CONSIDERATIONS ON THE PHYSICAL APPEARANCE 



OF THE PLANET MARS. 



By E. M. ANTONIADI, F.R.A.S. 



In the year 1877, our knowledge of the markings 

 which variegate the surface of Mars was in a very 

 satisfactory condition. A series of excellent 

 observations by Dawes, Lockyer, Lassell, Kaiser, 

 Burton, Green, and others, had disclosed the true 

 natural structure of the spots on that planet. The 



From a />Iiot<>graph 



by t lie. Writer 



Figure 183. View of the Great Dome of the 33-inch 



Refractor at Meudon. 



Height of the ground above sea level, 533 feet. 



question thus appeared definitely settled, when it 

 was troubled by the Italian astronomer Schiaparelli,* 

 who announced that linear objects, to which he gave 

 the name of channels, or canals, were furrowing the 

 so-called continental regions of our neighbour in 

 space. During the apparitions of Mars following 

 the year 1877, the Milan observer continued and 

 extended his discoveries ; his later maps seemed 

 practically covered with spider's webs ; while the 

 zeal and discernment of his followers could number 

 no less than one thousand different canals on the 

 yellow or grey expanses of the planet. 



Gigantic watercourses, mostly running along 

 great circles of the sphere, and, consequently, 

 appearing straight near the centre of the disc, 

 continued to look straight in Italy even when 

 nearing the limb of Mars. A geometrical cross of 

 canals in the land called Hellas was seen attended 

 with four symmetrical bright specks of light, re- 

 calling somehow to memory the In hoc signo vinces 

 of the emperor Constantine. Canals, scores of 

 miles wide, and hundreds of miles long, were 

 observed in a few days, or even hours, to double, 

 cither by the formation of a parallel band, or by the 

 disappearance of the original canal, and by the 

 formation of two new parallel streaks separated by 

 hundreds of miles. Nor were hesitations in these 



doublings neglected to be put on record, since canals 

 were seen to be alternately single and double on the 

 same night. 



To account for these wonderful phenomena, the 

 vast powers of Nature were found totally inadequate ; 

 and thus it was that Schiaparelli was led to 

 enunciate the idea of the artificial origin of the 

 canals, conceiving the larger of them to be composed 

 of six different watercourses, whose dykes would 

 be opened now and then by the Martian minister of 

 agriculture. 



Speculations of such a character were eagerly 

 embraced by M. Flammarion and other popular 

 Continental writers. Yet it is to be regretted that 

 the originator of this artificial theory, and his 

 imitators, have failed to do the utmost with their 

 cherished idea. For, inasmuch as the canals 

 appear straight about the central meridian, and 

 also when carried by rotation near the limb, it is 

 obvious that the Martian engineers would be con- 

 stantly engaged in rapidly digging and destroying 

 their watercourses, so as to make them look always 

 straight to the observers on the Earth. 



It is to the credit of British science that the 

 results of Schiaparelli were, from the very onset, 

 strongly controverted by English astronomers. In 

 1879 Green boldly questioned the reality of these 

 canals. In 1882 Mr. Maunder and Mr. (now Sir) 

 William H. M. Christie rightly insisted on the 

 error of Schiaparelli in using too high powers. 

 But the honour of first recognising the true 

 nature of the minor detail of the planet is due 

 to Mr. W. F. Denning, who announced, as far 

 back as 1886, that the continents of Mars show 



Figure 184. The Laestrygon. Figure 185. The Jamuna. 

 1806, June 12. 1894, August 27. 



Single and double Canals of Mars, as glimpsed for a quarter 

 second by the Writer. 



here and there some irregular streaks, presenting 

 frequent interruptions and condensations. As is wont 



This view of the discovery of the canals was given by Mr. Maunder, in " Knowledge " for 1894, p. 249. 



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