Remarks on Saturn. 145 



they are solid or fluid continuous bodies, or composed of 

 separate rings, however numerous, and whether solid or fluid. 

 Hence it follows that the system is composed of separate 

 bodies, necessarily small, since otherwise they would be sepa- 

 rately visible. 



" I may remark, in conclusion, that I am very far from 

 claiming for my work the character of ' an exhaustive mono- 

 graph •/ but I think some of the observations referred to as 

 not noticed in Saturn are referrible to disturbances of the 

 earth's atmosphere, rather than to peculiarities in the physical 

 condition of Saturn's system/-' 



[We think that Mr. Proctor has quite misconceived our 

 meaning with regard to " reference to original authorities. " 

 We have no idea whatever that he has not made the most 

 perfectly warrantable use of his materials, or that he has in 

 the least attempted, or wished to attempt, to take credit for 

 anything not justly his own. But it is not so easy as it might 

 have been, and as we should have preferred, for his own sake 

 as well as his readers', to ascertain what his materials were. 

 We always consider it matter of regret when writers of merit, 

 in treating of subjects requiring accuracy, and involving possi- 

 ble differences of opinion, do not indicate explicitly the sources 

 of their information; it is scarcely fair even to themselves, as 

 exposing them in some cases to remarks which may possibly 

 have no foundation, but for which, as arising from their own 

 reticence or indistinctness, their readers are not to blame. 



With regard to the idea of a possible vaporous constitution 

 of the rings, which did not originate with us, and which we 

 are not much concerned to defend, we may observe that Mr. 

 Proctor's conclusion can have no greater force than his weaker 

 premises, which assumes, what we are not disposed to admit, 

 that the materials of the Saturnian system, and their modes of 

 existence, are more' similar to our own than has ever yet been 

 demonstrated — we may perhaps add, are ever likely to be. 

 We know absolutely nothing of the possible density of vapour 

 there, the substances which may compose it, or the conditions 

 under which it may subsist. As to the power of intercepting 

 and reflecting light, it seems to us to present no obstacle. A 

 mass of dense terrestrial cloud in the position of the ring 

 would, we believe, be found fully as luminous, and its shadow 

 equally obscure.— So again, in giving Mr. Proctor great credit 

 for his solution of our difficulty as to the appearance of the 

 dusky ring across the ball, we cannot say that it appears 

 entirely satisfactory to us. The introduction of the shadows 

 of the satellites is very ingenious ; but though we admit that 

 those shadows would seldom be hidden by the bodies that 

 produced them, we think that, considering the multitude of 



VOL. VIII. — NO. II. L 



