The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1876-04-08
The Moon.

| Prof Soule recently lec,urcd on ms SUP
inc, before The San Francisco School OF Me
chemical Arts. He SAID that, IN using tne
immense telescopes of modern times, one Is
.nrnrised at the exceedingly small area that
CON he examined at one time, and by the
0reat dimipu,ion of light that seems 10 lake
SSlace A careful survey OF the surface HIS
pne with as,onishmen, that the placid, sliVery
moon should be changed IN raggeu' gray,
wrip led and pockmarked heavenly oooy.
On turning to the brighter portions we
find everywhere mountains, Volcanoes Grey
asses and precipices of vast height or dcplh
II seems TO be picture of dcsolalon, en-
| tbroRed upon pedestal of ashes. those
mountainous parts reflect brilliant light on
account of their volcanic nature, the rocks
being often smooth and polished, ana thelr
Jagged surfaces giving them power TO caIch
and throw the light in every direction. inc
south western portion is particularly Volchhic
in its appearance. On close examination,
however, we lind long ranges OF mountains
exhibiting no signs OF volcanic action ou' IN
MANY respects SIMILAR TO the Sierias, mach
sleeper on one side than the DINER, anu up
paren,ly formed by similar forces, thouEn ~
a rule the volcanic element prevails. hahy
OF these mountains are OF immense Sic mus
Clayius is 100 miles in diameter, and has an
q
walls shooting to an altitude OF 1890 feet.
We next notice the frcquenCe OF hinged
mountains, not more than ten or hiteen mi es
in diameter, and almost circular IN form.
They are found alone upon the level country,
or in groups, and even upon the ridges OF the
walled plain. There are also craters ana
p,ts which differ chiefly from the other In
their smaller dimensions There Is alse
another prominent feature which has puzzled
Astronomers, even in the present day. From
mapy of the ringed mountains, notably from
Tycho. CoperDIcus and kepler, are raoia.
ltions, extending in some cases numerous Oh
miles, which at the full OF the moon gllsten
with remarkable brightness. They SHINE
as brilliantly under the oblique as under the
vertical rays OF the sun-a fact yet anex'
blamed; they pass over the tops and through
line craters of volcanoes and through the val
lleys ia an uninterrupted course. Or the
the many theories concerning them, perhaps
perhaps the most reasonable Is that they are
veins of matter elected from below during
some great volcanic or earthquake disturb
ances, ana in many respects they resemble
our own trap dykes and seincs.
Since the time of Calico, astronomers
have painfully, patiently and perseveringly
mapped every detail Of the moons surface,
sntii we have lunar Typographical charts
more accurately constructed than asy hith'
erto constructed otthe earth's surface. fho
Biography has recently aided largely in this
work.
by careful experiments it has be- n proven
that the light of the full moon is only 1900,
600 part of that of the sun, and that she gives
only one.sxth rs much light as would pure
white disk; therefore she Is nearer BLACK
than white An equaled sized globe of fire
brick or clay thrown into the orbit OF the
; moon would furnish us with light as bright
as our own lumnary.
As early IS l7U0 efforts were made to ascer
tain if any heat came from the moon, hel
rays being concentrated by means Of lens
upon the bulb of a thermomer, with no effect
however; and other and later trials with i'm
proved apparatus gave the same result, or Ia
some cases indicated that the moon was
shedding negative heat or cold. Ii was only
after the invention of the thermopile that evi
dences Of lunar heat were discovered. The
amount was excessively small, however
Lord Rose, with the aid Of his three. foot re
fecting telescope and Thompson's salvenome
tor, shows that little, if any, of this heat
comes from the interior Of the moon, or, in
other words, that the body of the luminary
would be cold but for the heat absorbed from
the cum This borrowed heat has been shown
to raise the exterior temperature OF our satel'
lite to at least fifty degrees Fab. As the suns
heat and light cease to fall upon her surface
and are lost tor fifteen days at a time; and
the remaining heat being radiated into space,
the alterations of temperature must be some
thing startling, and the changes in the phys
zeal features of the body produced by the
enormous expansions and con.ractions OF her
outer substance must be great and very de-
structive.-Setehttfc american.