreams are interpreted, or dreams are the subconscious mind'ssymbolic interpretations of experiences.

The forked tongue (multiple tongues, language from lingua, tongue) of serpents seems to mean;interpretation, and the potential for misinterpretation. The serpent in the Garden of Eden in dialogue with Evetells her that the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil had a different interpretation to what she understood itto be. She says that even if she touches the tree she will die. The serpent responds that she will not die,rather she would become like a god, knowing good and evil [17].

The symbolic connection between serpents and deceit may depend in part on the observation thatsnakes have forked tongues. A forked tongue is a tongue which has not one end, but two, pointing indifferent directions. In humans, the tongue is an essential tool in speech, and the presence of only onetip signifies the unity of truthful speech, and corresponds to the unity of the truth itself. There is only onetruth, but there are many lies. The forked tongue represents the disunity of deceitful speech [18].

And when the serpent is slain or the devils cast out:

"And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speakwith new tongues. They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them;they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." (Mark 16:17-18)

“The isles of the Hesperides are so called after the city of Hesperis, which was located within theborders of Mauretania. They are situated beyond the Gorgades, at the Atlantic shore, in the mostremote bays of the sea. Stories tell of an ever-watchful dragon guarding golden apples in their gardens.There, it is said, is a channel from the sea that is so twisted, with winding banks, that when seen fromafar it looks like the coils of a serpent.” [The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville, 7th century AD, p.294.]

"The Bears (Ursa Major and Ursa Minor) are not set face to face: each with its muzzle points at theother's tail and follows one that follows it. Sprawling between them and embracing each the Dragon(DracoDraco) separates and surrounds them with its glowing stars lest they ever meet or leave theirstations." [Astronomica, Manilius, 1st century AD, p.27].

© Anne Wright 2008.

Fixed stars in Draco

VULPECULA

To support this research

Fixed stars in DracoStar 1900 2000 R A Decl 1950 Lat Mag SpNodus 11 Altaisy delta 15ARI51 17ARI10 288 08 14 +67 34 25 +82 53 06 3.24 G8Tyl epsilon 01TAU21 02TAU42 297 05 17 +70 08 26 +79 29 15 3.99 G3upsilon 18TAU57 20TAU20 283 45 15 +71 13 51 +83 12 60 4.91 K0Phi 09GEM43 11GEM06 275 22 08 +71 18 42 +84 52 14 4.24 A0chi 14GEM38 16GEM01 275 29 22 +72 42 42 +83 33 34 3.69 F5Dziban psi 12CAN21 13CAN48 265 42 26 +72 10 26 +84 11 02 4.90 F5Giansar lambda 08LEO55 10LEO20 172 06 53 +69 36 26 +57 14 13 4.01 M0omega 10LEO52 12LEO15 264 18 36 +68 46 52 +86 53 55 4.87 F4kappa 14LEO52 16LEO15 187 50 24 +70 03 49 +61 45 31 3.88 B5Thuban alpha 06VIR02 07VIR27 210 45 30 +64 36 51 +66 21 38 3.64 A0Nodus 1 zeta 01LIB51 03LIB23 257 09 33 +65 46 34 +84 45 45 3.22 A3Edasich iota [body] 03LIB31 04LIB57 230 57 12 +59 08 26 +71 05 40 3.47 K2eta 13LIB05 14LIB28 245 49 37 +61 37 37 +78 26 34 2.89 G6Theta [Neck] 15LIB17 16LIB40 240 14 14 +58 41 53 +74 26 21 4.11 F8Arrakis mu [Head] 23SCO21 24SCO45 256 04 21 +54 32 08 +76 14 18 5.06 F6Kuma nu [Head] 08SAG56 10SAG19 262 47 50 +55 13 04 +78 09 10 4.98 A8Alwaid beta [Head] 10SAG34 11SAG58 262 19 32 +52 20 15 +75 17 02 2.99 G2Grumium xi [Head] 23SAG21 24SAG45 268 09 55 +56 52 47 +80 17 15 3.90 K3Etamin gamma [Head] 26SAG35 27SAG58 268 51 39 +51 29 38 +74 55 44 2.42 K5

Hevelius, Firmamentum, 1690

History of the constellation

from Star Names, 1889, Richard H. Allen

With vast convolutions Draco holds

The ecliptic axis in his scaly folds.

O'er half the skies his neck enormous rears,

And with immense meanders parts the Bears.

— Erasmus Darwin's Economy of Vegetation.

DracoDraco, the DragonDragon, circles around the North Pole. The German DracheDrache, the Italian DragoneDragone, and theFrench DragonDragon, was DraconDracon with the Greeks — indeed this has been the universal title in the transcribedforms of the word. Classic writers, astronomers, and the people have known it thus, although Eratosthenesand Hipparchos called it Ophis (Greek for snake), {Part 203} and in the Latin Tables, as with some of the

and Hipparchos called it Ophis (Greek for snake), {Part 203} and in the Latin Tables, as with some of thepoets, it occasionally appeared, with the other starry snakes, as AnguisAnguis, ColuberColuber, PythonPython, and SerpensSerpens(another constellation Serpens). From the latter came AesculapiusAesculapius (identified with Ophiuchus), and perhapsAudaxAudax.

It was described in the Shield of Hercules, with the two Dogs (Canis Major and Canis Minor), the Hare(Lepus), Orion, and Perseus, as "The scaly horror of a dragon, coiled Full in the central field"; andmythologists said that it was the Snake snatched by Minerva from the giants and whirled to the sky, where itbecame SidusSidus MinervaeMinervae etet BacchiBacchi, or the monster killed by Cadmus at the fount of Mars, whose teeth hesowed for a crop of armed men.

Julius Schiller, without thought of its previous character, said that its stars represented the HolyHoly InnocentsInnocentsofof BethlehemBethlehem; others, more consistently, that it was the OldOld SerpentSerpent, the tempter of Eve in the Garden.

Delitzsch asserted that a Hebrew conception for its stars was a QuiverQuiver; but this must have been exceptional,for the normal figure with that people was the familiar Dragon, or a sea monster of some kind. Renan thoughtthat the allusion of Job to "the crooked serpent" in our Authorized Version is to this, or possibly to that ofOphiuchus; but the Dragon would seem to be the most probable as the ancient possessor of the pole-star(now Polaris), then, as ours now is, the most important in the heavens; while this translation of the original isspecially appropriate for such a winding figure. The Reverend Doctor Albert Barnes renders it "fleeing," andDelitzsch, "fugitive "; but the Revised Version has "swift," a very unsuitable epithet for Draco's slow motion,yet applicable enough to the more southern Hydra (Hydrus).

Referring to Draco's change of position in respect to the pole from the effect of precession, Proctor wrote inhis Myths and Marvels of Astronomy:

"One might almost, if fancifully disposed, recognize the gradual displacement of the Dragon fromhis old place of honour, in certain traditions of the downfall of the great Dragon whose 'tail drewthe third part of the stars of heaven,' alluded to in The Revelation xii, 4; and the conclusion of thatverse, 'did cast them to the earth,' would show a possible reference to meteors."

{Page 204} In Persia Draco was AzhdehaAzhdeha, the Man-eating Serpent, occasionally transcribed HashteherHashteher;and, in very early Hindu worship, Shi-shu-maraShi-shu-mara, the Alligator, or Porpoise, which also has been identifiedwith our Delphinus.

Babylonian records allude to some constellation near the pole as a SnailSnail drawn along on the tail of a Dragonthat may have been our constellation; while among the inscriptions we find SirSir, a Snake, but to which of thesky serpents this applied is uncertain. And some see here the dragon TiamatTiamat,overcome by the kneeling sun-god Izhdubar or Gizdhubar, our Hercules, whose foot is upon it [note at bottom of page: This notablecreation of Euphratean mythology (Tiamat) was the personification of primeval chaos, hostile to the gods andopposed to law and order; but Izhdubar conquered the monster in a struggle by driving a wind into its openedjaws and so splitting it in twain. Cetus, Hydra, and the Serpent of Ophiuchus (Serpens) also have beenthought its symbols. Its representation is found on cylinder seals recently unearthed.] Rawlinson, however,said that Draco represented HeaHea or HoaHoa, the third god in the Assyrian triad, also known as Kim-mutKim-mut.

As a Chaldaean figure it probably bore the horns and claws of the early typical dragon, and the wings thatThales utilized to form the Lesser Bear (Ursa Minor); hence these are never shown on our maps. But withthat people it was a much longer constellation than with us, winding downwards and in front of Ursa Major,and, even into later times, clasped both of the Bears in its folds; this is shown in manuscripts and books aslate as the 17th century, with the combined title ArctoeArctoe etet DracoDraco. It still almost encloses Ursa Minor. Theusual figuring is a combination of bird and reptile, magnus et tortus, a MonstrumMonstrum mirabilemirabile and MonstrumMonstrumaudaxaudax, or plain MonstrumMonstrum with Germanicus. Vergil had MaximusMaximus AnguisAnguis, which, "after the manner of ariver, glides away with tortuous windings, around and through between the Bears;" — a simile that may havegiven rise to another figure and title, found in the Argonauticae, — LadonLadon, from the prominent river of Arcadia,or, more probably, the estuary bounding the Garden of the Hesperides, which, in the ordinary version of thestory, Draco guarded, "the emblem of eternal vigilance in that it never set." Here he was ColuberColuber arboremconscendens, and CustosCustos HesperidumHesperidum, the Watcher over the golden fruit; this fruit and the tree bearing itbeing themselves stellar emblems, for Sir William Drummond wrote: "a fruit tree was certainly a symbol ofthe starry heavens, and the fruit typified the constellations"; and George Eliot, in her Spanish Gypsy: {Page205}

"The stars are golden fruit upon a tree

All out of reach."

Draco's stars were circumpolar about 5000 B.C., and, like all those similarly situated, — of course few innumber owing to the low latitude of the Nile country, — were much observed in early Egypt, althoughdifferently figured than as with us. Some of them were a part of the HippopotamusHippopotamus, or of its variant theCrocodileCrocodile, and thus shown on the planisphere of Denderah and the walls of the Ramesseum at Thebes. Assuch Delitzsch says that it was Hes-mutHes-mut, perhaps meaning the Raging Mother. An object resembling aploughshare held in the creature's paws has fancifully been said to have given name to the adjacent Plough.

The hieroglyph for this Hippopotamus was used for the heavens in general; while the constellation issupposed to have been a symbol of IsisIsis HathorHathor, AthorAthor, or AthyrAthyr, the Egyptian Venus; and Lockyer assertsthat the myth of Horus which deals with the Hor-she-shu, an almost prehistoric people even in Egyptianrecords, makes undoubted reference to stars here; although subsequently this myth was transferred to the

records, makes undoubted reference to stars here; although subsequently this myth was transferred to theThigh, our Ursa Major. It is said that at one time the Egyptians called Draco TanemTanem, not unlike the HebrewTannimTannim, or Aramaic TanninTannin, and perhaps of the same signification and derived from them.

The Egyptian NechtNecht was close to, or among, the stars of Draco; but its exact location and boundaries, howit was figured, and what it represented, are not known.

Among Arabian astronomers AlAl TinninTinnin and AlAl Thu'banThu'ban were translations of Ptolemy's Drakon; and on theBorgian globe, inscribed over beta and gamma, are the words AlghavilAlghavil AltanninAltannin in Assemani's transcription,the Poisonous Dragon in his translation, assumed by him as referring to the whole constellation. That therewas some foundation for this may be inferred from the traditional belief of early astrologers that when acomet was here poison was scattered over the world. Bayer cited from Turkish maps EtaninEtanin, and fromothers AbenAben, TabenTaben, and EtabinEtabin; Riccioli, AbeenAbeen vet TaebenTaeben; Postellus, DabanDaban; Chilmead, AlaninAlanin; andSchickard, AttanmoAttanmo. AlAl Shuja'Shuja' , the Snake, also was applied to Draco by the Arabians, as it was to Hydra;and AlAl HayyahHayyah, the Snake, appeared for it, though more common for our Serpens, with which word it wassynonymous.

Bayer had PalmesPalmes emeritusemeritus, the Exhausted Vine Branch, that I do not find elsewhere; but the original isprobably from the Arabs for some minor group of the constellation.

Williams mentions a great comet, seen from China in 1337, which passed through YuenYuen WeiWei, apparentlysome unidentified stars in Draco. The {Page 206} creature itself was the national emblem of that country, butthe Dragon of the Chinese zodiac was among the stars now our Libra: Edkins writes that Draco was TsiTsiKungKung, the Palace of the Heavenly Emperor, adding, although not very clearly, that this palace is bounded bythe stars of Draco, fifteen in number, which stretch themselves in an oval shape round the pole-star. Theyinclude the star TaiTai yiyi, xi, omicron, sigma, s, of Draco, which is distant about ten degrees from the tail of theBear and twenty-two from the present pole. It was itself the pole in the Epoch of the commencement ofChinese astronomy.

Draco extends over twelve hours of right ascension, and contains 130 naked-eye components according toArgelander; 220, according to Heis: but both of these authorities extend the tail of the figure, far beyond itsstar lambda, to a 4th-magnitude under the jaws of Camelopardalis, — much farther than is frequently seen onthe maps.

[Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning, Richard H. Allen, 1889.]