, then, its
situation was scarcely less favourable than in 1877. The low altitude of
the planet, however, practically neutralised this advantage for northern
observers, and public expectation, which had been raised to the highest
pitch by the announcements of sensation-mongers, was somewhat
disappointed at the "meagreness" of the news authentically received from
Mars. Valuable series of observations were, nevertheless, made at Lick
and Arequipa; and they unite in testifying to the genuine prevalence of
surface-variability, especially in certain regions of intermediate tint,
and perhaps of the "crude consistence" of "boggy Syrtes, neither sea,
nor good dry land." Professor Holden insisted on the "enormous
difficulties in the way of completely explaining the recorded phenomena
by terrestrial analogies";[1005] Mr. W. H. Pickering spoke of
"conspicuous and startling changes." They, however, merely overlaid, and
partially disguised, a general stability. Among the novelties detected
by Mr. Pickering were a number of "lakes," or "oases" (in Lowell's
phraseology), under the aspect of black dots at the junctions of two or
more canals;[1006] and he, no less than the Lick astronomers and M.
Perrotin at Nice,[1007] observed brilliant clouds projecting beyond the
terminator, or above the limb, while carried round by the planet's
rotation. They seemed to float at an altitude of at least twenty miles,
or about four times the height of terrestrial cirrus; but this was not
wonderful, considering the low power of gravity acting upon them. Great
capital was made in the journalistic interest out of these imaginary
signals from intelligent Martians, desirous of opening communications
with (to them) problematical terrestrial beings. Similar effects had,
however, been seen before by Mr. Knobel in 1873, by M. Terby in 1888,
and at the Lick Observatory in 1890; and they were discerned again with
particular distinctness by Professor Hussey at Lick, August 27,
1896.[1008]

The first photograph of Mars was taken by Gould at Cordoba in 1879.
Little real service in planetary delineation has, it is true, been so
far rendered by the art, yet one achievement must be recorded to its
credit. A set of photographs obtained by Mr. W. H. Pickering on Wilson's
Peak, California, April 9, 1890, showed the southern polar cap of Mars
as of moderate dimensions, but with a large dim adjacent area.
Twenty-four hours later, on a corresponding set, the dim area was
b