Page:Gods Glory in the Heavens.djvu/26

12. In Uranus, as far as weight is concerned, we would find ourselves more at home than in any other planet. Our power of locomotion would be very much the same as here. The most notable fact connected with Uranus is, that his satellites revolve in a direction the opposite to that of all the planets and satellites of the solar system. The nebular hypothesis is very much founded upon the uniformity of the system in this respect; and this breach of uniformity presents a rather baffling discrepancy.

Our next stage is somewhat shorter than the last, still the interval between Uranus and Saturn is immense; but when we reach this station, we have only a third of our journey before us. Here we are in danger of being completely drawn out of our course, the attraction of the planet being so powerful. Its size is such that it could contain within its sphere 772 terrestrial globes. It is, however, as light as cork; and the consequence is, that standing on its surface, you do not feel yourself dragged down by its attraction; you feel no material difference, in this respect, between it and our own globe. An opportunity is now afforded of inspecting the mystery of the rings. You will probably discover many more rings, or, rather, what appears a single ring will be found to consist of many smaller ones. You can see through the dusky ring, and have an opportunity of detecting its nature. You will find it to be different from vapour or gas, and to consist of meteorites of