The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1916-02-15
l-e-..-- .TcIence Monthly

lines which he christened canal. and
which have since been a bone of con
tention among astronomers. Later he
also saw his canals" double, very cur
iously, until they looked like parallel
railway something which has
not been satisfactorily explained to
this day. Now that Mars is about to
approach the earth again, a number of
observations, headed by Prof. w. II.
Pickering, of Harvard, are to add
their opinions to the dozens which
have been delivered in past years, all
without materially affecting the validi-
ty of Schiaperelli's work
Although Mars can never approach
us nearer than 95,0OO,0OO miles (Which
is much nearer than il will approach
in February, we know more about it's
surface markings, in some respects,
than we know about our own earth. If
the earth were viewed as we view
Mars the only evidence of human
handiwork that we could see would be
the extensive grain fields of Canada
and the United States. Of natural phe-
nomena we would note the melting of
the Himalayan and Rocky Mountain
SHOWS and the consequent flourishing
of vegetation; the great caps of snow
that cover the poles; the continents
and oceans, and the clouds that girdle
the earth If Maritan were asked to
fathom the mystery of a planet of
which he knew only these things, we
would hardly expect him to form a
very accurate conception of our ami
NAL and plant life or even of our geo.
graphical and physical conditions.
Far simple is the task of the earth
ly astronomer who studies Mars. The
planet is never obscured. No clouds,
no wells of mist can dim the view; for
the Martian atmosphere is ever dry,
rare and severe, except around the
melting caps. A weather prophet
would have nothing to do on Mars.
There is no weather-only the chang
es of the seasons.
Soon after the telescope was invent
ed and used for astronomical observa-
ton it was discovered that there is
snow on Mars. During each Martian
wanter great white caps settle down
ON the poles; during each spring and
summer they dwindle and disappear.
In the dead of winter these white ex-
panses may measure 1890 miles in ex-
tent.
Besides the snow, astronomers long
ago discovered that there are curious
blue-green and russet areas on the
planet. At time when astronomy was
not as advanced as it is now, the blue
green areas were supposed to be seas
and the russell expansion continents,
! with the result that both were chris
tened with picturesque but inapt
names drawn from classical mytholo-
gy.
Some years after Schiaperelli dis
covered the famous, canals of Mars,
Prof. Percival Lowell established at
Flagstaff, Ariz., an observatory
equipped with the best instruments
obtainabie for the special study of
Mars. He has gathered about him a
corps of observers, who have become
wonderfully skilled in refined Marian
! observation; he has the advantage of
viewing the planet in an atmosphere
unsurpassed for clearness; he has
made his observatory the fountain
head of all important Martian discov-
cries. To him we owe our remarkably
detailed knowledge of the planets sur
face markings.
It was Prof. Lowell who not only
confirmed Schlaperelli's discoveries of
the canals, but who plotted them ac-
curately year after year and added to
them until now their number is 1888.
1t is he who originated and for more
than 20 years has developed the the
ory that the canals are all that their
name implies-artificial waterways
constructed by intelligent beings. Per,
haps it is because he has so persistent
ly heaped one piece of evidence upon
another to prove his theories that
there is any Mars controversy at all.
His opponents would probably be more
inclined to accept the existence of the
canals if he had not interpreted the
markings of Mars In the way that
seemed most natural and simple to
him. It is certain that they accept
without question the markings of 9TH
er planets, plotted under the same con-
ditions.
The significance of the canals is ap-
parent when it Is considered that no
where on Mars is there any water ex-
cept at the poles. Ages older than the
earth, Mars has arrived at pitiful
condition which may best be described
as deadly aridity. Long ago much of
the fertile area of the planet shriveled
to an immense desert. Oceans, seas