The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1874-10-04
THE1MOOS.

James Nasmyth, the wcsid-renowned inven-
TOR of the NasYnvth steam hammer, ana one
IF the most cultivated scientists OF the day,
has inst publishsd in London q magnlhcentiy
illustrated monograph of the Earth Satellite
This book is said by the Edtntn,yh fer'e'o to
be the most complete and inteliiglbie descrlp-
ton of the physical CONDITION o. sne Moon
that has yet been issued !,
According to the same high authority. the
exnuisite delineations Of the typical features
of the lunar physiognomy with which MIR
Nasmvth's book Is illustrated are the result OF
thirty years' study and work, every modern
anpliance of the arts of photography, de-
siGnino and engraving having been used to
bring them to the utmost degree OF accuracy
aud perfection.
These pictures actually reproduce to the eye
the Appearances that are seen III tfr. moon by
4be aid of the high powers Of the telescope,
applied under the most favorable conditions
al lighting snd atmosphere Even the pocu
liar frost ed-siv te lure, and the l-ldescriiia-
INV delicate irejf.nga and ireck!inga ihat start
mt from tn @ luz. r. surface in passing lnstants
of the niesst telescope definition are there:
long, patient labor, ard the consummats skill
of the artist, alone can expisin now such mar
yels of pictorial verisimilitude have been pro
duced ~ photographing artificial modelings.
III,
snhere of material substance having nearly
the intrinsic density Of t1ir.t glass, and having
about the for:y-ninth part OF the volume OF
the earth It's surface area is therefore,
something less than fourteenth part OF the
surface of the earth, or ID, 567 600 square miles.
The size and density of this sphere, thus APP
portioned are of such amount that the force
OF gravity upon its outer surface must be not
more than q sixth part OF the same force upon
tboN bn.x l,11y hat Oft
the outer surface of the moon by any given
proie tile effort would go six times rs far
under the impulse as it would if started from
the earths surface in the same way.
The spherical mass thus circumstanced,
in the matter Of size and density is bare
round ball of solid substance, destitute OF all
trace Of atmospheric investment, whether OF
vapor or air. The absence of gaseous atmos-
phere &. whatever kind. in the moon, is def
nitely proved by tie simple fact that when
ever it's opaque body passes along in the sky
in front of a fixed star, the shining point is
concealed by the passage Of the Intervening
dark body within an iInmaterial tribe of the
time that it ought to be upon the assumptions
that the occultirg body is bare OF all gaseous
or vaporous investment which, if present,
would have kept the star for some time in
sight when sctually behind the moon, as the
sun is brought into sight by atmospheric re-
absence of water is also proved by similar
mistakable evidence
Ii it were present upon the ST. face of the
moon even in the most limited amount there
would of necessity be an envelope of vapor
sbout the sphere that would manifest its pre-
sence by the influence it would exert upon
such rays OF light as passed through its sub
stance.
The naked moon, with these conditions OF
II
around the earth at distance OF about thirty
earth's diameters. At this distance any tract
of the moons surface twenty-six miles across
would be visible to the eye as an immeasur-
able small speck or slzeless point With the
help OF i telescope such visible speck would
be more OK less spread into perceptibla dimen-
sions. If the magnifying power of the tele-
scope were enough t. enlarge six thousand
diameters-and this is now considered pos
sible-the moon would be looked At as If it
were not more than forty miles away and
even small natural objects upon its face, rot
more tnan twenty or thirty yards wide. would
be visible IS having dimensions and form.
But this would not be available, because such
high powers would increase the disturbing
effects of the airs imperfect and irregular
transparency to such an extent that distinct
vision wovld cease to be possibla
With telescope power which nagnifes
400 times across, an object on the moon two
hundred yards broad would become visible as
a speck, and square mile of surface woul
be of measurable size. With such optical
aid the pictorial work Of Mr. Nasmyth has
been accomplished, bringing the moon in eff
feet 400 times nearer to us, and SO placing it,
for purposes OF examination, as il it were
only GOO instead of 2lO,g00 miles away Thus
viewed, the moon is at once seen to be, not
smooth bail, but rough sphere, covered all
over with rugosities and carved projections
These lunar projections are OF different kinds,
but there is one predominant type which is 50
frequently reproduced that it may be taken
to be the most important and Characteristic OF
the series. This wears the torn Of circular cup
aised, broken and often terraced and serrated
ut the rim, but no lowed more or less down
into the moons substance, ana is what is
Familiarity and chnically known as the an
nu ar ''crater of the moon. Of these circu-
lar ridge trimmed ''craters" tn number upon
the moon is so vast that it is literally impos-
sible for them to be counted They exist in
untold tn usands, and in some parts are
crowded together that the moons surface for
large stretches of distance IS entirely made up
of them. But they vary materially in size
from something less than a mile, the smallest
circular speck that is d!scernable. to some
thing more than eighty, or even one hundred
miles across They are all clearly the visible
NANTES: atoms of some form OF eruptive force
which has pitted ard blisterod the lunar sur
face. Volcanic action Of some kind has, at
some time, ruled rampant upon The moon. 1t
is the one pervaling power that has left its
stamp there in every feature and lin, amen
But volcanic action upon the moon has not
been the same thing as volcanic action upon
the earth. The leading energy or motive
power in the volcanic eruptions of the earth
is the expansive force ot0team. On the moon
there is no water, and therefore steam cam
have nothing to do with the matter. MIR.
Nasmyth assumes that in its infancy in com
mon with the other solid spheres Of space, the
moon in the state Of huge drop-ike
ball of molten liquid; that this drop-like con-
dition was due to great heat, and that at a
later period of its history a solid surface, or
shell, was formed round the spherical liquid
mass, in consequence Of the more rapid cool
ing and consequent solidifcaion Of this outer
layer