258 FROM NEBULA TO NEBULA 



the centre of the sphere than itself. Even though we may be 

 following a definite curve at the present time, there is, in my 

 opinion, little doubt that we shall be prevented from continuing 

 upon it indefinitely. In the course of our travels we should be 

 carried, sooner or later, relatively close to some individual star 

 whose attraction would be vastly more powerful than that of all 

 the other stars combined. This would draw us more or less from 

 our present curve and cause us to follow a different curve. At 

 a later date our travels might carry us into the sphere of attrac- 

 tion of some other great sun which would send us away in a still 

 different direction. Thus, the chances are, in my opinion, that 

 our path would, in time, be made up of a succession of unrelated 

 curves. 



The results deduced above define the direction and speed 

 of the solar motion along a straight line; and, as a single line does 

 not fix the position of a plane, we are without knowledge as to 

 the plane in which the solar system is moving. It is of great in- 

 terest that the present line of motion lies nearly in the plane of 

 the Milky Way, making in fact an angle of about 17 with the 

 central line of the Milky Way. We need not concern ourselves 

 at present with the question of the plane of our orbit, for the 

 curvature of our path is undoubtedly so slight that we may con- 

 sider it as a straight line for many generations of astronomers to 

 come. (The italics are mine) 



In giving utterance to these opinions Doctor Camp- 

 bell has not only vented his own personal views, but has 

 likewise stated the only logical conclusion that the New- 

 tonian doctrines of uncaused motions and negation of 

 equilibrium allow. About the only thing of great sig- 

 nificance that this study of the proper and radial motions 

 of stars a study which represents a perfectly incredible 

 expenditure of valuable time, skill, energy and money 

 has developed, is the supposed existence of star-streams, 

 for which the investigators confess their inability to sug- 

 gest any explanation, and whose existence runs counter 

 to every Neivtonian tradition. Under my system of in- 

 terpretation these streams are not streams at all, but an 

 optical illusion created by the movement of our solar 

 system in its gyroscopic course from east to west and the 

 fall of the ecliptic; much as the ancient notion that the 

 heavens rotated daily around our earth was such an il- 

 lusion. By parity of reasoning, the so-called vertices of 

 preferential motion are likewise the effect of identically 



