ortant part in all
the social customs of this sphere. It decides the marital destiny of
each person, and no two are recommended to join in wedlock until they
have been pronounced physical and mental mates by the official
psychologists.

On this interesting world I found the most summary punishment for
adulterers and fornicators. When these crimes are clearly proven, the
guilty parties are put to death after a lingering sentence. This is a
most terrible punishment, but it has proven that, although a few must
suffer this penalty, the general good of the whole population is thereby
much increased.

I was much amazed at the construction and possibilities of the human
mind when I observed the manner in which certain suspected criminals
were examined in order to prove or disprove the crime of which they were
charged. The doors of the soul were unlocked and the past
thought-images, with their mental impressions, were thrown open to view.
How can a Muteite deny the crime which is photographed on the sensitive
living plates of his own mind! This reproducing can be effected only by
a very special process and is never done against a person's will unless
ordered by civil authority.

When I saw, on this world of Mute, the possibility of uncovering the
past records of the mind, it at once suggested to me the possible nature
of the final Judgment of our world when each one will stand face to face
with the record of his own deeds, brought before him vividly under the
light of eternity. In such an event who would think of showing a bold
front to deny the accuracy of such a direct reproduction of himself in
the flesh!

Possibly the human mind may be likened to a phonograph into which we can
speak while the cylinder of thought revolves; at any time afterward
every syllable may be reproduced accurately.

Another striking feature of these mortals is their lack of hypocrisy.
Only a small degree of it is found among all the inhabitants of this
peculiar planet. No doubt hypocrisy would be greatly lessened in our own
social life if we could no longer hide our real thoughts. In Mute it is
very unsafe to practice deception, for as soon as the deceived one
appears personally he can readily conjecture, by the mental state of the
deceiver, the nature of the thought that had transpired.

Can you realize what a refreshing moral atmosphere exists in a world
where conventional lying is almost unknown? In our life the daily sin of
the millions is