the white, or the blue lie. Think of how many we tell in
our regular routine of life! We generally give false excuses instead of
the real ones. We very seldom blame ourselves for errors, but rather
think diligently to study out a way to shift responsibility. Nearly the
whole brood of our apologies is hatched from the serpent's egg, and then
we ignorantly or hypocritically manifest surprise that our own offspring
should develop an inclination to deceive or misrepresent!

Here I saw, in wide contrast to our own social order, the results
springing from sincerity that has thrived through a long line of
generations. Such blessings are as a breath of Heaven, rare and
beautiful.

One might think, when considering this strange manner of conversation,
that it would be difficult for the people to express their ideas
clearly. It is just the opposite from this, for it is almost impossible
for them to express themselves vaguely. They talk from the headquarters
of one mind directly to the headquarters of another, instead of through
a medium of cumbersome words which in our life are so often
misunderstood. Thus we must admit that we have a ten-fold greater
struggle than they to be perspicuous in language.

I was charmed at this most superior mode of conversation and saw in it
a higher glimpse of the Heaven language than in any other type that had
yet met my observation in all the worlds of space.

The Muteites are rapid thinkers, and although they have no sense of
hearing, yet they are ultra-sensitive to substantial emissions of
vibrating bodies. According to all I could see, these people were not
hampered by this lack of senses. They live as conveniently in their
flesh life as we do, and in their mind or spirit life they are much more
refined than we are.

Their earth is so different from ours in chemical combinations that the
soil is almost transparent and in general has the appearance of glass.
Their homes are built mostly under surface, owing to the terrific
cyclonic storms that follow one another in very uncertain succession.

The average length of life is two hundred of our years. They reach their
maximum energy of mind at about one hundred years, and among the
brighter of the inhabitants can be found a glorious order of intellect.
Some of these mental celebrities outshine the brightest creatures of
all the solar systems of that region of the heavens.

After some hesitancy, I yielded to a desire to appear in a visible fo