A VOYAGE TO THE RINGED PLANET. 8 1 



possible, unless those to whom I address this narrative 

 were prepared to study a whole volume on such matters. 



But certain circumstances may be related, as likely to 

 prove interesting to the inhabitants of another world. 



The Mimasians are somewhat smaller than men, but 

 like men, they carry the head erect, and have four 

 chief limbs, two upper and two lower, the latter chiefly 

 used in progression. The trunk is shorter in proportion 

 to the total height, and the frame appears to be more 

 muscular and powerful. It is difficult, however, to form 

 a judgment on this point, because the circumstances 

 under which these beings live are altogether unlike 

 those which prevail on the earth. Indeed, so soon as 

 we had learned that Mimas is inhabited, we expected 

 to find the creatures living here either gigantic in 

 stature or else of surpassing agility, simply because we 

 knew that Mimasian gravitation must be very much 

 less energetic than the attraction of gravity on the 

 earth. But we found none of them to exceed in 

 dimensions the creatures most nearly corresponding to 

 them on the earth ; while there is nothing very remark- 

 able about the activity of any Mimasian animals. It 

 would seem likely that the question of actual strength 

 and activity depends quite as much on other circum- 

 stances as on those which have usually been considered 

 by writers on the subject of other worlds. We thought, 

 for instance, we could recognise in the slowness of 

 respiration among the Mimasians, in the small quan- 

 tity of air drawn in at each respiration, and in the 

 relative rarity of their air, sufficient reasons for 



