The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1871-08-31
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Bot tlu ihc question S naturally ug
gc.ttd whether oor own moon. wtia is
luta qusrgo of amllliou Of miles Com
us ought MOTTO De examined ar Sign.
ofate, or, al least, Of bgiag fitted FOR the
support ofIiR when tbc telescope was
6rsi invented, ilis certain th0t astrano-
mers were more hopeful 90 recognizing
such iea. in ihe moon than IN any other
celestial body. As telescope, oJ greater
and greater power were constructed,
our satellite was searched with a more
and more eager scrutiny. And many a
long wear clspsed before astronomers
would accept the conclusion that the
moons surface IS wholly untitled for thc
support Of sny Of those forms Of life with
which We arr familiar upon earth That
the belief III lamar men prevailed III the
popular mind long after astronomers had
abandoned IT, is shown By the eagcr
crcdulily with which the story Of Sir
John Glorscheis supposed observation of
the customs and manners Of tie Linn
arians was accepted even among wcll-
educated men. Who can forget the
gravity with which that most amazing
hoax was repeated in all quarters2 II
was, indeed, ingeniously contrived. The
anxiety Of Sir John IIersehel to seeure
the assistance Of King William, and the
care with which our saiior-king inquired
whether the interests of nautical astrono-
my would be advanced by the inquiries;
the plausible explanation Of the mode OF
observation, depending, we we're gravely
assured, upon The TRANSMISSION Of light;
the trembling anxiety Of TIcrschel aud
his leIlow-workcrs as the moment arrived
when their search was to commence; the
flowers, resembling poppics, which FIRST
rewarded their scrutiny; and the final
introduction upon the sceHo Of those
winged bcings--not, strictly speaking,
men, nor properly 70 be called angels
TO whom lIerschol assigned the generic
appellation, Vespertillo Homo, or Bat
men. All these things, and-mny others
equally amusing, were described with
marvellous gravity, and with attention 10
details reminding one Of the descriptions
in Gulliyors Travels. One can hardly
wonder, then, that the narrative was re-
ceivcd in many quarters with unques-
tioning faith, nor, perhaps, even at the
simplicity with which Gas Sir John Her
schel himself rclates) wel-meaning
persons planned measures for sending
missionaries among the poor benighted
Luuareans. Yet astronomers have long
known full certainly that no forms Of
life, such as we are all familiar with, can
exist upon the moon. They know that
If our satellite has an atmosphere at all
that atmosphere must be so limited in cX-
tent that no creature we are acquainted
with could live in it, They know that
size has no oceans, seas, rivers or lakes
neither clouds nor rains, and that fshe
had, there would be no winds to wait
moisture from place to place, or to cause
the clouds to drop fatness upon the lunar
fields. They know, also, that the moons
surface is subjected alternately TO cold
far more intense th an that which binds
our arctic regions in everlasting frost,
aud to a heat compared with which
the fierce noon Of tropical day is as the
freshness Of spring morning. They
search only over the lunar disc for the
sigus Of volcanic action, feeling well as
sured that no traces Of the existauce of
living creatures will ever be detected in
that desolate orb.--The Co,ubiH May
0ziae.