Dr. See, the eminent astronomer of the present day, asserts that eighteen hundred years ago Sirius was red. There is a reference in Festus to the effect that the Roman farmers sacrificed ruddy or fawn-coloured dogs to save the fruits on account of the Dog Star, and Dr. See says there is no reason why the Romans should sacrifice red dogs except that Sirius was red, and dogs of the same colour must be offered up to the Dog in the sky. There can be no doubt that many of the ancients looked upon red stars as angry deities. Now Sirius is a white star with a bluish tinge, and Allen says that the weight of authority respecting the change in colour of Sirius seems to negative the idea that there has been any change.
Some writers identify the Masonic emblem of the Blazing Star with Sirius, the most splendid and glorious of all the stars,
Topelius, the Finnish poet, fancifully imagines that the great brilliancy of Sirius is due to the combined light of two stars, represented as lovers meeting and embracing:
And melted into one,
So they became the brightest star
In heaven's high arch and dwelt
Great Sirius, the mighty sun,
Beneath Orion's belt.
Although the poet's idea is born of fancy there is nevertheless truth in the statement that we receive from Sirius the combined light of two stars, for Sirius has a faint companion visible only in the most powerful telescopes, and the discovery of this star furnishes an interesting chapter in astronomical history.
The famous German astronomer Bessel expressed his belief about seventy years ago, after ten years of observation, that the periodical variations in the motion of Sirius
