The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-06-17

supports would be much less, and that there
fore roofs, arches, and structures of that kind
might be easily set up on much larger scale
by creatures of equal skill with ourselves;
but, on the other hand, that friction, which
is more or less proportioned to pressure, and
therefore, in the case of piles of stones, ETC.,
to weight, would be far less than on the sur
face of the earth, so that any violent lateral
disturbances, such as hurricanes, would exert
q still greater effect than on our earth in de-
stroyipg such structures, since there would be
less solidity, and therefore less frictional re-
sistance to overcome in overturning them.
Again, the vastly diminished weight of given
masses would give very great advantage to
all kinds of engines of draught. Carriages,
carts, and railways would attain vastly
greater speed than on our earth, and the
sledging on the snowfields of Mars might be
as swift as the wind. All these inferences are
matter of certainty, so far as they go. But
(2), there seems very great probability that
the atmosphere of Mars is relatively con-
siderably denser than ours, since at distance
from the sun so much greater that the planet
probably receives, directly, less than half the
light and heat we receive, there seems no
sign of any arctic severity, and clear evidence
that the atmosphere holds vast quan-
titles of watery vapor even In winter,
which points to general temperature
considerably higher than our world would
have if removed to the same distance from
the sun, especially when one considers how
much less water to supply vapor, and how
much greater proportion of land than the
earth, Mars contains. Again, the rapidity
with which storms clear off from big conti-
nent and leave the outline clearly marked
after being all enveloped in mist before,
seems to show the existence of very rapid
currents of air; and this, no doubt, the
greater inclination of the axis of Mars, giving
greater range to the northward and south
ward journeys of the sun, would
then, we should infer that the atmo-
sphere of Mars is, in proportion, heavier than
that of the earth, and therefore a warmer
envelope for the planet, that its winds are
more violent, and that the great difficulty
of the architects of the planets is more
likely to be the strengthening of their struc-
lures against lateral forces-hurricanes, for
instance-than against the strain of gravity.
Their outer walls would have to be compare
lively much more solid, their difficulty in
raising broad arches and spacious roofs would
be much less less; and locomotion on Mars
must be much more easy and speedy, c@terts
pG716uS, than locomotion on earth.
If this be SO, we may see fitness in the
| much larger proportion of land in the planet
and the comparative narrowness and small
ness of the SEAS Probably life in Mars is
faster than it is here. 1t is very improbable
that the civilization of the different continents
there is divided by periods extending over
thousands of years. There is probably no
one of the great continental tracts of Mars
known there as ''the New World" If great
migrations of conquering races have taken
! place on Mars as on the earth, they have pro-
badly succeeded each other faster, having
| less surface to move over, less obstacles per-
haps in the way, and greater advantages in
locomotion. We should not be surprised, too,
if the Martialists had got greatly ahead of us in
respect of navigating the air. We know that
the density of the planet as whole is less
than three-fourths of that of our earth so
that it seems likely that the tissues of the
body of q Martialist which must be fed from
the substance of the planet are on the whole
intrinsically lighter than those of man's body.
But if the Martialists bodies are intrinsically
lighter, and their atmosphere a good deal
heavier than ours, aerial transit may be a
very easy matter to them, and it is quite con-
ceivable that their normal mode of locomo-
tion may be through the air.
Again, if we are right in supposing the
currents of air in Mars to be of more than
usual violence, while the solidifying force of
friction which resists them is much smaller
than here, it may be reasonable inference
that natural selection" has already
weeded out the loftier-growing trees,
| WHICH WOulu SIdIu 1883 CuduCo III 6uCOuu-
ters with hurricanes than our own, and
it is not improbable that the tendency of the
greater facilities for motion, and the greater
velocity of life in Mars altogether, would be
that all its animal inhabitants range wider
for their food, and obtain less on given area
than on our earth. We should be disposed
to conjecture that it is world in which
speed is greater and of more importance thar
even on the earth, and if so, it seems likely
enough that the difficulty we have supposed
as to the solidity of walls exposed to the at
mospheric currents of Mars, is got over al
the difficulty of building durable structures
is generally got over in our own tropics
where earthquakes are so COMMONLY no
building durable structures at all, but only
} very light and fragile ones
process which would, of course
be much easier where all the materials were
J lighter and all motion swifter than with us
In word, it seems likely that the distinctive
feature of life on Mars is velocity, that tn,
creatures there live faster, move oftener, I'M
dergo more change, just as the planet Itself
passes through far vaster orbit (though it
! orbital velocity is not quite 80 great as ours
in one of the Martial years But that such
J characteristic would tend to quicken the pro
} gress of the mind and of discovery is doubt
| full. With us civilization has never advances
! rapidly till it had become tame and, so t.
say, plodding, and the excitements of loca
change at least had become few. But the grea
seasonal changes on Mars, especially in th
Southern hemisphere, where the winter an
, summer are aggravated by the enormously in
creased distance of the sun at that perio
when his rays are most direct-eontribute t
confirm the impression we have drawn froL