1865.] On the Plurality of Worlds. 347 



speculations upon what may he the conditions of existence in the other 

 planets, and of this defect the author seems to be well aware ; for 

 after dragging his readers through page after page of ' Scientific 

 Romances,' he says* — " Ces digressions s'eloignent un peu trop, en 

 verite, de l'esprit de cet ouvrage ;" and then he proceeds to launch 

 them into " systemes imaginaires," with a description of which he 

 manages to fill thirty pages more. 



Neither does he proceed with the caution that should characterize 

 the discussion of a subject still in the infancy of its history, and he 

 often jumps at conclusions to which every thoughtful man of science 

 must demur. Who, for example, could fail to smile at the author's 

 complacency when he announces as one of the results of the inquiries 

 through which he has conducted his readers,f " L'examen com- 

 paratif de l'habitation des mondes a etabli qu'une grande diversite 

 de nature regne parmi les hommes des planetes ? " Finally he 

 gives us an Appendix of 116 pages, whereof 53 are devoted to 

 the Christian doctrine and its agreement with the one of which 

 he treats ; but here he cannot be accused of a want of caution, for 

 he confines himself almost exclusively to reviewing the opinions of 

 others, and a remarkable reason for encumbering a purely scientific 

 inquiry with a mass of sectarian considerations will be found at the 

 conclusion of this portion of his work | — " Nous ne pouvons ce- 

 pendant nous empecher de dire, en terminant, que toutes ces discus- 

 sions metaphysiques nous paraissent superflues et steriles : elles ne sont 

 utiles ni a, la gloire de l'Astronomie ni a l'autorite de la Religion." (!) 

 In fact, if all these " superfluous " matters had been omitted, the 

 proportions of the work would have been materially reduced to the 

 great advantage of the argument, for there is little doubt that all the 

 sound scientific information we possess respecting the habitability 

 of the other planets, coujded with everything worthy of being con- 

 sidered as evidence in history and metaphysics, might be compressed 

 into one-fourth of the space devoted to the subject in M. Flammarion's 

 book. 



But even the defects to which we have referred are clearly the 

 result of a desire on the author's part to treat his subject with full- 

 ness ; and there is throughout unmistakable evidence of great con- 

 scientiousness in the expression of his own views, as well as in his 

 criticisms of others'. The author's astronomical argument, as might 

 be expected from his position in the scientific world, is posted up to 

 the latest date, and he treats of the possible fertility (and therefore 

 hal Stability) of the side of the lunar hemisphere which is always 

 hidden from our sight; of the spectral researches into the constitution 

 of some of the heavenly bodies. &c. ; but on the other hand, his 

 views upon geological and biological matters must be received with 

 caution, and his observations carefully considered, for on these subjects 

 he does not always exhibit the requisite amount of knowledge. 



His thoughtful survey of the present condition of the human race, 

 with its imperfections ; his inquiries (conducted in an admirable tone) 



* P. 266. t P. 319. % P. 469. 



VOL. II. 2 B 



