The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-03-17

leagues above the earth. where our at
mosphere terminates. 1t is. ne says. a
| real fluid, a gas analogous to the air
| which surrounds us but infinitely more
| rariiicd and thinner. II is distributed not
| only around the earth. but about the 9TH
| or planets. More than this. il Is in all
| space. il fills the intervals which sepa-
| rate the planets. In fact, the planets
| Which with their satellites, compose our
| solar system. move in ether. The comets
| also. IN their immense journeys through
! space, circulate in ether. The chemical
] composition of planetary ether Is I'M
| known. Astronomical phenomena nave
! taught us that Their" is such a substance
| but nothing is known OF Its cOInpoHtll's'
| We conclude. however. that ether can
| contain no oxygen; and il is very promo
/ bic that planetary ether Is composed oil
! hydrogen gas Intensely rari1td: that IS.
/ % g,;s extremely liEht in its nature, and
| infinitely dispersed by the absence OF all
pressure. and OF This fluid above our at
! mosEherc NJ Fisuier says
! III is heaven There. then, in the place
| commonly termed heaven. we fix the res
! idenCe of sUperhuman beings. In this
| matter we concur with the popular belief
and prciudiCcS. and We gladly establish
! this asreemsnt. These preiudiccs. these
| mi8givInEs, III many cases epitomlZc the
( wisdom ana observations of an Infinite
number of human generations \ tradl-
| tion v hich uniformly prevails in all coun-
| tries has the weight of scientific demon
strat0I. Language and tradition agree
ing. the most widespread religions-ChrlS-
tia1ity. buddhism. and Mohammedanism
assign to heaven the home of God
! And 50. adds NJ. Figuier. Science.
| tradition, and religion join hands in TINS
| matter: and the holy priest who, attend
| ing the royal martyr on the rev9iutipilaIy
| scanold. cried son of the holy st. LOUIS,
| ascend to heaven uttered Neritable
| scientific truth.
| THE PLANETS AND THEIR INHABITANTS.
! NJ Figuier recalling that modern as
| tronomy has demonstrated that there are
| other worlds than ours. that the earth
1 simply makes part of a class or group Of
! stars which do not differ essentially, and
! that there is an intinity of other globes
/ like it, proceeds to consider the internal
affairs of the other worlds. Since there
( is nothing to distinguish our earth from
the other planets of our solar system
, Mercury, Venus Mars. Jupiter, Saturn,
trauus, and Neptune-he urges that
must find in the others what We find
here-siir and water. a hard soil, rivers,
nd seas. mountains and valleys. There
must be found also in them vegetation
and trees, and tracts covered with verdi
Irc ana shade. They must have atmos-
2herc and heavens. There must he in
hem animals and even men. or at least
feiuEs superior to animals and CORES
9andiHg to our human type
Science. says the scientist. has
shown that the physical and climatolo-
gical conditions OF the earth and the 9TH
r planets are identical. On these plan
Its, as on the earth. the shines and
disappears. yielding place to night. and
cold and darkness succeed to heat and
light. In them, as on the earth, the rich
carpet Of heritage covers the plains. and
luXurislnt woods cover the mountains.
Rivers flow majesticaily on to the seas.
Winds blow regularly or irregularly and
purify the atmosphere by mingliug their
strata charged in different degrees with
the produce of the evaporation Of the
soil. In quiet nights dwellers on these
n4f he 80 hos ctaaf ssIA
that delights our eyes, the same con
stellations, the same celestial visitors.
They have panoramic views of the plan
etarN globes with their following of faith
full satellites and luminous stars Once
in a while there is sudden luminous
trail which burrows the heavens like
flash of silver; it is what We call a
shooting star. which drops into the
depths OF space. Again, it 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-
lief Of NJ. FiguieT. corresponds to the ter
restral 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 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 THE sUPERHCMAS.
This world, then. is one of a number OF
worlds. all peopled with human beings
who die. leave their bodies to 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
sessing qualities infinitely superior to
those which belong to the human tene-
ment. In order to float in ether they must
be composed Of substances wonderfully
Subtle-or thin material tissues and
transparent and vapory cloaks of living
matter.
They are sustained By the simple respi-
ration of the iluid in which they live
They know nothing Of fatigue or the pains
of sickness. They yield themselves en-
tirely to quiet and gentle sentiments and
to no impressions save those of bliss and
unalloyed serenity. They enjoy the same
senses that are ours-slght hearing. feel
ing, smell, and taste-but to an Infinitely
more exquisite degree, and moreover. spe-
cial senses unknown to us. There is no
sex: all have the same organic life. They
need not, in order to love each other be-
long to opposite sexes. to two groups of
different organisms. In this new exist
ence, love is an ennobling sentiment ideal
and eXquisitely pure.
Their peculiar organization gives them
the power of transporting themselves
very rapidly from place TO 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 a mortal like the terrestrial
or planetary man In time his body dies |