150 Olseruations on the singular Figure 



upon the following part of the ring, which as it were cuts 

 off the ring from the body. 



The shadow of the ring on the body, which I see south 

 of the ring, grows a little broader on both sides near the 

 margin of the disk. 



The division between the two rings is dark, like the va- 

 cant space between the ansae, but not black like the shadow 

 I have described. 



There are four satellites on the preceding side near the- 

 ring J the largest and another are north-preceding ; the 

 other two are nearly preceding. 



April ly. I viewed the planet Saturn with a new 7-feet 

 telescope, both mirrors of which are very perfect. I saw 

 all the phaenomena as described last night, except the satel- 

 lites, which had changed their situation ; four of them 

 being on the following side. This telescope however is not 

 equal to the 10-feet one. 



The remarkable figure of Saturn admits of no doubt : 

 when our particular attention is once drawn to an object, 

 we see things at first sight that would otherwise have 

 escaped our notice. 



]0-feet reflector, power 400. The night is beautifully 

 clear, and the planet near the meridian. The figure of 

 Saturn is somewhat like a square or rather parallelogram, 

 with the four corners rounded off deeply, but not so much 

 as to bring it to a spheroid. I see it in perfection. 



The four satellites that were last night on the preceding, 

 are now^ on the following sid'j, and are very bright. 



I took a measure of the position of ihe four points of the 

 greatest curvature, and found it gi° 29^ This gives their 

 latitude 4 3° 44', 5. I believe this measure to be pretty ac- 

 curate. I set first the fixed thread to one of the lines, by 

 keeping the north- preceding and south-following two 

 points in the thread ; then adjusted the other thread in 

 the same manner to the south-preceding and north-follow- 

 ing points. 



May 5, 1805, I directed my 20-fect telescope to Saturn, 

 and, with a power of about 300, saw the planet perfectly 

 well defined, the evening being remarkably clear. The 

 shadow of the ring on the body is quite black. All the other 

 phasnomena ar.i very distinct. 



The figure of the planet is certainly not spheroidical, like 

 that of Mars and Jupiter. The curvature is less on the 

 equator and on the poles than at the latitude of about 45 

 degrees. The equatorial diameter is however considerably 

 greater than the polar. 



In 



