Sounds crazy to us, but they could only read from the science of their time, and be quick to pick up the more extreme ideas….. This is Wikipedia:
” Until the mid-20th century, the surface environment of Venus was believed to be similar to Earth, hence it was widely believed that Venus could harbor life. In 1870, the British astronomer Richard A. Proctor said the existence of life on Venus was impossible near its equator,but possible near its poles. ”