448 



AM TURE 



[September S, 1892 



again for the most part, so that the appearance of the dis- 

 trict was intermediate between that which it recently pre- 

 sented and that under which it was seen in 1886. Of the 

 channels M. Perrotin has noticed four, three of which are 

 double, which, starting from the " seas " of the southern 

 hemisphere near the equator, and following a nearly 

 meridional course, extend right up to the north polar ice 

 cap, being traceable across the " seas " which immediately 

 surround the latter. 



Although Schiaparelli, as it will have been seen, con- 

 nects the changes in the channels with the seasons of 

 Mars, and although Perrotin and Thollon show their 

 relation to the seas in their vicinity, other explanations of 

 the phenomena have been suggested. Among these we 

 must first refer to the view of Fizeau,^ that we were in 

 presence of the results of glaciation on a tremendous 

 scale, the parallel ridges being likened to crevasses or 

 rectilinear fissures ! It was imagined by him that relatively 

 longer seasons and a lower temperature were capable of 

 producing crevasses some thousands of miles long and 

 hundreds broad. 



But this was not the only physiographic explanation 

 offered. Mayeul Lamey, a Benedictine monk, ascribed 

 the channels to volcanic action ; to him they were the 

 remains of enormous crater walls, and he states that 

 they are best seen when Mars reaches its most gibbous 

 form and the angle of the incident light is greatest. 



" Le plus souvent les astronomes se bornent a observer 

 Mars vers I'^poque de son opposition, c'est-a-dire de sa 

 plus grande proximite de la terre ; c'est, pensent-ils, le 

 meilleur moyen de voir bien et de prfes les ' mers ' de 

 Mars. Si ces taches dtaient des mers la raisonnement 

 serait excellent, mais il n'en est pas ainsi. M. Schiapa- 

 relli a ddja fait la remarque que les canaux d^couverts 

 par lui ont ^t^ observes non au voisinage de I'opposition 

 mais un mois, deux mois apr&s. Et pourtant la planfete 

 est alors bien eloignde d^jh. de nous. Pour moi, je con- 

 state dgalement le meme fait ; je d^couvre tous les soirs 

 un nombre de cirques de plus en plus considerable. La 

 raison en est bien simple, du moment que les taches sont 

 des ombres, ou du moins des parties refl^chissant moins 

 lu lumiere. A I'dpoque de I'opposition, en effet, les rayons 

 solaires tombent a peu pres perpendiculairement sur la 

 surface de la plan^te ; Mars ne poss^de alors pas de 

 phase, tandis qu'un mois avant ou apres, la phase est 

 tres accentuee et les ombres deviennent possibles avec 

 les elevations du sol." ^ 



Another attempted explanation was that the channels 

 were doubled in consequence of some play of diffraction. 

 But enough has been said on this head ; let us rather 

 turn to the first fruits of last month's work. 



At the Lick Observatory the channels were seen, and 

 one of them was considered by three observers to be 

 doubled. 



From Peru we learn that Prof. Pickering saw many of 

 the channels observed by Schiaparelli, but all were found 

 to be single. The telegram adds, " not double, as stated 

 by him " ; but here is an error. We are near the southern 

 solstice, as in 1877, and they were «^/seen double at that 

 epoch. But even this is comparatively uninteresting 

 after the revelations as to the effects of the melting 

 snows. 



Prof. Pickering discovered two mountain ranges in 

 Mars to the north of the green patch near the planet's 

 south pole. Between these mountain ranges the melted 

 snow has collected before flowing northward. In the 

 equatorial mountain regions snow fell, covering two of 

 the summits, on August 5. On August 7 the snow had 

 melted. " I have seen eleven lakes," the professor writes, 

 " varying in size. These lakes branched out in dark lines 

 connecting them with two large dark areas like seas, but 



I Comptes Rendus, June, 1888. 



^ " Note sur la Decouverte du Systeme- Geologique Kniptif de la planete 

 Mars." Par Fr. Mayeul Lamay, O.S.B. Autun. (Dejussien, 1834.) 



not blue. There has been much local disturbance in the 

 clouds round the planet since the snow melted, as is 

 evident from the dense clouds which were concentrated 

 within one area. These clouds were not while, but yel- 

 lowish in colour, and partly transparent. They now seem 

 to be breaking up, but are still hanging densely on the 

 south side of the mountain range. The northern green 

 spot has been photographed." 



Surely we have here the connection between the work 

 of 1862 and 1877. The channels are true water channels ; 

 at one time at low channel we may have an unimportant 

 stream like the low Nile; at another an ancient river-bed. 

 as it were, is filled to the utmost limit by the inundation. 

 One requires to have seen an Indian river, or better still, 

 the Nile valley to realize what an inundation may mean, 

 and especially under the conditions which have now been 

 established to exist on Mars. But we may go further. A 

 comparison of Schiaparelli's sketch of 1882 with his 

 map of 1879, helps "s considerably, and shows that we 

 must take the effect of clouds over warm water into con- 

 sideration. Two among the most undoubted and con- 

 tinuous water-surfaces which I observed in 1862, which 

 he has named Mare Cimmerium and Sabasus Sinus, were 

 doubled also in 1882, and in my mind there is no doubt 

 whatever that this doubling, at all events, is due to cloud 

 banks lying, or rather travelling longitudinally, along the 

 centre of the water-surface, precisely as the most magni- 

 ficent cumuli which I have seen on this planet, follow the 

 Equatorial current, entering the Carribean Sea by Tobago. 

 Obviously, by their lightness of shade, the channels are 

 shallow, and they are only noticed in or near the tropics, 

 so that the water must be highly heated before it empties 

 itself into any of the southern seas. 



Certainly it must be acknowledged that while the reve- 

 lations show a remarkable similarity to our own atmo- 

 sphere, so far as chemical structure and temperature are 

 concerned, for the onus probandi lies with those who 

 deny that we are dealing with the various forms of water, 

 it would appear that the extremes of heat and cold are 

 more generally operative in Mars than with us. The 

 problem thus presented to us should prove interesting to 

 the geologist. Was there any period in the earth's past 

 history, or can there be in the future, which more re- 

 sembles the present Martian conditions ? Had we these 

 enormous inundations, chiefly caused by polar snows 

 melting ? If not, were we sheltered from them by our more 

 circular orbit and shorter year ? Is Mars red because it is 

 muddy ? If so, what mud could give it the tinge we know ? 

 J. Norman Lockyer. 



NOTES. 



For some days much anxiety was felt as to the condition of 

 Sir Richard Owen. We are glad to say that his health has 

 greatly improved, and that he is now able to take more nourish- 

 ment. 



The four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America 

 is being celebrated this week with great splendour at Genoa. 

 The King and Queen of Italy are taking part in the celebration, 

 and the maritime Powers are represented by a fine assemblage 

 of warships. 



A Botanical Congress, which is attended by some of the 

 most eminent botanists of Berlin, Paris, Jena, and St. Peters- 

 burg, was opened at the University of Genoa on September 5. 



An interesting ceremony took place at the University of 

 Genoa on Tuesday, when the Hanbury Institute was formally 

 handed over to that body. The correspondent of the Times at 

 Genoa says that Mr. Thomas Hanbury, an English gentleman, 

 whose house at La Martola, near Ventimiglia, is well known to 

 visitors to the Riviera, had already won the gratitude of Italians 



NO. I 193, VOL. 46] 



