NEBULJE. 335 



which was laid before the Meeting of the British Association 

 at Cambridge, in 1845, by Lord Rosse. 78 But the most perfect 

 delineation of this nebula has been given by Mr. Johnstone 

 Stoney. (Philos. Transact. 1850, part i. pi. xxxv. fig. 1.) 

 A similar spiral form is observed in No. 99 of Messier's Cata- 

 logue, which presents also a single central nucleus, and in 

 other northern nebulae. 



It still remains for us to notice, more circumstantially than 

 could be done in "the general delineation of Nature," 79 an 

 object which is unparalleled in the world of forms exhibited 

 throughout the firmament, and by which the picturesque 

 effect of the southern hemisphere if I may be permitted 

 to use the expression is heightened. The two Magellan ic 

 Clouds, which were probably first named Cape Clouds by 

 Portuguese, and subsequently by Dutch and Danish pilots, 80 

 most strongly rivet the attention of travellers, as I can testify 

 from personal experience, by the intensity of their light, their 

 individual isolation and their common rotation round the 

 South Pole, although at different distances from it. We 

 learn from the express mention and definite description of 

 these circling clouds of light by the Florentine, Andrea 

 Corsali, in his travels to Cochin, and by the Secretary of 



78 Report of the Fifteenth Meeting of the British Asso- 

 ciation for the Advancement of Science, Notices, p. 4; Nichol, 

 Thoughts, p. 23. (Compare pi. ii. fig. 1, with pi. vi.) In 

 the Outlines, 882, we find the following passage : u The 

 whole, if not clearly resolved into stars, has a resolvable 

 character, which evidently indicates its composition." 



79 Cosmos, vol. i. p. 69 and note. 



80 Lacaille, in the Mem. de VAcad. annee 1755, p. 195. 

 This is an unfortunate confusion of terminology, in the same 

 manner as Homer and Littrow call the Coal-bags Magellanic 

 spots, or Cape Clouds. 



