Middletown transcript., 1917-11-17

aid. who like most sailors, was a re-
ligious man.
"And then," continued Masterman,
"what does the record tell us? The
moving creatures that have life were
made, and the great sea monsters, Le-
viathan and his kind, and the fowls
of the air. And afterward the earth
monsters, and creeping things. And
man not till the last. Now don't tell
me, lieutenant, that the man VINO
wrote the story of the creation wasn't
an up-to-date scientist.
"Well, sir, at last the day came when
the waters had cooled, the clouds
opened, and the sun streamed through.
By that time the ocean wasn't SO
pleasant place to live in as formerly,
especially as the climatic zones were
appearing. No doubt there was rush
to the equator on the part Of the sur
face monsters. But the ocean beds
were still warm from the hot rocks,
| and the heat down there was good for
several thousand, or hundred thou
sand years yet.
$50 some of the sea creatures re-
mained in the depths, and others pre-
ferred to bask on the rocks in the sun
light. Then their gills began to be
replaced by lungs, or else they hao
giIls as we'll as lungs, or an 1nterme-
diate apparatus"
Common today, captain. Certain
lizards develop either lungs or gllls'
according to the medium in which
they live"
"Well, sir, as understand 1t, the
first organisms that came out on lano
were armor plated, like the crabs ana
spiny fossil fishes. Their bones were
on the outside, to protect them against
being eaten. But after a while the
progressive ones turned themselves in
side out. Those that didn't, remained
like the turtles and degenerated. The
rest found that it was easier to escape
their enemies by using their bones as
props and developing speed.
"Now, lieutenant, suppose men hao
developed that way in the depths OF
the sea. Suppose you had race OF
men who had discovered, not neces'
sarily turning themselves inside out
like us, although they might have done
so, but other means to avoid being
eaten-say invisibility."
"There I can refute you," answered
Donald. "Man has developed from an
| a& n01lS-
ms, the four anthropoids, supposedly
chimpanzeelike creature with the
structure Of a gibbon, from which he
obtained his erect posture. Your sea
creatures would have had to &c
/. through the lemur-ape FORMS"
"But let us suppose man who de-
ve;oped off the line" persisted Mas
terman. "a manlike organism with
webbed feet-something like man,
seal. How about mermen? Do you
believe there is anything in that
story?"
81 hardly think so, captain"
"How about the old legends of the
Cyclopses?"
"A myth, Masterman. Besides, the
Cyclops kept cattle and lived upon
land"
"But they ate men, lieutenant. How
ever, let us Cal our men of the se6
imaginary. Grant that there might
be such creatures, though. You'll ad
nit that, with life so tard under the
ocean, they'd have de0eloped more
cunning along certain lines than the
human race. And they wouldn't know
much about pity or love, or aI.ythins
except how to find their food
"I'll grant that" answered Donald
'if we accept the hypothesis that sucf
creatures exist"
"Good! Put a pin there, my lad
Now, as we were saying, after thou
sands of years the heat at the bottom
of the sea would disappear by its diff
fusion through the oceans every
where. The depths would grow to-
cold for them. It's bitter cold in tn
water at 81 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit
Wouldn't the time come when they
too, would feel the impulse to migrat
into the SUM-"
"No, Masterman. Their breathing!
II know what you're going to say
lieutenant. You're going to tell M
that. even if they could breathe air
they couldn't live when the pressur'
of those miles of ocean was removed
But suppose nature has been bus,
preparing for the change during thou
sands Of years, while she has beel
l modifying their siils into lungs, a
she worked on the brontosaurs. That
how nature works-quietly, softly, sc
cretly, till she's ready to launch he
: thunderbolt.
, Suppose a second human swarm
: mans po0r cousins, is getting read
to overrun the earth, and put dow
5 man from his throne. Suppose tn
puny swarms Of monkey-men, white
: yellow and black, that cra awl upon tn
< face of the globe and imagine them
. selves it's owners, are going to be oh
liberated, not from Mars or Venus, bu
s out of the earth's own vitals!"
4 Captain Masterman sat bolt uprigh
" as he spoke; he looked like some oil
e prophet spelling out the doom of mai
e The intense earnesthess in his word
/, shook Paget's incredulity for a me
t ment, and left him sick with horror.
+ suppose that civilization, every
l. thing which has gone to make up tn
= life We know-family love, books
e monuments, parl faments, ships-all Q
e it is to be at tile mercy of this mel
q a,1osr bo.do Odd thnt Mo nro eroin