G. F. C. Northfield Grange, Eastbourne, 1895. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I. Introductory Statement 7 II. The Sun 18 III. Mercury 57 IV. Venus 61 V. The Earth 69 VI. The Moon 89 VII. Mars 100 VIII. The Minor Planets 110 IX. Jupiter 115 X. Saturn 122 XI. Uranus 138 XII. Neptune 143 XIII. Comets 150 Appendix—Tables of the Solar System 182 General Index 185 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. FIGURE PAGE 1. The Planet Saturn _Frontispiece_ 2. Inclination of Planetary Orbits 9 3. Comparative Sizes of Major Planets 11 4. Comparative Size of the Sun as seen from the Planets Named 17 5. Ordinary Sun-spots, June 22, 1885 22 6. Change of Form in Sun-spots Owing to the Sun’s Rotation 29 7. Sun-spots seen as a Notch 37 8. The Sun Totally Eclipsed, July 18, 1860 56 9. Venus, Dec. 23, 1885 64 10. Venus Near Conjunction as a Thin Crescent 65 11. Mare Crisium (Lick Observatory photographs) 90 12. Four Views of Mars (Barnard) 101 13. Mars, Aug. 27, 1892 (Guyot) 107 14. Jupiter, Nov. 27, 1857 (Dawes) 116 15. Saturn, 1889 123 16. General View of the Phases of Saturn’s Rings 126 17. Phases of Saturn’s Rings at Specified Dates 129 18. Saturn with Titan and its Shadow 137 19. Telescopic Comet with a Nucleus 154 20. Comet seen in Daylight, Sept., 1882 155 21. Quenisset’s Comet, July 9, 1893 156 22.