which was large enough to be seen with the naked eye: it was divided into two parts, and must have been 50,000 miles in diameter: this and other phenomena of the same kind may be accounted for from some natural change of an atmosphere. For if some of the fluids which enter into its composition be of a shining brilliancy, while others are merely transparent, then any temporary cause which should remove. the lucid fluid, will permit us to see the body of the Sun through the transparent ones. An observer on the Moon could see the solid body of the earth only in those places where the transparent fluids of our atmosphere would permit him. In others, the opaque vapours reflect the light of the Sun without permitting his view to penetrate the surface of our globe. He would probably find that our planet had, occasionally, some shining fluids in its atmosphere, such as the Aurora Boreales; and there is good reason to believe that all the planets emit light in some degree; for the illumination which remains on the Moon, in a total eclipse, cannot be entirely ascribed to the light which may reach it by the refraction of the earth's atmosphere.

Dr. Herschel supposes that the spots in the Sun are mountains on its surface, which, considering the great attraction exerted by the Sun upon bodies placed at its surface, and the slow revolution it has about its axis, he thinks may be more than 300 miles in height, and yet stand very firmly. He says that, in 1792, he examined the Sun with several powers from 90 to 500; and it evidently appeared that the black spots are the opaque ground or body of the Sun; and that the luminous part is an atmosphere, which, being intercepted or broken, gives us a glimpse of the Sun itself. Hence he concludes that the Sun has a very extensive atmosphere, which consists of elastic fluids that are more or less lucid and transparent, and of these the lucid ones furnish us with light. This atmosphere he imagines to be somewhere between

1800 and 2780 miles in height; and he supposes that the density of the luminous solar clouds need not be exceedingly more than that of our aurora borealis, in order to produce the effects with which we are acquainted. The Sun, then, appears to be a very eminent, large, and lucid planet, the first and only primary one belonging to our system. Its similarity to the other globes of the solar system, with regard to its solidity; its atmosphere; its surface diversified with mountains and valleys; its rotation on its axis; and the fall of heavy bodies on its surface; lead us to conclude that it is most probably inhabited, like the other planets, by beings whose organs are adapted to the peculiar circumstances of the vast globe.

By analogical reasoning, likewise, we infer that the Moon and planets are the abodes of happiness to indefinite numbers of animated, and, perhaps, rational and intelligent creatures, who may speculate and rea son upon our supposed existence as we do of theirs ; who may be pursuing scientific knowledge in a way similar to our Newtons, Herschels, and Davys. To take the Moon, for instance; and what is applicable to her may, unquestionably, be inferred of the superior planets, and of their Moons or satellites also.

The Moon is a secondary planet of considerable magnitude; its surface is, as we have seen, diversified, like that of the earth, with hills and valleys. Its situation with respect to the Sun is much like that of the earth; and, by a rotation on its axis, it enjoys an agreeable variety of seasons, and of day and night. To the Moon, our globe would appear a capital satellite, undergoing the same changes of illumination as the Moon does to the earth. The Sun, planets, and the starry constellations of the heavens, will rise and set there as they do here; and heavy bodies will fall on the Moon as they do on the earth. There seems,

then, only to be wanting, in order to complete the analogy, that it should be inhabited like the earth.

It may be objected, that, in the Moon, there are no large seas; and its atmosphere (the existence of which is doubted by many) is extremely rare, and unfit for the purposes of animal life; that its climates, its seasons, and the length of its days and nights, totally differ from ours; that without dense clouds, which the Moon has not, there can be no rain, perhaps no rivers and lakes.

In answer to this it may be observed, that the very difference between the two planets strengthens the argument. We find, even on our own globe, that there is a most striking dissimilarity in the situation of the creatures that live upon it. While man walks on the ground, the birds fly in the air, and the fishes swim in the water. We cannot, surely, object to the conveniences afforded by the Moon, if those that are to inhabit its regions are fitted to their conditions as well as we on this globe of ours. The analogy already mentioned establishes a high probability that the Moon is inhabited. Suppose, then, an inhabitant of the Moon, who has not properly considered such analogical reasonings as might induce him to surmise that our earth is inhabited, were to give it as his opinion, that the use of that great body, which he sees in his neighbourhood, is to carry about his little globe, in order that it may be properly exposed to the light of the Sun, so as to enjoy an agreeable and useful variety of illumination, as well as to give it light by reflection, when direct light cannot be had; should we not condemn his ignorance and want of reflection ? The earth, it is true, not only performs those offices which have been named, for the inhabitants of the Moon, but we know that it also affords magnificent dwelling-places to numberless intelligent beings.From experience, therefore, we affirm, that the performance of the most salutary offices to inferior planets is not inconsistent with the dignity of superior

purposes; and in consequence of such analogical reasonings, assisted by telescopic views, which plainly favour the same opinion, we do not hesitate to infer that the Sun, also, is richly stored with inhabitants. As usual, we notice the times of the rising and setting of the Sun, which will be as follow:

Monday, 1st, Sun rises 19 m. past 4. Sun sets 41 m. past 7

Thursday, 11th,
Sunday, 21st,
Wednesday, 31st,

37

53 12

4.

7

25

7

6

48

Equation of Time.-The following table will show what is to be added to the apparent time, marked on the dial, to obtain equal or true time for every 5th day of the month :

Monday, Aug. 1st, to the time on the dial ADD

6th,

Saturday,
Thursday, 11th,
Tuesday, 16th,

Sunday,

Friday,

26th,

·

Wednesday, 31st,

The Sun will enter the sign Virgo at 21 minutes after 8 on the 23d day of the month.

We have two full Moons this month, of which the first will be at 51 m. past 7 in the morning of the first day. It enters into its last quarter at 54 m. past 10 in the evening of the 8th. The new Moon or change will occur at 5 m. past 2 on the 15th, which will enter on its first quarter at 46 m. past 6 on the 22d, and the second full Moon will be at 26 m. after 10 on the 30th.

The time of the Moon's rising for the first five days after she is full will be as follows, viz. on the

On the 6th day of the month, the Georgian planet will be stationary; but whatever relates to this distant

world can be interesting to those only who are in possession of good glasses. On the 8th, the Moon will eclipse the star marked 2 Ceti: the immersion will occur at 20 minutes past 3 in the morning, and the emersion will be observed at half past 4. In the former case, the star will be 2' south of the Moon's centre, and in the latter it will be 7' on the same side. On the 20th, Mercury will be stationary; and on the 29th, the planet will eclipse the star, the star being 9' south of the planet's centre. The inferior conjunction of Mercury will take place on the 9th, at half past eleven at night. The Georgian planet will be in its quadrature at 7 in the morning of the 22d.

There will be no eclipses of Jupiter's satellites visible this month at Greenwich.

VIEW OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM,

Of Mars.

Mars is of a red fiery colour, and always gives a much duller light than Venus, though, in apparent magnitude, he sometimes equals her. He is not subject to the same limation in his motions as Mercury and Venus, but appears sometimes near the Sun, and sometimes at a greater distance from him; sometimes rising when the Sun sets, and setting when he rises. It is a remarkable circumstance, that, when Mars approaches any of the fixed stars, which all the planets frequently do, these stars change their colour, grow dim, and often become totally invisible, though at but a little distance from the body of the planet. He appears to move from west to east round the earth, and the mean duration of his sidereal revolution is 687 days. When we begin to perceive this planet in the morning, his motion is direct, and the most rapid possible. This velocity diminishes gradually, and the motion ceases altogether when the planet is about 137° distant from the Sun; then his motion becomes