The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1901-02-04
IS THE MOON INHABITED
DIR. VAN MARTER OF TOLEDO
SAYS IT Is.


As an astronomical starter for the
new century Or. l.. j. Van Marter of
Toledo, ONO, advances some new theo-
ries as to an ice-Dound, snow-bOund
moon having traces of vegetation i'm
the depressIons ana probably having
Inhabitants. lie holds that the planet
is simply is i'm its glacial epoch at this
time and that the depressed surfaces,
which at some day may be ocean bot
toms, are the regions where animal
and vegetable life first appears.
"RellectoscOpy' is the coined word
which DR.. Van Marter uses as indicat-
ing his method of observation. This
'retlectoscopy he defines as the science
OF determining what a substance is by
an analysis of the light reflected from
it. This, he says is entirely different
from the spectrum analysis, as that
shows only what is in the flame. In
reilectoscopy he determines by an
analysis of the light reflex the sub
stance from which that light emauates
Summing up his theories and the proofs
that he feels to have established, they
are, i'm brief:
That the moon is covered with snow
and ice.
That the so-called extinct volcanoes
on the moon are ice mounds and caps.
That considering the present state
of the planet, there are reasons for
believing that it is inhabited.
incidentally he explains how an at
mosphere free from moisture cannot
refract light, and also why no clouds,
rain nor SHOWS obscure the face Of the
moon.
THE absolute clearness of the moons
atmosphere he says, Its lack of
clouds, rain and snow is because wa
terry Vapor is chilled and cOndenses be-
fore it can get away from the valleys
this also explains the formation of the
| ice mounds and ice caps. In the low
and shielded valleys it is warmer than
on the surrounding highlands. Vapor
| rises, but because of the intense cold
cannot rise and float away far, but
| is soon condensed. This process re-
| peated over and over resulted in the
crater-lilIe formations. The moon be-
! ing almost entirely covered with snow
and ice, the sun cannot VapOrize sut1i-
cient water for the formation of
clouds, and this explains their alb
Sence in the moons atmosphere.
As to the snow reflex, DR.. Van Mar
ter says he determines it just as an
oculist diagnoses atrophy Of the optic
nerve from its light reflex. He says
THE light reflex from the moons
mountains, poles and highlands is pure
white, but gloomy and lusterless. From
the moons equatorial lowlands there is
the same quality of light, only some
what darkened, and this is evidence
| of struggling vegetation. Lava, igneus
| rock or meteOric metal does not give
pure white reflex; volcanoes or bar
rem mountains do not; snOw-clad noun
| tains do. Sailors in the tropics sleep
! ing on deck in the moonlight get a
disease of the eyes similar to snow
blindness. Thus do every bit of evil
dence and logical analysis harmon
! lie with my deductions"
He concludes that uniformly pure
| whiteness of the highlands also points
to snow, just as the Wilderness of the
rims of the darkened areas point to i'm
! pngirg glaciers
DR.. Van Marter insnsts that the vol
cauo idea is an absurdity for several
reasons. 1t assumes the absence of wa
! ter, in the first place, and without this
element the doctor says that rock
would not have CTystallized, even con-
ceding that the Jagged outline of the
moon surface could be rock. That it is
not rock he claims to prove for the
reason that no volcanic rock could re-
! fleet a white light.
| Again, he says that the large size
| of the sO-called volcanoes, with dia-
meters of twenty to fifty miles, points
to an instant cooling, and that without
| the agency of water he says would be
impossible. On the other hand, a slow
cooling would have superimposed conf
| cal peaks, leaving the crater cups at
the apex instead of low down in the
| present basins.