Sect. 2. Of the Fixed stars.

lived before him, inserted 1022 Stars intohis Catalogue, about 120 Years before theChristian Æra: This Catalogue has beensince enlarged and improved, by severallearned Men, to the Number of 3000; ofwhich there are a great many Telefcopical,and not to be discerned by the naked Eye;and these are all ranked in the Catalogue,as Stars of the seventh Magnitude.

It may seem strange to some, that there areno more than this Number of Stars visibleto the naked Eye; for sometimes, in a clearNight, they seem to be innumerable: Butthis is only a Deception of our Sight, arisingfrom their vehement sparkling, while weI look upon them confusedly, without re-ducing them into any Order, for there canseldom be seen above 1000 Stars in thewhole Heavens, with the naked Eye, at thefame Time; and if we should distinctly viewthem, we shall not find many but what areinserted upon a good Celestial Globe.

I Altho’ the number of Stars that can beIdifcerned by the naked Eye, are so few, yetlit is probable there are many more whichjare beyond the reach of our Opticks; forIthro’ Telescopes they appear in vast Multi-Itudes, every where dispersed thoughout theIwhole Heavens; and the better our Glassesjare, the more of them we still discover .TheIngenious Dr. Hook has observed 78 Stars in|the Pleiades , of which the naked Eye isI D never