tages of
evolution exceeded greatly in number those which appeared to be in an
advanced condition of condensation. Indeed, we found some stars which
might be regarded as not far advanced beyond the nebular condition. It
might be that the cosmical bodies which were still nebulous owed their
later development to some conditions of the part of space where they
occurred, such as conceivably a greater original homogeneity, in
consequence of which condensation began less early. In other parts of
space condensation might have been still further delayed, or even have
not yet begun. If light matter were suggested by the spectrum of these
nebulae, it might be asked further, as a pure speculation, whether in
them we were witnessing possibly a later condensation of the light
matter which had been left behind, at least in a relatively greater
proportion, after the first growth of worlds into which the heavier
matter condensed, though not without some entanglement of the lighter
substances. The wide extent and great diffuseness of this bright-line
nebulosity over a large part of the constellation of Orion might be
regarded, perhaps, as pointing in this direction. The diffuse nebulous
matter streaming round the Pleiades might possibly be another
instance, though the character of its spectrum had not yet been
ascertained.

THE MOTIONS OF THE STARS.

Besides its more direct use in the chemical analysis of the heavenly
bodies, the spectroscope had given to us a great and unexpected power
of advance along the lines of the older astronomy. In the future a
higher value might, indeed, be placed upon this indirect use of the
spectroscope than upon its chemical revelations. By no direct
astronomical methods could motions of approach or of recession of the
stars be even detected, much less could they be measured. A body
coming directly toward us or going directly from us appeared to stand
still. In the case of the stars we could receive no assistance from
change of size or of brightness. The stars showed no true disks in our
instruments, and the nearest of them was so far off that if it were
approaching us at the rate of a hundred miles in a second of time, a
whole century of such rapid approach would not do more than increase
its brightness by the one-fortieth part. Still it was formerly only
too clear that, so long as we were unable to ascertain directly those
components of the stars' motions which lay in the line of sight, the
speed and