relating to the Construction of the Heavens . 311 
have a nucleus completely formed, the nebulosity on each side 
of it is comparatively reduced to a fainter state than it is in 
nebulae of which the nucleus is apparently still in an incipient 
state. These faint opposite appendages to the nucleus I have 
in my observations called branches. 
In some nebulae there is also an additional small faint 
nebulosity of a circular form about the nucleus, and this I have 
called the chevelure. The following two assortments contain 
twenty-eight nebulae of this kind.* 
Number 65 of the Connoissance is “ A very brilliant nebula 
“ extended in the meridian, about 12' long. It has a bright 
“ nucleus, the light of which suddenly diminishes on its 
“ border, and two opposite very faint branches.” Fig. 29. 
I. 205 is “ A very brilliant nebula, 5' or 6' long and 3 or 4/ 
“ broad ; it has a small bright nucleus with a faint chevelure 
“ about it, and two opposite very extensive branches. Fig 30. 
The construction of these nebulae is certainly complicated 
and mysterious, and in cur present state of kowledge it 
would be presumptuous to attempt an explanation of it ; we 
can only form a few distant surmises, which however may 
lead to the following queries. May not the faintness of the 
branches arise from a gradual diminution, of the length and 
density of the nebulous matter contained in them, occasioned 
by its gravitation towards the nucleus into which it probably 
subsides ? Are not these faint nebulous branches joining to a 
nucleus, upon an immense scale, somewhat like what the zo- 
diacal light is to our sun in miniature ? Does not the chevelure 
* See Twenty-three extended nebulae with a nucleus and two opposite faint 
branches. I. 9, 13, 15, 27, 32, 75, 130, 160, 163, 187, 188, 195, 223, 228, 230. 
II. ioi, 650, 733. IV. 6 1. V. 43. Connoiss, 65, 83, 98. 
Five with a nucleus, chevelure and branches . 1 . 194, 205, 210, V. 45, Connoiss. 94. 
