ive motion, and as
having the form of three o's, namely, oOo, the central one being larger
than those on each side of it.

Although Galileo had announced that nothing new appeared in the other
planets, yet he soon communicated to the world another discovery of no
slight interest. The enigmatical letters in which it was concealed
formed the following sentence:--

"Cynthiae figuras aemulatur mater Amorum."

Venus rivals the phases of the moon.

Hitherto, Galileo had observed Venus when her disc was largely
illuminated; but having directed his telescope to her when she was not
far removed from the sun, he saw her in the form of a crescent,
resembling exactly the moon at the same elongation. He continued to
observe her night after night, during the whole time that she could be
seen in the course of her revolution round the sun, and he found that
she exhibited the very same phases which resulted from her motion round
that luminary.

Galileo had long contemplated a visit to the metropolis of Italy, and he
accordingly carried his intentions into effect in the early part of the
year 1611. Here he was received with that distinction which was due to
his great talents and his extended reputation. Princes, Cardinals, and
Prelates hastened to do him honour; and even those who discredited his
discoveries, and dreaded their results, vied with the true friends of
science in their anxiety to see the intellectual wonder of the age.

In order to show the new celestial phenomena to his friends at Rome,
Galileo took with him his best telescope; and as he had discovered the
spots on the sun's surface in October or November 1610, or even
earlier,[16] he had the gratification of exhibiting them to his admiring
disciples. He accordingly erected his telescope in the Quirinal garden,
belonging to Cardinal Bandini; and in April 1611 he shewed them to his
friends in many of their most interesting variations. From their change
of position on the sun's disc, Galileo at first inferred, either that
the sun revolved about an axis, or that other planets, like Venus and
Mercury, revolved so near the sun as to appear like black spots when
they were opposite to his disc. Upon continuing his observations,
however, he saw reason to abandon this hasty opinion. He found that the
spots must be in contact with the surface of the sun,--that their
figures were irregular,--that they had different degrees of
darkness,--that one spot would often divid