Los Angeles herald., 1907-01-15


More remarkable discoveries concern
ing Mars and its gigantic canal system
are expected to be made when the "op-
position" of that wonderful planet oc-
ours on July 1S next. On the day of
Opposition" Mars will come within
s5,000,000 miles of the earth, the near
est approach on record. and already
elaborate preparations are making in
the scientific world for observations
and photographs which, by their re-
cordings, shall definitely decide, II is
hoped, the vexed problem of the habit
ability of Mars.
Professor Percival Lowell, the distin-
guished astronomer, who has done
much to carry on the work of Schiapa-
relli, the original discoverer of the So
called Marian canals, and the first
scientist to set up the theory of habi-
tation, Will make many observations
from the Lowell observatory at Flag
staff, Ariz., while both the telescope
and camera will be extensively em-
ployed at the Harvard observatory
in Peru. owing to the calm and clear
character of the atmospherical condi-
tions obtaining at that season of the
year in Arizona, the situation of the
Lowell observatory is peculiarly adapt
ed to the obtaining of satisfactory re-
suits I'm Martian observations, and 1t is
no reflection on the Harvard instltu-
tion in Peru to say that the world of
science looks especially to the Lowell
observatory for information tending to
substantiate or destroy the habitation
theory when the Opposition" takes
place.
Professor Lowell is an ardent sup
porter of the theory. He has written a
l. 10
Millans, in which he sets forth num-
Der of comparatively new discoveries
in regard to Mars, discusses the canal
system and proceeds to prove, to his
own satisfaction at least that any
theory regarding the plant which does
not involve habitation is preposterous.
Quite as interesting as his canal and
habitation arguments, in the opinion or
eminent scientists, is the startling
proposition advanced in the volume
that Mars is a planetary prophecy OF
what the earth is eventually destined
to become. Professor Lowell doesn't
attempt to say how long 1t will take
for the earth to assume the aspect or
Mars, but, if his theory is correct, 1t Is
only question of time when the ter
restial globe we now inhabit Will run
dry of streams. rivers and lakes and
be left dependent for it's water supply
on whatever it may be possible to draw
through vast canals from the ice caps
surrounding the poles. In that light the
Panama canal may be regarded as the
advance agent of the gigantic canal
system with which 1t will ultimately
be necessary to cobweb the earth.
1t was in 1877 that Schiaparelli first
discovered the so-called Martian canal
system. For years the discovery was
ridiculed, and even at the present time
the number of astronomical schools by
which the canal theory is accepted are
comparatively few. In 1905, however,
Professor Lowell, who is an astronomer
of independent means. operating a pri-
vate observatory, succeeded in making
observations and photographs which
resulted in convincing many scientists
that the canal theory was not so absurd
as it had been held to be. From these
observations Professor Lowell has
plotted several hundred canals on the
planet and has produced globe giving
a very excellent and comparatively ex-
act reproduction of the topography of
Mars.
Mars, 1t appears, is about one-seventh
the size of the earth. It's seasons cor
respond to the terrestrial seasons, only
that the Martian spring, summer, au-
tumn and winter are twice as long as
the four seasons we of the earth know
or did know until WITHIN the last two
years. 1t is a planet. according to Pro-
fessor Lowell's observations, absolute
ly waterless. 1t has no seas, no lakes,
no rivers no springs. Water on Mars
is to be found only in a frozen form in
the great ice caps which hood the
poles.
Recent photographs seem to show
that the planet is divided into blue and
brown areas, which indicate the pres
ence, or absence. of vegetation, and
which vary relatively in size with the
change of seasons. In winter, for ex-
ample. the photographs show that the
brown area is so extended as to en-
velop nearly the entire planet. This
is scientifically interpreted to mean an
almost total absence of vegetation. the
temporary metamorphosis of the planet
into a gigantic desert. 212, 900, 900 square