The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1881-02-09
WORLDS.
Their Lives and Death-and How
They are Distinguished.
Professor ProctOr's Second Astro
nomical Lecture.

g night, when Professor Richard A
! Proctor delivered his secoud lecture
: titled the Life and Death o
: Worlds. When the curtain rosl
it was discovered that the screen OF
which the stereopticon views wer'
thrown by the lantern, which va
placed in the orchestra, had beer
> moved forward some II feet, which
gave a much better view TO the entire
audience. Professor Proctor stepped
in front of the audience from the side
entrance, and at once dived into tbs
subject OF the evenings lecture.
, Last night we traced the progress
! of q pIs- ct from the first or vaporJ
stage of lite existence TO the fullnes:
OF life; and tonight We will trace il
from the fuIlness OF life to the de-
creptitute OF old age. The knowledge
We possess regarding the development
and decay of small things insects
and of plants-should apply to the
planets, but on a grand scale. When
pants and insects grow old they
become untitled to live, and it is 30
with planets. Last night We cav that
/ the giant planet Jupiter and the
beautiful ring planet Saturn were
unfit for life, because Of their youth.
Suppose our Moon had air, a water
surface, and water on 1t, there would
he ample room on it Tor the habila-
ton of millions living creatures; and
l believe that in the past that planet
was inhabited by living beings; but it
lis much smaller than the earth. In
Its present stage the moon is totally
united for life. There are about
3464 days in a lunar year. In her
course through space the Moon has
a sort of Keeling motion. the conse-
quence of which is that it consider
ably lessons its number OF days, as
compared with our days, reducing, as
before stated. its number to 1851 days,
instead OF 365 days, as in our case.
On the other hand her day is much
longer and her night much longer.
While the earth revolves In twenty
four hours, the moon revolves once
only in twenty.nine and half of our
days, which makes her night, as
compared with ours, fourteen and
three-fourths days in duration, and
the day the same length. So that
first there is long day, and then
long night. The heat from the moon
is SO slight aud so imperceptible that
thermometer would fail to indicate
it in any satisfactory manner what
ever. An instrument had been in
vented, however, by means of which
the two kinds of heat which come
from the moon could be separated,
one being from the moon itself, the
other that what it received from the
sun. By means Of this instru-
ment, it had been shown
that when the moon is full, and it is
lunar night, the temperature is
250 degrees below zero, one minute
of which temperature, we're We in it.
would destroy Us as surely as though
we had been plunged into boiling hot
water; while at lunar mid day, the
temperature was 250 degrees above
zero, hotter than boiling water. and
certain death to any forms OF life OF
which we have any Knowledge. We
have all these changes in a lunar
month, and we can readily perceive
in consequence that any form OF life
is impossible under these conditions.
Moreover, her seas have dried up,
and il any air surrounds the moon, it
is exceeding ly thin; and while che
has formerly been Inhabited by
living creatures, she has now
grown too old and is too far advanced
in the death stage to admit OF
sustaining any forms ollie as known
to US. She has lost her oceans, her
seasons have departed, and her days
are very long and nights very long,
and her transitions of heat and cold
are rapid and extreme. ell OF which
render the existence of life impossible.
/ said last night that il must
have taken the cart all Of 1O0, 0OO,-
900 years, according to the geolo
eicsl reckonipgs, 10 have arrived at
its present condition; while by
calculations concerning the durs-
ton which it took the earth to
change from the first or vapC rous
stage 10 the present, the time con
sumed has been all Of 500. 600, 600
years. Admitting that the Moon and
the earth came into existence to-
gether, the Moon, being thirteen
times smaller than the earth, would
have cooled more rapidly proper
tionstely as it lie smaller than the
earth. Continuing this ratio of de-
velopment. the earth would have 20
pass 100000 years before it
came to the condition in which the
Moon is now; so that neither We nor
our immediate descendants need feel
any alarm regarding the prospects Of
the worlds decay; and If you feel
disposed, you may wait and find GU
whether, in the period stated, what
has been said will be proven.
Then began the series OF stereoptI-
con views, Illustrating, or proving the
theories advanced by the lecturer.
They showed the earth, with the
family OF which it is psrt-Venus,
Mars, Mercury and the Moon-and
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Nep-
tune, another family. Jupiter had
four moons, which travelled about
him, as the earth's family did abou;
the sun, and Saturn had eight; and
doubtless owing TO the great distance
from the sun of these moons,
thus circumscribirg 10th Jupiter
and Saturn, these giant plan
cts assisted in giVirg them light
and heat. Our earth is the
largest OF her ismill; Venus, next in
size, may be termed her sister, for &c
tar as can be learned, her condition
is almost the same ss that OF the
earth; Mars is next smaller, and
. therefore next older; Mercury next,
t and the Moon the last This family
. travels cloae about the Sun. coming,
as it would seem, under his specia
care sud light. Venus travels be
tween the earth aud sun, and while
, the most beautiful OF the family, il
one sbou. which least is known,
, because OF the inability OF astronomer
: to obtain satisfactory observations
r She is best seen when about half full
and the markings seen on her surfac'
show that she hiss an atmosphere anC
water and land, similar to ours, thI
dark spots indicating water, the ligh
ones land, the proportions OF lsnC
and water also being like ours; all o
. which tend 10 show her TO be in abOu