Page:Gods Glory in the Heavens.djvu/349

Rh of life and intelligence. A time was when the earth was without form and void, and when no living thing moved on its surface; and a time will come when the sun will languish, and life will decay and disappear from the face of the earth. The probability is, that other planets may have their life phases too, though they be not synchronous with that of our planet. The life period of each planet will depend on the balancing of the internal forces of the planet and the influences radiated from the sun. The temperature of each planet depends both on its own internal heat and that of the sun; and the probability is, that in some part of its history it will attain conditions precisely similar to those of our globe. Were the planets solely dependent on the sun for their temperature, they could not pass exactly through the same phase; but when we have the varying element of the internal temperature, it is probable that most of the bodies may have to pass through a life epoch of almost identically the same conditions, at least as far as temperature is concerned. But it is also plain that the' probability of this epoch occurring in any two planets simultaneously is not great. If by some volcanic action several islands were formed by the elevation of the bed of the sea, the probability is that, in the course of time, a soil would be formed, and that vegetable and animal life would appear, so as to fit them for the abode of man. But if the islands were far separated from one another,—if they were scattered