The Martians: A General Overview

The inhabitants of Mars are quite shockingly different from ourselves, both in
terms of gross physical characteristics, and mentality. Individual Martians
seem to be effectively immortal, as the do not age, become ill, or die, having
long since eliminated from their planet the bacteria which cause fevers and
other morbidities. They are admirably adapted for life on the desolate world of
their origin. It has been surmised that the Martians themselves were at least
in part responsible for this adaptation, having deliberately altered their
bodies to allow them to relentlessly pursue their goal of acquisition of
knowledge.

The Skeleton

"Those who have never seen a living Martian can scarcely imagine the strange
horror of its appearance. The peculiar V-shaped mouth with its pointed upper
lip, the absence of brow ridges, the absence of a chin beneath the wedgelike
lower lip, the incessant quivering of this mouth, the Gorgon groups of
tentacles, the tumultuous breathing of the lungs in a strange atmosphere, the
evident heaviness and painfulness of movement due to the greater gravitational
energy of the earth--above all, the extraordinary intensity of the immense
eyes--were at once vital, intense, inhuman, crippled and monstrous. There was
something fungoid in the oily brown skin, something in the clumsy deliberation
of the tedious movements unspeakably nasty."

Martians have no skeleton as such, rather a flexible, cartilaginous shell of
interlocking plates which protects the internal organs (such as they are) and
assists in breathing. It is this lack of rigid support that led to the
misshapen appearance of the Martian invaders during their time on Earth and
their painful, laboured breathing. This shell of cartilage is located
immediately beneath the skin, which is itself extremely tough, akin to thick
leather and quite capable of stopping small calibre bullets at long range, as
well as insulating the internal systems (such as they are) from the effects of
pressure and temperature to some extent. 

The skin is lubricated by an oily secretion, which causes it to shine "like wet
leather". It is believed that without this oleaginous substance the skin would
grow stiff and crack. There is evidence to suggest that this fate befell more
than one of the Martian invaders, whose hides were desiccated and split,
presumably by the actions of the terrestrial bacteria which eventually defeated
them. 

The Tentacles

"In a group round the mouth were sixteen slender, almost whiplike tentacles,
arranged in two bunches of eight each. These bunches have since been named
rather aptly, by that distinguished anatomist, Professor Howes, the HANDS. Even
as I saw these Martians for the first time they seemed to be endeavouring to
raise themselves on these hands, but of course, with the increased weight of
terrestrial conditions, this was impossible. There is reason to suppose that on
Mars they may have progressed upon them with some facility." 

The tentacles, which provoked such horror among those first humans to encounter
Martians, are composed of a similar configuration of muscle to that found in
the tentacles of octopi, squid and other such molluscs. There is evidence to
suggest that they are used as a means of locomotion in the kinder gravitational
field of the Martians native world. However, on Earth they are of little use
as locomotion, rather they are used as manipulative appendages. It has been
posited that intricate gesticulation is used as a mode of communication between
Martians in place of vocal communication. The tentacles are on average around
six feet long, and start to each side of the mouth. The last twelve inches of
each tentacle are remarkably sensitive to pressure, temperature and pain, and
shows an amazing degree of dexterity and flexibility. In texture the tentacles
are somewhat rough, and moistened by a similar secretion to that which
maintains the pliability of the skin, although the tentacular secretion is
slightly adhesive rather than oily, which would seem to be an aid to the
Martians ability to grip and manipulate objects. Located behind each bunch of
tentacles is a large nerve bundle, which controls the complex motor functions
of the tentacles. 

Internal Structure

"The internal anatomy, I may remark here, as dissection has since shown, was
almost equally simple. The greater part of the structure was the brain, sending
enormous nerves to the eyes, ear, and tactile tentacles. Besides this were the
bulky lungs, into which the mouth opened, and the heart and its vessels. The
pulmonary distress caused by the denser atmosphere and greater gravitational
attraction was only too evident in the convulsive movements of the outer skin." 

Martian Feeding Patterns

"And this was the sum of the Martian organs. Strange as it may seem to a human
being, all the complex apparatus of digestion, which makes up the bulk of our
bodies, did not exist in the Martians. They were heads--merely heads. Entrails
they had none. They did not eat, much less digest. Instead, they took the
fresh, living blood of other creatures, and INJECTED it into their own veins."

The physiology of Martians is quite unlike our own, their cerebral functions
having been greatly advanced seemingly at the expense of the locomotive,
olfactory and digestive systems among others.

The injection of blood involved in Martian feeding is accomplished by means of
retractable pipette of bone, similar in appearance to the horn of the narwhal,
but thinner, almost needle-like, measuring approximately three feet in length,
normally retracted and concealed in the creatures throat. This hollow
instrument is able to telescope out, and is plunged into the neck of the
Martians unfortunate victim, from which the living blood is pumped directly
into the Martians veins by means of a specialised chamber of the heart. A
valve within that chamber ensures that the blood can only flow into the
Martians body. The pipette is also joined to the respiratory system, which, by
means of a strong exhalation on the part of the Martian, cleans out the tube in
a spray of blood after the Martian has finished feeding and prevents it from
becoming blocked by the clotted blood of its victims. It is this exhalation
through the feeding-tube that produces the Martians distinctive call. Other
than this they appear to have no vocal apparatus. 

The Martian Reproductive Process

"...Wonderful as it seems in a sexual world, the Martians were absolutely
without sex, and therefore without any of the tumultuous emotions that arise
from that difference among men. A young Martian, there can now be no dispute,
was really born upon earth during the war, and it was found attached to its
parent, partially BUDDED off, just as young lilybulbs bud off, or like the
young animals in the fresh-water polyp. 

"In man, in all the higher terrestrial animals, such a method of increase has
disappeared; but even on this earth it was certainly the primitive method.
Among the lower animals, up even to those first cousins of the vertebrated
animals, the Tunicates, the two processes occur side by side, but finally the
sexual method superseded its competitor altogether. On Mars, however, just the
reverse has apparently been the case."

Martians reproduce by means of budding, a parent Martian growing larger than
normal over a period of time before splitting into two Martians, the smaller of
which can be said to be the "child" of the larger. The first indication that a
Martian is on the verge of reproducing is the presence of a small growth on the
Martian's side, which gradually develops small tentacles, and the other
features of a Martian, before splitting from the parent. This young Martian
shares all of the characteristics of a fully-grown Martian, although on a
smaller scale, typically being two feet across at the time it completely
separates from the parent, and is an autonomous individual from that time. 

The Eyes

"Two large dark-coloured eyes were regarding me steadfastly. The mass that
framed them, the head of the thing, was rounded, and had, one might say, a
face. There was a mouth under the eyes, the lipless brim of which quivered and
panted, and dropped saliva. The whole creature heaved and pulsated
convulsively. A lank tentacular appendage gripped the edge of the cylinder,
another swayed in the air."

Large, baleful eyes dominate Martians faces, the visible portion being six
inches across, the eyeball itself being closer to ten inches in diameter. The
eye is somewhat flattened at the front, giving the whole structure an
exaggerated egglike appearance. Perhaps due to their genesis on a planet whose
landscape is entirely dominated by various shades and hues of red, orange and
ochre, it appears that their eyes are incapable of seeing the colours at the
blue and violet end of the spectrum, which appear as black to them. Instead
they seem to be able to perceive light beyond the red end of the visible
spectrum, perhaps even allowing them to detect an object by its radiation of
heat. The eye is guarded by a nictitating membrane, a transparent scale that
the Martian can flick across to protect the eye in moments of danger, as well
as to moisten its surface. 

The Martian Brain and Psychology

"The internal anatomy, I may remark here, as dissection has since shown, was
almost equally simple. The greater part of the structure was the brain, sending
enormous nerves to the eyes, ear, and tactile tentacles. Besides this were the
bulky lungs, into which the mouth opened, and the heart and its vessels. The
pulmonary distress caused by the denser atmosphere and greater gravitational
attraction was only too evident in the convulsive movements of the outer skin.
And this was the sum of the Martian organs. [...] They were heads--merely
heads."

During dissection of the Martians for anatomical study, it was repeatedly noted
that the Martian body bears little resemblance to ourown, in terms of the
placement and structure of organs. They are grossly distorted, with some
systems enhanced, others atrophied, and some entirely absent. However, what
provoked the most discussion and controversy was the structure of the Martian
brain. It resembles the human brain to such a great extent that it has been
theorised that once, in the dim past of their species, the Martians may have
been very similar to humans, both in physical form and in behaviour, and that
in the Martians we see the eventual goal towards which aeons of human evolution
has been driving. Some have suggested that the Martians augmented the natural
process ofevolution through their advanced technologies. 

There are some notable differences between the Martian brain and the human
brain. It appears that, during their transition from near-human creatures to
the tentacled monstrosities that waged war against Earth, the Martians
extensively modified the structure of their brain. More specifically, they seem
to have discarded all those portions of the brain which govern the emotions,
with the exception of fear, which is a necessary driving force in the
development and preservation of a species. They transformed their own bodies
into mere vessels for their intellects, vast and cool and unsympathetic,
calculating machines composed of living blood and tissue. They know not hatred,
nor rage nor envy, and neither do they know love, nor joy nor mercy. Their war
against our planet was not carried out because of hatred for mankind, but
merely because we possessed something that they needed, a vibrant, warm, living
world. They were totally ruthless and implacable in the pursuit of their goal,
the domination of humanity and the conquest of our world. They have eliminated
emotion and its irrationality, but conversely a portion of the brain, normally
unnoticeable in the human brain, has been hypertrophied to an astounding
extent. Some scientists have theorised, based on reports of Martian behaviour,
that this enhanced segment of the brain provides the Martians with the power of
telepathy, the ability to project thought into the mind of another, or to read
the contents of that mind. This facility for psychic communication is believed
to be highly specialised in the vast majority of Martians, being used solely
for the purpose of communication between individuals. It is thought to have an
effective range of approximately two miles, although perhaps there exist
Martians that have been trained in the use of this ability and are able to use
it at a greater range than the majority. If this is the case, then it can be
theorised that they are also trained in other, similar psychic techniques.
There is a certain amount of evidence to support this theory. A member of the
Army who was captured by the Martians but later escaped recalls: 

"I was brought before a particular Martian which the rest of them seemed to
treat with some sort of deference, and forced to kneel down before it. It
reached out one of its tentacles, and touched the slimy appendage to my brow,
staring at me all the while. As I looked into those dark, saucerlike eyes I
realised that I could not move a muscle! It was as if I had been mesmerised,
unable to do a single thing. Only with great effort was I able to continue to
breathe, for it seemed the Martian had, somehow, paralysed every muscle in my
body. It then reached out more tentacles, touching them to my face and head,
and I was completely unable to resist that cold, creeping caress. Suddenly,
horribly I felt the Martian inside my mind! Words cannot adequately describe
the sensations I experienced as it sifted through my thoughts and memories,
searching for some item of information that it required; I can only convey it
as a cold presence pressing on my perception, its thoughts vast and heartless
and unspeakably other, incomprehensible to the human mind. I felt this presence
smothering my thought and will like a wet cloth smothers a flame. I believe I
must have fallen to the ground insensible at that point, for the next I knew I
was back in the cage with the other captives."

If this psychic ability is indeed present in Martians, there is reason to
believe that it may also be present in humans, albeit perhaps to a much lesser
degree. There have indeed been cases whereby humans have appeared to exhibit
extra-sensory perception, and work is being carried out to research this
subject, perhaps with a view to using it against the Martians. 
