388 Notices respect iiig New Books. 



are there stated to be from very correct drawings, are given of 

 their appearance ; but it would seem very unsuccessfully, for Sir 

 John observes that if the drawings in question were telescopic repre- 

 sentations, he is unable to reconcile them with his own observations 

 as regards the greater part of the details ; and if they were eye-drafts, 

 " they certainly tend to convey such a conception of their appear- 

 ance as must inevitably create a sentiment of disappointment in the 

 mind of any one who, having his imagination excited by represen- 

 tations so striking and extraordinary, is presented for the first time 

 with a view of the real objects." 



I'he Nubecula Minor is situated between the parallels of 1 62° and 

 16.5° NPD, and between the meridians of 0*^ 28™ and I'' 15"^ RA. 

 It is of a generally round form to the unaided eye ; in the telescope 

 the most conspicuous and resolvable region appears to be somewhat 

 to the south of its middle. It is situated in one of the most barren 

 regions of the heavens, and the access to it on all sides is described 

 as being " through a desert." Neither with the naked eye nor with 

 the telescope is any connection to be traced either with the greater 

 Nuljecula or with ti:e Milky Way. An idea of its general character 

 and appearance is conveyed in the following note : — " Re-examined 

 by the side motion the whole cloud in detail and in general. The 

 main body is resolved, but barely. I see the stars with the left eye. 

 It is not like the s/yj/;/efZ ground of the sky. The borders fade away 

 quite insensibl)', and are less or not at all resolved. The body of the 

 cloud does not congregate much into knots ; and altogether it is in no 

 way a striking object apart from the nebulae and clusters." — P. 145. 



The Nubecula Major is situated between the parallels of 156" and 

 162° NPD, and the meridians of 4° 40' and 6° 0' in RA. " Like 

 the Minor it consists partly of large tracts and ill-defined patches of 

 irresolvable nebulae, and of nebulosity in every stage of resolution up 

 to perfectly resolved stars like the Milky Way, as also of regular and 

 irregular nebulae properly so called, of globular clusters in every 

 stage of I'esolvability, and of clustering groups sufficiently insulated 

 and condensed to come under the designation of clusters of stars. 

 In the number and variety of these objects, and in general complexity 

 of structure, it far surpasses the lesser Nubecula." The concen- 

 tration of the objects is such as to very far exceed anything to be 

 met with in any other region of the heavens. " Even the most 

 crowded parts of the stratum of Virgo in the wing of that constel- 

 lation, or in Coma Berenices, oiFer nothing approaching to it. It is 

 evident from this, and from the mixture of stars and unresolved 

 nebulosity which probably might be resolved with a higher optical 

 power, that the Nubeculse are to be regarded as systems sui generis, 

 and which have no analogues in our hemisphere." 



"The immediate neighbourhood of the Nubecula Major is some- 

 what less barren of stars than the Minor, but it is by no means rich, 

 nor does any part of the Milky Way whatever form any certain and 



conspicuous junction with, or include it I have encountered 



nothing that I could set down as diffused 7iehtlosily anywhere in the 

 neighbourhood of either Nubecula." — P. 147. 



