54 The Planet Saturn. 



THE PLANET SATITKN. 



It' is to be regretted that the gradual opening of the ring- 

 system of Saturn should be associated with his downward 

 progress into the constellations of the wintry zodiac. During 

 the last season, though the steady air of the warm June 

 eveniugs permitted his features to bear a closer scrutiny than 

 might have been expected from his position, astronomers must 

 have longed for the clearer views of a higher altitude ; and 

 they will have still more cause for dissatisfaction for some 

 years during his future visits to onr midnight sky. This will 

 not only be a source of disappointment to the mere ordinary 

 " star-gazers," but to those who are anxious to use their 

 powerful instruments in exploring the mysteries of this most 

 mysterious system. Poulkowa will be entirely hors de combat, 

 and even Harvard much less qualified than it formerly proved 

 itself to deal with those minute details, on the correct percep- 

 tion of which the interpretation of the larger features will pro- 

 bably be found to depend. The necessity of future scrutiny is 

 sufficiently evident, and in this impatient age we are little 

 disposed to acquiesce in the long delay that must elapse before 

 that slow revolving planet brings round his opened ring at a 

 suitable altitude above our horizon. 



These observations are not somucli prompted by the recent 

 withdrawing of the planet into the evening twilight, as by the 

 appearance of a remarkable work, bearing the title of Saturn 

 and its System ,* which is well deserving of the study of those 

 who feel an interest in this wonderful object. The book is 

 constructed on a most comprehensive plan, embracing both 

 the mathematical and physical aspects of the subject, discussing 

 at great length many of the curious questions which so naturally 

 arise out of it, and comprising a great number of elaborate 

 tables, which seem to have been prepared with extreme care. 

 Although, however, it contains a great deal which it would give 

 much trouble to find elsewhere, and some things which appear 

 to us of a very original character, we cannot say that nothing 

 has been omitted which might be expected in a really complete 

 and exhaustive monograph, especially in regard to details of 

 physical structure. Here we cannot but feel the want of a 

 more extensive recognition of the results obtained by the best 

 authorities of the present day. No allusion, for instance, has 

 been made to the singular distortion of the outline of the 

 shadow of the ball upon the ring, so apparent in the designs 

 of De la Eue, Lassell, Bond, and Secchi, and so difficult to be 



* Saturn, and Us System. By Richard A. Proctor, B.A. Longman and Co. 

 1865. 



