Chapter 42

It is worthy of remark that a certain speculative writer of quasi-scientific repute, writing long before the Martian invasion, did forecast for man a final structure not unlike the actual Martian condition. His prophecy, I remember, appeared in November or December, 1893, in a long-defunct publication, the _Pall Mall Budget_, and I recall a caricature of it in a pre-Martian periodical called _Punch_. He pointed out—writing in a foolish, facetious tone—that the perfection of mechanical appliances must ultimately sup…