270 
EARTH’S FUTURE 
before the volcanic upheaval, a mighty cone far higher than it is 
now, and that since the crater formed it has been cut down to its 
present height, and that it is still lowering. 
This opens up a vista in the far-distant future that, to our 
minds, denotes death to the world and all upon it. The picture is 
not as awe-inspiring as it seems. The sea-beds will be the last to 
become desert, vegetation will still flourish there when the con¬ 
tinents as.we now know them will be parched, bare and lifeless. 
Mars, as we see it now, has reached this stage in its history; 
what were once continents, lapped by inland seas, now are deserts; 
the seas themselves now tracts of verdure, full of life as yet, as is 
evidenced by the changes seen occurring there. Its surface is 
comparatively even, a height of two or three thousand feet above 
the surrounding regions could be detected with the telescope — 
either as a projection on the terminator of the planet, or from the 
shadows cast by the rising or setting sun. Nothing of the sort 
is visible. ( 
What mountains there may have been on Mars have long since 
been eroded, and the lack of water to the extent of that known on 
Earth has been no obstacle; since the smallness of the planet, its 
internal energy and contraction through cooling, has all contributed 
to lesser altitudes in any mountain chains or folds in the Martian 
crust that may have appeared. 
Erosion is seemingly a preparation for this geologic era that all 
planets must at some time in their history pass through. Mars 
would today be in sorry plight if its surface were as rugged as 
that of the Earth. As the seas dry up, so it seems does the 
atmosphere of a planet. What were once- plains watered by 
copious rains now are deserts; the rains ceasing not only on these 
areas but over the whole surface of the planet as well. How then 
does moisture reach the vegetation which we know exists in the 
dead sea-bottoms? 
An interesting fact comes on the horns of this dilemma and, as 
we see it on Mars at least, smooths out what once was rough. In 
the ordering of Nature, since life came upon the Earth, fauna and 
flora have been inseparable. From the time of their differentia¬ 
tion evolution in the two groups has progressed side by side — 
and it seems that evolution is ever upward despite the talk of some 
people of “devolution.” 
