The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1872-06-21
AMONG THE STARS.
ORION the Missouri Republican.

AMONG TIE STARS.
lFrom the Missouri Republican,
In a little while there will be no
mystery left anywhere in the visible
creation. The telescope is unveil-
ing the skies, the microscope is
counting the atoms, and the spec
troscopc j. revealing the compost
ton Of worlds and suns. Science
is driving Imagination out Of her
old realms, and the muse has taken
flight before the storm OF fact which
is pcltinc this generation. Men
are troubled about the destruction
Of old systems to which their IA
theirs pinned their faith, and child
rem are mourning over the wrecks
Of pleasant traditions which lie
strcwn in their particular domain OF
iaryland. 1t has been stated by
some poet philosopher that the line
Of beauty is curve, and that the
most essential element Of beauty
is mystery. The world is now max
ing a straight line for facts, and the
beauty Of mystery is gradually fad
ing before its eyes. II is like a
child tearing to pcices a pIaything
III cagerncFs to comprehend it.
Mr.. K. A. Proctor has been after
the stars again since he published
his famous book, "Other Worlds
than Ours,' and has more fully de-
vcIopcd his theory that the superior
planets in our system have par
TALLY solar character. lie has paid
Jupiter a flying visit and discovered
a hurricane going on there among
the cloud belts, driving at the rate
Of $50 miles per hour for six weeks
over an extent Of Jovian territory
equal to the whole space of our
earth. Nothing terrestrial that We
know of could stand such a strain
as this minute. II would in an
instant whirl the world into a heap
Of rubbish, and then blow the rub.
Dish away like chaif. In examining
into the causes Of such an atmos-
phcric CONFUSION, Mr.. Proctor
concludes that one of the condi-
tions must be the great heat of the
planet itself. This he ascer-
taius TO be equal TO the tcmprra.
tIrc Of red hot iron, too warm for any
life Of which we can have the least
conception. The astronomer then
concludes that Jupiter was not
made to live in, and that the pro-
vine" Of the planet is to give light
and heat TO hl~ satellites, and make
them comfortable dwelling places.
Jupiter therefore shines partially
by his own light. as well as that OF
the sun, and performs a sort of dou-
lie duty in the solar system in nour
i.hjng aud keeping his satellites in
good order for the life they bear.-
Mr.. Proctor is of the opinion that
the superior planets are most likely
quasi suns. sources of heat and
lighr for the satellites which circle
them. The inference is that if life
exist, at present, at least in the 30.
WAN and Saturnian systems at all,
il must be ON the satellites, not on
the planets themselves, which are
probably as uninhabitable to beings
Ike ourselves as the sun.
Accepting this theory, and follow
ing it to its inevitable conclusions,
il appears that it il the smaller
worlds for which the great globes
are made ; and that the smaller the
world the brighter and iairer the
life il contains. 1t may be supposed
That as the seasons are shorter and
changes quicker, therefore life must
We intcnscr and more rapid, though
III many respects smaller in scale
than Of our own little planet. Ger.
tainly the big places Of the uni.
verse seem absolutely untitled for
any life sharing the smallest analo-
gics to or own, they are therefore
supposed to be subsidiary to the
life Of the smaller spheres, and
the great globes from the sun
downwards are rather subservicnt
to the small ones, than the small to
the great.