Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1871-03-10

moons volcanic forces were i'm vigor-
Gus action; yet q period must un-
doubtedly have arrived when by little
and little waters could retire within
the moons substance without being
vaporized. From what we know OF
| volcanic action on the earth the lunar
volcanoes must have drawn fresh sup
plies of energy from the gradual influx
of water; and one can thus understand
why the aspect of the moon indicates
that, up to the last moment, so to
| speak, of her existence as world, the
forces upheaving her crust were busily
| at work. We can thus see how il has
| come to pass that the moons surface
shows so few signs of the action of rain
or running water"
1t is not improbable that the lunar
oceans and atmosphere are now frozen
solid in the abysses which conceal
them from our view. The degree OF
cold implied in the above theory of
lunar shrinkage must far exceed any
thing within terrestrial experience
1t is certainly great enough to have
frozen all the oceans which the moons
surface was ever capable of holding.
and it may possibly be great enough to
have solidified the oxygen and nitro
gen of the lunar atmosphere-sub-
stances which resist the greatest cold
that man can produce. In the absence
of an atmosphere the intense hear
which the sun pours during each lunar
day upon the moons surface can exert
but little melting power; it must be
Immediately reflected into space, as
light is reflected from the surface of
polished mirror. We know that de-
spite the intense heat which is poured
upon the SUBMITS of the Himaiayas,
the snow iheIe-though portion may
melt during the day-remains year at
ter year and age after age uRdiminish-
ed; and on the summit of the Hima
layas the atmosphere is dense and
heavy compared with that which ex-
lists even in the lowest abysms of the
lunar ravines.n ~
The moon, therefore, though young
planet, has probably already run
through its career as world. Its
small siZe-barely one forty-ninth part
of the earth's, and less than one thir-
ty-six-hundredth of Uranus, the least
of the large planets-caused it early to
lose al its vital warmth. 1t has cooled
like the drop Of tea left standing in the
teaspoon. And when we recOllect that
the moon is not, upon any conceivable
hypothesis, Older than the earth which
supports it; wi en- we reflect upon the
enormous length of time requisite for
tie development of the higher forms
of life, we shall find it difficult to be-
lieve that the lunar crust has ever at
AIRY time been the scene Of any very
various or complex organic activity:
Mr.. Proctor, indeed, like most of the
writers who have dealt with these
questions, shrinks from asserting that |
life may even now exist upon the |
moons surface; and vaguely hints |
that. for augh' we know, there may be |
organisms which can thrive in the alb |
sence of air and water, ard in the |
midst of a temperature compared with |
which that of frozen mercury is as the
heat of blast-furnacc! Such fancy |
however for il would he wrong to dig |
Nifty it with the name of hypothesisl, |
only shifts the question to basis not |
contemplated by any enc who has
thought fit to PROFOUND it. If we are
to juggle with the subject i'm this way, |
we might as we'll cease discussing II
scientifically, and regulate it at once to |
the dominion of mythology. Our
problem is not to ascertain whether
the planets are inhahitable by gnomcs,
salamanders. or JOtuns, but whether
they are inhabitable 10y organisms
And we know organisms only as ag-
gregations of prOtoplasn, which need
a certain rate of thermal undulation,
and an environment containing at
least free oxygen, carbonic acid, and
water, in which to develop. To re-
gard life" as possibly manifested by
any other kinds of chemical aggrcGa-
ton, IS only to give to the word life "
an extension which renders it mean
ingless. We may, therefore, fearlcssly
assert that life-in the only sense in
which human science can understand
the word-does not exist upon the lu-
mar surface. And the same reasoning
which leads us TO this conclusion in
the ase of the moon settles also 1he
ease of the asteroids. of which the
largest is ~ much smaller than the
earth. They must al have been frozen
solid long before Professor Haeckefs
Dfoneres could have had chance 10
Green over the floors of their tiny
oceans.
Coming lastly to the intermediate
class of planets, to which our earth he
longs. and examining the case of Mars,
the earth's next elder brother. we
are speedily led to more cheerful con-
illusions. We know the surface of
Mars more thoroughly than that Of
any other heavenly body except the
moo! Though nearly twice as far
from us as Venus, he is much more
favOrably situated for observations; and
the minutrneSs with which he has
been scrutiniZed gives onea lively idea
of the resources of modern astron-
omjcal science. The fact has thus
been established that Mars is, in mos
essential respects, the miniature of our
earth. Though both Older and smaller
than the earth, he is at least sever
times as large as the moon. and. hav-
ing begun his career with much
greater stock of heat than the earth
ever possessed, he is still warm enough
to maintain LIQUID oceans and case
Gus atmosphere over his surface. The
geography of Mars, and his meteOrolO-
CIV. are to certain extent known. The
distribution of land and sea over his
surface is sufficiently obvious to be rep
resented i'm maps, and his islands and
continents, his gulfs, inlets, and chan
nels, already rejoice in names conf
mcmorative of Terrestrial astronomers.
Along with his oceans and atmosphere,
Mars naturally possesses clouds, which
sometimes conceal from us the contour
of his surface. which are apt to be
thicker during his winters than during
his summers. and which have been OBJ
served to clear away at his noon-time.
TIE spectroseope has shown. moreover.
that these Martial clouds are compos-
ed of water, like terrestrial clouds /;
whence it follows that the Martial
| oceans. from which these clouds are
raised, consist of water, and that the
brilliant white masses, which encum-
Ter the polar regions of our brother
world, consist of snow and ice. We
can see these polar SHOWS accumulate
during his winter and dissipate during
his summer; and hence we know that
| the Martial oceans are traversed by
currents. The mere existence of con-
tinents and islands upon Mars shows
TINT volcanic forces of upheaval and