Rocky Ford enterprise., 1908-05-08


make the forms of the Mnrtian animal
Kingdom lax~r and iiimsi~r. and either
larger or cisr si~ndcrcr than earthly
types.
become adapted to seasoned food con
diiioas. there will bc not only nicrs
and climbcrs. but wadcrs-ions.'cgscd
forms Well. here w~ get something
-nIers. climbers. and wadcrs. with n
sort Of backbone. Now let um brin.
In another fact. the fucf that the Mar.
tian year IL lust twice the length of
ours. and aitrrnatrr between hot sum.
mcr Hunshinc-iikc the sunshine wc
experience on high mountains-and
n long. frost.bitten winter. The day.
too. has the length Of n terrestrial
day. and because of the thin air will
have Just the quick changes from heat
to cold we md ON this planet upon
the higher mountains.
This means that nii these birds and
beasts must be- adapted TO krca,
changes Of temperature. To meet
that they must be covered by some
thick. air.holdins. non.conductinE GOV.
crins. something analogous TO fur or
feathers. which they can thin out In
summer and renew for tho winters
bitterness.
And now as to the ruling inhabitants
who made the gigantic canal system
Of Mars. those creatures Of human or
superhumnn intelligence who. unless
Mr.. Lowell is no more than fantas-
tic visionary. have taken Mars In hand
to rule and order and cultivate sys.
tematically and completely. as I be-
lieye some day man will take this
earth.
How far are these ruling beings
likely TO resemble terrestrial human.
ity?
which they are likely to resemble us.
The quasi.mammalian origins We have
supposed for them imply quasi.
human appearance. They will prob.
ably have heads and eyes and back.
boned bodies: and since they must
have big brains because of their high
Intelligence. and since almost all crea.
lures with big brains tend to have
them forward In their heads near
their eyes. these Martians will prob
ably have big, shapely skulls. But
their bodies will In all likelihood be
larger in size than humanity. two and
two.third times. perhaps. the mass OF
a man. That does not mean. how
ever. that they will be two and two
thirds as tall; but allowing for the
laxer texture Of things on Mars. 1t
may be that they will be half as tall
again when standing up. And as like
ly as not they will be covered with
feathers or fur.
There can be no doubt OF the i'm
mense part the development OF the
hand has played in the education Of
the human intelligence. So that 1t
would be quite natural to imagine the
Martians as big.headed, deep-chested
bipeds, grotesquely caricaturing hu.
manity with arms and hands.
But that is only one OF several al
mos. equally plausible possibilities.
One thing we may rely upon: that
the Martians must have some pre-
hensile organ. primarily because the
development Of intelligence is almost
unthinkable without it; and secondly.
because in no other way could they
get their engineering done. 1t ia
stranger to our imaginations, but mo
less reasonable. to suppose, instead
OF a hand, an elephant-like proboscis,
or a group of tentacles or proboscis-
like organs.
Finally. here is thought that ma,
be reassuring to any reader who finds
these Martians alarming: II a man
was transferred suddenly to the sur
face of Mars. he would find himself
immensely exhilarated-so soon as he
had got over a slight mountain-sick-
ness. He would weigh not a half
what he does upon earth. He would
prance and leap; he would lift twice
his utmost earthly burden with ease.
But II Martian came to earth his
weight would bear him down like
cope of lead. He would weigh two and
two-thirds of his Marian weight, and
probably he would find existence in.
sufferable. His limbs would not sup.
port him. Perhaps he would die, self l
crushed, at once.
H. g. WELLS.