The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-02-12

buildings into two classes-movable
and sedentary. They are composed, .
he says, .of Yery light wood, and at
the building of them sthe architect
places &four Strong wheels under the
foundations of the walls. Six pairs of
bellows are placed with their noses
horizontal to the wings of the uooer
story, so that when a town is to be re-
moved, which is always done as the
seasons change, several large sails are
unfolded before the nose of the bel
lows which. being set at work, dis
charge the wind so very strongly upon
them, that the houses are set in mo-
ton, and by the violence of the gust
which drives them forward they are
enabled to travel upwards of hundred
leagues in eight days.
Those which are sedentary are built
much In the manner of tower, except
that they are composed of wood, a
large screw passing from the garnet all
through to the cellar. Now, the earth
under the building is dug zap, and pit
left open equal in depth to the height
Of the house. SO that when the air be-
comes cold or Indictment. the whole
house is by means of this screw on
which ii turns, let down into this sort
of cellar, where il remains secure from
the rigor of the season until the gentle
spring invites it again upward, and it
its descent"
CYRANO TALKS OF BIG NOSES.
In the course of the book, Cyrano
jests on the huge nose which has made
him immortal. He endows all the resi-
dents of the moon with huge Hoses like
his own, and he makes them instru-
mentS for telling the time Their
teeth he says, form a dial so very
just that to show the hour, they need
only open their lips, and, the shadow of
their nose falling on the teeth, points
it out exactly"
This is the reason" he continues,
''of your seeing everybody in this coun-
try with such large noses. When
child is born it is carried to the semi
nary, where, at he end of one year, as
semble certain judges to try the length
of his nose. If it does not answer
certain measure, which is carefully pre-
served by the Syndic, he is judged to
be short-nosed, and delivered over to
certain persons who imprison him for
life" Then Cyrano goes on to defend
large noses. But know" he says, that
this custom was not established till
after having experienced, through th1r-
ty years, that large nose is sure
sign of courtesy, affability, generosity,
liberality and greatness of soul.
HIS THEORY OF EVOLUTION.
Cyrano had a theory of evolution of
his own which he placed in the mouth
of a moon philosopher. This phlloso-
pher speaks learnedly on the genera
ton and conception of things THE
earth gives being to tree, a tree to
hog hog to a man; for all beings in
the world tend, as much as nature VIII
admit, to perfection. Now, the most
perfect of her productions is man. He
is most beautiful and best finished, be-
cause in him is united the animal and
the rational souls. He must be a
pedant who denies that the oak draws
into it and digests by the heat of its
seed the earth which surrounds 1t. The
oak produces an acorn; the hog feeds
on the acorns, which thereby become a
part of it; man again feeds on this hog,
and by so doing may be said TO re
animate the dead flesh and revive it
under a nobler species. Perhaps the
man walking yonder was a plant IN my
garden sixty years since. All things
that live and vegetate progress through
several stages to perfection; after
which they degenerate to their former
state and rise again by the same regu-
lar gradations." In which we see that
the theory of development and evolu-
ton was far enough advanced to be
Jest of the sixteenth century.
After a long visit among the people
of the moon, Cyrano decides to return
to the earth. He has a machine built,
and starts out, making the trip in three
days. The beginning of the second
day-I was able to distinguish Europe
from "a lea and Asia; after which the
sulphur. issuing from a very high burn
ing mountain, affected me so very
that l tainted away. l know
nothing of what happened until l re-
covered when ! found myself upon the
side of IA hill surrounded by a parcel
of shepherds who talked Italian.
Il had been torn in pieces by dogs.
he says, who, one and all, big and lit
tie. fell upon me opeh-mouthed and
were ready to devour me. However, / |
happily bethought me, this pursuit |
might arise from their antipathy to the !
land from whence l came, at which you |
see them always barking, and was
sensible that l had not yet got rid of /
the smell contracted there, as the va
DOT Of the sea continues with people /
for some time after they have landed"
Finally the vOyager succeeded in rid i
ding himself of the smell of the moon, /
which so disturbed the dogs of Italy, |
and took boat for France. and wrote /
The account OF his remarkable voyage. /
JOHN STILES.