SATURN. 219 



in miniature. These Saturnian satellites are almost indescribable 

 as tiny light points, even when seen under a high power telescopi- 

 cally, nor is this surprising when we remember the vast difference 

 that separates us from such comparatively small objects ! The 

 wonder is that we can glimpse them at all in the feebleness of their 

 reflected lights, and it is by their light-power that their diameters 

 are estimated. 



What a mighty pendulum-like sweep has Japetus, the outermost 

 sateUite of the mighty Saturnian system, swinging around his 

 centre from side to side over a distance of 4,471,460 miles — nearly 

 twice as great as that of the Jovian assemblage. Let us wing our 

 flight in imagination away to the night side of Japetus, and picture 

 the great globe of Saturn encircled with that mighty ring of light, 

 floating before our gaze, amid the star-spangled, myriad-orbed, 

 ethereal expanse. What a spectacle ! an arc of soft light moving 

 athwart the sky, measuring probably some 5^ across, or equal to 

 about ten of our full moons in diameter ; but, of course, of more 

 feeble light. Can all this wonderful creation serve no useful 

 purpose ? One feels compelled to think that all the wisdom in 

 such a design must have a corresponding use, and that life in some 

 form or of some kind fitted to its environment is there, in some 

 one or more parts of the system. Our able astronomer, the late 

 Mr. Procter, inclined to the opinion that the moons of Saturn did 

 not serve the purpose our moon does to us, as lamps to light the 

 Saturnian nights, but rather that they were possibly places of habi- 

 tation. If this is so, then the conditions there must be the very 

 antithesis of our surroundings here ; but Saturn does not seem to 

 be in that sun-like stage, glowing with heat and light necessary to 

 the existence of life as we know it. Yet life there may be, pecu- 

 liar to itself and place, which is a problem as yet unsolved, and 

 probably unsolvable by man. 



The lowest temperature thus far attained is 264^ below^ zero 

 Celsius, which Prof Olazewski employed in his experiments with 

 the liquefaction of helium. According to this investigator, helium 

 can be used for filling thermometers which arc employed for 

 measuring very low temperatures. — PJiarin. Era. 



