The Columbia evening Missourian., 1922-06-19

polar SHOWS by a complicated system OF
irrigation beyond the power OF earthly
engineers to construct.
There is now an international Organi-
zaiion for the study Of Mars. The As
sociated Observers Of Mars" who are
as enthusiastic in their cause as The
Friends Of the Medallion" or The
Friends Of Russian Freedom" Pro-
fessor W. H. Pickering Of Mandville,
Jamaica, the director Of the association
calls upon amateur as well as Rrofes-
sional astronomers to make drawings OF
the markings on Mars during the month
Of June in order to settle the question
Of its climate and fcivilization.
QUESTIONED By ASTRONOMERS
For the elaborate scheme Of double
and single canals, Of oases at their
junction. of arctic ice caps, snowstorms
and green fields, which has developed
under the leadership Of Schiaparelli,
Lowell and Pickering, is questioned by
many astronomers, including some OF the
best.
The 4O-inch lens Of the Yerkes tele-
scope and the 60-inch mirror Of the
Mount Wilson telescope fail 10 reveal
,ny such details as are drawn by the
devoted disciples of Mars. The best
photographs show nothing more than
few vague dark spots and streaks.
Probably most astronomers would not
go so far as Director W. W. Campbell
Of the Lick Observatory who says, al
most certainly there is vegetable life
on Mars. although it is mot actually
proved" and that some form Of animal
life is probable.
WATER Is SCARCE
The atmosphere is very thin. Mars
probably has less than a quarter as
much air per acre as the earth and,
even this may not contain oxygen nee
essary for life. Water is scarce. No
clouds are observed.
The water vapor in the atmosphere /!
of Mars, if there is any, is less than
One-ffth the minute amount which ex-
lists in earthly air on a cold clear win |
ter night on a mountain top. The gilt |
tering white caps which form at the |
poles of the planet at certain seasons |
and disappear at others may be compos-
ed of crystals of frozen carbon dioxide, |
instead OF ice or hoar frost. But if it
is carbon dioxide, the polar regions at |
least must be uninhabitable for it melts |
at 100 degrees below zero.
Since Mars is farther away from the
sun than the earth it receives less than
half as much solar heat and since it
has less atmosphere, it holds less of the |
heat it gets. Its mean annual tempera-
ture is thought TO be between forty and |
sixty degrees below zero though in GER
tain parts and certain seasons the sur
face may get very hot.
FINE FOR THE FAT MAN
Living on Mars would be something
like living on a high mountain above |
the clouds where the air is dry, rarefed |
anu toiu Dui tucTc WOulQ De
for a fat man, for he |
would lose weight without fasting and
feel frisky. Transported to Mars a two
hundred pound man would weigh only
eighty pounds since gravity on Mars is
only four-tenths as strong as on the
earth.
Wells was doubtless right in suppos-
ing in his War Of Worlds" that the
Martians. if there we're any, would be
at least as unlike us as are the devil
fish. And he was also safe in assum-
ing that if the Martians and we got TO-
gether there would be fight.
But man is so constituted that he
would rather wage perpetual warfare
with hosts of other planets than to
know that he was living alone in an
illimitable universe.