INTRODUCTION 13 



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) 



Another riddle presented in celestial motions for 

 which Newtonianism can furnish no solution concerns 

 the nebulae, especially those known as spiral. Observa- 

 tion of these has revealed the unexpected circumstance 

 that the more advanced the evolutional process the faster 

 the rotation; indicating quite plainly that some centri- 

 fugal force must be at work gradually accelerating the 

 gyration. Now, as everyone knows, Newtonianism re- 

 gards all centrifugal force as independent of and opposed 

 to gravity, hence what we must here look for to explain 

 this phenomenon is either an increase of some force 

 antagonistic to gravity or a diminution in the strength 

 of gravity (centripetal attraction) itself. But this is 

 not the Newtonian method, it seems; for, as will appear 

 from the following quotation from Professor J. C. Kap- 

 teyn, he thinks to explain the increased centrifugalization 

 by blaming it on an augmentation of its rival, the central 

 attraction! 



The phenomenon of the increase of velocity with the evolu- 

 tional stage of the stars must give rise to speculation as to its 

 cause. The observational results contained in our table naturally 

 lead us to conclude that the matter from which the stars originate 

 must have little or no velocity. How is this possible under the 

 influence of the combined attraction of the rest of the system? 

 Is it not as if gravitation had no effect on the cosmical matter in 



