July 11, 1884.] 



KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



MAGAZINE OF SCIENCE 

 Plainu Worded -exactlyDescribed 



LUJXDVS : iKlU.iY, JULY 11, 1S84. 



Contents op No. 141. 



PAOB 



Other Worlds than Ours. By M. 

 de Fontenelle. With Notes by 

 Richard A. Proctor 21 



Dreams. IV. By Edward Clodd . 23 



TheEntomology of aPond. (2Hii».) 

 By E. A. Butler 24 



A Novel Fire Escape, llltut.) 25 



Notes on Flying aud Flying Ma- 

 chines. By R. A. Proctor 25 



The Tricycles of To-day. The 

 "CheylesmoreClub." (Jlliu.) ... 2S 



The Electro-Magnet. By W. Slingo. 

 (/Hi<».) 29 



TAG! 



The Antarctic Regions. Bj R. A. 



Proctor '-^0 



j Optical Recreations. (JU«.«.) By 



F.R.A.S 32 



The International Health Exhibi- 

 tion. VII. (/««,..) :« 



Reviews : Some Books on Our Table :W 



Miscellanea 37 



! Correspondence : Savage Names — 

 ! Colours of Clouds— Acarina and 



OribatidiC, ic 3S 



Our Mathematical Coliunn -10 



i Otir Chess Column 41 



OTHER, WORLDS THAN OURS. 



A WEEK'S CONVERSATION ON THE PLURALITY OP 

 WORLDS. 



By Mons. de Fontenelle. 



WITH notes by RICHARD A. PROCTOR. 



[I have received many inquiries in regard to the earliest 

 history of the study of life in other worlds, and am sur- 

 prised to find how little is known of the work of Huyjihens, 

 Fontenelle, and others, in that direction. It has occurred 

 to me, in particular, that the bright and graceful little 

 treatise of Fontenelle, published early in the eighteenth 

 century, (written as it was at a time when the Vortices of 

 Descartes were in full vogue in his own countr}-, though 

 beginning to be discredited in the country of the great 

 Newton) would be interesting and new to thousands of our 

 readers. I propose, therefore, to give an English version of 

 the little book here, with such notes of my own as may 

 seem necessary and desirable. The quaint old illustrations 

 are given ; those illustrating the vortices are iudeed neces- 

 sary to give an idea of the old notions resj^ecting these 

 celestial whirlpools. — Eichard A. Proctor.] 



FONTENELLE'S PREFACE. 



IA?*I pretty much in the same case with Cicero, when 

 he undertook to wu-ite of philosophical matters in the 

 Latin tongue, there being, then, no books upon that subject 

 but what were in Greek. He was told that such an 

 attempt would be useless, because those who were lovei-s of 

 philosophy would rather take the pains to search for it in 

 Greek writers than make use of Latin ones, which treated 

 of it, but at second hand ; and that those who had no 

 relish for this science would never trouble their heads with 

 either Greek er Latin. To these objectors, he answered, 

 it would happen quite otherwise ; for, says he, the great 

 ease people will find in reading Latin books will tempt 

 those to be philosophers who are none, and they who 

 already are philosophers by reading Greek books will be 

 very glad to see how the subject is handled in Latin. 



Cicero might with good reason answer as he did, because 

 the excellency of his genius and the great reputation he 



had acquired warranted the success of all he wrote ; but in 

 a design not much unlike his I am far from having tlioE<> 

 grounds of confidence which lie had. My purpose is to 

 discourse of pliilosophy, but not directly in a philosophical 

 manner, and to raise it to tuch a pitch that it shall net 

 be too dry and insipid a subject to jilease gentlemen, nor 

 too mean and trifling to entertain scholars. Should I bi- 

 told (as Cicero was) that such a discour.-e as this would not 

 jilease the learned, because it cannot teach them anything ; 

 nor the illiterate, because they will have no mind to learn ; 

 I will not answer as he did. It may be endeavouring to 

 please everybody ; 1 have pleased nobody. Now, to keep 

 a medium betwixt two extteams is so very difficult that I 

 believe I shall never desire to put myself a second time to 

 the like trouble. 



If I should acquaint those who are to read this book, 

 and have any knowledge of natural philosophy, that I do 

 not pretend to instruct, but only to divert ibem ; by pre- 

 senting to their view, in a gay and pleasing dress, what 

 they have already seen in a more grave and solid habit. 

 Not but they to whom the subject is new may be botli 

 diverted and instructed. The tirst will act contrary to my 

 intention if they look for profit, and the la-st if they seek 

 for nothing but jileasure. 



I have chosen that part of philosophy which is most 

 likely to excite curiosity ; for I think nothing concerns us 

 more than to enquire bow this world which we inhabit is 

 made ; and whether there be any other worlds like it which 

 are aUo inhabited as this is. But, after all, it is at every- 

 body's discretion how far they will run their disquisitions. 

 Those who have any thoughts to lose may throw them 

 away upon such subjects as these, but I suppose such as 

 can employ their time better will not be at so vain and 

 fruitless an expense. 



In these discourses I have introduced a lady, to be in- 

 structed in things of which she never heard ; and I have 

 made use of this fiction to render the book the more ex- 

 ceptable, and to give encouragement to gentlewomen by the 

 example of one of their own sex, who, without any super- 

 n.itural part^ or tincture of learning, understands what is 

 said to her ; and, without any confusion, rightly apprehends 

 what vortexes and other worlds are. And why may not 

 there be a woman like this imaginary Marchioness, since 

 her concejitions are no other than such as she could not 

 chuse but have % 



To penetrate into things either obscure in themselves, or 

 but darklv expressed, requires deep meditation, and an 

 earnest apfilication of the mind ! but here, nothing more is 

 requisite llian to read and imprint an idea of what is read 



