Part 1

MARS AND ITS MYSTERY

MARS AND ITS MYSTERY

BY EDWARD S. MORSE

MEMBER NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

Author of "Japanese Homes and their Surroundings," "Glimpses of China and Chinese Homes," etc.

ILLUSTRATED

BOSTON LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY 1906

COPYRIGHT, 1906, BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY.

All rights reserved

Published October, 1906

THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A.

To PERCIVAL LOWELL WHO HAS BY HIS ENERGY AND SCIENTIFIC SPIRIT ESTABLISHED A NEW STANDARD FOR THE STUDY OF MARS THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED

PREFACE

The following pages have been written for the general reader. The controversies over the interpretation of the curious markings of Mars and the wide divergence of opinion as to their nature first turned my attention to the matter. The question of intelligence in other worlds is of perennial interest to everyone, and that question may possibly be settled by an unprejudiced study of our neighboring planet Mars. Knowing the many analogies between Mars and the Earth, we are justified in asking what conditions really exist in Mars. Instead of flouting at every attempt to interpret the various and complicated markings of its surface, we should soberly consider any rational explanation of these enigmas from the postulate that the two spheres, so near together in space, cannot be so far apart physically, and from the fact that as intelligence is broadly modifying the appearance of the surface of the Earth, a similar intelligence may also be marking the face of Mars.

A student familiar with a general knowledge of the heavens, a fair acquaintance with the surface features of the Earth, with an appreciation of the doctrine of probabilities, and capable of estimating the value of evidence, is quite as well equipped to examine and discuss the nature of the markings of Mars as the astronomer. If, furthermore, he is gifted with imagination and is free from all prejudice in the matter, he may have a slight advantage. Astronomers are probably the most exact of all students as to their facts, and in this discussion there is no attempt to introduce evidence they do not supply, as the frequent quotations from their writings will show.

Having studied Mars through nearly one presentation of the planet with the great refractor at the Lowell Observatory, what I saw with my own eyes, uninfluenced by what others saw, will be presented in a short chapter at the end of this book.

I wish to express my obligations to Professor Percival Lowell for the privileges of his observatory, for many of the illustrations in this book, and for his unbounded hospitality during my visit to Flagstaff. I am also deeply indebted to Mr. Russell Robb for valuable assistance during the preparation of the manuscript.

E. S. M.

SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS, October, 1906.

CONTENTS

Page I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. IMMEASURABLE DISTANCES OF SPACE 7 III. OTHER WORLDS INHABITED 14 IV. LOWELL'S BOOK ON MARS 31 V. TESTIMONY OF ASTRONOMERS 51 VI. THE STUDY OF PLANETARY MARKINGS 70 VII. DIFFICULTIES OF SEEING 79 VIII. VARIATION IN DRAWING 94 IX. THEORIES REGARDING THE CANALS 100 X. COMMENTS AND CRITICISM 125 XI. ATMOSPHERE AND MOISTURE 134 XII. NOTES ON IRRIGATION 141 XIII. VARIETY OF CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH LIFE EXISTS 147 XIV. MY OWN WORK 158 XV. WHAT THE MARTIANS MIGHT SAY OF US 166 XVI. SCHIAPARELLI, LOWELL, PERROTIN, THOLLON 172 XVII. LAST WORDS 180 INDEX 189

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

LOWELL'S GLOBE OF MARS Frontispiece Fig. 1. PLANISPHERE OF EARTH Page 61

PLATES

I. TOBACCO CULTIVATION UNDER CLOTH, PORTO RICO Page 50 II. DRAWINGS OF SOLAR CORONA " 96 III. CHINESE BOWL, SHOWING CRACKLE " 107 IV. MUD CRACKS ON SHORE OF ROGER'S LAKE, ARIZONA " 108 V. NATURAL LINES, CRACKS, FISSURES, ETC. " 112 VI. ARTIFICIAL LINES, RAILWAYS, STREETS, CANALS, ETC. " 113 VII. DOME OF LOWELL OBSERVATORY, FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA " 158 VIII. TWENTY-FOUR INCH TELESCOPE, LOWELL OBSERVATORY " 160 IX. DRAWINGS OF CANALS OF MARS BY THE AUTHOR " 162

PORTRAITS

GIOVANNI VIRGINIO SCHIAPARELLI Page 172 PERCIVAL LOWELL " 174 HENRI PERROTIN " 176 M. THOLLON " 178

Life not wholly unlike that on the earth may therefore exist upon Mars for anything we know to the contrary.