on Nebulous Stars. 83 
Suppofing the connection between the ftar and its furround- 
ing nebulofity to be allowed, we argue, that one of the two 
following cafes muft neceflarily be admitted. In the firft place,- 
if the nebulofity confift of ftars that are very remote, which 
appear nebulous on account of the fmall angles their mutual 
diftances fubtend at the eye, whereby they will not only, as 
it were, run into one another, but alfo appear extremely faint 
and diluted ; then, what muft be the enormous fize of 
the central point, which outfhines all the reft in fo fuper- 
lative a degree as to admit of no comparifoa ? In the next 
place, if the ftar be no bigger than common, how very fmall 
and compreffed muft be thofe other luminous points that are 
the occafion of the nebulofity which furrounds the central 
one? As, by the former fuppofition, the luminous central 
point muft far exceed the ftandard of what we call a ftar, fo, 
in the latter, the ftiining matter about the center will be much 
too fmall to come under the fame denomination ; we therefore 
either have a central body which is not a ftar, or have a ftar 
which is involved in a (hining fluid, of a nature totally un- 
known to us. 
I can adopt no other fentiment than the latter, fince the 
probability is certainly not for the exiftence of fo enormous a 
body as would be required to (bine like a ftar of the 8th mag- 
nitude, at a diftance fufficiently great to caufe a vaft fyftem of 
ftars to put on the appearance of a very diluted, milky nebu- 
lofity. 
But what a field of novelty is here opened to our concep- 
tions ! A (hining fluid, of a brightnefs fufficient to reach us 
from the remote regions of a ftar of the 8th, 9th, 10th, nth, 
or 1 2th magnitude, and of an extent fo confiderable as to take 
up 3, 4, 5, or 6 minutes in diameter! Can we compare it to 
M 2 the 
