ruit worlds, like their own, might be the
abode of living creatures. And probably at first, while as yet the
development of their own world was little understood, they would
conceive the notion that all the fruits, large or small, upon their tree
system were in the same condition as their own, and either inhabited by
similar races or at least in the same full vigour of life-bearing
existence. But so soon as they recognised the law of development of
their own world, and the relation between such development and their own
requirements, they would form a different opinion, if they found that
only during certain stages of their world's existence life could exist
upon it. If, for instance, they perceived that their fruit world must
once have been so bitter and harsh in texture that no creatures in the
least degree like themselves could have lived upon it, and that it was
passing slowly but surely through processes by which it would become one
day dry and shrivelled and unable to support living creatures, they
would be apt, if their reasoning powers were fairly developed, to
inquire whether other fruits which they saw around them on their tree
system were either in the former or in the latter condition. If they
found reason to believe certain fruits were in one or other of these
stages, they would regard such fruits as not yet the abode of life or as
past the life-supporting era. It seems probable even that another idea
would suggest itself to some among their bolder thinkers. Recognising in
their own world in several instances what to their ideas resembled
absolute waste of material or of force, it might appear to them quite
possible that some, perhaps even a large proportion, of the fruits upon
their tree were not only not supporting life at the particular epoch of
observation, but never had supported life and never would--that, through
some cause or other, life would never appear upon such fruits even when
they were excellently fitted for the support of life. They might even
conceive that some among the fruits of their tree had failed or would
fail to come to the full perfection of fruit life.

Looking beyond their own tree--that is, the tree to which their own
fruit world belonged--they would perceive other trees, though their
visual powers might not enable them to know whether such trees bore
fruit, whether they were in other respects like their own, whether those
which seemed larger or smaller were really so, or owed the