The Lambertville press. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1858-1???, 1860-10-31
Life on the Noon.

have abused the moon in every posi-
bic way. They have said there was
no heat in moonshine. They have de-
MED the moon an atmosphere, and
consequently water and organic life
They have made rs believe that res
idence in the moon would be excee-
dinghy undesirable The old faith in
the Goddess of the Night was quite
overturned In scientific circles, aud the
destinations of moonlight were depar-
ting day by day.
But this is all changed Knox and
Melloni have shown BY very exact OBJ
servations. that there is heat in the
moons rays. Zantedeschi has disco
vered that this heat produces a sensi-
bic effect upon the mimosa. An En-
glish philosopher has found that the
earth is coloer in the first quarter of
the moon than it is in the second.
| Upon the growth Of plants the moon
exercises. a remarkable influence. The
chemical action Of light, is necessary
to their principal work, the absorption
Of carbonic acid gas Of the atmosphere.
This work al plants carry on during
the day, and at night they sleep-ex-
cept when the moon shines. She
awakes them and sets them to. work.
So the farmers who plant only just
before the full moon are right, and the
scofers who call them superstitious are
themselves the foolish ones. For, if,
sown before or near new moon, the
young plants get above groun1 just
at the full, when the tender things
need sleep. But ifsown just before
the full, they cone mp aboutnew moon
and pass their babYhood under tie
soothing influence of dark nights, and
when the full moon comes are sturdy
urchins able to work night and day.
The moon-worshippers are right,
also, in regard to the influence of the
moon upon the weather. Herschel,
Arago and Whewell recognized that
the moon had some slight power in
dispensing clouds. Sailors 60 further
and say the moon eats up the clouds
At the last meeting Of the British As
ISOLATION, it was shown that the wea-
Their for q long series of years DEEPEN
ded little-a very little upon the
phases Of the moon; and now Quetelet
the director of the Brussels Obserya-
tory, after much observation has come
to the conclusion, that the peaks of
the highest mountains on the moon
are covered with snow.
Finally Webb, after a careful COM
parison of the present appearance Of
the moon, with the very precise maps
made by Maddler some twenty years
ago, has shown that there have been
considerable changes. Some of the
small eraters, in particular, have no.
tably different form than they had
when Maddler observed them. These
changes show the existance Of water
and an atmosphere And to make us
still more at home on the moon, De la
Rive, the owner Of the observatory at
Crawford, near London, gives it as
his opinion, that what were at first
marked down as seas, and afterwards
supposed to be barren plains, are in
fact extensive forests.
In support of this comes mp great
astronomis authority, Schwabe, the
discoverer of the periodic times of the
suns spots. Besides these great
smooth plains, which were called seas,
there are number of burrows or wrin-
kles, nearly hundred, the nature of
which was entirely unknown. There
length varies from three to thirty-fye
miles, and there greatest breadth is
about five thousand feet, most of them
a-e considerably narrower. Their
sides are parallel and smooth some
run in strait lines and others are gen.
tly curved Ordinarily they are sep
arate, but sometimes they cross each
other often they cross craiers, but oc-
casicually they seem to be cut off by
them. They are found all over the
surface Of the moon, except on the
highest mountain chains
OF these burrows Schwabe has made
careful study at various times He
found them TO consistof very fine par
allel dark lines, separated by clear
spaces. A few months later the lines
or streaks had disappeared, but after
while they returned, again to disap-
pear.
Nothing is more natural than to
suppose that the dark spots on the
moon are forests, but how shall we ac-
count for the growth Of these trees in
right Ines this hypothesis we must
for the present consider to be only a
| hypothesis. With the aid of pho
Biography, which will secure for US ac-
curate pictures of the moon from time
to time, we may hope the question
viii be solved, aud that VIC may really
find out what is going on on the sur
face Of our satellite.
That's my impression. said print