\ Germ., Sternhaufen; French, 3,mas d'etoilea.
t Cosmos, vol. iii., p. 142.
J Oalilei notd che le Nebulose di Orione nulV altro erano eke mucehi t
eoacirvazioni d' innumerahili Stelle." — Nelli, Vita di Galilei, i , p. 208



i8 COSMOS.
in. whicli he exults in having discovered 4C0 hitherto unob-
served stars in a space of one or two degrees. He never
makes any reference to unresolved nebulous matter. Yet
how could the great nebulous spot in the sword of Orion, have
failed to rivet his attention ? But, although this great ob-
server probably never saw the irregular nebula in Orion, or
the roundish disk of a so-called irresolvable nebula, still his
general views* on the intrinsic nature of nebulous spots were
very similar to those to which the greater number of our
astronomers of the present day inchne. Like Galileo, Heve]
of Dantzig, who, although a distinguished observer, was not
much inclined to rely upon telescopic observation for aid in
cataloguing the stars,t made no mention in his writings of
the great nebula in Orion. His star catalogue, moreover, did
not contain upward of 16 nebulous spots, of which the posir
tions were accurately determined.
At length, in the year 1656, Huygens discovered the neb-

* " In primo integram Orionis constellationem pingere decreveram ;
vero, ab ingenti stellarum copia, temporis vero iuopia obrutus, aggres-
eioaem banc iu aliam occasionem distuli. Cam non tantum in Galaxia
Lacteus ille candor veluti albicantis nubia spectetur, sed complures con-
similiscoloris areola sparsimper tsthera subfulgeant, si in iliarum, quam
libet Bpecillum convertas, stellarum constipatarum coetum ofiendes.
