But no remarkable difference had so far been perceived by terrestrial observers; and none could now be detected by our travellers.

Therefore the Moon must have found in herself alone the principle of her shape and of her superficial development--that is, she owed nothing to external influences.

"Arago was perfectly right, therefore," concluded Barbican, "in the remarkable opinion to which he gave expression thirty years ago: 'No external action whatever has contributed to the formation of the Moon's diversified surface.'" "But don't you think, Barbican," asked the Captain, "that every force, internal or external, that might modify the Moon's shape, has ceased long ago ?" "I am rather inclined to that opinion," said Barbican; "it is not, however, a new one.

Descartes maintained that as the Earth is an extinct Sun, so is the Moon an extinct Earth.

My own opinion at present is that the Moon is now the image of death, but I can't say if she has ever been the abode of life." "The abode of life!" cried Ardan, who had great repugnance in accepting the idea that the Moon was no better than a heap of cinders and ashes; "why, look there! If those are not as neat a set of the ruins of an abandoned city as ever I saw, I should like to know what they are!" [Illustration: ONCE MORE THE PIPES OF AN AQUEDUCT.] He pointed to some very remarkable rocky formations in the neighborhood of _Short_, a ring mountain rising to an altitude considerably higher than that of Mont Blanc.