240 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1956 



would be such things as towns, cities, and perhaps some of the larger 

 canals. Unless observations were conducted during their actual con- 

 struction, it would be very difficult to decide whether the Panama and 

 Suez canals were natural or artificial. We know that these canals are 

 partly natural, in the existing lakes, and partly artificial, in the 

 cuttings executed by man; but without this knowledge, an observer 

 on another world could not decide. We are in the same position as 

 the imaginary observer, the canals came into being before telescopes 

 were invented. Although Lowell thought that he detected a few new 

 canals in previously undisturbed parts of the surface, this has not been 

 confirmed by others, and all the canals have an unknown antiquity. 

 Even if Lowell's theory should be proved, it might still be found that 

 the artificial portions are extensions and adaptations of previously 

 existing natural features. The majority if not all of the markings on 

 Mars are natural features; and although they may seem strange to 

 us, owing to their unfamiliarity, they are the logical result of the con- 

 ditions prevailing on the planet, in exactly the same manner that crater 

 mountains are the natural result of the forces which molded the lunar 

 surface. On any planet the works of its inhabitants must be mere 

 superficial scars in comparison with the operations of Nature — unless 

 the inhabitants deliberately adopt a policy of self-destruction, to 

 which rational beings are naturally averse. 



Time enters into the discussion, although it is generally overlooked. 

 The present era is one of life-bearing for the earth, but on Mars might 

 be quite different. For all we can tell, the greatest life-bearing era on 

 Mars may now be long past ; on the other hand, it way still lie in the 

 future. The present desertlike appearance of Mars suggests that it is 

 more likely that maximum life existed in the past than that it should 

 still lie in the future. It looks as though the life which still exists on 

 Mars is but a feeble reflection of what once existed. Mars may well 

 prove to be a world in its old age and approaching extinction, for 

 owing to its small size it would run through its stages of planetary 

 evolution more rapidly than the earth. 



The favorable opposition of Mars in 1924 was observed by profes- 

 sionals and amateurs alike. At the Jungfrau Observatory, in the 

 Alps, at an altitude of 11,600 feet, Professor Schaerer noted that the 

 canal Tartarus and part of the Mare Cimmerium were cloud covered. 

 According to some press reports, light flashes were also seen, appar- 

 ently of the same nature as lightning. At the Yerkes Observatory the 

 two moons "shone like chips of star dust." At this opposition the first 

 attempts were made to "listen in to Mars." A 24-valve wireless set 

 was set up in Dulwich Village, and it was stated that strange signals 

 were picked up in the early morning which were very clear and re- 

 sembled dots in the Morse code, arranged in groups of four and five. 



