THE SIDEREAL UNIVERSE. 697 



And yet can we say that with these overwhelming num- 

 bers these numbers which confound the imagination 

 we have reached the extreme bounds of science, and that it 

 has traced out the farthest limits of the sidereal universe ? 

 Probably not. Other revelations, not less marvellous, may 

 yet astonish our descendants ! 



The aspect of this star-formed cloud, dispersed through 

 the firmament, only gives us an imperfect idea of the grand- 

 eur of the heavenly regions. Number and distance weaken 

 the impression. It seems as if the stars, so abundant and 

 apparently so heaped together, could only be luminous 

 points ! It is science that gives objects their real impor- 

 tance by calling calculation to our aid. In order to give 

 the dimensions of one of these bodies with precision, we will 

 quote the exact words of M. A. Guillemin. " Wollaston," he 

 says, " affirms that the apparent diameter of the most brill- 

 iant star in the sky, Sirius, is not equal to the fiftieth part 

 of the second of an arc. But we may at once say that this 

 calculation would still leave a large margin for the real di- 

 mensions of this star, seeing that at the distance at which it 

 is from us an apparent diameter so small would yet repre- 

 sent a real diameter of 4,500,000 leagues, which is twelve 

 times that of our sun." 



Does not this simple quotation prove that the phenomena 

 of nature possess proportions not less extraordinary than 

 unexpected ? Thus when man begins the study of the sci- 

 ences, it is with profound astonishment that he recognizes 

 that the marvels which they reveal to him far surpass the 

 most audacious fictions of antiquity. 



Let us prove it by a few instances. 



