366 THE WORLD MACHINE 



It is evident that the jelly-like substance of which our bodies 

 are composed would, under such pressures as this, be simply 

 squashed. To sustain such a weight, beings would have to 

 have bones and muscles of the tensile strength of steel. 



It is difficult to conceive of a colloidal aggregation with 

 such powers as this. Hence it is difficult to imagine the forms 

 which life would take on upon a planet of the dimensions of 

 the sun. It is quite inconceivable when we think of a planet 

 of the possible size of Canopus. Were it of equal density with 

 the earth, the pull of gravitation would be 10,000 times that 

 of terrestrial conditions. Under such a force, a bar of steel 

 upon a support would bend like so much putty. But, however 

 it might be, if life were possible at all, probably it would differ 

 in no general way, would involve no radically diverse order of 

 sensations, and hence intelligence, than that with which we are 

 acquainted. 



Speculative minds which love large deductions will scarcely 

 self-withhold from a fairly obvious inference. Life, sensations, 

 passions, intelligence, are an evident condition or result of 

 material organisation. Not unique upon our own planet, they 

 are probably part of the universal order, if a universal order 

 exists. This being so, it follows that the activities of life, the 

 reflexes of our sensations, the impulses of our passions, the 

 leadings of our intelligence, are all a part of the cosmic order 

 that is to say, if it exist, of the cosmic machine. The supple 

 movements of our bodies, the lifting of a hand, the turn of 

 an eye, a given pain or pleasure, the sensations of a hurt, 

 the joy of a lover's return, the promptings of avarice, the 

 thirst for power, the passion of beauty, the visions of the 

 prophets, the inductions of a Newton, the generalisations of a 

 Spencer all are a part of cosmic phenomena, and doubtlessly 

 distributed with cosmic prodigality. Every thought, every idea, 

 every rush of emotion, every flame of anger, every hidden wish, 

 every heart-sickness, every little joy that we experience, we 

 may conceive has its counterpart in hundreds, perhaps 

 thousands, possibly millions, of similar beings with identical 

 sensations and emotions, some separated from us by the width 

 of a street, some by the distance of Cathay, some by spaces 

 millions of times the distance of the sun. 



Phenomena so widespread can hardly be the result of in- 

 dividual and diverse causes. We can only infer that our lives 



