Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1855-03-02

and thus the vintage must have been finish
ed seven or eight days before, which is the
shortest space they allow the wine to re-
main in the vat before drawing it off, and
consequently that the vintage must have
been concluded in the last days Of Sep
tember, New Style. But, as We cannot
suppose that the grapes were gathered
before they were ripe, we must conclude
that the commencement Of the vintage
then was earlier than it is with us, which
is generally from the S,h to the 10Th of
October, nor do we ever see it begun
before the 4th. 1t must follow, then,
that the summers, two hundred years ago,
were warmer than they are at present; that
the heat Of climate diminishcs; and since
the dimunition is so sensible in two hun
dred years, it must be very considerable in
two thousand Accordingly, we read in
the 9th chapter Of the Gospel by Luke,
that our Savior's disciples, as they walked
near field of corn about Easter, that is, in
the end of March, or at the latest in the
beginning of April, rubbed the ears of
corn in their hands, that they might eat
the seed. 1t must then have been ripe at
this time, but in our days it is not nearly
So The Evangelist knew Judea and can
not be supposed to have made SO absurd
an anachronisln, if the corn had not been
generally ripe about that time.
NJ. Bushiug, in his Geography, says,
that, according to ancient accounts, Green
land in some places produced excellent
corn, which is no longer the case that in
Iceland grain can not be brought to per-
fec,ion now, but that many circumstances
shew that the ancient inhabitants cultivat-
ed corn, and that it was not till the l4th
century that they desisted.
Having thus examples that heat has d.
muished, in the cold, the temperate, and
the warm climates, we have reason to
conclude that it universally and continual
ly dminishes while on the other hand,
from the instances mentioned above, we
might conclude that cold diminishes like
wise Let US endeavor to reconcile these
| opposite conclusions.
A lear ned Mathematician, the Able
Bossut, of the Academy of Sciences, has
shown that, in the solution Of the problems
relating to the motion Of the piansts 1t is
necessary, after a cer,aiE time, - z. &C al
lowance for a small change in their mean
places, that the observations may quadrate
with the tables. 1t has therefore been
doubted, whether these slight alterations
in the mean motion be owing solely to
slight errors in the calculation, or if they
are to be attributed in part to the resist
ance of a medium through which the pla-
nets move. The Able shows by observa-
tions, that the motion Of the moon is ac-
CELEBRATED, and that this acceleration, as all
astronomers allow, is very sensible : aud
he adduces several reasons to prove that it
really is owing to the resistance Of the
ether.
This opinion has been likewise main
tanned by other learned men. In the Phil.
Trans there is a letter from Euler, in
which he proves from observation, that
the earth insensibly approaches the sun.
In the Memoirs of the Academy of Scien-
ces, NJ. de Ia Caille has ascertained the
greatest equation of the sun aud thus
he determines the length Of the year,
which he inagines is inseusibly diminish
ing. He found it in the year 1850 to
consist Of 365 days, S hours, 4o' 4O";
but we fud it longer, when we consult
ancient records. BY the observations Of
de Ia Caille, the fun's apogee is To- or
IL more advanced than in the tables of
Cassini aud HALEY; aud the epoch OF
the mean longitude Of the sun, by his
calculation, gives the suns place ii"
more advanced than the tables of Cassini,
70" more than those of Flamstead, and
Sc" more than those Of HALEY. After
these remarks, We may perhaps pay some
attention to those of Piutarch, or rather
to those of the priests ofJupiter Ammon,
who affirmed that their lamp, which was
never extinguished consumed less and less
oil every year; and therefore concluded,
that the years grew gradually shorter.
Whether this opiuion Of theirs was found.
ed on astronomical observation, or on the
diminished consumption Of their Of, it still
shows that decrease Of the solar year was
at that time suspected.
1t is from this observation that I would
account for difference in the degree Of
heat and cold at different periods. The
earth being aucieutly at greater distance
from the sun, there was less specific heat
in the ancient winters, and hence the great
cold of which old historians make mention.
But as to the summer, in which for the
same reafon the heat ought at present to
be specifically greater than formerly, and
coneaouaptlv ouoht IN ripen the fruits of