The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1897-06-18
Du Maurier's Views OF Mars.

the new novel by George du Maurier,
which has for the past six months becn
running serially In Harper's Magazine
and Is soon 20 be brought out in book
form--that is, It's almost journalistic time
Illness At the very moment when the
world was speculating about Mars. won
dering If IL were inhabited, wondering
what manner OF Intelligent teings could
live on another planet, wondering II 10y
any device we could establish communica-
tion with them. Du Maurier was busily
engaged on "a work in which the mystery
was revealed, and the first inhabitant OF
Mars TO make the acquaintance Of man
was introduced on earth. Since the book
was completed our knowledge of Mars
has, through the persistent endeavors OF
scientists, among them Mr. Percival
Lowell, greatly increased, and 10 Is inter-
esting to compare Du Maurler's specula-
tions about the planet with the facts now
we'll established.
!, Mr.. Lowell's latest studies Of Mars have
been made at Flagstaff, Arizona, and in
Mexico where the conditions were par
ticuarly favorable To MS observations.
An article on his work there recently
published in tho n. Y. Herald says:
Mars Is In many respects tho most In
terestinR object In the solar system. It's
phenomenal brightness when nearest the
earth has attracted the gaze and excited
the imagination OF men Of all ages, while
the beautiful coloring which the telescope
dscloses to observers has made Ii the moro
admired the better IL has been known.
'Its general conditions are more like
our earth than those of any other planet.
Its day Is about forty minutes longer
than ours 1t has four seasons like our
own, though the greater cocentriciiy OF
its orbit and the slightly greater inclina-
tion OF its axis accentuate Its seasons,
giving IL q colder winter and hotter
summer.
MARS has an atmosphere slightly less
dense thnn our own. This serves 10 keep
the surface at n mean temperature above
that Of the earth. Wo know this esause,
while Mars shows polar caps ,ikc our
own planet, these melt off In the late
summer very much mo . than on the
earth. 2"
The account of Mars given In Du
Maurier's novel I'm connection with the
history of MARTA" resents somewhat
more personal view OF the planet:
For an immense time Martha had gone
through countless incarnations. from the
lowest form To tho highest. In the cold
and dreary planet we call Mars. the outer
most OF the four inhabited worlds OF our
system. where the sun seems no bigger
than an orange and which. but for It's
moist, thin, rich atmosphere and peculiar
magnetic conditions that differ from
ours would be too cold aJove ground for
human Ut animal or vegetable life. As
-,
neighborhood of its equator, and seen then
during its long winter IL is colder and
more desolate than Capc Horn or Spitber-
gen--excopt that tho shallow fresh water
sea does not freeze except for few
months at either pole.
Mr.. Lowell's telescopes were not strong
enough for him to decide absolutely that
Mars was inhabited. though their revela-
ton of an elaborate system of twin canals
In the planet strongly inclined him To- the
belief that they were the work of
highly ingenious race. 30, for enllnhten-
ment on this point, we must turn to the
imagination OF the roInanticist Martha
gives So attractive an account OF her
fellow-creatures that they seem altogether
superior TO human kind:
MAN In Mars -, 1t appears, very
different being from what he Is here, Ho
is amphibious, and descends from no
monkey, but from small animal that
seems to be something between our seal
and our sea-lion. His beauty Is
TO that of the seal as that of tho Theseus
or Antinous TO that of an orang- -outang.
His five senses are extraordinarily acute.
even the sense OF touch in his webbed I'm
gers and toes and in addition To these lie
possesses u sixth, that comes from his
keen and unintermttent sense of the
magnetic current which is far stronger
in Mars than on the earth, and far more
complicated and more thoroughly under
stood
when any object is too delicate and
minute TO be examined by the sense of
touch and sight. the Martian shuts his
Dyes and puts IL against the pit OF his
stomach, and knows all about IL, even its
inside.
'ln the absolute dark or with his eyes
shut, ana when he stops his ears, he Is
more intensely conscious of what imme-
diately surrounds him thnn at any other
81, hnt nj moi finn
ceases; conscious not Only OF material OBJ
jocts. but of what Is passing In his fellow
Mnrtian's mind-and this for an area OF
many hundreds Of cubic yards.
''ln the course OF It's evolutions this ex-
traordinary faculty-which exists on
earth in n rudimcntary state, but only
among some birds and fish ana insects
ana in the lower forms of animal life
has developed the Martian mind In Ill
rection very different from ours, since no
inner lifo apart from the rest, no privacy,
no concealment Is possible except at
distance involving absolute isolation;
not even thought Is Free yet In some In.
comprehension way thero Is as a matter
of fact. really greater freedom of
thought than is conceivable among our
selves; absolute liberty In absolute obedi-
enCo TO law, paradox beyond our COM
prefension.
Their habits arc ms simple ms those we
attribute to tho cave-dwellers during the
prehistoric periods of the e6rth's exist
OnCN But their moral sense IL 50 far I'm
advance Of ours that we haven't even
tern1nology by which Co express it
These exemplary Martians wear
no clothes but the exquisite fur with
which nature has endowed them, aud
which constitutes n part OF their immonso
beauty
They arc great engineers and excava
tors. great irrigatorS great workers IN
delicate metal, stone, marble and precious
gems (there ~ no wood tn speak Of };
great sculptors and decorators Of the bonu-
tiful caves, SO fanciiullv ana so intricatcly
connected, I'm which they live. and which
have taken thousands Of years to design
and oxcavato and yentilatc ana adorn, ard
which they warm and light up nc will in
- beautiful manner by means - the tire.
menduus magnetic current"
One of the most remarkable facts IN