8ATUBN8 OBSCURE EIXG. 



elusive proof of the unique phenomenon of a semi-transparent 

 annular appendage to this planet. 



10. The planet surrounded by this compound system of rings 

 is represented at the head of this chapter. The drawing is 

 reduced from the original sketch, made by Mr. Dawes. The 

 principal division of the bright rings is visible throughout its 

 entire circumference. The black line, supposed to be a division 

 of the outer ring, is visible iu the drawing of Mr. Dawes ; but 

 was not at all seen by Mr. Lassell. 



A remarkably bright thin line, at the inner edge of the inner 

 bright ring, was distinctly seen by Mr. Dawes in 1851 and 1852. 



The inner bright ring is always a little brighter than the planet. 

 It is not, however, uniformly bright. Its illumination is most 

 intense at the outer edge, and grows gradually fainter towards 

 the inner edge, where it is so feeble as to render it somewhat 

 difficult to ascertain its exact limit. It would seem as if the 

 imperfectly reflective quality there approaches to that of the 

 obscure ring recently discovered. The open space between the 

 ring and the planet has the same colour as the surrounding sky. 



11. The rings must obviously form a most remarkable object in 

 the firmament of Satumian observers, and must play an important 

 part in their uranography. The problem to determine their 

 apparent magnitude, form, and position, in relation to the fixed 

 stars, the sun, and Satumian moons, has, accordingly, more or 

 less engaged the attention of astronomers. It is nevertheless a 

 singular fact that, although the subject has been discussed and 

 examined by various authorities for three quarters of a century, 

 the conclusions at which they have arrived, and the views which 

 have been generally expressed and adopted respecting it, are 

 completely erroneous. 



12. In the Berlin Jahrbuch for 1786, Professor Bode published 

 an essay on this subject, which, subject to the imperfect knowledge 

 of the dimensions of the rings which had then resulted from the 

 observations made upon them, does not seem to differ materially 

 in principle from the views adopted by the most eminent astrono- 

 mers of the present day. 



Sir John Herschel, in his "Outlines of Astronomy," edit. 

 1849, states that the rings as seen from Saturn appear as vast 

 arches spanning the sky from horizon to horizon, holding an 

 almost invariable situation among the stars ; and that, in the 

 hemisphere of the planet which is on their dark side, a solar 

 eclipse of fifteen years' duration takes place. 



This statement, which has been reproduced by almost all 

 writers both in England and on the continent, is incorrect in 

 both the particulars stated. First, the rings do not hold an 



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