The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1878-09-12
Carpathian, the Atlas, the Cordilleras.

ing civilization. Already, as upon the
old continents, space begins TO fail 1t
Behold it in its last entrenchment. Il
is here it must struggle against the in
vasion of animal life. 1t is here that
it will perish. 1t IS upon calcarcous
ground. 1t necessarily converts an
enormous mass of animaliZcd matter
into lime. This mass, exposed 10 the
rays of tOrrid sun, cOndenses contln-
ually new unities of heat, while the
working of machines, the combustion
of hearths. and the development of
animal heat constantly increases the
ambient temperature. And during all
this time animal production continues
to increase, and there comes moment
when the equilibrium being broken,
il becomes manifest that production
will surpass the consumption.
Then begins to form upon the shell
of the globe, ut first scarcely film.
then an appreciable coating of ire
ducible delritus. The earth is satura.
ted with life. Fermentation COM
mences. The Thermometer rises, the
barometer sinks, the hygrOmeter APP
prOaches zero. Flowers wither, leaves
grow yellow. parchments shrivel, ev-
erything dries and breaks to pieces.
Animals grow smaller through the ef-
fects of evaporation. Man in turn be-
comes meaere, and dries up. All tenn
pcraments blend in One-the bilious,
and the last of the lymphatic offers
with tears his daug ghter, and lOO. .OOO, 900
of dowry 10 the last of the scroiulus,
who has not cent of fortune, and who
refuses through pride. The heat aug
mtnts and the springs are exhausted.
The water carriers rise by degrees to
the rank of capitalists, then TO million
ofthe Prince ends by becoming one of
the first dignitarics of the State. All
crimes and infamies which are now
done for gold, one does then for glass
of water and Love himself, abandon
in z his arrows and quiver, replaces
them by flask Of ice water. In this
torrid atmosphere one pays for piece
of ice thirty times its weight in dia-
monds. The Emperor of Australia, in
fit of mental alteration, had q tutti
frutti made which cost him year of
his income. A savant made colossal
fortune by obtaining hcctolitrc Of
cool " atcr i'm forty-five degrees. The
rivers dry up. Lobsters hustle tu-
mul;uously, running after threads of
warm water which leave them upon
the beach changing color and turning
TO scarlet. Fishes with bursting hearts
and distended fms are left by the
streams extended, stomach upward.
Human kind begins to.weaken visibly.
Strange passions, unheard- of rage, vi
oient loves, insensate pleasures, make
life a series of furious detonations, or
rather continuous explosion, which
commences at birth and finishes by
death. In this world, terrified by an
impla cable combustion, all is red,
cracking, broiled, roasted, and after
the water evaporates, one feels the air
diminish as it rarifies.
Frighttul calamity! The streams
and rivers have disappeared. The seas
begin to grow warm, then become
heated. Behold them already simmer
ing as under great fire. AT first the
little fishes, asphyxiated, turn over
upon the surface. Afterward comes
the scaweed that the heat has detached
From the depths finally arise, cooked
blue and giving out their fat in large
drops, the whales, the enormous pleu-
vre, the shark and the kraken, believ-
ed to be fabulous and the sea-serpent,
so much contested. With these fat
things, herbs and fishes cook ed togeth,
cr, the smoking ocean becomes an inn
mcnse bowl of soup. A penetrating
kitchen odor spreads over all the hab-
liable earth. a century of this reigns
The ocean is evapOrated, no traces of
its existence remain save some heaps
of fishes scattered over the desert
plains.
The end commences. Under the
triple influence of heat, of asphyxia,
and of desication. human kind is an
initiated little by little. Man is ex-
hausted, scaly, and at the least shock
falls to pieces. In the place of vegct-
abies nothing remains o him but some
metallic plants which are made to
grow by watering them with vltrol.
To qucnch the thirst which devOurs
him, TO rcanimate his calcined nervous
system, to liguify his albumen, which
coagulates, he has no other liquid than
sulphuric acid or aquafOrtis. Vain
efforts! At each breath of wind which
agitatcs this anhydrOus atmosphere
thousands of human creatures are in
stantly dried up; the cavalier upon
his horse, the advocate at the bar, the
Judge upon the bench, the acrobat up
on his rope, the workman at his VIM
dow, the king upon his throne, are
suddenly mummified.
And then comes the last day. There
are now but thirty seven left wander
ing like spectres of touchwood in the
midst of a frightful population of
mnmmies, who regard them with eyes
similar TO Zlntc currants. And they
take hands and commence furious
round. AT each turn one of the dancers
stumbles and falls dead, with dry
noise. The thirty-siX turns finished,
the survivor remains alone in the pres.
cncc of this miserable heap, in which
are gathered .he last debris of the hu-
man race. He throws a last glance
over the earth. He says adieu in the
name of all, and from his poor, burnt
ewes falls a tear, the last tear of hu-