The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1883-06-06
THE MOONS ROTATION.

THE NUNS .ROIAItUN. l+
OF all the permanent heavenly orbs,
there is none that is so near us, is seen
under SO large an angle-or, if you
prefer it, of so large an apparent size
and is at the same time so gently IL
Illuminated as to permit men to. gaze at
it uninterruptedly, and is so abundant
ly marked with divers figurings OF
brighter and darker parts all over its
surface, as the moon. 4 7s71i
The well-known changes in general
form of the luminous part of the disc
or sphere, known as the phases of the
moon, arising from the different man
ner in which in which it is illumined by
the sun in the course of the month as
seen by us on the earth, and resulting
in the popular names of New Moon,
First Quarter, Full Moon, Third Quar-
ter and New Moon sgain-slightly in
terfere with the regular observations of
the minuter markings and details of
the surface above alluded to- But the
phase-efects are easily allowed for;
and then there comes out. this con-
clusion, or statement, in which all OBJ
servers, both past and present, agree-
namely, that the moon always turns the
same face of itself towards the earth,
during the whole time of every month
ly revolution she makes around it.
Hence also comes the equally undis-
puted fact, that mankind is acquainted
with only one side of the moon, and
never will, in the ordinary course of
nature, know what markings or feat
ures, say of sea or land, plains or
mountains, there may be on the other
side. -s-I 81 ssle e.rl
How this effect comes about, and by
what physical means it is kept up, not
only throughout the revolution of q
single lunar month, but for tens of thou
sands of such periods, in fact through
out all history-is an interesting branch
in the physical astronomy of modern
times; but not for us to enter into now,
for we have preliminary question Civ
en- to us as our present task-namely,
with regard to the general and indubit-
ably observed fact above alluded to; and
which question may be formulated thus
What are we to say or to believe as to
"the rotation of the moon," after hay
ing ascertained that it keeps one
face steadily toward the earth, during
the whole of a monthly revolution
around it. @
The answer ought not to be difficult
and, indeed, so early an authority as
Berosus, a Chaldean astronomer in the
fourth century before Christ, is record
ed to have come to the true Judgment
for he announced that the moon rotates
once on its axis in the same time thai
it revolves once round the earth; and
that opinion has been held by every
| practical astronomer, mathematician
and scientist since the time at least o.
Francis Bacon.
But these three titles or professions
by no means include all men, even o
| education; for some are OCCASIONAL,
violent on the other side. e. 1t i
curious" said one of our latest anC
most brilliant of mathematical philoso
piers. Clerk Maxwell, "to see how
Spectators are led by their neglect o
the exact sciences, to put themselves
| in opposition to them, when they hav'
not the slightest point of contact witt
| their systems" And il has always beer
| so. Whence we find that in the sixtl
century A. D., logician named Sim
| plicius must needs come out to oppos'
Berosus and the astronomers by declar
ing that the observed fact of the mool
| always keeping the same face to tn
earth during a revolution around it
showed that it (the noon did not TO
4 tate on an axis at all. ile
Now. if Simplicius had meant that h
was only speaking with regard to wha
may be termed "apparent astronomy
he would have been excusable enough
/ so far as that mere temporary stepping
stone of apparent, in place of real ant
absolute, astronomy is concerned But
unhappily, he did not mean that. H
wished, on the contrary, to expose wha
he believed to be an outrageous blunde
\ of the astronomers at the very begin
ming of their own science, and to hav,
the honor himself of teaching the worll
his own discovery, by truer interpre
tation of the observed. and iconcede,
facts of observation, that the moon il
space does not rotate, or turn on a
axis at all. % -s-- u1.fs sod .Vif
It is strange, wrote the astronome
Arago, in the beginning OF the century
that this class of men can not see, tina
IL the moon did not turn on its axis, an,
did keep one part of its face alway
pointed to one particular directions i
space, that we, on the earth, woulI
then necessarily behold one side of tn
moon in one half of its monthly revo
luton round the earth. and the othe
side of the moon through the remainin,
half. But that class of men, who ex
is still. are obstinate in not seeing o
understanding the case in this way, an
hence they rush into the open to declar
astronomers mad. H IS gaT h-9
Thus, at the Bath meeting of tn
British Association for the Advance
ment of Science there was quite a nois
and abusive irruption of these men
pronouncing that the idea of the moo
rotating on an axis, when it always pre-
sented the same face to the earth, wa
folly. Although. too, they were nd
mirably answered then by the learne
Master of Trinity, DIR. Whewell, the
came out again soon after at the Roys
Astronomical Society in London On
of the party, too, produced an absur
child's toy, hoping to make his oppo
nents look ridiculous. For he ha
therein set up a doll dressed as mill
tary general in the center, and put
figure of a soldier, with his face to tn
general. on the end of lath revolving
around that center; when, of course
the soldier kept his face obedientl
toward his chief during the Who'll
of a revolution around him.. An
then said party showed that th
soldier. having been firmly fixed by tw