Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1876-04-14
Are the Planets OF Our NOIRr SyS,
tenn Inhabited?

Are the Planets OF Our solar Sy6-
tenn Inhabited?
Baltimore Gazettel
Mr.. r. A. Proctor, the distin-
guished astronomer, delivered a lee
ture at the concert hall of the
Academy of Music last night, to an
audience that heard him with un-
wearied interest He spoke with
out notes, and the greater part Of
his lecture was a commentary on
the Photographic views Of the
heavenly bodies thrown on a screen.
Some Of these were of regular
beauty and clearness.
Mr.. Proctor's theory-one which
is held now by nearly all the men
of standing as astronomers-is that
the heavenly bodies all pass through
a series Of changes, from intense
heat to decrepitude and death. The
life.supporting era of planets ex-
istence is but a very small part of
its whole duration. 1t is, therefore,
very improbable at any given time
that q planet is in the enjoyment
of its life-supporting period. And
by detailed examinations of the
several planets he showed that none
of the primaries Of our solar sys-
TEN, except the earth, is fitted to be
the abode of life as we know it.
The giant planets, Jupiter and Sat
| urn, are still incandescent, while hot
and feebly self-luminous, and many
millions of years must pass before
they will become sufficiently cool to
suffer life to exist. The other ex-
treme is shown by our moon, which
has passed beyond its life-bearing
epoch, and is now effete and sterile.
1t has lost its air and water, which
have been absorbed into its interior
cayerns. 1t has even ceased to
have volcanic energy. 1t is a lump
of death.
Venus presents conditions very
like our earth. She still has air and
water, but by reason of the obliquity
Of her axis to her plane of reyolu-
tion she presents her poles alter
nately to the solar heat for half her
year. Her inhabitants, should she
possess any, must be exposed to
swift alterations of temperature,
from intense heat far beyond that
of our tropical deserts to Arctic
coldness. This would render life
as we know it impossible. The
planet Mars, though vastly older in
its planetary career than the earth,
still retains something of its atmos-
phere and a remnant of its oceans.
1t is decrepid, though not quite
dead, like our moon. We are rap
idly approaching time when Mars
will be in situation more favorable
to study than it has been for many
years. In the coming year it will
be very near to us, and will seem as
large as Jupiter. Concerning the
other planets, Neptune and Uranus,
Mr.. Proctor said nothing. They
are too remote for accurate obser-
vatiOn.
The views which were presented
by Mr.. Proctor were not fanciful
theories, but were based upon facts
certainly and accurately known.
The perfect modern optical instru-
ments and the polaroScope and
spectroscope yield information
about the stars as precise and sure
as can any experiments in the labor
atory. There is very little guess
work or conjecture in the theories
he presents. The obvious reflection
that there is an enormous waste if
only one member of our solar sys-
tenn is fit for the abode of life is
met by Mr.. Proctor by the reply
that this waste is in accordance with
all the analogies of nature. Nature
is everywhere prodigal, OF a thou
sand seeds she brings perhaps only
one to bear. To the eye of the
Creator, a seed is as dignified as a
planet. Perhaps moreso even. The
smallest seed that contains the
germ of life might be Of greater
Importance than the vast dead bulk
of the moon. To the Supreme
Being suns, planets and satellites
are all but wandering notes. He
looks with equal eye on
Atoms or planets in confusion hurled :.
And now bubble bursts and now world,