Life in a Thousand Worlds by William Shuler Harris

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We call your attention to some of the antiquated remedies of our world
as related by Geike and copied from a medical journal of our own
country. Following is a list:

"Ashes of wolf's skull, stag's horn, the heads of mice, the eyes of
crabs, owl's brains, liver of frogs, viper's fat, grasshoppers, bats,
etc., these supplied the alkalis which were prescribed. Physicians were
accustomed to order doses of the gall of wild swine. It is presumed the
tame hog was not sufficiently efficacious. There were other choice
prescriptions such as horse's foam, woman's milk, laying a serpent on
the afflicted part, urine of cows, bear fat, still recommended as a hair
restorative, juice of boiled buck horn, etc. For colic, powdered horse's
teeth, dung of swine, asses' kidneys, mice excretion made into a
plaster, and other equally vile and unsavory compounds. Colds in the
head were cured by kissing the nose of a mule. For sore throat, snail
slime was a favorite prescription, and mouse flesh was considered
excellent for disease of the lungs. Boiled snails and powdered bats were
prescribed for intestinal disorders."

When we read such a list of remedies we can scarcely believe that they
were ever popular, but according to the history of Dore-lyn the time
will come when many of our present medicines will be out of date, and
only mentioned in the old medical works.

The people of Dore-lyn have suffered in past ages innumerable woes on
account of intemperance. Alcohol is unknown to them, but they have had a
two-thousand year's battle against three liquids that affect them as
opium affects us. Strange to say that these terrible liquids were the
bases of many of their medicines just like the anodyne medicines of our
present day. Thus in Dore-lyn the old kinds of medicines created many
drunkards. Since the dawn of the brighter age, a strict law prevails
regarding the use of all narcotics in medicines. Then came gradually
into use the many methods of treating disease without medicine, except
the materials used to sustain life regularly.

Being interested in these things, I examined more closely into their
past medical history, and saw more clearly the present folly of a
certain part of our medicinal practice. How we are struggling with
alcohol, especially as found in so many of our patent medicines, and how
helpless we are in trying to abolish the sale of these medicines by
reason of our unbounded liberty! In our world, a man may concoct any
alcoholic medicine and sell it without liquor license, for people
become verily mad for the bottled stuff. Our nation may some day become
wise enough to keep its own hand on the business that is determining the
health and happiness of millions of its inhabitants.

But let me cease this digression and get back once more to Dore-lyn.

One of the most noted medical achievements on this world consists in the
manner of rendering a person unconscious of pain. The anatomy of a
Dore-lynite is, in general, the same as our anatomy. Their bones are
arranged a little differently and the sections of the backbone have a
quite different formation. When a surgeon of that world wishes to
perform an operation and therefore render the patient unconscious, he
presses the tough cartilagenous part of a section of the backbone with a
screw device fastened to the body of the patient. This simple act
renders the spinal cord insensitive, which condition may be maintained
for hours without injuring the patient. Of course any point above the
screw device is sensitive, and for this reason it is more difficult to
render a person unconscious in the parts about the head.

Many ages ago the world of microbes was laid bare, but not before these
people were masters of the microscope or an instrument serving the same
purposes, although formed on a partly different principle.

These Dore-lynites have brought to light the numerous varieties of
parasite broods that cause fermentations and diseases, both infectious
and otherwise.

A diseased body is looked upon as being in possession of a certain brood
of microbes which are destroyed either by the blood filter or the
"Vaccine bath, or injection." (I know no better name by which to call
it.) A few diseases are treated by doses of medicines given in a manner
similar to the prescription system of our country.

The "Food Treatment" is also very popular in Dore-lyn. This is merely a
hygienic selection of foods given to people of declining health, instead
of having them swallow ten or twenty dollars' worth of strong medicines.

Abnormal appetites crave for a class of foods injurious to the system.
In Dore-lyn they have discovered a novel method of turning the diseased
appetite from its cravings toward the things needed by the system.

In performing operations, the experts of Dore-lyn have reached a
marvelous degree of perfection. They have learned to make a false eye so
that one can see with it. It took three and one-half thousand years of
continual experimenting on this delicate creation before it was
pronounced satisfactory.

The false eye is not of flesh but one of manufacture. It is placed in
sensitive connection with the optic nerve, on which images are thrown by
the delicate mechanism of the false eye. The sight thus obtained is
almost one-half as distinct as that which is enjoyed by the normal eye.

These medical wizards also make artificial ears which are about as
satisfactory as the natural ears. In certain lines of surgery we are
equal to these Dore-lynites, but we cannot register with them in the
whole category of surgical achievements. They have simply distanced us
by five hundred years. That is, I believe that in five hundred years we
can reach the fields of glory which they now occupy.

Think of laying bare a human lung and treating it with a special
preparation for extreme cases of lung diseases, and also treating it
with a "baking" for department cases of a disease similar to pneumonia.
Perhaps the most wonderful class of operations is performed on the heart
and the brain.

The heart is laid bare under a sheet of thermal rays. Fatty tissues are
removed and other obstructions eradicated during the regular heart
beats.

The government grants certain privileges of experimenting on her lowest
class of criminals, and it is well nigh incredible what has been
accomplished by cerebrum operations.

Certain murderers of vile propensities have been so changed by an
operation on the cerebrum that they have no power of recalling their
past life and are incapable of uttering an oath. And what is more
strange, they are intent on leading an upright life and being intensely
religious withal.

I am compelled to crowd a world of glorious life into a few paragraphs,
but I hope that I have given such as will be for our good.

CHAPTER XIV.

A World of Low Life.

When one witnesses an exhibition he must, of necessity, look upon the
poorer parts of it. This was my experience in my universal journey, for
on some worlds which I visited I found that human civilization was at a
low ebb. One of the most notable of this class is the world next beyond
Dore-lyn.

This sphere is one thousand times as large as ours, and the beastly
creatures that inhabit it are four times our size.

The toilers in the deep valleys of Mars are favorably intelligent
compared with these specimens of humanity. For convenience, I will call
this world Scum. Its people are so constituted that their two arms can
be used as legs; so it is quite common to see these Scumites travel over
their planet like the more graceful of our quadrupeds. Their walking,
however, is principally after our fashion, and they can change about at
pleasure. Either way of travel seems as natural as the other. When they
walk on two limbs, the body is erect, presenting a stature of such
gigantic proportions as to over-awe a representative of our world.

According to the universal standards of symmetry, these giants have an
animal beauty that is anything but handsome, and they also lack those
facial expressions of higher intelligence that come only through
generations of cultured thinking. Their health is quite perfect and they
live to a great age.

These Scumites have a language singularly their own. It is so totally
different from any of our conceptions of speech that I can scarcely find
words to describe it.

The medium of conversation is the Notched Rod. It is about twelve feet
long with various kinds of notches cut along the two sides. Such a stick
is possessed by every Scumite who expects to hold extended or
descriptive conversations. It is usually held by a skin strung around
the neck. While one of these persons is talking, two or three of his
fingers pass from notch to notch along the rod. These indentures of the
rod represent, in their language, certain kinds of sounds and are used
to assist the vocal organs in expressing the more intricate combinations
of ideas. Naturally, the listener watches the fingers more than the
mouth.

It is amusing to see a Scumite busily engaged in delivering a speech to
a few of his fellow creatures. It would remind you of a person playing a
fife or violin without producing any sound.

The children of Scum learn this rod language just the same as our
children at first learn to speak our language by observation and
practice.

The face of a Scumite does not resemble a human face of our planet. The
mouth and jaws are at right angles to ours and this arrangement seems to
be just as convenient to these Scumites as the formation of our mouth is
to us. The nose lies above the mouth, but is relatively much higher, its
point coming between the two eyes which are situated more toward the
sides of the head.

The startling fact about this world is that at one time in its past
history fair intelligence reigned on a few parts of the planet. These
intelligent sections were working their way upward on the measureless
incline of progress and had won some distinctions in their sciences, as
well as their religious devotions. These bright spots on the surface of
this large orb were surrounded with large black patches of war-like
humanity and, between these two extremes, a warfare of subjection or
extermination raged without any hope or peace.

The educated Scumites had a few advantages in methods of war, but with
all this they were not able to withstand the vast hordes that swept down
upon them. Brute force won the battle and the accumulated light of four
thousand years flickered until it was no more.

It was a fatal day for Scum when its mad inhabitants blew out the last
of the candles that had promised to give them light.

When this sad and blighting victory was accomplished, these uncivilized
tribes rejoiced more hilariously than at one time our Indians rejoiced
when celebrating their victories in the wild scalp dances.

Thus the dark shadows fell on this huge world. The captured educated
classes made a heroic effort to continue their cultured manners and
religious life, but the prejudice against them and their ways was so
great that they were compelled to live in the lower strata or suffer the
pain of death. In process of time, the wild woods flourished where once
the temples of science and pure religion reared their imposing pillars.

What can we expect of such a race of people who have drifted from the
light of civilization for so long a period? As I looked at their customs
and their ways, I was reminded of a garden that has run wild. Here and
there I could see traces of the once thrifty life now almost choked out
by the overpowering crop of weeds.

Gradually the people became worse and worse. Sin played havoc and built
carnal fires around which these children of men gathered. Sensuality
became the ruling passion and, in less than five hundred years of our
time, the last family observance had died away and these creatures
wallowed in the quagmire of fleshly lusts, compared with which the brute
life of our world is highly respectable. "Free Love" was rampant and
human offspring was cared for by mothers, or at least by such as were
willing to assume the task. No one was supposed to know who was his
father.

I saw this sad and sickening spectacle against which my instincts
revolted with horror. It is true that if man is left totally unbridled,
he sinks to a depth which it would be impossible for any species of the
animal creation to reach.

As I continued looking on this low life with its horrors too numerous
and too dreadful to mention, my thoughts flew back to the world whence I
came, and to America where I was born, and I remembered of some who
advocated "Free Love." "Let their arms be withered," I cried, rather
than have such a thistle fasten itself in the soil of our social life.

Let the libertine of our world go to the world of Scum where he belongs,
or rise to the dignity of man whose image he bears.

[Illustration: Great Battle between Low Tribes on Scum.]

Compared with our world, the physical features of Scum are all
fashioned on a much larger scale, and the mountains, rivers and
vegetation are five times greater than ours; so are also the many
varieties of wild and domestic animals.

The inhabitants of Scum are divided into many warring tribes, and it is
fearful to see the conflicts that take place. During my brief stay I
witnessed one of the big battles between two of the stronger tribes. One
hundred and fifty thousand men went dashing into an enemy of greater
numbers. It was a foot ball melee on a vast scale. Weapons were all of
the hand-to-hand type, except the spear wagons which were indeed clumsy
weapons of war.

Nothing is known of surrender or a flag of truce, so the conflict raged
horribly to a bitter end until eighty thousand bruised victors
participated in the jubilant feast that followed. Over two hundred
thousand Scumites lay dead on the field and along the mountain ridges.
According to past history, another such great battle is not liable to
occur for another generation.

The past religion of these giants is not even on a par with idolatry.
There are many saints sleeping in their graves, bright remnants of the
time of the old civilization and religion.

Amidst all this present moral wreck of humanity, there are a few
indications that point to better times. The nobler people of Scum are
banding together with the avowed purpose of bringing back the light of
culture and refinement. But it will require several thousand years of
determined effort to climb to the height from whence their ancestors
were cruelly and thoughtlessly dragged.

CHAPTER XV.

A World of Highest Invention.

After my profitable stay in this immense solar system in the Milky Way,
I crossed the vast dome of the heavens and lighted on Sirius, the
brightest star in all the canopy of night. Here I found the fire life of
Alpha Centaurus repeated, but I did not pause to study the odd phases
presented to my view.

Onward I moved to survey the remarkable systems of worlds that revolve
around Sirius. It is a veritable medley of planets, large and small,
inhabited and barren, sinless, sinful and millennial. A little universe
packed in a nutshell, figuratively speaking.

The orb of this group that first held my attention is very notable
indeed. I have labeled it "High Invention," and it is still entitled to
that distinction. It revolves around Sirius at a distance of seven
million miles and is thirty-three times as large as our world, with
physical features and climate quite dissimilar.

Here, in this world of ours, we are proud of the wonderful genius
displayed by our inventors, and is not this conceit pardonable?

If this world should stand and inventive genius continue at its present
compound rate of progress, what may we expect to see a hundred or a
thousand years hence? Now imagine yourself looking down upon a world
where the highest inventive skill is found. Such was my privilege at
this time in the course of my universal journey.

This surprising world is inhabited by a persevering race of human
beings, among whom are a large number of illustrious characters who walk
in the light of ten thousand years of human achievements.

It need not be said that I was intensely interested in the study of this
phenomenal world which I will call Ploid. I went from one portion of the
planet to another, continually remaining invisible. After I had
witnessed the unequaled sights, I paused to complete my memoranda and
now, as I review my jottings, I am at a loss to know what few things I
should select to try to make intelligible to my fellow-men who live on
this infinitesimal speck which is our world. First, let me call
attention to:

THEIR TRIUMPHS IN THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM.

The people of Ploid have in their possession a remarkable line of
fertilizers, not in the form of ground bones, but acidulous juices.
These juices were improved for three thousand years until there was a
particular liquid suited to each separate class of vegetables.

As used at the present time, a certain amount of the growth-acid is
poured directly about the seed at the time of planting. This acid has a
magical effect upon the soil and it is possible, by repeated
fertilizing, to raise in two weeks a crop of zoftas, a vegetable similar
to our potatoes. For raising a crop in two weeks the fertilizer costs
one-half the value of the zoftas, and for maturing a crop in four weeks
the fertilizer costs about three-eighths of the value of the zoftas.

Thus it is possible to raise six of these crops in one of our years.
This law obtains throughout the whole vegetable creation. However, in
ordinary circumstances, the stimulating acid is used in very light
quantities. The people have learned by experience that vegetables have a
better flavor when they have been brought to maturity by the slower
processes.

These wonderful fertilizers are a blessed boon in the time of "crop
failures," for then the same crop can be grown anew from the seed and
hurried to maturity before the close of the season.

The curse of the vegetable worms has been reduced to a minimum on this
world of Ploid. The chemists have labored patiently for one thousand
years to produce a substance that will not destroy vegetable seed and at
the same time kill all forms of parasites. The results have been
gratifying, and with considerable pleasure I viewed a garden of the
various odd-shaped vegetables that are grown, without being repulsed at
the sight of such crawling specimens as tomato and cabbage worms.

The happiest result of this worm-killing substance is seen in the work
it accomplishes on fruit and nut trees. There is triple the variety of
nuts on Ploid, and they are used for food more generally than in our
world. There is no such an animal as a hog and no lard is used. The
substitute is found in four varieties of nut oil, the result of a sweet
and clean vegetable growth. Nuts are raised in great abundance, for they
also supply the base for a spread just as appetizing and more economical
than butter.

THEIR MODES OF TRAVEL.

The Ploidites have been traveling in the air for twenty-five hundred
years, but they cannot control their air-ships sufficiently in all kinds
of weather. The atmosphere of Ploid is relatively lighter than ours,
which has made aerial travel more difficult to perfect than it would be
in our world.

The main traffic, both passenger and freight, is carried on by the Tube
Line, a wonderful system perfected through thousands of years of
painstaking labor.

Two immense tubes, lying side by side, each ten feet in diameter, made
of a substance more durable than steel, form the road bed of this
lightning system of travel. The cigar-shaped cars have hard
rubber-wheels and fit over raised bars all around on the inside of the
immense Tube.

The motor power is called Sky-rallic, and is communicated throughout the
whole Tube Line by Brosis, a porous metal running in thin narrow bands.

This Tube Line runs without a curve from one division of the road to
another, except in rare cases where a bend is absolutely necessary. In a
mountainous region I noticed a stretch of Tube Line without a bend
running sixty miles, according to our measurement. On prairies, the
unbroken stretches are much longer.

The cars in this Tube Line travel with fearful rapidity. It requires two
or three miles to reach dashing speed, after which a run of fifty miles
is made in eight or ten minutes. No precaution need be taken by the
motorman as nothing can get into the tube and only one train is allowed
in a section at one time. Certain hours are given to passenger traffic
and others to freight traffic. An immense amount of freight can thus be
carried in one hour. It is possible to send a through freight car two
thousand miles in ten or twelve hours. Express cars are never connected
with passengers cars. They are run on their own schedule and sometimes
attached to freight cars.

This immense Tube Line was built by the government at great expense, but
it is proving very satisfactory. No storms or floods interfere. No
grade-crossings and no flying dust are known in this Tube Line which has
brought the ends of Ploid together. Think of a person crossing a vast
continent in a day, for the cars in this Tube Line run with frightful
speed across the long stretches of level. They make as high as a
three-hundred mile run in forty minutes, without stopping.

The signal and telegraph stations are fifty miles apart, sometimes more.
In these long runs the motorman stops only when a signal is turned
against him or if by accident he discerns a train in the Tube ahead of
him.

The Tube Line is lighted by oval transparencies, in size and shape
resembling an egg, soldered in specially prepared holes of the Tube.
The cars are not supplied with air from the tube. Fresh air is obtained
from the evaporation of a semi-solid.

On the top of this Tube Line there is a double railroad used for local
travel, both passenger and freight.

THEIR STORAGE BATTERIES.

Compared with our world, the fuel of Ploid is very scarce, but less is
required to supply the industries. Nearly all power is obtained from the
winds, running water and the sun's energy.

The winds are harnessed so that they blow not in vain. Almost every home
of ordinary intelligence owns one of the many kinds of storage batteries
used in this world. These batteries are usually located beneath the
lowest floor of the house, and they constitute the reservoir whence is
obtained the necessary power for lighting, heating and cooling the
apartments of the home.

People who live along streams of water utilize these streams for similar
purposes. It is now conceded in Ploid that the storage batteries of the
home can be supplied as economically and effectively by winds and the
sun's heat as by running streams; hence it is a common sight to see
residences throwing out the old water machinery and introducing the
latest design of wind-employers or sun-harnessers.

There are certain emergencies when the storage batteries fail to work or
when the power is exhausted; this happens when there is a very slight
wind for several days or a heavy drain of power. In such cases fuel is
used for heating and lighting.

PALACES OF PLOID.

The palaces of Ploid are dreams of beauty and convenience, outshining
and surpassing by far the finest mansions on the face of our globe. In
these abodes the sum total of glory and convenience converges, flowing
from almost numberless discoveries during the last one hundred years. In
round numbers, there have been five hundred thousand patents issued in
the United States in the nineteenth century, but the Ploidites excel us
by double that number for a similar territorial limit.

THE REWARD OF INVENTORS.

Patents are not issued in Ploid. The government gives liberal rewards to
each inventor or discoverer. The applicant appears personally before the
District Committee on Inventions. If this Committee considers the
invention worthy of a reward, the applicant is recommended to one of the
Central Committees at the seat of the government.

This Central Committee carefully considers the invention or discovery,
places on it an estimate as to its local or governmental value, and
fills out papers in accordance with its findings. This paper must be
signed by the Chief Inventor, and the applicant at once receives his
first installment which is continued, in some instances, during natural
life. In the case of some extraordinary invention, the immediate
relatives of the inventor are pensioned for five or ten years in his
honor.

Naturally, under this system, the government owns all inventions, and
reaps a heavy return from them, enough to pay all the installments to
the inventors and the officers employed to carry on this branch of the
government work.

SOME PARTICULAR INVENTIONS.

One of the most convenient inventions I saw on this planet of Ploid was
the carrying of a photograph or image along a wire. The people of Ploid
cannot only talk to one another many miles apart, but they can also see
each other while they are talking.

This wonderful attachment to their telephones, by which the human face
is also carried over the wire, was perfected over one thousand years
ago. I herewith give a few uses to which this invention is applied.

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