, 1873-11-19

tlo Doss of Jhpltor into scrica Of clouds, n,oy-
ing a.ong III currents s approximately parallel to
appearance Of holts which, In tho best tclcacopog.
aro almost oxactly like tho holtn Of jnniior M NJ
through in1trunons Of losaor power
inyerao!y pr9poronta A. to the anlnllcr distance Of
tbnt noarly, If not quito oil Of llo light rotoutei
| by Saturn IL thrown back by tho clouds in his
atnonplioro. t lleoda very little knowledge OF
physics 10 SEQ TINT tho sntl1rnan clouds, Which
| the spcctfoAcopo shows us contain tho yapor nf
water, could only bo thus nearly porfect ~
\ mirrors. by virtue Of being worry dellae and rlao
| worry doop
Nov, il the earth, aa ut proaons constitutod,
Saturn, whoro she would receive only oae-nino-
toth part of tho aolar hoat TINT sllo rocoves at
present, tho formation OF clouds il, our atinoH.
nhero must bo corrospontlingly reduced, because
lieut., noting upon tho surface Of tho wator.
Hence baturn could exhibit ITO clouds If llo woro
constituted lilo tlo eartl, aud wo aro forced TO
tho conclusion TINT this donsoly-cloudod condi-
tion OF saturn'a asmophcre ia duo 10 cauao
which belongs to tlo planet. 1t IL interior, not
from without; but tho worry Bnnlo causo-hont.
Thu boty Of Saturn must, therefore, DO hot;
not aono In its fur interior, tho enrth is goI,-
orally beloved to bo to-day, Int In TINT portion
which W corresponds to tho position Of tho crust
III tho former history Of tho earth vo can find
parallel to tho proso1t condition of Saturn. IIo
,s probably yet in tho upheayal btago; Ills highly
hontcd substance being thinly coatol over with
ciontly to permit tho condemnation Of his clouds
into oceans, or oven form bctla in Which those
OCEANS nay rest. Even though ho may llayo nd
yancod ho:nowhat beyond tlls stage, his asmos-
carboNic nci1, aud other compound gasos, NJ
vol rs with tho ynpor Of water, 80 as to render
tmpoeslblo tho oxistonco Of any form Of nllimnl
Or yogesablo l'fo, except similar onos to those
gEantca which moved IN tho epoclls Immediately
succeeding tho azoic. No forms OF lifo st1cll as
those with which wc moot today aro possible on
tho surface Of Saturn and tlough we must
hero procood with cauton, 1t can scarcely bo that
reasoning crcaturcs, liavo yct appeared thero.
nut If wo pursue earth analogous wo must accept
1t as probable that hghor typos OF existence will
spring into bciug there in tho fur distant future,
and 1t may bo that Saturn is destined for tho
support ct yitalizoa ioma far superior in powor
ilizcd man found on this cartH, o. Saturn OK
Goods our gloho in magnitude.
we n1ny nlso draw m argument against tho
present habitability Of Saturn, from bis rolativo
weight. Though nearly seven hundred lines more
aa much matter as tho Garth. Honee Ills
density averages only ono-of.lltl that of tho
earth, or considerably loss than that Of distilled
Wator: Hut otir measures Of tho bulk Of Snturn
ablo to suppose that since Mercury, Mars, and
venus hnYo nearly tho ean1o densitics as our
earth, that the reaf bodyof Saturn viii also COM
paro nearly with 1t In that respect,-.he apparent
difference bolug duo to hia donaoly gaseous en-
velopoe Of many hundreds, perhaps thousands,
OF miles in thickness.
Looking at Saturn in the light Of tteso facts
anu ucdnctionB, We can scarcely regard AZ otlor
shan . fanelful epeeuations the efforts which 80
the magnificent views obsainable from his srr-
lace. what mattoEs it though the ring should
periodically exhibit golden arch Of Light, filling
ilargo proportion Of tho visible tirmaGens; tha5
that from Saturn nnother outer planot J, 1ni"hi
ee deserted OF. that from bis Yagt circliur
Orb tho parallaxos OF several hundreds
OF tho fixcd utars could bo dotorn,iuod
%nero aoo We haxo barely measured the distances Of
lase nov upon Tho colesta! scouely, as It viii be-
viewed by tho saturniana so,ho millions of wears
hence, becouso all the rest of tho universe is
oo;mthaally e.;1 GnangnF and the povitionB Of now
WI nos 10 tho positions Of then. Thoro will bo
no no longer Dippor, as viewed from any part Of
tho solar systom. The Girdlo of Orion vii have
dmnhllea to an insignificant cluster. siriua
viii no longer DO the brightest star u the tirma-
nah msas the slns.system Of sasurn himself viii
VI 1aoons aud partially fallen down aud sprcau |
ovor the body Of the planet. And even orr
sun, by tho gradual loas OF light, may bayo |
a"inaleu down to astar sending scarcely enough
Light to tho far-oT satellites Il Saturn to routier
thom visible from my par. Of this planot's sur
lace. These, aud many other changes, which |
even tho fnr-reachng ken Of the astronomer las |
not yet notod, will hayo occurred BY tho |
tlme tnat Saturn Is 2t for tie habitation Of bo-
only hayo become barren, as tho moon ia now.
but havo rolinquisled her claims to a sopar.to
oxistonce, and, falling into the embrace of tho |
sun, generate The supply Of light by which tho
saturuIana will DO ablo to look out unou thu
5lorics Of their own syatem.
Aud il We cannot find an additional rea.ou for
from tho speculation, nc NAV Mt |
cast stumble on rebuko to ol,r own pride. in
he reflection that the loss OF our OWL earth from
ne syssem would no not bo noticed by tho iuAabit-
1nts Of saturn. Our world, With its history Of
uch tremendous Importance to ouracIYos, its
consequential inhabitants, It's railroad rings Of
:1eater magnitude than the material ones Which
nrronnd tho planet, and its sciontitlc nsaoca-
nd tho infinitely little, is not visible from from
suoteuds with TIC sun being Only S dosroep ns,.
,horoas we experience great difficulty in sooing
loaensy e., when ho m s s. thrico as much elongated
rom the sun !; and tho greatest apparent diam
ter of tue Garth is but onc-half Tint Of Uranus
. ra WHOM lo il barely visible to the naked avo
etar Of tho sixth magnitude.
Our comparison Of the surface conditions Of
lara a., ana saturn though conducted partially by
II nislos ua with strong proof Of the truth Of !
iat theory, independently Of tho starting point;
lille at The Same time it opens up difficulty ID
10 way OF accepting TINT part OF 1t wh1clI ac-
cunts ior planetary existence solely by auppos- 4
,g tho successive throwing OF Of rings from
10 central body OF the System. We have in ,
lars q body much farther advanced in the gcalo !
world development than is Saturn aud wly? !,
nuoublodly bscauso Of the vast difference
J., 1nG 9l quantities OF mattor, contained in the
~ times as much matter as Mars. {
onco 10 Should DO 80 much longer in