The Shasta courier., 1860-07-28
Life ON the Moon.

1ne oiscoVerles OF science are becoming more
astonishing every day; and in no department
are these more interesting than the recent re-
searches Of astronomers in lunar geography
Until quite recently the surface of the moon
has been supposed to be a vast lifeless desert.
Astronomers have abused the moon in every
possible way They have said there was no heat
in moonshine. They have denied the moon an
atmosphere, and consequently water and organic
! life. They have made us believe that resi-
dence In the moon would be exceeding undes-
rable. The old faith in the Goddess of the
Night was quite overturned in scientific circles.
and the fascinations of moonlight were depart
ing day by day.
But all this is changed, and tie present ac-
quaintance of long-eyed science with our satel-
lite is very succnctly set forth in a summary
carefully prepared for the New York Tribune,
from which we learn that Knox and Melloni
have shown, by very exact observations, that
there is heat in the moons rays. Zantedesehi
has discovered that this heat produces sensi-
bic effect upon the mimosa. An English phil
osopher has found that the earthis colder during
the hrst quarter of the moon than it is in the
second or third
Upon the growth Of plants the moon exer-
cises remarkable influence. The chemical
action of light is necessary to their principal
work, the absorption of carbon from the car
bonic acid gas of the atmosphere. This work
all plants carry during the day, and in the
night they sleep-exceptw hen the moon shines
She wakes them and sets them at work. So
the farmers who plant only just before the full
moon are right and the scoffers who call them
superstitious, are themselves the foolish ones.A
| For, if sown before the new moon, the
young plants get above ground just at the full,
when the tender things need sleep. But if fsown
just before the full, they come up about new
moon, pass their babyhood under the soothing
influence of dark nights, and when the full moon
comes sturdy urchins, able to work night
and day.
The moon worshippers are right, also in re-
gard to the influence Of the moon upon the wea-
ther. Herschel, Arago and Whewell recognized
that the moon had some slight power in dis
persing clouds. The sailors go further, and say
the moon eats up the clouds. At the last meet
ing of the British Association, it was shown that
the weather, through a long series of wears, de-
pended litile-a very little-upon the phases
of the moon and Quetelet, the director of the
Brussels Observatory, has shown that between
the first and last quarter of the moon, more, and
and not less rain falls than during the remain
der OF the time. However, fine weather and
greater rain fall may go together.
Finally Webb, after a careful comparison of
the present appearance of the moon with the
very precise maps made by Madder some twenty
years ago, has shown that there have been con-
siderable changes. Some of the small craters,
IN particular, have totally different form from
what they had when Madder observed them
These changes show the existence of water and
an atmosphere. Father Secchi, director of the
Roman Observatory, after much observation. has
come to the conclusion that the peaks of the
highest mountains the moon are covered with
snow. And, to make US still more at home on
the moon, De Ia Rive, the owner of the observ-
atory 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 up great astronomic authority
Schwabe, the discorerer of the periodic times of
the suns spots Besides these great smooth
plains, which were called seas, there are num-
Der of furrows and wrinkles, nearly hundred.
the nature of which are entirely unknown.-
Their length varies from three to thrty-five
degrees, and their greatest breadth is about five
thousand feet; most Of them are considerably
narrower. Their sides are parallel and smooth;
some OF them are run in straight lines, and some
are gently curved. Ordinarily, they are sepa-
rate, but sometimes they cross craters, but ac-
casionally 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 flrrows, Schwabe has made careful /
study at various times. lie found them to con- /
sist of very fine parallel dark lines, separated |
by clear spaces. a few months later, the lines
of streaks had disappeared, but after while
they returned, again to disappear. In this Pc
riodic change he thinks that he finds proof that
these lines are rows ofrees, and the clear sreaks
between them are the bare ground seen when
the trees are leaf1ess; when the trees in full
leaf the ground is SO covered as to produce
Shn1a nd lin
Nothing is more natural than to suppose that
the dark spots on the moonare forests but how
shall we account for the growth of these trees
in right lines ?, This hypothesis we must for
the present consider to be-only hypothesis
With the aid of photography. which will secure
for us accurate pictures of the moon from'tme
to lime, we may hope that the question will be
solved, and that we may really find out what is
going on upon the surface of four satellite.