on Nebulous Stars . 75 
On June the 27th, sy 86, I faw a beautiful dufter of very 
fmall ftars of various fizes, about 15' in diameter, and very 
rich of ftars (a). On viewing this objedl, it is impoffible to 
withhold our aflent to the idea which occurs, that thefe ftars 
are connedted fo far one with another as to be gathered toge- 
ther, within a certain fpace, of little extent, when compared 
to the vaft expanfe of the heavens. As this phenomenon has 
been repeatedly feen in a thou land cafes, I may juftly lay 
great ftrefs on the idea of fuch ftars being connedted. 
In the year 1779* the 9th of September, I difcovered a very 
fmall ftar near e Bootis (b). The queftion here occurring, 
whether it had any connedtion with e or not, was determined 
in the negative ; for, confidering the number of ftars fcattered 
in a variety of places, it is very far from being uncommon * 
that a ftar at a great diftance (hould happen to be nearly in a 
line drawn from the fun through s 9 and thus conftitute the 
obferved double ftar. 
The 7th of September, 1782, when I firfi: faw the plane- 
tary nebula near v Aquarii (c), I pronounced it to be a fyftem 
whofe parts were connedted together. Without entering into 
any kind of calculation, it is evident, that a certain equal 
degree of light within a very fmall fpace, joined to the particu- 
lar ftiape this objedt prefen ts to us, which is nearly round, and 
even in its deviation confiftent with regularity, being a little ellip- 
tical, ought naturally to give us the idea of a conjundtion in the 
things that produce it. And a confiderable addition to this 
argument may be derived from a repetition of the fame phe- 
nomenon, in nine or ten more of a fimilar conftrudlion. 
(a) RA. 18 h. 20' 2". PD. 107° 3'. 
(b) Phil. Tranf. Vol. LXXII. p. 115. Catalogue of Double Stars, I, 1. 
(c) RA. 20 h. 52' 36". PD. I 05 t° 12'. 
L 2 
When 
