Editorial 



THE SEEDING OF WORLDS 



As a sort of initiation stunt precedent to admission into the 

 fraternity of agencies of good and regular standing, every new 

 agent that is brought into view by the ongoings of science is likely 

 to be set to the task of solving some large part of the outstanding 

 puzzles that still vex the wise men of our craft. "Light pressure" 

 is one of the latest novitiates on trial, and has been set to the 

 stunt of seeding the habitable but not inhabited worlds by spores 

 from some previous spore-growing world. The seeding of the first 

 world is mercifully not made a part of the stunt. So too, to help 

 out the novitiate somewhat, the hazards of the cold of space are 

 mitigated by bringing to bear certain novel tenets about endurance 

 of extreme cold, and by cutting the time by the great speed of the 

 trip from world to world under the new pressure. The stunt still 

 remains a stiff one and is interesting, but the fraternity seems to 

 be missing the best part, the getting home to the new world; no 

 doubt because it is so far off. 



The start of the spore from the spore-growing planet is not 

 without its little difficulties; for the seed, be it even so light as 

 the airy fluff of the puff ball, must yet not only get out to the very 

 top of the air, but it must be pushed off by the pressure of the light 

 at a speed of some 5 or 6 miles a second to be able to get away 

 from the pull of the parent world, if that world be a body like our 

 familiar acquaintance, the earth. A Krakatoan blast, however, 

 can no doubt give the spore a lift, if need be. But the getting away 

 is not the interesting part of the stunt; it is the landing. 



If "light pressure" has "once pushed the spore out of the clutches 

 of the parent world and got it well under way, all is likely to go 

 well till the bounds of the sun's sphere of control are reached and 

 the border of the domain of the other sun is entered, for that sun 

 is likely to push back as much as the parent sun pushed out. In 

 matters of this sort one sun seems unwilling to be the dumping- 



i/5 



