on the local arrangement of the celestial bodies in space . 331 
two parallel lines in the figure, representing the breadth 
of the milky way, will, on each side of the centre of the in- 
closed circle, extend to more than the 39th order of distances. 
From this it follows, that not only our sun, but all the 
stars we can see with the eye, are deeply immersed in the 
milky way, and form a component part of it. 
Slough, near Windsor, 
May 10, 1817. 
WILLIAM HERSCHEL. 
