, 1888-07-04
ON THE PLANET MARS.
THE CANALS A LONG KNOWN MYs-
Terry OF THE HEAVENS.

Mars Fnvorably Situated for AstronomI-
cal observation-somo Rattle Curious
Facts - What Life On Our Neighbor
Planet Is Supposed To he Like.
M. Berthelot, one of the a~cademicians,
is evidently a light hearted savant, for he
at once asked NJ. de Lesseps, who was
present at the meeting, III he had by
chance a brother protector in Mars"
whereat all the learned astronomers
smiled solemnly. This is. surely, the
first time that a joke has been imported
from a spot 85, 900, 900 miles off. which Is
about the distance of the planet Mars
from our earth. The canals perceived By
M Perrotin upon the surface of our next
outside neighbor In the solar system,
however. are a long known mystery of the
heavens, and one that is probably as far
as ever from being solved by the face
.tious wizard.
Mars happens to be better situated for
observation by astronomers than any
other body in the sky except the moon.
He Is more than a hundred times farther
of than the moon at his very closest APP
proach, and measures only 4,200 miles
through at his equator; but, unlike the
moon, he exhibits in turn every portion
of his surface, rotating In q 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 a diversified aspect Of large
patches of alternating lighter and darker
markings which may naturally suggest
the divisions of Ian and water. at the
poles of Mars are extensive white regions,
which sometimes show up In the field of
the telescope with striking b%rilliancy and
clearness of definition: and since these
undergo periodic changes. occasionally
alDnAaf wa --l 49, 1GG 81
again at just the seasons when IL would
be winter with the Martians, astronomers
had 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
saucers stuck on each end of the ''star of
war"
As for the anal with which M. Per.
rotin poked scientific fun at M. de Lesseps,
they are certainly very curious objects.
From sea tc sea, or what looks like IL,
run 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-
some of them completed. others appar
emily imperfect, as If the Marian cham
Der OF deputies had refused to sanction a
lottery loan for the fulfllment of the
- NSoAbh DAb "hCh hHl L SIIOIll
and Faye begin to talk of engineers"
and men Ill Mars" 1t is necessary to re,
member hat to be seen at all, even as a
hair line, these canals in Mari would have
TO be at least 800 times as broad as the
Thames-say thirty or forty miles across
and as their length is TO be reckoned in
hundreds of miles, the navvies in Mars, If
they exist, must certainly be wonderful
beingsl
Astronomers. admirable on SO many
points, are never so stupid and unimagin-
alive as when meditating on the proba-
bilities of life beyond this earth, that old
and fascinating topic of more worlds
than one" They take their terrestrial
notions and experiences much too blindly
into space; they ask If there be an atmos-
phere in the uoon, or water In Mars; and
II any doubts exist about these elements
they solemnly conclude that these and
other lovely and eligible celestial abodel
are tenantless. AS If life were not con
ceivable without lungs and a liverl AS If
we must always carry about with US into
the glorious promotions OF ipter-stellar
space the dentist, the anti bilious pill and
bronchitis
1t is true that for beings constructed
as we are at present Mars would be a
novel and rather a surprising kind OF
abode. Surprising we found dense air
enough to breathe there, and water sufi-
cient for tea and washing-which are
both dubious points-the diminished
gravitation of the little planet is 30 great
hat 1t would induce a physical and
mental levity fatal to dullness and for
bidding sense of fatigue. What Is a
hundred weight here would there weigh
only ifty-six pounds. and we could all go
up stairs five steps at a time, or Jump
twice our own height with ease and grace.
Then 1t would assuredly be very nice, If
we were living In the right latitude on
Mars. to nave a quick moon and q slow
moon, always careering round like SPLEEN.
did Chinese lanterns, saving gas bills and
encouraging long walks of overs and
Martial poetry. A fall from q 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 80 ex-
tremely favorable, and who knows, In
deed, whether the SO called canals" are
not vast tobogganing slides. where the
entire population enjoys the unwonted
spice of perilf But we may be sure of
this, that If there be sentient creatures
on the silver and pearl surfaces Of Mars,
they are of q very different type from our
terrestrial frames, for life Is always the
equation of It's surrounding conditions,
and we denizens of the earth nave lungs
and a larynx simply because we live at
the bottom of an aerial sea, Just az fish
possess gills because they breathe the
water.-London Telegraph