"The Stellar System, with Special Attention to Mars At the last meeting of the Majestic Open Circle Mr. Sun described in his paper on the stellar system achievements in sublimest of the Sciences, which give us our present conceptions of the Universe of which the earth is only the merest speck, {ideas which are the most splendid corrective for any Inck of true perspective in measuring man's importance in the universe.
Man engrossed egotistically in his daily round of practical affairs of self-imposed importance-is not often conscious of the countless other worlds which are in the slow process of making from gaseous material ud stellar dust. and of others which are slowly disintegrating to become once again particles of similar materials.
So enormous are celestial distances that they are measured in light years—the distance travelled by! Tight in one year (ten million mi miles)—the nearest stars being four and half to. 15) light years away, so that if the nearest. star were suddenly to be extinguished it would be four and a half years before an astronomer on the earth could perceive the catastrophe, whereas in the ease of our sun it would take only eight minates.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.