In one respect the dreams of our ancestors have not proved true, namely, with reference to the habitability of the other globes in our solar system. According to the great Kant, conditions on the wandering stars outside of the Earth’s orbit were so favourable to life that their inhabitants ought to have reached a far higher development than beings on the Earth. The last remnant of this conception lives in the speculations about the marvellously proficient engineers who built the magnificent system of giant canals on Mars. A thorough critique has demonstrated that any other planet in our solar system hardly can offer an abode for higher beings, except this very Earth, which therefore justly may be called “the best of worlds” among those that we know. And yet, it was undoubtedly a great truth that Giordano Bruno gave his life for, because it is highly probable, nay almost certain, that around the countless suns which dot the firmament spin dark bodies, although unfortunately our most powerful lenses do not reveal them. A number of these unseen stellar bodies shelter living beings, which even might have climbed to a higher point on the ladder of evolution than have the inhabitants of the Earth. [Illustration: Fig. 17. Map of the planet Mars in Mercator’s projection according to drawing by Schiaparelli. A comparison with the drawing by Antoniadi (Fig. 17a) suggests that Schiaparelli has made a somewhat diagrammatic picture, which sets forth a very great number of strictly straight “canals.” ] [Illustration: Fig. 17a. Map of the planet Mars in Mercator’s projection, drawn in 1909 by E. M. Antoniadi. Explanations: Meredies = south; Oriens = east; Occidens = west; Septentrio = north; Nix = snow. Abbreviations: M = Mare, sea; S = Sinus, bay; Fr = Fretum, channel; L = Lacus, lake; Fl = Flumen, river; R = Regio, region; I = Insula, island; Pr = Promontorium, cape. ] _A Selection from the Catalogue of_ G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS ❧ Complete Catalogue sent on application The Essence of Astronomy Things Every One Should Know About the Sun, Moon and Stars By Edward W. Price _12mo. Fully Illustrated. Price $1.50. By mail, $1.65_ Here is a volume quite different from the usual “popular book on astronomy.” It answers in untechnical language the every-day questions of every-day people, the material being so arranged that it is readily available for quick reference use, as well as for interesting consecutive reading. An individual chapter is devoted to each member of the Solar System. Special space is given to “Freaks and Oddities of the Skies.” The illustrations are from photographs taken at the great observatories. The drawings of Mars are the most recent published, being made by Professor Lowell in January of this year. The chronological table and annotated bibliography are of real value.