The Wilmingtonian., 1884-09-13
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER Is, 1851.
A LUNAR SYMPOSIUM.
Birds Eye views of the Broad Acres of
the Man in the Noon.

Birds Eye Views of the Broad Acres of
the Man in the Noon.
Among the big telescopes in the State of
Delaware the 81 inch reflector owned by Mr. |
EllwoodGarrett of this city takes high rank
and it was with no small qualification that a
representative of THE WILMINGToNIAN
awaited himself of the privilege of scrutiniz-
ing the moons face at distance which the
power of the instrument reduced by fully
one-fourth.
Who has not read the wild exciting vision
story of Jules Verne, "From the Earth to
the Moou,'' work full OF scientific impos-
sibilites but so ingeniously constructed that
the reader who starts in the early hours OF
the evening will assuredly not go to bed till
he has read the last line which will scarcely
be till the lamp burns out or the dawn
breaks on his weary sleepless eyes? And is
there not, too, Poe's erratic fragment emit
tled"Haus Pfahl's trip to the Moon, Fan odd
medley of science, wonder and humor? Jules
Vernes voyagers We're propelled to their des-
tinaton in proiectile of aluminium fired
from mighty columbiad cast in the earth
itself, and the explosion of which caused an
earthquake through several states of the
Union. Hans Pfahl went up i'll a balloon
which he had persuaded his admiring cred
itors to construct for him, and from which
he assembled with satirical smile of fare
we'll, to return like Rip Van Wrinkle, man
wrnkled, old and gray, forgotten by his
nearest friends.
ctp U hoe pt
beings on the lunar world haunted the
minds of men from the earliest ages!The an
clients peopled the moon with men whom they
called Selenites, while monkish phlOso-
pher considered it the type of the abode OF
lost souls, and incontinently sealed it as the
realm of the impenitent. The invention Of
the telescope did not dispel the illusion, bui
rather strengthened it. For Schroeder, a
German astronomer, discovered among the
thousands Of extinct volcanic craters, admit
ted to exist on the nloon number Of rectil
linear streaks and holows, one of wEicl
appeared to him conclusive proof Of thu
existence Of Intelligent beings on the luna
world. To him they were canals dug b,
the inhabitants of the moon for their com
1nerCldl EeeuS. lhlS WdS dS idl uoMn II
history as the Sixteenth Century; au,
another astronomer, Gruithuysen, full.
endorsed Schro6ter's views.
The elder Herschel gave full and par
ticular account of several active volcanoe
he had discovered on the surface of our sat
elite. We now know that Herschel's gen
orally correct perception erred in this case
and that the phenomena he saw were due t
other causes. But that changes, few bu
definite, have taken place on the moo
within recent years we have no reason what
ever to doubt.
There is no more beautiful sight in tn
world than the First Quarter of the Moor
half an hour after sunset, through larg
telescope. 1t is impossible to convey tith
Of the details in an engraving, and photo
graphs which show the smallest specks Wis
BILE to the naked eye as yawning cavities
fail utterly to give the silvery radiance ali
play of light and shade on the real object
When the sky is clear and the twilight
deepens, the light from the moons surfac
(refiected sunshine) glows so brightly i
the telescope that it is almost unbearable t
the eye, and when the eye piece is remove
the glare lights up the face like a lamp
The boundary line of light and darkness
known as the'terminatOr, looks pitchy bl nc
by contrast with the brilliancy of the ada
cent illuminated portion.