TRANSLATIONS AND SELECTED ARTICLES. 309 
us indicate in few words the series of measurements and deductions 
by which Science has been able to fix the sun’s real place in the totality 
of the universe. 
Archelaus, who livéd 448 B.C., and was the last philosopher of the 
Ionian sect, said of the sun—‘‘ He is a star; only this star exceeds all 
the rest in magnitude.” This conjecture (for that which is founded 
neither on measurement nor experiment deserves no other name) was 
certainly very bold and beautiful. Let us pass across an interval of 
more than two thousand years, and we shall find the relations between 
the sun and the stars established by the labors of the moderns on 
bases which defy all criticism. About a century and a half ago, 
astronomers sought to determine the distance of the stars from the 
earth. Repeated unsuccessful attempts seemed to prove that the 
problem was insoluble. But what are the obstacles over which genius 
united to perseverance cannot ultimately prevail? We have learned 
within the last few years the distance which separates us from the 
nearest stars. This distance is about 206,000 times the sun’s distance 
from the earth, that is more than 206,000 times 38 millions of leagues, 
The product of 206,000 times 38,000,000 would too far exceed numbers 
we are in the habit of considering, to render it of any use to state. 
The imagination will be more struck by the immensity of this number 
if I connect it with the velocity of light. The star Alpha of the 
constellation Centaur is the earth’s nearest neighbour, if indeed we 
may speak at all of neighbourhood when we are dealing with such 
distances as in this case. The light of Alpha Centauri takes more 
than three years to reach us, so that if the star were annihilated, we 
should still see it for three years after its extinction. When we 
remember that light traverses 77,000 leagues (308,000 kilometres) 
in a second of time, that the day is composed of 81,400 seconds, and 
the year of 365 days, we may well stand, as it were, aghast at the 
immensity of these numbers. Furnished with these data, let us 
transport the sun to the distance of the star which is nearest to us of 
all, then this circular disk so vast, which in the morning lifts itself so 
gradually and majestically above the horizon, and in the evening takes 
a considerable time to descend completely below that plane, will no 
longer possess sensible dimension even in the strongest telescopes, and 
its brightness will range it among stars of the third magnitude. You 
see, gentlemen, what has become of the conjecture of Archelaus ! 
We may possibly feel a little humiliated at the result which reduces 
