292 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



aqueous vapor into clouds there have been signs, on more occasions 

 than one, of Jovian hurricanes blowing persistently for several weeks 

 together at a rate compared with which the velocity of our fiercest 

 tornadoes seems utterly insignificant. During the year 1860, a rift in 

 one of the Jovian cloud-belts behaved in such a way as to demonstrate 

 the startling fact that a hurricane was raging over an extent of Jovian 

 territory equalling the whole surface of our earth, at a rate of fully 150 

 miles per hour. It is not too much to say that a hurricane of like ve- 

 locity on our earth would destroy every building in the territory over 

 which it raged, would uproot the mightiest forest-trees, and would 

 cause in fact universal desolation. At sea no ship that man ever 

 made could withstand the fury of such a storm for a single minute. 

 And yet this tremendous Jovian hurricane continued to rage with un- 

 abated fury for at least six weeks, or for fully one hundred Jovian 

 days. 



But during the last two or three years a change of so remarkable a 

 nature has passed over Jupiter as to imply the existence of forces even 

 more energetic than those at work in producing atmospheric changes. 



In the autumn of 18V0, Mr. Browning (the eminent optician and 

 observer) called the attention of astronomers to the fact that the great 

 equatorial zone, usually, as we have said, of a creamy-white color, had 

 assumed a decidedly orange-tint. At the same time it had become 

 much less uniform in outline, and sundry peculiarities in its appearance 

 could be recognized, which have been severally compared to port-holes, 

 pipe-bowls, and stems, oval mouldings, and other objects of an unceles- 

 tial nature. Without entering into descriptions which could only be 

 rendered intelligible by means of a series of elaborate illustrations, let 

 it suffice to say that the bright edges of the belts bordering on this 

 ruddy equatorial zone seemed to be frayed and torn like the edges of 

 storm-clouds, and that the knots and projections thus formed often ex- 

 tended so far upon the great orange zone from both sides as almost to 

 break it up into separate parts. 



Now, without inquiring into the particular form of action to which 

 these remarkable changes were due, we can see at once that they 

 implied processes of extreme energy. For, every one of the projec- 

 tions and knots, the seeming frayed edges of narrow cloud-streaks, 

 had, in reality, an extent exceeding the largest of our terrestrial coun- 

 tries. Yet their aspect, and indeed the whole aspect of the ruddy 

 belt, whose extent far exceeded the whole surface of our earth, changed 

 obviously from night to night. 



Strangely enough, these interesting observations, though they were 

 presently confirmed by several well-known students of the heavens, did 

 not attract that full attention, from the senior astronomers of the day, 

 which they appeared to merit. Several, indeed, of our leading astrono- 

 mers were disposed to deny that any thing unusual was in progress, 

 though none asserted definitely that they based this opinion on a care- 



