In regard to its famous canals we are no nearer
agreement. Some maintain that the markings are not really an
objective feature; some hold that they are due to volcanic
activity, and that similar markings are found on the moon; some
believe that they are due to clouds; while Professor Lowell and
others stoutly adhere to the familiar view that they are
artificial canals, or the strips of vegetation along such canals.
The question of the actual habitation of Mars is still open. We
can say only that there is strong evidence of its possession of
the conditions of life in some degree, and that living things,
even on the earth, display a remarkable power of adaptation to
widely differing conditions.
Passing over the 700 planetoids, which circulate between Mars and
Jupiter, and for which we may account either by the absence of
one large nucleus in that part of the nebulous stream or by the
disturbing influence of Jupiter, we come to the largest planet of
the system. Here we find a surprising confirmation of the theory
of planetary development which we are following. Three hundred
times heavier than the earth (or more than a trillion tons in
weight), yet a thousand times less in volume than the sun,
Jupiter ought, if our theory is correct, to be still red-hot.
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