Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1890-11-22

1t Is Arproa oh ng the Condition of the
Moon.

1t Is Arpro oh ng ,he Condition of the
Moon.
Profess II w. II. Pickering, of Iiar-
ward College, thinks that the planet Mars
is d ing. For something like a year he
la, been devoting a great prtton of
his time to observations OF the p anet
Mars. Professor Pickering used in his
observation the II inch tees 'o9e, which
is soon to he mounted at the Aryquipa
station of the Harvard Observatory, and
lie made most determined efforts to add
to our knowledge of the most int resting
member of the planetary system.
at is all a hypothesis after all, he said
to a New York Herald correspondent
"Thpre is no definite proof. We know
that there are great patches of white i'll
the polar regions of the planet and that
l,y increase in winter and diminish in
summer. This fact is abuudantly con-
fl med by photographs taken by the
harvard College astronomers at our sta
ton on Mount Wilson in southern Cali
f rnia. On the night Of the 10th of
April we ok an observation and on the
succeeding night another one. On the
second occasion we found that the white
space in the southern hemisphere had
Increased during the "a hours by an area
nearly as large as the United States So
YOU see il this white appearance is due
to snow there must have been a ire
memdous storm in southern Mars on the
10 Ii IF April.
rtore ,,ur Pickering remarked in an
B.,.vr o a question about the northern
hemisphere that the southern ha of the
y anet was Tar more interesting. 1t is
in that section that the dark places are
located which are supposed to be water.
The planet, i'll his opinion, being older
than the earth as we'll as smaller, has
passed the stage in which the earth now
is and is app"o. ching the condition of
the moon-in other words, is dying. Its
equatorial region is already practically
desert, and if thee he any life on Mars
it is in the southern hemisphere.
The appellation canal, given by
Schiaparrlli to the marks upon the
p.anpI's surface is in Professor Picker
ing's view, a misnomcr. H. succeeded
this summer in seeing several of them,
although it was only after a months
EltduN training tl HIS eye anu ItSS uldb-
I ing of the power of his instruments that
he was abe to distinguish any. He is
inclined to think tuat the number of
these lines may have been overstated,
bat at all events lie does not believe that
they contain amy water. lie has failed
with the sprctr0sCOpe to discover any
traces of wutery vapor i'll the canals, :"
though it " ould be possible to discover
il if ii exists Neither does he believe
that these canals" have changed in
form, as claimed.
In the course of the conversation the
professor said that TIE general color of
the planet was DARK red. On one night
it appeared dar"er than before, but not
rs dark red as New Jersey mud, with
which he had c impaired it.
Professor Hold ii, director Of the Lick
Observatory, says, among other things,
in a tel gram to The Heruid: Il think it
very important to emphasize the fact
that no one knows anything whatever
about the actual ext tence OF non exist
rnce of life on the planets. The best
that can be done is to inquire as to their
conditions FIR Availability. Even here
the most earnest effo Is of the best
oil servers With The bet telescopes have
accom- lishcd very little.