24 LIFE IN THE PRIMITIVE OCEAN 



distant star in the universe is made of, and it reports 

 to us that much the same material is found throughout 

 the whole universe, and even in the universes beyond 

 (if there are any) . When you have the same material, 

 following the same general laws, you naturally expect 

 results of substantially the same nature. The metals 

 would keep to the centre, and form solid globes. The 

 free gases would remain at the fringe, and form atmos- 

 pheres and oceans. This is the reason why men of 

 science regard it as highly probable that there are 

 countless planets with living populations. We have 

 no reason to suppose that our earth was made in 

 any special manner. There are probably globes 

 in all parts of the universe with the same condi- 

 tions of life: chemicals, air, water, and a certain 

 temperature. 



But we must study the making of our earth a little 

 more closely. Originally, as I said, it was one of 

 many fiery globes which circled round the sun. They 

 gradually cooled. The planet Mars, being very much 

 smaller than the earth, cooled before it. That is why 

 we suppose that, if there is life on Mars (we are not 

 quite sure of its conditions), it began before life on 

 the earth, and is probably more advanced. However, 

 our earth gradually cooled, and at length the oxygen 

 and hydrogen gases in its atmosphere were able to 

 unite and form water. But the earth was still red-hot. 

 Water could not settle on its surface. So the whole 

 mass of water which now forms our oceans then 



