Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-08-01
INHERITANCE SIGNALING.
A womsn's Prize of sso.ooo Tor the P.r.o.
Who shall Find = Way,

From the Chicago tribune.
Paris cahlegram SAYS a French nun has
eequeAthed 100000 francs 20 the Academy a,
Science TO be given a prize 10 any one Who
shall discover any means Of Communicating
with another world. planet or star. The pl,n.t
Mars was suggested in the will as the most con-
venieni heavenly body on which to make IA.
experiment
ihis proposition may seem ridiculous. but
ms not any more 50 than the idea Of James
LACK, the Founder OF the Lick Observatory.
said man well versed m starry lore
The Lack hequest 90 build the rrea, t.le-
scope was intended 20 establish tiie fa',t ,,b,b,
or not the moon Is inhabited Now lct as con
S , We aiihenltles m the way Of tins project
The distance of the earth from the moon NAV
be stated IN round numbers as 2iO OOo miles.
III Is TACT recognized an military sri,nc, thai
a man can be fairly distinguished hv the 90. al
miles distance. ln making calculation. re-
garding vision II is the general rule 20 e.timat.
that 10 be seen mile away an ,i,,.r,
must he half a yard wide. The beet t.le.c,u.
has magaIfying power OF 1000 d.
ameters. Half the distance 20 the moon A
10000 miles Divide tins by 1900. the magn,-
lying power OF the glass. and YOU get .inty
yards as the minimum sizo of an obie,t IN ~.
moon discernible by the aid Of tie telescop.
from the earth. SO an object must hc no fs.t
vide or thick 20 be more than an APPRECIATE,
dot have made the mos; liberal allowances
IN THIS computation. The atmospheric coudl-
lions must be perfect. and 1000 l. an unusually
high power to be used by an astronomer.
II an object must be 10 fett thick 10 DO
seen from the earth on the moon II would l..
best to make AZ 200 feet To gave the iuhAli-
tants OF the moon an idea that there are intell,-
gent beings on the earth Il would bs necessary
10 place. say. three objects in view OF tie
moon peopIe-let them remain for a tim. arr
raised al the angles Of triangle. Then they
might be changed. 80 as 10 be IN n straight line
iLe NAV IN the moon. seeing these ph.uomeus
might conclude that there we're Intelligent b.,-
ihgs on earth aud arrange for some eorto-
spending signal 60 the mlabItAuts Of eArta
but whlie tubs seems possible AZ shows hos
preposterous would be the attempt 20 deter
mine with the most powerful telescope now IN
Use whether the moon ls inhabited.
Now, as to the proposed communicative
Win Mars. AT the time when Mare and the
ear Ia are nearest TO each other-are IN I,r,-
neion-the distance Is IN round numbers s.
OVO,OOO OF miles Take half tins distance aud
You have 1850, 900 as the number of wards that
represents the size of object an Mars thas
could be seen that distance with the naked eve
divide this by 1000, the power Of the biggest
Horoscope, and You have $3.50, the size OF Tie
smallest object plainly discernible at such q
distance with the telescope. Tins lis equal TO
about i've miles
An object N the planet Mars could lie per-
celNed as a little larger than q dot with the
aAo ol the largest refractor, and under the
most favorable, an fact absolutely perfect, At
mospherlc and other conditions II AZ Was i've
miles an diameter. This II when the planet 10
nearest 10 US. On the other hand, at that time
nothing ON the earth could be dlscerned from
Mars, because the earth would be an u strslgh
nne between the two and ia the blaze Of the
sun light An lnLRbitAnt OF that planet
would have To wait until the eartn xas
IN some other part Of its orbit, and
the distance between the earth and Mars
would then be many times great a. an
perihelion. 80 IL would be necessary TO con-
struct an object to be discernible on the earth
from Mars, say twenty miles IN GIauieter. IL
might be circular IN form. Other structures
not inferior In size would have to be erected az
distances Of not less than twenty miles from
each other. Then, after these had remained
tor a time, their relative positions might DO
changed These bodies moreover, TO be clearly
distinguished from the surface Of Mare must
De intensely luminous solid ball Of .lectrle
night twenty miles in diameter would suffice.
considering the size Of the structures re-
quired, their distance from eacn other ard
the necessity OF changing their places 10 indi-
cate TO a man IN Mars that these luminous
structures were the result Of intelligent action,
are not natural phenomena. lie sum be-
queathed by the French nun may lie seen ~ 10
greatly inadequate. The Academy OF Sciences
at Paris may Tor this reason refuse TO ACCEPT
the bequest. IL the sum we're offered for
prize essay on some plan for accom- lishIng
communication with a sister sphere II would 10
more reasonable.
IN all the above computations IL must not
De forgotten that all the conditions must 10
favorable. the atmosphere ; well = the rela-
tive positions OF the earth anu Mars. sun
conditions happen only once in a great WHILE