Litchfield enquirer., 1870-06-30
The general result then, of the teles- copic observations on Mars. tand the dedu- cad calculations rnav ha.said tn he

The general result then, of the teles- copic observations on Mars, tand the dedu- ced calculations may be1said to be,
 Q) With certainty. that the weight of objects of the same mass in Mars is much less than half what it is here, and that con- sequently there would be a far greater range of activity for creatures of the same 1 size; that falls would be less dangerous, that the strain on walls or columns, or any other supports would be much less, and that therefore, roofs, arches, and struc- lures of that kind might be easily set up on much larger scale by. creatures of equal skill with ourselves; but, on the oth- CT hand, that friction, which is more or less proportional ito pressure, and, there fore, in the case of piles of stones, &c., to weight, would be far less than on the sur face of the earth, so thabany violent LdteraL disturbances, such as hurricanes, would ex- ert still greater effect than on our earth ln destroying such structures, since there would be less solidity, and, therefore, less frictional resistance to overcome in over turning them. Again. the vastly dimin- ished weight of given masses would give 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 snow fields of Mars might be as swift as the wind. All these inferences are matter of certainty, so far as they go.
 But there seems very great proba- blllty that the atmosphere of Mars IS rela- lively considered denser than onrs, since at a distance from the sun so much great CT that the planet 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 quantities of watery vapor even In winter, which points to general tenn 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, Mals contains. Again, the rapidity with which storms clear off from big continent 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 nortward and southward journeys of the sun would proniote. Putting these | facts together, then, we should infer that the atmosphere of Mars is, in proportion, heavier than that of the earth, and there fore warmer envelope for the planet; 1 that its winds are more violent, and that the great difficulty of the architects of the planet IS more likely to be the strengthen ing of their structures against lateral for ces-hurficaDes for instances-than against the strain of gravity. Their outer walls would have to be comparatively much more solid-thelr difficulty h raising broad | arches and spacious rooss would be much less; and locomotion @ Mars must be | more easy and speedy, cele1'is pari6us, than lOcomotion on the earth.
 If this be so, we may see fitness ill the much larger proportion of land in the planet, and the comparative narrowness and smalness of the seas. Probably life in Mars is faster than it is here. It is very improbable that the civilization of the diff ferent continents there is.dlvided by pe- riods 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 pINbably succeeded each other faster, having less surface to move over, less obstacles perhaps In the way, and greater advantages in To- comotlon. 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 ee-foul ths that of our earth, so that it seems likely that the tissues of the body of Martial ist which must be fed from the substance of the planet. are, on the whole. intrinsi- cally lighter than mans body. But if the Martialists' bodies are intrinsically lighter, and their atmosphere good deal heavier than ours, aerial transit may be a very easy matter to them, and 1t Is quite con- celvable that their normal mode of loco- motion 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 soiidify force of friction which resists them is much small. CT than here, 1t may be reasonable infer ence that "naturA selection" has already weeded out the loftier-growing trees, which would stand less chance in encounters with hurricanes than onr own, and it is not improbable that the tendency of the greater facilities for motion, and the great CT 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 1t IS world in which speed is greater and of more importance than even on the earth, and if SO, it seems likely enough that the difficulty we have supposed as to the solidity of the walls exposed to the at- mospheric currents of Mars is got over as the diffiulty of building durable structures is gen erally got over in our own tropics, where earthquakes are so commonly not building durable structures at all, but only very light and fragile ones-a process which would, of course. be much easier where all the materials were lighter and all motion sw.fter than with us. In word. it seems likely that the distinctive feature of life in Mars is velocity, that the crea- lures there live faster, move oftener, un- dergo more change, just as the planet itself passes through far vaster orbit (thougn its orbital velocity is not quite so great as ours) in one of the Martial years. But that such characteristic would tend to quicken the progress of the mind and of i discovery is doubtful. With us civiliza- tion has never advanced rapidly till it had become tame and, so to say, piodding, and the excitement of local change at least had become few. But tue great seasonal chan ges of Mars-especially in the southern hemlSDhere where tha winter and sum n, or