OF THE COSMOS. MILKY WAY. 127 



between the prow of the Ship and Sagittarius ; or, to speak 

 more exactly, between the Altar, the tail of the Scorpion, the 

 hand and bow of Sagittarius, and the right foot of Ophiuchus. 

 " No region of the heavens is fuller of objects, beautiful and 

 remarkable in themselves, and rendered still more so by 

 their association and grouping." ( 254 ) Next in richness to 

 this beautiful part of the southern celestial vault, is the 

 pleasing and well-starred region in our northern heavens in 

 Aquila and Cygnus, where the Milky Way divides into 

 branches. As the Milky Way is most narrow below the 

 foot of the Southern Cross, so, on the other hand, the region 

 of minimum brightness (where the galaxy is comparatively 

 desert) is in the vicinity of the Unicorn and of Perseus. 



The magnificent effect of the Milky Way in the southern 

 hemisphere is enhanced by the circumstance, that between 

 the star 17 Argus, which has become so celebrated on account 

 of its variability, and a Crucis, it is intersected, in the 

 parallels of 59 and 60 S. Latitude, at an angle of 20, by 

 the remarkable zone of very large and probably' very near 

 stars, to which the constellations of Orion, Canis Major, 

 Scorpio, Centaurus, and Crux belong. A great circle, 

 passing through e Orionis and the foot of the Cross, indicates 

 the direction of this remarkable zone. The (I might almost 

 say) picturesque effect of the Milky Way is heightened in 

 both hemispheres by its repeated divisions or branchings. 

 For about two-fifths of its length it remains undivided. In 

 the greatest bifurcation the branches divide, according to Sir 

 John Hefschel, at a Ceritauri, ( 255 ) not at Centauri as 

 our star-maps represent, nor at the Altar as was stated by 

 Ptolemy ( 256 ) : they reunite in Cygnus. 



In order to afford a general view of the course and di- 



