The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1899-03-09
VENUS AND rs nYSTEue&
Astrsssaess Ps1sisI 70 kssv Hhsttse / !
q Uviss Or Dead wedd

Astrsssoers PsxsisI 70 kssv Whstbss 3 .
lvisg o. Dead wsdd
The most beautiful planet and the
one that comes nearest TO the earth,
and most resembles the earth In sire.
Is at the same time the most myster.-
GUS. Is Venus a living world or . dead
one? That Is to say. 10 IL In . condi-
ton to support Inhabitants. and 10 IL
probable that such Inhabitants are
there, or. on the other hand. II II un-
suited for their presence and barren
OF living forms:
These questions astronomers at pres
ent are unable to answer. but theiR
efforts to answer them and the obser-
rations that they Lave made OF the
mysterious planet possess an almost
startling interest.
Firs; let US briefly recall what Venus
is. 1t Is globe like our earth, and OF
very nea~ly the same magnitude. hav-
tug Il diameter of about 100 miles.
willie that Of the earth Is little more
than 1900 miles. 50 nearly Of the
, same size are the two planets that II
we could view them from an equal
distance We should he unable. without
:ne aid Of instruments Of measure
nlent, to defect any difference between
+ them. The substance Of Venus Is
! sii.htly lighter, bulk for bulk, than
! that which composes the earth: but
| the difference Ia this respect Is SO lit
! tie that again it would require special
examination to distinguish by weight
! between Il cubic foot of the soil OF We
| rus and an equal amount Of the soil
/ OF the earth. 1t follows that on Venus
! the force of gravitation or the weight
c. bodies does not greatly differ from
That OH the earth. Ii we could steu
upon Venus we should End that we
had parted with few pounds weight
but the difference would not be very
noticea be, except perhaps on the race
track.
But this planet. so like the earth ir
many respects. is very different FROM
our globe in its situation. The earth'i
distance from the sun Is 93.OOO.OO!
niles; The distance Of Venus FROM thu
sun is GT.OUOO0O miles. This differ
tnce becomes n matter OF great inlpor
tap"e when we consider the effect
which the sun produces upon the TIVE
planets. Heat and light. as every
body knows. vary inversely as thu
square Of the distance. When We com
pare the square of the earth distanc
from the sun with the square Of We
nus's distance. we find that the forme
is about double the latter. This mean
that Venus. Oh the average, get
twice as much heat and light from tn
sun as the earth gets.
But. ON the other hand, we know
that all forms of life depend for thei
existence upon the radiant energy o
the sun. On the earth. when we pas
from the artic regions toward the eQua
tor. we find the number Of living form
and the variety and intensity Of tn
manifestations of life continually iI
creasing, until, in the equa torial zone
earth. sea. and air are all crowde
with ANIMATE and growing things. Til
touch of the sun everywhere produce
life, and in the absence of sunshine
death. 1t is but natural to infer tha
Venus. having twice as much sunshill
as the earth. should be proportional
ly more crowded with animal and We,
etable inhabitants. and that the inter
sity of life there should be correspond
ingly greater. Some biologists hay
thought that there was a time whe
the climate of the earth was so hot tn:
tropical plants and beasts lived abul
dainty around the poles. A similt
condition Of things might be suppose
now to prevail upon Venus.-Harper
Round Table.