The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1870-07-29

snow. The spectrOscope shows cOnclu-
sively that the atmosphere of Mars
contains aqueous vapOr, and from that
fact alone we can infer with certainty
that the appearances of clouds and fogs
and snow which present themselves to
the eye of the observer are not illusions,
but sure indications of the existence of
water like the water of our earth. The
oceans are clearly seen, and are distin-
GU shed from the continents 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 falls 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 wa
ter 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 1t be remembered, we have
been guided onward by no speculative
fancies, but 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 want
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 existence of those forms
of life without which all these things
would be wasted?" .s...a n.
The planet Jupiter is the giant of the
solar system, being more than l 200
times as large as our world. The gran
deur of his orb naturally suggests, at
first sight the idea of beings far exceed
ing, both in mightor bulk, those which
live upon the earth. Mr.. Proctor,
however, is inclined to think that if
there are
LIVING BEINGS ON JUPITER
they are on a much smaller scale than
on our planet, on account of the differ
ence of gravity. A man of our earth
removed to Jupiter would weigh two
and half times as much as he does
here, and would hardly be able to st:g-
ger under the burden of his own flesh.
Mr.. Proctor, however, does not think
it probable that Jupiter is inhabited.
dicatiOns, that the planet is sort of
sun to his four moons, and supplies
them and their inhabitants with heat
and light. In other words, he thinks
it likely that Jupiter is glowing mass,
fluid probably throughout, still bub-
bling and seething with the intensity
of the primeval fires, sending up con-
tinually enormous masses of clouds to
be gathered into bands under the influ-
ence of the swift rotation of
THE GIANT PLANET.
Not otherwise can one understand
whence his atmosphere is loaded with
vapor masses whose contents must ex-
ceed, on a moderate computation, all
the oceans on the surface Of the earth.
Mr.. Proctor says, speaking of the
striking changes observed in the face of
the planet by our astronomers: "When
we see masses SO enormous swayed by
influences of such energy, that inter-
mediate belts thousands of miles in
width are closed up in a single hour,
when we recognize the tremendous
character of the motions which, from
beyond four hundred millions of miles,
are distinctly cOgnizable by our tele-
scope, we see that we have no ordinary
phenomena to deal with, and that the
theory we adopt for their explanation
cannot be otherwise than striking and
surprising"
The theory that Jupiter is yet to
some extent a hot and luminous body
is borne out by the observation of some
very eminent observers. Prof. George
Bond, of Cambridge, calculated that
Jupiter sends forth more light than he
receives. And the recent researches of
DIR. ZOllner, the eminent German pho
tometrician, 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.
We think, however, that there must
be some mistake in these speculations.
SwedenbOrg states that he saw and
talked a great deal with
SPIRITS FROM JUPITER,
who informed him that their earth was
not only inhabited, but that the popu-
lation was denser than that of any
other planet, and was, besides, i'm a
state of great felicity, very virtuous
and very comfortable. 1t follows,
therefore, that unless the Swedish
seer was romancing, which We do not
believe, or was imposed upon by the
spirits, we must conclude that, in spite
of the astronomers, Jupiter is the
ABODE OF INTELLIGENT BEINGS.
J. In the remaining chapters of this
very curious and entertaining work
Mr. proofar friyaa .yc tho latest nowS
from Saturn and his rings, from Uran-
us and Neptune, the Arctic planets,
and from the nebula on the remotest
verge of the visible universe. His
book is the best contribution that has
been made to the literature of science
for many years, and we hope to see it
soon republished in this country. 1t
cannot fail to have a large sale, for it
tells in ineligible language just what
everybody wants to know about the