234 ASTRONOMYANDTHEBIBLE
beenstudied orthe success which has attended the
effortstolearnsomethingofitscharacter.... Even
wholevolumeshavebeenwrittenwhichtreatofnoth-
ingelse."—Ball's''Storyofthe Heavens,"page434.
'TheEncyclopsediaBritannica"callsit"oneofthe
most remarkable nebulae." Another writernames it
"supremeintheglitteringskiesofournorthernwin-
ter,"andfurtherremarks,"Thetelescopedoesnotre-
vealinalltheheavensamore wonderfulobjectthan
thegreatnebulalyingjustbelowOrion'sbelt." ("The
StarsinSongandLegend,"chapteronOrion.) An-
othersays,"Oneofthemostremarkableandbrilliant
nebulae." ("TheBeautyof theHeavens," page93.)
Anotherwriterdeclares: "Allotherirregularnebulae
sinkintoinsignificancecomparedwiththatshownby
anoperaglassasasilverypatchroundoneofthestars
inOrion'ssword. Thisextraordinaryobject (M42)
has been under effective observation for 250 years,
and during the last eighty has been monographed,
mapped,measured,figured,andphotographedwitha
diligenceworthyofitspreeminence." ("TheSystem
oftheStars,"page264.) "TheNewInternationalEn-
cyclopedia"saysofOrion,"Itisthemostbrilliantof
the constellations;" and "The Encyclopaedia Britan-
nica"remarksthat"Orionisoneofthemostconspicu-
ousconstellations;" while Ball says ofit:"Thevery
splendidnebulain Orion, which is oneofthe most
gloriousobjectsthatcanbeseeninatelescope." "The
greatnebulainOrionisknowntobethemostglorious
bodyofitsclass thattheheavensdisplay." ("Inthe
HighHeavens,"pages 214,236.)