STAR-GROUPING, STAR-DRIFT, AND STAR-MIST. 139 



south-polar map, and five maps symmetrically placed round 

 that map ; and these five so fit in with the first five as 

 to complete the enclosure of the whole sphere. In effect, 

 every map of the twelve has five maps symmetrically placed 

 around it and overlapping it 



Since the whole heavens contain but 5932 stars visible 

 to the naked eye, each of the maps should contain on the 

 average about 593 stars. But instead of this being the case, 

 some of the maps contain many more than their just propor- 

 tion of stars, while in others the number as greatly falls 

 short of the average. One recognizes, by combining these 

 indications, the existence of a roughly circular region, rich 

 in stars, in the northern heavens, and of another, larger and 

 richer, in the southern hemisphere. 



To show the influence of these rich regions, it is only 

 necessary to exhibit the numerical relations presented by the 

 maps. 



The north-polar map, in which the largest part of the 

 northern rich region falls, contains no less than 693 lucid 

 stars, of which upwards of 400 fall within the half corres- 

 ponding to the rich region. Of the adjacent maps, two 

 contain upwards of 500 stars, while the remaining three 

 contain about 400 each. Passing to the southern hemi- 

 sphere, we find that the south-polar map, which falls wholly 

 within a rich region, contains no less than 1132 stars ! One 

 of the adjacent maps contains 834 stars, and the four 

 others exhibit numbers ranging from 527 to 595. 



It is wholly impossible not to recognize so unequal a 

 distribution as exhibiting the existence of special laws of 

 stellar aggregation. 



It is noteworthy, too, that the greater Magellanic cloud 

 falls in the heart of the southern rich region. Were there 

 not other signs that this wonderful object is really associated 

 with the sidereal system, it might be rash to recognize this 

 relation as indicating the existence of a physical connection 

 between the Nubecula Major and the southern region rich 

 in stars. Astronomers have indeed so long regarded the 



