The Passing of the Constellations
From a historical and picturesque point of view, one of the most
striking results of the motions of the stars described in the last
chapter is their effect upon the forms of the constellations, which
have been watched and admired by mankind from a period so early that
the date of their invention is now unknown. The constellations are
formed by chance combinations of conspicuous stars, like figures in a
kaleidoscope, and if our lives were commensurate with the ?ons of
cosmic existence we should perceive that the kaleidoscope of the
heavens was ceaselessly turning and throwing the stars into new
symmetries. Even if the stars stood fast, the motion of the solar
system would gradually alter the configurations, as the elements of a
landscape dissolve and recombine in fresh groupings with the
traveler's progress amid them. But with the stars themselves all in
motion at various speeds and in many directions, the changes occur
more rapidly. Of course, ``rapid'' is here understood in a relative
sense; the wheel of human history to an eye accustomed to the majestic
progression of the universe would appear to revolve with the velocity
of a whirling dynamo. Only the deliberation of geological movements
can be contrasted with the evolution and devolution of the
constellations.
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