Astronomy and the Bible;

THEOPENSPACEINORION 239

wroteandrequestedhimtopayparticularattentionto
thetailoftheScorpion,becauseSirWilliamHerschel
hadbeenmuchstruckwiththeabsenceofstarsthere
and withthe altogether abnormaldisposition of the
nebulousmatterwhichexiststhere.
"SirJohn,writingtohisauntonJune6, 1834,re-
pliedthathehadexaminedpartsoftheconstellation
Scorpio as requested, and that he had found many
clusters ofstars, and a nebulaofremarkable shape.
Hisaunt,inthankinghim,said: 'Itisnottoclusters
ofstarsthatIwasreferring. Onenightyourfather,
after a longand painful silence, criedout, Hierist
wahrhaftigeinLochimHimmel [Hereistrulyahole
intheheavens];andafterhavingdwelta longtime
onit,heleftit,notknowingwhattomakeofit.' On
thestrengthofthisstatement,SirJohnHerschelseems
to have returnedto thesubject, withthe resultthat
he found,inthefollowing,patchesofskyabsolutely
devoidofallstars.

R.A.