Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1881-04-27
THE EARTH'S SATELLITE.
Prof. Proctor'S Last Lecture
The Moon I'm the Final Stage
of Its Life.

y. y. Tribune.
Prof. Richard A. Proctor lectured in
Steinwsy hall yesterday afternoon be-
fore the Teachers association of this
city. His subject was 1.-THE Moon, T"
and he was listened to and frequently
applauded bv a very large audience
This was Prof Proctor's last lecture this
season, as he will sail for England soon.
He spoke in substance az follows:
The moon is the one member of the
solar system that has passed through
its life. have been in the habit of
saying that there are five stages in every
planets life, first, the vapory; second,
the fiery; third, mid-lite; fourth, old
age; and fifth, death. The moon would
pass through some d these in less de-
gree than other planets. Ii may be
questioned whether body so small as
the moon was ever in a state of such in
tense heat as the sun. It seems 10 me
that the earlier stages OF the moons life
were shorter on account of its smaller
mass. In the fiery stage the moon
would be so hot that water could not
rest upon its surface, but would be rails
Ell mp in clouds. There is reason TO be-
lieve that every planet has passed
through that stage. The first stage OF
which We now get evidence in the moon
is that of volcanic action. IL must have
lasted long time. Then came the per-
iOd OF fitness for life. We see certain
features which, il they had prevailed in
the past, would have made her unfit for
such life as We have on our earth. Its
not true that the moon revolves around
the earth. The earth and the moon
circle around each other, and the real
centre around which both rev0lve is the
sun. The moon is distant from the
earth 2SS, SlS miles. 1t would take an
ordinary train of railway cars fifteen
months 10 get there. Her diameter is
9, ISL miles. That gives her surface by
no means contemplate. lt amounts TO
about 100000 square miles. Her vol
ume is one forty-ninth of that of the
earth, and her mass is one eighty-first of
it.
The force of gravity on the moon is
one-sixth OF its force on the earth. We
would be much more active there. Men
might be six times as tall as We are up
on the moon, and still quite as active.
Their weight would be thirty.six times
as great at ours on the moon; on the
earth il would be 2l6 times as great and
they would be crushed by their own
heaviness. The lunar day is great deal
longer than ours. The time between
sunrise and sunset IS twenty-nine and
one hall OF our davs. The moons year
of seasons equals 1861 OF our days. The
seasons are much less marked, her axis
being much more upright than that OF
the earth. Atthis present time, owing
TO the length of the lunar day, the moon
would be totally unfit for any such life
as We know. In her day she becomes
intensely hot and in her night intensely
cold. Lord Rose, BY means OF his six
loot rejecting telescope and the Their
mopyle, was able to measure both the
reflected heat OF the moon and that
which she gives out by radiation. tie
found that her surface is 500 times hot
ter al noon than at midnight. 1t would
be 80 degrees below zero at midnight,
and at noon $50 degrees above, or 80 de-
grees above the boiling point. No crea-
ture could live at either time. There
NAV have been some kind OF life which
We do not know. Ali evidences go to
show that there is none now. Accord
ing to the theories OF geology, the earth
must now be about 5OO,OOO,OOO years
old. The moon probably reached her
present state in about S0,OOO,OOO years.
The earth will probably not reach the
same condition az the moon in less than
another 100000 COO years. We there
fore need not fear that there will be no
room for the lives Of our immediate de-
scendants.