236 HERSCHEL AND HIS WORK 



imaginings rest on a more solid foundation than 

 theories, at their birth, can usually boast of. 



In pursuit of his favourite study the plan of the 

 Creator in constructing the Temple of the Heavens 

 Herschel, with fuller knowledge, and after many years 

 of labour, departed from Cassini's simple classification 

 of nebulae, and adopted another in closer agreement 

 with facts. It was as follows : 



Class I. Bright nebulae .... 288 in all. 



II. Faint nebulae . . . . 909 



III. Very faint nebuloe . . . 984 



IV. Planetary nebulae or stars with 

 burs, with milky chevelure, 

 with short rays, remarkable 

 shapes, etc 79 



V. Very large nebubs . . . 52 



VI. Very compressed and rich clus- 

 ters of stars . . . 42 



VII. Pretty much compressed clusters 67 



,,VIII. Coarsely scattered clusters of 



stars 88 



As he entered these nebulae on a star map, it was 

 evident to the eye that the parts of the heavens at a 

 distance from the Milky Way are most abundant in 

 white clouds. Of a connection between them and the 

 Milky Way he does not appear to have been certain. 

 We must leave it as he left it in uncertainty and 

 doubt. Future ages may determine whether the whole 

 material universe, designed by one mind, governed by 

 the same laws, built of the same materials, and upheld 

 for purposes in which the mighty littleness of man 

 seems to play a not unimportant part, moral as well as 

 intellectual, has been spread out before our eyes. We 

 can only look on in wondering adoration at the 



