A Journey in Other Worlds [69]
the earth. The climate and all other conditions are
practically the same on both planets, except a trifling
difference in weight, to which terrestrials would soon adapt
themselves. We know by spectroscopic analysis that hydrogen,
iron, magnesium, and all our best-known substances exist in the
sun, and even the stars, while the earth contains everything we
have found in meteorites. Then why make an exception of life,
instead of supposing that at corresponding periods of development
the same living forms inhabit all? It would be assuming the
eternal sterilization of the functions of Nature to suppose that
our earth is the only body that can produce them."
"The world of organic life is so much more complex," replied
Cortlandt, "than that of the crystal, that it requires great
continuity. So far we certainly have seen no men, or anything
like them, not even so much as a monkey, though I suppose,
according to your reasoning, Jupiter has not advanced far enough
to produce even that."
"Exactly," replied Bearwarden, "for it will require vast periods;
and, according to my belief, at least half the earth's time of
habitability had passed before man appeared. But we see Jupiter
is admirably suited for those who have been developed somewhere
else, and it would be an awful shame if we allowed it to lie
unimproved till it produces appreciative inhabitants of its own,
for we find more to admire in one half-hour than its entire
present population during its lifetime. Yet, how magnificent
this world is, and how superior in its natural state to ours!
The mountainous horns of these crescent-shaped continents protect
them and the ocean they enclose from the cold polar marine
currents, and in a measure from the icy winds; while the elevated
country on the horns near the equator might be a Garden of Eden,
or ideal resort. To be sure, the continents might support a
larger population, if more broken up, notwithstanding the
advantage resulting from the comparatively low mountains along
the coasts, and the useful winds. A greater subdivision of land
and water, more great islands connected by isthmuses, and more
mediterraneans joined by straits, would be a further advantage to
commerce; but with the sources of power at hand, the resistless
winds and water-power, much increased in effectiveness by their
weight, the great tides when several moons are on the same side,
or opposite the sun, internal heat near the surface, and abundant
coal-supply doubtless already formed and also near the surface,
such small alterations could be made very easily, and would serve
merely to prevent our becoming rusty.
"As Jupiter's distance from the sun varies from 506,563,000 miles
at aphelion to only 460,013,000 at perihelion, this difference,
in connection with even the slight inclination of the axis, must
make a slight change in seasons, but as the inclination is
practically nothing, almost the entire change results from the
difference in distance. This means that the rise or fall in
temperature is general on every degree of latitude, all being
warmed simultaneously, more or less, as the planet approaches or
departs from the sun. It means also that about the same
conditions that Secretary Deepwaters suggested as desirable for
the earth, prevail here, and that Jupiter represents, therefore,
about the acme of climate naturally provided. On account of its
rapid rotation and vast size, the winds have a tornado's
strength, but they are nothing at this distance from the sun to
what they would be if a planet with its present rate of rotation
and size were where Venus or even the earth is. In either of
these positions no land life with which we are acquainted could
live on the surface; for the slope of the atmospheric isobars--i.
e., the lines of equal barometric pressure that produce wind by
becoming tilted through unequal expansion, after which the air,
as it were, flows down-hill--would be too great. The ascending
currents about the equator would also, of course, be vastly
strengthened;
practically the same on both planets, except a trifling
difference in weight, to which terrestrials would soon adapt
themselves. We know by spectroscopic analysis that hydrogen,
iron, magnesium, and all our best-known substances exist in the
sun, and even the stars, while the earth contains everything we
have found in meteorites. Then why make an exception of life,
instead of supposing that at corresponding periods of development
the same living forms inhabit all? It would be assuming the
eternal sterilization of the functions of Nature to suppose that
our earth is the only body that can produce them."
"The world of organic life is so much more complex," replied
Cortlandt, "than that of the crystal, that it requires great
continuity. So far we certainly have seen no men, or anything
like them, not even so much as a monkey, though I suppose,
according to your reasoning, Jupiter has not advanced far enough
to produce even that."
"Exactly," replied Bearwarden, "for it will require vast periods;
and, according to my belief, at least half the earth's time of
habitability had passed before man appeared. But we see Jupiter
is admirably suited for those who have been developed somewhere
else, and it would be an awful shame if we allowed it to lie
unimproved till it produces appreciative inhabitants of its own,
for we find more to admire in one half-hour than its entire
present population during its lifetime. Yet, how magnificent
this world is, and how superior in its natural state to ours!
The mountainous horns of these crescent-shaped continents protect
them and the ocean they enclose from the cold polar marine
currents, and in a measure from the icy winds; while the elevated
country on the horns near the equator might be a Garden of Eden,
or ideal resort. To be sure, the continents might support a
larger population, if more broken up, notwithstanding the
advantage resulting from the comparatively low mountains along
the coasts, and the useful winds. A greater subdivision of land
and water, more great islands connected by isthmuses, and more
mediterraneans joined by straits, would be a further advantage to
commerce; but with the sources of power at hand, the resistless
winds and water-power, much increased in effectiveness by their
weight, the great tides when several moons are on the same side,
or opposite the sun, internal heat near the surface, and abundant
coal-supply doubtless already formed and also near the surface,
such small alterations could be made very easily, and would serve
merely to prevent our becoming rusty.
"As Jupiter's distance from the sun varies from 506,563,000 miles
at aphelion to only 460,013,000 at perihelion, this difference,
in connection with even the slight inclination of the axis, must
make a slight change in seasons, but as the inclination is
practically nothing, almost the entire change results from the
difference in distance. This means that the rise or fall in
temperature is general on every degree of latitude, all being
warmed simultaneously, more or less, as the planet approaches or
departs from the sun. It means also that about the same
conditions that Secretary Deepwaters suggested as desirable for
the earth, prevail here, and that Jupiter represents, therefore,
about the acme of climate naturally provided. On account of its
rapid rotation and vast size, the winds have a tornado's
strength, but they are nothing at this distance from the sun to
what they would be if a planet with its present rate of rotation
and size were where Venus or even the earth is. In either of
these positions no land life with which we are acquainted could
live on the surface; for the slope of the atmospheric isobars--i.
e., the lines of equal barometric pressure that produce wind by
becoming tilted through unequal expansion, after which the air,
as it were, flows down-hill--would be too great. The ascending
currents about the equator would also, of course, be vastly
strengthened;