New-York tribune., 1906-12-30


The planet These lines grow in distinctness
fapparent width) in the direction OF their length
until they show clearly for their whole extent
in the autumn fading out from the poles to-
ward their furthest limits. This phenomenon
Is equally observed in those lines which cross
the equator and penetrate the opposite hemi-
sphere. Persistent measurement has shown these
lines az their period OF greatest definition TO
vary from two three TO fifteen or twenty
miles in width Many OF them are 1000 or
more miles in length, the longest of them ex-
sending along the of great circle TO dis
tauce Of 3't40 miles An interesting feature of
many Of these lines Is that they double
though the duplex character is not always ap
parent, sometimes one sometimes the other.
Showing the clearer. At many places where
tn lines intersect, a round dot or specl is visi-
bic though this phenomenon is not invariable
TIL calculated diameter of the smallest OF
thase dots is about twenty-fiv miles.
These facts, thus briefly summarized, lead Mr..
Lowell TO the conclusion that Mars is a planet
much further advanced in planetary age than
To- earth, its smaller size having had tend
ency 10 accelerate its development. Its oceans
have dried UP. and its continents are now des-
ert wastes. Vegetation is generally restricted
10 the old ocean beds, which would be likely to
i. retain whatever moisture is left The clearness
, CT the atmosphere and absence of clouds point
10 there being little rain, and to the de-
pondence OF the planet for its water supply upon
the melting of the polar snow caps. The sea-
so1a changes in the lines convince the author
that these lines mark the course Of water chan
ncls leading from the polar regions to distant
and warmer points, the increasing apparent
9th of the canals being due to the growth
OF vegetation on either side of them the water
passes through at a calculated rate of 2-1 miles
an hour.
The regularity and straightness of the lines,
their convergcnce TO certain points, and the
lact that they connect the points most sug
gestive Of interconmurication' TO the observer.
are evidence 10 the author that they are not
natural phenomena. but artificial, and in their
planning and arrangement the outcome of con-
scious reasoning directed to meet the climatic
conditions Of the planet. The immensely and
universally OF the system indicate TO him a
community Of interest beyond anything known
own globe In other words. he in
these canals" the proof OF the existence in
Mars of reasonable beings capable of carrying
out Mars-wide system Of irrigation Beyond
this point il is not necessary to follow the au-
thor in this place.
To the objection that the atmosphere OF Mars
rs probably attenuated as not to exert more
than four inches of barometric pressure Mr..
Lowell brings forward his testimony as to the
probable existence of vegetable life, and argues
from analogy with earthly experience that
wherever conditions suitable for any vegeta-
bic life, they also suitable for animal life,
The two always being found side by side even
IN the arctic regions As our experience has
Demonstrated that beings accustomed to a pres
sure OF thirty inches quickly accommodate
themselves 70 pressure of only eighteen, he
holds that we are not justified in setting five
inches the limit beyond which animal life
cannot exist, especially since at time was
the atmosphere pressure on Mars likely to have
been as great as on the earth, while its diminu-
ton 70 its present thinness has doubtless been
the result Of extremely gradual loss through
ages The average temperature must be low
yet our own experience shows that cold is more
favorable 10 animal life than extreme heat
On the whole, MT. LoweIls theories are as
plausible as they are attractive. 1t is undoubt-
edly true, as he says that the earth. as civiliza-
don advances, vii tend more and more to pre-
sent aspect OF geoinetrical patterns to a dis
tznt observer. and il is easy thus to argue that
he geomeuically lined off appearance of Mars
Il the result of ancient and developed
civilization than ours, while we remember
that nothing designed by man has surpassed
IN regularity Of pattern the formation of a
crystal or the intricate perfection of symmetry
e q snowflake.