718 Reviews. [Oct., 



bedding, having been deposited by the sea during a subsequent partial 

 submergence. The rock-basins, both those now under the sea and 

 inland, he unhesitatingly attributes to the scooping power of land ice, 

 as well as the generally rounded form of the lesser hills, and those of 

 the Southern Uplands of the Borders. 



The work is accompanied by a very beautifully executed geological 

 map of Scotland, published originally by the author conjointly with 

 Sir R. Murchison, but embracing all improvements up to the present 

 time ; and we can only say in conclusion, that whether or not we 

 agree in every point with the author, we have no hesitation in admit- 

 ting the ability with which the subject is treated, and the rich store of 

 observations on the physical geology of Scotland which tho book 

 contains. 



SATURN AND ITS SYSTEM.* 



When the peculiarity and beauty of the Saturnian system are considered, 

 it cannot be surprising that it has attracted much attention and been 

 the subject of many speculations. Even before the invention of the 

 telescope it is probable that a peculiarity of configuration, due to the 

 presence of the rings, had been recognized by the ancient astronomers, 

 who surveyed the heavens from the elevated plains of Asia. For in a 

 letter written some years ago to Sir J. Herschel, by the Rev. Mr. 

 Stoddart, from those very plains (from Oroomiah, in Persia), the 

 following suggestive passage occurs : — " It is not too much to say that, 

 were it not for the interference of the moon, we should have seventy- 

 five nights in the three summer months superior for purposes of obser- 

 vation to the very finest nights which favour the astronomer in the New 

 World.f I was very curious to know whether any traces of Saturn's 

 ring could be discovered. To my surprise and delight, the moment I 

 fixed my eyes upon it steadily the elongation was very apparent. 

 . . . Several of my associates, whose attention I have since called 

 to the planet, at once told me in which direction the longer axis of the 

 ring lay, and that too without any previous knowledge of its position 

 or acquaintance with each other's opinion." The extraordinary clear- 

 ness of the eastern atmosphere may perhaps serve to explain a curious 

 statement in ' The Phenomena ' of Aratus, written about 240 B.C., viz. 

 that men say, and poets pretend, that one of the planets has passed 

 away. "Whence it seems probable that the people from whom the 

 Greeks derived their astronomical system could distinguish one planet 



* ' Saturn and its System : containing Discussions of the Motions (real and 

 apparent) and Telescopic Appearance of the Planet Saturn, its Satellites and Eings ; 

 the Nature of the Rings ; the " great inequality " of Saturn and Jupiter ; and the 

 Habitability of Saturn. To which is appended Notes on Chaldaean Astronomy, 

 La Place's Nebular Theory, and the Habitability of the Moon ; a Series of Tables, 

 with Explanatory Notes, and Explanations of Astronomical Terms.' By Ricliard 

 A. Proctor, B.A., late Scholar of St. John's College, Cambridge, and King's Col- 

 lege, London. London : Longman & Co. 



t Mr. Stoddart was an American, and had observed in many parts of the world 

 with efficient instruments of his own construction. 



