Nov. 2, 1888.] 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



MARS AND ITS "CANALS." 



(Continued rrom p. 434.) 

 HEN Mars appeared again in opposition this year 



453 



w 



M. Perrotin had at his disposal a much more 

 powerful instrument than heretofore, an equatorial of 

 76 centimetres aperture. With this he easily saw the 

 canals, both single and double. He further detected a 

 very curious phenomenon. A small continent to which 

 Schiaparelli had given the name of Libya had disappeared, 

 and was surmised to have been overflowed by the ad- 

 jacent seas. In this conjecture there was nothing 

 irrational, since a similar occurrence had taken place in 

 1879. However, the hypothesis of the disappearance of 

 Libya is very doubtful, since M. Perrotin, in a recent 

 communication, announces that this region has reappeared, 

 with the usual light and reddish tint of the supposed 

 continents of Mars. Hence the inundation, if such took 

 place, must have been of a very temporary nature. 

 Schiaparelli also observed (figs. 1 and 2) a canal travers- 

 ing the northern polar cap. In the dazding whiteness 

 of the snowy mass there appeared a black line connect- 

 ing two seas. Nepenthes was excessively black, and 

 presented the same aspect as it did to Holden in 1875. 

 It seemed as if that snowy region which is separated 

 from the polar cap by a black line was less white and 

 brilliant than the polar cap itself. 



On May 13th Schiaparelli made the following observa- 

 tions : " Striking novelties have presented themselves 

 in the regions called Phlegra and Propontis ; with low 

 magnifying powers we see merely a series of confused 

 shadows, but on employing 500 and 650 they were re- 

 solved into a kind of curious triangulation, one side of 

 which is double. This triangulation is continued further 

 to the left. There are at least two more triangles. Their 

 apices form very distinct black spots, somewhat elonga- 

 ted in form, and the ground colour is yellowish." 



After the existence of the canals, after their gemina- 

 tion, this triangulation forms the culminating point of 

 the mysteries of Mars. What an analogy between this 

 figure and the trigonometric draughts of our geodetic 

 operations ! 



Professor Schiaparelli further adds that the lake Triton 

 had changed into a broad gulf of the Cimmerian Sea. 



The Milan 18-inch refractor further enabled the 

 observer to distinguish from each other the two margins 

 of certain canals, and to perceive their undulations. 



On June 7th Schiaparelli writes, " I have seen the 

 planet fairly well on May gth, 25th, and 27th, and much 

 better on June 2nd and 4th. I saw the prodigious images 

 which presented themselves in the field, like an exquisite 

 steel engraving, but illuminated with the magic of 

 colours. A power of 650 did not suffice for the com- 

 plete detection of details, and I regretted having had the 

 disc reduced to 12 inches in diameter. Not only have 

 I confirmed the gemination of Nepenthes and the re- 

 appearance of the lake Triton of 1877, but I have also 

 seen the Lacus Mceris reduced to a very small point. 

 Hephaestus has entirely disappeared. CEnotira is no 

 longer visible. Euphrates is double throughout its ex- 

 tent, but it is not as plain as on May 27th and 30th. 

 The two lines are slightly washed out. Callirrhoe and 

 Protonilus are two geminations, very narrow, but geo- 

 metrically perfect and very black, especially Callirrhoe. 

 These features require a magnifying power of 650 to be 

 distinctly seen. The two lines of Callirrhoe are equal, 

 but in Protonilus the upper line, though much more 



slender than the lower, is perfectly traced. The Phison 

 is double, almost like the Euphrates. Astaboras is also 

 double, but it is more visible to the left of Phison. 

 Syphonius and Orontes are single, as is also a new line 

 marked X in the drawing (see fig. 3). 



" But, perhaps, the most perplexing feature is the 

 frequent and rapid change recognised in Mars. Oxus 

 has grown much fainter, and latterly I can no longer see 

 it, whilst Indus has reappeared. Hiddekel is almost 

 invisible. Gihon is slightly clouded ; it goes towards a 

 small lake from which there issue two lines towards the 

 lake Niliacus. The changes which have occurred within 

 a month in Boreosyrtis and the surrounding regions ! 

 What a strange complexity ! What may all this signify ? 

 Evidently the planet has fixed geographical details, 

 similar to those of the earth, with gulfs, straits, etc., 

 irregular in plan. Then comes a certain moment, and 

 all this disappears, giving place to those grotesque poly- 

 gonatiors and geminations which evidently seem to form 

 an approximate representation of the previous con- 

 dition of the planet, but as if masked and almost 

 caricatured. 



" How is it, we may here ask, that no decisive obser- 



Fig. 3. — Sketch of Mars as it Appeared on May 27m, 

 1888 (after Schiaparelli). 



vations on the existence of mountains in Mars have been 

 made, or at least published ? " 



Before proceeding to the hypotheses which have 

 been propounded in explanation of these strange facts, 

 we may mention the circumstance, noted by M. Schia- 

 parelli, that the phenomenon of gemination is connected 

 with the seasons of the year of Mars, and occurs 

 especially between the spring equinox of the northern 

 hemisphere and its summer solstice. It would be im- 

 possible to say if the same state of things occurs at the 

 autumnal equinox. 



(To be continued.) 



THE SERPENT IN THE MYTHOLOGY 

 AND THE WORSHIP OF ANCIENT 

 NATIONS. 



y\R. MORITZ WINTERNITZ, who is preparing an 



exhaustive work on serpent-worship in India, has 



published a preliminary sketch of his views in the 



