MARS IN HIS ICY CUIRASS 107 



correspondence of color between surface and cloud 

 counts for anything, then the cloud, according to my 

 theory of a frozen -over ocean, should have consisted of 

 snow ; and the issue narrows as to whether sand or snow 

 is the likelier element to be found at an altitude of 

 fourteen miles, in a case where the atmosphere is ad- 

 mittedly rare. 



My conclusion, then, as to the character of Mars' 

 surface is: That the planet is largely enveloped by its 

 oceans, that these in turn are incrusted with ice; and 

 that whatever markings and irregularities there may be 

 thereon, whether comporting with Mr. Lowell's reported 

 observations or not, are the natural result of seasonal 

 change and tidal action. Under these conditions the 

 planet is not habitable by any but the very lowest forms 

 of life, and can never in the past have been any better 

 fitted to support life than it is today. 



