Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1889-02-21

We cone now. however. % n discov-
cry announced By Prot SchiapareIh ia
1851 which presents a veritabse mys-
terry. Every thing heretofore known.
y uot explained. seemed e~xplicable By
terrestrial aualogieS In 1851. how
ever. the distinguished Italian assruu-
omer announced that the known canals
were frequently doubled or para.leled
By others Of precisely similar appear
ance. The rev map OF the canals wa=
the old a viewed through a doubly
r~efracting prism. rs " Terby happily
phrases il. In tSs5 NJ P~errOtin. al
Nice confirmed this singular pheu0m-
enOu. and in tS>s both he and " Schia-
pHrelli have again CONFIRMED Il under
new conditions. No other observers
than these have A. yet seen this phe-
uOmeHon 81 duplication The season
for such observations in l--s was tho
months u April and May. The Lick
telescope WIS neg ready for such work
until the middle % July After that
date the planet was not observed else
WHERE with any advantage but here. in
spite % Che low altitude 90 the planet
(not more than thirty degrsesl. 81 it,
small apparent diameter (uot more than
TEN ~=eroudst and % other drawbacks.
W. secured a series Of forty careful
druE ng These show the submerged
c8urneut Lfbya In essentially the same
state A. ny d-awiHgs % lss5. As I have
said and they also show the princip pal
canals a In the maps Of VI Schiapa-
re.lL but not a single canal was seen
doubled. neither were they ike fine
narrow lines a depicted. but rather
ike broad bands. wide enough to cover
the spaces occupied on SchiapareIlTs
nl1ps by two canals and the brighter
region separating them
am by no means unaware OF the I'M
favorable conditions under which our
two months after the season for such
work and | am only highly gratifed
that - much was shown By this power
fUl telescope under the circumstances.
| must deeply regret that the observa-
tory could not have been completed IN
time 70 take it, part in this work. for
which its equipment and its situation
Are alike adapted We have. however.
obtained assurances that the next Ia
vorable Oppositious will enable Us 10
do our fall part toward solving the
enigmas presented by the marvellous
Appearances reported by NM Schiapa-
relli and P~errntin-
IL would perhaps be s~uperduous 10
attempt an explanation OF Il phenome-
non which requires 50 much further
study But We may simply alluds To
the suggestions put forth by various
writer's. The name canal has sug-
Eested 10 several writer's. who should
BE- cautious. the explanation that
these markings (not known u be wa
ter At all. BE- it rememberedl are in
fact commercial waterways. They are
doubled. n may suppose. to relieve 4
traffic already too crowded They have
been called rivers by others But
these rivers run from one dark mark
ing TO another They do not rise in
the brighter regions Oandl. and they
have no sinUousities Their dupIiea-
ton has been explained a. a ~diffraction
phenomenon caused by the fogs lying
along the river valleys Others again
suppose them To b. crevices in the gIa-
eiers (also proved not "a EXIST in the
planet AL these hypothesis are as
yet without a sufficient foundation. We
must a~ssuredly be content t o wait for
another favorable opposition Of this
planet tIs93l before we can be entirely
satisfied a. 20 all the facts OF the case.
and We must postpone until hat tims
any explanation Edward = Holden.
IL d.. Director Of the Lick Observa-
tory. IN v Y Mail and Express