IOO TWO NEW WORLDS 



system, limited by the Milky Way, is a very small 

 portion of the next higher universe, the " supra- 

 world." Our first task is then to inquire what is 

 outside it. 



It has been shown with mathematical certainty 

 that if infinite space were strewn with stars, as is 

 our stellar system, and if these stars shone like our 

 stars, and if they had existed for all eternity, then 

 the appearance of the sky would be one blaze 

 of sunlight throughout. To this I may add the 

 equally certain conclusion that every part of space, 

 including the earth and ourselves, would be at a 

 white heat and gaseous; for radiant heat would be 

 propagated in the same way as light. And, further, 

 that the circumstance of space being cold can be 

 used as a conclusive proof of the absence of any 

 sensible loss of radiation through absorption in 

 space ; for the absorbing medium would be heated 

 by the process of absorption, and would then itself 

 radiate the heat inwards upon our devoted heads. 

 The only things that could effectually shield us 

 from the intolerable blaze of infinity would be 

 either (1) a gap in the ether all round our stellar 

 system, or (2) a perfectly reflecting surface surround- 

 ing it, a kind of Ptolemaic " firmament " in a new 

 sense, and for a novel purpose. 



Both of these contrivances would work both ways, 

 and would preserve the light and heat of our own 

 stellar system from dissipation. But this at once 



