LIFE ON MARS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 156, 4 July 1931, Page 10 (Supplement)

LIFE ON MARS.

At one time it was believed that Mars was covered by a network of canals, but the camera fails to show any trace of them, though certain markings change in shape and colour at different times of the year. It is almost certain that these are great patches of forests or of some other vegetation (writes a contributor in "Tit-Bits"). And if the'markings are due to vegetation there must be insects on Mars. The majority ol flowers and trees depend upon insects for their fertilisation. And once we that there are insects we must go farther. Unless Nature provided a means of keeping insects in check,_ plants would rapidly be wiped out, for insects, which feed upon them, increase with enormous rapidity. Nature's way oi preserving the balance is to provide insects with suitable enemies which prevent them from increasing too rapidly. These are birds, lizards, anteaters, and other creatures. Whether there is anything like human life on Mars we cannot say, but we may feel fairly certain that plant, insect, and animal life exist upon our neighbour.