THE PLURALITY OF WORLDS. 



band that showers refresh their surfaces that their climates and seasons are 

 modified by evaporation that their continents are bounded by seas and oceans 

 that intercourse is facilitated by winds which convert the surfaces of their 

 waters into highroads for nations these and a thousand other consequences of 

 what has been here explained, all tending to one conclusion that these vari- 

 ous globes are placed in the system for the same purpose as the earth that 

 they are in fact, the dwellings of beings in all respects, even from their lowest 

 physical wants to their highest social advantages, like ourselves, crowd upon 

 the mind so thickly that we can scarcely give them expression in a clear and 

 intelligible order. 



It may be asked whether by immediate observation we may not perceive 

 the geographical surfaces of the planets, so as to declare by direct survey 

 their divisions of land and water, mountain and valley, and other varieties of 

 surface. 



Even the most superficial view of the subject will render apparent some 

 great difficulties which must obstruct such an inquiry with respect to most of 

 the planets. The very presence of those atmospheres and the clouds with which 

 they are loaded, offers a serious obstruction to any observations having for 

 their object to ascertain the geographical character of their surfaces. The 

 great distance of some of them is a formidable obstacle to such an inquiry ; 

 still, where some peculiar circumstances favor the observation, something has 

 been done in this investigation. 



Venus and Mars, the two planets in the system which come nearest to the 

 path of the earth, are evidently the most eligible objects for such an inquiry, 

 and sufficient has been ascertained, especially with regard to the latter planet, 

 to draw very closely indeed the ties of analogy by which the planets are asso- 

 ciated with the earth. 



Notwithstanding the dense atmosphere and thick clouds with which Venus 

 and Mercury are constantly enveloped, the existence of mountains of great eleva- 

 tion upon them has been discovered ; but it is upon the planet Mars that the 

 most surprising advances have been made in this department of telescopic in- 

 quiry. The Prussian astronomers, Beer and Madler, have devoted their labors 

 for many years back to the examination of Mars, and the result has put us m 

 possession of a map of the geography of that planet, almost as exact and well 

 defined as that which we possess of our own. In fact, the geographical outlines 

 of land and water have been made apparent upon it. Thus we see that in the 

 other planets on which the clouds clear away sufficiently to disclose to our view 

 their geographical nature, the surface is the same as our own ; and analogy 

 justifies the conclusion that, if we could get an equally clear view of the sur- 

 faces of the other planets, we sh6uld find upon them the same characteristics. 

 Connected with the observations of these Prussian astronomers, as well as 

 those of the younger Herschel on the planet Mars, there is a circumstance too 

 interesting to be passed without noticing it here. They have discovered, on 

 the polar regions of that planet, an extensive deposition of snow, which is 

 found, in a great degree, to melt away during the summer, and to be reproduced 

 during the winter. 



In tracing the analogies whieh prove the suitableness of the planets for in- 

 habitable globes, and which connect them by ties of kindred with the earth, 

 one of the most important and interesting is dependant upon the quantity of 

 matter composing these planets, compared with their volumes or bulks. Let us 

 see how this affects the condition of the organized creatures that dwell upon 

 them. 



All organized beings, whether animal or vegetable, are endowed with a cer- 

 tain limited amount of bodily strength. In the case of animals, which have 



