298 COSMOS. 



the great nebulous spot in the sword of Orion have failed to rivet 

 his attention? But although this great observer probably 

 never saw the irregular nebula in Orion, or the roundish disc of 

 a so-called irresolvable nebula, still his general views 12 on the 

 intrinsic nature of nebulous spots were very similar to those 



12 "In primo integram Orionis Constellationem pingere 

 decreveram ; vero, ab ingenti stellarum copia, temporis vero 

 inopia obrutus, aggressionem hanc in aliam occaskmem dis- 

 tuli. Cum non tantuni in Galaxia lacteus ille candor veluti 

 albicantis nubis spectetur, sed complures consimilis coloris 

 areolce sparsim per cethera subfulgeant, si in illarum quamlibet 

 specillum convertas, stellarum constipatarum coetum offendes. 

 Amplius (quod magis mirabile) stella3, ab astronomis singulis 

 in hanc usque diem nelulosce appellate, stellarum mirum in 

 modum consitarum greges sunt: ex quarum radiorum com- 

 mixtione, dum unaquaque ob exilitatem, seu maximam a nobis 

 remotionem, oculorum aciem fugit, candor ille consurgit, qui 

 densior pars cceli, stellarum aut solis radios retorquere valens, 

 hucusque creditus est." Opere di Galileo Galilei, Padova, 

 1744, torn. ii. pp. 14, 15. "At first I had resolved to describe 

 the whole constellation of Orion ; but the multitude of the 

 stars and the want of leisure compelled me to postpone the 

 undertaking till another occasion. Since not only in the 

 Milky Way may be observed that brilliancy as of a whitish 

 cloud, but several areoles of a similar colour are scattered 

 through the firmament ; if you direct the glass to any one of 

 them you will meet with a host of clustered stars. Moreover, 

 the stars (still stranger to say) which, by every astronomer, 

 are to this day called nebulous, are clusters of stars lying close 

 together in a wonderful manner, from the combination of 

 whose rays (while they cannot be separately distinguished by 

 the eye on account of their minuteness, or their very great 

 distance from us) arises that whiteness, which, from its capa- 

 city of reflecting the rays of the stars or of the sun, has been 

 hitherto supposed to belong to a denser part of the atmo- 

 sphere." Sidereus Nuntim, pp. 13, 15 (nos. 19-21), and 35 

 (no. 56). 



