The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-11-09
8icl'llsond 9ispatth.
WEDNESDAY,. 49,. NOVEMBER 9, 1870.
Modern Susscrssistens-A fesr Common
Examples,


tne SIMPLE Investigation resolves into air.
,ne o. them is related hr Bessei In st.
Ntaio, IN France, where the tide rises to an
'ncommon height, it was regarded MS set.
lea that dc&thS took place Ar the time Of
The water'Sfalling. Opportunities contin,i-
any offered to put this remarkable phe-
nomenon To the proof, but il was never
doubted. Al leneth the French Academy
sent commission TO convipce themselves
men and there Of the truth Of this singular
TACT, When It was found that peapls died
u'irlag TIE Wafer rise SIS we'll as during It's
iaIl, and that for hundred years. according
10 the parish registers, neither ehb nor how
haG anyw!$e affected the mortality.
IL is a weil-known assertion that vessel
usiea with water does not increase in weight
Il iiNe7ish Is put into II. King George Of
England, being DESTROYS 10 learn the cause
NJ 81 extraordinary n phenomenon, re-
quo>ted an explanation from the learned
men a the country. This occaSioned sew
"rat very profound dissertations. in which
All sorts OF strange hypothesis were adj
NanCcd. Only one of the gentlemen Hit
upon the queer idea Of trying the expert
mtnt before delivering au opinion, and 10 /,
lie discovered the vessels weight to be in
creased by exactly the weight of the fish.
But what Of that mysterious disease SOM
nanhuiism: Can il he disputed that the
s moon causes SomnamhuiiSt> to walk in their
5 sleep: answer, no. But let us see how
the moon acts, in order 10 convince our
/ selves that Il has no wish to tYaternize with
MY >iiriSin. 1t may be assumed that Sleep
walking y an abDormally vivid state of
dreaming not only Of the reproductive, but
also Of the volatile faculty. Now, it is
established that such vivid dreams are pro-
NOTED hy everything causing unquiet
Nlrcp-e. g., a heavy supper. Stimulating
drinks, and other causes. 1t is a fact which
has been frequently observed that, owing
IL these Influences. somnSm buliSts or Sleep
walkers often make their perambula,ions
. at times when moonligh, is not marked in
the almanac, and we all know that there are
many persons, quite healthy, too, who cam
NOT >lccpa AL, or only badly. when light IL
burning in tlc!r bedrooms. by reason Of
lcjag unused to it. Precisely the same in.
tnence IS exercised by the moons light on
persons inclined to somnambullsm. Uence
some have hit upon the excellent idea to
.lreyent the moonlight from entering the
,mGAmhuiiSt's sleeping-room by means of
shutters OF thick curtains, and behold the
~omuamhuiist remained quietly in his bed,
not troubling himself about the full moon
ihIt shOnc brightly outside. The expert
!ncnt was reversed. and at time when
here WAS no moonlight, brightly burning
andes having been brought into the SOM
HamhuliSt'S room, he WAS seen to walk in
Hi> sleep, a. though the finest full moon
NEtt ItEs!IS Al I!!t ShN
A> has already hetn said, things are the
more readily believed the more they tickle
lAe fancy, anu hence il is no sufficient rea-
On to regard 4 thing rs true because il has
l,,n accepted for years or even for centu-
r">. lnprcjudced observation must de-
'an, and il proves by thousands Of cases
.aA tie condition Of the Intestinal tube and
III. elect al vcrmfuge is precisely the same
= The increasing a. al he waning moon.
II. Th,.l,. .,,,..,y Y,
iniS day administer y vcYIniiuge duriny the
moon "Ah", lhc conSullnu assurance i
|ut,.s mat Ii action WIN hp the surno * il,
administered during the moons increase.
The belief IN special lunar intnerca
upon the growth OF plants results from
VERY defective observation, ana i .tltorrl her
uniuunded. Il Is said, for instance, thai
Wood cat during the moons Increase rot
Easter than that irl!cd during the moon
wauu: but IL no time and nowhere has hi
assertion 4rCr kccu tested lay 4 single an
S,u~!piy-n made experiment. one pcrS0
crhuc, this ab>urdily after the other. yet
iri> never entered unvhudrS head TO IL
Two trees, equally sound and Of the sam
Kind. 10 keep them under the like circuu
~'aurr>, aud then 10 watch the changes
H.. sam" remarks ar" @rpirahc Ia tn
assertion l..l; certain plants thrive onl
when planted during tue waning moor
while The contrary /, the case with Others
NcaU AnoW that not everything which
l.!utrd ~ .HWr thriNrS; nevertheless. the.
people are vr.y careful in noting every il
>i&Iu" where plant put into tn" groun
IL The wrong time oi The moon did 1t
jlTiyr. ~ 4 uCIS couiiI nlalon OF their rule
Ii" instances. however, where Il plan
planted nj the right time did not thrive AZ
attributed t" tho weather.
Aud the weather! Does not cxpercnc
teach liz that the moon surely has an in
II =,
NO. The moon has not only no lmportar
influence upon the weather, but not eve
any which i in the least demonstrate an
If experience be appealed 10, | reply that
j. that very experience which contradict
the opinion Of the moons Weathermakin!
do not, II is true, mean that eNlerlent
which Is gained by the indiTidn
and Inexperienced observer, who o.
rae!vualiy notes when rainy Wcatht
HAPPENS 10 set m,--;thout the tin
ot The new moon, or fair weather
The moons fIli F.; on that experience while
is acquired in observations and 1t metcor'
IogIcal stations, where the general natul
oil the weather, the state OF the baromete
The direction OF the wind, and the degree
IN" moisture in the atmosphere are RECORD
ed twice or three times every day. Now
the tables at the Munich Observatory, kcI
IUr more than forty years, and with III
GTeatcst care, inform us that on the days {
the tuIl moon, Of the new moon, and OF tn
.ss TWO quarters respectively, the weather doe
80 not change more often or more rarely tina
~ on any other day. Only such experience
- entitled to consideration.
.S The moons physical influence upon on
ia earth is in common life greatly overrateC
3s$ This influence, according TO the known law
~ OF physics, can be rXertcd III only thre
- Ways-hy the moons attraction, by the &c
$50 nccted hight Of the SIM which il sends 10 til
so caItn. and hy the emission Of heat. Th
9&S8 moons attractive power, in size six time
$# less than the carth'S, dwlndies into mer
Sgs nothing for OhIeciS on the earth'- surface
- as, owing to the distance OF 2lU,000 miles
il is generally preponderated by the earth
= attraction; so that its action may indeed b
~ calculated, but, on account of its cXtrem
~ -Lnallne~s, cannot be an object Of percep
! ton. II. when the moon il overhead
We send Il soap bubble or feather into TIT
4 air, we shall not be able TO perceive thu
a moon exciting the least attraction. But
III how is il with the phenomena Of the tides
~ They depend, H. is known, on the n's>an(
"a moons ATTRACTIONS. the moon much smaller
~ hut much nearer, attracting by third more
5@ strongly than the sun. The elevation caused
@E by this combined attraction contains abou
3@ one hundred cubic miles OF water, Il mas
s@M which, III round numbers, weighs tht
M tribe Of one thousand billion hundred
ikS weights. But it would be grieyou
sS@ error to suppose that this enormous
H8 weight Is raised by the moon in the
sS# same manner that 4 man lifts hundred
|z@# weight or magnet attracts :; needle. Look
.tF al of 10 q