The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-02-12
OENWTOTi DR.. A. f. BUCHANAN
DAA' AN 52-53 When building.
BEAUTIFUL VENUS.
The Most Interesting and Mysterious
OF All the Planets.


OF All the Planets.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The most beautiful planet, and the one
that comes nearest to the earth and most
resembles the earth in size, is at the same
time the most mysterious. Is Venus a
living world or dead one? That is to
say. is it IN a condition to support inhab-
llants, and is it probable that such inhab-
uants are there, or, on the other hand, is it
uusuited for their presence and barren of
living forms? These questions astronomers
at present are unable to answer, but their
efforts to answer them and the observations
that they have made Of the mysterious
planet possess an almost startling interest
First let us briefly recall what Venus is.
il is globe like our earth, and of very
nearly the same magnitude, having diam
ejer of about 200 miles while that of the
earth IS little more than 1900 miles. So
nearly of the same size are the two planets
that If we could view them from an equal
distance we should be unable, without the
aid of Instruments of measurement, to de-
tect any difference between them. The sub
stance Of Venus is slightly lighter bulk for
bulk, than that which composes the earth,
but the difference liz this respect is so little
that again it would require special examina-
cubic foot of the soil of Venus and an equal
amount of the soil Of the earth. Tt follows
that ON Venus the force of gravitation or
the weight of bodies does not greatly differ
from that on the earth. If we could step
upon Venus we should find that we had
parted with few pounds weight, but the
y
Cept perhaps on the race track.
But this planet, so like the earth in many
respects, is very different from our globe
iu it's situation. The earth's distance from
the sun is 900 miles; the distance of
Venus from the sun is 67.000, 600 miles. This
difference becomes a matter of great impor-
lance when we consider the effects which
the sun produces upon the two planets.
Heat and light vary inversely as the square
of the distance. When we compare the
square of the earths distance from the sun
with the square Of Venus's distance, we
ind that the former is about double the
latter This means that Venus, on the aver
age, gets twice much heat and light from
the sun as the earth gets.
But. on the other hand, we know that all
forms of life depend for their existence
upon the radiant energy of the sun. On the
earth, when we pass from the arctic regions
towards the equator. we find the number
of living forms and the variety and intensity
OF the manifestations of life continually in
creasing. until in the equatorial zone, earth,
sea and air are all crowded with animate
and growing things. The touch of the sun
everywhere produces life, and in the alb
Nence of sunshine is death. 1t is but natural
% infer that Venus. having twice as much
sunshine as the earth. should be proportion
ately more crowded with animal and Vege-
table inhabitants, and that the intensity of
life there should be cOrrespondingly great
err. Some biologists have thought that there
was a time when the climate OF the earth
was so not that tropical plants and beasts
lived abundanuy around the poles.