Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1858-03-06
THE GAZETTE.
SATURDAY MORNING, hAnCE Z, 1905
The TIDES

HE llUES-
Many persons still seen to th mh'h per
nl.xsd with the phcoomens o. The tides
They cannot understand why they "Fe "'-H''
al one time than another, nvr "ny they F'Se
to the height ui siXty feet IN the bay % an
DIV. forty lee, in tie portsot Bristol h"Si"'u'
49,, =, Nal, France, aud only r,se to
g.. foo, IN height III New York aud other
nIa.es u lille they are scarcely percepuDie In
the B.luo and other seas. D,eoartes was
the brst philosopher who ADVANCED the thee
~ that the tides were due TO the irsuence
of the moon, tut Ne.tou wa the hrst who
worked out tie problem, and discovered tue
true cause. ID .rcartes believed that the
muun u. ted on the waters Vt the o"ean by
pressure; Newton demonstrated that II acttu
upon the vosaD by sttrac lou; that lasteau OF
pressing tue waters, 1t rolled tnem up drec.'
iy uuder il, and also at It's sutipodes nc
the same time thus pr, ducing the t"o i'aes
every day. Tue tides are caused 10y tue a.
trsci,uu of both the moon aud the SUI. IL
this earth bad nO moon, the attract u Z! Tue
sun wouli produce two tides very day. but
,b-,r epb and Fl W would take place al tne
same b ,urs regularly, not varylns IL thy o.
NN>'
III IN tnose vi tue moon. A though the III s.
OF tue sun is far greater tnan tiat vi the
moon. and although attraction Is In pr"p r
iion u The mass, yet II Is also irveiseit Is
ihe u o uithe dlsttncp. Astho sur, th'rs-
10 Q, ,s or bunGrei tunes Ia tier iiNtant
III q the uu III, the at rac.I'D vi tue "i'ers
Of the sea towards The suu rs lnu"o u ue
sb.ut three tiu,es les than thdtot tue mon !;
the tides produced 10y tie sun would or :
fore b. three I'm, ie,e thant use / The IA"
Taer are 70 liz two ocean Tues, tie M"ir
and splar, but tn Latter Is ah-ore'd ~ L"e
furne " ,icn i wh lily ob,erSabie III RESPECT
70 time the solar only Us it influences the
h, ipit vi tue TIDAL wave That Caused the
moon IT, three times greater than tbat ut tue
sun. and IL follows the moons Id rtlon around
the earth, rising and falling every twelve
hours, aud each succeeding tide later ty
three Quarters OF an hour than the prece iih :
one, ex ,ctly In acc"rdauce with tue i'"5ithns
of the moon, or a. il is commonly cSiied, Its
rising - setting"
s IN I mes there are very low, ara ~ ON
err uuLe, very high tides -tbat's, their height
il not uniform Thus is caused hy the pnei
tons Of the SUI and Moon relative {" the
earth Thus, as at the time Ut the new W'"n,
the sun and tue moon being IN the same part
O, the heaveu--the tides pr, duced III the
ocean are then the higheet. because they are
eo,al I the .un of tae two tides-luuar aud
a., lar. This should also take place at the
time Of the full moon when our satellite Is o.
poste the run, the attractive force being
equal and 90, oste, in producing The tldaj
wave. This il tnuod be true. The tdee
, nd full than II
fr-t a, d Ia.t quarters. a. during the latter
periods the attraction vi the sun, not acting
10 unison With that of the muun, tends to low
or the tides.
Reasoning firm that this data, it will ma
tursily he inferred that when IN" sun ana
moon are equally distant from the t"o poles
Of the glol e, such a. the t'mes OF tue eq"'
nuxss in March and September, the t'det
would be greatest. This Is also foundt' o(
the Gaze, Il W. demonstrating beyond al
doubt that the aux and rtfvx Of the sea are
due to the attraction Of the sun ard moon
uton the waters of the ocean. The dIner
ence 10 the height If the tides at varl"ns
places L. due 70 the peculiar formation nt sea
oossts. They are very high In the BAY %
Fundy, because an immense quantity Il va
ter 10 piled into wide UUuihed usrT""
space, in the same manner lnaI ceF's'n
quantity If water will rise higher 10 u",'
row than vide channel. Somc haSe nj
vancrd the popular brlief against tie lunar
il Huence causing tides. Dsneiy, that cue
Nj diterranean is y tideless sea. Thus Is not
strictly tue. The ocean tidee, OSing 10 th'
narrow passage into the Mediterranean NJ
Gibraltar, scarcely affect this sea. bot tor al
this there are REGULAR tides observable AT
some places. At V,ce,1a they Srme'lne-
rise to two feet, aud III the Faro OF Ne.s;n" to
twenty i cbes.