The times., 1901-03-17

leagues above the earth where our att
! mosphere terminates. it is. ne saws. a
| real fluid, Eas analogous to the air
| which surrounds MS but infinitely more
| raritiod and thianer. II Is distributed not
/ only around the earth but about the 9TH
/ cr planets More than this il is in all
( space. IL fills the intervals which - pa
! rate the planets. In fact. the planets
! Which. with their satellites, compose our
| solar system. move in ether. The comets
! Also iu their immense journeys through
! space. circulate in ether , hn th"hiicdi
] composition of planetary ether Is un-
/ known. Astronomical phenomena nave
/ taught us that there is such a substance
/ but nothing is known oi IT'S compoHtIl's-
/ We conclude. however thtl tihtf I'il
contain mo oxygen and II is very proh8-
/ Bile that planetary ether is composed OIL
: hydrogen gas Intensely Tarifed. that is
Z gas extremely HEht i'm its nature, and
/ pressure. and oi this fluid above our at
mosFherC NJ. Figuier says:
! "u is heaven. There. then. in the place
/ commonly termed heaven we fix the res
! idoncy of sUpgrhumau beings In tais
! matter we concur with the popular belief
/ ana rrtiUIIcrS. and We gladly establish
! this asreemyut. These pTeiudiccs. these
mia-iNIGEs, III many cases epitomlzc the
/ number of human generations. tradi-
! JiCu which uniformly prevails IH all Couh-
/ tries mas the weight OF scientific demon
! stTalioI. Language and tradition asf.'-
| ing. the most widespread reiigionS-ChIlS-
/ Jiality. buddhism. and Mohammedailism
assign TO heaven the home of God S
And So. adds NJ. Figuier science.
| tradition and religion join hands in this
| matter: and the holy priest VINO, attend
! ing the royal martyr on the revolutionary
/ sCanold. cried son of the holy 81 LOUIS
| ascend TO heaven. uttered q NerltaDle
! scientific truth.
| THE PLANETS AND THEIR INHABITANTS
! NJ Fieuier recalling that modern as
| tronomy has demonstrated that there are
other worlds than ours that the earth
simply makes part of a class or group of
stars which do not differ essentially, and
I that there is an infinity of other globes
/ like it, proceeds to consider the internal
affairs of the other worlds Since there
is nothing 90 distinguish our earth from
the other planets of our solar system
, y. rcurN. Venus. Mars. Jupiter. Saturn.
| 1 rauUS. and Neptune-he urges that we
must find in the others what we find
nere-alr and water, hard soil, rivers,
ad seas. mountains and valleys. There
must be found also in them vegetation
ma trees. and tracts covered with NeTd-
3TC and shade. They must have atmOS-
pherc ana heavens. There must he in
hem animals and even men, or at least
longs superior To animals and CORES
gandiHg 10 our human type
Science says the scientist. has
shown that the physical and ciimatolo-
gIcal conditions or the earth and the 9th
n planets are Identical. on these plan
cts. as on the earth, the sun shines and
disappears. yielding place to night. and
cold and darkness succeed to heat and
light. Tn them, as on the earth, the rich
carpet OF hcrbaee covers the plains, and
luNurant woods cover the mountains
Rivers flow majestcatly on 10 the seas
Winds blow regularly or irregulaTly and
purify the atmosphere by miugliug their
strata charged in different degrees with
the produce of the evaporation Of the
soil. In quiet nights dwellers on these
planets see tn. same heavenly spectacle
that delights our eyes, the same con
steliations. the same celestial visitors.
They have panoramic views of the plan
etaTy globes with their following of faith
fui satellites and luminous stars once
in a while there is sudden luminous
trail which burrows the heavens like a
flash Of silver: II is what We cail
shooting star. which drops into the
depths OF space. Again, 1t is a comet
with a beautiful tail. that comes to bring
news OF worlds millions OF miles away.
The planetary man. according to the be
.ief OF NJ FiguieT. corresponds to the ter
Teslrial man. In the planets the process
of creation Of organized life must be the
same as in the earth: the successive order
Of the appearance of living creatures is
the same as OF the globe. And. like the
terrestrial, the planetary man dies. is
transformed after death, into a super
human. and passes also into ether.
FORM AND LIFE oF TIE StPERHUMAN
This world. then is one of a number OF
worlds, all peOpled with human beings
who die leave their bodies 10 enrich the
soil and whose souls rise To space above.
known As ether. and are transformed into
new bodies called superhuman beings To
a description of these NJ Figuier devotes
much consideration. His final conclusions
are that they have bodies but bodies pos
sessiug qualities infinitely superior to
those which belong to the human tene-
ment In order to float in ether they must
he composed Of substances wonderfully
subtie-or thin material tissues. and
transparent and Napory cioaks Of living
matter.
They are sustained by the simple respi-
ration of the lluid in which they live
They know nothing Of fatigue or the pains
of sickness. They yield themselves en-
trely to quiet and gentle sentiments and
to no impressions save those Of bliss and
unalloyed serenity. They enjoy the same
senses that are Ours-sight. hearing feel
ing, smell. and Iaste-but TO an infinitely
more exquisite degree and moreover spe-
cial senses unknown 10 us. There is no
sex. all have the same organic life They
need not, in order 20 love each other be
long 10 opposite sexes. to two groups of
different organisms. Ia this new exist
enCe. love Is an ennObliug sentiment idea!
and eXguistely pure.
Their peculiar organization gives them
the power Of transporting themselves
very RAPIDLY from place 10 place and OF
comprising great distances with eXtraor-
binary speed. which We can only measure
by electricity. In the domain Of ether
time counts for nothing. The superhu-
man. then. is mortal ike the terrestrial /
or planetary man. In time his body dies !