MR PROCTOR’S LECTURE.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 2086, 30 October 1880, Page 3

MR PROCTOR’S LECTURE.

The Oddfellows’ Hall was again crowded last evening, when Mr Proctor gave the lost of his series of lectures on astronomy, the subject being—“ The Star Depths: or the Glories of the Heavens.” The lecturer had a task of peculiar difficulty before him in treating this subject comprehensively and clearly, owing to its vast magnitude. But, as before remarked, Mr Proctor’s forte or specialty, appears to bo a natural aptitude for imparting clearly and impressively—so that it is retained by the hearer —the knowledge of which he is himself possessed. Thus last night’s audience were, in the course of one hour and a half, placed in possession of a greater amount of information touching the wonders of the heavens, than could be gathered by reading in a month. Mr Proctor commenced by referring to the activity in the stellar depths by way of correcting the erroneous but very natural impression of the average ordinary observer, that the regions of the stars were scenes of uninterrupted tranquility. Ho then spoke of the position occupied by certain bodies whose distance had been ascertained in relation to our world, and explained that in most instances the distance was so great as to be beyond computation. With regard to their characteristics, astronomy had ascertained that each star was a sun, very much of the same kind as the sun of our own system, and each was characterised by the boundless activity which pertained to our central orb. In order to convey a notion of how tremendous must be the forces that operated in these stars, it was necessary to consider the distances by which they were separated from the earth. The earth’s orbit round the sun presented a base lineofnoless than 185,000,000 miles in length; yet the nearest star in the heavens—one of the two “ Pointers ” that formed so conspicuous an object in these Southern skies—was so distant as to present not the remotest difference in size and brightness from whichever point of that vast orbit it was viewed. He proceeded to show that many of these stars were very considerably larger, and of a higher nature than our sun, and gave the result of scientific research in reference to their peculiarities. And as the same substances were shown to exist|in the suns of the whole system of the galaxy as were known to have existence in our system, it was fair to assume that all wore governed by one uniform law. In speaking of “out-blazing suns,” he noticed a marvellous change that had taken place in a star during the year 1866. It suddenly blazed forth with an increased lustre that changed it from a star of the eighth magnitude to one of the second. This, he thought, was probably the result of an external cause, collision with some rapidly moving meteoric matter perhaps. Such a catastrophe might happen to our sun, but the probability was very remote. In reference to the uniformity of law that had been recognised in the works of the universe, Mr Proctor dwelt on the faot that we were compelled to acknowledge the necessity of‘a creating mind to give it birth ; thus we were surely driven to admire and revere, although wo might never understand, the workings of the Supreme Being who was in all and through all. The lecture was illustrated by diagrams and pictures, which, as they appeared, were fully explained. Mr Proctor is announced to lecture in Lyttelton to-night.