, 1889-06-19

that possibility, however, should keep IN
mind the fact that on account of its great
distance each square mile Of the surface
of Saturn gets only One-eightieth or nine.
tieth part of the amount of light and heat
from the sun that a similar area on the
earth gets.
But it does not require the presence of
life upon Saturn or Jupiter to invest those
globes with the "liveliest interest, since, if
they are actually in a formative condition,
with their real planetary history still
before them, we can behold, in watching
them, something of those unknown pro.
cesses of creation by which the world we
dwell upon was shaped. It is from this
point of view that q recent announcement
concerning Saturn, sent from the ObServa.
tory of DR.. Terby at Louvain to aStr0nO.
mers all over the world, awakened curi0.
sity. DR.. Terby announced that he had
seen q white region on the rings against
the shadow of the planet, 1t should be
said that the shadow Of Saturn lying
across the rings where they pass behind
it can be plainly seen with telescopes, and
it was in this shadow that DR.. Terby saw
the white region. 1t is only when we
come to consider the scale of
the phenomenon that it begins to stir our
interest. Many thousands of square miles
of the surface of the rings must have been
illuminated by the strange light in order
that the effect should be visible from the
earth. Of course many telescopes we're
quickly pointed upOn the ringed planet OF
the receipt of DIR. Terby's announcement,
and several observers Immediately saw
the light on the rings. Some of them
describe it only as a slight whitening at
the border Of the shadow, and suggest
that it may have been merely an effect of
contrast. This explanation, however, will
not suffice for the more definite ObServa.
tions of others, who evidently saw the
phenomenon under more favorable circum.
stances. Mr.. Brooks of Geneva has seen
it repeatedly, aud says it exhibits pulSa.
tons of light SAT irregular intervals, rang.
ing from two to seven minutes"
Having been seen on many successive
nights, and at or near the same spot, it Is
evidently more than q mere passing phe.
nomenOn, although it is probable, judging
from the history of former apparitions of
q somewhat similar character, that it will
not he of long duration. But since Saturn
rOtates OH its axis in about ten hours, and
the rings revOlve around the planet with
great speed, the persistence of the light
in a certain definite locality opposite the
night side of the planet becomes q most
puzzling fact. If it has its origin on the
rings, then it ought to revOlve with them
instead of remaining in II place while
they whirl under it, like a beam Of sun.
light lying across a running belt. 1t
would be easier to understand how the
light could be a reflection upon the rings
from the globe, as Prof. Lewis Swift has
suggested, if the globe did not rotate on
it's axis. In that case, the imagination
might reasonably picture it as the refiec-
ton of some stupeudous volcanic Outburst
or confagrati0n on Saturn.
Whatever it may be, the thing is there,
and If the astronomers cannot explain it,
it is not on that account to be ignored.
Like the mysterious red spot which broke
out on Jupiter in 1873, and which is still
visible and still ~unaccOunted for, it is
another proof of the tremendous scale on
which changes are taking place on the
larger planets of the solar system. Our
little earth has all but completed it's
geological development, and having be.
come q comparatively inert mass, is
stripped of the splendor that once
marked it as q star. Upon the hardened
surface of this extinguished globe mar
has appeared in his turn, and deigns to
admire its beautiful adaptation to his
needs. But the advent of man, and the
whole career of the earth that bears him,
is of infnitesimal account in the physical
history of the solar system. The really
great planets OF that system, If recent
discoveries are rightly interpreted, may