FROST ON MARS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1290, 20 November 1911, Page 5

FROST ON MARS.

PROFESSOR LOWELL'S DISCOVERY, By Telegraph—Press Association—Copjrijht (Rec. November 10, 5.."> p.m.) New' York, November IS. Profes?or I'. Lowell announces, from (bo Flagstaff Observatory in -Arizona, the discovery of frost on Mars, and odds that close observation for a fortnight affords complete proof that the old theory that tho polar caps on Mars were due to carbon dioxide is discredited.

The most widely divergent views are entertained by astronomers in regard to our neighbour planet Mars—some, liko Professor Lowell, believing tbat it is tho abode of highly intelligent beings, others, like the great English astronomer Campbell, that it is a. total waste of ice. Svante Arrhenius, tho noted Swedish physical chemist, writing in the "Deutscho Revue" recently, gavo a comprehensive insight into tho various prevailing theories and the observations upon which they are based Ho himself holds that Mars is a dead world, where life has long einco been extinct—if, indeed, it ever existed at all.

Owing to the famous observations of the Italian astronomer, Schiaparelli, as well as tho later works nf Flnmmarion (1!)02) and of Lowell ("Ma-.« as the Abode of Life," 1909), a lively intorcst has been aroused in the educated world concerning tho planet Mars. The popular opinion following these writers is that the wonderful _' canals" testify to tho existence of a highly-developed order of beings. Mars has light, air, and sunshine, says I'lammarion; it seems impossible that a world having all the requisites for life should be condemned to bo a desert waste. Evidently sentiment plays a part in the -French enthusiast's ideas. On the other hand, sober observers have pointed to the fact that the rays of the sun on Mars yield bnt 43-100 of the heat, received by the earth, so that one is well justified tn doubting whether the 60urce of all vitality is sufficiently strong on the former planet to maintain organic life. Flnmmarion presupposes that tho "canals" and the inland seas are the fruitful springs whence the inhabitants draw their sustenance; Lowell goes so far as to assume that Mars is cultivated to the very poles, while others, among them the noted French physicist Fizeau (now deceased), hold that it is a desert cf ice, where the temperature rarely rises above tho freezing point. Since tho epoch-making introduction of the spectroscope a great number of distinguished astrophysicists have made use of that instrument to discover the composition of the atmosphere of Mars, and particularly whether it contains aqueous vapour. All are agreed that the climate is that of a desert. Assuming that it corresponds to that of Salt Lake City, which may be very close to the truth, tho air is saturated at a humidity of 31 per cent., and it follows from this and other data that tho maximum temperature of the Martian midsummer may he reckoned at s.3de£. Centigrade (iljdeg, Fahrenheit). A rich vegetable life, as assumed by Lowell, seems thus out of tho question; he, however, maintains his optimistic views as to the climatic conditions. The great riddle on the surfaco of Mars is tho so-called canals. Tho popular idea strongly sustained by Lowell and Flammarion is that they are gigantic works of engineering skill which serve to irrigate tho country. This view is incompatible with the severe cold upon tho planet. According to another theory, but one scarcely known to tho general public, these "canals" arc fissures on tho surfaco of Mars.