Tama County Republican. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1867-1872, 1870-08-04
Fro~ ths Londoas Spectator.
News Feom Ab1A Atlcr5 RiaSaes--
Life In Mars.


our Faith" the specific interest of
the essay being the very close analo.
w it proves in tho physical condition
Of Mars to that OF our own earth, 80
that wc have q far larger basis of
similarlties from which 10 draw our
infcrences to other similarities which
we eau, as yet, only conjecture, than
we have in the case 0t the moon, or
even the planet, Jupiter, or Venus or
Mercury-words IN all sot which
|tllese is some vast Fundamental dit.
terence Of coHditton which must af.
iect the whole course of nature there.
In tho moon there the iataldn7ercnoe
Of no atmosphere, and none, thcre-
fore, of the enormous variety OF
phcnomena-cvaporation, clouds,
colors, vegetation, lungs, &C., de.
pendent thereon. xsss~.s-.ass.4ss ssss.'
In Mercury and Venus, If there is
rot. as we should suppose on the first
look, a. .amou,t ot heat which make
those planets quite. intolerable to the
various raco6 OF creatures jnhab,ting
or easth, we have At lesst no right
as yet 10 assume tlsat tlces J. =
not, aud no evidence ut all really
demonstrating the existence. OF those
general physical conditions on which
alone We can base an argument from
analogy.
In Jupiter there is pretty clear
positive evidence that the conditiOns
OF existence are quite inconslstent
with lilo as We know it. #lu ~
probability, the body Of the planctis
still q glowing uncondenscd mass OF
moltem matter, with an atmosphere
heavily charged with boiling vaper;
and il there be lite at all OF our kind
in the Jovian system, it must in all
probability bc on the satellites, aud
not on the planet itself; aud even
are composed Of 90 light . material,
as compared with Ne earth or The
moop, as t0su2gest avery different
general physical condition. @
OF course there is nothing to prove
intellectual beings, like ourselves in
reasoning powers, may not exist in
the fiery furnace of the snn or on the
slnder which we call tho moon, or,
indeed, in empty space itself; but
there We come into the region OF
puro conjecture, and the argument
from analogy wholly tails. e.
Now in the case ofthe planet Mars,
and in tho case Of Mars alone, our as.
tronomers have really established the
existence OF SIMILARITY OF ply sical
condition, which gives Us the strong.
est positive grounds for infcrring
that even such creatures as We now
arc could somehow make shit to
live there, though, of course, not
without certain amount OF preliini.
nary discomfort while we were trying
TO accli,natixe ourselves. Mr.. Proc
tors g,aphic account Of these simi-
larities, and his delightful chart Of
the planets continents and waters
suggest to US to discuss one or two
OF tho known differences of condition,
in their relation to the probable re-
suit upon the history aud civilization
Of materialists. A
First, let us briefly say that the
Martialists llayc world less in area
thap onS1ot oar hcmisphcres 70 .ex.
rlorc-that, in spite Of this, it has
not very much less land than the
Garth, Q much less proportion Of its
surface being occupied with water
than our, globe; that its seas arc Of
the general type Of the Baltic and
the Mediterranean, tor tho most part
narrow, strAgli,H inland ssax tina:
tho greatest seas are IN the neighbor.
hood ct tho cold South Pole of Man,
wlncll has q gclth4tSy4r ecvtres tlne
The North Pole; That there h Z worlf'
Ut perpetual snow at each Martial
Pole, which can be eccn to diminish
~ tho summer returns to each hem.,
ispherc, and to increase again Us win:
ter comes back; that in spite Of Che
prcpondcrance of land, vast deal OF
rain falls on Mars, especially in win
ter, clouds often hiding the configu.
ration Of tho cdntiients from our as.
tronomcrs. and then suddenly dts
pcrsing, aud leaving the continents
clear again-a clearing up which us
patlY happens about tho hour OF noon
- Mar, Just as our weather 50 often
clanx1ss6s the sun passes the meridl-
e. 6hat the length OF the Martial
yfsrT IS nearly twice the length ot
03t6 and that the force Of gravity on
NntA il much less than halt what it
- eh US, so that, Mr.. Proctor OK.
pres cs it, "a Daniel Lambert on
Mao would be ablc to leap easily TO
! height Of five or six feet, and he
could run faster than the best Of our
terrSstial athletes"
Tkc general result, OF the telcscobic
observations on Mars, and the de-
duc(a calculations may be said to
1. With certainty that the weight
OF Ota6ole OF the sasae mass in Mars
II Md6h less than halt what Il is here,
and that consequently there would
be q far greater range Of activity Tor
creatures Of the same si1e; thay tails
would bc less dangerous, that the
strain on walls or columns, or any
other exports would he much less,
and tha: therefore, roots, arches and
structures of that kind might be eas,.
" ect up on . much larger scale hy
creatures OF equal skill with ourselves
but, cn the other hand, that friction,
which 70 mors OF less proportional to
prcssuse, and, therefore,, tas ~ soaas
OF piles or. stones, 30. to weight.
would be far less thxn on the sur.
lace Of tho earth, so that any violent
lateral disturbances, such - hurri.
canes, would exert still greater effest
than ON our earth in DESTROYING such