C. B. WARRING. 69-(39) 



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Nearly all that has been said about Mercury applies 

 to Venus. Its nearness to the sun gives the solar rays 

 twice their intensity on the earth. The vapors and 

 clouds increase the temperature. Water would boil 

 there under the midday sun. It is difficult to conceive 

 of beings of flesh and blood existing under such circum- 

 stances. 



As to the asteroids, their extreme minuteness will 

 probably prevent anyone from supposing them inhab- 

 ited. There remains of all the planets only Mars. It 

 has winters and summers of moderate length. Water 

 and air are both found on its surface, and there are rains 

 and snows. The amount of light received from the sun 

 although less than half that which we enjoy, is still 

 abundant for all the needs of plant and animal life. Its 

 greater distance from the sun does not of necessity make 

 it colder, for vapor, as I pointed out when speaking of 

 Mercury, permits the solar rays to reach the surface of 

 the planet, but tends to prevent the heat from escaping. 

 So far there appears to be nothing to forbid Mars being- 

 inhabited. But, beside air and water and a moderate 

 temperature, there must be vegetation that animals may 

 exist. The only means of deciding whether plants grow 

 in Mars is to note changes of color as the seasons change. 

 In winter the foliage, or the herbage, would disappear, 

 and, as spring came on again, the ground would be cov- 

 ered once more. But nothing of this kind is seen in 

 Mars. Its continents, as winter changes into summer, 

 present one unvarying hue of reddish brown. Neither 

 its autumn nor its spring shows any indication of vege- 

 tation. If I am right in the inference which I draw from 

 this unchanging color, no animals — certainly none of the 

 higher orders — can exist in Mars. 



There is another class of bodies belonging to the solar 

 system of which I have not spoken. I refer to the satel- 

 lites, some of which are larger than Mercury, and not 

 much smaller than Mars. Are any of these inhabited I 

 Prof. Proctor thinks they are. He says in his Border 

 Land of Science : "Regarding Jupiter as a miniature 

 sun, not indeed possessing any large degree of inherent 

 lustre, but emitting a considerable quantity of heat, we 

 recognize in him the fitting ruler of a scheme of subordi- 

 nate orbs, whose inhabitants would require the heat which 



