Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds

by M. de Fontenelle

FOURTH EVENING.

PARTICULARS CONCERNING THE PLANETS VENUS, MERCURY, MARS, JUPITER AND SATURN.

The dreams of the Marchioness did not assist her; they represented nothing that did not bear a resemblance to what we see here. I had the same complaints to make as certain people, whose paintings are always fanciful and grotesque, do at the sight of our pictures,—Pshaw, say they, these are all men; here are no objects of imagination. We therefore resolved to content ourselves with the conjectures we should be able to make concerning the inhabitants of the planets as we continued our journey: we had last night got as far as Venus. We are assured, said I, that Venus turns on her axis, but it is not ascertained in how long a time, consequently we cannot tell the length of her days. Her years lasts but about eight months, as she is not longer than that in performing her revolution round the sun. She is of the same size as the earth, therefore the earth and Venus appear equally large to each other. I am glad of that, said the Marchioness; then I hope the earth is to Venus the shepherd's star, and the parent of love, as Venus is to us. These appellations can be proper only for a pretty little, brilliant, gay looking planet. True, answered I; but do you know what makes Venus look so beautiful at a distance?—it is the effect of her being very frightful when near. With good telescopes it has been seen that she is covered with mountains, much higher than ours, sharp-pointed, and apparently very dry.[33] This kind of surface is the best calculated to reflect the light with great brilliancy. Our earth, whose surface is very smooth, compared with that of Venus, and partly covered with water, probably looks less beautiful at a distance. So much the worse, said the Marchioness; I should like her to preside over the loves of the inhabitants of Venus; they must certainly understand what love is. Oh! undoubtedly, I replied; the people in that planet, are all Celadons and Sylvanders, and their every-day conversations are finer than the most admired in Clelia. Their climate is very favourable to the tender passion. Venus is nearer to the sun than we; and receives more light and heat: she is about two thirds the distance of the earth, from the sun.

[33] M. Herschel's observations contradict this idea. Venus has a very dense atmosphere, which prevents us from distinguishing any thing on her surface; the brilliant appearance of this planet arises from her proximity to the earth.

I can see, interrupted the Marchioness, what sort of people the inhabitants are. They are much like the Moors of Granada: a little dark, sun-burnt people, scorched with the sun; full of wit and animation, always in love, always making verses, listening to music, having galas, dances and tournaments. Give me leave to tell you, madam, answered I, that you know but little of the inhabitants of Venus. Our Moors of Granada when compared with them would appear as cold and stupid as Greenlanders.

But what must the inhabitants of Mercury be? We are above twice the distance from the sun that they are. They must be almost mad with vivacity. Like most of the negroes, they are without memory; never reflecting; acting by starts and at random: in short Mercury is the bedlam of the universe. The sun appears there nine times larger than it does to us: the light they receive is so brilliant that our finest days would be but twilight in comparison of theirs; perhaps they would find them so dark as not to be able to distinguish one thing from another. The heat to which they are accustomed is so intense, that they would be almost frozen in our Africa. In all probability our iron, silver and gold would be melted in their world, and only be seen in a liquid state, as we in general have water, which in some degrees of cold becomes a solid body. The inhabitants of Mercury would not imagine that in another world those liquors, which perhaps form their rivers, are the hardest of all bodies. Their year lasts but three months. The length of their day is not known to us, because Mercury is so small and so near the sun, that it exceeds the art of all our astronomers to observe him with sufficient accuracy to determine what sort of motion he has on his centre: the inhabitants, I think, must wish it to be performed in a short time, for scorched as they are with the fierceness of the sun, the coolness of night is undoubtedly very desirable to them. The part which by rotation is deprived of the sun's light, is illumined by Venus and the earth, which must appear very large. As to the other planets, being farther off than the earth, they, seen from Mercury, appear much smaller than to us, and afford very little light to that planet.

I don't feel so much for its inhabitants on that account, replied the Marchioness, as from the inconvenience they must suffer from such excessive heat. Let us try if we can't relieve them in some way. Is it not probable they have long and plentiful showers, such as we are told fall continually for four months together, in our hot countries, at the seasons when the heat is most intense?

It may be the case, answered I; and we have another way of giving them relief. There are some parts of China which from their situation ought to be very hot, and yet, even in the month of July and August the weather is so cold that their rivers freeze. This coldness arises from the quantities of salt-petre with which the countries abound; the exhalations, drawn up in great abundance by the heat are of a cold nature. Mercury, if you please, shall be a little planet made of salt-petre, and the sun, by attracting the cooling exhalations, will thus prevent the evil it would otherwise be the cause of. However, we may rest assured that nature would not place beings where it was impossible for them to exist; and that habit, and ignorance of a better climate, render this situation agreeable: Mercury therefore may perhaps do very well without salt-petre, or abundant rains.