784 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. V. No. 125. 



Lowell in founding an observatory in re- 

 gions where the planets can be studied 

 under the most favorable conditions, they 

 cannot lose sight of the fact that the ablest 

 and most experienced observers are liable 

 to error when they attempt to delineate the 

 features of a body 50 or 100 million miles 

 away through such a disturbing medium as 

 our atmosphere. Even on such a subject as 

 the canals of Mars doubts may still well 

 be felt. That certain markings to which 

 Schiaperelli gave the name of canals 

 exist, few will question. But it may be 

 questioned whether these markings are the 

 fine sharp uniform lines found on Schi- 

 aparelli's map and delineated in Mr. 

 IjowcU's beautiful book. It is certainly 

 curious that Barnard at Mount Hamilton, 

 with the most powerful instrument and 

 under the most favorable circumstances, 

 does not see these markings as canals. 



I can only mention among the problems 

 of the spectroscope the elegant and re- 

 markable solution of the mystery surround- 

 ing the rings of Saturn, which has been ef- 

 fected by Keeler at Alleghenj^ That these 

 rings could not be solid has long been a 

 conclusion of the laws of mechanics, but 

 Keeler was the first to show that they 

 must consist of separate particles, because 

 the inner portions revolve more rapidly 

 than the outer. The question of the atmos- 

 phere of Mars has also received an impor- 

 tant advance by the work of Campbell at 

 Mount Hamilton. Although it is not proved 

 that Mars has no atmosphere, for the ex- 

 istence of some atmosphere can scarcely be 

 doubted, yet the Mt. Hamilton astronomer 

 seems to have shown, with great conclusive- 

 ness, that it ia so rare as not to produce 

 any sensible absorption of the solar rays. 



I have left an important subject for the 

 close. It belongs entirely to the older as- 

 tronomy, and it is one with which I am 

 glad to say this observatory is expected to 

 especially concern itself. I refer to the 



question of the variation of latitudes, that 

 singular phenomenon scarcely suspected 

 ten years ago, but brought out by observa- 

 tions in Germany during the past eight 

 years, and reduced to law with such bril- 

 liant success by our own Chandler. The 

 north pole is not a fixed point on the earth's 

 surface, but moves around in rather an 

 irregular way. True, the motion is small ; 

 a circle of sixty feet in diameter will in- 

 clude the pole in its widest range. This is 

 a very small matter so far as the interests 

 of daily life are concerned. But it is very 

 important to the astronomer. It is not 

 simply a motion of the pole of the earth, 

 but a wabbling of the solid earth itself. 

 No one knows what conclusions of impor- 

 tance to our race may yet follow from a 

 study of the stupendous forces necessary to 

 produce even this slight motion. 



The director of this new observatory has 

 already distinguished himself in the deli- 

 cate and diificult work of investigating this 

 motion, and I am glad to know that he is 

 continuing the work here with one of the 

 finest instruments ever used in it, a splen- 

 did product of American mechanical genius. 

 I can assure you that astronomers the world 

 over will look with the greatest interest for 

 Professor Doolittle's success in the arduous 

 task he has undertaken. 



There is one question connected with 

 these studies of the universe on which I 

 have not touched, and which is, neverthe- 

 less, of transcendent interest. What sort 

 of life, spiritual and intellectual, exists in 

 distant worlds ? We cannot for a moment 

 suppose that our own little planet is the 

 only one throughout the whole universe on 

 which may be found the fruits of civilization, 

 warm firesides, friendship, the desire to 

 penetrate the mysteries of creation. And 

 yet, this question is not to-day a problem 

 of astronomy, nor can we see any pros- 

 pect that it ever will be, for the simple 

 reason that science afibrds us no hope of 



