Clusters and Nebulaa. 263 



in tlie slightest degree. But it was reserved for the 

 Earl of Rosse, the constructor of the optical colossus of the 

 age, to make known that in the spring of 1846 he "first per- 

 ceived the brighter portions of the nebula of Orion in the 

 neighbourhood of the trapezium breaking up into minute stars.'" 

 It had been repeatedly examined with his 3-feet mirror in 

 vain ; but, according to the Herschelian maxim, that when an 

 object has once been discovered, inferior instrumental means 

 will show it afterwards, some of the individuals could be sub- 

 sequently detected on very fine nights with that telescope also. 

 Sir J. Herschel, in the superior air of the Cape, considered that 

 its granular texture evidently indicated its starry nature. 

 Bond, with his 14f inches of achromatic aperture, found that 

 the components were " separately seen for a moment under 

 favourable circumstances." Secchi, like De Yico before him, 

 thought that the Oauchoix achromatic of 6J- inches showed 

 twinklings and unequivocal signs of resolution in the clearest 

 evenings (but those were Roman evenings), and, subsequently, 

 with the 9^-inchMerz and a power of 1000, these bright points 

 were more steadily seen. Now what are we to think of all 

 this ? or how are these seeming contradictions to be reconciled ? 

 Nothing seems to be absolutely demonstrated on either side ; 

 but admitting all the modern observations to be of equal 

 weight, we may perhaps be drifting towards the supposition 

 that the minute granulations into which those cloudy masses 

 seem decomposable may not after all be stars, in the usual sense 

 •of the word; or that, as Secchi thinks, the brighter portions 

 may consist of stars, while the fainter may be of another nature, 

 and actually situated, as indeed Herschel I. had suspected, 

 even nearer to us than some of the bright stars with which they 

 seem connected. We may never be able to unveil the whole 

 mystery, but it is reasonable to hope somewhat from the future. 

 Larger telescopes are called into existence every year ; and the 

 result of LasselPs re-examination at Malta with his 4-feet 

 speculum has not, it is believed, been made publicly known. 

 He stated, in January 1862, that he saw so much more of its 

 wonderful constitution as to feel the necessity of drawing it 

 afresh ; but his expressions, founded it is true upon a cursory 

 view in not the most favourable circumstances, do not imply 

 great hope of resolution ; in fact he was ' c surprised, perhaps 

 disappointed, not to see many more new stars." His final re- 

 port will be received with the greatest interest. 



The well-known trapezium has been already described as 

 No. 93 of our list of Double Stars. The addition of the 5th 

 star by W. Struve occasioned much surprise, the group having 

 been so often studied before, through a long series of years, with 

 telescopes fully competent to have shown it. Sir J. Herschel 



