Page:Alerielorvoyaget00lach.djvu/10

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ALERIEL.

Let us now by the symbols A, B, C, D represent the four great types of life.

A. Vertebrata again in the
Vertebrate Animals
AA. Mamillia
B. Articulata ... ... ... AB. Birds.
C. Mollusca ... ... ... AC. Reptiles and Amphibia.
D. Radiata and Zoophytes ... A.D. Fishes.
In Plants A. Dicotyledons.
B. Monocotyledons.
C. Ferns & Cryptogamous Plants
D. Algæ

Now, may not these types be found on other worlds, distributed and developed according to the fitness of their habitats? I have supposed the type:—

AB. in Mercury, which is similar to Venus in many ways. (With this I have not dealt in this work.)

AB. in Venus. Mountainous; dense atmosphere; moderate gravitation; varied climates, suited to birds or flying beings, able to traverse space easily; plants, perhaps monocotyledons.

AA. in Earth's Land. (Perhaps with element of B for man as a biped, has some slight corporeal connection with both the quadrumana and birds.)

AD. in Earth's Ocean. Fish type and Algæ.

AC. in Earth in ancient state in secondary formations. More marshy, therefore reptilian and amphibious types prevailed.

AA. in Mars. Moderate atmosphere; few mountains; surface, mostly land. Mammals, like carnivora.

AD. in Jupiter. Great gravitation; surface, mostly fluid. Plants, algæ. Animals of fish type.

AC. in Saturn. Antique world, like Earth in secondary epochs. Uranus and Neptune as yet little known in their physical formation.

This is the conception of Nature I have thought of: Unity in Diversity, but all showing the same Divine Law-giver; life developed under the same laws, and united in its higher forms to rational intelligences, like Man.