Letter, from Richard Anthony Proctor to Sir John Herschel, dated at 5 Trigon Road, Kennington Autograph letter signed by sender. Reports on his studies of stellar and nebular distributions, discussing especially whether the Magellanic Clouds show a relation to the Milky Way stars. Speculates on whether recent studies on meteors bear on stellar formation and change. Stresses need for statistical studies in stellar astronomy. 3 April 1870