Year: 1864

Both Newton and Humboldt are of op-
inion that the stars are most probably Of
the same materials as the earth. Hers
chel the elder aud Laplace shared bis
views to a great extent. The meteoriteS
have been found o contain simple
body, no earth or metal not known as an
element of our globe. What is, however


interesting is, that they have as yet been
only found to contain less than a third OF
the known number. The metals far pre-
dominate over the non-metals n these
bodies. Their composition then is such,
that if the planets be like them they can.


not support early life as we understand


the phrase. Furthermore, Mercury is
nearly seven times, occasionally nearly
eleven times, as light as the sun, so that
human being would be struck blind in
stantly, while the heat is computed to be
SO great that his eyes would be boiled in
his head. n the hottest part { this
planet water would be always at boiling
heat, and "most inhammatory substances
would be dissipated and destroyed" We
may therefore assume that the natives
have no eyes, or that they are no bigger
than pin holes. They must also be quite
accustomed o extreme vicissitudes o {
weather, as winter succeeds autumn and
summer follows spring quite four times
as rapidly as with US, in consequence of
the year not being quite three months in
duration; a strong contrast t o Jupiter,
whose seasons are nearly thirty times as
long s ours. Venus is only twice as
light as the sun, so that if man could 90
about with his eyes shut he might get on;
dress, we may presume is dispensed with
on this planet, a the greatest heat Of
fCuuo 6ACGCus budt vi DOlH6U anu Ouul-
atra Just as much as their SKINNER exs
ceeds in heat that of h e Orkneys.-
Again, Mars appears to be made of cast
iron in a state of rust, except at the poles
where it is covered with snow by some
writers he has been compared to a globe
of ochre. On this stern looking continent
winter lasts nearly yearsat the poles,
without any change, and as consolation
to those who are interested in the fate of
the inhabitants, we are told that t h e
warmest part of the climate is not much
colder than in many parts of Norway or
Lapland in the Spring. However, Mars
may still possess a vegetation of its kind,
as some of the French botanists have,
believe, shown thar seeds will germinate
pretty well upon aAy wheel. AS for the
moon, all the water with which she was
partially covered in ancient times seems
to have boiled out of her, so that there
is nothing to drink there. There is no
air to breathe, and therefore only a per-
son capable of living quite at ease in the
vacuum of an air pump could manage
at all. Perhaps a few beetles or sala-
manders may pick up precarious liveli-
hood, but must have rather an uneasy
time OF it, as there is not a vestige Of any
thing for them to eat so far as we can see.
Moreover one side of their abode is so
cold 8 instantly to freeze brandy, or
about a hundred degrees below zero,
while the other is about the heat OF boil
ing water. AS a residence for astron-
omers she certainly presents the immense
advantage of enabling them to watch
planet three hundred and fifty four hours
at a stretch, the night at the equator be-
ing of this length; but for persons who
don't care about looking at the stars, her
annu!ar mountains, fresh from the mould,
and formed, as it were, of frosted silver,
her endless hills and chasms, her ridicu-
lous seas of nectar, tranquility, and the
like, after all mean simply that she is a
hideous, hopeless waste, full of holes, like
great beetle traps; and the reader will
most likely forgive Hook for trying to
show that she is very like boiled ala
baster pudding.