The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1895-05-07

Tacoma. April =. fSaS.
To the Editor. Permit a reader VITO
appreciates the Pcs t-IntellzS eElce~ ~ NHe
Aas- newspaper on TIRE FHsclEc coast. 70
cFs- few comments on the ecaRcri2A %
YESTERDAY, entitled Miracles in Mars
Editorials farm the educational feature OF
the press Il is well. therefore, ~nar they
be founded upon facts In speaking OF
an atmosphere on Mars your editoriaA
SAYS: YET the spectrum analysis faias 20
show It." and 'tas general conclusion Is
that the planet is as dead as the moon.
We know very littIe about spectrum an
aiysis: less than We do about medicine.
Il Is. as yet, a very puny infant in the
ranks of science Very many OF tns
claims made by enthusiastic spsctroScop-
lists are rejected as mot sustained" by
larger number Of equally skilled, skiliful
and more exacting investigators. All IL
teliigent physicists agree in doubling
spectroscopic announcements that are uu-
supported by other evidence. The fact
that when a star IS occuItsd by Mars
passing over Il the figure OF the star is
distorted as IL approaches the edge OF the
planet, is taken by astronomers as evil
Gencing that Mars Is surrounded by an
envelope OF some denssr medium than
the ether OF iaserplanegary space We
therefore assign 10 Mars an atmosphere.
Besides, the spec troscope does, at times,
dictate such dense medium surrounding
THE planet Mars is not about one-sixth
the size OF the earth" The earth is 1913
miles In diameter. "a go miles in cIrcum-
ference. Mars Is 1855 miles in diameter.
Is, los miles In circumference. The mass
Of the earth is to the mass OF Mars as
10 0.los; and In volume as 10 o.ls>. The
density OF Mars is seven-tenths that OF
the earth. II the two bodies could he
nj 81 10
be about one-half the size OF the earth.
The editorial says: The greater dis
lance from the sun must make 1t 1dars)
much colder" Decidedly so, II the poStu-
late of science is not atfault. Science states
that Mars receives but one-half the
amount OF heat from the sun that the
earth does. The GOODNESS OF space. the
absolute zero" is SO great, that il the
statement OF science be correct then the
mean temperature OF the surface of Mars
must be many hundreds OF degrees be-
low freezing. But does science know how
much heat Mars receives? Does science
really know whether heat" comes from
the sun, as actual heat? II may SO as
sert, because no one has yet been able 10
hang a thermometer in space 10 prove or
disprove the theory. But the fact remains
that on the poles of Mars, white caps
form during the winter season and disap-
pear during the summer at the pole; just
as would an ice cap on our own globe.
evidently there is urgent call for soma
modification of scientific % postulates,
or theories A few old school scientists,
who hate awfuiiy to abandon theories,
claim that Mars is dead planet. Other
scientists. not bound to the support Of
orthodox theories, but who willingly in
vestigate, and who are not satisfied 10 ac-
cept as truth a statement just because
odd professor Oraculum said so, have
given time and study to the physical con-
dillon of Mars, and they say that the
planet Is very much alive. A close study
of the planet during thirty years under
favorable conditions of good instruments
and unbiased opinions oonvinces me that
1t has atmosphere and necessarily moist
ure; that 1t is most probably inhabited;
at any rate Ii is, according to our ideas
OF what constitutes accessories of living,
well fitted for life forms. My friend
Flammarion, the distinguished "astrono-
mer royal OF France has given as much
If not more study to Mars than any other
observer He has often remarked 10 me:
MARS possesses all that We deem essen
tial to life"
/ hold TO the belief that what we term
heat" does not emanate from the sun as
such, but that force (cail Ii electricity
II you Wild proceeds from the sun, which.
when contracting with the matter forming
the planets. develops at the place OF con-
tact the thermometric quality called
heat"
One thing about the so-called canals
of Mars" Whether seen at the center or
at the edge of the planet these lines al
ways are straight ones. 1t is therefore
impossible that they could be on the sur
face OF the planet. Because we know
from observation that Mars revolves on
an axis. and what would appear to our
eyes as straight lines. perpendicular to
the axis of Mars at his center. would
change to and appear TO be a curved line
when II approaches the edge o. he planet
The lines may be due to some peculiar
effect OF the Marsan atmosphere, pro-
ducing a species of polarization of light
that We cauno; explain. for the reason
that we know OF nothing like il else
where.
The romancing of Mr.. Lowell and other
gifted observers about the wonderful
canals is very pretty-as romance
Hundreds of skillful astronomers, using
better telescopes, fail to perceive all that
wishful tyres discern.
FRANK NJ. CLOSE, B. s.