Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1860-05-16
Lunar Revelations
LWHWE TNUNUIEN1UHH'
The New York Tribune in late issue

The New York Tribune in a late issue has
. the following:ss "a va OH ra..
Until quite recently the surface of the moon
has been supposed to be vast lifeless desert.
Astronomers have abused the moon in every
- possible way They have said there was no
heat il m9onshiae: They have denied the h.
and organic life. They have made us believe
that residence in the moon would be exceed
inply undesirable. The old faith in the
GODDESS Of the Night was quite overturned in
scientific circles, and the destinations ofmoon-
light were departing day by day.
. But this is allchanged. :. Knox and Malloni
% have Shown, by Very sxact Observations that
there is heat in the moons rays. Zantsdeschi
has discovered that this heat produces sensi-
BILE effect upon the mimosa. An English phi
n losophef has found that the earth is colder
during the first quarter Of the moon than ii
is in the second.
Upon the growth of plants the moon exer-
cises q remarkable influence. The chemical
action of light is necessary to their principal
work, the absorption Of carbon from the car
N lbonie acia gas of the atmosphere. This work
all plants carry on during the day, and in the
night they sleep-except when the moon
shines. She wakes them and sets them al
work 80 the thpnefs who plant only just
before the fun moon are right, and the scof-
fers who call them superstitious are them
selves the foolish ones. For, if sown before
ground Just at the full, when the tender
things need sleep. But if sown just before
the full, they come up about new moon, pass
their babyhood under the soothing influences
q, of their dark nights, and when the full
d. y comes are sturdy urchihs, able to work
night and day. % H -'-k "a
The moon worshipers are right also in re-
gard 10 the influence Of the moon upon the
. weather. Herschel, Arago; Whewell, recog-
nized that the moon bad some slight power
in dispensing clouds. The sailors go further,
and cay the moon eats up the clouds. At the
last meeting of the British Association, It was
shown that the weather, through o long series
of years. depended little-very lttle-upon
the phases of the moon, and now, Quetelet
the director of Brussels Observatory, has
shown that between the first and last quar-
,ters of the moon, more, and not less rain
., falls than dhring the remainder of the
time However, fine weather and greater
rainfall may go together. W3N.
Finally, Webb, after a careful comparison
of the present appearance of the moon with
the very precise maps Of Nader, some twenty
years ago, has shown that there have been con-
siderable changes. Someiof the small craters,
in particular, have q notable difference from
what they had When Madler observed them.
These changes show the existence of water
and an atmosphere. Father Secchi, director
of the Roman Observatory after much OBJ
servation, has come to the conclusion that
the peaks of the highest mountains on the
moon are covered with snow And to make
us still more at home on the moon, De la
Rive, the owner Of the Observatory at Craw-
ford, near London, gives It as his opinion,
that what were at first marked down as seas,
j and afterward supposed TO be barren plains,
are, in fact extensive forests. In support
of this comes up great astronomic author
itys Sch@abe, the discoverer Of the periodic
times of the suns spots. Ia. ....,,.., ,rly..
Beside these great smooth plains, which
Had a
rows or wrinkles nearly hundred, the ma
ture of which is entirely unknown. Their
length varies from three to thirty-fve miles,
, and their greatest breadth is about five thou
sand feet most Of them are considerably mar
rover Their sides are parallel and smooth
some run in straight lines, and some are
gently curved. Ordinarily they are separate,
but sometimes they cross each other; often
they cross craters, but occasionally they
seem to be cut off by them They are found
all over the surface Of the moon, except on
the highest mountain chains. r. gttL II
NtOf these furrows Schwabe has made care
full study at various times. He found them
to consist of very fine parallel dark lines,
separated by clear spaces. A few months
later, the lines or streaks had disappeared,
but after while they returned, again to dis
appear. In this periodic change he thinks
that he finds proof that these lines are rows
of trees and the clear streaks between them
are the bare ground seen when the trees are
leaAess When the trees are in full leaf, the
ground is so covered as to produce uniform
shade, and the lines disappear.
Nothing ismore natural than to suppose
that the dark spots on the moon are forests
but how shall we account for the growth o
these trees in right lines2 This hypothesis
We, must forthe present consider to be only
ahypothesis. With the aid Of photography
which will secure for US accurate pictures Of
the moon from time to time, we may hope
that the question will be solved, and that we
may really find out what is going on upor
the surface of our satellite. J.r., "