Francis Birgham

“ Hahn have been proved to belong to the subaqueous classes of animals, and indeed have lived in water which never froze entirely, and for which we would certainly have to look in vain in comets, which are now generally admitted to be in a state of active combustion. ”

“ In fact, it is rather startling that the above-mentioned structures present forms of coral so nearly related to those of the earth, and we must, therefore, accept this fact as important evidence that an organic evolution of great similarity to that on our own earth has taken place on whatever planet from which these meteorites originated.
Besides corals, Dr. Weinland has also succeeded in finding a number of other organic remains in Dr. Hahn's specimens. ”

“ The result of a thorough examination of these specimens, with a complete comparison of his own great collection of corals, fully convinced Dr. Weinland that a large number of the formations in question are without doubt remains of coral belonging to the class of the favositines, which on the earth are now to be found only in a fossil state, and then only in the oldest, or palæolithic, stratum. ”

“ It must also be mentioned that hitherto the investigations of a few specimens have been made with a magnifying-glass only, and but seldom with powerful microscopes, such as Dr. Hahn employs.
Besides thus affording positive proof of the fact that other worlds are or have been inhabited by organic beings, this important discovery has also solved another interesting problem, which has long perplexed the scientific world. By the newest theory of the celebrated astronomer Schiaparelli regarding meteorites, the latter were supposed to emanate from incandescent comets and their tails. ”

“ But we must still be prepared for yet quite different things in these ex-terrestrial organisms, for it is very possible that there may yet be found formations for which we can absolutely find no place in our systems of zoölogy. ”