The Canton mail. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 18??-1882, 1875-08-28
Does Life Exist in the Planets ?


many or all of the members of the stel
lar and planetary universe are the abodes
OF bfe, that is, of living organisms. has
long peen received with favor. and. al
though the question would appear to be
oeyond the limits of argument even, We,
II mas been made the subject of many 8
learned essay or poetic effusion. In Q
recent number of the Cornhill Magazine
hicnard a. Proctor ventures again tc
approach the subject, reviewing it unde,
the title: Life, Past and Future. in
Other Worlds" Deemiug it probable
that many of our readers may fail to
meet with the paper in full, we are
prompted to give extended space to q
condensed review of its main points
convinced that they will recognize in
the authors line of reasoning, though
necessarily one of analogy, many points
In favor OF the conclusion, viz. that it is
more probable that life is wanting than
that life exists at this present time in
other worlds than ours. At the close of
brief reference to opinions expressed
IN former essays, and at variance with
those now advanced, the writer adds :
Let the matter be explained as it NAV,
1t WAS only gradually that both the
Brewsterian and Whewelite theories of
life IN other worlds gave place in the
writer's mind to a theory in one sense
intermediate to them. in another sense
opposed to both, which seem to accord
better than either with what re know
about our own earth, about the other
members of the solar system, and about
other suns which people space What
we now propose TO do is to present this
theory as specially illustrated by the
TWO planets which adorn our evening
akIoa dnrTner tho
present year" The planets to which
allusion is here made are Jupiter and
Mars, and their past, present and future
conditions are made the subject of
thoughtful consideration. The ground
work upon which Prof. Proctor bases
his whole argument against the probable
present existence of life in other worlds
may be stated as follows Organic life
Is but natural phenomenon and de-
ponds upon congenial physical con-
ditions, without which there could be no
LIE. In other words, to prove that life
abounds on any planet we must first
accept the fact that the physical con-
diflons on that planet are sc life-sup-
porting. Returning now to the main
argument, the writer notices at length
the various forms of life upon orr globe
and the possible conditions under which
1t exists, giving special attention to
the evidence that "Nature possesses a
power OF modifying the different types
In accordance with the varying condi-
tlons under which they subsist.
STILL, he adds, and in this sentence
sounds the keynote of all subseouent
reasoning, "there must be q limit be-
yond which the change of the eartb's
conditions, whether through the cooling
OF her own globe or the 6iminution Of
the suns heat, will be such that no con-
ceivaoie modification of the types of
NE now existing could render life possi-
PIE. The struggle for life in
Voives tho repeated victory of death.
- Nature, wasteful of individual
me- Is equally wasteful of types of life"
and "at length the time comes when
the struggle for existence can man;fe.tIv
nave but one end, and then, though the
disappears, its disappearance is only a
question of time. Admitting the ius-
tlce OF this general proposition. the
writer arrives naturally at the following
conclusion: We have also only re
consider that life on the earth necessari.
~ had beginning to infer that il must
necessarily have an end. Clearest evil
dence shows how our earth was once 6 a
fluid haze of light and how for CONT
less icons afterward her globe was in
stinct with fiery heat, amid which no
form OF life could be conceived to exist.
alter the manner of life known to MS.
though the germs of life may have been
present In the midst of the fire. Then
borrowed ages IN which the earth's glow
ing crust was drenched by showers of
m9riatlc, nitric and sulphruic acid, not
only intensely bot, but fiercely burning
saIougn tnelr chemical activity. Only
al.eI PERIODS infinite to our conceptions
In the remotest degree like what ia nov
Known to MS, have begun to exist upon
the earth. The reader will discover
that Prof. Proctor anticipates the varne
oolections OF the purely imaginative On
ponenfs by limiting his definition nf
life to that which exists " after the man
ner known to u.s." If we have ancceed.
ed In the rather difficult task of CON
denslng an already succinct aronment
the reader will be ready to follow the |
author In his next step. and. as ba has
denned the nature of this step in a few
Drls1 sentences, We give them, az fol- |
lows: We see our earth passing
!niough vast period, from it's first eI.
Istonce as separate member OF the
solar system to the time when life an
Peareo upon Its surface; then began a |
comparatively short period. now in |
progress, during which the earth has
been and will be the abode of life
and after that must follow a neyiod
INFINITE to our conceptions. when
the cold and inert globe Of the |
earth Will circle as lifelessIy round |
the sun as the moon now does We
may, If we please. infer this from anaIoov
seeing that the duration of life is al ways
INFINITELY small by comparison with the |
duration of the region where life an
pears SO that, by analogy, the duration
OF life on the earth would be infinitely
snort compared with the duration Of |
the earth itself. Bnt We are brought TO |
the same conclusion INDEPENDENTLY of |
analogy, perceiving that the fire of the |
ea5ths youth and the deathly cold of her |
oid age must alike be infinite in dura- |
s s;on compared with her period of vital,
preserving warmth. And what is |
= ue OF the earth Is true of every mem
Dor OF the solar system, major planet,
MINOR planet, asteriod, or satellite
PROBABLY of every orb in space, from
tine m1nutest meteorite to suns exceed |
ing our sun thousand fold in volume"
The remainder of the attractive ESSAY
ls occupied in an attempt to prove, by
analogy and fact, 80 far as facts are
attalnable, that, viewed merely as a
problem of chances, it is improbable
tnat at the present time or at any given
flme, the conditions of two or more
planets Will beso closely allied as to make
tnem hfe-supporting. Mars has in all
robabIiIfy passed this stage, and Jupi-
Ter Is yet far from it, though advancing.
" Nor need we STOP" he adds, sat solar
systems, since within the infinite uni
verse, without beginning and without
end, not only suns but systems of SINS,
gaia1les OF such systems, to higher and
nieher orders endlessly, have long
SINCE passed through all the stages OF
their existence as systems. or have all
those stages yet to pass through. In
The presence of time intervals thus seen
o be at once infinitely great and in
inItely ittle-infnitely great compared
With the duration of our earth infipta-