METEORS. 163 



the velocities those mighty orbs impart they also take 

 away. Conceive for a moment the case of a meteoric 

 body at rest in space, and about as far from Sirius as 

 the nearest fixed star is from the sun. Sirius would 

 draw that body towards himself, at first slowly, and 

 afterwards more quickly, and in the course of about a 

 hundred thousand years the body would be urging its 

 way with inconceivable velocity amidst the planetary 

 domain ruled over by that glorious sun. We can con- 

 ceive that it would be so far disturbed on its course as 

 not to plunge straight upon the surface of Sirius (as it 

 would certainly do if undisturbed), but that, wheeling 

 at its highest speed close around his mighty globe, it 

 would pass away precisely as a comet passes away from 

 our sun after circling closely round him. At the 

 moment of nearest approach the body would travel at 

 the rate of about 5,000 miles per second (at a moderate 

 computation), and this velocity is far greater than any 

 possessed by meteors which approach our own sun. But 

 as the meteor swept away from Sirius, the same sur- 

 passing might which had given to the meteor this 

 amazing velocity would continually reduce the meteor's 

 speed. The reduction of speed in retreat would corre- 

 spond exactly with the acquisition of speed in approach ; 

 and when at length the meteor had reached its original 

 distance, although it would not be reduced strictly to 

 rest as at first, yet the motion it would possess (due 

 solely to the disturbing action exerted upon it while 

 traversing the Sirian planetary scheme) would be slower 

 than the motion of the most sluggish river. It could 



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