which enables the lunarians to see the stars
even at midday, and disposes of all the
annoyance of unseasonable clouds and of
"the error of refraction," for perhaps few
satellites except our own are without at-
mosphere, and there is plausibility in the
argument that the absence of atmosphere,
and consequently of all water or fluid, in-
volves a difference of constitution of such
magnitude as to defeat all imagination as to
the nature of the lunarians' organization.
But look only at the incentives to astronomy
which the lunarians would have, if they
exist at all, in having an earthlight, in the
absence of the sun, fourteen times as splen-
did as our moonlight, and, moreover, one
which begins, to inhabitants of this side of
the moon, to grow as sunlight fades, and to
diminish as sunlight begins, an advantage
which we have not, since our time of diurnal
revolution is so much shorter than that of
the moon's that we often have nights with-
out moonlight, while their long fortnight of
darkness is-upon the near side of the
moon-never without earthlight. Then
what an incentive to astronomical observa-
tion would be the different astronomical
phenomena of the two sides of the moon,-
the one which is turned away from the earth
never seeing the great earthlight at all,
but having always a fortnight of uninter-
rupted night between the visits of the sun!
About 350 hours of continuous possibility
of astronomical observation every fortnight,
without liability to clouds or mists of any
kind, on both sides of the moon, and an
enormous lamp fourteen times the size of
our moon, hung on one side to attract observa-
tion by its brilliant phases throughout the
long night, would certainly seem to be won-
derful advantages for the astronomer. Yet
the moon is one of the least remarkable
points of observation among the satellites
of our system. The nearest satellite of
Jupiter (about the size of our moon) for in-
stance, has in that planet a moon not 14
times the magnitude, of our moon, but 320
times that magnitude, which is a light al-
ways waxing or waning during its night of
not more than about 21 to 22 hours. Besides
this it has frequently the light of the other
three subordinate moons, all of which must
be very brilliant when not at their greatest
distance from it, and the frequent occulta-
tions or eclipses of the other satellites by
each other and by the huge planet itself,
which must occur so constantly as to ac-
quire the sort of value as a measure of time
which the motion of the hands of a clock
have for us. Hence the variety of brilliant
astronomical phenomena occurring in the

Jovian system is far greater and more exciting, especially to an inhabitant of one of the satellites, than is easy for us to conceive. Imagine 320 moons crowded together in one sky - dimly lit as we should think, it is true, but as brilliantly lit in relation to the sunlight there as our moon is in relation to sunlight here- and this huge moon eclipsing almost every night one or more of three lesser moons, none of these insignificant, and we may imagine how much earlier the beings in Jupiter's satellites, if even as intelligent as ancient Egyptians, must have been provoked to study and systematize the motions of this great illuminated clock, with its one mighty hand and three little ones, - than the inhabitants of earth.

But even they had no incentive to astronomy to compare with observers, if observers there are, upon one of the rings or satellites of Saturn. It is true indeed that if the new theory as to the rings of Saturn have any foundation, a station on the rings of Saturn cannot be eligible to any person possessed of delicate chronometers, transit instruments, or other valuable astronomical weapons. For if it be true that the rings are nothing but mobs of satellites jostling each other in all directions, rushing like billiard-balls in pursuit of each other, now overtaking and running down a minor world, now overtaken and run down by a huge one, then, no doubt, our Astronomer Royal would respectfully decline to permit the use even of his least valuable instruments in such an observatory as that, and Messrs. Cooke, the instrument-makers, would shut up shop there at once.

But this is not true of the nearest of the satellites, Mimas; and there are now believed to be some quite solitary members of the mobs of satellites of which the rings are composed, on the edges, interior and exterior, of each ring, which would be safe and most instructive situations for an observatory. To an observer in such a såtellite on the interior edge of the interior ring, the spectacle of Saturn as a huge half-moon occupying one-eighth of the whole vault of heaven, must be inexpressibly magnificent. Such an observer would of course see only half the planet, the half above his own situation in the plane of the ring; but as he would rotate round this huge planet in little more than ten hours, instead of taking a whole month to do it, like our moon, he would see in about five hours this enormous half-crescent swelling into a halfmoon, and then in five hours more diminishing again into invisibility. To aid the conception, imagine only seeing from St. Paul's a half-moon that should cover a whole

a yellow sun's dawn, a red sun's dawn, and a blue sun's dawn, the three colours blending when all were above the horizon, and making a yellowish white light; then on the setting (say) of the blue sun, leaving a yellowish crimson day, and on the setting of the yellow sun, a purely crimson daylight. In such a planet the nights would be of course rarely more than evening, as all three suns could hardly be invisible together. But, what a variety of shades of feeling and association would be produced by the multiplicity of lights and combinations of light under which the landscapes of such a planet would be seen! Probably every additional external aid to the discrimination of seasons and periods would produce a new complexity

eighth of the visible vault, stretching over tells us, in which planetary astronomers the sky so as to cover (say) the whole must have far more curious and complicated heavens behind and above the river, through phenomena to observe, than any known to all the reaches from Vauxhall Bridge to the us even by inference. Take, for instance, Thames Tunnel,- and seeing it grow so the case of double or even triple stars, or rapidly that in five hours it increased from suns, of different colours revolving round a mere brilliant line, the arc of a quadrant their common centre of gravity. On a on the horizon, to such a mighty plain of planet of any one of these, you might have light as this, and then dwindled again at the in one part of its course orange days, in same rate. Moreover across this vast sur- another red, in another blue; in another face of light you would see the mighty belt perhaps two or even three distinct dawns, of shadow cast by the rings, as the tourist on the Brocken sees his own gigantic shadow on the western clouds at break of day. And such an observer, when his mighty moon was setting and his own day coming, would almost invariably have to forego a large part of it, owing to the necessary solar eclipse which the great shadow of the planet would inflict upon him as he came round to face the sun. Then, if you suppose him to be at the same time a witness of the terrible game at bowls which is supposed to be the permanent condition of Saturn's rings, and which might make Rip van Winkle himself tremble, we may easily conceive that the astronomical phenomena with which we are acquainted are child's play to those witnessed by the astronomers of intellectual organization, and a planet with of the Saturnian rings. There are besides eight outside moons, their phases, and their eclipses by the planet, to observe, in addition to the mighty planetary moon and its rings; and the nearest to Saturn of these outside moons passes round the outer ring so rapidly that its motion minute by minute is more visible than that of the minute hand of a watch. Of all such marvels, M. Amèdée Guillemin and his gorgeous illustrations give us a far more vivid conception than any popular handbook of astronomy known

to us.

changes so various, with such cross-lights and cross-shadows of different colours, would, in all probability, have wholly different genera and species of plants and animals from those of worlds in which the great agency of light is uniform. To such a world we can imagine that Turner may have gone to receive, in addition to the one talent which his profound study of our poor colours had multiplied into ten, ten talents more. But the magnificence of the celestial scenery which such books as these suggest is far too great for the dimensions of any newspaper article, and we must leave our readers to refer to the magnificent work we have noticed, for hints of celestial scenery even more various and wonderful than any we

Nor is it only in our own system that the subordinate situations seem to have so great an advantage in astronomical opportunities, and variety of phenomena, over the central ones. There are other systems of which have attempted to describe. the book which has suggested this article

A THANKSGIVING.]
LORD, for the erring thought
Not into evil wrought;
Lord, for the wicked will
Betrayed and baffled still;
For the heart from itself kept,
Our Thanksgiving accept.

For ignorant hopes that were
Broken to our blind prayer;
For pain, death, sorrow, sent
Unto our chastisement;
For all loss of seeming good,
Quicken our gratitude.

No. 1143. Fourth Series, No. 4. 28 April, 1866.

POETRY: Abraham Davenport, 210. Once upon a Time, 221. The Backwoodsman, 253. Trust and Rest, 268.

SHORT ARTICLE: Death of Gordon Cumming, 236.

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