We should be very much surprised, were we on Saturn, to see during the night a great ring, extending over our heads in a semi-circular form from one end of the horizon to the other; and by reflecting the light of the sun, would have the effect of a moon at every part of the circle. And are we not to have inhabitants in this great ring? said she, laughing. Though I am disposed to place them wherever I can, answered I, I confess I dare not tell you there are any there; this ring appears too irregular a dwelling. As for the five moons, we can't dispense with inhabitants for them. If the ring, however, were what some suppose, only a circle of moons, following each other very closely, with an equal motion, and the satellites, five of these moons escaped out of the ring, what numbers of worlds would the vortex of Saturn contain! Be that as it may, the people in Saturn are uncomfortable enough, even with the help of their ring. It gives then light, it is true; but what sort of light, at that immense distance from the sun? The sun himself, which appears to them a hundred times smaller[48] than to us, seems but a little pale star, emitting but a feeble light or heat. And could they be transported to our coldest countries, such as Greenland and Lapland, you would see them ready to expire with the heat. If water were conveyed to their planet it would no longer be water, but a polished stone, and spirits of wine which never freeze here, would become hard as diamond. [Footnote 48: Ten times less in diameter.] Your description of Saturn petrifies me, said the Marchioness; though just now you almost threw me into a fever in talking of Mercury. Two worlds, answered I, which are at the different extremities of an immense vortex, must be totally unlike. Then, replied she, the people are very wise in Saturn, for you told me they were all mad in Mercury. If they are not very wise, answered I, they are at least, I suppose, very phlegmatic. Their features could not accommodate themselves to a smile; they require a day's consideration before they answer any question, and they would think Cato of Atica unmanly and frivolous. I am thinking, said she, that all the inhabitants of Saturn are slow; all those of Mercury are quick; amongst us some belong to the former class, some to the latter; may not that be in consequence of the earth's being placed just in the middle situation and participating of both extremes? The men of our world have no determined character; some are like the inhabitants of Mercury; others resemble those of Saturn, in short we are a compound of all the other planets. That's a good idea, replied I; we form such a ludicrous assemblage that it might easily be imagined we had been brought together from a variety of worlds. We are therefore very well situated for studying character, for this is an abstract of all the planets.