Another feature of the tendency in question is that it is more and
more marked as we include fainter stars in our count. The galactic
region is perhaps twice as rich in stars visible to the naked eye
as the rest of the heavens. In telescopic stars to the ninth
magnitude it is three or four times as rich. In the stars found on
the photographs of the sky made at the Harvard and other
observatories, and in the stargauges of the Herschels, it is from
five to ten times as rich.
Another feature showing the unity of the system is the symmetry of
the heavens on the two sides of the galactic belt Let us return to
our supposition of such a position of the celestial sphere, with
respect to the horizon, that the latter coincides with the central
line of this belt, one galactic pole being near our zenith. The
celestial hemisphere which, being above our horizon, is visible to
us, is the one to which we have hitherto directed our attention in
describing the distribution of the stars. But below our horizon is
another hemisphere, that of our antipodes, which is the
counterpart of ours. The stars which it contains are in a
different part of the universe from those which we see, and,
without unity of plan, would not be subject to the same law.
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