TIME, SPACE, AND INVISIBLE WORLDS 243 



mag. round a 3 mag. in 185 years, reminding us of our planet 

 Neptune, which takes 164 years to revolve round our Sun: and 

 lastly, the giant Sirius, 26 times heavier than our Sun, whose 

 companion, six times heavier, was believed to exist, owing to 

 changes in motion of the large star, long before a giant telescope 

 discovered it in 1862. We may also name Theta in Orion, where 

 seven Suns, how large no one can tell, owing to unfathomable 

 distance, lie partly embedded in an enormous nebula ; also the 

 famous double-double Epsilon in Lyra, the smaller companions 

 requiring 500 to 1,000 years to revolve round the larger, and each 

 double perhaps 900,000 years round their common centre, the 

 two debilissima and two or three others probably also forming 

 part of the system. Amongst clusters, we have the Pleiades, 

 2,300 smaller stars controlled by ten or twelve giants; also the 

 cluster in Hercules, 14,000 suns, all revolving round a common 

 centre ; and the " Magellanic Clouds " in the Southern sky, 

 comprising in their 315 clusters and nebulae a galaxy of glory 

 unimaginable. 



• In the above examples, excepting the clusters, it is certain in 

 some cases, and almost certain in others, that our Sun would be 

 counted diminutive alongside these colossal luminaries ; also 

 when compared with such giants as Canopus, Arcturus, Procyon, 

 Arided, Spica, and Fomalhaut. On the other hand, in crowded 

 clusters, and amongst the small stars of the Milky Way, we 

 certainly meet with Suns oi a much inferior order, probably 

 approaching Uranus in size, say 32,000 miles diameter, or even 

 small as Earth itself before it had cooled down. Differences in 

 degree of development are also observed, varying from bluish 

 white stars, like Vega and Rigel, through middle-aged yellowish 

 stars like Capella and our Sun, up to red advanced stars, like 

 Antares and Betelgeux In the law of Continuity we, thus, do 

 not look for identity of detail or invariable sameness, but rather 

 for such general variety in size, motion, age, etc., as may consist 

 with substantial unity in structure and design. This unity, then, 

 we find to exist between our Sun and the Stars. The Sun is a 

 huge globe of gaseous and liquid matter, incandescent, emits light, 

 gives out heat, and is rapidly moving through space. The same 

 can be said of all the Stars. Elementary matter is also largely the 



