A Trip to Venus: A Novel

by John Munro

  CHAPTER IV.

  THE ELECTRIC ORRERY.

  "Half-moon Junction! Change here for Venus, Mercury, the Earth, Mars,Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune!"

  So I called in the style of a Clapham railway porter, as I entered theobservatory of Professor Gazen on the following night.

  "What is the matter?" said he with a smile. "Are you imitating theofficials of the Universal Navigation Company in the distant future?"

  "Not so distant as you may imagine," I responded significantly; and thenI told him all that I had seen and heard of the new flying machine.

  The professor listened with serious attention, but manifested neitherastonishment nor scepticism.

  "What do you think about it?" I asked. "What should I do in the case?"

  "Well, I hardly know," he replied doubtfully. "It is rather out of myline, and after my experience with Mars the other night, I am notinclined to dogmatise. At all events, I should like to see and try themachine before giving an opinion."

  "I will arrange for that with the inventor."

  "Possibly I can find out something about him from my Americanfriends--if he is genuine. What's his name again?"

  "Carmichael--Nasmyth Carmichael."

  "Nasmyth Carmichael," repeated Gazen, musingly. "It seems to me I'veheard the name somewhere. Yes, now I recollect. When I was a student atCambridge, I remember reading a textbook on physics by Professor NasmythCarmichael, an American, and a capital book it was--beautifully simple,clear, and profound like Nature herself. Professors, as a rule, andespecially professors of science, are not the best writers in the world.Pity they can't teach the economy of energy without wasting that oftheir readers. Carmichael's book was not a dead system of mathematicsand figures, but rather a living tale, with illustrations drawn fromevery part of the world. I got far more help from it than the prescribedtreatises, and the best of that was a liking for the subject. I believeI should have been plucked without it."

  "The very man, no doubt."

  "He was remarkably sane when he wrote that book, whatever he is now. Asto his character, that is another question. Given a work of science, tofind the character of the author. Problem."

  "I shall proceed cautiously in the affair. Before I commit myself, Imust be satisfied by inspection and trial that there is neither trickerynor self-delusion on his part. We can make some trial trips, and gainexperience before we attempt to leave the world."

  "If you take my advice you will keep to the earth altogether."

  "Surely, if we can ascend into the higher regions of the atmosphere, wecan traverse empty space. You would have me stop within sight of thegoal. The end of travel is to reach the other planets."

  "Why not say the fixed stars when you are about it?"

  "That's impossible."

  "On the contrary, with a vessel large enough to contain the necessariesof life, a select party of ladies and gentlemen might start for theMilky Way, and if all went right, their descendants would arrive therein the course of a few million years."

  "Rather a long journey, I'm afraid."

  "What would you have? A million years quotha! nay, not so much. Itdepends on the speed and the direction taken. If they were able tocover, say, the distance from Liverpool to New York in a tenth of asecond, they would get to Alpha in the constellation Centaur, perhapsthe nearest of the fixed stars, in twenty or thirty years--a merebagatelle. But why should we stop there?" went on Gazen. "Why should wenot build large vessels for the navigation of the ether--artificialplanets in fact--and go cruising about in space, from universe touniverse, on a celestial Cook's excursion--"

  "We are doing that now, I believe."

  "Yes, but in tow of the Sun. Not at our own sweet will, like gipsies ina caravan. Independent, free of rent and taxes, these hollow planetoidswould serve for schools, hotels, dwelling-houses--"

  "And lunatic asylums."

  "They would relieve the surplus population of the globe," continuedGazen, warming to his theme. "It is an idea of the first politicalimportance--especially to British statesmen. The Empire is only in itsinfancy. With a fleet of ethereal gunboats we might colonise the solarsystem, and annex the stars. What a stroke of business!"

  "Another illusion gone," I observed "Think of Manchester cotton in thePleiades! Of Scotch whiskey in Orion! However, I am afraid your policywould lead to international complications. The French would set up aclaim for 'Ancient Lights.' The Germans would discover a nebulousHinterland under their protection. The Americans would protest in thename of the Monroe Doctrine. It is necessary to be modest. Let us returnto our muttons."

  "Everybody will be able to pick a world that suits him," pursued Gazen,still on the trail of his thought. "If he grows tired of one he can lookround for a better. Criminals will be weeded out and sent to Coventry, Imean transplanted into a worse. When a planet is dying of old age, theinhabitants will flit to another."

  "Seriously, if Carmichael's machine turns out all right, will you joinme in a trip?"

  "Thanks, no. I believe I shall wait and see how you get on first."

  "And where would you advise me to go, Mars or Venus?"

  The professor smiled, but I was quite in earnest.

  "Well," he replied, "Mars is evidently inhabited; but so is Venus,probably, and of the two I think you will find her the more hospitableand the nearest. When do you propose to start?"

  "Perhaps within six months."

  "We must consider their relative distances from the earth. By the way,I don't think you have seen my new electrical orrery."

  "An electrical orrery," I exclaimed. "Surely that is something new!"

  "So far as I am aware; but you never know in these days. There isnothing new under the sun, or even above it."

  So saying, he opened a small door in the side of the observatory, and,ushering me into a very dark apartment, closed it behind us.

  "Follow me, there is no danger," said he, taking me by the arm, andguiding me for several paces into the darkness.

  At length we halted, and I looked all around me, but was unable toperceive a single object.

  "Where are we?" I enquired; "in the realms of Chaos and Old Night?"

  "You are now in the centre of the Universe," replied Gazen; "or, tospeak more correctly, at a point in space overlooking the solar system."

  "Well, I can't see it," said I. "Have you got such a thing as a matchabout you?"

  "Let there be light!" responded Gazen in a reverent manner, andinstantly a soft, weird radiance was over all. The contrast of thatsudden illumination with the preceding darkness was electrical in moresenses than one, and I could not repress a cry of genuine admiration.

  A kind of twilight still reigned, and after the first moment ofsurprise, I perceived that we were standing on a light metal gangway inthe middle of a great hollow cell of a luminous black or dark bluecolour, relieved by innumerable bright points, and resembling the nightsky in miniature.

  "I need hardly say that is a model of the celestial sphere," whisperedGazen, indicating the starry vault.

  "It is a wonderful imitation," I responded, my awestruck eyes wanderingover the mysterious tracts of the Milky Way and the familiarconstellations of the mimic heavens. "May I ask how it is done--how youproduce that impression of infinite distance?"

  "By means of translucent shells illuminated from behind. The stars, ofcourse, are electric lamps, and some of them, as you see, have a tingeof red or blue."

  Most of the light, however, came from a brilliant globe of a bluishlustre, which appeared to occupy the centre of the crystal sphere, andwas surrounded by a number of smaller and fainter orbs that shone by itsreflected rays.

  "This, again, is a model of the solar system," said Gazen. "The centralluminary is, of course, the sun, and the others are the planets withtheir satellites."

  "They seem to float in air."

  "That is because their supports are invisible, or nearly so. Both theirlights and periodic motions are produced by the electric current."

  "Sur
ely they are not moving now?"

  "Oh, yes, and with velocities proportionate to those of the real bodies;but you know that whilst the actual movements of the sun and planets areso rapid, the dimensions of the system are so vast that if you couldsurvey the whole from a standpoint in space, as we are supposed to do,it would appear at rest. Let us look at them a little closer."

  I followed Gazen along the gangway which encircled the orrery, andallowed us to survey each of the planets closer at hand.

  "This kind of place would make a good theatre for a class in astronomy,"said I, "or for the meetings of the Interplanetary Congress ofAstronomers, in the year 2000. You can turn on the stars and planetswhen you please. I wish you would give me a lecture on the subject now.My knowledge is a little the worse for wear, and a man ought to knowsomething of the worlds around him--especially if he intends to visitthem."

  "I should only bore you with an old story."

  "Not at all. You cannot be too simple and elementary. Regard me as asmall boy in the stage of

  "'Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are!'"

  "Very well, my little man, have you any idea how many stars you can seeon a clear night?"

  "Billions."

  "No, Tommy. You are wrong, my dear boy. Go to the foot of your class.With the naked eye we can only distinguish three or four thousand, butwith the telescope we are able to count at least fifty millions. Theyare thickest in the Milky Way, which, as you can see, runs all round theheavens, over your head, and under your feet, like an irregular tract ofhazy light, a girdle of stars in short. Of course we cannot tell howmany more there are beyond the range of vision, or what other galaxiesmay be scattered in the depths of space. The stars are suns, larger orsmaller than our own, and of various colours--white, blue, yellow,green, and red. Some are single, but others are held together in pairsor groups by the force of gravitation. From their immense distance theyappear fixed to us, but in reality they are flying in all directions atenormous velocities. Alpha, of the constellation Cygnus, for example, iscoming towards us at a speed of 500 million leagues per annum, and somemove a great deal faster. Most of them probably have planets circlinground them in different stages of growth, but these are invisible to us.Here and there amongst them we find luminous patches or 'nebulae,' whichprove to be either clusters of stars or stupendous clouds of glowinggases. Our sun is a solitary blue star on the verge of the Milky Way, 20billion miles from Alpha Centauri his next-door neighbour. He istravelling in a straight line towards the constellation Hercules at therate of 20,000 miles an hour, much quicker than a rifle bullet; and,nevertheless, he will take more than a million years to cover thedistance. Eight large or major planets, with their satellites, and aflock of minor planets or planetoids, are revolving round him as theircommon centre and luminary at various distances, but all in the samedirection. The orbits, or paths, about the sun are ovals or ellipses,almost circular, of which the sun occupies one focus, and they are sonearly in one plane, or at one level, that if seen from the sun, theywould appear to wander along a narrow belt of the heavens, called thezodiac, which extends a few degrees on each side of the Elliptic orapparent course of the sun against the stars. The planets are allglobes, more or less flat at the poles, like an orange, and each isturning and swaying on its axis, thus exposing every part to the lightand warmth of the sun. They are divided by the planetoids into an innerand an outer band. The inner four are Mercury, Venus, the Earth, andMars; the outer four are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Moreover,a number of comets and swarms of meteoric stones or meteorites arecirculating round the sun in eccentric paths, which cross those of theplanets. Such is the solar system--a lonely archipelago in the etherealocean--a little family of worlds."

  "Not without its jars, I'm afraid."

  "The sun is chief of the clan," continued Gazen, "and keeps it togetherby the mysterious tie of gravitation. While flying through space, heturns round his own axis like a rifle bullet in 25 or 26 days. Hisdiameter is 860,000 miles, and although he is not much denser thansea-water, his mass is over 700 times greater than the combined mass ofall his retinue. Gravity on his surface being 28 times stronger than onthe earth, a piece of timber would be as heavy as gold there, and astone let fall would drop 460 feet the first second instead of 16 feetas here. He is built of the same kind of matter as the earth and otherplanets, but is hotter than the hottest electric arc or reverberatoryfurnace. Apparently his glowing bulk is made up of several concentricshells like an onion. First there is a kernel or liquid nucleus,probably as dense as pitch. Above it is the photosphere, the part weusually see, a jacket of incandescent clouds, or vapours, which in thetelescope is seen to resemble 'willow leaves,' or 'rice grains in aplate of soup,' and in the spectroscope to reveal the rays of iron,manganese, or other heavy elements. What we call 'faculae' (or littletorches), are brighter streaks, not unlike some kinds of coral. The'Sunspots' are immense gaps or holes in the photosphere, some of them150,000 miles in diameter, which afford us a peep at the glowinginterior. There are different theories as to their nature, hence theyprovide rival astronomers with an excellent opportunity of spotting eachother's reputations. For instance, I look upon them as eruptions, andProfessor Sylvanus Pettifer Possil (my pet aversion) regards them ascyclonic storms; consequently we never lose an opportunity of eruptingand storming at each other. Above the photosphere comes a stratum ofcooler vapours and gases, namely, hydrogen and helium, a very lightelement recently found on the earth, along with argon, in the raremineral cleveite. Tremendous jets of blazing hydrogen are seen to burstthrough the clouds of the photosphere, and play about in this higherregion like the flames of a coal fire. These are the famous 'red flames'or 'prominences,' which are seen during a total eclipse as a raggedfringe of rosy fire about the black disc of the moon. Some of them rushthrough the chromosphere to a height of 80,000 miles in 15 minutes.

  "Higher still is the 'corona,' an aureole of silvery beams visible in atotal eclipse, and resembling the star of a decoration. The streamershave been traced for hundreds of thousands of miles beyond the solardisc. It appears to consist of meteoric stones, illuminated by thesunlight as well as of incandescent vapours of 'coronium,' a very lightelement unknown on the earth, and probably, too, of electricaldischarges. The 'zodiacal light,' that silvery glow often seen in thewest after sunset, or in the east before sunrise, may be a prolongationof it."

  "I daresay these meteorites are swarming about the sun like midges abouta lamp," said I.

  "And just as eager to get burnt up," replied Gazen, with a smile. "Letus pass now to the planets. The little one next the sun is Mercury, whocan be seen as a rosy-white star soon after sunset or before sunrise. Heis about 36 million miles, more or less, from the sun; travels round hisorbit in 88 days, the length of his year; and spins about his axis in24 hours, making a day and night. His diameter is 3,000 miles, and hismass is nearly seven times that of an equal volume of water. Theattraction of gravity on his surface is barely half that on the earth,and a man would feel very light there. Mercury seems to have a denseatmosphere, and probably high mountains, if not active volcanoes. Thesunshine is from four to nine times stronger there than on the earth,and as summer and winter follow each other in six weeks, he is doubtlessrather warm.

  "Venus, the 'Shepherd's Star,' and the brightest object in the heavensafter the moon, can sometimes be seen by day, and casts a distinctshadow at night. She is about 67 million miles from the sun, revolvesround him in 225 days, and rotates on her axis in 23 to 24 hours, or asSchiaparelli believes, in 224 days. Her diameter is 7,600 miles, and hermass nearly five times that of an equal volume of water. Gravity israther less there than it is here. Like Mercury, she appears to have acloudy atmosphere, and very high mountains. On the whole she resemblesthe earth, but is, perhaps, a younger as well as a warmer planet.

  "The green ball, next to Venus, is, I need hardly say, our own dearlittle world. Terra, or the earth, is 93 million miles from the sun,goes round him in 365 days, and turns on her axis
in 24 hours less fourminutes. Her diameter is 7,918 miles, and her density is 5.66 times thatof water. She is attended by a single satellite, the moon, whichrevolves round her in 27.3 days, at a distance of 238,000 miles. Themoon rotates on her axis in about the same time, and hence we can onlysee one side of her. She is 2,160 miles in diameter, but her mass isonly one-eightieth that of the earth. A pound weight on the moon wouldscale six pounds on the earth. Having little or no atmosphere or water,she is apparently a dead world.

  "The red planet beyond the earth is Mars, who appears in the sky as aruddy gold or coppery star. He is 141 million miles from the sun,travels his orbit in 687 days, and wheels round his axis in 24 hours 37minutes. His diameter is 4,200 miles, and his mass about one-ninth thatof the earth. A body weighing two pounds on the earth would only makehalf a pound on Mars. As you know, his atmosphere is clear and thin, hissurface flat, and subject to floods from the melting of the polar snows.Mars is evidently a colder and more aged planet than the earth.

  "He is accompanied by two little moons, Phobos (Fear), which is from tento forty miles in diameter, and revolves round him in 7 hours 39minutes, at a distance of 6,000 miles, a fact unparalleled in astronomy;and Deimos (Rout), who completes a revolution in 30 hours 18 minutes, ata distance of 14,500 miles.

  "About 400 planetoids have been discovered up to now, but we are alwayscatching more of them. Medusa, the nearest, is 198 million miles, andThule, the farthest, is 396 million miles from the sun. Vesta, thebrightest and probably the largest, a pale yellow, or, as some say,bluish white orb, visible with the naked eye, is from 200 to 400 milesin diameter. It is impossible to say which is the smallest. Probably themass of the whole is not greater than one quarter that of the earth.

  "Jupiter, surnamed the 'giant planet,' who almost rivals Venus in hersplendour, is 480 million miles from the sun; travels round his orbit in12 years less 50 days; and is believed to whirl round his axis in 10hours. His diameter is 85,000 miles, and his bulk is not only 1,200times that of the earth, but exceeds that of all the other planets puttogether. Nevertheless, his mass is only 200 to 300 times that of theearth, for his density is not much greater than that of water. What wesee is evidently his vaporous atmosphere, which is marked by colouredspots and bands or belts, probably caused by storms and currents,especially in the equatorial regions. Jupiter is thought to be selfluminous, at least in parts, and is, perchance, a cooling star, not yetentirely crusted over.

  "Four or five numbered satellites, about the size of our moon andupwards, are circulating round him in orbits from 2,000 to 1,000,000miles distant in periods ranging from 11 hours to 16 days 18 hours.

  "Saturn, the 'ringed planet,' who appears as a dull red star of thefirst magnitude, is the most interesting of all the planets. He is 884million miles from the sun; his period of revolution is 291/2 years, andhe turns on his axis in 10 hours 14 minutes. His diameter is 75,000miles, but his mass is only 94 times that of the earth, for he islighter than pinewood. His atmosphere is marked with spots and belts,and on the whole his condition is like that of Jupiter.

  "Two flat rings or hoops, divided by a dark space, encircle his ball inthe plane of his equator. The inner ring is over 18,000 miles from theball, and nearly 17,000 miles broad. The gap between is 1,750 mileswide, and the outer ring is over 10,000 miles broad. The rings arebanded, bright or dark, and vary in thickness from 40 to 250 miles. Theyconsist of innumerable small satellites and meteoric stones, travellinground the ball in rather more than ten hours, and are brightest intheir densest parts. Of course they form a magnificent object in thenight sky of the planet, and it may be that our own zodiacal light isthe last vestige of a similar ring, and not an extension of the solarcorona.

  "Saturn has eight moons outside his rings, the nearest, Mimas, being115,000, and the farthest, Japetus, 220,400 miles from his ball. Withthe exception of Japetus, they revolve round him in the plane of hisrings, and when these are seen edgewise, appear to run along it likebeads on a string.

  "Uranus, the next planet visible, is a pale star of the sixth magnitude,1,770 million miles from the sun, and completes his round in 84 years.His axis, differing from those of the foregoing planets, lies almost inthe plane of his orbit, but we cannot speak as to his axial rotation. Heis 31,000 miles in diameter, and somewhat heavier, bulk for bulk, thanwater. Four satellites revolve round him, the nearest, Ariel, being103,500, and the farthest, Oberon, 347,500 miles distant. Unlike theorbits of the foregoing satellites, which are nearly in the same planeas the orbits of their primaries, those of the satellites of Uranus arealmost perpendicular to his own. They are travelled in periods of twoand a half to thirteen and a half days.

  "Neptune, invisible to the naked eye, but seen as a pale blue star inthe telescope, is 2,780 million miles from the sun, and makes arevolution in 165 years. His diameter is about 35,000 miles, and hisdensity rather less than that of water.

  "Neptune has one satellite, at a distance of 202,000 miles, which, likethose of Uranus, revolves about its primary in an orbit at aconsiderable angle to his own in five days twenty-one hours. BothNeptune and Uranus are probably dying suns.

  "Comets of unknown number travel in long elliptical or parabolic orbitsround the sun at great velocities. They seem to consist partly ofglowing vapours, especially hydrogen, and partly of meteoric stones.'Shooting stars,' that is to say, stones which fall to the earth, areknown to swarm in their wake, and are believed to be as plentiful inspace as fishes in the sea."

  "The trash or leavings of creation," said I reflectively.

  "And the raw material, for nothing is lost," rejoined Gazen. "Now, inspite of all its diversity, there is a remarkable symmetry in the solarsystem. The planets are all moving round the sun in one direction alongcircular paths. As a rule each is nearly as far again from the sun asthe next within it. Thus, if we take Mercury as 3/4 inch from the sun,Venus is about 11/4 inches, the Earth 21/4, Mars 2, the planetoids 51/4,Jupiter 93/4, Saturn 14, Uranus 36, and Neptune 60 inches. On the samescale, by the way, Enckes' comet at Aphelion, its farthest distance fromthe sun, would be about 12 feet; Donatis almost a mile; and AlphaCentauri, a near star in the Milky Way, some ten miles.

  "The stately march of the planets in their orbits becomes slower thefarther they are from the sun. The velocity of Mercury in its orbit isthirty, that of Jupiter is eight, and that of Neptune is only threemiles a second. On the other hand, the inner planets, as a rule, takesome twenty-four hours, and the outer only ten hours to spin round theiraxis. The inner planets are small in comparison with the outer. If werepresent the sun by a gourd, 20 inches in diameter, Mercury will seem abilberry ({~FRACTION NUMERATOR ONE~}{~SUBSCRIPT ONE~}{~SUBSCRIPT SIX~} inch) Venus, a white currant, the Earth a black currant(1/4 inch), Mars a red currant ({~VULGAR FRACTION ONE EIGHTH~} inch), the planetoids as fine seed,Jupiter an orange or peach (2 inches), Saturn a nectarine or greengage(1 inch), Uranus a red cherry (3/4 inch), and Neptune a white cherry(barely 1 inch in diameter). By putting the sun and planets in a row,and drawing a contour of the whole, we obtain the figure of a dirk, abodkin, or an Indian club, in which the sun stands for the knob(disproportionately big), the inner planets for the handle, and theouter for the blade or body. Again, the average density of the innerplanets exceeds that of the outer by nearly five to one, but the mass ofany planet is greater than the combined masses of all which are smallerthan it. The inner planets derive all their light and heat from the sun,and have few or no satellites; whereas the outer, to all appearance, aresecondary suns, and have their own retinue of worlds. On the similitudeof a clan or house we may regard the inner planets as the immediateretainers of the chief, and the outer as the chieftains of their ownsepts or families."

  "How do you account for the symmetrical arrangement?" I enquired.

  "The origin of the solar system is, you know, a mystery," replied theastronomer. "According to the nebular hypothesis we may imagine that twoor more dark suns, perhaps encircled with planets, have come intocollision. Burst into atoms by the stupendous shock they
would fill thesurrounding region with a vast nebula of incandescent gases in a stateof violent agitation. Its luminous fringes would fly immeasurably beyondthe present orbit of Neptune, and then rush inwards to the centre, onlyto be driven outwards again. Surging out and in, the fluid mass wouldexpand and contract alternately, until in course of ages the fierytides would cease to ebb and flow. If the impact had been somewhatindirect it would rotate slowly on its axis, and under the influence ofgravity and centrifugal force acquire a globular shape which wouldgradually flatten to a lenticular disc. As it cooled and shrank involume it would whirl the faster round its axis, and grow the densertowards its heart. By and by, as the centrifugal force overcame gravity,the nebula would part, and the lighter outskirts would be shed one afteranother in concentric rings to mould the planets. The inner rings, beingrelatively small and heavy, would probably condense much sooner than thelarge, light, outer rings. The planetoids are apparently the rubbish ofa ring which has failed to condense into one body, perhaps through itsuniformity or thinness. The separation of so big a mass as Jupiter mightwell attenuate the border."

  "If the planetoids were born of a single small ring, might not severalplanets be condensed from a large one?"

  "I see nothing to hinder it. A large ring might split into smallerrings, or condense in several centres."

  "Because it seems to me that might explain the distinction between theinner and the outer planets. Perhaps the outer were first thrown off inone immense ring, and then the inner in a smaller ring. Beforeseparation the nebula viewed edgewise might resemble your Indian club."

  "A 'dumb-bell nebula,' like those we find in the heavens," observedGazen. "Be that as it may, the rings would collect into balls, and someof these, especially the outer, would cast off rings which wouldcondense into moons, always excepting the rings of Saturn, which, likethe planetoids, are evidently a failure. The solar system would thenappear as a group of suns, a cluster of stars, in short, aconstellation. Each would be what we call a 'nebulous star,' not unlikethe sun at present; that is to say, it would be surrounded by a glowingatmosphere of vapours, and perhaps meteoric matter. Under the action ofgravity, centrifugal force, and tidal retardation, their orbits wouldbecome more circular, they would gradually move further apart, rotatemore slowly on their axes, and assume the shapes they have now. Incooling down, new chemical compounds, and probably elements would beformed, since the so-called elements are perhaps mere combinations of aprimordial substance which have been produced at various temperatures.The heavier elements, such as platinum, gold, and iron, would sinktowards the core; and the lighter, such as carbon, silicon, oxygen,nitrogen, and hydrogen, would rise towards the surface. A crust wouldform, and portions of it breaking in or bursting out together witheruptions and floods of molten lava, would disturb the poise of theplanet, and give rise to inequalities of surface, to continents, andmountains. When the crust was sufficiently stable, sound, and cool, themists and clouds would condense into rivers, lakes, or seas, and theatmosphere would become clear. In due course life would make itsappearance."

  "Can you account for that mystery?"

  "No. Science is bound in honour, no doubt, to explain all it can withoutcalling in a special act of creation; but the origin of life andintelligence seems to go beyond it, so far. Spontaneous generation fromdead matter is ruled out of court at present. We believe that life onlyproceeds from life. As for the hypothesis that meteoric stones, the'moss-grown fragments of another world' may have brought life to theearth, I hardly know what to think of it."

  "Has life ever been found on a meteoric stone?"

  "Not that I know. Carbon, at all events in the state of graphite anddiamond, has been got from them. They arc generally a kind of slag,containing nodules or crystals of iron, nickle, and other metals, andlook to me as if they had solidified from a liquid or vapour. Are theyruins of an earlier cosmos--the crumbs of an exploded world--matterejected from the sun--the snow of a nebulous ring--frozen spray from thefiery surge of a nebula? we cannot tell; but, according to the meteoricas distinguished from the nebular hypothesis of the solar system, thesun, planets, and comets, as well as the stars and nebula were allgenerated by the clash of meteorites; and not as I have supposed, ofdead globes."

  "Which hypothesis do you believe?"

  "There may be some truth in both," replied Gazen. "The two processesmight even go on together. What if meteorites are simply frozen nebula?It is certain that the earth is still growing a little from the fall ofmeteoric stones, and that part of the sun's heat comes from meteoricfuel. Most of it, however, arises from the shrinkage of his bulk. Fiveor ten million years ago the sun was double the size he is now. Twentyor thirty million years ago he was rather a nebula than a sun. In fiveor ten million more he will probably be as Jupiter is now--a smokingcinder."

  "And the earth--how long is it since she was crusted over?"

  "Anything from ten to several hundred million years. In that time thestratified rocks have been deposited under water, the land and sea havetaken their present configurations; the atmosphere has been purified;plants and animals have spread all over the surface. Man has probablybeen from twenty to a hundred thousand years or more on the earth, buthis civilization is a thing of yesterday."

  "How long will the earth continue fit for life?"

  "Perhaps five or ten million years. The entire solar system is graduallylosing its internal heat, and must inevitably die of sheer inanition.The time is coming when the sun will drift through space, a black starin the midst of dead worlds. Perhaps the system will fall together,perhaps it will run against a star. In either case there would probablybe a 'new heaven and a new earth.'"

  "Born like a phoenix from the ashes of the old," said I, feeling thejustice of the well-worn simile.

  "I daresay the process goes on to all eternity."

  "Like enough."

  The sublime idea, with its prospect of the infinite, held us for a timein silence. At length my thoughts reverted to the original questionwhich had been forgotten.

  "Now, whether should I go to Mars or Venus?" I enquired, fixing my eyeson these planets and trying to estimate their relative distances fromthe earth.

  Gazen made a mental computation, and replied with decision,

  "Venus."

  "All right," I responded. "Venus let it be."