In modern times, however, a considerable number of fainter stars have been recorded as visible to the naked eye. The famous German astronomer, Heis, who had keen eyesight, records the positions of 3,903 stars north of the Equator, and 1,040 between the Equator and 20 degrees south declination, or a total of 4,943 stars between the North Pole and 20 degrees south of the Equator. This would, I find, give a total of about 7,366 stars for both hemispheres if the stars were equally distributed. Behrmann, in his _Atlas of Southern Stars_, between 20 degrees south declination and the South Pole, shows 2,344 stars as visible to the naked eye. This would give a total of 7,124 for both hemispheres. The actual number seen by Heis and Behrmann in both hemispheres is 4,943 + 2,344, or 7,287 stars. The Belgian astronomer, Houzeau, published a catalogue and atlas of the stars in _both_ hemispheres, made from his own observations in Jamaica and South America, and finds a total of 5,719 stars in the whole sky. As all these observers had good eyesight, we may take a mean of the above results as the total number visible to the naked eye in the whole star sphere. This gives 6,874 stars, or in round numbers we may say that there are about 7,000 stars visible to average eyesight in both hemispheres. This gives, of course, about 3,500 stars to one observer at the same time at any point on the earth’s surface. As the whole star sphere contains an area of 41,253 square degrees, we have an average of one star to six square degrees. In other words there is, _on an average_, one lucid star in a space equal to about thirty times the area covered by the full moon! This result may seem rather surprising considering the apparently large number of stars visible to the naked eye on a clear night, but the fact can not be denied. The stars are not, of course, equally distributed over the surface of the sky, but are gathered together in some places, and sparsely scattered in others, and this may perhaps help to give the impression of a greater number than there really are.