"Now any one who was in the habit of intently studying the heavens would naturally observe that each constellation has two characteristics, the number of the stars which compose it and the geometrical figure which they form. Here, as a recent writer [, Lea étapes de la philosophic mathématique] has remarked, we find, if not the origin, a striking illustration of the Pythagorean doctrine. And, just as the constellations have a number characteristic of them respectively, so all known objects have a number; as the formula of Philolaus states, 'all things which can be known have number; for it is not possible that without number anything can either be conceived or known.'"