Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-08-08
The Inhsbitarcy OF Mara,

To the Editor of The Evening Star:
Life as we know it. based on the action Of
liquid water and air, does not probably exist in
the solar system outside of the four interior
planets. All the other bodies Of this system are
too far away to have enough light to produce
life or too small to hold water and atmosphere
sufficient. Mercury is SO hot that the little
water its gravitation will retain is probably kept
In the state OF vapor unless in small areas about
its poles on its dark side, If it is fact that it
does not revolve. If an organic cell once ex-
listed thee 1t might go on multiplying over linn
tied areas until they were covered with life, but
it would not likely ever reach any high form.
Venus probably has mass Of water and air
half as great as the earth or more. But it 10 SO
close to the sun that large part of the water is
held as vapor, and it is all mass OF clouds to
the telescope. Ice, snow or frost probably
never occurs. and sunshine reaches the surface
but seldom in its full blaze. Life might well
exist there, but we cannot see it through Venus
cloud veil.
The earth being the largest of these four bodies
is able to retain BY gravitation the creates.
quantity of water and air, and the heat of the
sun is so reduced by distance that most of the
water remains in a liquid state covering most
OF the surface, and the sun reaches the sur
face in fall force under conditions so balanced
that water and sunshine can coact together. SO
that first organic cell being once in existence,
how we cannot guess life would probably GO on
growing and crowding itself into all sorts of
changes and contests, urged on by the force Of
that sunshine and those conditions, until it
would presen. itself in great variety Of FORMS
many of them very high.
Mars ia able to hold less water and air and
has less sunshine, but it has enough SO that IL
an organic cell once existed there life would
probably develop very freely. but of course we
could not guess how high its forms nigh. be
evolved by the urgency of those conditions. 1t
q M hat al
might be produced, but there is nothing to
lead us to suppose they would take any form
resembling those Of this world. and still less
that any of them would be like man.
However. the problem in each case turns on
the fact that at some time a living cell should
exist. Without that germ organic life would
never exist. and even all the urgency of the
powerfully balanced conditions in this earth
would have to this day produced nothing but
a bare sun-burned and rain washed desert Of
drifting sands and beating waters, without
vestige Of life over it all.
The planets are probably produced by the
accretiOn OF meteoric masses such as continu-
ally fall on this earth. These consist largely of
metallic iron. They have gray color where
not subjected to rain and air, us in the moon,
but where rain and air act freely. Us in the
earth and Mars, they are soon covered with
rust, and this rust Is washed down SO as TO color
the masses not iron, except where modified by
organic growth, as in the earth.
Now, all accounts tell us that this color Of
iron rust is the color Of the lands OF Mars, ard
it does not exist in this earth i'll any region COW
cred by organic life. So it is hard to overcome
the fear that Mars is merely u lifeless waste,
where the organic cell has not been produced
or that II produced it is confined to the waters
This is a problem where the old astronomy
can help us little. We cannot bring any OF The
planets near enough with telescopes for the eye
to detect traces of life. But no doubt the new
astronomy might hope to detect something
through the nature Of the light itself that
would tell the story down to minute particulars.
Secretary Langley and those who know how
to draw its wonderful story from light are the
only ones who can unravel the story Of Mars
and tell what there ia on his lands, and
whether there are traces Of life there and, if life
exists, perhaps its peculiarities.
One Of Prof. Langley's associates read q very
suggestive paper before the Am. Association for
the Advancement of Science here in 1891, In
which he told us story Of the liCh. from a sim-
pie flower from the garden, through the spectre
scope, by which each flower wrote its own Won
derful signature, such as no other ligh: could
produce. And certainly il there are masses of
plants on Mars they could be detected in its
light. 8. j. w.