The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1878-07-24
The Moon.


tions harmonic well withthe march
of a heavenly body that constantly
meets our eyes with the same inya-
riable aspect. But changes of the
weather, SO unexpected and frequent,
seem to require, people think, a more
variable origin, If we consider the
daily vicissitudes of rain and sun
shine, of fogs, winds, clear skies and
clouds, the moon is the only heaven,
ly body whose rapid alterations Of
form and position answer TO such un-
Ceasing variations.
In truth, the moons course does
really offer numerous periodical
changes, without taking into account
anomalous events, such as oclipses
and others. Ifthe weather's caprices
are more or less periodical, they can
hardly be richer in contrasted periods
than the moon herself is. Moreover,
prediction.makers have the addition
al resource of lunistices, when the
moon is stationary Of the epochs
when her declination is either north
or south, when she crosses the equa-
tor or the ocliptic, when she is on
the same side of the equator as the
sun, or on the opposite side. Note
well that all these circumstance have
some influence on the ebbing and
flowing of the sea; whence, sailors do
not fail to conclude, they also in
fluence the tides of our erial ocean,
If we except literally every lunar
prejudice, the moon would rule many
things besides tho weather, Mad
men and lunatics would be subject
to her power. There are veterinary
sergeons who say that the sight Of
certain horses become dim or clear
according to the different phases Of
the moon, Woodmen insist that if
trees are felled with a waning moon,
the woop will llspeedily decay. House
wives declare that if you kill your
pig, as you ought, with a crescent
moon, the bacon will swell nicely in
the boiling; if, on the contrary, when
she is in the wane, it will shrivel,
shrink, and be hard and good for mo-
thing. Finally, all sailors in mass,
lexeept the most highly educated Of
Fficers, attribute every change OF the
weather to the moon. Why2 No.
body knows.
It is exactly because prejudices are
beyond the reach of discussion that
it is so difficult to bring them to rea-
son. Natural philosophers have per-
fectly explained the phenomena at
tributed to the red moon, which are
really caused by the state of the at.
mospherc. Gardners, nevertheless,
persist in making the red moon (the
lunation between the Paschal and the
Pentecostal moons) responsible for
the morning frosts which frequently
occur at that season. But the an.
clients never entertained the idea
that the moons phases were the cause
of changes in the weather; it was Ju.
piter's privilege to assemble the
clouds and to dart the thunderbolts.
The lucky and unlucky days of the
lunar month belong to astrology, and
not tometcorology Bouvard, Arago,
and many others have proved, by long
series of observations, that the moon
does not affect the weather. Labor
in vain! The majority of sailors in.
terpret the moons age, each accord,
ing 10 his own private rule of belief
The only effectual refutation would
bo to strike at the root of the evil in
early youth, and make school-child.
rem repeatedly recite and copy truth
full sentences, such as: at is ridicu.
lous to believe in sorcers, witches,
wolves, and red moons;" at is
not true that the new moon changes
the weather, that the full moon eats
up the clouds, that thunderbolts are
made of stone;" and other items of
vulgar creed. Accurate knowledge
of facts might thus be promoted by a
catechism of things not to be believ.
ed.
Gambling NOtsO Very Profitable.