<f206r.P.10;W> during the opposition of a great light was seen on -
<f206r.P.11;W> the illuminated part of the disk first at the lick observatory -
<f206r.P.12;W> then by perrotin of nice and then by other observers english -
<f206r.P.13;W> readers heard of it first in the issue of nature dated august -
<f206r.P.14;W> i am inclined to think that this blaze may have been the -
<f206r.P.15;W> casting of the huge gun in the vast pit sunk into their planet -
<f206r.P.16;W> from which their shots were fired at us peculiar markings as -
<f206r.P.17;W> yet unexplained were seen near the site of that outbreak -
<f206r.P.18;W> during the next two oppositions =
<f206r.P.19;W> the storm burst upon us six years ago now as mars -
<f206r.P.20;W> approached opposition lavelle of java set the wires of the -
<f206r.P.21;W> astronomical exchange palpitating with the amazing intelli -
<f206r.P.22;W> gence of a huge outbreak of incandescent gas upon the planet -
<f206r.P.23;W> it had occurred towards midnight of the twelfth and the -
<f206r.P.24;W> spectroscope to which he had at once resorted indicated a -
<f206r.P.25;W> mass of flaming gas chiefly hydrogen moving with an -
<f206r.P.26;W> enormous velocity towards this earth this jet of fire had -
<f206r.P.27;W> become invisible about a quarter past twelve he compared -
<f206r.P.28;W> it to a colossal puff of flame suddenly and violently squirted -
<f206r.P.29;W> out of the planet as flaming gases rushed out of a gun =
<f206r.P.30;W> a singularly appropriate phrase it proved yet the next day -
<f206r.P.31;W> there was nothing of this in the papers except a little note in -
<f206r.P.32;W> the daily telegraph and the world went in ignorance of one -
<f206r.P.33;W> of the gravest dangers that ever threatened the human race -
<f206r.P.34;W> i might not have heard of the eruption at all had i not met -
<f206r.P.35;W> ogilvy the wellknown astronomer at ottershaw he was -
<f206r.P.36;W> immensely excited at the news and in the excess of his feel -
<f206r.P.37;W> ings invited me up to take a turn with him that night in a -
<f206r.P.38;W> scrutiny of the red planet =