on the local arrangement of the celestial bodies in space. 325 
stars took place, and those which had been verified by the 
preceding powers, received subsequent additional illumina- 
tion. With the whole space-penetrating power of the in- 
strument, which is 28.67, the extremely faint stars in the 
field of view acquired more light, and many still fainter sus- 
pected whitish points could not be verified for want of a still 
higher gaging power. The stars which filled the field of 
view were of every various order of telescopic magnitudes, 
and, as appears by these observations, were probably scattered 
over a space extending from the 204th to the 344th order of 
distances. 
As the power of the 10 feet reflector could not reach far- 
ther into space, I shall have* recourse to some of my nume- 
rous observations made with the 20 feet telescope. In addi- 
tion to 863 gages already published,* above 400 more have 
been taken in various parts of the heavens, but with regard 
to these gages, which on a supposition of an equality of scat- 
tering were looked upon as gages of distances, I have now 
to remark that, although a greater number of stars in the 
field of view is generally an indication of their greater dis- 
tance from us, these gages, in fact, relate more immediately 
to the scattering of the stars, of which they give us a valuable 
information, such as will prove the different richness of the 
various regions of the heavens. 
July 30, 1785. Right ascension 19 11 4'. Polar distance 87° 5'. 
The milky way is extremely rich in stars that are too small 
for the gage. 
Dec. 7, 1785. Right ascension 5 11 33'. Polar distance 66° 6’. 
* See Phil. Trans, for 1785, p. 221 . 
