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What We Saw From the Ruined House
AndthiswasthesumoftheMartianorgans. Strangeasitmayseemtoahumanbeing,allthecomplexapparatusofdigestion,whichmakesupthebulkofourbodies,didnotexistintheMartians. Theywereheads—merelyheads. Entrailstheyhadnone. Theydidnoteat,muchlessdigest. Instead,theytookthefresh,livingbloodofothercreatures,andinjecteditintotheirownveins. Ihavemyselfseenthisbeingdone,asIshallmentioninitsplace. But,squeamishasImayseem,IcannotbringmyselftodescribewhatIcouldnotendureeventocontinuewatching. Letitsufficetosay,bloodobtainedfromastilllivinganimal,inmostcasesfromahumanbeing,wasrundirectlybymeansofalittlepipetteintotherecipientcanal....
Thebareideaofthisisnodoubthorriblyrepulsivetous,butatthesametimeIthinkthatweshouldrememberhowrepulsiveourcarnivoroushabitswouldseemtoanintelligentrabbit.
Thephysiologicaladvantagesofthepracticeofinjectionareundeniable,ifonethinksofthetremendouswasteofhumantimeandenergyoccasionedbyeatingandthedigestiveprocess. Ourbodiesarehalfmadeupofglandsandtubesandorgans,occupiedinturningheterogeneousfoodintoblood. Thedigestiveprocessesandtheirreactionuponthenervoussystemsapourstrengthandcolourourminds. Mengohappyormiserableastheyhavehealthyorunhealthylivers,orsoundgastricglands. ButtheMartianswereliftedabovealltheseorganicfluctuationsofmoodandemotion.
TheirundeniablepreferenceformenastheirsourceofnourishmentispartlyexplainedbythenatureoftheremainsofthevictimstheyhadbroughtwiththemasprovisionsfromMars.
