354 Hr. Herschel’s Account of the Changes that have happened 
the ist Table in No. 3, is, that the distance between the two 
stars will be diminished, and the angle of position increased. 
But these are both contrary to the observations I have given. 
The motion of O in declination towards s, according to the same 
Table, will still diminish the distance of the two stars, but will 
also diminish the angle of position. Then, since a motion in 
right ascension increases the angle, while that in declination 
diminishes if, the small star may be placed at such a distance 
that the difference in the parallax, arising from the solar motion, 
shall bring the angle of position, in 23^- years, from 32 0 47' to 
io° 53'; which will explain the observed change of that angle. 
The distance of the star x , for this purpose, must be above 2^ 
times as much as that of « from us. But, after having in this 
manner accounted for the alteration of the angle of position, we 
are, in the next place, to examine the effect which such a diffe- 
rence of parallax must produce in the apparent distance of the 
two stars from each other. By a graphical method, which is 
quite sufficient for our purpose, it appears, that the union of the 
two motions in right ascension and declination, must have 
brought the two stars so near, as to be only about half a dia- 
meter of the large star from each other ; or, to express the same 
in measures, the centres of the stars must now be T',8 nearer 
than they were 23^- years ago. But this my observations cannot 
allow ; for we have already shown, that any change of more than 
3 or 4- tenths of a second must have been perceived. 
If, on the other hand, we place the star x at such a distance 
that the solar parallax may only bring it about 4-tenths of a 
second nearer to a,, which is a quantity we may suppose to have 
escaped our notice in estimating the apparent distance of the 
two stars, then will the angle of position be above 20 degrees 
