tries, because then we should
have to exclude our own, which, unhappily, has taken no part in this
work. At the end of the twentieth century we may expect that the work
will be repeated. Then, by comparing the charts, we shall see the
effect of the solar motion and perhaps get new light upon the problem
in question.

Closely connected with the problem of the extent of the universe is
another which appears, for us, to be insoluble because it brings us
face to face with infinity itself. We are familiar enough with
eternity, or, let us say, the millions or hundreds of millions of years
which geologists tell us must have passed while the crust of the earth
was assuming its present form, our mountains being built, our rocks
consolidated, and successive orders of animals coming and going.
Hundreds of millions of years is indeed a long time, and yet, when we
contemplate the changes supposed to have taken place during that time,
we do not look out on eternity itself, which is veiled from our sight,
as it were, by the unending succession of changes that mark the
progress of time. But in the motions of the stars we are brought face
to face with eternity and infinity, covered by no veil whatever. It
would be bold to speak dogmatically on a subject where the springs of
being are so far hidden from mortal eyes as in the depths of the
universe. But, without declaring its positive certainty, it must be
said that the conclusion seems unavoidable that a number of stars are
moving with a speed such that the attraction of all the bodies of the
universe could never stop them. One such case is that of Arcturus, the
bright reddish star familiar to mankind since the days of Job, and
visible near the zenith on the clear evenings of May and June. Yet
another case is that of a star known in astronomical nomenclature as
1830 Groombridge, which exceeds all others in its angular proper motion
as seen from the earth. We should naturally suppose that it seems to
move so fast because it is near us. But the best measurements of its
parallax seem to show that it can scarcely be less than two million
times the distance of the earth from the sun, while it may be much
greater. Accepting this result, its velocity cannot be much less than
two hundred miles per second, and may be much more. With this speed it
would make the circuit of our globe in two minutes, and had it gone
round and round in our latitudes we should have seen it fly past us a
number of tim