o/'Thomas Wright of DurJutm. 247 



G, they must infallibly terminate in the utmost Confusion? 

 If your Opticks fails you before you arrive at these external 

 Regions, only imagine how infinitely greater the Number of 

 Stars would be in those remote Parts, arising thus from their 

 continual crowding behind one another, as all other objects do 

 towards the Horizon Point of their Perspective, which ends 

 but with Infinity : Thus, all their Rays at last so near uniting, 

 must meeting in the Eye appear, as almost, in Contact, and 

 form a perfect Zone of Light; this I take to be the real Case, 

 and the true Nature of our Milky Wai/, and all the Irregu- 

 larity we observe in it at the Earth, I judge to be intirely 

 owing to our Sun's Position in this great Firmament, and may 

 easily be solved by his Excentricitj', and the Diversity of Mo- 

 tion that may naturally be conceived amongst the stars them- 

 selves, which may here and there, in different Parts of the 

 Heavens, occasion a cloudy Knot of Stars, as perhaps at E. 



" But now to apply this Hypothesis to our present Purpose, 

 and reconcile it to our Ideas of a circular Creation, and the 

 known Laws of orbicular Motion, so as to make the Beauty 

 and Harmony of the Whole consistent with the visible Order 

 of its Parts, our Reason must now have recourse to the Ana- 

 logy of Things. It being once agreed, tliat the Stars are in 

 Motion, which, as I have endeavoured in my last Letter to shew 

 is not far from an undeniable Truth, we must next consider in 

 what Manner they move. First then, to suppose them to move 

 in right Lines, you knov/ is contrary to all the Lav/s and Prin- 

 ciples we at present know of; and since there are but two 

 Ways that they can possibly move in any natural Order, that is 

 either in right Lines, or in Curves, this being one, it must of 

 course be the other, i. e. in an Orbit; and consequently, were 

 we able to view them from their middle Position, as from the 

 Eye seated in the Center oi Plate XXV. we might expect to 

 find them separately moving in all manner of Directions round 

 a general Center, such as is there represented. It only now 

 remains to show how a Number of Stars, so disposed in a cir- 

 cular Manner round any given Center, may solve the Phae- 

 nomena before us. There are but two Ways possible to be 

 proposed by which it can be done, and one of which I think 

 is highly probable ; but which of the two will meet your Ap- 

 probation, I shall not venture to determine, only iiere inclosed 

 I intend to send you both. The first is in the Manner I have 

 above described, i. c. all moving the same Way, and not much 

 deviating from the same Plane, as the Planets in their helio- 

 centric Motion do round the solar Body. In this Case the 

 primary, secondary, and tertiary constituent Orbits, &c. fra- 

 ming the Hypotlieses, are represented in Plate XXII, and 



