Easton is of opinion that the annular hypothesis of the Milky Way is inconsistent with our present knowledge of the galactic phenomena, and he suggests that its actual constitution resembles more that of a spiral nebula.[473] On this hypothesis the increase in the number of stars in the regions above referred to may be due to our seeing one branch of the supposed "two-branched spiral" projected on another branch of the same spiral. This seems supported by Sir John Herschel's observations in the southern hemisphere, where he found in some places "a tissue as it were of large stars spread over another of very small ones, the immediate magnitudes being wanting." Again, portions of the spiral branches may be richer than others, as photographs of spiral nebulæ seem to indicate. Celoria, rejecting the hypothesis of a single ring, suggests the existence of _two_ galactic rings inclined to each other at an angle of about 20°, one of these including the brighter stars, and the other the fainter. But this seems to be a more artificial arrangement then the hypothesis of a spiral. Further, the complicated structure of the Milky Way cannot be well explained by Celoria's hypothesis of two distinct rings one inside the other. From analogy the spiral hypothesis seems much more probable. Considering the Milky Way to represent a colossal spiral nebula viewed from a point not far removed from the centre of the spiral branches, Easton suggests that the bright region between β and γ Cygni, which is very rich in comparatively bright stars, may possibly represent the "_central accumulations of the Milky Way_," that is, the portion corresponding to the nucleus of a spiral nebula. If this be so, this portion of the Milky Way should be nearer to us than others. Easton also thinks that the so-called "solar cluster" of Gould, Kapteyn, and Schiaparelli may perhaps be "the expression of the central condensation of the galactic system itself, composed of the most part of suns comparable with our own, and which would thus embrace most of the bright stars to the 9th or 10th magnitude. The distance of the galactic streams and convolutions would thus be comparable with the distances of these stars." He thinks that the sun lies within a gigantic spiral, "in a comparatively sparse region between the central nucleus and Orion." Scheiner thinks that "the irregularities of the Milky Way, especially in streams, can be quite well accounted for, as Easton has attempted to do, if they are regarded as a system of spirals, and not as a ring system."