621. At the distance of about sixty miles from the terrestrial surface, the spirit world commences. It consists of six bands or zones, designated as spheres, surrounding the earth, so as to have one common centre with it and with each other. An idea of these rings may be formed from that of the planet Saturn, excepting that they are comparatively much nearer to their planet, and that they have their broad surfaces parallel to the planet, and at right angles to the ecliptic, instead of being like Saturn’s rings, so arranged that their surfaces are parallel to the plane in which his ecliptic exists. 622. Supposing the earth to be represented by a globe of thirteen and a half inches in diameter, the lower surface of the lowest of the spiritual spheres, if represented in due proportion to the actual distance from the earth, would be only one-tenth of an inch from the terrestrial surface. The bands observed over the regions in the planet Jupiter which correspond with our tropical regions, agree very well in relative position with those which are assigned to our spiritual spheres. They are probably the spiritual spheres of that planet. It having struck me as possible that these bands might be due to spiritual spheres appertaining to Jupiter, I inquired of the spirits; their reply was confirmatory. 623. The objection naturally occurs that ours are invisible to us; yet we know that light may be polarized in passing through transparent masses so as to produce effects in one case which it does not in others when not so polarized. It would have to pass through the spheres of Jupiter, and return through them again. This light, twice subjected to the ordeal of passing through the spirit world, when contrasted with that which goes and returns without any such ordeal, may undergo a change of a nature to produce an effect upon the eye, when, in the absence of this contrast, no visual change should be perceptible. 624. I am aware that it has been alleged that the bands do not appear always to occupy the same boundaries, and at times appear separated or more unequally distributed than at others. This may be due in part to actual changes which the spiritual essence may undergo as to its relative position, or optical delusions, if not deviations, resulting from the susceptibility of polarizing causes. 625. Possibly some peculiarity in the reflecting surface of the planet may be productive of such polarizing variations in the state of the light as to cause a difference sufficient for detection. 626. Alum, transparent to the rays of light, intercepts nearly the whole of the rays of heat. Opaque black glass intercepts the rays of light entirely, those of heat but partially. 627. Rock salt, a substance analogous to alum, intercepts radiant heat only to a very small extent.