OCEAN OF : K-DUST 153 



\Vo can only say with Horace 



\Vrtljn;l i 1'H-kin- :vt th-s- lijMir.-s. MM- s iinn-mM .. ,1, 



crack distances had not been deter- 



d then, and are not determined yet 



tli ! theae be the dreama of an enthusiastic 

 romancer, or the sober fact* of science, there can be 

 no doubt that the observations on which they rest are 

 i toilful mixture of poetry and scientific truth. 

 trewn over the pages of a scientific memoir 

 are such entries as these : " The stars are so exceed- 

 close and small that they cannot be counted"; 

 " a beautiful cluster of stars " ; " stars are so small that 

 I can but just perceive some and suspect others"; 

 it stars " ; " a brilliant cluster " ; "a coarse 

 cluster of large stars of different sizes " ; " a rich cluster 

 ry compressed stars," The wealth of the heavens 

 passes both the language and the comprehension of 

 man. Star-dust, sparkling with more than diamond 

 lustre on the dark background of the heavens, has 

 become a common figure of speech. Jewels of M 

 jewels of gold, rubies, diamonds, and sapphires are seen 

 in admirably distinct disorder in the great mirror of 

 the telescope. The prose of the heavens surpasses the 



test poetry of earth. 1 



\Vhrth.-r\Villiani ll-rschrl was justified in holding 

 to the theory of an ocean of ether with thousands of 

 tiimly seen Milky Ways floating about in it, or whether 

 be modified his view into a belief that the starry 

 worlds, seen from our earth, are parts of a connected 

 whole, is of little consequence in these days. Perhaps 

 he was himself in doubt which view to take. But he 

 was nearer to realising infinitude of space and eternity 



1 fkil. TVwu., 1818, pp. 437-50. 



