A luminous ring, similar to that of Saturn, was at first supposed to surround Uranus, and Herschel suspected the existence of such a feature on several occasions; but it scarcely survived his later researches, and modern observations have finally disposed of it. In May and June, 1883, Professor Young, having the advantage of the fine 23-inch refractor at the Princeton Observatory, observed two faint belts, one on each side of the equator, and much like the belts of Saturn. On March 18, 1884, Messrs. Thollon and Perrotin, with the 14-inch equatorial at Nice, remarked dark spots similar to those on Mars, toward the centre of the disk, and a white spot was seen on the limb. Two different tints were perceived, the color of the Northwest Hemisphere being dark and that of the Southeast a bluish-white color. In April observations were continued, and the white spot was seen “rather as a luminous band than a simple spot,” but it was most conspicuous near the limb. The observers thought the appearances indicated a rotation-period of about ten hours. The brothers Henry at Paris, in 1884, invariably noticed two belts lying parallel to each other, and including between them the brighter equatorial zone of the planet. Their results apparently show that the angle between the plane of the Uranian equator and that of the satellite-orbits is about 41°. M. Perrotin, with the great 30-inch equatorial at Nice, reobserved the belts in May and June, 1889. He wrote that dark parallel bands were noticed several times, and they were very similar to the belts of Jupiter. M. Perrotin notes that the bands of Uranus do not always present the same aspect. They vary in size and number in different parts of their circumference. For many years it was supposed that Uranus possessed six satellites, all of which were discovered by Sir W. Herschel, but later observations proved that four of these had no existence. They were small stars near the planet. But two of Herschel’s satellites were fully corroborated, and two new ones were discovered by Lassell and Struve. The number of satellites attending Uranus is four, and it is probable that many others exist, though they are too minute to be distinguished in the most powerful instruments hitherto constructed. The following are the known satellites: 3d Ariel, discovered in 1847; 4th Umbriel, discovered in 1847; 1st Titania, discovered in 1787, and 2d Oberon, discovered in 1787. Titania and Oberon are the two brightest satellites, but none of them can be seen except in large instruments. From observations with large modern instruments it appears highly probable that the four known satellites must be considerably larger than any others which may be revolving round the planet. A curious fact in connection with these satellites is that their motions are retrograde.