164 A CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN ASTRONOMY. 



the seven stars of the Plough had a motion in 

 common that is to say, were moving in the 

 same direction at the same rate. This phe- 

 nomenon was termed by Proctor " star -drift." 

 He also recognised other instances of star-drift 

 in other portions of the heavens. 



The subject was soon afterwards taken up 

 by the French astronomer, Camille Flammarion. 

 Born in 1842 at Montigny-le-Roi, in Haute 

 Marne, Flammarion was appointed assistant 

 to Le Verrier in 1858, but gave up his post in 

 1862. Employed successively at the Bureau des 

 Longitudes, and as editor of scientific papers, 

 he founded in 1882 his private observatory at 

 Juvisy-sur-Orge, where he has since continued 

 his investigations. 



Following up Proctor's discovery of star-drift, 

 Flammarion drew charts of proper motions. He 

 demonstrated the " common proper motion " of 

 Regulus and an eighth-magnitude star, Lalande 

 19,749, from a comparison of his measures in 

 1877 with those of Christian Mayer a century 

 previously ; while he discovered many other 

 instances. His reflections on these motions, as 

 given in his 'Popular Astronomy/ are worthy 

 of reproduction : " Such are the stupendous 

 motions which carry every sun, every system, 

 every world, all life, and all destiny in all 



