TO KNOW THE STARRY HEAVENS 



247 



San Francisco peaks, their lower slopes 

 clothed with hnge i)ines, which melt 

 into the stunted vegetation of the 

 higher regions, till the last frost-like 

 verdure is lost in a riotous mass of bar- 

 ren rocks capped with the jagged edges 

 of their snowy summits. 



He died looking out on this scene 

 that he so dearly loved, and it is pleas^ 

 ant to think that he will lie there sur- 

 rounded and honored by his assistants 

 who are carrying on his work. 



Here for many years Lowell and his 

 staff have accomplished a mass of 

 spectroscopic, photographic, visual and 

 mathematical work of the highest class, 

 which entitles him to a distinguished 

 place in the history of astronomy. Just 

 what that place will be undoubtedly 

 depends on how time deals with his 

 better known theories of the presence 

 of intelligent life on Mars. 



No one of good eyesight and open 

 mind, who has enjoyed the privileges 

 of a protracted study of the planet, 

 under the unique advantages enjoyed 

 at Flagstaff, can doubt the correctness 

 of the essential facts ; it is purely a 

 question of their interpretation. The 

 surface of Mars is covered with an 

 extraordinary network of singularly 

 artificial looking lines. The intensity 

 of these lines waxes and wanes in 

 periods that show remarkable relation, 

 to the melting of the winter polar snow 

 caps. The atmosphere of Mars is rare- 

 fied, but we cannot say that it is in- 

 sufffcient to support some sort of intel- 

 ligent life. The planet appears to have 

 but little water on its surface. If we 

 adopt Lowell's theory that the intelli- 

 gent inhabitants of a dying Mars are 

 struggling to keep alive by a planet 

 wide system of irrigation, from the 

 water of the melting polar snow caps, 

 we shall find that the theory accounts 

 for all the observed facts. He supposes 

 that the so-called "canals" are bands 

 of cultivated vegetation dependent on 

 some system of irrigation forced down 

 their centres. It is these bands of vege- 

 tation which we see, and not the water 

 irrigating them. Just as an observer 

 at a distance from our earth would 

 see the fertile strip of the valley of the 

 Nile stand out against the desert long 

 before he could distinguish the river. 

 Moreover, it is found that the intensifi- 



cation of the markings on any part of 

 the planet's surface takes i)lace a suffi- 

 cient time after the beginning of the 

 melting of the adjacent polar snow cap 

 to allow for the water to reach that 

 point and the crops to grow 



It is only human that such a start- 

 ling theory should meet with deter- 

 mined opposition. But since none of 

 the alternative theories offered by his 

 opponents .account for the observed 

 facts at all, it would seem that Low- 

 ell's theory deserves the serious con- 

 sideration of intelligent men. Schiapa- 

 relli himself called it "the best w^ork- 

 ing hypothesis yet devised." 



Ever since the earliest men of science 

 endeavored to prove that the earth 

 was round, humanity has bitterly re- 

 sented any discovery that has tended 

 to diminish the cosmic importance of 

 the earth or belittle man's place in the 

 universe. The objections that have 

 been brought forward to smother Low- 

 ell's theory are of precisely the same 

 character as those used in attempting 

 to stifle the work of Copernicus, Gali- 

 leo and Darwin. 



Like most men who have brought the 

 spark of genius to the correlation and 

 interpretation of phenomena, Lowell's 

 true title to fame will rest for decision 

 with a future generation. But the ever- 

 advancing hand of science is constantly 

 pushing back the veil of the unknown. 

 And some day she may place the plaus- 

 ible hypothesis that a neighboring 

 planet is inhabited within the realm of 

 ascertained fact. When that day comes, 

 Percival Lowell will take his place, 

 while the world lasts, in the foremost 

 file of the learned men of all time. — The 

 Boston Transcript. 



Stanford University is to bring out 

 a four volume illustrated flora of the 

 Pacific Coast, to contain picture and 

 discription of every flowering plant and 

 fern in the district. 



A study at the New York State Col- 

 lege of Forestry shows that although 

 New York has one of the finest climates 

 in the world for the growth of trees, 

 yet the forests of the Adirondacks are 

 producing only about a fifth or a sixth 

 of the annual lumber crops of the 

 properly managed state forests of Ger- 

 manv. 



