Page:The Music of the Spheres.djvu/278

 vance of spring the white caps begin to recede and a dark band appears around the edge. The water thus formed then flows away from the poles over the flat, dry surface, collects in the greenish areas (which are probably marshes) and from there is led into the canals. These canals do not begin to appear until the snows begin to melt and are always in the same position each season. The land is then moistened with water, the process starting near or around the melting polar caps and gradually moving down toward the equator. This water takes about 55 days to reach the equator, vegetation springing up along the way. At the end of the season, the fresh green withers and dies down. The spots, or oases, always connected by a canal to the rest of the dark area, appear and disappear, like the canals, with seasonal changes. These start faint in tone as large as they are to be, then darken throughout.

Since the vivifying water advanced from the south pole toward the equator and also toward the equator from the north pole, Lowell concluded that it must have some propelling force behind it, at least in one direction. This presupposes the directing influence of an intelligence.

Accepting the theory that Mars is inhabited by intelligent beings, it is presumed that the water resulting from the melting of the snow caps is consciously controlled and turned over certain designated portions of its surface, otherwise the tremendous floods "would prove more of a curse than blessing." The picture is one of a high order of intelligent beings realizing that their water is gradually disappearing and that their planet is rapidly becoming a desert, and who are struggling heroically to prolong its life. There are many objections to this theory, but at least it is an interesting hypothesis presented by a noted astronomer who possessed a splendid telescope erected in the clear air of Arizona, and who spent his life in a study of this planet.