The Irish standard., 1892-07-16
RI VERS ON MARS.
Wherein They Differ from Those
IS on the Earth.
Interesting Facts Concerning tho Gso1og.
ical Nature Of tho Great Planet
Cleaned by Recent Scientific
Observation.

observatory telescope is almost terrify-
ng, even for a person Of good nerves
it is as if one saw the whole earth, with
It's icy poles, as solid globe, floating
overhead. One distinguishes clearly the
lark blue seas and the brilliant, beam
ng, many-hued dry land-and on this
The dry beds of multitude Of lakes,
pays, CULTS, streams and canals, these
after either parallel to each other or
rossing one another at right angles.
is you continue to look, you note the
rariations Of color and of light and
lhades; and, further, that the outlines
N one edge of the disk pass out OF sight,
while on the other the landscape ex-
oands; you see that Mars revolves or
It's axis and that the ends OF the axis
Ire the frozen poles, as with US. There
Is q further resemblance In the 1nclina-
ion in the axis, which provides that on
his planet also the seasons follow each
,ther in regular succession. The ice
rust at the poles diminishes in summer,
md Westermann's Manot's~Hef claims
;hat this affords demonstration not only
that Mars is influenced by the suns
rays precisely as we are, but also that
he air and water are Identical with
,urs. In fact the 1neteorology Of Mars
now being reduced to a science.
Judging the two planets by superficial
characteristics, however, one must adj
nit condition implying q higher
iegree of development in Mars
The continents of the earth, seen
hom distance, present d very torn
appearance, and occupy scarcely third
IF it's surface, while Mars is girded on
both sides of the equator by one con-
hnuous mainland, intersected by a net"
work of canals and rivers, the land oc~
:upying approximately three-fourths Of
The whole area Of the planet and the
water only one-fourth, as consequence
If which it may be that it's atmosphere
Is less clouded and vapor laden than
,urs. Peculiarly characteristic is the
arrangement in which the geological
nature Of Mars has laid the streams
icanals?) All our streams without ex-
.eption, are tortuous, and all increase
n width as they near the ocean
On Mars, on the contrary, the streams
Tow in straight lines, and are of uni
,or1n width from source to mouth.
These streams, from seventy to one
hundred klometers apart, have their
banks so well defined as to suggest the
dea that they are subject to intelligent
regulation. 1t is hardly possible to con-
:eive that two parallel canals, intersect-
ID Mt right angles by a third, rs in
ophjr land, can be the work Of the ele-
nenSary forces of nature. The question
suggests itself again by the two canals
which flow from ocean to ocean
through the island Hellas, crossing
Zach other at right angles in the center.
Not less questionable is the origin of
The great blue lake of the sun in the
center of Keppler land, with its three
recti]inear canals connecting it with the
scean~
But what most excites our astonish"
ment in connection with these canals is
that almost every one Of them is double,
e., it has it's parallel canal alongside
# it, but visible at intervals only. This
has thoroughly perplexed all investiga-
tors. The earth has nothing analogous
10 &11Q us 20 Il SOluLll'iL vi OAAsS <tCCcb1lu
.he return of Mars is locked forward to
with considerable interest. The i'm
provement in optical instruments with
IN the past decade may probably help
10 solve the riddle, Or, what is perhaps
still more probable, may present more
riddles of solution. The occasion OF
Mars next return will be the first time
for fifteen years that we shall have an
opportunity of examining his south
polar region. Apart from the scientific
interest which attaches to these obser-
vations, it is an immense gain to our in
kellectual culture to overthrow the
pride, born of ignorance, which in
earlier centuries prompted men to re-
gard this earth as the one inhabited
sphere of the universe. Equal rights
for all planets appears to be the law of
nature, which certainly has not ex-
pended all her forces on this dark clod
Of ours.
Oddities About Rats.
Rats are natives of Asia ind their
raids westward belong 80 comparatively
u.odern times From the fact that they
1,1, 49, hn r11