DE MORGAN'S ACCOUNT OF WRIGHT'S SPECULATIONS 201 



half the Thickness of the starry Vortice AC, or BA. Now 

 I say, by supposing the Thickness of this Shell, i. you may 

 imagine the middle Semi-Chord AD, or AE, to be nearly 

 6 ; and consequently, thus in a like regular Distribution of 

 the Stars, there must of course be at least three Times as 

 many to be seen in this Direction of the Sine, or Semi-chord 

 AE, itself, than in that of the semi-versed Sine AC, or 

 where near the Direction of the Radius of the space G. 

 Q.E.D. 



" But we are not confined by this Theory to this Form 

 only, there may be various Systems of Stars, as well as 

 Planets, and differing probably as much in their Order 

 and Distribution as the Zones of Jupiter do from the Rings 

 of Saturn, it is not at all necessary, that every collective 

 Body of Stars should move in the same Direction, or after 

 the same Model of Motion, but may as reasonably be 

 supposed as much to vary, as we find our Planets and 

 Comets do. 



" Hence we may imagine some Creations of Stars may 

 move in the Direction of perfect Spheres, all variously 

 inclined, direct and retrograde ; others again, as the primary 

 Planets do, in a general Zone or Zodiac, or more properly 

 in the manner of Saturrfs Rings, nay, perhaps Ring within 

 Ring, to a third or fourth Order, as shown in Plate XXVIII. 

 nothing being more evident, than that if all the Stars we 

 see moved in one vast Ring, like those of Saturn, round 

 any central Body, or Point, the general Phenomena of 

 our Stars would be solved by it; see Plate XXIX. Fig. i. 

 and 2. the one representing a full Plane of these Motions, 

 the other a Profile of them, and a visible Creation at B 

 and -C, the central Body A, being supposed as incognitum, 

 without the finite View; not only the Phenomena of the 

 Milky Way may be thus accounted for, but also all the 

 cloudy Spots, and irregular Distribution of them; and I 

 cannot help being of Opinion, that could we view Saturn 

 thro' a Telescope capable of it, we should find his Rings 

 no other than an infinite Number of lesser Planets, inferior 

 to those we call his Satellites : What inclines me to believe 

 it, is this, this Ring, or Collection of small Bodies, appears 

 to be sometimes very excentric, that is, more distant from 

 Saturn's Body on one Side than on the other, and as 

 visibly leaving a larger Space between the Body and the 



