sss : 



eittulght'in the night might be- augmented; yet at t 

 conjunctions and oppositions with one another, and v\ irh- 

 the sun, we should have- tides that would raise the waters 

 over too much of our dryland; and in their quadra- 

 tures we should have io lide'at alL Aaurn, if our moon 

 were bigger or nearer the earth, or if we had more than 

 one, at any tolerable di.st;-ti)c<i from us, we should be 

 every now and then in hazard of being stifled by the 

 noxious jstevvins arizing from the ocean. From all which 

 it is evident, how wisely our satellite hus been contrived 

 for our purposes. 



6. Mars, as well as Venus, Mercury, and the moon, 

 lias various appearances, more or less lull, as it is various- 

 ly placed, with regard to the sun arid -tlie .earth, t 



&re observed on ins surface also, from the regular motion- 

 of which we learn, that he revolves round his axis from 

 west to east, in twenty-four hours and forty minutes. 

 He moves round the sun in two years, and it is thought 

 to be eight times smaller than the earth. 



7. Jupiter is encompassed from west to east with two 

 or three lucid belts, not always appearing alike. In one 

 of them asppt is constantly observed ; and they regu- 

 larly move from west to east. Hence we learn^ that he 

 revolves round his axis, which he does in nine hours and 

 fifty six minutes. He is likewise attended by four smaller 

 planets or satellites, like our moon. Each^ of these 

 move round him in its slated period, and all move with 

 him round the sun in twelve years. Jupiter is supposed 

 "by some to be twenty-five; by others 4096 times larger 

 tilau the earth. 



8. The highest planet, Saturn, is encompassed with a 

 broad -ring, which is not contiguous to bis body, but is 

 suspended over him equally distant from every part of his 

 surface. He has five satellites^ o-r moons, moving round 

 him in their stated periods. The brightest of these, . 

 \vhiclt is the fourth, was first discovered by Mr. liuygens, 

 in- the .year l6'5o The rest were discovered 



