CHAPTER IV.
A Glimpse of Jupiter.
The next world I visited was Jupiter, the greatest orb in the solar
system, almost fourteen hundred times as large as our Earth. I found it
whirling on its axis so rapidly that it makes an entire revolution in
about ten hours of our time.
This voluminous sphere is in great contrast to both the Moon and Mars.
Its physical constituency resembles a liquid more than a solid, and it
is quite hot but not luminous. It has cooled sufficiently to admit human
forms, although certain parts of the giant planet are void of all life,
owing to the more intense heat in those sections.
The atmosphere is charged with thick clouds, never at rest and
continually forming into immense scrolls close to the surface of the
planet.
The human life of Jupiter is found in certain belts where the crust of
the planet has been hardened for several thousand years. The people have
risen from rude, primitive conditions to a state of splendid
civilization. In size they are colossal giants, averaging twenty-five
feet in height. Their two powerful arms extend from what we would call
the hips, and no one would imagine with what facility these giants use
them. After extended observation, I was almost tempted to wonder why our
arms were placed so high on the body. These Jupiterites are more
handsome than the people on the Moon or Mars, and their faces shine with
a superior intelligence. Instead of hair on the head, they have
something unknown to our world, quite similar in appearance to wool.
Their two eyes blaze like balls of fire, making one of the giants appear
like a fiersome though not repulsive monster. The most unusual feature
about the face is the peculiarity of the chin and forehead. Each is
covered with convolutions of an insensible, rubber-like membrane.
The people of Jupiter excel in mechanical skill. They build houses, but
not by long, tedious days of painstaking labor. Such things as plaster
and paint are unknown. A Jupiterite can purchase, from one of the
mammoth structural factories, house sides, house ends, house floors or
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