Astronomy and the Bible;

240 ASTRONOMYANDTHEBIBLE

tioninthenebulawhichcaused"thefounderofmod-
ernastronomy"touse theexpression,"ahole inthe
heavens."
The picture makes it appear almost as if some
mighty sun orheavenlyglobe had tornthroughthe
nebula,leavingtheopeningbehind.
Thinkingthisproblemout,SirJohnHerschelgave
hisviews ofthematterinthe followingwords:"In
theCoalsack (nearaCrucis),a sharplydefinedoval
spacefreefromstars,itwouldseemmuchmoreprob-
ablethataconicalortubularhollowtraversesthewhole
ofastarry stratum,continuouslyextended fromthe
eyeoutwards, than thata distant mass ofcompara-
tivelymoderatethicknessshouldbesimplyperforated
fromsidetoside."

—

''Outlines,"sectionygs,page5J^.
Becauseofthissuggestion fromHerschel,wefind
Humboldtwritingofthesamephenomenonasfollows

:

"WilliamHerschel'sconsiderationofwhollystarless
regionsinScorpioandSerpentarius,andwhichhehas
termed 'openingsintheheavens,'led metotheidea
thatthestarrystrata,lyingbehindoneanotherinsuch
regions,maybelessdense,orwhollyinterrupted,and
thatourinstrumentsbeinginsufficienttopenetrateto
theselaststrata,'welookintotheremoteregionsof
spaceasthroughtubes.'"

—

"Cosmos,''volume4,pages

34^>349-
In the first volume of his "Cosmos," Humboldt
speaksinaquitesimilarstrain. Iquote: "Ifwepic-
turetoourselvesthetelescopicstarslyingbehindone
another,thesestarlessregionsinScorpioandSerpen-
tariusmay,Ithink,beregardedastubesthroughwhich