PERCIVAL LOWELL. 847 



investigation of the probable internal constitution of the planet, 

 deduced from the relation of the position of the divisions of the rings 

 to the satellites. 



His work and theories on Mars are most widely known. His 

 observations on that planet have accumulated an amount of data 

 greatly in excess of the total results of all other observers combined. 

 If the theory, which he deduces from this data, that Mars is inhab- 

 ited, seems fanciful to many, it should at least be borne in mind that 

 it is deduced from observed facts by logical reasoning. Furthermore, 

 no other satisfactory explanation of the facts have ever been offered. 

 His theory would doubtlessly have made much more headway in the 

 scientific world, had it been less dogmatically presented. 



The publications of the Observatory up to the time of Lowell's 

 death include fully 2,100 quarto pages and 2,500 octavo pages. He 

 was besides prolific in more popular works, the chief of which were; 

 " Mars " (1895) : " The Solar System " (1903) : " Mars and its Canals " 

 (1906): "Mars as the Abode of Life" (1909): "The Evolution of 

 Life" (1909): "The Genesis of the Planets" (1916). 



Lowell died suddenly of apoplexy at his Observatory on November 

 12, 1916, shortly after a most successful lecture tour in the West. 

 He lies, fittingly, close to the dome of his telescope. His entire 

 fortune, with a certain life interest for his wife, was left to maintain 

 the Lowell Observatory^ as a separate institution. It is thought that 

 its income will eventually be at least twice that of the Harvard Obser- 

 vatory. 



G. R. Agassiz. 



