1865.] Saturn and its System. 719 



more than was discernible from Greece. This people, as we shall 

 have occasion to point out further on, was most likely the Assyrian ; 

 and the fact quoted above from Mr. Stoddart renders it possible that 

 they might have guessed at the true structure of the Saturnian system, 

 and precludes the necessity of our resorting to the author's conjec- 

 tures, that the rings in early times were of much larger size than at 

 present, and therefore easier of detection, or that telescopes as power- 

 ful as Galileo's were then in use. If, however, the knowledge of this 

 system ever did exist it must have been lost in the lapse of time, for 

 in none of the ancient astronomical writings, so far as we know, is it 

 alluded to. To mention only one : Hyginus, the general bent of whose 

 studies and whose position as librarian at Mount Palatine must have 

 made him accurately acquainted with the opinions of more ancient 

 writers, is silent concerning it. In the ' Poeticon Astronomicon ' the 

 planet is briefly described as of great size, and of a yellow hue, and 

 as being " similis ejus stellae, quae est in humero Orionis dextro." 



But though, like all other physical sciences, astronomy has been 

 greatly progressing, and that especially during the past two centuries, 

 yet it would be altogether unjust to think lightly of the results 

 obtained by the old philosophers, because their most powerful instru- 

 ments were their eyes, because they were ignorant of logarithms and 

 fluxions, or because they supposed the stars to influence human 

 destinies. Mr. Proctor has done well, therefore, we think, to carry 

 us back in imagination to primitive times, and thence to lead us step by 

 step over the ground trodden by the contemplative men of the East, 

 until they attained to the loftiest and possibly the justest conceptions 

 of the grandeur, extent, and beauty of the universe. In his own 

 words, " the time thus spent would not be altogether wasted if we 

 only learnt thence lessons of patience and watchfulness." The method 

 of teaching astronomy by first discarding all the appliances and aids 

 which modern ingenuity has devised, and directing the pupil's unaided 

 gaze to the view presented by the sky on a starry night, is altogether 

 a novel one, but is as useful as it is novel, and is, moreover, as natural 

 as it is useful, for not one in a hundred, perhaps, enjoys the advantages 

 of telescopic aid till long after he has begun to watch and reflect on 

 the strangeness of the planets' apparent motions. Placing the reader, 

 therefore, in the position of a Chaldsean observer, Mr. Proctor shows, 

 in a style peculiarly clear, how, on the true system of the universe 

 being known, from simple and easily ascertained data conclusions 

 of the most important character are deducible. To begin with the 

 discovery of the planet in question, a discovery the explanation of 

 which, as well as of its apparent motion, and of very much more in 

 the book, is " applicable, with suitable changes in matters of detail," to 

 other members of the solar system, thus rendering the work, though 

 professedly limited to the consideration of one planet only, a valuable 

 treatise on general astronomy. An Eastern shepherd, gazing night 

 after night through the clear depths of his matchless skies, has his 

 attention for the first time attracted by a dull yellow star. He is 

 probably possessed of a rough map of the stars, and on referring to it 

 cannot satisfactorily determine that the one in question is indicated. 



