a bacteriologist to make cultures of new forms of microbes which may be involved in rendering a man incapable of estimating the value of evidence. It is the exception rather than the rule in astronomical science that one finds such unfounded and prejudiced utterances as those above commented upon. The glamour of astrology still lingers, in the public eye in its respect and awe for the astronomer's work. Every eclipse seems in the nature of a prophecy. The public contributes liberally for the support of eclipse expeditions, observatories, and the like, and these contributions would be still more liberal if the public could realize the profound significance of the researches now being carried on by Director Pickering at Harvard, Director Campbell at Lick, Director Hale at the Solar Observatory, Mount Wilson, and many others. Their observations are received without question. The thoughtful man would only ask that like credence should be given to the work of every earnest student unless disproved, even though the field of investigation covers regions hitherto but little explored, and yet of the very greatest interest to the human race. XI ATMOSPHERE AND MOISTURE _If in any planet we could detect the traces of vegetable life it would at once be a strong argument for the existence of animals there and vice versa._ HENRY DRAPER. Schiaparelli points out that "the polar snows of Mars prove in an incontrovertible manner that the planet, like the Earth, is surrounded by an atmosphere capable of transporting vapor from one place to another." Mr. E. E. Barnard, in the "Astrophysical Journal," Volume XVII, No. 4, in speaking of the polar caps, says: "There seems no definite proof that they are not as much ice and snow as that which we have to deal with in our own terrestrial winters. So much is at least suggested by the great seasonal changes they undergo from winter to summer. There seems to be a general belief now that Mars certainly has an atmosphere. This atmosphere seems to be very much less than our own, and yet it is of sufficient density to produce the phenomena of the polar caps by condensation and evaporation and also to produce, though rarely, some form of clouds." Among those who have claimed to have established the existence of water vapor in Mars by the spectroscope are Rutherford, Secchi, Huggins, Janssen, and Vogel; and these declare the existence of a Martian atmosphere similar to our own in composition. Mr. Campbell can find no spectroscopic indication of an atmosphere charged with water vapor. Lewis E. Jewell says: "The spectroscopic proof of the presence of a fair amount of water in the atmosphere of Mars must be regarded as unattainable." Professor Lowell, despite the aid the admission of water vapor in Mars would give to his position, also doubts whether the spectroscope is able to detect the evidence through our own moisture-laden atmosphere.