ARE THE PLANETS INHABITED 1 395 



Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, who form, perhaps, like the men of the 

 earth, the most elevated circle of material life, varying under 

 an infinity of forms upon each of their floating domiciles. . . . 

 I see you smiling, reader, because you do not believe that 

 these other earths satellites of the sun, like our own are 

 inhabited by beings analagous to our human race. You are at 

 liberty not to believe it. But then, to be in agreement with 

 yourselves, you ought to declare in favour of the Science of the 

 Past, though demonstrated to be false, against the Science of 

 the Present. Will you do so ? Certainly not. But then, of 

 two things, one : either you will be obliged to make the earth 

 an unique exception, a kind of monstrosity in the midst of the 

 other mechanism of the universe, which will be to throw your- 

 self back upon the erroneous science of the ancients ; or you 

 must perforce admit that the earth is not specially privileged, 

 and that the other planets, its companions, have also their 

 human inhabitants. 



Is this all? Alas, all this is nothing! The other worlds 

 whose suns appear to us under the form of scintillating points 

 or stars, will, undoubtedly, in like manner, possess their 

 systems of planets and satellites. Why should they divaricate 

 from the general plan of the universe? Now, multiply the 

 number of the stars who has counted them ? with the pro- 

 bable number of their planets, and you will gain, if this be 

 permitted you, the number of humanities who people yonder 

 star-sown space. And it is not only with these we must be 

 able to correspond, but with the humanities of all the nebulae 



