_Belts and Spots on the Planet._—From the time that the telescope became available as a means of astronomical research, it may be readily surmised that an object coming so well within the reach of ordinary appliances, and one displaying so many prominent and variable features, should absorb a large share of attention, and that many facts of interest should have been gleaned as to his physical peculiarities. But it must be confessed that, though something has been learned as to the visible behaviour of the markings, there is much that is perplexing in their curious vagaries. No doubt the vast changes affecting the Jovian envelope, the diversity of the markings, and their proper motions result from the operations of a peculiarly variable atmosphere, affected probably by a heated and active globe beneath it, and by the very rapid movement of rotation to which it is subject. The telescope, on being turned towards Jupiter, reveals at once an array of dark and light stripes or belts stretching across the disk in a direction parallel to one another and to the equator of the planet. These belts are supposed to have been first detected by Zucchi in 1630. Usually there are two broad and prominent dark belts, one on either side of the equator; while towards the poles other belts appear, some of them very narrow, partly by the effects of foreshortening. The equatoreal zone of the planet is of a lighter tint, and variegated with white and dark spots and streaks, liable to rapid changes, and indicating that this region is in a highly disturbed condition.