Manchester Mejnoirs, Vol. h. (1910), No. \. 17 



The velocity with which a body is ejected from the 

 interior of a planet, as I have said, determines whether it 

 shall be designated a comet, a cometary satellite, or a 

 cometary ring. If the latter, it will be obvious that, from 

 whatever part of the circumference of the planet the 

 discharge takes place, the ejected matter will necessarily 

 move in the same direction as the axial rotation. More- 

 over, if the discharge continued without interruption 

 during one or more rotations of the planet a complete 

 ring of discrete bodies would be formed in accordance with 

 the accepted theory and observations. 



It will be further evident from the three orders of 

 cometary discharge specified above, the formation of the 

 outer ring A preceded that of the next inner ring B, as 

 shown by the interval of 2,585 miles of clear space 

 between them. 



That the second ring was formed some time sub- 

 sequently to the first, is highly probable from the long 

 period of intermittent discharges observable in terrestrial 

 volcanoes, and also in celestial explosive action, of which 

 there are abundant instances in planetary volcanoes and 

 variable stars. 



That the third and dusky ring C of Saturn represents 

 its last and final effort of cometary evolution is shown by 

 the wide separation of the discrete bodies of which the 

 ring C is composed, and further indicated by its semi- 

 transparency through which the body of the planet is 

 distinctly visible. 



I have not included in the table of distances the now 

 well-recognized subdivisions of the exterior ring A and of 

 the dusky ring C, so distinctly seen in the photographs, 

 but they are sufficiently definite for a measurement to be 

 taken of their width, which is approximately 230 miles. 



