With due mental reservation as to their meaning, I have adopted Schiaparelli's names, and, where it has been necessary to name newly discovered canals, have conformed as closely as possible to his general scheme. If, even in an instance or two, I have hit upon names that are incomprehensible, I shall feel that I have not disgraced my illustrious predecessor. For a brand new thing no name is so good as one whose meaning nobody knows, except one that has no meaning at all. In that case the name not only is becoming but actually becomes the thing.

These names will be found affixed to their respective canals in the map at the end of the book, a map made upon what is called Mercator's projection. Mercator's projection I take to have been primarily an invention of the devil, although commonly credited to Mercator. It is not simple to construct and for popular purposes is eminently deceitful. It is intended for those at sea, whom we pray for on Sundays. It is certainly calculated to put any one entirely at sea who attempts to learn geography by means of it. Its object is to enable such as wish to do so to sail upon rhumb lines, a rhumb line upon a sphere being one which never changes its direction,--one, for example, which runs perpetually northeast one quarter east, or south half west. These lines, important in navigation, are in reality diminishing corkscrew-like spirals, but on this projection become straight lines which can be instantly laid down by rule and compass. To make such delineation possible it is necessary to distort the proportions of every part of the map, in increasing divergence toward the poles, with the lamentable result that in early life we all believed Nova Zembla to be a place as big as South America. Nevertheless Mercator's projection has certain advantages not so obvious to the uninitiated, nor requiring special mention here. In this connection it is only necessary to warn the reader, in the case of a geography with which he is not familiar, like that of Mars, to remember that the top and bottom of the map are drawn upon a scale three or four times as large as the middle; and, furthermore, that it is a consequence of Mercator's projection that arcs of great circles appear upon it, not as straight lines, but as curves always more or less concave to the equator. For relative size of the various features, he will find the twelve views from the globe accurate; but for the impressiveness of the great circle character of the canals, nothing short of a globe itself will give him adequate realization.

The map represents that part of the planet lying between latitudes 70 degrees south and about 40 degrees north. The south circumpolar regions will be found in the chart of the south pole facing page 84. The northern ones were not presented to view at the last opposition, owing to the tilt toward us of the Martian south pole. No canals, therefore, north of about 40 degrees north latitude were visible.

The list of the canals detected at Flagstaff is as follows :

 Name No. of drawings 
 ---------- in which it
appears. 
 Acalandrus 19 
 Acampsis 7 
 Acesines 19 
 Achana 1 
 Achates 9 
 Achelous 20 
 Acheron 11 
Acis 14 
 Aeolus 13 
 Aesis 23 
 Aethiops 16 
 Agathodaemon 127 
 Alpheus 4 (Sus. 3) 
 Ambrosia 36 
 Amenthes
26 
 Amphrysus 1 
 Amystis 15 
 Anapus 7 
 Antaeus 2 (Sus. 1) 
 Anubis 9 
 Araxes 93 (Sus. 1) 
 Arges
2 
 Arosis 8 
 Arsanias 1 
 Artanes 9 
 Asopus 5 
 Astaboras 7 
 Astapus 29 
 Atax 8 (Sus. 1) 
 Athesis 16 
Avernus 14 
 Avus 8 
 Axius 9 
 Axon 2 
 Bactrus 2 (Sus. 1) 
 Baetis 3 
 Bathys 69 
 Bautis 0 (Sus. 1) 
 Belus
3 
 Boreas 11 
 Boreosyrtis 4 
 Brontes 38 
 Caicus 8 
 Cambyses 34 
 Cantabras 7 
 Carpis 3 
 Casuentus 21 
Catarrhactes 3 
 Cayster 3 
 Centrites 27 
 Cephissus 35 
 Cerberus 44 (Sus. 1) 
 Cestrus 2 
 Chaboras 4 
Chretes 14 
 Chrysas 6 
 Chrysorrhoas 18 
 Cinyphus 14 
 Clitumnus 7 
 Clodianus 1 
 Cophen 5 
 Coprates
41 
 Corax 33 
 Cyaneus 6 
 Cyrus 3 
 Daemon 118 
 Daix 2 (Sus. 1) 
 Daradax 6 
 Dardanus 15 
 Dargamanes
20 
 Deuteronilus 11 
 Digentia 2 
 Dosaron 10 
 Drahonus 5 
 Elison 3 
 Eosphorus 56 (Sus. 3) 
 Erannoboas
17 
 Erebus 21 (Sus. 1) 
 Erinaeus 16 
 Erymanthus 21 
 Erynnis 3 (Sus. 1) 
 Eulaeus 1 
 Eumenides 103 
Eunostos 12 
 Euphrates 36 
 Eurymedon 3 
 Eurypus 9 
 Evenus 9 
 Fortunae 10 
 Gaesus 2 
 Galaesus
6 
 Galaxias 28 
 Ganges 82 
 Ganymede 19 
 Garrhuenus 12 
 Gehon 11 
 Gigas 60 (Sus. 2) 
 Glaucus 2 
Gorgon 33 
 Gyes 15 
 Hades 22 
 Halys 4 
 Harpasus 2 
 Hebe 37 
 Helisson 12 
 Heratemis 4 
 Herculis
Columnae 5 
 Hiddekel 18 
 Hipparis 19 
 Hippus 13 
 Hyctanis 4 
 Hydaspes 1 
 Hydraotes 23 
 Hydriacus
1 
 Hylias 7 
 Hyllus 14 
 Hyphasis 7 (Sus. 3) 
 Hypsas 6 
 Hyscus 13 
 Indus 10 
 Iris 7 
 Isis 5 
 Jamuna 39 
Jaxartes 23 
 Labotas 8 
 Laestrygon 41 
 Leontes 2 
 Lethes 19 
 Liris 13 
 Maeander 6 
 Magon 2 
 Malva
8 
 Margus 1 
 Medus 2 
 Medusa 24 
 Mogrus 2 
 Nectar 87 
 Neda 2 
 Nepenthes 21 
 Nereides 8 
 Nestus
5 
 Neudrus 10 
 Nilokeras 16 
 Nilosyrtis 21 
 Nilus 6 
 Nymphaeus 4 
 Oceanus 37 
 Ochus 3 
 Opharus 13 
Orcus 35 
 Orontes 33 
 Orosines 29 
 Oxus 11 
 Pactolus 11 
 Padargus 5 
 Palamnus 9 
 Parcae 19 (Sus.