738 THE UNIVEKSE. 



Although the dispersion of the nebulse apparently does 

 not follow any plan, yet some exact law seems to have 

 presided at their formation, for there are generally very 

 few stars in their vicinity, as if they had drawn towards 



325. The C'nib Neliula, C'onstellatiou of tlie Bull {Taurus). 



their centre all the cosmical particles of the regions in 

 which they are placed. Thus Herschel, in his nocturnal 

 explorations, when he saw few stars pass before his instru- 

 ment, calculated upon a nebula appearing in their place, 

 and was so certain of this that he used to tell his secre- 

 taries to be ready to take a note of them. "Be ready to 

 write," he would say, "the nebulte are coming." 



The Clouds of ]\Tagellan, those luminous patches which 

 cover so large a space in the southern region, and look 

 like rags torn from the Milky Way, present a complex 

 composition, being analogous to a certain extent with 



