e70 HOW THE EARTH APPEARS FROM THE OTHER PLANETS. 



Before inquiring how we look from the planets, let us first learn a little 

 about them, beginning with Mercury, as it is nearest to the sun. The 

 Greeks called it "glittering," on occount of the occasional intensity of its 

 light. An old English writer, Goad, in 1686, humorously calls this planet 

 *'a squinting lackey of the sun, who seldom shows his head in these parts, 

 as if he were in debt." From its extreme mobility, chemists adopted this 

 planet as the symbol for quicksilver. 



It is supposed that Mercury has mountains higher than our Himalayas, 

 and volcanoes in a state of activity. The planet must be very dense in 

 character. If its materials were similar to those of our earth they would 

 melt in a short time, on account of the proximity of the planet to the sun. 

 The temperature in Mercury is supposed to be seven times hotter than our 

 Torrid Zone. Therefore, if it is inhabited it must be by people very differ- 

 ently constituted from ourselves. 



Fontenelle's idea of Mercury and its inhabitants is so very curious and 

 interesting as to be worth quoting. It will easily be seen that his imagi- 

 nation is a powerful one. He says: "The heat to which they are accus- 

 tomed is so great that the climate of Central Africa would freeze them 

 through. It must be taken for granted that our iron, silver nnd gold would 

 melt in their world, and only appear as a liquid like water. The dwellers 

 in Mercury must be so vivacious as to be mad in our meaning of the term. 

 I believe that they have no more memory than most negroes, that they have 

 not the faculty of thought, that they only act by fits and starts, and that in 

 Mercury Bedlam is the universe." 



If these singular people would enjoy seeing us, the best time for them 

 would be when we are on a right line with their planet and the sun. Our 

 illuminated side is then turned toward them. By climbing the steep crags 

 shown in the view (which Schroter says are ten miles high), and looking 

 off into the sky they would see our globe as a magnificent and stately star, 

 moving from west to east, as shown in the figure. Through a good tele- 

 scope they might see dusky patches here and there, defining the outlines of 

 our continents. Light green tracts would show our seas and oceans. They 

 could see our polar regions white with snow. It is probable, how- 

 ever, that only their Eoss' telescope would show these markings. 



Yenus is the only planet mentioned by Homer. He speaks of it as 

 '^beautiful." It was called "Sukra" or "the brilliant," by the Indians. 

 It is often called the "Shepherd's Star," Hesper or the " evening star," and 

 Lucifer, the "morning star." Venus is so bright that it may often be seen 

 at midday with the naked eye. It is supposed there are mountains also on 

 this planet. Halley, the great English astronomer, was the first to an- 

 nounce the fact that the passage of Venus across the sun gave us the means 

 of obtaining the sun's exact distance from the earth. 



It is generally admitted that this planet has an atmosphere much like 

 ours. The author of the "Harmonies of Nature," speaking of Venus and 

 .its inhabitants, says: "Venus must have mountain peaks five or six times 



