South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-11-16

OF the planet DIOuBnl ABOUT Dy us
internal cooling, and modified in de-
tails by atmospheric influences.
Owing 10 the low mean tempera-
ture of the plant, which probably
does not exceed minus 40 degrees
Fahrenheit, the water on Mars must
be frozen solid except at the surface
in summer. Around the poles a white
cap OF snow and hoar-frost is form
ed during the winter, which dissolveS
with the returning summer. In the
temperate and equatorial zones the
assures Of the crust are worn into
fat bottomed burrows by water
gathered from the surrounding
strata and occasionally from the in
terror The water, owing 10 the eff
fects of the desert climate and 10
the salts absorbed from the assures,
becomes strongly saline, and when il
evaporates deposits the salts along
the cracks in the crust, as we'll as
on the beds Of shallow lakes
I'm the vicinity Of the snow-white
polar cap, whether there be CONT
merit or sea, bodies of water occur
with solidly frozen surfaces covered
by crystals of very Microscopic
salts. When the summer warmth
returns and the polar cap is heated
the hoar-frOst evaporates and the
now comparatively humid air
spreads over the surrounding terri
tory. The ground near the edge Of
the polar snow assumes then often
a dark hue on account of the mois-
ture.
Occasionally canals and lakes
appear in the polar cap. The moist
air sweeps over the salts. which then
absorb water and dissolve into COLI
centrated solutions. New quanti-
ties of water vapOr are supplied
from the pole as they distiH over
toward the other pole, where winter
now exists. and push on toward the
equator which they finally pass. In
their course they dissolve the salts
in the depressions along the assures
and particularly at the deep cross
ings where the centers of collapse.
or the so-called oasis. are located"
When the canals freeze at the
approach OF winter they Invariably
have been observed to disa ppear in
company with the lakes, or oasis, at
their crossings. They are then all
covered by the reddish yellow dust
carried BY the wind from the sur
roundings When a canal is about
TO reappear it frequently first comes
10 sight as a dark streak, evidently
the result of moistened ferro-oxide q"
The collections OF lakes along the
cracks on Mars, which appear as
canals, a<e repeatedly filled up by
sand and dried out. They are revived
through new depressions along the
dislocation fractures, corresponding
to our earthquakes. when vapors of
water and other gases pour forth
and condense to lakes in the deep
est pockets Of the assures Canals
are therefore created rather rapidly.
sometim IS over night. and vanish oc-
casionany as suddenly"
have quoted some of Arrhenius's
suggestions verbatim in order that
the reader may see more clearly
their character. They Danish Low
ellis fascinating picture OF a drying
up world inhabited by immensely in
telIigent creatures who are striving
by gigantic engineering works TO
prolong the life Of their planet. and
in place of this they offer a more
probable representation Of a desert
world where chemical and physical
forces have uninterrupted play, pro-
ducing effects which. viewed from
the earth. bear some strange resem-