Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1897-01-09
THE STARS POPULATION.
If There Ar" Beings on Mars. riey Have
Queer Luu.~.

queer Lung.
The di>ccvc} Y al The philosopher :
stone, -uppo-iig Jhat phra>'' 10 i'm
ply IL working semen Tor trln~uiut-
ing IN inferior MAJ into gold,
would probably p luce nothing
beyond " period Ut terrible ecouom-
ic confusion, or perhaps a vast and
disastrous, hpCuU uNrrrapid. trans
fer of property. hut III" attainment
of certainty thtt S'nrirnr hein"s
with cnrporrnl irc"'~emcnts. acting
by effort and not by pure volition,
existed i'll amy one other planet
would only rnld,E" the range Of
human thought and the force OF the
human imagination. Such Il GER
tuinty woull either increase to IN
extraordinary degree the reverence
for the Creator fur we are all so
limited that we reverence powers
which we sec cNertcu more than
powers which we know in theory
must exist. a;' would compel mate
riuliStS to revise AMI widen their
whole theory Oi the relation of mat,
ter tn mind, it being evident that
sentence could exist under condi-
lions hitherto deemed impossible.
There ara certainly nillion, and
possibly billions or worlds of which
no two are the same, and if Sentirnt
beings were found past question i'll
any other world than ours the pre-
sumption that they existed under II
variety Of conditions and probably,
therefore, in Il variety of forms,
practically unlimited. would become
so violent that to reject tho theory
would soon be regarded as IN evil
dcnce of foolish, popular habit of
disbelief in the unseen.
Man has some internal dislike TO
believe that limited beings with sen
thence can exist under conditions
other than his own, and habituully
assumes that IL world without air is
Il dead world. Yet there is 10 proof
that the ether, which we know to
be everywhere, cannot support lie,
or that circumstances "f which We
kr""r nos!ing may not modify
either its intoleluble cold OF the eff
feet of that cold
In Mars itself there is some 30
tency at work which, to the despair
for the moment of terrestrial sci
encc, produces warmth where cold
ought t. reign permanently SUI
prcme. 1t il as certain as any de
duction from analogy can he that
air in Mars, though it exists, il as
rariticd as it would he ut the top of
Il mountain vice ;s high as Mount
Everest, AMI that consequently tho
normal and permanent degree of
cold ought to be terrible
The thermal income of Mars is
less than half that Of the earth. and
its Theoretical mean temperature is
consequently - taking into account
its low "nlhulo' on reflective power
per unit Of area 50 degrees cent?.
grade below fre"Zirg Yet the ac-
tllal climute of Mars il mild. Snow
certainly melt- rapidly-that is pat
ent to the tclescul" certain
ly rises hat is clear from the spec
trum analysis --. water flows, and
there are indications, if not proofs,
that Il sudden vegetation follows
the sudden thawi1g of the SHOW.
What Warns the air is unknown,
but it is warmed past all question
OF doubt. and all arguments there
fore a. to the inevitablrn,"'s Of cold
in other worlds must be pronounced
imperfect, rs, are those which show
the inpo54iIility of sustaining cor
pOreil lie. III we can say with crr-
tilinty is th%t if H,nticnt being; with
col1iO"cAl III nrs, exist in liars, the
relation Il Tie lungs to The body
Cunnut ! Q i;,oH zeal with their rolu-
ton iii n!lr, I.i.ich. as We are aware
of fishes. isI III impossible eXcr-
else uf H. iWugin,.tion London
Spectator.