﻿162 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1927 
  

  

  He 
  found 
  the, 
  distance 
  of 
  tlie 
  Great 
  Nebula 
  of 
  Andromeda 
  to 
  he 
  

   ahout 
  900p00 
  light 
  years^ 
  and 
  som,e 
  of 
  tlie 
  other 
  spirals 
  to 
  he 
  some 
  

   nearer^ 
  some 
  mwe 
  distant. 
  T^hus 
  these 
  objects 
  lie 
  quite 
  outside 
  the 
  

   limits 
  of 
  our 
  galaxy 
  of 
  stars. 
  They 
  are, 
  as 
  Herschel 
  suggested, 
  

   island 
  universes. 
  Their 
  shapes, 
  as 
  j)hotographed 
  in 
  some 
  cases 
  on 
  

   edge, 
  suggest 
  the 
  configuration 
  of 
  our 
  galaxy. 
  Their 
  sizes, 
  in 
  some 
  

   instances 
  at 
  least, 
  are 
  not 
  dissimilar 
  to 
  it. 
  

  

  Ilence 
  we 
  are 
  led 
  to 
  suppose 
  that 
  our 
  own 
  galaxy 
  is 
  a 
  rather 
  more 
  

   than 
  usually 
  large 
  and 
  mature 
  spiral 
  nebula, 
  in 
  which 
  almost 
  all 
  

   the 
  nebulous 
  matter 
  has 
  been 
  agglomerated 
  into 
  stars. 
  Its 
  age 
  is 
  so 
  

   great 
  that 
  the 
  stars 
  of 
  different 
  masses 
  and 
  different 
  ages 
  have 
  taken 
  

   on 
  very 
  unequal 
  rates 
  of 
  motion. 
  

  

  Originally, 
  as 
  we 
  may 
  suppose, 
  our 
  own 
  nebula, 
  like 
  all 
  others, 
  

   traveled 
  in 
  a 
  certain 
  direction 
  with 
  respect 
  to 
  the 
  general 
  algebraic 
  

   zero 
  of 
  motion 
  of 
  all 
  spiral 
  nebulee, 
  at 
  the 
  rate 
  of 
  several 
  hundred 
  

   kilometers 
  per 
  second. 
  This 
  direction 
  happened 
  to 
  be 
  what 
  we 
  ob- 
  

   serve 
  now 
  as 
  tjje 
  great 
  common 
  star 
  way. 
  Our 
  own 
  star, 
  the 
  sun, 
  

   happens 
  to 
  be 
  moving 
  nearly 
  along 
  the 
  great 
  common 
  way, 
  and 
  as 
  

   its 
  motion 
  exceeds 
  the 
  average 
  rate 
  of 
  some 
  star 
  groups, 
  it 
  is 
  im- 
  

   parting 
  to 
  them 
  an 
  apparent 
  negative 
  velocity, 
  A 
  still 
  higher 
  ap- 
  

   parent 
  negative 
  velocity 
  equal 
  to 
  the 
  real 
  velocity 
  of 
  our 
  own 
  system 
  

   is 
  imparted 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  manner 
  to 
  the 
  algebraic 
  zero 
  of 
  motion 
  of 
  the 
  

   other 
  spiral 
  nebulae. 
  Such 
  is 
  an 
  explanation 
  of 
  the 
  grand 
  j)arade 
  

   of 
  the 
  celestial 
  hosts. 
  

  

  5. 
  SOME 
  ASPECTS 
  OF 
  ASTRONOMY 
  AND 
  LIFE 
  

  

  We 
  have 
  been 
  dealing 
  hitherto 
  with 
  gigantic 
  things. 
  Billions 
  

   of 
  stars, 
  millions 
  of 
  degrees 
  of 
  temperatures, 
  sextillions 
  of 
  miles 
  of 
  

   distance, 
  trillions 
  of 
  years 
  of 
  time, 
  the 
  march 
  of 
  the 
  celestial 
  hosts 
  — 
  

   all 
  these 
  tremendous 
  facts 
  have 
  been 
  on 
  review 
  before 
  us. 
  Is 
  it 
  not, 
  

   then, 
  the 
  height 
  of 
  anticlimax 
  to 
  turn 
  away, 
  at 
  the 
  ending, 
  to 
  con- 
  

   sider 
  the 
  affairs 
  of 
  the 
  solar 
  system, 
  ruled 
  by 
  that 
  middling 
  star, 
  our 
  

   sim, 
  and 
  comprising 
  no 
  other 
  objects 
  which 
  could 
  so 
  much 
  as 
  be 
  dis- 
  

   cerned 
  by 
  any 
  intelligent 
  dwellers 
  among 
  the 
  nearest 
  of 
  the 
  other 
  

   stars 
  ? 
  

  

  It 
  can 
  not 
  appear 
  so 
  to 
  one 
  who 
  is 
  familiar 
  with 
  the 
  intricacies 
  of 
  

   the 
  cheivdstry 
  and 
  the 
  physics, 
  the 
  marvels 
  of 
  the 
  instincts 
  and 
  the 
  

   adaptations 
  and 
  the 
  triumphs 
  of 
  the 
  infinitesimal, 
  by 
  which, 
  for 
  in- 
  

   stance, 
  the 
  characters 
  of 
  a 
  mature 
  man 
  are 
  controlled 
  by 
  the 
  con- 
  

   stitution 
  of 
  the 
  two 
  microscopic 
  germ 
  cells 
  which 
  united 
  to 
  create 
  

   him. 
  These 
  occur 
  only 
  in 
  life, 
  and 
  life, 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  we 
  yet 
  positively 
  

   know, 
  occurs 
  only 
  in 
  the 
  solar 
  system. 
  It 
  is 
  not 
  therefore 
  so 
  much 
  

   the 
  academic 
  astronomy 
  of 
  the 
  sun 
  and 
  planets, 
  as 
  their 
  relations 
  to 
  

   life, 
  which 
  now 
  I 
  wish 
  to 
  touch 
  upon 
  in 
  closing. 
  

  

  