NEBULA 131 



(i.e. the ring of the Milky Way), its poles by a 

 double canopy of white nebulae. The gyrating 

 movement which it once possessed as a whole 

 doubtless survives in its parts, but ages must 

 elapse before the fundamental sidereal drift can 

 be elicited." 



With all due deference to Miss Gierke, the in- 

 formation is not " sufficiently definite," but still the 

 idea is surely magnificent enough to be true. 

 <}. One thing is certain, that space is full of 

 millions and millions of shining suns, wherever 

 they came from and however they were evolved, 

 and that there are millions and millions more of 

 dead, dark stars we cannot see. One is apt to forget 

 the dead, dark stars ; but they far outnumber those 

 that shine — so much so that Sir Robert Ball says 

 that luminous stars are but the glowworms and 

 fireflies of the universe as compared with the 

 myriads of other animals. ^ 



