A GIRDLED ORB.

Otago Witness, Volume 25, Issue 2321, 25 August 1898, Page 59

A GIRDLED ORB.

By a Banker.

Suspended high in space, and slowly proceed?* ing» on its giant orbit round our central luminary, may frequently be observed that which is by far the most magnificent and strange of all the celestial wonders. T.o the early astronomera this great body, so different to anything else in the great vault of heaven, was a profound mystery. Galileo, the first to observe it through a telescope, exclaimed, " Surely sonio demon has mocked me," and even at this day of advanced science, comparatively little of absolute and certain knowledge is possessed respecting the strange phenomena it presents. Differing from all other members of the planetary system, Saturn reveals, in a powerful telescope, a spectacle of extraordinary grandeur and splendour. Although attended by its eight great satellites —■ tho laigest of which, Titan, is almost the size of the planet Mars —which must at all times vividly illumine the short Saturaian night, the gre'tt orb ia provided with three gigantic rings, two of them bright and shining, the inner ring dark and sombre. The outer verge of the external ring is no less than half a million miles in circumference, while the inner edge of the nearest ring is removed 10,150 miles from the planet's surface, the entiro breadth of these immense rings being about 39,000 miles, whila their width ia estimated at only about 10ft miles. The aspect presented by theso stupendous circles from the planet itself, after the sun has sunk, must bo superbly grand and imposing. The spectator viewing' tho scene from a poinfl about 30deg from the planet's equator would! seo a gigantic sombre rainbow of dark purple light orching the entiro scene from horizon to horizon (a distance nearly ten times greater than that of our own horizon), this rainbowbeing believed by scientists to bo comprised of myriads of sma-ll satellites, diminutive little moons in countless multitude travelling round: the planet at a prodigious pace, for the whole of tho tremendous journey is performed i:i less thaa 11 hours. Beyond this, and joining its outer edge, is another brilliantly-ilhiminated arch of light, 18,300 miles'in breadth, also believed to be formed of an aggregation of mirrato satellites, revolving round tho central orb at a still greater rate of speed, whila at an interval of about 1750 miles the third great shining rainbow encircles tlie others high xip in the heavens. If astronomers are correct in their surmise thnt these lings are thus formed, what a vast body of little worlds must be aggregated together, myriads upon myriads of dimiuutive me ens, removed only, perhaps, a few hundred miles, or even less, from each other, the outer ones rushing round at the tremendous rate of about H miies a second. And unless all their orbits are absolutely free from ellipticity what scllisions must continually be taking place as some of the minute globes, perhaps only a few miles in. diameter, gradually infringe upon the orbits of their neighbours, at length, crashing together, and, especially if the direction of their rotation be diverse, grinding each other fco powder until they again separate and continue their headlong course round and round the ulnnet. If we could assume that Saturn is inhabited, which however is doubtful, as the planet has not yet attained its mature condition, what a perennial source of interest would be presented in the spectacle of all these little satellites racing and colliding with each otlier, some of them twirling round aach other like a "sun and planet" wheel; some knocked out of their orbit and pounding iato their fellows; some, perhaps, smashed into atoms, which again in their turn become agglomerated together and form new globes; the entire headlong journey of each of the careering bodies from its first appearance above tho far-distant horizon, right up to the zenith of the arch, and down again to sink below at the opposite pomt, being accomplished 11? the space of ar hour or two. But surely those who, by regulating their lives and actions according to the precepts and doctrines of the Holy Bible, attain to the "resurrection of the just" will have the power nor, only to view this strange spectacle, but also, if they will, to range through the whole—to alight on one of the rolling balls and travel round with it, probably enjoying the excitement with far greater zest than would hays b-en possible in their earth life. But there are alas! others who, solely through their own fault, will never have this power or this pelmission.

— Through persistent experimenting a pro* cess has been discovered by which glass can lie hardened to the consistency of steel, and its first practical application is being given to the manufacture of skates. "No," said the tortoise haughtily. "I have Avon the championship, and I shall retire. I shall never race again." And the backers of the hare departed mournfully. Thcv were willing to bet 50 to 1 on the result of a return match. — Miss Chatter: "I kneAV you would b« here to-day to see sister." Mr duller (mterroc): "Intuition?" Miss Chatter : No, observation. You always appear on the same day that Ethel refuses onions at dinner." — "What are the holes for?" asked little Edna, looking at the porous plaster thai; her mother was preparing to adjust on Willies back. " It's funny you don t know foal, sis," interposed Willie. "They're to let the pain out, of course." — Her Sweet Friend.— Miss Antique :» 'I can't help wonder; iig «•'•« that old gentleman can be who has been at me all this evening." Miss Frankly v} "Why, that is Professor Nunis, the most celebrated antiquarian in the city."

The latest discovery in medical aoioiico is To-wnend's celebrated Cinnamon Cure fog consumption and kindred diseases of the ait passages, coughs, colds, loss of voice, bron-. chitis, bronchial asthma, whooping _ cough, croup, influenza, pleurisy, pneumonia, and? catarrh. Sold everywhere. Price, 2s 6d.-« Advt,

— The Siameso have a great, horror of odd numbers, and are never known to put five, seven, nine, or eleven windows in a houso or templo. Some idea of the distance one would havo to go to ego thoroughly even tho greaW part of London may be drawn from the statement £hat if anyono wore to undertake to walk, one ;way only, through all the streets of London, he (would ba obliged to go a distance of 2600 miles, pr as lar as it is across the American continent from Jfevv York to San Francisco.

— A torpedo boat was successfully transferred by rail from St. Pclcrburg to Sebastopol a little while ago, and a immbcr of others will now be sent in tno same way to the Black Sea fleet.

— A train do luxe is to run from St. Petersburg to Tomslr, on the trans-Siberian line. Pour splendid coaches are fitted with all modern improvements. Th*ro is an open galoon, a dining car, a library, a bathroom, a telephone, electric light, a piano, and a Bet of games and gymnastic apparatus