Milky Way or the
zodiacal light. In this respect the mystic Swedenborg appears to have
had a clearer conception of the true nature of Saturn's rings than did
Dr. Dick, for in his book on The Earths in the Universe he says--using
the word "belt" to describe the phenomenon of the rings:

"Being questioned concerning that great belt which appears from our
earth to rise above the horizon of that planet, and to vary its
situations, they [the inhabitants of Saturn] said that it does not
appear to them as a belt, but only as somewhat whitish, like snow in the
heaven, in various directions."

In view of such observations as that of Prof. E.E. Barnard, in 1892,
showing that a satellite passing through the shadow of Saturn's rings
does not entirely disappear--a fact which proves that the rings are
partially transparent to the sunlight--one might be tempted to ask
whether Saturn itself, considering its astonishing lack of density, is
not composed, at least in its outer parts, of separate particles of
matter revolving independently about their center of attraction, and
presenting the appearance of a smooth, uniform shell reflecting the
light of the sun. In other words, may not Saturn be, exteriorly, a globe
of dust instead of a globe of vapor? Certainly the rings, incoherent and
translucent though they be, reflect the sunlight to our eyes, at least
from the brighter part of their surface, with a brilliance comparable
with that of the globe of the planet itself.

As bearing on the question of the interior condition of Saturn and
Jupiter, it should, perhaps, be said that mathematical considerations,
based on the figures of equilibrium of rotating liquid masses, lead to
the conclusion that those planets are comparatively very dense within.
Professor Darwin puts the statement very strongly, as follows: "In this
way it is known with certainty that the central portions of the planets
Jupiter and Saturn are much denser, compared to their superficial
portions, than is the case with the earth."[13]

[Footnote 13: The Tides, by G.H. Darwin, p. 333.]

The globe and rings of Saturn witness an imposing spectacle of gigantic
moving shadows. The great ball stretches its vast shade across the full
width of the rings at times, and the rings, as we have seen, throw their
shadow in a belt, whose position slowly changes, across the ball,
sweeping from the equator, now toward one pole and now toward the
other. The sun shines alternately on each si