time be found. Some of them could be descried with the naked eye, and, yet, the highest telescopic power that could be applied did not resolve them. It was, therefore, concluded that they differed essentially in their constitution from the resolvable nebula. It was held that they consisted of nebulous matter, in the process of condensation. The advocate of the nebular hypothesis regarded them as quite analogous to the nebula, from which the sun and planets were supposed to be evolved. Nebula3 were pointed out in all the various stages of condensation, from the diffuse mist to the perfect star, and they were maintained to be demonstrative of actual growth, just as we conclude that there has been growth when in a forest we see all gradations, from the tender sapling to the full-grown tree.
The large telescopes of Lord Rosse and other observers have, however, dissipated such speculations. The nebulas which presented the most obstinate character, and long resisted all attempts at resolution, have at last yielded. The great test-objects, such as the nebula in Orion and the one in Andromeda, which are faintly discernible by the naked eye, and which resisted all former attempts, have now been resolved. It was on such remarkable cases, that the speculation chiefly rested, and now that the foundation is removed, its plausibility is gone. It is true that many nebula are still unresolved, but this we must expect to be the case, however great the telescopic power may be.
