Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1894-08-03

| thiS fuCoeiOh III VIC dLliTuldtlSt.
Everybody, even the uninitiated,
knows that common charcoal is the
product of combustion, the residue
from the burning of piece Of woody
tissue excluded from the air. This is
the everyday teaching of chemistry
in the college laboratory.
Geology, also, declares that bitumi-
nous and anthracite Goals are the
transformed products OF ancient vege.
tation, through the combined agencies
OF heat, enormous pressure and the
slow transmitting effects of ages. But
charcoal and the mineral Goals are
only different forms of that wonderful
element we call carbon. Charcoal is
almost pure carbon; the diamond is
the purest carbon in nature. This
talismanic element, carbon, is ever
found associated in some form, with
organic substances; but organic sub.
stance is lift substance, animal as we'll
as vegetable. Hence comes the all
engrossing conclusion that wherever
carbon exists there organic matter
exists or has existed, and, if organic
matter then its essential accompani-
ment, life!
1t is only short term OF years ago
that carbon was found in metsorites.
In the great meteoric mass which fell
in Diablo Canyon, Arizona, copious
deposits of primate diamond crystals
were found thickly permeating the
iron. These minute diamonds to-
gether with other forms of meteoric
carbon are to be seen in the various
college museums of our land. Dia-
monds thus having fallen from the
planetary spaces, from "other worlds
than ours" have been found large
enough to be mounted and formed
into glass-cutting tools for glaciers
| use.
Now If those meteoric masses
which fall from the sky upon our
earth are the fragments of other
worlds from which they have become
disintegrated, then do we conclude, in
the clearest sense, priori, that
those worlds are or were the abodes
of life, animal and vegetable. We
say animal and vegetable, because
these two forms of vital existence are
strictly correlative; that is to say, the
one cannot exist alone, for they are
mutually dependent upon each other.
Does this seem paradoxical to the
reader? l will illustrate: The grand
old forest tree under which am writ
ing has lungs, and it breathes just as
truly as an animal breathes. This
tree breathes through its leaf lungs,
inhaling carbonic acid gas from the
surrounding atmosphere and exhaling
or throwing off oxygen. I breathe
through my lungs of flesh, inhaling
oxygen from the surrounding atmor-
phere and exhaling or throwing off
carbonic acid gas.
Oxygen is life to me, while carbonic
acid gas is a deadly poison. On the
other hand, carbonic acid gas is life to
the tree while oxygen is poison.
Thus will it he seen that the lungs
OF air-breathing animals and the
leaves of trees are co-workers in the
great life-producing industry, but they
never go on strikes or boycotts.
But to resume the trend of our
topic. l have on my writing table
. paper weight, curiously rounded
stone weighing few ounces and quite
Insignificant but for the fact that it
fell from the planetary spaces and was
caught by mother earth before it had
suffered complete combustion. This
little visitor from afar has no tongue
to tell me the fascinating story OF it's
eventful experience, but its SUBJ
stance is thickly interspersed with
carbon particles, all of which, like 90
many little tell.tale imps are declar-
ing in still small voices that they came
from world of life, activity, and
deathl For life and death are only
correlative states. Whether such
worlds are disrupted or still intact is
no part OF the present discussion, but
having now shown, 90 far az science
goes, that life in various forms may,
and probably actually exists in plane
tary bodies belonging to our system, it
only remains to solve the problem of
inter.transmission of thought between
intelligent beings living in worlds
millions OF miles apart. The earth is
globe with a surface expansion OF
land and water; so is the planet Mars.
The earth revolves around the sun
from west to east with its axis inclined
% and half degrees to the ecliptic,
producing the agreeable vicissitudes OF
the four seasons, spring, summer,
autumn and winter. Mars, in like
manner revolves around the sun from
west to east. with its axis trifle more
inclined to the ecliptic, producing
exactly similar vicissitudes OF seasons
only in more marked degree. The
earth revolves upon its axis from west
to east, in % hours, Sc minutes 4 Sec
onds, producing the health giving, life
sustaining succession of day and night;
Mars revolves upon its axis from west
to east, in "a hours, 81 minutes, %
seconds. producing a similar health
giving, life-sustaining succession OF
day and night; the length OF its day,
however, being onlysslightly in excess
OF that of the earth, and which would
be wholly unnoticeable to terrestrial
visitor. The earth is enveloped in Q
bland atmosphere in which float q
panorama of clouds; Mars is enveloped
in like atmosphere in whose con.
cave expanse are waited hither and
thither similar cloud formations.
Earth clouds serve to mollify the
fierce rays of the sun in summer and
to check the VIII olesale radiation of
surface heat in winter; the Marsian
atmosphere performs exactly similar
functions. The poles of the earth are
surrounded by perpetual vestments
Of snow and ice which increase their
area in winter and lessen in summer;
just such environments imprison the
poles of Mars with like action. Finally,
the earth is the arena of vegetable,
animal and sentient life. All, can we
say as much of Mars? Why not?
So far as the tenure of mere vegetable
and animal existence is concerned,
there is not a reasonable doubt Light,
heat, moisture and ear.h.mould. are
the conditions OF life upon our globe.
Science has demonstrated that Mars
possesses all these, and sound analogy
declares that it has fauna and fora
not differing essentially from those of
our own world. l.. p. YEMEN,
Vashon College, July IS, 1894.
concluded next week.
ABsURDlrY never reached y greater
height or depth than il has in Kansas