August 21, 1896,] 



SCIENCE. 



231 



length of its propodus is 13^ inches; the girth 

 just proximal to dactyl is 16 J inches. The pro- 

 podus of cutting claw is somewhat smaller ; 

 length 12f inches, girth 12\ inches. 



The pleon is 11 inches in length, and the 

 girth of tergum of second segment — spine to 

 spine — is 8f inches. 



Apparently this specimen is larger than the 

 one described by Herrick, if we consider only 

 the length. This is due to the perfect rostral 

 spine, which was broken in the Boothbay speci- 

 men. If we take the length from base of ros- 

 trum to tip of telson — a fair measurement to 

 give an idea of bulk — we find the Block Island 

 specimen is 19 inches, while the one from Booth- 

 bay is 19i inches. 



By taking the average of the differences in 

 measurements of the two specimens, I find that 

 the one described by Herrick is larger by about 

 six per cent. 



While therefore this specimen is not the 

 largest on record, its perfect condition warrants 

 its description, as it so nearly approaches the 

 maximum in size of the American lobster so far 

 authentically reported. F. C. Waite. 



Haevaed Univeesity, August 1, 1896. 



SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE. 

 Mars. By Percival Lowell. Boston: Hough- 

 ton, Miflain & Co. 1895. 8°. Pp. 228 + 

 viii ; xxiv illustrations. 



I am pleased to comply with the Editor's re- 

 quest for a review of Mr. Lowell's interesting 

 book. 



The reviewer of a work on organic evolution 

 would find it difficult to avoid mentioning Dar- 

 win. Schiaparelli holds a similar place in the 

 literature of Mars. An intelligent criticism of 

 any recent book on Mars must consist largely 

 of a review of Schiaparelli' s observations and 

 ideas. Of his predecessors it will be well to 

 mention, for the benefit of non-astronomical 

 readers, the following : (a) Galileo (1610), who 

 discovered the phases of the planet, thereby 

 proving that its light, though very red, is really 

 reflected sunlight; (6) Huyghens (1659), who 

 first observed marking on the surface ; (c) Cas- 

 sini (1666), who determined the length of the 

 Martian day, and discovered the white polar 

 caps ; (d) Sir William Herschel (1783), who ob- 



served the waxing and waning of the polar caps 

 with the seasons ; (e) Beer and Maedler, who 

 published the first map on the planet's surface 

 features, and discovered at least three of the 

 so-called canals ; (/) Dawes (1864), whose draw- 

 ings show a dozen of the canals ; and {g) Hall 

 (1877), who discovered the two satellites. 



Schiaparelli' s work extends continuously 

 from 1877 on. It is impossible to do justice to his 

 labors in this article. He extended our knowl- 

 edge of the planet enormously in nearly every 

 line — in reference to the polar caps, the so-called 

 seas and continents, but especially in reference 

 to the so-called canals, their appearance and 

 disappearance, their doubling, etc. His entire 

 work bears the impress of a scientific spirit par 

 excellence. His observations cover the period 

 1877-92, but his technical results are comprised 

 in a few papers, and a dozen 8vo. pages suffice 

 for a masterly popular exposition of his general 

 results. His brief papers contain at least the 

 suggestion of all the theories recently exploited 

 by popular writers, though he was not con- 

 cerned with establishing a theory, but rather 

 with ascertaining facts. 



Schiaparelli' s remarkable observations of the 

 network of straight canals and their doubling 

 were questioned for years, but the confirmation 

 they finally received at Nice and elsewhere 

 largely removed the doubt. 



Mr. Lowell's book on Mars is based upon the 

 Flagstaff, Arizona, observations made by him- 

 self between May 31 and November 20, 1894, 

 and by Prof. W. H. Pickering and Mr. A. E. 

 Douglass between May, 1894, and April, 1895. 

 Mr. Lowell delivered a lecture under the 

 auspices of the Boston Scientific Society, on 

 May 22, 1894, in which he is reported {Boston 

 Commonwealth for May 24, 1894,) to have an- 

 nounced that his observatory — not yet com- 

 pleted — was for the purpose of making ' ' an in- 

 vestigation into the conditions of life in other 

 worlds, including last, but not least their habit- 

 ability by beings like or unlike man. This is 

 not the chimerical search some may suppose. 

 On the contrary, there is strong reason to be- 

 lieve that we are on the eve of pretty definite 

 discovery in the matter." 



Speaking of Schiaparelli's canals on Mars, 

 Mr. Lowell is reported to have said in his lee- 



