air at intervals of about six hours. This is not taken in connection
with the regular food, but is eaten alone and carried into a separate
stomach wherein it is disintegrated by the chemical action of the
stomachic acids. The gases thus formed serve the same purpose as the air
we breathe into our lungs.
According to the conjectures of some earthly astronomers I was expecting
to see a race of immense giants. On the contrary, I found that these
Moonites grow to only about one-fourth our height, but possess fully
three-fourths as much circumference of body. Notwithstanding that they
are so short and rotund, they are healthy and exceedingly quick in all
their bodily movements.
No doubt I shall be chided for saying that these Moon-inhabitants are a
handsome people, but I was enabled to judge them by a universal standard
of beauty, and I looked upon them as a product of the same infinite
Creator who fashioned our mortal bodies with such marvelous adaptation
of means to end.
One thing is sure, were a person from the Moon to set foot upon our
planet, he would estimate us to be as far out of harmony with his
standards of beauty as we should consider him to be out of harmony with
ours.
As might be expected, these people are very peculiar in their habits.
There is a small percentage of the population who are bright stars
intellectually, while others are extremely indolent. When a person wins
a record for laziness, it is said of him: "He is too lazy to eat his
air."
The large city to which I had come was indeed a novel sight. Its
buildings average in height one-third of ours, although they occupy
nearly as much ground space. They are composed almost totally of
non-combustible materials.
The window panes are not made of a brittle substance like glass, but
resemble mica, except that they are more tough and durable. These
Moonites are wiser than we in roofing their houses. They have discovered
a mineral composition which in its plastic state is daubed over the
roof. This, upon hardening, is proof against all conditions of weather
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