Masterpieces of Science 



supposed to have taken place during that time, 

 we do not look out on eternity itself, which is 

 veiled from our sight, as it were, by the unending 

 succession of changes that mark the progress of 

 time. But in the motions of the stars we are 

 brought face to face with eternity and infinity, 

 covered by no veil whatever. It would be bold 

 to speak dogmatically on a subject where the 

 springs of being are so far hidden from mortal 

 eyes as in the depths of the universe. But, with- 

 out declaring its positive certainty, it must be 

 said that the conclusion seems unavoidable that 

 a number of stars are moving with a speed such 

 that the attraction of all the bodies of the uni- 

 verse could never stop them. One such case is 

 that of Arcturus, the bright reddish star familiar 

 to mankind since the days of Job, and visible 

 near the zenith on the clear evenings of May and 

 June. Yet another case is that of a star known 

 in astronomical nomenclature as 1830 Groom- 

 bridge, which exceeds all others in its angular 

 proper motion as seen from the earth. We 

 should naturally suppose that it seems to move 

 so fast because it is near us. But the best meas- 

 urements of its parallax seem to show that it can 

 scarcely be less than 2,000,000 times the distance 

 of the earth from the sun, while it may be much 

 greater. Accepting this result, its velocity cannot 

 be much less than 200 miles per second, and may 

 be much more. With this speed it would make 

 the circuit of our globe in two minutes, and had it 

 gone round and round in our latitudes we should 

 44 



