The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-06-27
DR. SAYRE TALKS ON SOLAR SYSTEM DevoteS Most of His Address
 to Mars EXHIBITS SOME VIEWS Superintendent Carlton B. Evans Dis cusses "The History of Education
 In the Middle Ages at the
 Summer School.
 
EXHIBITS SOME VIEWS

University, June 26.-(Special.) .)-Last night in Clark hall, pr. Herbert A. Sayre, for a number of years professor of phys ics and astronomy in the university fac ulty, and lately elected to the chair of mathematics. delivered thoroughly en- tertaining and instructive lecture on, "The Planet Mars Although Dr. Sayre had for his subject single planet, instead of confining his remarks to that alone he gave his hearers a pretty good idea of the entire solar system. By means of numerous well-selected lantern slides and clear explanations the speaker made what might have been a dark subject to lay audience very clear and interest ing.
 Dr. Sayre began by showing views of the Yerkes ovservatory and the great tel escope within to illustrate what kind of tools the man who studies the heavens works with. Then followed charts show ing the comparative size of the planets, their orbits and the amount of light re- ceived by each from the sun. After speaking briefly of the other planets, pr. Sayre turned his attention to Mars and CABidIi0u lllt NdIlOuS bl6OiiSS liihI iieiNC been advanced in regard to the phenom- ena which the planet exhibits. He said that the surface of the planet appeared to be of a reddish color in some places and of d blueish green in others. If the green is water, as some have supposed, then Mars has about half as much water upon it's surface as the earth. But it is probable that this is vegetation and not water.
 In describing the general conditions on Mars, Dr. Sayre said that the atmosphere is thin, there are a few clouds, the air Is rarer than on our highest. mountains, the land is mostly desert, and except in the polar regions in winter, rain never falls. But these conditions do not nec- essarily signify that life cannot exist. By means of numerous slides. Dr. Sayre explained the so-called canals of Mars. What we see in reality seems to be the vegetation along the waterways, instead of the waterways themselves. These canals are of uniform width and extend from the polar caps towards the equator. During the Martian spring seasons, when the polar caps begin to melt, the water runs down the ducts, and, contrary to our notural laws, the verdure first makes it's appearance near the poles. Concerning the signalling between the earth and Mars, Dr. Sayre made clear the absur- dity of such things being accomplished. He closed with some very interesting pho- tographs of the moon and remarks upon the conditions existing there.
 This morning at 10:30 Superintendent Carlton B. Evans delivered the fifth of his talks upon educational subjects, his topic being, "'rhe History of Education in the Middle Ages" During the course of the forty-five minutes allotted to him the speaker presented a large amount of in- formation in a very pleasing manner. After touching On the Greek and Roman culture. MT. Evsns talked of the infu- ence of Christianity on the education If the world. After the great lake of Ro- man culture broke and fertilized all lands, the world settled down into the dark ages. When the early Christians had repudiated Greek and Roman ideals, the world settled down to think over tOllllHuidi anu bt'Sf7 pline. For thousand years there was no intellectual element; men were merely trying to live rightly and the world was finding itself.
 MT. Evans next took up the rise of the monasteries and showed how the monks, scattered all over the world, in preserv- ing the old traditions became the links of chain connecting the ancient and modern times Here the speaker gave a very interesting picture of the life with in and without the monastery. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries came the Saracens, who brought with them the Arabic system of notation and much scientific knowledge.
 Under this impulse 1000 students gath cred at Bologna, in Italy, and a few years later 10000 came together in Paris to lis- ten to theological discussions. Then fol- lowed the founding of the universities or Oxford, Cambridge, Prague, Leipsic, Hei- delberg and Freiberg. During the latter part of the fifteenth century the awaken ing of the world began, and the new in- tellectual life of the world had its birth in the place where the old had died.
 roday the enrolment of the summer school reached and passed the 300 mark. Though this figure is still below the en- rollment of the first and second sessions, when many Tuscaloosa people took sum mer work largely for the novelty Of the thing there are more teachers present than there have ever been before. Another gratifying feature Is the fact that there are more students applying for first grade certificates than for second and tnird combined.