may infer from what little we know of the stars,
Arcturus is believed to be the most magnificent and massive orb entering
into the structure of that portion of the sidereal system which comes
within our cognisance. Judging by its relative size and brightness,
this star is ten thousand times more luminous, and may exceed the Sun
one million times in volume.

Deneb, in the constellation of the Swan, though a first-magnitude star,
possesses no perceptible proper motion or parallax--a circumstance
indicative of amazing distance, and magnitude equalling, or surpassing,
Arcturus and Sirius.

Canopus, in the constellation Argo, in the Southern Hemisphere, the
brightest star in the heavens with the exception of Sirius, possesses no
sensible parallax; consequently, its distance is unknown, though it has
been estimated that its light passage cannot be less than sixty-five
years.

By establishing a mean value for the parallax of stars of different
magnitudes, it was believed that an approximation of their distances
could be obtained by calculating the time occupied in their light
passage. The light period for stars of the first magnitude has been
estimated at thirty-six and a half years; this applies to the brightest
stars, which are also regarded as the nearest. At the distance indicated
by this period, the Sun would shrink to the dimensions of a
seventh-magnitude star and become invisible to the naked eye; this of
itself affords sufficient proof that the great luminary of our system
cannot be regarded as one of the leading orbs of the firmament. Stars of
the second magnitude have a mean distance of fifty-eight light years,
those of the third magnitude ninety-two years, and so on. M. Peters
estimated that light from stars of the sixth magnitude, which are just
visible to the naked eye, requires a period of 138 years to accomplish
its journey hither; whilst light emitted from the smallest stars visible
in large telescopes does not reach the Earth until after the lapse of
thousands of years from the time of leaving its source.

The profound distances of the nearest stars by which we are surrounded
lead us to consider the isolated position of the solar system in space.
A pinnacle of rock, or forsaken raft floating in mid-ocean, is not more
distant from the shore than is the Sun from his nearest neighbours. The
inconceivable dimensions of the abyss by which the orb and his
attendants are surrounded in utter loneliness may be par