Page:Life in a thousand worlds.djvu/109

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
104
LIFE IN A THOUSAND WORLDS.

conceivable to us how life can be developed and sustained in the midst of a burning sun, and I found that these beings in turn could not conceive how life can exist in a cold world like ours.

These creatures have no digestive organs. They live, in part, on the chemical action produced by fire breathing. The hotter the fire, the more easily is life sustained. If they were to get away from the heat, this chemical action would cease and therefore death would be as certain to them as being enveloped in fire would spell death to us.

In our eyes, their bodies are misshapen, composed of elements most of which are not found in our world. There are many cold places, or sun spots, on Alpha Centaurus, but these are shunned by the people as death traps. However, the centers of population gather on the more solid sections, most of which lie around the sun spots.

You could scarcely believe your eyes were you to look upon the durable works of architecture built by these strangely shaped mortals.

Still more wonderful are the seas of