Wichita eagle., 1888-04-08
THE CANALS OF MARS.
WHAT ASTRONOMER scHIAPARELu
SAW THROUGH HIS TELESCOPE.
Some Remarkable Appearances Which
He Noted-Is Mars Inhabited?-Facts


He Noted-Is Mars Inhabitede-Facts
Which Seem to Call for an Affrma-
tive Answer.
1t was in 1877 during a favorable conjunc-
ton Of Mars-that is to say, at the time when
Mars was unusually near to the earth-that
Schiaparelli first saw the canals. 1t will be
recollected that in that same year Professor
Hall discovered the two tiny moons of Mars
with the great telescope at Washington, an
instrument in comparison with which Schia-
parelli's telescope is pigmy, and yet, so far
as we are aware, the canals were never seen
with the Washington telescope. This fact,
however, IS by no means decisive, for in the
first place Schiaparellis telescope, though
comparatively small, is Of acknowledged
great excellence: secondly, and more impor-
tant, the skies of Milan are incomparably
clearer and better suited to delicate telescope
observation than those of Washington; and
lastly, Schiaparelli. 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 ne
made the discovery. 1t may be added that
last year three observers-M. Perrotin and
NJ Pollon, at Nice, and Mr.. Denning, in Eng
land-succeeded in seeing the canals of Schi-
aparelli, and detecting some of the excep-
tional appearances which he noted When
Schiaparelli first saw the canals in 1877 they
appeared as single lines, but subsequently he
found them double. He even watched the
process of doubling, which was q very Gu
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 be given the name of canals, although
we do not yet know what they are. Various
astronomers have already detected several of
them, notably Dawes in 1864. During the
last three oppositions l have made q special
study Of them and have recognized a Consid-
cradle number, more than sixty. These lines
run from one to another of the dark spots
that we regard as seas, and form well de-
fined network over the light or continental
regions. Their position appears to be inya-
riable and permanent, at least according to
the Judgment | have been cable to form by
four and half years of observation; never
theleSs their aspect and their degree of WISH
bllity are not always the same, and depend
upon circumstances which the present state
of our knowledge does not vet permit US to
discuss with certainty. In 1879 many were
seen which were not visible in 1887. and in
1892 those that had already been seen were
detected again, accompanied by new ones.
Several of these canals present themselves
under the form of vague, shadowy lines,
while others are clear and sharp, like mark
made by pen. In general they are recti-
linear, that is to say, drawn upon the sphere
as lines of great circles. They cross one an
other obiquely, or at right angles. They are
fully two degrees broad, or 120 kilometers,
and number extend over distance of eighty
degrees or 4,sc0 kilometers.
''Their color is very nearly that of the seas
of Mars, but a trifle lighter. Every canal
ends at its two extrenities in a sea or in
another canal: there is not a single example
of one extremity ending in the middle of the
solid land That is not al. In certain sea-
sons these canals split up or, rather, become
double
This phenomenon appears to occur at
fixed time, and is produced simultaneously
over the whole extent of the continents of
the planet, No indication of it was shown
in 1877 during the weeks which preceded and
followed the southern solstice of the world
single isolated case YVES presented in 1879;
the Goth of December in that year "a little be-
the 21st &C January, 1880, remarked the
dividing OF the Nile between the Lake of the
Moon and the Ceraunique gulf These two
regular markings, equal and parallel caused
me, admit, profound surprise, the greater
because some days before, the 23d and the
24th of December, had observed with care
this same region without perceiving any
thing of the kind | awaited with curiosity
fbf Of ao ,,lo ir,J In
learn if any ANALOGOUS phenomenon would
present itself, and l saw the same thing re-
appear the 18th of January, 1852, a month
after the spring equinox of the planet (which
occurred ON the sth of December. 1SSD tho
division was still more evident at the end of
February On this same date, the 18th of
January, another doubling manifested itself,
that of the middle section of the Cyciops CO.
nal. on the side of the Elysee.
Greater yet was my astonshment when,
the 18th of January, l saw the canal of ia
muna, which vas then in the center Of the
disk, divided very accurately into two
straight, parallel lines traversing the space
which separates the Niliaque lake from the
Gulf of Aurora. At first | thought it TO be
an illusion, caused by fatigue to the eye and
a sort Of strabismus of a new kind, but one
18th OF January l simply passed from Oh
surprise TO another: in succession the Oron-
tes, the Euphrates, the Prison, the Ganges
and more Of the other canals showed them
selves very clearly and incontestably split in
two. There were not less than twenty ex-
amples of doubling
In certain cases it has been possible TO OBJ
serve some qrecursory symptoms which arc
-. 1,,f
January light and III defined shade extend /.
ed along the Ganges; the 18th and 10Th only 4
a series OF white spots was distinguishable .
there; the Goth the Ganges showed itself in I
the form Of two indecisive parallel lines, and 4
the 2lst the doubling was perfectly clear, as
observed it up to the ed OF February.
These doublings are not an optical effect |
depending upon the increase Of visual power,
as happens in the observation Of double stars.
and neither is it the canal which divides Itself
in two lensthwise. Notice what it is that
appears: 10 the right or left Of a pre-existing
line, without any change in the course or Pc
sition of that line, one sees another line pro
luced equal and parallel 70 the first, at dis
lance varying generally from to II dogs,
hat is to say, from so to 700 k.lometers.
there even seem to be some produced still
nearer, OUT tAe telescope Is not powerful
enough 20 enable one TO distinguish them
with certainty. Their tint Is a rather dark
reddish brown These twin canals are recti-
linear or very slightly curved There Is
nothing analogous IN terrestrial geography
Everything points 70 the belief that il is a
secular periodical phenomenon Of the planet
Mars, and intimately related 70 the course q
he seasons
-. II D. =.
,rease Ia the distance of the planet end the