atmospheric mortals

• nonbreathers, and sub-, mid-, and superbreathers

49:2.101. The at­mo­spheric types. The phys­i­cal dif­fer­ences of the worlds of mor­tal habi­ta­tion are chiefly de­ter­mined by the na­ture of the at­mo­sphere; other in­flu­ences which con­tribute to the plan­e­tary dif­fer­en­ti­a­tion of life are rel­a­tively mi­nor.

49:2.11The pres­ent at­mo­spheric sta­tus of Uran­tia is al­most ideal for the sup­port of the breath­ing type of man, but the hu­man type can be so mod­i­fied that it can live on both the super­at­mo­spheric and the sub­at­mo­spheric plan­ets. Such mod­i­fi­ca­tions also ex­tend to the an­i­mal life, which dif­fers greatly on the var­i­ous in­hab­ited spheres. There is a very great mod­i­fi­ca­tion of an­i­mal or­ders on both the sub- and the super­at­mo­spheric worlds.

49:2.12Of the at­mo­spheric types in Sa­ta­nia, about two and one-half per cent are sub­breathers, about five per cent super­breathers, and over ninety-one per cent are mid-breathers, al­to­gether ac­count­ing for ninety-eight and one-half per cent of the Sa­ta­nia worlds.

49:2.13Be­ings such as the Uran­tia races are clas­si­fied as mid-breathers; you rep­re­sent the av­er­age or typ­i­cal breath­ing or­der of mor­tal ex­is­tence. If in­tel­li­gent crea­tures should ex­ist on a planet with an at­mo­sphere sim­i­lar to that of your near neigh­bor, Venus, they would be­long to the super­breather group, while those in­hab­it­ing a planet with an at­mo­sphere as thin as that of your outer neigh­bor, Mars, would be de­nom­i­nated sub­breathers.

49:2.14If mor­tals should in­habit a planet de­void of air, like your moon, they would be­long to the sep­a­rate or­der of non­breathers. This type rep­re­sents a rad­i­cal or ex­treme ad­just­ment to the plan­e­tary en­vi­ron­ment and is sep­a­rately con­sid­ered. Non­breathers ac­count for the re­main­ing one and one-half per cent of Sa­ta­nia worlds.