Evening star., 1935-01-01

as now exists in 1t. This shackled
gas is known as fossil oxygen"
Given time enough" DR.. Russell
said. this inexorable process of rock
decay might exhaust the remaining
oxygen in our atmosphere and put
an end to all that breathes. But this
danger is indefinitely remote. 1t is
billion years away anyhow, since
life has lasted that long already and
only half the oxygen has been ex-
hausted. We can look at Mars. how
ever, and see there what looks very
like the end Of this process. The red
dish color OF the planet, unique among
the heavenly bodies, is almost inevita-
BILE in a surface stained with iron
compounds. 1t has been suggested
that in the thin atmosphere of Mars
the oxidation process might be &C
celerated.
1T would be premature, however. to
conclude that Mars must be a life
less planet. The depletion of oxygen
would be very slow and plant life
could probably adjust itself. as it has
done on earth in response to far more
rapid climatic changes. Whether
animal life. if ever present, could have
survived, is speculation. A race OF
no more intelligence and engineering
skill than our own could presumably
meet the situation and survive in di-
minished numbers breathing electro
lytic oxygen-provided that it paid
any attention to changes so slow as to
be imperceptible in q thousand gen.
erations"
Venus, Dr. Russell pointed out. is
still a great puzzle to astronomers
but the evidence is accumulating that
1t has no organic life and is un-
suited for its development. Super
f1cially, it might seem an almost ideal
dwelling place. It is of about the
same size, mass and density of the
earth. and Is nearer the sun, so that
its average temperature would be con-
siderably greater. Unfortunately. its
surface is forever hidden by a thick
cloud blanket through which tele-
scopes cannot penetrate. 1t appears
to have an enormous amount of car
bon dioxide in its atmosphere.
NO "dtSE Oi NCiiuS.
The queer thing about Venus is
that it apparently has no water. Just
a few years ago most speculations
concerning the earth's sister planet
assumed that its surface might be all
ocean, and that at least it must have
oceans comparable in size to those OF
earth. Hence, it was sometimes said
the inhabitants Of Venus must be
fishes.
But the spectroscope has failed to
reveal any perceptible amount Of
water vapor. such as is certainly pres
ent on Mars, as indicated by the white
polar caps that form during the plan
cts Winter. One suggestion quoted
by DR.. Russell was that all the water
might have been absorbed by rocks
Another factor operating against the
possibility of life Is that of possible
intense heat-at least 100 degrees
centigrade-due to the planets prox-
unity to the sun and the fact that
its heavy cloud blanket prevents radi-
alton from escaping.
About once a century, DR.. Russell
said, there may be witnessed from
tllC Cdl Ill q dl6C dAAa bSoAoAA "a
phenomenon in respect to Venus. II
may appear through the telescope as
a crescent moon. or even as thin
gold ring-a sort of celestial we'd
ding ring. It is only seen when the
planet is within about degree Of the
sun and will not occur again until
nearly the end of the present CEN
tury. It's importance is that it proves
beyond doubt that Venus has some
sort of an atmosphere, since it is due
to the planets twilight.
The other planets, with the excep-
ton Of distant and Ettle-known Pluto,
were pictured by DR.. Russell as cores
of rock and metal, like the earth and
Venus, surrounded by vast shells OF
ice-frozen oceans thousands Of miles
deep-above which are atmospheres OF
a sort, made up chiefly of ammonia
and methane.
Throughout most Of these atmos-
pheres." he said, "the pressure must
be SO great that the gas is reduced to