Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1899-06-22

ring these events TO Marian time, he
cloudy weather on this occasion ap-
parently occurred in the forenoon, the
midday hour bringing clear weather,
which would seem to have lasted till
the afternoon was far advanced.
Judging from the whitish light which
is usually seen all around the planets
disk, the mornings and evenings on
Mars are misty.
In 1877 Schiaparelli observed some
peculiar lines on the surface of the
planet Mars, and he called them canals.
For nine years he was the only as
tronomer who could see them; and
when, in 1881, he further announced
that the canals had doubled, it was
supposed for a time that the Milanese
astronomer was the victim of an illu-
sion. However, since then the results
of his observations of the canals OF
Mars have been abundantly confirmed
both in Europe and America, especially
at the Lick Observatory and the Flag
staff Observatory. The observations
made by Mr.. Lowell Of the latter OBJ
servatory, and those already made by
Schiaparelli, tend to make us feel very
much at home on planet Mars. How
ever, it is necessary to state that Mr..
Lowells theories are not generally re-
ceived among astronomers as satisfac-
torily established at present, but they
are well worthy of consideration.
The canals are not visible during
the winter season on Mars; but as
springtime advances they make their
appearance as faint, dark lines, grow
ing wider and wider until they are
fifty miles across, and then, by way
Of variety, they double. In fact, sim
gle canals have been known to double
themselves literally at days notice,
the twin canals running along side by
side like railroad tracks; only, in this
instance, the railroad tracks are sepa-
rated by distance of over two or
three hundred miles. Some of the ca
nails extend to distance varying from
three hundred to upward of four thou
sand miles, and appear to be as accu-
sphere. The canals seem to meet at
a number Of small spots or functions,
which have been termed lakes" by
Schiaparelli, and "oases" by Mr.. Low
ell. These small spots are scattered
over the ruddy portion of the planets
surface, forming a curious network
with the canals, the spots at the june
ton of the canals being as important
a feature as the canals themselves.
Mr.. Lowell assumes that the region
to the desert region on earth, and that
the canals were apparently constructed
for the purpose of fertilizing this re-
gion and the GASES in the midst of the
wilderness. Therefore, what we see
is not the canal itself, but vegetation
along it's banks. Yet this does not &C
count for a canal doubling itself with
in twentyfour hours; for, romance as
we may about Mars, we can scarcely
imagine vegetation developing with
such amazing rapidly. AS the canals
widen, the GASES do not increase in
size, but darken, which would seem
to indicate that they become covered
with vegetation as the season advances.
Mr.. Lowell also enters into interesting
speculations as to the canals being of
artificial formation, ignoring the rather
serious difficulty as to the temperature
of Mars. He sees evidence of engi-
neering skill in the construction of the
canal system, which he attributes 10
the superior ability of the Martians
Under the circumstances we can we'll
imagine the (supposed) inhabitants of
Mars recognizing the necessity of such
canals as a protection against the de-
structiye effects of the annual inunda-
tions; but several years ago Mr.. j.
Orr of the British Astronomical Asso-
citation found, on calculation, that the
construction of such canals would re-
quire an army of two hundred million
men working for thousand years.