MOVEMENTS IN THE STAR-DEPTHS. 57 



whatever respects other suns may differ from our own, 

 in this at least we know that they resemble him. It is 

 the very charter of their existence as suns as real 

 living centres of energy to schemes of circling worlds 

 that they should thus continually pulsate with their 

 own vitality. Each is the central engine on whose 

 internal motions the life of a system of worlds depends 

 and each must, with persistent activity, work out its 

 purpose, until the fuel which supplies its forces shall be 

 exhausted. 



All the evidence as yet obtained points to the conclu 

 sion that our own sun, wonderful as is his structure and 

 stupendous his energy, is yet very far inferior in splen 

 dour and power to most of his fellow suns. Placed where 

 Sirius is, the sun would appear but as a third-rate star, 

 less bright than hundreds of the stars visible to the 

 unaided eye. But removed to the distance of Alde- 

 baran, or Castor, or Betelgeux, our sun would certainly 

 not shine more brightly than the fourth-magnitude 

 stars, while it is probable that his lustre would be so 

 reduced that he would be barely discernible. There 

 can be little doubt that of all the stars seen on the 

 clearest and darkest night, there are scarce fifty which 

 are not far larger suns than ours, and consequently the 

 scene of more tremendous processes of change. 



But when we turn from the consideration of the 

 energy and vitality of individual stars to inquire into 

 the movements taking place within the star system, we 

 are yet more startlingly impressed by the contrast be 

 tween the apparent rest prevailing in the star-depths 



