Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-02-10
LIFE ON THE PLANET VENUS.
Scientist Thinks Earth's Neishbor
Nav Teen, With Monsters.

Scientist Thinks Earth's Neishbor
May Teem With Monsters.
That the planet Venus, the near
est of the earth's celestial sisters, may
be populated by millions Of huge pre-
historic monsters and lizards, such as
roamed the earth 100000 years ago.
is the astounding assertion which has
just been put forward by Prof. Will
liam H. Pickering, of the Harvard
University astronomical department.
Prof Pickering's statement comes
as Complementary to the startling an
inouncement made by Prof Thomas
Jefferson Jackson See, Of the United
States navy observatory at Mare Is
land. Cal, who recently has given out
word that intelligent creatures, such
as might be called human" now
populate Venus.
Prof. Pickering, keenly alert to all
assertions Of this nature, particularly
when coming from one Of the most
authoritative of Uncle Sans star
gazers, Is doubly interested from the
fact that for a number Of years he
has been gathering observations which
lead him to a belief in the life" the
ory upon Venus.
Already the astronomers Of the
world are beginning to ask after CEN
turtles of baffled investigation whether
the mystery among the planets Is
about to be- solved.
Has Prof. See finally pierced the
belt of atmosphere that surrounds this
nearby world like pail? What sort
of Intelligent creatures" has he
found? Is there a chance that COM
lmunication can be established with
them, the plan for which was set forth
by Prof. William Pickering, as was
proposed in the case Of the planet
Mars a little more than year ago?
Prof. Pickering offers the opinion
\ that Venus may be the scene To-Day
1 of the life the earth knew far back In
the Pleistocene and earlier periods,
before the advent Of man. In other
words, the cloud banks that have shut
off hitherto the gaze Of human astron-
omers, may conceal the vision OF
planet of interminable steaming
swamps, in which welter and wallow
great reptilian creatures Of the kind
whose fossils are dug up today
thousands of feet below the surface
| Of the earth.
/ This theory has been held tentative
ly by Prof Pickering for many years,
and, therefore, he Is all the more In
terested by the news that Prof. See
has found the higher forms Of life on
the mysterious planet. AS to the pos
sibility of this Prof. Pickering says:
Certainly there are many physical
reasons for thinking that IL any other
planet besides the earth Is Inhabited
1t is probably Venus.
| 1T Is about the same size as the
earth, and its density is about the
same. The force Of gravity upon It's
surface is only slightly less than that
of the earth. 1t has been esti-
mated that roughly speaking, the
gravity Of Venus as compared with
| that Of the earth is as 85 to 100. We
feel reasonably sure that at the plan
cts surface the atmosphere Is many
times that Of our own.
| "Venus Is the nearest to US Of the
| planets, being about 30,000,0O0 miles
away, but we have experienced diff
Guilty in studying 1t as closely as
Mars.
when Venus is nearest the earth
the planet lies between US and the sun.
When Mars is nearest us 1t Is oppo-
site the sun, and Is, therefore, easily
observed. Another and even greater
impediment to observation OF venus
/ is that she Is always cloud-wrapped.
| This has prevented us from making
many observations that we would like,
and as far as we have noted here at
Harvard we have distinguished only
slightly larger markings that were
evidently on the wrapping OF
the planet.
| Fort this reason I cannot express
| any opinion on Prof Sees announce
ment of his belief in the existence OF
| life there until he gives out the op-
servation that led him to the conclu-
sion.
| "The clouds and dense atmosphere
prevent, or have prevented, anything
| like the close observation that has
been made OF Mars. OF course, when
everything is taken into considera-
| ton, Venus does seem more capable
Of supporting life than any other
planet except the earth. What that
| life is, however, Is quite another ques-
ton, eliminating for the time Prof.
Sees theory, which may be based on
observations such as l cannot at
tempt to guess.
| "Temperature of Venus Is prob
ably the same as in our own tropics,
and the dense atmosphere may be or
a. composition such as enveloped the
| earth in the carboniferous period. 1t
/ has been said, and with what appears
| to be good reason, that the SURFACE
Of Venus Is today mostly water, per-
haps swamps, or perhaps all water.
That would account for the clouds
| otroncnharn for VanllS
| receives about twice as much solar
| heat and light as does the earth, ana
the supposition Is that on Venus one
would find steaming swamps
| I'm other words, Venus Is much
Younger than the earth, and Is today
passing through one Of the many pc
| riods that are recorded In our geologic
strata. II the geological development
| or evolution of Venus Is thus follow
ing that Of the earth 1t is a most In
teresting speculation whether the bio
logical development is progressing in
| the same way.
| 1T has been said that there Is no
proof that any two planets upon
reaching the same stage geologically
would necessarily have the same sort
Of atmosphere and so the atmosphere
Of Venus may be of such a compost
ton that whatever life there Is there
resembles nothing that ever was on
the earth.
"As to the existence of intelligent
life, the question is still open until
we hear more definitely from Prof.
See. He may have observed markings
that he Is certain are made on the
surface of the planet and not merely
upon the outer wrapping Of clouds,
and he may feel convinced that these
markings indicate the presence of in
telligent beings
prof. Lowell. at his Flagstaff OBJ
servatory, some time ago noted lines
radiating from the central spot like
the hub and spokes of a wheel, but
he did not think they resembled the
Martian markings, or canals. They
did not indicate artificial origin.
IF 1t is ever established that the
planet Venus is inhabited 1t will be
less surprising than II the same were
proved conclusively Of any other
planet, owing to the similarity in
many respects Of Venus and the
earth. h."-Boston Post.