and Astronomical Notices. 185^ 



climate in consequence spread from the poles towards the 

 equator, and leave the record of such a condition in glacial" 

 handwriting on the everlasting walls of our mountain ravines, 

 of which there is such abundant and unquestionable evidence. 

 As before said, it is the existence of such facts as we have 

 in stars of transitory brightness, and the above-named evi- 

 dence of an arctic climate existing in what afe now genial" 

 climates, that requires some adequate cause to be looked for/ 

 I have accordingly hazarded the preceding remarks as sug- 

 gestive of a cause, in the hope that the subject may receive 

 that attention which its deep interest entitles it to obtain. 



" This view of the source of light, as respects the existence 

 of the luciferous element throughout space, accords with the 

 Mosaic account of creation, in so far as that light is described 

 as having been created in the first instance before the sun was 

 called forth." 



Discovery of another Planet by Mr Hind. — On May 19th, Mr 

 Hind, at Mr Bishop's Observatory, succeeded in discovering another 

 small planet, RA then 16^^ 4™, and N P D 183° 23'. It has since 

 been named by Sir J. Herschel Irene, and a dove with an olive branch, 

 and a star on the head, assigned it as a symbol. The brightness 

 of the planet at the time of discovery was rather over that of a star 

 of the ninth magnitnde ; the light was very blue, and there appeared 

 to be a surrounding faint nebulous envelope, which was not percep- 

 tible about the stars in the vicinity. 



The distance of Irene from the sun proves to be 2-554, and the 

 period 1491 days, coming very close to the last previously discovered 

 asteroid, Egeria, the numbers for which were respectively 2*579 and 

 1513. 



An interesting feature in the history of the discovery, is the fact 

 of its having been independently found only four days later by the 

 active Neapolitan, M. Gasparis, and is the first instance among the 

 asteroids of the same body being separately discovered by two per- 

 sons, though there are few of the comets where the honour has not 

 been more or less divided. 



Saturn's dark Ring, — The interesting, and, as it was thought, 

 new feature, seems to have been discovered by Encke as far back as 

 1838, and to have been- published at the time with as many details 

 as have now been ascertained by Messrs Bond, Dawes, and Lassel. 

 It is to be regretted that in all the intervening time no transit of 

 the ring across a star should have been observed to give an idea of 

 the number and transparency of the light and dark rings, which 

 Professar Bond is inclined to think must be of a fluid nature. 



