rials than those which constitute the earth and
the other solid planets in the more immediate neighborhood of the sun.
But such an assumption would put us entirely at sea as regards the forms
of organic life that could exist upon a planet of that description, and,
like Sir Humphry Davy in the Vision, that occupies the first chapter of
his quaintly charming Consolations in Travel, or, the Last Days of a
Philosopher, we should be thrown entirely upon the resources of the
imagination in representing to ourselves the nature and appearance of
its inhabitants. Yet minds of unquestioned power and sincerity have in
all ages found pleasure and even profit in such exercises, and with
every fresh discovery arises a new flight of fancies like butterflies
from a roadside pool. As affording a glimpse into the mind of a
remarkable man, as well as a proof of the fascination of such subjects,
it will be interesting to quote from the book just mentioned Davy's
description of his imaginary inhabitants of Saturn:

"I saw below me a surface infinitely diversified, something like that of
an immense glacier covered with large columnar masses, which appeared as
if formed of glass, and from which were suspended rounded forms of
various sizes which, if they had not been transparent, I might have
supposed to be fruit. From what appeared to me to be analogous to
bright-blue ice, streams of the richest tint of rose color or purple
burst forth and flowed into basins, forming lakes or seas of the same
color. Looking through the atmosphere toward the heavens, I saw
brilliant opaque clouds, of an azure color, that reflected the light of
the sun, which had to my eyes an entirely new aspect and appeared
smaller, as if seen through a dense blue mist.

"I saw moving on the surface below me immense masses, the forms of which
I find it impossible to describe. They had systems for locomotion
similar to those of the morse, or sea-horse, but I saw, with great
surprise, that they moved from place to place by six extremely thin
membranes, which they used as wings. Their colors were varied and
beautiful, but principally azure and rose color. I saw numerous
convolutions of tubes, more analogous to the trunk of the elephant than
to anything else I can imagine, occupying what I supposed to be the
upper parts of the body. It was with a species of terror that I saw one
of them mounting upward, apparently flying toward those opaque clouds
which I have before mentioned.