21 6 Mr. Herschel on the 



of condenfed ftars coarfely fimilar to the former which gave 

 rife to thcfe condenflitioiis. 



•Form IV. We may Hkevvife admit of ftill more extenfive^ 

 combinations; when, at the fame time that a chafter of fiars 

 is forming in one part of fpace, there may be another coUecl- 

 }X\^ in a different, but perhaps not far diftant quarter, which 

 may occafion a mutual approach towards their common center 

 of gravity, 



V. In the laft place, as a natural confequence of th« 



former cafes, there will be formed great cavities or vacancies 

 by the retreat of the ftars towards the various centers which 

 attrad: them ; fo that upon the whole there is evidently a field 

 of the greateft variety for the mutual and combined attractions 

 of the heavenly bodies to exert themfelves in. -I ihall, there- 

 tore, without extending myfelf farther upon this fubjed:, pro- 

 ceed to a few coiifidcrddons, that will naturally occur to every 

 'OWQ who may view this fubject in the light I have here done. 



Ohjedliom cojijiderea. 



'Atfirfl: f3ght then it will feem as if a fyilem, fuch as it has 

 been difplayed in the foregoing paragraphs, would evidently 

 tend to a general deftrudion, by the fhock of one flar's 

 falling upon another. It would here be a fufficient anfwer to 

 fay, that if obfervation fliould prove this really to be the 

 fyftem of the univerfe, there is no doubt but that the great 

 Author of it has amply provided for the prefervation of the 

 whole, though it fhould not appear to us in what manner this 

 is effetSled. But I (hall moreover point out feveral circum- 

 ;Ilances that do manifeftly tend to a general prefervation ; as, in 

 ithe firft place, the indefinite extent of the iidereal heavens, 



6 which 



