,v 7
, . I.
' THE OREGON SUNDAY - JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SlNDAY MORNING,. MARCH 6, 1910
Mi
. II w
VTRTP
itUL
Scientific Reasoning
Which Indicates That
Backbones Have No
PI
ace on
Pi
TIE ilMTIMf ABE lMD'lJi!&mM&tif-
--rV :-.s?
tne nanet -j '-'WT j0& V- iwaaF
' -l ll Mum. lnr our vrthrat hv 11
-twt;--
Jfeor, fate 9?"! KZ&rtSl
'jTarmef. from Zowefe p,ZZ.
7t - OST"perpkxing riddle of the spheres
Jwl ,s ars'
So near that it tempts, so far
that it baffles, Jhe planet has, for centuries,
teen both the hope and the despair of scien
tists.' On one thing, though, men of learning
seem to be agreed, that life, as xve know it,
would be impossible on Mars. What, then,
can the Martians be like?
Here is a student and scientist uho says
they are invertebrates, human beings in the
form of insects, maybe ants of superior pow
ers and intelligence.
i : Study ant life and you mil agree that
. thvse-xm our own planet have something like
human intelligence. How, then, are we to
eny that superior beings cannot be consti
tuted as they T
By W. Stewart Duncan
A MONO the nW8 Hems of the last day of 1909
from Boston we learned that Professor Lowell,
in hli closing: address to the astronomy and
'mathematics sections of the American Ao-
clatlon for the Advancement of Science, called atten
tion to the' discovery of new canals since the sprint;
bserratlona at Flagstaff, Arltona. The news report
Contained a graphic bit of spice to the effect that
the Martians must have been fataly "making the dirt
fly," as he was thinking the Martians might be copy
ing what we are doing at the Panama canal.
This sportive Jest, in allusion to popular ideas, was
not, however, in harmony with anything ever said
by .-Professor Lowell, nor with anything we really
know about Mars or can reasonably infer about the
character and work of the inhabitants of that planet.
For Lowell, though adontinar the word "canals" as
applied to what appears to be a scheme fo irrigating
the desert-like world of Mars, repudiates the idea
that such "canals" can correspond with what we
understand by the term in our world. First, bs
, rause, being "about a mile wide," they could not be
t imagined to be excavated that width for hundreds and
-thousands of miles in extent. Secondly, even if they
. were, they could not exhibit the blue-green color of
'advancing vegetation and autumnal tints, with Its
' (decay i (which they show), if filled with water to that
extent. Neither would the round spots where they
i.eacb. begin and end be of the same vegetation color
they exhibit if they were mere ponds or round lakes
JTor pure and simple irrigation purposes.
r . That the canals are. In part, for conveyance of
water for irrigation purposes there can be little doubt,
-but the large areas they and the round spots cover are
?o vast, and their color Is no evidently that of vege
ation, that the only reasonable conclusion Is they
f are immense' lines and fields of plant growth, and
consequently imply the existence therein, In addition
to busy lines of rapid transit, centers of population
and industry of th wonderful Inhabitants.
It has been well pointed out by Lowell that the
absence of seas, proved by non-polarization of light
from any supposed sea. Is the basal fart which ex
plains why irrigating channels have been constructed
n such a gigantic scale all over the globe to dis
tribute their apparent only source of supply of water,
nsmely, the melting polar lee caps.
, We naturally inquire here what means are at
?"the command of the Martians for so Important an
Undertaking n world-wide irrigation.
, It is well known that every rotating body Is sub
ject to centrifugal force, as Is familiar In the sparks
which dart off Ui? revolving emery wheel of a mi
' chlnist or th sandstone wheel of a scissors-grinder.
. A rotatlnr globe, it is well known, has a centnrural
f)orce increasing from poles to equator. The velocity
of the equatorial surface on Mars is shout 00 feet
per second. Gravitational velocity averages only
1 twelve feet per second, and is less at the equator,
; wing to the bulge thereat.
Mow, in the circumstances of aboenr.e of oppor
tunity to ffrrirle their canals from a higher to a lower
level, the Martians would b obliged to avail them-
, ealvte of the centrifugal force, which. In any case,
' was elxty-Kix time? jrr"ater than gravitation on the
average, but stil' greater hy proportion, owing to the
.--globe's equatorial bule lightening the weight of the
. Water as it flowed equatorward.
'.. s The shortest and most useful distance between two
'points on a spherical surface is in the curved line
n that would result from passing a plane through these
points anoVthrough the globe's center. Lowell shows
this fact has been utilized by the Martians, which he,
however, supposes is only a time-saving expedient. '
But it is alse an energy-saving device; It best utilizes'
' . t- - 1 .. ... i U , .. 1 .. 111 1 -.1.
LOIHI 11 UgCIl IVIl-C il Lilt; I UI1HJ3, Kfl n I 11 Dfl UUBB1VCII
' on Lowell's map, are oblique; hardly any canal runs
' due north and south or east and west. The excep
tional ones that do so only prove the rule.
Fine though the discriminative sense of th
Martians must be to utilize -centrifugal force as an
aid to the conveyance of water, they must know as
well as we that capillary attraction is, after all, a
greater force. ,
Kven we humble, struggling humans know that it
is capillary attraction which draws the water through
.the nooks and crannies of loose soil round the roots of
i plants, and thereafter passes up the tubular cells to
the very summits of the tallest trees. How much
vmore must the cute Martians know this when they
carry some of their canals even beyond the equator,
where centrifugal force is greatest!
t , That capillary attraction is chiefly depended on is
, proved by the fact that all the large vegetation areas
(rendered shaded on tne mnp) are widest next the
, polar ice caps, where the water, due to melting of the
latter, is greatest In quantity, while toward the
equator tnese areas converge to a point, it in over
the .driest areas of the equator and sub-equatorial
reitlon that the canals are most needed,' and. In fact,
most in evidence, especially on the northern hemi
sphere shown at the bottom of the map in accord
ance with usage by astronomers.
The aid of capillary attraction i even a speclaltv
belonging to Martian soil. The very color of Mars
to th naked eye that of red ocher bespea k? the
siinjiy, loose character of the soil. The fiuststorins in
the form of occasional orange clouds, that seen to pa.s
over the surface or through the atmosphere of. the
jiianer. ten tne same tale or openness or texture of the
' Martian isoll.
But do the forces of cSplilary attraction and
4 centrifugal force exhaust the resources of the
Martlapsfpr the conveyance of water over their dry
'world? aV miv be sure they do not
' The very necessity of conve Ins; produce from
exttnslva agricultural areas to supply the wants of
: :,vvVVr-.'r.J:)' Attri?;?-$ik ,mHt:.
. vA&Jity V W-h ' v Li H" )yt
-ii;,tte-at lis '.av i . t .
X :. ...... T :. . .'. A ; V . . .
tba inhabitants at center (round spots called oases
by Lowell) hundreds of miles apart, where the so
called canals begin and end, besides touching at inter
mediate points, lead us to believe that they must
have mechanically driven vehicles going along via
ducts parallel to their canals; and if that be a fair
inference, they would be able to use mechanical aids
to irrigation such as locomotive suction pumps
worked along viaducts side by side with their canals.
But, agAin, if this be so. we must go so far as to
assume that the Martians are able to make machinery,
and that If they can do so they must bp good smelters
and able to produce heat from combustion, or from
electricity, or from atored solar heat. We have no
means of knowing whether they have coal; hut It
is extremely unlikely they have much wood to burn, aa
vegetation so artificially supplied with water cannot
be too plentiful.
This tends to show that the source of heat and
power must be stored solar heat or electricity. Here
again, however, the scarcity of water and absence
of variety of level of the land would put abundance
of water-driven dynamos out of the question, leaving
, atorage-battery power as the chief source of energy
' for transformation into heat for ore-smelting pur-
?oses, so that machinery and tools could be manu
factured and magneto-electric machinery could be
turned to account In transporting living beings ar.d
their produce from place to plare. The greatly rx
tended summers on Mars, however (double the length
of ours), suggests the probable use of devices ta iore
the heat of the sun.
When we get this far in our reasoning, we are
prompted to inquire somewhat Into the most prob
able character of the physique of the Martians. On
this question let us not Jump all at once to the
conclusion that likeness of occupation of Martians
and men necessarily Implies close resemblance in
physique. The early disappearance of the Martian
seas, being accounted for partly by absorption and
partly by chemical union, with the superficial prev
alence of iron in the poll, was fraught with the
most momentous consequences to the future history
of life on that planet.
Vegetative life could get along pretty well in such
circumstances, so long as there was a sufficient supplv
of watery rapor, carbonic acid, oxygen and nltroaren.
Even a liberal development of invertebrate life was
possible in such circumstances, especially of those
higher forms called air breathers, of which the In
seeta in our world are the highest representatives.
But nothing approaching . to the vertebrate form
sprung. In
the lonr ruh. from flJies, where the vertebrate column
had the very best opportunity of becoming evolved.
The watery environment In which our invertebrate
forms passed on from stage to stage till they arrived
at the chordata was just such as was well calculated
to raise a rudimentary notochord to a spinal column
by affording protection to the spinal nerve centers In
the form of a spinal cord and making It a stout yet
elastic fulcrum from which bony levers could
actuated as limbs for locomotion.
The mobile water permitted of locomotion, yet,
by its comparatively heavy weight and consequent
.resistance, called Into play muscular tissue propor
tionate of the. necessities of motion under such limited
freedom.
The evolution of stranded fishes into the lunged
mudfish represented by cerstodus paved the way to
the evolution or tne ampiilMa; these again into
lizards and reptiles formed the basis of bird and
mammalian life.
No like life history, it would seem, could have been
evolved on Mars, for want of seas to give the neces
sary start.
Yet invertebrate life was clearly possible there,
and is probably the highest kind of life on that
planet.
This is a disappointing conclusion to thole only
who are unacquainted with the great intelligence to
be found in that kind of organic development. But
to those who have at least obtained a little knowl
edge of the life histories and habits of our inverte
brates, especially those of Insects, it will be pot at all
surprising.'
SOCIAL LIFE OF ANTS
Who has not heard or read something of tho
social ants, whose little brains, yet large in proportion
to their bodies, have evolved and put in practice
a system of social life that puts humanity Itself to
of life we are so well acquainted with on our planet,
and of which man himself is the highest ex
pression, was likely to have been developed on sea-
cr s Yen uanai,
shame, by Its harmonious division of labor and united
activity for the good of their commonwealth? Their
Industry, skill and resource under all kinds of dif
ficulty; their ability to connect colony with colopy
by excavated and bull.t corridors underground by
the shortest possible routes, namely, straight lines,
exactly reminds us of the skill of the canal makers
on Mars. ,
We read of farmer ants using aphides, or plant
lice, as we use cows for the production of milk; of
leaf-cutting ants who demolish the foliage of whole
trees In a skort time in order that they may store
it In their undei ground dwellings and raise crops of
fungi on Its decay to provide their community with
luxurious food. ggs of alien insects, or even their
larvae, are utilized as carnivorous diet.
The community is divided Into males and females,
but the latter who are privileged (?) to be mother
are few; the majority, being Incapable, are converted
Into workers. The workers and the soldier ants
have the biggest 4ieads, having most need for brains.
The mere fathers have small heads, because all they
have to do Is to continue the species.
Breeding from the egg Is carried out on such a
careful system that males, females and workers, as
such, are the result of a special plan of feeding by
trained nurses and regulated by social necessities.
The greatest good of the community seems tho
aim of every individual.
The same spirit of socialism seems to prevail with
the highest intelligences on Mars, for in no other wy
can we explain their world-wide system of aqueducts
and viaducts on scientific and socialistic principles.
The bodily frames of the Martians, to fulfil, the
function of lifting their own weight in locomotion,
must in slse and weight be closely related to the
specific gravity of Martian matter.
Astronomers and physicists agree that the weight
of bodies on Mars Is not more than three-eighths that
of similar bodies of the saaie "bulk on our earth.
This being so, castiron on Mars is of the lightness
of aluminum on earth. Sandstone, In like manner. Is
light as resin; water Is light as pure alcohol, and If
the Martian atmosphere were composed of tne same
kind of gases in the same proportion to one another
is here, the weigh would only be about five and a
half pounds on the square inch, instead of fifteen
pounds as with us.
Oravjtatlve attraction on Mars is, as has already
been said, only twelve feet per second, while on
earth it is thirty-two feet per second. .
Ail this clearly points to the conclusion that
Martians In proportion to men must be dwarfs or
"midgets," not weighing more than fifty to Sixty
pounds each, if even so much.
We coma now to consider their probable shape.
Animal life on our earth, whether vertebrate or
invertebrate, haa. in process of trying, errng and im
proving, ended In selecting the blsymmetrlcal type aa
the moat fit. For lnsecta and vertebrates are alike
in this respect, that their bodies are balanced on
each aide of a straight line passing from the
to the hinder end.-' We naturally conclude that I bl
symmetrlcal form Is equally the surviving type of
the Martian primates. Again, aa progress toward per
fectlon of organisation has in our world found the non
necessity of a tall-prolongation of the body, whether
among vertebrate or Invertebrate forma,- ao we may
feel safe in supposing that the Martians are as tail
less a men and ants.
But, sinoe we are seemingly shut up to the belief
that the Martians are of Invertebrate structure, so
they are more likely to be slx-llmbed than four
limbed. In this respect, indeed, invertebrates are bet
ter provided than us for active and prolonged work.
Balancing their bodies on four legs and handling
implements with the other two limbs, the ants and
other Insects are at once free toiftct and less fatigued
with the weight of their bodief than us.
But, again, the troubles of man with his large
intestine since he chose to hang it on a nail, so to
speak, while standing upright, or since he took to
doubling it up in the sitting posture of an office man
these troubles Have notoriously worried him and com
pelled the evolution of doctors and nurses to help him
out of them.
"Ill blows the wind that profits nobody."
Have the Martians steered clear of doctors and
nurses by keeping to the horizontal and four-legged
or slx-1 egged condition of monkeys and ants?
SEEM TO BE LEVEL-HEApED
The conclusion, then, seems to be that they, are
level-bodied and level-headed set of beings, given
to attending more to their own business than we are.
and only now and then amusing themselves by looking
at our conceited attitudes and foolish behavior.
On this head it seems they have occasionally tried
to attract our attention to their habits by whitening
a large area in a tropical region. Just where it cannot
be mistaken for snow and ice, and from thence sending
out a large, white arm to one of their most-Important
canals, leaving It there for a long time and then sud
denly removing it.
What was this but telling wooden-headed man that
they, the Martians, had carried out a world-wide
scheme of Irrigation and transportation we never can
imitate or approach till we lay our heads together' in
a common brotherhood and work in harmony In
stead of lighting one anotherT When we are able, to
profit by their example, we may venture to converse
with them, and have something of interest to tell
them.,
bat Would We DoWifhoutthe iViekel?
went makes a large profit on every nickel it puts in
circulation?
C
T
iHERE is one thin about a nickel that almost
every one knows if he stops to think of it,
it is so apparent: you can buy more things
which vou use in everyday life with this
coin than with another unit of currency.
But there are lots of things which the people
who pay nickels for their carfare, their shines, their
sodas,; their moving-picture ,tickets and a thousand
other little things with established prices do not
know and seldom think of. For instance, do you
' know where the metal pot its name? Do you know
what else-is in a nickel besides the metal from which
it takes its name ? Didjou kn&s that the goyerA-
ONSTAU discovered nickel as an independent
rpetal in 1751. When it was first extracted from its
ores the substance which seemed at the time tu
contain inusl ul thx m. u.- ..L.mi.m an ver unnamed.
was 'kuprer nickel," which means in Uerman goolin
copperthe goblins having a reputation among the com
mon folk for their cunning and tricktness.
This ore had the appearance of copper, but In this
was wholly deceptive; nence the name. So when nickel
was first extracted the nomen of ridicule or contempt
was transferred Irom the crude product to the pure ex
traction. Today the nickel in a good, honest coin, in no wise
tricky, aa the name implies, but so very serviceable and
useful in all our little transactions that no one would
know how to dispense with it.
Think what an annoyance it would be to pay the
baker with five pennies if you have any use for his
wa res.
Things would either have to be nought in quantities
or the prices would have to be adjusted to the coinatre.
Things that are now five cents, because it is a convenient
unit, would not be likely to drop to one cent. The dime
would probably take the nickel s place in small trade,
and the bemoaned r6ft of living would take an unprece
dented jump up the scale. i
It has not been so long since we had milk at five
cents a quart, but milk has broken the nickel 1 limits
inng Mj)tMJJaUiJiiM holds .ajuuidred other
things down to the price is convention. The slightest
excuse would prompt the dealers to raise their rates to a
dime. And if for any reason all the nickels should dis
appear for a single month, we should find ourselves pay
ing ten cents on tho subway.
There is not tho, slightest danger, however, that the
government will withdraw them. The coinage of nickels
rivals the manufacture of pennies in the United States.
Only recently Congress gave permission to several mints
outside of the one at Philadelphia to make them, but as
yet no other institution has undertaken It.
Since the year 1886 tho five-cent pieces have been
turned out of the mint in Philadelphia by tho hundreds
of thousands. Almost the same design has been in use.
with the exception of a slight addition made shortly -after
the coins wer put In circulation. The five-dollar
gold pieces were of the same size and same general
design, and they lacked the word "dollars." Also, the
five-cent piece did nojt have "cents upon It. So in
genious persons simply gilded the lesser coin and passed
them on at a royal profit. Then the word cents was
put upon them.
In the- first year of the nickel coinage, when the
silver five-cent piece had been abandoned, there were
14.742.500 of the coins put into circulation. The demand
was so great that in the following year the figures more
thsn doubled themselves.' There were 30,909,600 nickels
stamped in Philadelphia in 1867.
The number is so stupendous, when we begin to add
up total rolnagesi (hat It baffles the Imagination. It is
almost Impossible to believe that there are so many bits
of mone.v in the world, and if we did not succeed In drop
ping thousands ot then into the sea, the wells, rlvsrs,
down, cracks and into the inaccessible spots annually,
wo should probably be wandering about with leather
lined pockets to bear the weight of countless nickels.
During the year 1908 the mint turned out 23,666.177 of
the elusive but requisite pieces. For this the govern
ment probably used about 62,026 pounds of nickel and
186,078 pounds of copper. Since the genesis of the nickel
there have appeared 917,389,873 of them.
In every coin there is an alloy of three-fourths cop
per. Nickel itself is a rare metal, found In such intri
cate combination with other minerals and metals that its
extraction Is difficult. As a pure metal, it Is ductile and
plastic, but with the slightest impurity it becomes hope
lessly brittle.
This again may be remedied by mixing with It some
metal, such as magnesium, in as small a proportion as
one-eighth of 1 per cent. As it is almost impossible to
have It pure, the alloys are always useofyln nickelware,
and in the coins copper is used-In such large proportions
because it is cheap.
Tho nickel, like gold, does not tarnish or corrode, and
mixed with copper It prevents the latter metal from
corroding. A pound of nickel costs thirty-five cents and
a pound of copper about fifteen cents; so a pound of tha
alloy is worth about twenty cents. Prom this the mint
makes $4.85 worth of coinage at the cost for labor ami
power of a few mills to the pound. So. there is, in round
numbers,.. profit or 4 cents, and 7 or 8 mills on every
nickel. Therein does Uncle Sam display his Yankee
origin.
. The daily capacity of the mint is about 120,000 worth
In an eight-hour day. Until two years ago the blank
metal disks were brought from a New England firm, and
the mint's only duty was stamping them. It was later
found that to make the disks in the mint from the bars
of metal would greatly economize.
Now the whole supply is made from the bars of
allov as they come from the smelters, and the shiny
product, bearing the head of Liberty and the possibilities
of all manner of modest Joys to the people of the nation,
is circulated from its doors as rapidly as loss and tho
lnoreas of business can create a demand for It.
V
J -' '.' ,
it::.