BOOK II 



THE SOLAE WOELD. 



CHAPTEE I. 



THE SUN. 



This flaming star, to use the beautiful metaphor of 

 Theou of Smyrna, is the heart of the universe, vivifying 

 everything with its pulsations. Of all those lights that gra- 

 vitate in the immensity of the heavens, the dazzling sjilen- 

 dour of the sun first captivates the attention. Yet great 

 as may be its apparent size, and vivid as may be its 

 light, it is still only one in those myriads of stars which 

 form the Milky Way. But for us it is the centre of a 

 system, or of a family of globes, of which it was the cradle, 

 and Avhich, after being separated from it, revolve eter- 

 nally round their common parent. Like a sovereign 

 seated on his shining throne, it sits in the centre of its 

 satellites; its invisible power upholds them in space, 

 directs their regulated course, and disseminates every- 

 where movement and life. 



For if its light were extinguished, eternal night would 

 envelop the globe, and -with that would come the destruc- 



