tation in asserting that we are _in the midst_ of that inconceivable
host of stars--of suns--of systems--which constitute the Galaxy. Moreover,
not only have _we_--not only has _our_ Sun a right to claim the Galaxy as
its own especial cluster, but, with slight reservation, it may be said
that all the distinctly visible stars of the firmament--all the stars
Visible to the naked eye--have equally a right to claim it as _their_
own.

There has been a great deal of misconception in respect to the _shape_
of the Galaxy; which, in nearly all our astronomical treatises, is said
to resemble that of a capital Y. The cluster in question has, in
reality, a certain general--_very_ general resemblance to the planet
Saturn, with its encompassing triple ring. Instead of the solid orb of
that planet, however, we must picture to ourselves a lenticular
star-island, or collection of stars; our Sun lying excentrically--near
the shore of the island--on that side of it which is nearest the
constellation of the Cross and farthest from that of Cassiopeia. The
surrounding ring, where it approaches our position, has in it a
longitudinal _gash_, which does, in fact, cause _the ring, in our
vicinity_, to assume, loosely, the appearance of a capital Y.

We must not fall into the error, however, of conceiving the somewhat
indefinite girdle as at all _remote_, comparatively speaking, from the
also indefinite lenticular cluster which it surrounds; and thus, for
mere purpose of explanation, we may speak of our Sun as actually
situated at that point of the Y where its three component lines unite;
and, conceiving this letter to be of a certain solidity--of a certain
thickness, very trivial in comparison with its length--we may even speak
of our position as _in the middle_ of this thickness. Fancying ourselves
thus placed, we shall no longer find difficulty in accounting for the
phaenomena presented--which are perspective altogether. When we look
upward or downward--that is to say, when we cast our eyes in the
direction of the letter's _thickness_--we look through fewer stars than
when we cast them in the direction of its _length_, or _along_ either of
the three component lines. Of course, in the former case, the stars
appear scattered--in the latter, crowded.--To reverse this explanation:--An
inhabitant of the Earth, when looking, as we commonly express ourselves,
_at_ the Galaxy, is then beholding it in some of the directions of its
length--is looking