260 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



suspicions. Though brighter than the last this nebula probably con- 

 tains very little matter in the liquid or solid form. 



57 M. Lyrae, the well-known ring nebula, was a most interesting object. 

 Its light is "very pale, and the brightest of the three lines was the only 

 one distinctly seen, the others being, perhaps glimpsed, but no taint con- 

 tinuous spectrum whatever could be detected. The bright line was re- 

 markable, consisting of two bright spots corresponding to sections of the 

 ring, with a very faint connecting line. Lord Hosse had previously seen 

 more nebulosity in the center of the ring than had been recognized by 

 other observers; and the spectrum shows that it is full of rare nebulous mat- 



Vulpeculaa. The light of this body after prismatic analysis remained con- 

 centrated in the strong bright line corresponding to that of nitrogen, no 

 others being visible, nor was there any trace of a faint continuous spectrum. 

 Various portions of this large nebula were tried, but the light, although 

 different, in intensity, was always the same in refrangibility. 



So much for the positive evidence, that these nebulae have no resem- 

 blance whatever to any thing like stars, or clusters of stars; and this testi- 

 mony is corroborated by the negative evidence obtained in the examination 

 of a number of other bodies which are palpably of the class of clusters. 

 For example, 92 M. Herculis, and 26 IV. Eridani, both fine clusters, 

 gave continuous spectra as the stars do. 50 H. IV. Herculis though neb- 

 ulous in the telescope, still produces a starry spectrum, showing its true 

 character. 55 Antlromedae, which Herschel describes as a star with a neb- 

 ulous atmosphere, gave a star spectrum, but no bright lines ; and Lord 

 Rosse notes that he has looked at it eight times and seen no such atmos- 

 phere, so that it is probably not a nebulous star at all. The examination 

 of the great nebula in Andromeda is of much interest. The brightest 

 part gave a partial though continuous spectrum, the light ceasing abruptly 

 in the orange, and the companion 32 M. gave a similar spectrum. It 

 would appear, therefore, that these are really clusters at the enormous 

 and almost inconceivable distances which must be necessary so to blend 

 the light of their constituent stars. It is, however, also possible that they 

 may be gaseous matter so full of condensed and opaque portions as to 

 give a continuous spectrum. 



Mr Huggins rein irks, "It is obvious that the nebulae, 37 H. IV., 

 62., 73 H. IV., 51 H. IV., 1 H. IV., 57 M., 18 H. IV., and 27 

 M., can no longer be regarded as aggregations of suns after the order 

 to which our own sun and the fixed stars belong. We have in these ob- 

 jects to do no longer with a special modification only of our own type of 

 suns, but find ourselves in the presence of objects possessing a distinct and 

 peculiar plan of structure." 



" In place of an incandescent solid or liquid body transmitting light of all 

 refrangibiliiies through an atmosphere which intercepts by absorption a 

 certain number of them, such as our sun appears to be, we must probably 

 regard these objects, or at least their photo-surfaces, as enormous masses 

 of luminous gas or vapor. For it is alone from matter in the gaseous 

 state that light, consisting of certain definite refrangibilities only, as is the 

 case with the light of these nebula), is known to be emitted." 



We think our readers cannot fail to indorse this conclusion, and no 



