METEORS. 167 



velocity wherewith the star is being carried through 

 space. The first velocity Sirius has himself communi- 

 cated, and he not only can, but will, withdraw it 

 wholly from the meteor ; but the other velocity he has 

 not imparted, and neither can he withdraw it. The 

 meteor will pass away, and will be reduced to all but 

 rest with respect to Sirius, that is, to a condition in 

 which it neither approaches nor recedes from the star ; 

 but this very state of rest with respect to Sirius 

 implies an enormous velocity with respect to space. 

 Precisely as a body at rest on Sirius, or within his 

 mass, is being carried at the rate of some thirty miles 

 per second through space, so would our meteor 

 possess this enormous real velocity, though reduced to 

 all but absolute rest with respect to Sirius. 



Now, bodies passing from the domain of one star to 

 that of another must carry with them this balance of 

 motion which their late ruler has been unable to touch. 

 The effect will be different according to the manner in 

 which they enter the domain of their new ruler ; but it 

 may happen in many cases that they will appear to 

 move with the whole of this velocity as an excess of 

 motion over and above that due to the sway of the star 

 ruling them for the time being. 



At first sight, it seems as though we had here a 

 sufficient explanation of the peculiarity we are con- 

 sidering. It will presently be shown that some 

 difficulties still remain. But before passing on, let us 

 consider the strange explanation we have been dealing 

 with. 



