“HEAVEN. 
ereafe upon him, and when he refolves one nebula into ftars 
lie difcovers ten others, which he cannot refolve. e then 
forms the idea of immenfe ftrata of fixed ftars, of BM Tlf 
‘flars, and of nebule; till going on with fuch cgeunr yea 
ebfervations he perceives that all thefe appearances muft n 
turally arife from the confined fituation in which we are 
placed. 
Confined indeed it may be called, though inno lefsa {pace 
than what before appeared to be the whole region of the. 
th 
fixed ftars; but which now has affumed the fhape of a 
crookedly Beuntched pebulaa ; not indeed one of the leaft, but 
perhaps, very far from being the moft confiderable of thofe 
numberlefs eluf ers that Ra into the conitruction of the 
cc op 
Dr. H. then gives.a number of obfervations, Logan he calls 
gages, and arrives at this conclufion, ** That we inhabit the 
xY * 
_ Dr. Herfchel, after giving a ay detailed defcription of 
our nebula, proceeds to give an-account of the origin 
nebulous ftrata, and obferves, that if it were poffible to dif- 
tinguifh between the parts of an indefinitely extended whole, 
t aid to be one that has fewer 
rata. There are, m 
a great ppaer of ite though under a much more 
fcattered fo 
Dr. Herfchel fufpects, that parts of our fyftem have alread 
fuftained greater ravages 0 time than others, if this west § 
ion may be allowed; for inftance, he found, in the bod 
the Scorpion an opening or hole, which he thinks is probably 
owing to this caufe. ‘This opening is at leaft four degrees 
broad, but its height is not yet afcertained. It is remarkable 
that the 80 nebulen/2 fans etoiles of the Connoiffance des temps, 
which is. one of the richeft and moft comprefled clufters of 
finall flars, i is fituated ‘ult on the weftern border of it, and 
would almoft authorize a fufpicion, that the ftars of which it 
is compofed were colle¢ted from that place, and had left the 
ancy. What (3a not a little to the probability of this fur- 
mite i is, that the fame pl! 
os fourth clutter ee Wats of the Connoi Pani des mg ween 
o on the w order of anot 
moreover a {mall, tke clutter, or cally selohectle ak, 
of about 2} uote in diameter, north following it at no 
very great difta 
Dr. Herfchel cbferes, that there is a remarkable purity 
or clearnefs in the heavens when we look out of our ftratum 
at the fides ; thati a towards Leo, ips and Coma peer 
nices one one fide, and towards Cetus on the other ; where. 
s the ground of the heavens becomes poate as we ap- 
proach towards the length or height of it. He fays, it 
was a good while before he could trace the caufe of thefe 
phenomena ; but that fince he has been acquainted with the 
fhape of our fyftem, he thinks it plain that thefe troubled 
appearances, when we approach the fides, are eafily to be 
explained, by aferibin f them to fome of the diftant ftraggling 
el y light enough to be gern 
i e actually 
Witte 
an 
i y judge from appearances, “are now draw- occafioned them. But in looki gt oles of our 
owards various fecond centres, a time,- fyftem, where the vifual ray does aa ce ong the fides, 
feparate into different clufters, fo as to caufe many fub- the ftraggling ftars will of courfe be ve in number, 
i sa ence we may furmife, that when a Tatiidous and therefore the ground’ o of the aa will affume that . 
of time, occafioned the 
it to be in a certain lie ‘accor ing as 
as to 
ule, or ei ane at be e difficult to point out th many 
ee or gathering clufters in it. Dr. Herfchel re- 
marke, that t j 
r. Herfchel 
ee iene 
Solo 
| tried arte aioe pole, where Se. pet 
apa our fituation, diamet 
Buty which is always obferved to take place in thofe 
reg 10 
re ufed to call the appearance.of the heavens, where 
it is faxounded witha bright zone, the milky-way ; there 
are other remarkable nebule which cannot well be lefs, but 
are cacheable“ ih much larger than our own fyftem, and haa 
alfo extended, the inhabitants of the planets that attend the 
ftars which compofe them, muft likewife perceive the fame 
phenomenon ; for which reafon they may alfo be called milky- 
.ways by way of diftinGion. 
Dr. Herfchel’s opinion of thes age is grounded on the 
following obfervations.. There round nebule of 
the firft form, of about five or fix 1 gE made in sand the 
ftarsof which he can fee very diftin€tly, and on c 
paring 
‘them with the vifual ray, calculated =e fome oF his long 
es, he fuppofes by pearance of the fmall ftars in 
aiete "gue that the Mery t aa round nebulz may be 
600 times the diftance of Sirius fro 
In efhinating the diftance of fuch alates: Dr. Herfchel 
—— rather the comparative ly apparent fize of the flars, 
mnatual diftance; for the condenfati ion in thefe 
feattering of the 
of the centre of fac a ye from 
3 
