itive animals--a deaf, blind, sexless clot of jelly--then had its
body pierced by a drop of sea-water thicker than usual, and it found
that this way of feeding was quicker than simple respiration. Such was
the origin of the first digestive tube, which has exercised so baleful
an influence on the course of terrestrial life, and turned the earth
into a vast slaughterhouse."

"Is there no hope for us?" I said.

"No," he replied; "the earth is a shipwrecked planet. None of the higher
organisms there will ever rise to our level. How can they alter the
structure of their bodies, and empty their veins of blood, and fill them
with the subtle electricity which serves us as a life force? And the
grossness of their blood-fed senses! How can all the fine powers of the
immortal soul ever develop along with such degraded instruments of
knowledge?"

"But even if our earth is a shipwrecked planet," I exclaimed, "there is
at least some means of escaping from it. You and Iclea, for instance----"

"Yes, there is a way of escape," said Spero, "the Uranian way. By
soaring aloft into the serene region of spiritual ideas, a terrestrial
soul can still free itself from its animality. Some save themselves by
their high moral qualities, others are purified and uplifted by their
imagination and intellect. Virtue and science are the wings that enable
earth-born spirits to mount the skies. The destiny of a soul is
determined by its works and aspirations. Lovers of knowledge sojourn
awhile on Mars, which is only the first stage in the eternal progress.
Spirits animated by divine feelings rise at once into high regions of
starry splendour. The Uranian way is open to all, and the day will
arrive when every inhabitant of your wild, dark planet will recognise
that he, too, is a citizen of heaven. Then Urania will at last inspire
and direct him, and point out the path by which he can ascend from the
blood-stained earth to the fairer mansions prepared for him in the
skies."

As he was speaking our aerial chariot floated down to a fairy palace by
the shore of an enchanted sea. I alighted; and a radiant, flower-like
maiden, who was standing by the portal, unfolded her rainbow wings and
shadowed me with them, and murmured, "Do you wish to return to earth?"

"No," I cried, running up to clasp her in my arms.

I awoke with a sudden shock. I was lying on the top of the tower of
Montlhery; the sun was rising, and the vast circle of country below me
shone