numerate a few further
particulars.

It was on the 25th of March, 1655, that the first satellite of Saturn
was detected by Huyghens, to whose penetration we owe the discovery of
the true form of the ring. On the evening of the day referred to,
Huyghens was examining Saturn with a telescope constructed with his own
hands, when he observed a small star-like object near the planet. The
next night he repeated his observations, and it was found that the star
was accompanying the planet in its progress through the heavens. This
showed that the little object was really a satellite to Saturn, and
further observations revealed the fact that it was revolving around him
in a period of 15 days, 22 hours, 41 minutes. Such was the commencement
of that numerous series of discoveries of satellites which accompany
Saturn. One by one they were detected, so that at the present time no
fewer than nine are known to attend the great planet through his
wanderings. The subsequent discoveries were, however, in no case made by
Huyghens, for he abandoned the search for any further satellites on
grounds which sound strange to modern ears, but which were quite in
keeping with the ideas of his time. It appears that from some principle
of symmetry, Huyghens thought that it would accord with the fitness of
things that the number of satellites, or secondary planets, should be
equal in number to the primary planets themselves. The primary planets,
including the earth, numbered six; and Huyghens' discovery now brought
the total number of satellites to be also six. The earth had one,
Jupiter had four, Saturn had one, and the system was complete.

Nature, however, knows no such arithmetical doctrines as those which
Huyghens attributed to her. Had he been less influenced by such
prejudices, he might, perhaps, have anticipated the labours of Cassini,
who, by discovering other satellites of Saturn, demonstrated the
absurdity of the doctrine of numerical equality between planets and
satellites. As further discoveries were made, the number of satellites
was at first raised above the number of planets; but in recent times,
when the swarm of minor planets came to be discovered, the number of
planets speedily reached and speedily passed the number of their
attendant satellites.

It was in 1671, about sixteen years after the discovery of the first
satellite of Saturn, that a second was discovered by Cassini. This is
the outermost of the older satellites; it take