Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1870-10-21
Influences OF tho Moon.
POPULAR DELUsIoNs.

II ~'SSNSSj
! disputed that tho moon causes somnambulists
to walk in their sleep answer no bnt
/ let us SEQ how tho moon acts, in order to con
syince ourselves that it has no wish to frater.
!, ,nize with mysticism. 1t may be assumed that
sslccp walking is an abhorrently viyiG state Of
!. dreaming, not only of the reproductive, but
,also of the voltive faculty. Now, it is estab
!. E.lishcd that such vivid dreams are promoted
sby everything causing uuquiet sleep, c. g., a
heavy supper, stimulating drinks, and other
s.causcs 1t is a fact which has been frequently
'lobsorvcd that, owing to these influences, som.
Snambulsts, or sleep walkers, often lake
S:their pcrambulatons at times when moon
9light is not marked in the almanac, and we
sall know that there are many persons, quite
shcathy, too, who can not sleep at all, or only
badly, when light is burning in their bed .
srooms, by reason of being unused to it. Pro
scscly the same influence is exercised by the
smoon's light on persons inclucd to somnam
I sbulism. Hence some have hit upon the OK.
scclcnt idea to prevent the moonlight from en-
4 tcring tic sonnambulist's slccping-room BY
8 means of shutters or thick curtains, and be-
shold the somnambulst remained quietly iu
shis bed, not troubling himself about the full
smoon that shone brightly outside. The cx.
pertinent was reversed, and, at a time when
sthere was no moonlight, brightly burning can
Sd!cs having been brought into the somnam,
sbulists chamber, he was seen to walk in his
sslccp as though the finest full moon wcro rul-
sing the sky.
1 As has already been said, things arc the
smorc readily believed the more they tickle the
afancy, and hence it is no sufficient reason to
sregard thing as true because it has been nc
Sccpted for years or even for centuries I'm
dprcjudiccd observation must decide, and it
3provcs by thousands Of cases that the cond
ation Of the intestinal tube, and the effects of
avermifugcs, is precisely the same at the in
acreasing as at the waning moon. IT, there
fore, there arc physicians who to this day al
aministcr vermifuge during the moons wane
sthc consoling assurance is theirs that its &C
Il ton will be the same as if administered dur
aing the moons increase.
= The belief ina special lunar influence upon
athc growth of plants results from very dcfcc
Stiyc observation, and is altogether unfoundcd
a 1t is said, for instance, that wood cut during
athc moons increase rots faster than that fellcd
adurmg the moons wane; but at no time and
Anowhcre has this assertion ever been tested
Aby a single and scnsibly made experiment
gone person echoes this absurdity after the
aother, yet it has never entered any body head
ato fell two trees, equally sound and of the
gasame kind, to keep them under like circum
distances, and then watch the changes. The
Hsamc remarks are applicable to the assertion
Hthat certain plants thrive only when planted
Aduring the waning moon, while the contrary
fSis the case with others. We all know that
Egnot everything which is planted, or sown,
Ethrivcs, nevertheless, these people arc very
Mcarcfu in noting every instance where II plant,
Mput into the ground at the wrong time of the
!amoon, did not thrive as a new confirmation
Eof their rule; the instances however, where
ia plant, planted in the right time, did not
Mthrivc, are attributed to the weather.
n And the weather. Does not experience
Etcaeh US that the moon surely has an mpor
Mtant influence upon it? My answer is, No
mThc moon has not only no important influence
tson the weather, but not even any which is IN
Mthc least dcmonstrablc; and, if experience be
Happcalcd to- | reply that it is that very cxpc
mrienco which contraaicts the opinion of the
sa samoon's weather making. do not, it is true
amcan that experience which is gained by the
Mlndlvidual and experienced observer who oc
occasionally notes when rainy weather happen.
sito set in about the time of the new moon, O.
Hfair weather at the moons full but that cx
Experience which is acquired in obscrvatories
Hand at meteorological stations, where the gon
Ncral nature Of the weather, the state of th
@baromcter, the direction of the wind, and tn,
adegrce of The moisture in the atmosphere, ar
Mrccordod twice or three times every day.
MNow, the tables at the Munich observatory
Hkcpt more than forty years, and with tn
.Mgrcatcst care, inform us that on the days 0
Hthc full moon, Of the new moon, and of tn
Htwo quarters respectively, the weather doe
mnot change more often or more rarely than OF
,Hany other day Only such experience is en-
,Mttied to consideration.
n The moons physical influence upon ou
.Aearth is, in common life, very greatly ovc