172 ELEMENTARY PROPERTIES 



wanting, he says, to prove, that such 3, 

 power has been exerted, and that the glo- 

 bular form of the nebulous matter, deduce4 

 from the round appearance of the nebulas, 

 may be ascribed to the action of the gavit- 

 ating principle; and, from the united testi- 

 mony of so many objects, no doubt is left about 

 the central seat of attraction, which in every 

 instance of figure is pointed out to be in the 

 middle ; the exertion of this supposed conden- 

 sing principle in some nebulae, it is inferred, 

 has been the means of producing in some of 

 them, a very moderate effect ; which may, per- 

 haps, be ascribed to the small quantity of the 

 preponderating, central, attractive matter ; or, 

 even to the shortness of its time of acting, for 

 in this case, millions of years are, perhaps, but 

 moments. In the case, however, of very nar- 

 row, long nebulae, we may investigate the form 

 of the expansion of nebulous matter, by the 

 figure of the nebulae that have been observed, 

 and may be considered as consisting of their 

 disunion ; the most plausible way of account- 

 ing for the apparent figure of these nebula, is 

 to admit that the expansion of the nebulosity 

 consists, indeed, of a very narrow light, and 

 not much depth. Granting it to be highly pro- 

 bable, that the appearance of irregular round 

 nebulae, is owing to so many irregular glo- 



