186 HISTORY OF ASTRONOMY. 



are really nearer to us (taken en masse, and without deny- 

 ing individual exceptions) than the smaller ones. "Were 

 this not the case, were there really among the infinite 

 multitude of stars constituting the remoter portion of the 

 galaxy, numerous individuals of extravagant size and 

 brightness, as compared with the generality of those 

 around them, so as to overcome the effect of distance, and 

 appear to us as larger stars, the probability of their oc- 

 currence in any given region would increase with the 

 total apparent density of stars in that region, and would 

 result in a preponderance of considerable stars in the 

 Milky "Way, beyond what the -heavens really present over 

 its whole circumference. 2d. That the depth at which 

 our system is plunged in the sidereal stratum constituting 

 the galaxy, reckoning from the southern surface or limit 

 of that stratum, is about equal to that distance which, on 

 a general average, corresponds to the light of a star of 

 the ninth or tenth magnitude, and certainly does not 

 exceed that corresponding to the eleventh." 



This last conclusion seems clearly to assume, not only 

 that our Milky "Way consists of a stratum of stars which has 

 determinate limits, but that these limits (at least in certain 

 directions) have been indicated by observation. It does 

 not, however, appear that such a conclusion is authorized 

 by the gages. The number of stars of the smallest mag- 

 nitude visible, increases rapidly even up to the poles of 

 the Milky "Way, although this increase is most rapid in 

 the middle zone of the galaxy. The gages therefore in- 

 dicate a condensation of stars in the neighborhood of the 



