MABRYAT 184 IffABS her own, "Her World." Among her works are: "Too Good for Him," "Wom- an Against Woman," "Confessions of Gerald Escourt," "Veronique," "Fighting the Air," "A Daughter of the Tropics." She published "Life and Letters of Cap- tain Marryat" (2 vols.) in 1872. Her later books were of a spiritualistic tend- ency. She died in London, Oct. 27, 1899. MARRYAT, FREDERICK, an English novelist and naval officer; bom in Lon- don, England, July 10, 1792. In 1806 he entered the navy as midshipman. He retired in 1830 with the rank of Captain, His first attempt in literature was made FREDERICK MARRYAT in 1829, by the publication of "Frank Mildmay." This was followed by "The King's Own," "Peter Simple," "Jacob Faithful," "Japhet in Search of a Fa- ther," "Newton Forster," "Midshipman Easy," "The Pasha of Many Tales," "The Poacher," "The Phantom Ship," "Snarley- Yow or the Dog Fiend," "Percival Keene," "Masterman Ready," "Poor Jack," and others. He died in Langham, England. Aug. 9, 1848. MARS, the Roman god of war, at an early period identified with the Greek Ares, a deity of similar attributes. Like Jupiter he was designated "father," and was regarded in particular as the father of the Roman people, Romulus and Re- mus being the fruit of his intercourse with Rhea Sylvia. Several temples at Rome were dedicated to him. His serv- ice was celebrated not only by particu- lar flamens devoted to him, but by the College of the Salii, or priests of Mars. The month of March, the first month of the Roman year, was sacred to him. As the tutelary deity of Rome he was called Quirinus, in his character as the god of war Gradivus (the striding). Ares, the Greek god of war, was the son of Zeus (Jupiter) and Hera (Juno). He is rep- resented as terrible in battle, but not as invulnerable, since he was wounded at various times by Heracles, Diomedes. and Athena. He is represented as a youthful warrior of strong frame, either naked or clothed with the chlamys. The chief seats of the worship of Ares were in Thrace and Scythia. MARS, one of the superior planets situated between the earth on the one side and the vast cluster of asteroids on the other. Its mean distance from the sun is 141,500,000 miles, and at times it is only 36,000,000 miles from the earth. It revolves around the sun a few minutes under 687 days, and rotates upon its axi^ in 24 hours, 37 minutes, 22.67 seconds. Its equatorial diameter is about 42,000 miles, its polar about 40 less. Its mass is about one-eighth that of the earth. When at its greatest distance from the earth its telescopic diameter is less than four seconds of arc. but when nearest this is increased to 24 seconds, hence the planet varies greatly in brightness. Viewed by the naked eye. Mars appears of a uniformly red and fiery tint; but looked at through a powerful telescope the ruddy color is found to be confined to certain definite areas. In 1877, Hall, of the Observatory at Washington, by the aid of the great Washington refracting telescope, discovered that Mars has two satellites. The outer moon, named Deimos, is estimated to be from 5 to 6 miles in diameter, and revolves around the planet, at a distance of 12,500 miles, in 30 hours, 18 minutes. Phobos, the in- ner moon, is but 3,700 miles from the planet, and completes its revolution around Mars in 7 hours, 39 minutes. This is much less than the period of rotation of Mars itself, and constitutes a unique fact in the solar system, which has fur- nished forcible corroboration of Darwin's theory of the tides. Certain markings on the surface, known as "Canals," have caused much speculation among astrono- mers. A certain similarity with earth conditions has created a theory that Mars might be inhabited, and serious efforts have been made, notably in 1920, to communicate with the planet by wiro* less telegraphy.
