THE WORLD OF MARS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 736, 8 April 1910, Page 3

THE WORLD OF MARS.

, CONDITIONS OF LIFE ON THE , PLANET. Once more'interest is given to tho speculations of astronomers as to. the possibility or Mars being the homo of •'intelligent beings" by the statement thai Professor Percival Lowell has detected another canal on tho» planet. The brief announcement does not carry the problem any nearer solution (says the •'Scotsman'.'), and, whilo - any fresh knowledge which that deep student .of the stars may communicate, to his' fcllow:scientists- will always be welcomed by them, tho latest news does not.point to a more ready acceptance of his theory of the canals;in Mars than have his,earlier contributions.

In the words of an eminent astronomer to whom the' telegram from Arizona was communicated, -the:; .conclusion's at which Professor Lowell has arrived aro "highly speculative," and seemingly they aro endorsed by very few, well-known astronomers. Indeed, it may be said that, taking tho whole.of tho astronomers of the -first rank;: you have .on this Martian question Professor Lowell on one side and all the other eminent men on the other. ,Tho latter are sceptics. They," do . riot. say tlio

whole of tho evidence is against Professor Lowell, but that there is no sufficient proof that'ho is right! In an extremely interesting paper which, Mr. -Maunder contributed to the "Jourlial- of'."the'-British -AstronomicalAssociation," that, gentleman' says that not'only does the earth heat Mars in size,.but'is infinitely bettor off in climatic conditions. Tho man who. attributes ,his dose of influenza to tho'vagaries of 'our climate may thaidc his stars he is not a Martian. Hero a difference of 20 deg. of temperature in a day gives the Britisher a desiro to seek some other quarter of this terrestrial globe, but. in the world of Mars a change of anything approaching loOdeg. would appear to be an everyday occurrence. The inhabitant of Mars must possess a constitution which even an Arctic explorer would envy. Mr. Maunder considers that the picture which is presented to us of even the tropical region of Mars is not an inviting one. • "It is that of a night colder than is known in any part.of the'earth;' so cold that wo may well suppose all bodies of water are frozen to their very bottom; the atmosphere thinner by far than we experience at tho top of our highest mountains, or even than Coxwell and Glaisher experienced in their record balloon ascent; followed by a day in which the temperature rises to that of our own tropics, and at which water freely passes-into vapour." Tho mean temperature of Mars resembles that suggested by places on the earth like' Archangel!' If they have a Regent Street in one of the populous centres of the planet, one can conjure up tho vision of an emporium in which the fair dames may, in tho same show-

room, purchase diaphanous attire for sunlight wear ami heavy furs for the theatre. '