410 THE BEAUTIES OE NATURE chap. 



and in the course of ages a constantly in- 

 creasing, part of the solid substance of the 

 globe. 



THE STARS 



We have been dealing in the earlier part of 

 this chapter with figures and distances so 

 enormous that it is quite impossible for us to 

 realise them ; and yet we have still others to 

 consider compared with which even the solar 

 system is insignificant. 



In the first place, the number of the Stars is 

 enormous. When we look at the sky at night 

 they seem, indeed, almost innumerable ; so 

 that, like the sands of the sea, the Stars of 

 heaven have ever been used as effective sym- 

 bols of number. The total number visible to 

 the naked eye is, however, in reality only 

 about 3000, while that shown by the tele- 

 scope is about 100,000,000. Photography, 

 however, has revealed to us the existence 

 of others which no telescope can show. We 

 cannot by looking long at the heavens see 

 more than at first ; in fact, the first glance is 

 the keenest. In photography, on the contrary, 



