The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-06-23

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seasons, clouds and fogs, rain and snow. The
spectroscope shows conclusively that the at,
mosphere of MSrs contains aqueous Vapor, and
from that fact alone we can infer with certain
ty that the appearance of clouds and logs, and
snow which present themselves to the eye OF
the observer are not Illusions. but are sure In
dicatlons of the existence of water like the
water of our earth. The oceans are clearly
seen, and are distinguished from the contl-
nents by their greenish hue, the land of the
planet being red in color. From the motion
Of the clouds it is evident that there are winds,
and from the magnitude of the clouds, q rain
fall at least as great as that on our earth, from
which, of course, we:may safely conclude that
rivers exist to carry the fallen rain water
to the oceans. Mr.. Proctor says: "Who can
doubt what the lesson Is that all
THESE THINGS ARE MEANT TO TEACH US?
So far, let It be remembered, we have been
guided onward by no speculative lancles, out
simply by sober reasoning. But can we pause
just here? Shall we recognize IN Mars all
that makes our own world so well fitted to our
wants-land. and water, mountain and valley,
cloud and sunshine, rain and Ice and snow,
rivers and lakes, ocean currents and wind
currents-without believing further IN the ex.
istence of those forms of life, without which all
these things would he wasted 2"
The planet Jupiter is the giant of the solar
system, beng more than 1900 times as large as
our world. The grandeur of his orb naturally
1hggests, at first sight, the idea of beings far
Exceeding, both II might and bulk, those
which live upon the earth. Mr.. Proctor, how
ever, is inclined to think that II there are
LIVING BEINGS on JUPITER
thew are on o much smaller scale than on our
planet, on account of the difference Of gravity.
A man Of our earth removed to Jupiter would
weigh two and half times as much as he
does here, and would shardly be able to stag
ger under the burden of his own, flesh. MT.
Proctor, however, does not think 1t probable
that Jupiter is inhabited. he eonJectures
rather, from various indications, that the plan
ct is q sort of sun to his four moons, and sup
plies them and their inhabitants with heat and
light. In other words, he thinks It likely that
Jupiter is glowing mass, buld probably
throughout, still bubbling and seething with
the Intensity Of the primeval fires, sending up
continually enormous masses OF cloud to be
gathered into bands under the influence OF the
swift rotation of
TIE GIANT PLANET.
No otherwise can one understand whence
his atmosphere Is loaded with Vapor masses,
whose contents must exceed, on moderate
computation, all the oceans on the surface OF
our earth. Mr.. Proctor says, speaking Of the
striking changes observed In the face OF the
UaUGt NY OuE w I'LL W. oSS
masses so enormous swayed by influences OF
such energy, that intermediate belts thousands
of miles In width, are closed up In single
hour, when we recognize the tremendous
character OF the motions which, from beyond
four hundred millions of miles, are distinctly
cognizable by our telescopes, we see that we
have no ordinary phenomena 10 deal with, and
that the theory we adopt for their explanation
cannot be otherwise than striking and surprls-
ing" The theory that Jupiter is yet to some
extent hot and luminous body, Is borne out
BY the observations of some very eminent OBJ
servers. Professor George Bond, of Cam
bridge, calculated that Jupiter sends forth
more light than he receives. And the recent
researches of Dr. Zollner, the eminent German
photometrician, show that if Jupiter does not
shine in part By native light, his surface must
possess reflective powers nearly equal to those
Of white paper.
In the remaining chapters of this very GU
rious and entertaining work, Mr. Proctor gives
us the latest news from Saturn and his rings,
from Uranus and Neptune, the Arctic planets.
and from the nebule on the remotest verge OF
the visible universe. His book Is the best
contribution that has been made to the litera-
ture ofsclence for many years, and we hope to
see it soon republished in this country. II
cannot fail to have large sale, for 1t tells In
intelligibie language Just what everybody
wants to know about the starry heavens.