564 The Genesis of Double Stars 



In the sketch which I have endeavoured to give of this fascinating 

 subject, I have led my reader to the very confines of our present 

 knowledge. It is not much more than a quarter of a century since 

 this class of observation has claimed the close attention of astrono- 

 mers ; something considerable has been discovered already and there 

 seems scarcely a discernible limit to what will be known in this field 

 a century from now. Some of the results which I have set forth may 

 then be shoAvn to be false, but it seems profoundly improbable that 

 we are being led astray by a Will-of-the-Wisp, 



