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bability is very great, that there would not have been 
any fuch bars fo near together, if all thofe, that 
are not lefs bright than themfelves, had been fcattered 
at random through the whole heavens. 
After what has been faid, it will be natural to 
inquire, whether, if the liars are in general collected 
into fyflems, the Sun does not likewife make one of 
l'ome fybem ; and which are thofe, amongft the 
fixed liars, that belong to the fame fybem with him- 
felf. Now, fuppofing the liars of one fyllem to be, 
in general and at a medium, of the fame fize and 
brightnefs with thofe of another, the number of liars 
of any one apparent magnitude would bear the fame 
proportion to the number of Hars of any other 
apparent magnitude, as they would do, in cafe all the 
liars were fcattered uniformly, and not in fyllems, pro- 
vided the eye was not placed in or near to one of thofe 
fyllems. And, in this cafe, the brightnefs decrealing, 
as the fquare of the didance inverfely, and the fphere, 
in which they are included, increaling, as the cube 
of the didance directly, the number of bars of any 
one degree of brightnefs and upwards, diould be, as 
the cube of the fquare root of that brightnefs. Sup- 
poling then the fainted of the 2000 blighted: bars 
to be lefs bright than the fainted of the fird 70, 
in the proportion of about 30 to 1 (and I think the 
difference is not lefs than this) this number is fmaller, 
than we might have expedted, if the Sun was not one 
of a fydem, in the proportion of 2000 to about 
j 2000 or 1 to 6; but I lhall lay the lefs brcfs upon 
this argument, for want of a more certain determina- 
tion of the proportion of light, which we receive 
from the bars of different magnitudes. 
