The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-07-02
ON THE PLANET MARS.
THE CANALS A LONG KNOWN MY6-
Terry OF THE HEAVENS.
cal Obesrvation--soms Rather Curious
Facts What Life on Our Ntighbor
Planet Il Supposed To he like.

Planet Is Supposed To BE Like.
, NJ Berthelot, one Of the academicians,
Is evidently light hearted savant. for he
at once asked NJ do Lesseps, who was
present at the meeting. III he had by
chance o brother protector In Mars.
whercat oil the learned astronomers
,sDled solemnly This Is. surely. the
.irs, time that joke has been imported
from spot IS 200 900 miles of. which Is
about the distance of tho planet Mars
from our earth. The canals perceived b,
NJ Perrotin upon the surface Of our next
outside neighbor In the solar system.
however are long known mystery Of the
heavens. and Que that is probably as far
as ever from being solved by tho face
Stious wizard
Mars happens to be better situated for
observation by astronomers than any
other body in the sky except the moon.
lie Is more than hundred times farther
of than the moon at his very closest ap-
proach and measures only 400 miles
through at his equator; but. unlike the
moon. he exhibits In turn every portion
q his surface. rotating Ia day which Is
about half an hour longer than our own.
Thus the entire face of the planet Mars
has been pretty accurately mapped. and
presents diversified aspect Of large
patches of alternating lighter and darker
markings which may naturally suggest
he divisions Of land and water. At the
poles Of Mars are extensive white regions,
which sometimes show up in the field of
the telescope with striking brilliancy and
clcarless of definition: and since these
undergo periodic changes. occasionally
Utmost vanishing and then shining forth
again nj Just the seasons when 1t would
be winter with the Martiaus. astronomers
lad been led TO call them lice caps" and
to believe that we actually behold the
arctic and Antarctic polar seas OF the
planet in the form OF these little white
sauccrs stuck on each end Of the star Of
war
As for tho canals with which NJ Per
rotin poked scientific fun at NJ de Lesseps.
they are certainly very curious objects.
From sea tc sea. or what looks like 1t,
I,n these straight passages, wearing an
appearance no doubt. of some immense
artificial work-some Panama or Suez
canal on a colossal scale They do not
alter or extend-there they always arel-
snino of them completed, others appar
emily imperfect, as if the Marian cham
Der Of deputies had refused to sanction
lottery loan for the fulfllment OF the
original design But when NM. Perrotin
and Faye begin to talk Of engineers"
and men in Mars" it Is necessary to re
member that to be seen Mt all. even as q
hair line. these canals In Mars would have
10 be ut least 500 times as broad as the
~
and as their length Is TO be reckoned In
hundreds of miles, the navvies In Mars, If
they exist. must certainly be wonderful
trings
Astronomers, admirable on 80 many
points. are never SO stupid and uninagn-
ative as when meditating on the proba-
bilties Of life beyond this earth. that old
and fascinating topic of more worlds
than one They take their terrestrial
notions and experiences much too bliDdly
into space; they ask If there be an atmos
phere in the moon. or water In Mars. and
II any doubts exist about these elements
they solemniy conclude that these and
other lovely and eligible celestial abodes
are tenantless As If life were not con
ccisable without lungs and liverl As II
We must always carry about with us into
the glorious promotions of inter stellar
snace the dentist, the anti bilious pill and
bronchitis.
il is true that for beings constructed
a. we are at present Mars would be
novel and rather surprising kind OF
abode Surprising We found dense all
enough to breathe there, and water suit
cient for tea and washing-whfch are
both dubious points-the diminished
eravitation of the little planet is so great
that 1t would induce a physical and
laental leyj4vv-1SfI to dullness and for
r Hdrfing sense Of fatigue. N.hat Is a
hundred weight here would there'xeigh
only fifty six pounds, and we could all 60
up stairs FIVE steps at time, or jump
twice our own height with ease and grace
Then 1t would assuredly be very nice, II
ne were living In the right latitude OIL
Mars, TO have quick moon aud SLOW
moon, always careering round like spien
aid Chinese lanterns. saving gas bills and
encouraging long walks of lovers and
Martial poetry fall from horse
would seldom or never prove at all seri
Gus In the Martial hunting fields, the
.rider would rebound from the soft soil
like an India rubber cushion Aerial
navigation has quite possibly been solved
long ago by the fortunate people Of the
red planet. the conditions being so ex
temoly favorable. and who knows, In
deed. whether the so called canals are
not vast tobogganing slides, where The
entire population enjoys the unwonted
sense of swift descent, and some little
spice Of perlY But we may he sure OF
this that if there be sentient creatures
Oil the silver and pearl surfaces of Mars
they are of a very different type from oui
terrestrial frames. for life Is always the
equation Of its surrounding conditions
and we denizens Of the earth have lungs
and larynx simply because we live al
the bottom Of an aerial sea. just as fsh
possess gills because they breathe the
. water London Telegraph.
/ A Point Against Cremssion.