The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-01-16
Is MARS INHABITED?

sheer disgust at the "hlgn IantaSuc tflcK
now being performed on our sublunary glol
We turn for relief to another planet, up
which recent astronomical discoveries thr
. good deal of interest. We allude to t
planet Mars, which, according to Mr.. Fla
marion, presents the most complete eviden
of the existence of life beyond the cart
This adjoining world, it is well known, b
many striking points of resemblance wi
our own. Its position permits us to study
surface with greater facilities than tn
OF any other similar body, and
main physical features, as reveale
by the telescope, indicate close RELATIONSHIP
between that globe and the one we inhabi
It was by the close and continued study of th
motions OF Mars that Kepler succeeded i
discovering the eternal laws of the planetar
world, and it now appears highly probabl
that scientific survey of the same planet wi
demonstrate the plurality ofinhabited worlds
and earn . browning philosophical trophy 70
modern astronomy. Mars will thereby gail
another claim to the esteem of thinking men
and thus atone for the stupid crimes whicl
the "god Of wal" and his minions have in
Aicted during SO many ages upon the foolisl
denizens of the earth.
It is needless to remind our readers tina
the planet Mars comes after our own in dis
lance from the sun, its orbit being ffty-si,
millions of leagues from that luminary, Will.
ours is only thirty seven millions. Whe1
those two planets are on tho same side of the
sun, their distance from each other is only
nineteen millions OF leagues-an interval
which is sometimes reduced to fourteen mil.
lions, as both revolve in elliptcal, not circu-
lar orbits.
What strikes us most in looking at this
planet il the fact that its poles are indicated,
like those Of the EARTH by two white zones or
snoso caps. Its north and south poles are
even so brilliant at times that they seem to
project beyond the planet, owing to the well
known phenomenon of irndiation, which
causes white circle to appear lager than
black one having the same dimensions. The
tce fields vary in extent, extending widely
around each pole during winter, and mate
rally decreasing in summer. Generally they
extend further than ours, sometimes de-
scending to the 45th degree of latitude, cor
responding to that OF France in Europe, and
TO those Of Maine, Michigan and Minnesota
ON this continent
Here We have first analogy with our world
in the division of Mars into frigid, temperate
and torrid climatic zones. An examination
OF its Typographical features shows, on the
contrary, marked contrast between the two
worlds.
Upon the earth there is more sea than land. |
Three-fourths of our globe is covered with
water. Our terra .tirma consists mainly of
three vast islands, or continents, one of them
extending from west to east, and constituting
Europe and Asia another on the south of
Europe, Africa; third one, on the opposite
hemisphere, extending from north to south.
and forming the continent of America. To
these must be added the comparatively small
continent of Australia, to the south of Asia
But in Mars, there is more land than sea, and
instead OF being islands emerging from the
ocean, the continents appear to contain inte-
1or seas, or Mediterraneans, and the circuit
u that globe may be effected almost entirely G
" land. They have no Atlantic or Pacific G
'ceans, but only inland seas, with great 6
number OF arms and CULTS, extending deeply
every direction, like the Red Sea or the r
Baltic.
Another Characteristic of the ssMartial" p
geography is that the seas extend in its southern
hemisphere from the equator to the pole, and II
a the same way, though in smaller degree Il
its northern hemisphere, and that these Il
ustral and boreal seas are connected together 81
three straits or arms, running from south
} north. ii
The continents in Mars have a red ocbre a,
'lor, and the seas have Q greyish-green ap- SC
'srance, which is further enhanced by con- til
ast with the prevailing red color of the land. In
This coloration Of Mars is not due to its ev
mosPhere, for although that pervades the st
tire globe, the color of its polar seas and br
nd Is not affected in the same way. Besides sh
is. the edges of the planet are less distinctly
lored than its central portions, fact which FL
'uld not exist if this coloration was caused TIL
the atmosphere. till
L. this peculiar color Of Mars, which is an
en- visible to the naked eye, and which. sea
ubtless, led the ancients to bestow on it me
name of the god Of war and bloodshed. life
be attributed to the color of the grasses Tn
! trees which doubtless cover its surface ? fac
they have yonder red meadows, red forests ito
red fields? Is tho sweet green of our spe
DDS and paStnrea pAnrosontnd &ha-o H.. abr
10 with flaming foliage. TT emblems of as
rtia botany? by
must be noted that to an observer station. ine
On the Moon. or even on the planet Venus. but
continent would present q deep green nu1
OF during the spring and summer, which ado
Dr. would change gradually to yellow in the bre
operate and northern zones during autumn, the
hnally to pure white under the influence Col,
he snow In winter. The red color Of Mars new