ARE THE PLANETS INHABITED?

This is a much-disputed point! Various astronomers (Schiaparelli, Lowell, etc.) have contended that they have almost indubitable evidence that Mars is inhabited by living beings like ourselves; other equally competent astronomers assert the contrary. Certainly, none of the planets of our own solar system, with the possible exceptions of Mars and Venus, could possibly be inhabited. That is universally granted. And we have no direct evidence of any other inhabited worlds throughout space. Analogy, however, forces us to believe that, of the millions of suns blazing in the heavens, many of them must be attended by a planetary system such as ours; and if such be the case, there is no reason why life should not originate and thrive thereon as well as upon our own planet. We have, however, no means of proving or disproving this directly.

In our own system, Venus and particularly Mars offer possibilities. Venus probably always turns one face towards the sun, so that this side would be tremendously hot, while the other side would be frozen in perpetual ice. Mars is a possibility; and, as we know, great controversy has raged regarding the habitability of this planet, and as to its “Canals.” The interested reader may refer to Lowell’s “Mars as the Abode of Life,” and “Mars and Its Canals” for the affirmative, and to Maunder’s “Are the Planets Inhabited?” for the negative, side of this question.