0(52 CAUSE OF THE CHANGES OF RELATIVE 



Obfcrvatlons and rently at reft, the fan, e Bootis, and its fmall companion, rauft- 



fpealnrthr' ^'' move exadly alike, fetting aiide the very little difference in 



change of rela- the pofition and diftance of the fmall Jftar, which, in the whole, 



tive fituation in amounts to little more than 6-tenths of a fecond ; than which, 

 ftars extremely . . . ' 



near each other, certainly nothing can be more improbable. 



But, if £ (hall hereafter be found not to have been at reft 

 during the time of my obfervations upon it, then its place will 

 be given ; and, fincealfo the fituation of x, with refpecl to s, 

 is to be had from my angles of pofuion and diftances of the 

 two ftars, the cafe will be fimiiar to that which has already 

 been confidered, in the paragraph {i), under the heed of y 

 Leonis. 



I may here add a remark with regard to e Bootis, which will 

 be applicable to feveral more of ray double ftars. In the milky- 

 way, a multitude of fmall ftars are profufely fcattered, and 

 their arrangement is very different from what we perceive in 

 thofe parts of the heavens which are at a coniiderable diftance 

 from it. About £ Bootis, which is fituated in what I have for- 

 merly called figuratively a nebulous part of the heavens *, there 

 are, comparatively fpeaking, hardly any ftars ; and, that fo 

 remarkable a ftar as s fiiould have a companion, feems alraoft 

 to amount to a proof that this very companion is, as it appears 

 to be, a connected ftar. The onus probmdi, therefore, ought 

 in juftice to fall to the Ihare of thofe who would deny the truth 

 of what we may call a fa6t ; and I believe the utmoft they could 

 do, would be to prove that we may be deceived ; but they can- 

 pot {how that this ftar has no connexion with % Bootis. 



This argument will be much fupported, when we conftder 

 that many of the double ftars in the milky-way are probably 

 fuch as have one of the fcattered ftars, nearly in the fame line, 

 at a great diftance behind them. In this cafe, the two ftars of 

 the double ftar have no connection with each other; and the 

 great number of them in the milky-way, is itfelf an indication 

 of this effect of the fcattered multitude of fmall ftars. In the 

 ftngle conftellalion of Orion, for inftance, we have no lefs 

 than 43, pointed out by my catalogues ; ten of which are of 

 the firft glafs, and yet have undergone no change of diftance 

 or pofition fince I firft perceived them. But, with apparently 

 infulated ftars, fuch as i Bootis, the cafe is juft the reverfe. 



* Sec Phil. Tranf. fpr |784, page 449. 



If>* 



