"Yes," resumed Michel. "Why should they not be the cracks caused by the shock of a bullet or a stone upon a pane of glass?" "Good," replied Barbicane, smiling; "and what hand would be powerful enough to hurl the stone that would produce such a shock?" "A hand is not necessary," answered Michel, who would not give in; "and as to the stone, let us say it is a comet." "Ah! comets?" exclaimed Barbicane; "those much-abused comets! My worthy Michel, your explanation is not bad, but your comet is not wanted. The shock might have come from the interior of the planet. A violent contraction of the lunar crust whilst cooling was enough to make that gigantic crack." "Contraction let it be--something like a lunar colic," answered Michel Ardan. "Besides," added Barbicane, "that is also the opinion of an English _savant_, Nasmyth, and it seems to me to explain the radiation of these mountains sufficiently." "That Nasmyth was no fool!" answered Michel. The travellers, who could never weary of such a spectacle, long admired the splendours of Tycho. Their projectile, bathed in that double irradiation of the sun and moon, must have appeared like a globe of fire. They had, therefore, suddenly passed from considerable cold to intense heat. Nature was thus preparing them to become Selenites. To become Selenites! That idea again brought up the question of the habitability of the moon. After what they had seen, could the travellers solve it? Could they conclude for or against? Michel Ardan asked his two friends to give utterance to their opinion, and asked them outright if they thought that humanity and animality were represented in the lunar world. "I think we cannot answer," said Barbicane, "but in my opinion the question ought not to be stated in that form. I ask to be allowed to state it differently." "State it as you like," answered Michel. "This is it," resumed Barbicane. "The problem is double, and requires a double solution. Is the moon habitable? Has it been inhabited?" "Right," said Nicholl. "Let us first see if the moon is habitable." "To tell the truth, I know nothing about it," replied Michel. "And I answer in the negative," said Barbicane. "In her actual state, with her certainly very slight atmosphere, her seas mostly dried up, her insufficient water, her restricted vegetation, her abrupt alternations of heat and cold, her nights and days 354 hours long, the moon does not appear habitable to me, nor propitious to the development of the animal kingdom, nor sufficient for the needs of existence such as we understand it." "Agreed," answered Nicholl; "but is not the moon habitable for beings differently organised to us?" "That question is more difficult to answer," replied Barbicane. "I will try to do it, however, but I ask Nicholl if movement seems to him the necessary result of existence, under no matter what organisation?" "Without the slightest doubt," answered Nicholl.