256 Dr. Herschel on the Direction of the Motion of the Sun , &c. 
a minimum, the line pa, when sp is given, will also be a mi- 
nimum; and if all the ma’s in Fig. 4 are minima, it follows 
also that all the sp’s, whatever they may be, will give the pa’s 
as small as possible : and this is the point that was to be 
established. 
Whatever therefore may be the sum of real motions required 
to account for the phenomena of proper motions, our foregoing 
arguments cannot be affected by the result ; for, as by observa- 
tion it is known that proper motions do exist, and since no solar 
motion can resolve them intirely into parallactic ones, we ought 
to give the preference to that direction of the motion of the 
sun which will take away more real motion than any other, 
and this, as we have shown, will be done when the right 
ascension of the apex is 245 0 52' 30", and its north polar 
distance 40° 22'. 
