The Dickinson press., 1888-01-07
THE CANALS OF MARS.
WHAT ASTRONOMER scHlAPARELu
SAW THROUGH HIS TELESCOPE.

WHAT ASTRONOMER ScHlAPARELu
SAW THROUGH HIS TELESCOPE. |
Some Remarkable Appearances Which
He Noted-Is Mars Inlabitcd?-Facts
Which Seem to a for AN .itirma-
tive Answer.
1t was in 1871 during q favorable con iumc-
ton of Mars-that is to say, at the time when
Mars was unusually near to the ealtll-that
Schiaparelli first saw the canals. 1t will I've
recollected that in that same Year Professor
Hall discovered the W tiny moons of Mars
with the great telescope ut Washington, al
instrument in comparison with which Sclia-
parellis telescope is n pigmy. and yet. :" far
as we are aware, the canals We're never seen
with the Washington telescope. This fact,
however, is by 10 means decisive, for in the
first place SchiapareliiS telescope, though
comparatively small, is OF acknowledged
great excellence: secondly, and more impor-
tant, the skies IF Milan are inromImrahly
clearer and better suited to delicate telescope
observation than those of Washington: and
lastly. S%chiaparelli, who possesses exception
ally sharp vision. like the celebrated Dawes,
OF England, was engaged in the special study
of the features of Mars surface when lie
made the discovery. 1t IA le added that
last year three observers-M. Perrotin AMI
NJ. Pollen. at Nice, and Mr.. Dcnning, in Eng
land-succceded i'll seeing the canals of Schi-
aparclli. and detecting some of the cxcep-
tional appearances which he noted. When
%Schiaparelli first saw the canals in 1871 they
appeared as single lines, but subsequently lie
found them double. He even watched the
,,,,pooce ~ .1,,,l1:,,r ,l:.J. ,,-, ~..--.
riouS phenomenon. But we will let him speak
for himself, as quoted by NJ. Flammarion:
'There are upon that planet great dark
lines, traversing the continents, to which
may he given the name of canals, although
we do not yet know what they are. Various
astronomers have already deterted several of
them, notably Dawes i'll 1864. During the
last three oppositions l have made Il special
study of them and have recognized n consid-
cradle number, more than sixty. These lines
run from one to another of the dark spots
that We regard us seas, and form u we'll de
fined network over the light or continental
regions. Their position appears to le inva-
flable and permanent, at least according TO
the judgment [ have been able to form hy
four and II half years of observation: never
theless their aspect and their degree OF vi>i-
bility are not always the same, and depend
upon circumstances which the present state
of our knowledge does not yet permit lis to
discuss with certainty. In 1879 many We're
seen which were not visible in 1887. and in
1882 those that had already been seen w,r,.
detected again, accompanied by new ones,
Several OF these canals present themselves
under the form of vague, shsdowy lilies.
while Others are clear and sharp. like Il mark
made bya pen. In general they are ltcti-
linear, that is to say. drawn upon In" sphere
as lines of great circles. They cross u.Ie an
other obliquely, or at right angles. They are
fully two degrees broad, or 10 kilonlete,S.
n a number extend over distance Of eighty
degrees or $500 kilometers.
"Their color is Very nearly that of the seas
of Mars, but a trile lighter. Every canal
ends at its two eXtrslnitics in a SEA OF in
another canal; there l. not IL single example
of one extremity ending in the middle of the
solid land. That is not all. In certain sea-
sons these canals split up "r. rather. become
double.
"This phenomenon appears ,o occur at -
fixed time, and is produced simultaneously
over the whole extent Of the continents of
the planet. No indication of il was shown
i'll 1871 during the weeks which preceded and
followed the southern ~solstice of the world.
A single isolated case was presented in 1919:
the goth of December in that Wear IA little be-
fore the spring equinox. which occurred on
the 3lst C. January, lSsU,. [ remarked the
dividing al the Milo between the Lake of the
Moon and the Cerauniqur gulf. These two
regular markings. equal and parallel. caused
me-, l admit. profound surprise, the greater
because some days before. the I'D aud the
24th of December, l had observed with care
this same region without perceivins any
thing of the kind. l awaited with curiosity
the return of the planet in 1881 in order to
learn il any analogous phenomenon would
present itself, and | saw the same thing IT,
appear the 18th Of January, 1ss2a. a month
after the spring equinox of the planet (which
occurred OH the Sth Of December. lSSll: the
division was still more evident at the end of
February. On this same date. thu. 18th of
January. another doubling manifested itself,
that of the middle section of the Cyclops ca
nal. on the side of the Elvsec.
Greater Yet was my aStonlShment when.
the 10Th of January, ] saw the canal of ia
muna, which was then in the center of tho
disk, divided very accurately into two
straight. parallel lines traversing the space
which separates the Niliaque lake from the
Gulf of Aurora. AT first l thought it to he
an illusion, caused by fatigue to the eye and
a sort Of strabismus of a new kind, hut one
must needs yield to the evidence. After the
18th Of January l simply passed from one
surprise to another: i'll succession the Orion
ties. the Euphratcs, the Prison. the Ganges
and more of the other canals showed them
selves very clearly and incontcstablv split in
two. There We're not less than twenty ey-
alnples Of doubling.
lin certain cases it has been possible to OIL
serve some WrecursorN symptoms which arc
not lacking in interest. Thus the 18th OF
January a light and i'll defined shade extend
ed along the Ganges: tho 18th md 10Th only
a series OF white spots was distinguishablr
there; the Goth the Ganges showed itself in
the form of two indecisive parallel lines, and
the 21st the doubling was perfectly clear. as
observed it up to the 2!3d of February.
"These doublings are not an optical effect
depending upon the increase of visual power,
as happens i'll the observation of double stars,
and neither is it the cana which divides itself
in two l%engthwise. Notice what it is that
appears: to the right or left of a ~pre-existine
line, without any change in the course or pc
sition OF that line, one sees another line pro
duccd equal and parallel to the first, at Il dis
lance varying generally from 6 to II degs.
that is to say. from $50 to 100 kilometers
there even seem to be some produced still
II " lAS lSlcSSOle Is lOl IoWtIlu
enough to enable one to distinguish then
with certainty. Their tint is a rather darl
reddish brown. These twin canals are recti
linear or very slightly curved. There j
nothing analogous in terrestrial geography
Everything points to the belief that it is
peculiar periodical phenomenon Of the plane
Mars. and intimately related to the course c
the seasons.
Here, then, are observed facts: the il
crease i'll the distance of the planet and I'll
prevalence of rains prevented the continu;
ton of the observations after the cnd
February. 1t is difficult To decide quick
upon the nature of that geography, assn
edly very different from that of our world
New York Sun.
Russian officers studying English.
a considerable number of officers of I'll
Odessa garrison, chiefly first lieutenants an
captains of companies. are suddenly evinciu