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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 April 2016
Both Holmberg (1961) and de Vaucouleurs (1963, 1973) found a significant difference between the mean velocities of the different morphological types in the Virgo cluster of galaxies. To check on any dependence of this result upon spatial distribution, Lewis (1975) plotted the position of every object in the compilation of de Vaucouleurs (1961) as a function of its type. Figure 1 is the resulting plot for the elliptical galaxies, which appear to lie within two well-defined and well-separated groups. The principal parameters of these groups are listed in Table I. Arp (1967) briefly noted the linear form of the northern group centred on NGC 4486. This paper examines the evidence for the physical existence of these groups.